This Bitch Needs To Cool Out November 27, 2007

The wife portion of the selling team is working our last nerve. In our offer, which she and her husband both SIGNED and AGREED TO, we stated that we wanted them to cover up to $500 in repair costs before closing. After the inspection, there are 4 items we definitely want addressed:

• The 15-year-old septic tank has never been pumped. They should be tended to every 5-7 years, so depending on your preference, this should have been done 2-3 times already. It has not.
• Several drains are slow. The wife has long black hair (which she didn’t bother to sweep off of the bathroom floor, but whatever), and we’re guessing this is the issue. But, we’re not plumbers, so a professional needs to get in there, snake the drains, and find out what’s going on. I own a snake. I can do it. They’re trying to sell, it’s their funk, let them handle it.
• Two flashings on the roof need to be replaced. There is already a water stain on the kitchen ceiling that seems to be a direct result of one of the cracked flashings.
• Two of the windows aren’t in their tracks. Needs to be addressed.

Apparently, this bitch is already feeling “beaten up” over the price we offered and that she accepted. As I told our agent yesterday, if she’s that uncomfortable with the money, then she should not have accepted. And if she’s offended, that’s not really my problem. Drama queen deems none of the repairs necessary. Her opinion doesn’t count for shit in terms of the legal contract. She is willing to shell out $250, but that’s it. We asked that they just cut us a check at closing for $500 so we could have the repairs done to our satisfaction, but nooooooooooo. The husband was on board, but wifey is getting uppity. Our agent offered to cover the remaining $250, which is nice, but shouldn’t be necessary.

The bottom line is this: we don’t want to walk away over a measly $250. On the other hand, we don’t want to bend over for this woman, either. We’ve been more than accomodating with her jacking us around with answers on the initial offer and now the repair issues. Both times, her agent was unable to reach her for hours. We didn’t care about them keeping the refrigerator. We didn’t bat an eye when she asked to take a butterfly bush that someone had given her when her SECOND husband (she’s on number 3; red flag, anyone?) died. And yet, she wants to quibble over $250.

No home sale is smooth, I guess. It just seems ridiculous to get worked up over a few repairs. It takes all kinds.

How To Save $2,000 On Car Repair November 26, 2007

Get a second opinion. For several months, the Check Engine light has been on in my Subaru Forester. The family-owned auto repair shop we took it to in Chicago said it was no big whoop, but since they are not a Subaru dealer, they could not turn the sensor off. Fast forward to the hubby and I noticing that the car is leaking oil on the garage floor after we move to Nashville. He takes it in several times, sensor still on, oil still leaking. Fine. So week before last, he took it to an import auto mechanic downtown. The oil leak is fixed easily and cheaply with a new gasket (or something; maybe a seal). Yay! As for the Check Engine light, they tell him they’re getting a shiny new diagnostic system and to bring the car back that Friday. He does, and the motherfuckers charged us $300 and change for the diagnostic ONLY. Then they tell him the car needs $2500 in repairs, including a new catalytic converter, which ain’t cheap.

Predictably, I flip out over the $300 diagnostic cost and the repair estimates. I suggest we get a second opinion, which he’s all for considering we’re on the verge of spending every dime we have on the new house. I call the downtown Subaru dealership, and what do you know? Their diagnostic test costs a whopping $90. Now that’s more like it. The gentleman I spoke with told me that if the catalytic converter is indeed bad, it may be covered under the 8-year, 80k mile emissions warranty. Of course, we try not to get our hopes up, but every crumb helps.

The hubby just heard from Subaru. The catalytic converter is fine. All we need is a new sensor…for $300. If you’re ever in Nashville and your imported vehicle needs some work, avoid Import Auto Maintenance AT ALL COSTS. Cause they’re gonna fuck you. Crooked sonsabitches.

Excuse Me? November 26, 2007

Yesterday, I took a minute to read the ingredients on a package of turkey hotdogs we had bought for the toddler. The first item was “mechanically removed turkey.” One can assume that the meat processing center uses modern technology and machinery to expedite the process. But isn’t that like calling a baby a “vaginally extracted human being?”

A Million Thanks November 26, 2007

We have a lot to be thankful for this year. The baby (now toddler) is healthy and seems to be happy. Hubby’s company agreed to let him work from home in Nashville, then decided to just open an office here. The move to Nashville went off without anyone getting beaten or arrested (very stressful, but that’s another story). My contract work has allowed us to save enough for a 20% down payment on a house. We found a house, got the financing, and the inspection went just fine. Yes, there are some things to fix, but the home was constructed well, so everything seems to be a-okay. We are some lucky bastards.

Thank You For Your Interest November 20, 2007

Sunday was rough. Per the language in our offer on the house, the sellers were supposed to respond by noon. At 5 p.m., the hubby and I begin having conversations with our agent about the blown deadline. Are we being jerked around because we offered $9,900 less than asking, which had already been dropped $20,000 since they originally listed the home? Did the sellers have an open house on Sunday afternoon and were hoping for a better offer? The sellers’ agent could not reach her clients all day. They did not show up for a meeting at 11 a.m. to discuss our offer. She assured our agent this was totally out of character. After hearing that the sellers had lost a grandchild to SIDS the week before, the hubby and I agreed we could definitely cool out and cut them some slack.

Between 7 and 7:30 p.m., our agent calls. THEY ACCEPTED OUR OFFER. Holy shit! We asked that they throw in the refrigerator (strangely, the only appliance they wanted), and they rejected that portion. Um, no problem. The day was exhausting, but I still woke up wide-eyed yesterday at 3:30 a.m. Couldn’t go back to sleep, so I gave in to spinning gears and made coffee.

Yesterday, the hubby began working out the financing, and we decided to go with a local guy that our agent referred us to. We met with him a couple of weeks ago, and he gave us a worse-case scenario monthly mortgage payment based on $10,000 less than we are buying this house for. Okay, so he does his little financing magic, and since the county we live in (the house is about 10 minutes from where we live now…of course) has some of the lowest taxes in the area, the mortgage is a mere $3 more per month than he initially quoted. We’ll get the super-duper final number today once he locks in a rate.

I am taking care of the inspection end of things. By god, we’re on the books for 9 a.m. tomorrow. There are a lot of tense moments when looking for and subsequently buying a house. You kill yourself to find something you think you can stand to live in. Then, you decide to pull the trigger and make an offer. Next, you wait to see if the sellers accept. There’s the money aspect. The inspection is the really scary one for me: it could all fall apart, and already, I’m gonna be a mess if there’s something major that could cause us to walk. Once we clear that hurdle, then it’s on to worming our way out of the lease on the current dwelling. On and on and on.

Keep your fingers crossed that the inspection goes really well OR that if there is a big problem (or 10) with the place, the inspector finds it before we move in and get bitten in the ass 6 months down the road.