![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mellymellSo, we're not buying a house.
Very long story short. . . we had an inspection, turns out there's rotting in the crawl space, supposed drainage problems, and a few minor things like squirrels at some point having chewed on electrical wires in the attic and some outlets in the garage that weren't properly grounded and what not (in other words, things we could take care of ourselves). So, we were ready to walk away, too much for us to try to get into trying to fix. They offered us $5000 toward the repairs. In talking to my dad, that wouldn't even cover replacing all the rotting, let alone fixing the problem so it wouldn't happen again. So, again, we say, nope, we're walking away. Then they come back with $10,000 toward the repairs. So, we took the time to get someone out there who specializes in waterproofing basements and crawl spaces to see what he could do. The damage wasn't as bad as the inspector had thought and wasn't coming from improper drainage. It was coming from the fact that the back doors didn't have proper flashing on them. So, water was washing under the doors and soaking into the floor boards, band joists and starting to affect the ends of the floor joists. In addition to that, there were two spots where there was no footing under the foundation and water had washed the soil out from under the concrete blocks. There they were going to have to drive steel piers down to jack up the foundation. Seemingly not a big deal either (at least according to the contractor). Then, they were going to seal up the crawl space with this pool liner type stuff to seal off the house from the earth basically and eliminate any of the moisture problems that caused the mold and rotting down there. All of this, $12,000-$13,000. They probably would have gone for it. We probably could have come back and asked for $15,000 toward those repairs and unforeseen things (like when they pulled up the decks to fix the band joists and possibly found more rotting that needed to be replaced). The neighborhood it was in seemed ok. However, there were neighborhoods around it that seemed to be on their way downhill. It's so hard to tell not knowing what it's been as compared to what it is now. And it's even harder to tell where it's going. It wasn't the better schools that are in Bellevue, unfortunately. Though there's talk of building a new elementary out there so it's quite possible that by the time that's a concern, we'd be re-zoned anyway. But that's a chance to take. The house was perfect for us, we were just uncertain about the area. Compound that with tons of negative, unsolicited advice from Chris' parents (and absolutely nothing positive, by the way) and the seed of doubt was effectively planted. This past Saturday, we turned in the paperwork to get our earnest money back and officially turned down the house. I was pretty torn up about it. I really loved the house. It was on a perfect lot for us. There was an awesome park and a library branch right across the main road from the neighborhood. I honestly felt silly not buying it. Finding out they were willing to fix everything that was wrong with it made that feeling so much worse. But if both of us don't feel comfortable about it, I suppose we should just move on.
So, yesterday, instead of doing nice things for our fathers and spending some time with our families, we headed back up there to look at appartment complexes. We settled on a nice three bedroom appartment at Arbors at Brentwood. It's in the back of the complex and the back side of the building (so hopefully sort of quiet, it seemed like it was when we were there anyway). Then Chris came back and looked up some stuff on the complex and reading all these anonymous negative reviews about poor management, break-ins and robberies, he's all uncertain again. I'm about ready to hide the computer from him. We've got 72 hours to change our minds and cancel our application. So we're looking into Brighton Valley on![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
frenchpress's recommendation. They seem really nice as well.
Regardless, it seems like we're moving next weekend sometime. If we go with Arbors at Brentwood, it'll be Saturday. Otherwise, we're at the will of whatever complex we settle on and their earliest available move in date.
To look on the bright side, I'll have a pool I can use everyday this summer. And since we're not buying a house right away, I can take some of this breathing room to buy some maternity clothes. There was another pair of pants I tried to put on yesterday that aren't going to be fitting again for quite a long time.
Very long story short. . . we had an inspection, turns out there's rotting in the crawl space, supposed drainage problems, and a few minor things like squirrels at some point having chewed on electrical wires in the attic and some outlets in the garage that weren't properly grounded and what not (in other words, things we could take care of ourselves). So, we were ready to walk away, too much for us to try to get into trying to fix. They offered us $5000 toward the repairs. In talking to my dad, that wouldn't even cover replacing all the rotting, let alone fixing the problem so it wouldn't happen again. So, again, we say, nope, we're walking away. Then they come back with $10,000 toward the repairs. So, we took the time to get someone out there who specializes in waterproofing basements and crawl spaces to see what he could do. The damage wasn't as bad as the inspector had thought and wasn't coming from improper drainage. It was coming from the fact that the back doors didn't have proper flashing on them. So, water was washing under the doors and soaking into the floor boards, band joists and starting to affect the ends of the floor joists. In addition to that, there were two spots where there was no footing under the foundation and water had washed the soil out from under the concrete blocks. There they were going to have to drive steel piers down to jack up the foundation. Seemingly not a big deal either (at least according to the contractor). Then, they were going to seal up the crawl space with this pool liner type stuff to seal off the house from the earth basically and eliminate any of the moisture problems that caused the mold and rotting down there. All of this, $12,000-$13,000. They probably would have gone for it. We probably could have come back and asked for $15,000 toward those repairs and unforeseen things (like when they pulled up the decks to fix the band joists and possibly found more rotting that needed to be replaced). The neighborhood it was in seemed ok. However, there were neighborhoods around it that seemed to be on their way downhill. It's so hard to tell not knowing what it's been as compared to what it is now. And it's even harder to tell where it's going. It wasn't the better schools that are in Bellevue, unfortunately. Though there's talk of building a new elementary out there so it's quite possible that by the time that's a concern, we'd be re-zoned anyway. But that's a chance to take. The house was perfect for us, we were just uncertain about the area. Compound that with tons of negative, unsolicited advice from Chris' parents (and absolutely nothing positive, by the way) and the seed of doubt was effectively planted. This past Saturday, we turned in the paperwork to get our earnest money back and officially turned down the house. I was pretty torn up about it. I really loved the house. It was on a perfect lot for us. There was an awesome park and a library branch right across the main road from the neighborhood. I honestly felt silly not buying it. Finding out they were willing to fix everything that was wrong with it made that feeling so much worse. But if both of us don't feel comfortable about it, I suppose we should just move on.
So, yesterday, instead of doing nice things for our fathers and spending some time with our families, we headed back up there to look at appartment complexes. We settled on a nice three bedroom appartment at Arbors at Brentwood. It's in the back of the complex and the back side of the building (so hopefully sort of quiet, it seemed like it was when we were there anyway). Then Chris came back and looked up some stuff on the complex and reading all these anonymous negative reviews about poor management, break-ins and robberies, he's all uncertain again. I'm about ready to hide the computer from him. We've got 72 hours to change our minds and cancel our application. So we're looking into Brighton Valley on
frenchpress's recommendation. They seem really nice as well. Regardless, it seems like we're moving next weekend sometime. If we go with Arbors at Brentwood, it'll be Saturday. Otherwise, we're at the will of whatever complex we settle on and their earliest available move in date.
To look on the bright side, I'll have a pool I can use everyday this summer. And since we're not buying a house right away, I can take some of this breathing room to buy some maternity clothes. There was another pair of pants I tried to put on yesterday that aren't going to be fitting again for quite a long time.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
on 2006-06-19 06:25 pm (UTC)on the bright side, at least you'll be able to spend time looking at houses/neighborhoods and actually be there, so you'll have less confusion about the state of neighborhoods and schools and such when it's time to find a house.
no subject
on 2006-06-22 02:09 am (UTC)no subject
on 2006-06-19 07:18 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2006-06-22 02:11 am (UTC)Thanks for all your help!
no subject
on 2006-06-19 07:53 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2006-06-22 02:14 am (UTC)no subject
on 2006-06-19 09:48 pm (UTC)you might want to look into purchasing a BellaBand at a local maternity store. they aren't expensive, and should allow you to wear your comfy non-maternity jeans for a while. BellaBands actually work!
good luck with your continued house hunting. i will think positive thoughts for you :)
no subject
on 2006-06-22 02:15 am (UTC)no subject
on 2006-06-20 03:21 am (UTC)no subject
on 2006-06-22 02:16 am (UTC)