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10:11 a.m. - 2005-06-11 Boy, the house hunt was fun and now....the pay back...Aye Yi Yi Yi Yi!!!! The anxiety....the sleepnessness...the constant siging of scary legal documents...(the horrible mistakes).....THE MONEY!!!!!...Aye Yi Yi Yi Yi!!!!! Sunday we saw the house. Sunday night we had to kick our neighbors in the ass to make the bid on our house...9:45 Sunday night they came over and made the offer. 10:30 Sunday night we called the realtor with the intent to bid and to find out our next move. I barely slept that night. The race was on!!!Monday we went to the far western end of Elgin to sign all the papers and get the bidding process going..lightening my bank account by many thousands of dollars for earnest money. We came home and had to kick our neighbors in the ass to draw up a contract. Then we sat and waited for the bidding war to start. We offered $8,500.00 less than the asking price. The owner was insulted and came down $1500.00. We came up to 3,500.00 down from the asking price and he countered at 2,500.00 off the asking price. If this house were not in such great shape and move in ready in the neighborhood it is in, we'd have walked away. Tuesday, I had to go back to the far western edge of Elgin and initial the bidding papers with the new price. Then I had to head "just down the road"..(30 miles down the road), to my mortgage broker and sign a million and one papers, while striving to contain the contents of my stomach. When I got home I found out that my neighbors had still not drawn up a contract...had to go over...kick them in the ass and help her fill it out. I made many mistakes, because I am not a lawer or a realtor (realtors DO earn their money). I also found out that they were still "shopping" for a mortgage. Hell, they were shopping for mortgages for 3 weeks... "pick one and go with it", I said, "you need a mortgage commitment by June 17th." After making copies for both parties because the neighbors don't own a computer, I tried to sleep...Tried and failed. Wednesday, I faxed copies of the contract to both attorneys. There were a couple of problems my attorney had to straighten out. One thing I questioned in myself was, "What thought process was I using when I decided on a June 30th closing date?" Sometimes my stupidity amazes me. That hardly leaves any time for all the stuff that has to happen to go happen. Wednesday night, I tried to sleep but it didn't go very well. Thurday was pretty much just a "wait and see" day. I went to my AA meeting, showed off pictures and came home and tried to sleep. Sleep evaded me. Friday at 3:30 PM, I was locking up my desk, and purse in hand was ready to leave to meet the home inspectors at the Elgin home. The phone rang and I decided to answer. It was my attorney. There is a problem. We live on a concrete slab. Slab cracks in concrete slabs are common..even in new homes. Trying to be honest, I disclosed in a discolure statement required by the State of Illinois, that there were "cracks in the foundation". I guess that was stupid because they are technically "slab cracks" and not "foundation cracks". The neighbors lawyer (her brother) wrote a formal complaint letter stating that his clients were never made aware of foundation cracks. (The slab cracks were pointed out.). I have know the neighbor girl since she was knee high to a grasshopper. When I got home, we passed them in the parking lot. "Hi", I said supisiously "Hello" they said back, eyeing us with caution...both of us knowing that we knew that they knew that there was a legal matter between us. My lawyer seems to think that a slab crack is no big deal and said that he would dash a letter off to the neighbors attorney explaining that fact. I am nervous...I feel trouble brewing. One glitch and it is all over for both sales. We spent 2 hours with the home inspectors and $275.00. They commented over and over again how lovely the home was, how well built and cared for it was and what great materials and workmanship were in the upgrades...then they dropped the bomb. Seems that the foundation crack is a huge problem. I envisioned my cute litte house crumbling and falling to the ground. I saw the whole deal going out the window. Then he set me strait. It just needs a foundation specialist to seal up the crack. No mud jacking, no serious work...just a foundation expert to seal up the crack. Can we say "$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$!!!!!!!!" We put a couple of minor things in the contract that we want fixed. The garage door opener's sensor doesn't work, making it a hazard for any person or critter standing in the way of the closing door (this, they told me was a simple adjustment). The deadbolt on the door leading from the upstairs room to the future rooftop balcony doesn't line up with the hole. We asked that that be fixed. There were a couple of other minor things that we decided to fix ourselves because we want the control over how it is done. Then we put the part in about the foundation. Within the next 5 days a foundation specialist must evaluate, report on and advise of the repair of the foundation. Who will pay for this? Well, the owner, hoping to protect the contract could offer, or he could say "sorry, it you want the place, you pay for it." We would then have to make the decision as to whether to fork out the money to fix it or give up the contract. We would most likely pay to fix it and every other part of this home is Sweeeeeet and we desperately want out of the ailing crackerbox. I am spending 20,000.00 more on this house than I originally inteded and even in "move in" condition, there are several thousand dollars worth of repairs and upgrades we need to make. The foundation crack will no doubt be one and the finishing of the rooftop balcony is the other. Have I slept yet?....not much. I am in a perpetual state of sleep walking with anxiety and a great stomach ache. Now it is all on hold for the weekend. The suspense is killing me. If I ever move again, I will have enough money for the new place before having to sell the old. If these two deals go down, we will have traded a junk for a jewel, although trade is not the word....I will be paying through the nose for this thing for a long long time AND...will have to put up with living with my Mother In Law. Mike and I started to fight yesterday about certain things. I said that if my marriage survived this move that we would stay together.....well, now I am also in fear that the marriage will survive long enough to make the move and then get real ugly. There were hints about that last night. Especially when he informed me that he intended to keep the ratty looking half treehouse in the back yard and picked the room decorated with childs "toy truck" wallpaper because he liked it. When I stated that I wanted my home to look nice, including his room, he snapped "you have to be a bitch and control every little part of this, don't you....a house isn't everything and I don't intend to spend all of OUR money redecorating." I resisted the urge to yell back "OUR MONEY!!!!". Tensions are high. The buried hatchet is in the ground with the handle sticking out. Now is not the time to dig it up. I will dig it up later. Pray for me. P. I. Yarnsmith
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