Inspection

Yesterday I experience my first ever home inspection.  I was nervous about the home inspection for a few reasons.  To start with - what if your inspector is terrible or doesn't make sense to you? Thankfully for us, Bart - our home inspector, was fantastic.  He was honest and fair, he knew about homes and repairs, and he made both Bryan and I feel comfortable asking questions.  So at least that fear was calmed.
The other part of the inspection fear came from what the inspection would uncover.  I, personally, was nervous about the roof.  Would this roof need to be replaced after the next thunderstorm (which, let's be honest, would be the day that we move in)?  Our realtor also warned us about something called 'orangeburg' pipes, and since the home was built in the 50's she said that it was a definite possibility.  So basically my prayers were, "Dear Jesus, please no problems with the home inspection! But also, give us an honest home inspector and help him find anything that's wrong."
Unfortunately for Bryan and I and our dreams of owning a home, the inspector found several BIG ticket issues. Let's review, shall we?
1. Mold in the attic: The inspector said that it was normal to see in this type of home, but that it was a big issue and would need to be taken care of before anyone moved in.  This was the first of the major issues and I though, huh, well okay I can deal with that. Next...
2. The Front Porch:  So apparently back in the day, you didn't just build steps to your door, no no. You had a little space underneath the cement slab that actually opens into your basement.  We knew that there was a door out to this odd little space under the porch after the first time we walked through the house.  We didn't really know what we were looking at, but we new it was there.  Thankfully, Bart knew what he was looking at - mold, mildew, water seeping into the foundation of the home, motor deteriorating, and so much more! Basically the report was that the STEPS MUST BE REPLACED prior to anyone moving in since the cement could cave at any minute. Don't worry...there's more...
3. The Electric:  So I guess having your electric set up correctly is important to avoid things like fires.  Well our panel is not set up correctly, it has 100 AMPS coming in, but it was on a 200 AMP service meaning that before the circuit would shut itself off, it would overload and catch fire.
4. Finally, the dreaded ORANGEBURG PIPE! We had a sewer scope completed on recommendation from our realtor, and thank goodness we did! Orangeburg pipe was used around the in the mid part of last century and they thought it would be the latest and greatest in plumbing.  However, it's basically cardboard w/tar around it - which clearly cannot stand up to water running through it and roots growing around it for 50 years and so it collapses and then your sewer line backs up into the house. Clearly not what you want after a nice big storm.
So, those were the big things in our inspection.  We're going to ask the owner to take care of all these issues or give us concessions so that we can fix them, but we're kind of convinced that he won't be able to help us with these, which means that the cute little 1950's ranch will not be our first home.  Since the issues are so severe, I'm okay with it. I'm disappointed, but okay.  I am stressed that we will be homeless or that we'll get an apartment and then we'll find a house a week after we've signed our lease, but alas, there's no way to predict what will happen with our home search.
Later today we will talk with our realtor to discuss everything and hopefully to move forward from our very disappointing inspection yesterday.  I am glad of a few things: that our inspector was AWESOME and honest, that our realtor isn't just out to make a buck and thought about asking for the sewer scope, and that we know about all the issues in the home. At least we didn't move in without an inspection and THEN find these things out.  Thank you God for that! And now...more houses....