This last week has been a roller coaster. I’ve learned a lot about this process and no matter how prepared you think you might be, there is always something that can crop up to spoil everything. I want to say on the outset of this post that I do not want to continue to be bitter about how all of this has happened. If it was some one’s fault, well, then it was and what is done is done and I just have to deal.
So here is the situation. I am taking out an FHA loan for my house. My lender had to send out an appraiser to just make sure that I’m not paying too much for the house. Completely understandable. So an appraiser was sent out on April 8th and I was, unfortunately, not able to be there, but the owner, SS, was. Anyhoo, the appraiser did her thing and filed her report and my lender received it…on April 15th. Here’s the kicker. There exists, in FHA regulation-land, a regulation that states that any houses built prior to 1978 cannot have peeling paint on the outside of the house. Well, my house was very abundant with peeling paint – but only on the trim and window frames. But still…enough work that it has taken two professionals 2.5 days to sand, prime and paint. The piece of this that was so upsetting was that this information, that of having to get rid of the peeling paint, was held onto until the last minute and only gave me 5 days prior to closing to get the job done. Needless to say that the job didn’t get done, closing was delayed and my parents had to cancel and rebook their flights.
Since there is always something positive to walk away with, here it is. My house will no longer be trimmed with 2 shades of hideous blue. I chose a white paint for the window sills and the frames will be a light chocolate brown, and eventually I’ll use a darker brown for some of the smaller accent parts.
The other good part of this is that I didn’t have to miss any of work time that I thought I was going to have to miss this week. Which actually means that I can spend more time with my parents next week and not feel guilty about not being a work.
All-in-all, I’m trying to get over my disappointment in having to delay the closing by 5 days and spending $1300 for painting my house and causing my parents to double the price of their airline tickets. I’m trying really hard.
The Blond Knitter 
That sucks! I feel so bad for you and bad we couldn’t help you out somehow! I hope it all works out in the end, though. Lesson number 1 learned: Houses are not cheap.
I think that for every house we’ve bought or tried to buy something has gone wrong, usually at the last moment. At least you are already in physical possession of the house. Yesterday I talked with a French woman who, on arriving at what they thought was their new house with their truck 30 minutes behind them, was told that the house had been sold to someone else. They spent weeks in a hotel with two small children while frantically scrambling to find another house.
And five days isn’t a big delay, and $1,300 a realistic amount for house painting. You won’t have to do it again for a good five years, and your window frames won’t rot because water gets into them. And your parents will no doubt grin and bear the extra expense, because they’re good parents!
So don’t feel bitter. The flip side of buying a major appreciable asset is responsibility, and the payback will come in the long run. And you’re days away from being a homeowner!