Our House <3

[CS in Low Hud]

Sorry to hear about your difficulties. We had something similar happen when we bought this place 17 years ago - my wife and I run our own business, so I was expecting trouble from the bank, and it was a grim slog to be sure (profit and loss statements, tax filings for five years, 20% down, etc), but we were blind-sided by our insurance company, of all places, which declined at the last possible minute to cover the house because there was a crack in the sidewalk. They sprung this on us on a Saturday before the Monday morning on which we were to close. After a panicked flurry of calls, we located a local insurance office of another national brand, who was in his office and was willing to underwrite the property at the last minute so the deal was saved.

I would explore other financing options and then have a conversation with your current loan officer. Probably you'll be able to work something out, but it's good to be prepared to walk, if needs be.

Chris

[dpkmpy8]

I see good bones and nice detail. Keep your chin up, and soldier on. As Red Green would say, "I'm pullin for ya. Were all in this together."

[mrsnightengale11 (WavyGlass)]

According to the bank the issue with needing to show more money is a stipulation from the mortgage insurance, which supposedly they are working on to fix since it's their oversight that led to us no knowing a thing about it. They also claim to be working on the appraisal issue, as that was their fault as well for sending the appraiser out before work was completed.

Their still dragging their feet though which is getting pretty frustrating.

[Gothichome]

Mrsnightengail, the only help I can offer is assume a cross legged yoga position on the floor and practice your hummmmmmmmmm'ing technique between sips of wine and be calm.

[mrsnightengale11 (WavyGlass)]

Well the bank finally got back to us...

Apparently the underwriter wouldn't release the appraisal report because she was in the process of filing a complaint against the appraiser. The bank was keeping us out of the loop on purpose until they knew what the heck they were going to do to fix the mess. Basically the appraiser never set up an appointment to see the home, and simply just decided when to do it himself, and even let himself in... Wonderful right? To top it off he even did a horrible job appraising, and everything he noted/flagged/photoed had nothing to do with the properties value. I was told they normally score the home 1-6 (1 being perfect), he scored the house barely at a 5, and some of his complaints were peeling paint/wallpaper ect. Which I'm told the bank could care less about, and was totally irrelevant to what they wanted to know.

So now we are stuck scrapping the entire loan process thus far, and starting from the beginning. We'll have to redo every shred of paperwork, and get a new appraisal (from another company, and the banks paying for it). We'll also have to now deal with possibly being pulled into the investigation of the original appraiser, as the bank intends to have him prosecuted in any capacity they are able to.

The silver lining in all of this is the bank is actually fixing the mess, and are confident we'll close on time. So hopefully things go a little better from here out.

[Don M]

Well that at least sound encouraging---good luck.

[mrsnightengale11 (WavyGlass)]

Well we close any day now. We've gotten commitment from the bank, just waiting on the new appraisal to come through and be approved. Soon as that's finished we're good to close.

Other then the roof and porch we already know we have to deal with. We also need to deal with the plaster and the floors before we can move in.

I know in the rooms without plaster damage it's just a matter of wallpaper/paneling removal and then patching/skimming and painting. In the rooms with major plaster damage though what's my best bet? I've only ever dealt with drywall, and my husbands only dealt with small plaster cracks, never actual re-plastering. What do we need to use, and how do we do it? lol

For the floors, the upstairs is wide planks that are painted (in most places) under nasty carpet. After the carpets are removed our plan is to access how they look and either repaint, or refinish them. The main floor is all hardwood (very small planks), but the varnish is alligatored and almost tacky in places, and there is a bit of water marking as well as fading from where it looks like rugs sat for a long time. Can we just strip them and then reseal, or would it be best to sand? I just worry about sanding that we'll lose the gorgeous color they have now. Another obstacle we have to figure out is the holes in the floor from the radiators, as well as the huge wooden platforms they used to sit on. The sellers tried to remove them when they took out the radiators but they wouldn't budge an inch. Should we just leave it be for now?

[kelt65]

Actually, I LOVE kitchen cabinets like that. They're wood and will not warp when you lay heavy pots in them. If you need more counterspace - I think you most certainly will - I'd build something complimentary elsewhere in the room.

Nice house. Looks like all cosmetic work, I hope?

[kelt65]

You might want to see if there is hardwood under the kitchen tile. Nicole Curtis the "Rehab Addict" has had great luck removing all the old flooring to expose some very good looking wood flooring under all the layers. I think your idea for rearranging the kitcheen has merit. I would try to keep the cabinets if possible & your pantry is to die for! We have a hoosier type cabinet in our tiny kitchen plus a free standing small center island. We installed a pantry cabinet in a space next to the fridge which added a lot of extra storage space.

As someone who's lived with wood floors in the kitchen most of my life, I'm wouldn't reccomend it unless the floor planks are very tight - most aren't. Nothing like trying to mop and sweep food mess out of the cracks of the floor. I'd definitely get rid of that linoleum, though.
If it were me, I'd put the stove in an island opposite the sink, and place a refrigerator where the stove is. Nothing like being able to just turn around from the stove and be at the sink and vice versa.

[mrsnightengale11 (WavyGlass)]

@kelletim the cabinets will definitely be staying, though they will be either repainted, or just stripped.

As for the layout and adding space... the layout makes that a very complicated matter to say the least. I'm also not a fan of permanent islands as they are way too modern for my tastes. For now the solution is refinishing the base of an old Hoosier for added mobile workspace.

The floors are another complication, if whats underneath isn't workable then it's to the drawing board. All the other flooring options I liked were just discontinued. Awesome luck right?

The house itself though is completely sound, just needs a lot of cleaning up and a little love.