Wednesday, January 18, 2012

RD Loan = Pain in the Butt for Seller


So we got the results back from the home inspection our buyer needs in order to get her Rural Development loan. Some of the findings are a bit laughable, and all but one will be easy to fix.

But that one. Well, we’ll see.

There is peeling paint on the outside of the house. We know this. It’s part of the long debate we’ve had on whether to scrape and paint or ditch the siding in favor of stucco. But it apparently has the potential to be a sticking point with the RD loan.

Whether it is or not all depends on the appraiser now, who came yesterday before we knew the results of the inspection. The inspector pretty much put it in the appraiser’s/lender’s hands to decide whether the painting has to be done to close the sale and get the loan.

Here’s to hoping there’s no painting to be done because, if you haven’t noticed already, it’s winter. Mid-January. Yes, we’ve had an amazingly mild, snow-free winter (up until this week) but I still think the chances of having a paint job look good when done in this kind of weather is slim to nil.

Of course the other option is to put money into an escrow and have the painting done when the weather is better. Hells bells, that opens up a conundrum for us. How much of the house would have to be painted? At a maximum, if I were to do it on my own, I’d paint the back of the house, and maybe the south side, where the peeling paint is the worst – and then again only those portions of the siding showing flaking paint. Frankly, if it were up to me and it were still our house, I’d just say screw it, we’ll either paint in a year or two or do the stucco thing. Half a job seems like putting lipstick on a pig.

But all of this anger upsets my stomachs. I suppose we wait to see what the appraiser says.

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