Well, we have the offer in on the second house (and the first house), and are waiting for the official word, but it looks like the sellers are going to accept it without an issue. The broker wanted to play around with a few of the dates on the contract, but that was the only thing. Not a big deal. And since we are only here for one more day, we figured it would be smart to just go ahead and get the home inspection done now. It's a lot easier when one of us (in this case, me) can walk along with the inspector, see things firsthand, and ask questions. It made sense.
When you are considering buying a house that is 181 years old, you get a little nervous when it comes time to figure out what's wrong with it. I know with the first house, I was seeing dollar signs every time the inspector told us something would need to be replaced. Granted, that was a less expensive home, but it needed a lot of work. Shockingly, I am pleased to report that this 1830 Colonial is in excellent condition!!! It is, as we initially thought, move-in ready. Wow, wow, wow!
The roof is less than 10 years old, and should last for at least 15 more years. The boiler and water heater are about 6 years old. The oil tank is immaculate. The plumbing (which would need replacing in the other house) has already been replaced here with the flex line (which you don't have to worry about in freezing temps). Everything is well insulated. The inspector marveled at how well-built everything was, pointing out all these details that I guess you just don't see in newer homes. There were a lot of "they just don't make 'em like they used to" comments. :)
There was one area outside where a drain pipe had come loose and needed to be fixed, but that's something we could easily do ourselves. And the attic needs more ventilation, but that seems to be the case with every house we see. But that was it! Really, I was amazed. And this guy went through all 3,700 square feet, inside and out, with a fine-tooth comb. He was incredibly thorough.
And aside from his attention to detail, the guy was sort of an architectural history buff. He pointed out parts of the house that were most likely built in different time periods, based on the materials and techniques. The house has been added on to/rebuilt a lot in the last 181 years! In the main (original) part of the house, he told us that the timbers in the ceiling indicated that the house was probably made by shipbuilders in their off season. And we knew that the floors were all Southern Yellow Pine, but he also pointed out that the siding was cedar (good) and that it was actually better than vinyl siding in terms of its life expectancy.
Oh, and my favorite part???? We were all up in the attic, checking it out (it's huge), when the inspector noticed a hatch on one wall (well, inside of the roof, technically). It blended in with everything else, so we hadn't noticed it. But he opened it, and it led to ANOTHER massive attic, even bigger than the first! It's the whole back half of the house! That was insane! The back attic is really not meant for storage (it doesn't have flooring laid down), but it was like a whole secret compartment in the house. Who knew??
Anyway, we are certainly leaning toward this house now, and I really hope it works out. The sooner the better! I took a lot of measurements today, too, and I can't wait to get home and measure some of our furniture!
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