The home buying process is quite stressful, and at the current stage we’re at the stress is mostly coming from inspections and appointments with different contractors. Coordination and gathering information has taken a lot of planning and patience.

Inspections

First, the general inspection to make sure anything and everything the home may need is disclosed. The home was built in 2001, so there were no major surprises just the expected comments on some scuff marks on the floor, chips on the kitchen counter top, worn weatherstripping in the bathrooms, etc. All normal wear and tear and the home in general is in very good shape.

Then there’s the compliance/retrofit inspection. This is to make sure the home is fitted with things like low-flush toilets, smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, an automatic seismic shutoff for the gas, etc. Turns out just a smoke alarm and carbon monoxide detector needs to be added.

Final inspection was the appraisal to make sure the home is worth what it is being sold for. This is needed to secure the loan. If the appraisal comes in too low, the lender will not issue a loan for the sale price, in which case the buyer and seller need to either lower the sale price, go halfers on the difference, or the buyer finances the balance through some other means. Thankfully, appraisal came in at value.

Contractors

There are a ton of renovations planned so keeping contractors sorted out is quite a challenge. On Friday they will come to measure the kitchen and the following day we will meet with the kitchen designer to…design the kitchen. The plan is to add a second sink so a plumber is coming out on Friday as well to provide an estimate for installing the extra plumbing. The last player on Friday will be a bathroom contractors to give an estimate on renovating the restrooms.

But wait there’s more! On Tuesday…

• Someone will come to take measurements of the windows for some new shutters.
• Someone will come to measure the French doors leading out to the patio for possible replacement. (must be approved by the homeowners association first)
• Someone will come to take measurements in the garage to install some cabinetry around the laundry area
• Another bathroom contractor will come to provide an estimate on the restrooms.

I hope writing posts about more specific topics will be more interesting to people than my occasional abstract posts about my plans for this blog. 🙂