The day after we put the bid on the house, we were heading over to meet the inspector. There was yellow tape across the driveway that read, "Fire Line Do Not Cross". Big Uh-Oh there...
The night before, there had been a huge thunderstorm. It kept then 10-month-old Nichole awake all night long and we were about 12 miles from the house we were going to buy! Well, lightning struck the power pole behind our house and the power lines fell on our garage. The breezeway between the house and garage caught fire.
The breezeway is open inside to the attic - basically it's a tunnel that connects our detached garage to the house via the attic. Smoke was pouring out from all the soffit vents, so the firefighters kicked in two doors to get in. There was no fire in the house. I'm not angry in the least - I used to fight fires in the Navy and I know what protocol is. They were just doing their job.
The seller tried to tell us it was our responsibility to get the damage fixed, not his. We said, "We'll cancel the bid," and he got the damage fixed.
Fast forward three weeks:
The seller was a partnership between three Taiwanese men. Shortly before we were to close on the house, there was a magnitude 8 earthquake in Taiwan. Two of the three flew home without leaving a power of attorney, etc. so only the third could sign the papers. We signed everything and moved in. We had terminated our lease at our apartment. But our signatures expired before the others returned.
By the time the others returned, our inspections had also expired. We had to have the house re-inspected for termites and the other guy before we could close again.
One good thing out of all this - we lived in the house free for a month. Since we didn't close until early November, it wasn't our house. We didn't start paying for it until November.
Let's see....here's one from our recent purchase of this new house (couple months ago)....
The &$#)( closing company that the buyer of our old home was using is based out of Miami...they use a satellite office here in Naples for all the paperwork & signing & stuff. Anyhow, we went to the closing (for the sale of the old house), everything went smoothly UNTIL they handed us our check....NOT a cashier's check, a simple check cut on their company's business checks on a MIAMI bank!! :wall:
Of course our bank put a hold on that check....we were supposed to close on the new house in 2 days but it was going to take 5 for the check to clear...how were we going to come up with the down payment for the new house? After calls to our bank's headquarters & the local branch, I finally got clearance to be able to use those funds...at the last hour...a couple hours before we closed on the new house I was able to get a cashier's check for the $$ we needed....
Live & learn, I guess....that was the first time we'd sold a home, next time we'll know to specify that the funds be WIRED to our bank..talk about a headache....
Sadly, we do not own...YET. My daughter prays for our very own home EVERY night. She's so cute. We even have the one we want picked out. We're just waiting for God to let us know when we're ready.
But when we are ready, you can bet I'll be picking your brains!
Our house didn't even have a lock on the door. There was a fishing rod, I think, jammed in the doorway to provide as a "lock". The dog's dishes (from the previous owners) were cleaner than the people dishes...the appliances were LOADED with grease. The place reeked of beer. Windows were boarded up. Living room served as a bedroom...who KNOWS what all went on in there! It was sick. We degutted the entire inside and renovated. Took 3 stinkin' months. Plus during this time we were at my parents...UGH...had a sick baby the whole time. Made a couple trips to the hospital and spent a week there. Plus mom expected me to be supermom the entire time (with 2 small kids! Right...I can do that! GRR)
Barely saw hubby AT ALL. What a nightmare! Finally, 3 months later we moved in! I could finally BREATHE! And...we're still here! :D