The Latest Hurdle

**Originally written April 29, 2015**

I haven't gone into too much detail on here about the hurdles that we have faced and overcome in order to get the house. Some of the problems are naturally occurring and due to the house standing empty for two years; issues like the septic tank needing to be replaced or mold growing in the un-ventilated side of the house that needs to be removed. Some of the setbacks we have had are related to lack of communication or, in one case, possible vandalism. We are exhausted and I'm sure the sellers are just as exhausted as we are.

Just to give you an idea of what has been going on, here is how our last weekend went:

Friday (14 days until closing): Go to the house, remove a bee's nest from the ceiling and patch the hole, discuss possible vandalism with the property caretaker, discuss the septic replacement - scheduled for the following Tuesday, have the mold inspected - also scheduled for removal on Tuesday, the caretaker is meeting with the plumber about replacing the water pump at 8pm, we can't stay because we drove up and need to drive back - a 10 hour round trip - that evening. During the drive back, we realized that we never got paperwork back from the seller extending our due diligence period which was ending that afternoon. At 3:00 pm, Lance was frantically calling everyone. Come to find out, the paperwork was signed earlier that week but had not been delivered/received and we had not been notified.

Monday (11 days until closing): We are informed by the bank that our survey is invalid. Part of the property line extends across a road which, according to the bank, splits the property into two separate properties and they won't fund. We scramble trying to call the surveyor for ANOTHER (the 4th on this property in the last 2 years) survey. Simultaneously, we are trying to coordinate a new offer with the sellers because the value just went below our original appraisal. We are also told that we need: a new official offer, a new survey, and a new appraisal. All of this then needs to be sent BACK through underwriting...

Tuesday (10 days until closing): We drive back up to the property. The water pump isn't working correctly and will need to be replaced again, the septic rescheduled for the following Monday and Tuesday (3 and 4 days before closing) the ceiling hole was sanded and re-puttied, the mold was removed and sheetrock was replaced. It was a gorgeous day (in the low 70's, very few clouds, light breeze) and I was so thankful to be up there. We need to extended the due diligence again and are hoping that we won't have to push closing back.

Wednesday (9 days until closing): Thankfully, the surveyor (who is going on a 2 week vacation Thursday) was able to get us a new survey for the property. We are trying to communicate with our processor to make sure that we are still okay to close on the 8th and schedule a new appraisal. I am doing fun house stuff today - like pinning all of the pins on Pinterest for home renovations, etc - and taking a "mental health day". I feel super run down and discouraged but I know that we will cross that finish line someday.

This past weekend, when things were super crazy, we compared this house buying process to an Olympic hurdle race. The only difference is we seem to hit every single hurdle instead of clearing it. I just hope we can finish the race on time.