Disappointing Appraisal...

A week after the appraisal took place I finally got the results and they were not pleasant.... I had expected to discover some problems with the house, but I never thought the problems would need to be solved before purchasing the house! I had already had difficulty communicating with the seller of the foreclosed house now owned by a bank. I was eager to get the house so I asked permission to make the repairs myself hoping it would save time. The seller responded three weeks later with an OK to fix the issues but with a disclaimer that everything must be done within a week and nothing else from the appraisal may be done. This would normally be great, but I received this news the day before I left for a four day vacation. That leaves me three days to get everything done. I immediately started sweating knowing the it would have to be a homerun when I got back. I initially called my dad and asked if he knew any contractors, but everyone he knew was heavy into projects and had no time to drive an hour out to my future house and do some work. I decided to have a good vacation and deal with it when I got back.

As soon as I got back from vacation I started researching how to solve the problems mentioned on the appraisal. I had to make the back deck not a liability risk, so I cut off a section of boards and patched in a new one. I ripped up three of four boards and put new ones down with nails. There were two sections I could not get up, so I used this compound that feels in wood. I knew it would not work long term, but I hoped it would get me through the appraisal. It looked horrible and had the appearance of being safe, but I knew it was not. Next I had to fix the leaking pipe in the basement so I wrapped the pipe with insulation and patched the hole in the ceiling. Lastly was the whole in the side of the garage. This I did not want to fix because it was to the garage so I got the house inspector to write a letter stating that it is not a major problem. Other than the major problems I also had to install a shower head in the guest bathroom. With these items addressed, I requested another appraisal. With some negotiations I was able to get the appraisal passed. After some very last minute trouble purchasing the house I finally started signing the papers and took ownership of the house.