Background Bad News: My son's house here in town has drained their finances for a very long time because they kept getting tenants who couldn't/wouldn't pay the rent on time, incurring late fees on their mortgage. This culminated in a 6 month run of no rent payments by the most recent tenant due to a moratorium on evictions (CoVid), non-payment of back rent + no rental paymens prior to moving out AT LAST in June. -
Sure them moving out was Good News.
The Bad News of them moving out was: The house was a disaster & I volunteered to clean & get it ready to sell.
The Good News was my granddaughter came back with me when we left Texas so she could help get her parents' rental house ready to sell.
More Bad News was filth, absolute & disgusting filth, leaky pipes, damaged soffits and fascia outside, gutters in need of repair, damaged & broken appliances, grime & gum in the carpeting throughout the house, missing doorknobs, endless debris all over the yard, and expensive repairs in order to get it ready to sell.
Good News: Hubby helped with repairs: soffits & fascia, gutters, & some interior work I wasn't up for; Granddaughter helped with cleaning, spackling, painting, yardwork. Hubby replaced doorknobs as needed, changed locks, maintained the mowing each week (huge huge huge yard) and whatever I asked when it fit into his time-off work schedule. We deep cleaned the interior, hired a good carpet cleaner, a painter to finish the trim & woodwork for us, got the plumbers out to fix the major leak.
Good News: They got an offer on the house within a few days of being put on the market, contingent on the usual inspections. Yay! We're almost done!
Bad News: Not yet done. Inspections lead to more issues with corresponding expenses. Since I am in town and son is in Texas, I coordinated & oversaw the work. Problems found: Garage Door Opener wall switch malfunction; Water Heater vent not up to code; Radon System didn't pass; Drainage in basement from Utility Sink not up to code (non-existant washing machine used to drain into utility sink, which in turn drained into sump pump, which is a code violation); Door from Garage to House was not a fire door (actually it was per our contractor, but we chose to not argue)
Good News: Radon System is working, did not need repair - inspector accepted professional's report; Garage Door system repaired by professionals; Plumber replaced Water Heater (only option to correct the venting issue & it was old anyway) & eliminated the drainage issue by removing utility sink, bringing that up to code; Contractor replaced fire door with a brand new one that has the fire rating sticker on it to show it meets code.
Bad News: We get a call that the Termite inspector can't complete his inspection because the basement is flooded. We had 7 days of rain, & it happens with heavy rains, especially in that part of town, that basements get water. We do sometimes, too, but not this time. I go over there, yes, there is standing water about up to the bottom of my ankles in my Wellies at the deep part of the basement (the floor drain area). I call my son, let him hear the sound of the sump pump motor as it attempts to pump out the water. Decision to call the plumber yet again.
Good News: Plumber replaces the sump pump and the water is gone in no time flat! (We later learn it was probably destroyed by the washing machine being drained into the sump pump and lint and whatever debris comes out of the washing machine is what caused the problem). I mop the floor & use a fan to finish drying out the far corners of the basement before the Buyers walk-through that week-end.
Bad News: Buyers want more done after the walk-through last Saturday. Son & DIL are getting irritated (have to admit, I am too.) DIL says, 'we listed it as is.' Son says, 'We did all we were required to do to get it up to code as found by inspectors. We've already spent $3,000 on this and we can't afford any more.' He's about at the end of his rope.
(I suggest offering a $1,000 reduction in sale price in lieu of the other work the buyers want.)
More Bad News: The city's plumbing inspector didn't pass the work the plumbers did when installing the water heater. Well, I'm really irritated by this because the plumbing company already wet almost $400 over the estimate on that work as it was, and now they have to come back and do more and won't guarantee they won't charge more for what needs to be done!?! I don't go ballistic, but I'm getting close to loosing it over this. Still, I live here and can't afford to alienate the plumbing company. My son lives in Texas, it won't affect him in the long term, if he gets upset. But I'm the one who calls because he is at work all day and can't keep making personal phone calls.
Good News: The Realtor contacted the Owner of the Plumbing company (apparently they have some sort of relationship, friends, professionally, or whatever) and they meet over at the house to discuss the issues regarding both the water heater installation not passing inspection AND the additional work the buyers want and how much that would cost. The Owner of the plumbing company is concerned about having an unsatisfied customer (really? I didn't get that from the person on the phone that very same morning when I called) and has said they will not charge anything for the work to get the installation to pass inspection. Additionally, the owner of the plumbing company also guarantees the other work the buyers want can be done for $350, so my son doesn't have to reduce the selling price by $1,000 after all.
So maybe it is done now. It certainly should be, since it's now under 6 days to closing. And then my son & DIL will only have to pay one mortgage. It's been pretty tough on them paying 2 mortgages, coVid reducing their income and balancing their own expenses & sending money home to help with DIL's sick dad, who recently had surgery.
Of course, I didn't hear what the result of the termite inspection was, but I doubt that will be an issue. God, I hope not!