Now what?!?

We got an answer on the short sale that we have been trying to purchase... sort of.

Our real estate agent got a letter from the bank that said after they analyzed the numbers, they decided the house was not available for a short sale so they were closing the file. They did not turn down our offer or counter with a higher number, just "closed the file". The lady who still owns the house, in conjunction with the bank, had no idea and our real estate agent was having a hard time getting any answers either.

Meanwhile, the clock is ticking away for us. We have to have a firm commitment on a purchase by September 18, or we have to go with a different loan option- pesky fiscal years. We also have to be O-U-T of our house the beginning of November. We went house shopping again this weekend, and turned up two very good possibilities- one that I really like and one that B really likes. Sigh. Decision time again.

House #1 (the one I like)
Pros:
-BIG! It could fit our current home in twice.
-CLEAN! Seriously. This lady's alter ego must be bald, wear an earring, and come with a spray bottle. I would have no worries about eating of this home's bathroom floor.
-WATER! The field is irrigated and seeded with an alfalfa mix. Lovely and green in our sea of desert brown.
-STORAGE! Shed, shop, 2 car attached garage, 2 car detached.
-Two fireplaces with blowers.

Cons:
-Not currently set up for rotational grazing or animals. The out buildings all have cement floors.
-I would have to clean an area twice the size of what I currently have.
-We do not have enough furniture for this house. Our couch, loveseat, recliner, chair and ottoman are not going to cut it for a living room, family room, and rec room.
-Older equipment. The house has been maintained to the nth degree, which is great, but it also means that the furnace, hot water heater, appliances, irrigation pipes, etc are bordering on vintage.
-One set of exterior doors to the house. Slightly strange. The "front" of the house is at the back, where there is one grand entry set of double doors. No other doors into the house other than the garage door. When visiting the house the first time, you find yourself wandering around to figure out where to knock. Wait! Maybe this is a pro? Forget about pesky solicitors... the Kirby sucked... well not really, and that was the problem.
-the house has a slight '70s feel to it. A bit Brady Bunchish on the curb appeal.

House #2 (the one B likes)
Pros:
-Full animal set up ready to go. Riding arena, 3 stall stable with room to add 4th, feed/tack room, lovely white rail fence paddocks, and chicken coop.
-WATER! Irrigated pasture. Also a lovely green field in a grass mix. Newer irrigation pipe.
-Country/ranch appeal. The main part of the house was built in 1915 and a lovely addition has been added. Everything is a sunny yellow color with white trim and rail fencing. Very charming.
-Huge Trex deck and pergola on the back of the house.
-Newer hot water heater, furnace, and appliances.
-Uses natural gas.

Cons:
-No garage. Have I mentioned we're in Colorado? I don't like shoveling and scraping at 5am.
-Everything is wood sided: house, stable, fence. We're talking paint maintenance here.
-The house has some rough edges, and still needs some renovation work. It also has a slightly weird lay out. The living room and family room are perpendicular to each other, but not connected. The "finished" loft room has a drop down attic ladder to access it. Not much bigger than what we have now.
-The barn/stable was also constructed in the early part of the 1900s. While in good shape for its age, it could use some structural assistance in the next year or two.

House #1's list price is 10k more than house #2. Although, house #1 seems to have more motivated sellers than house #2. Decisions, decisions, decisions...

Oh, and just to add another twist to the saga, B met with the surgeon today. He is scheduled for a double hernia surgery the beginning of October, so guess who will be out of commission for moving day- again! This will be our 9th move in 11 years. This will be the 5th time he's gotten out of it. Although, I guess I'll give him a pass on this one...

The Home Inspection

We made an offer on the property next door to us back at the beginning of August. The property was going into foreclosure, and so we made a "short sale" offer. Turns out that there is nothing "short" about a short sale, but that's a story for another day.

We've gotten to the point that we needed a home inspection done. The inspector came this morning, and you guessed it. He inspected. And inspected. And inspected. And typed on a very cool computer setup in the back of his van. And inspected. And typed. Then printed- wow! Still in his van office. He then brought in a beautiful work of inspection art, all encased in a 3 ring binder.

Barry made it through approximately two pages before he bailed with the excuse that he had to get ready for work- sorry Mr. Inspector. If you got to know him during your inspecting, you had to know he wasn't hanging around for the boring part.

I, on the other hand, revel in the "boring" stuff that he hates. Are you kidding me? An itemized list, with pictures, captions, color coding, and arrows? I was all over that 3 ring binder of type A inspection goodness. In fact it is sitting on the coffee table in front of me right now so that when I finish typing this I can peruse it and add even more of my very own color coded sub notes and lists, but I digress.

Back to the inspection. The "Inspector" (I think I like saying that.) was going over his carefully crafted 3 ring binder, and he had very view surprises for me.

Little does he know that I have already secretly (or maybe not so secretly for those of you who know me) made a notebook of my own individual findings.

Any who, he gets to the page about the attic. I had not previously checked out the attic, and from his findings I have decided that it is highly unlikely that I will ever willingly do so. Nothing detrimental to our purchasing the home, but this blue (which is code for not needing immediate attention, but you'll probably want to take care of it sooner rather than later) sentence jumped off the page at me:

"Rodent activity is apparent in the insulation. A pest control specialist should be consulted."

This statement was followed by some pictures of the attic joists and insulation. One of which had the catchy caption of:

"Evidence of rodent activity in the attic."

This picture involved what appears to be black lumps on the white blown in insulation clumps. Yuck!

So I ask him, "Have mice torn it up pretty bad? Do we need to have more insulation put up there?"

The response with a completely serious and professional demeanor, "Nope, the insulation looks fine. I'm not a dropping expert, but I'm pretty sure that you're going to need a pest control company with a live trap system. Whatever you got up there is a heck of a lot bigger than a mouse."

He then turned the page and proceeded to tell me about the broken bracket on the handrail of the stairs. Which incidentally is also color coded in blue.

I have since highlighted the attic page blue note in flaming hot pink, as this has risen to the top of my personal priority list. I can't help but feel like anytime someone mentions "live trapping" in the same breath as the attic of a place I have the intentions to put my bed in, it should warrant a higher ranking on the color code system. Just sayin'.

The rest of the report was the usual: the carpet is worn, the furnace is old, the roof is good, the stucco cracks are from minor settling and weather exposure, etc.

So to recap.

I am in the market for new floor covering, someone who does stucco repair, a furnace, and wood stove.

And oh yeah, A PEST CONTROL COMPANY WITH THE ABILITY TO "LIVE TRAP" THE MONGOOSE THAT HAS CLAIMED THE ATTIC. 

All of which is carefully color coded in blue and now lovingly highlighted in hot pink.