Pastor has informed us that he has a heat and air man coming. Gerri and I can’t be happier since we have been freezing inside the house while trying to work. This also means we can have hot water and get in there and wash all the kitchen items we bought and those few items we saved from the donation pile and get them placed where they belong.
There were several issues we could not deal with because of not owning the property. There are pro’s and con’s to buying a home using a realtor or “by owner” and they vary drastically.
With a realtor negotiations go back and forth with each party negotiating what needs to be fixed, price of course, appraisals, attorneys fees, closing costs, professional inspectors, title searches, and termite inspections through written contracts. All the legal aspects are done by the realtor and attorney, and a realtor, as a third party, has an advantage in negotiations with all of this through experience.
Purchasing a property “by owner” has little of this done professionally. Any legal issues such as title searches, deeds, finding an attorney (if one is to be used) etc. is done by the purchaser. There are no professional inspections revealing faulty wiring, furnace, water heaters, plumbing, items not up to code, roof, no appraisals, etc. and negotiations are done person to person, with or with out a legal contract, and most by owner sales are purchased “as is.” You get what you see and you get what you don’t see.
Of course, wanting to save as much money as we can, since all funds are from donations, pastor wants to avoid having to pay the usual commission required by a realtor since we plan on paying cash, and has decided he can do the legal leg work through the wife (couple) he’s hired. (But are now gone.)
That has been our situation. The previous owner used the property as a rental property and as I’ve stated before from my own experiences that isn’t always a good thing. Our couple that lived there for the three months, in all fairness, we feel did not do all the damage we found. Yes, they tore up walls, etc. as part of the renovation. But broken windows, the “scatter gun” holes in the bedroom walls, other holes in walls, we feel could possibly have been done by the previous renters, at least that’s what we’d like to think.
Having said that we still have to deal with those issues and now that we own the property we can get electricians, heat and air, painters, etc. in without the concern about not having insurance coverage or approval from the previous owner.
Now that we are legal owners we can really get down and dirty with doing what needs to be done.
Will we get the cherished heat and hot water or will more surprises pop up?
Tune in next time – there’s lots more to come.
Blessings to you.
Into The Light Ministry
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