16. possible set back

After our house sold, we finally signed a breath of relief. Could things finally be starting to settle down? Could we relax and enjoy our last few weeks in MN? Was it safe to let our guard down?

Sadly no, grasshopper.

Husband went out to Montana for the house inspection last month after our offer was accepted and we were under contract. He and the inspector spent about 6 hours at the property, and thoroughly investigated every nook and cranny.

The good news is that Husband had been under the impression that the sellers (who had built the place) had done everything perfectly (which was intimidating to him), but he (thankfully) discovered that they were only human after all, and all was not perfect.

The bad news is that Husband had been under the impression that the sellers/builders had done everything perfectly, but he discovered that they were only human after all, and all was not perfect.

At first I didn't really understand the magnitude of the non-perfectionism, but as time dragged on for them to respond to our request to agree to some updates/fixes to the house, I started to question why it was taking so long. That's when Husband explained to me that there was actually some pretty MAJOR things wrong with the house (like, they had used indoor-grade wiring for the outdoor solar and wind power systems), and that it might be expensive for them to get it fixed.

How could such a thing happen, I wondered. After all we had gone through with permits over the years, and the major headache of our city inspection that was required for us to even list our house on the MLS, I couldn't figure out how such a major error had been allowed to happen for a house that had been on the market (with no offers) for over a year.

And that's when I was told that the sellers had never pulled a single permit for anything. Ever. Nothing.

Now, in their defense, apparently permits are only suggested for electrical and plumbing in Montana, or so Husband tells me, and building permits aren't even required for single family homes. And since permits can be expensive, I can kind of understand cutting this expense if your money is tight and you really know what you're doing. But what I DON'T understand is cutting this corner if you aren't absolutely, 100%, totally sure of what you're doing. And apparently they weren't.

So now we wait. We are hoping they will agree to get everything up to code, and to have it certified by a state-licensed electrician.  (And a couple other things we requested, which are a little more minor but still important.) If they do, then we can move on to the next step (appraisal), which is also not guaranteed. If not, then we start looking into back-up plans, as we're about 33 days away from the big move.

At this point, our realtor puts closing at about 50% likelihood.