Scary Cabin

We’re nearing the end of the buying process. Assuming nothing goes really wrong we will be the proud owners of a scary cabin in the woods in a couple of weeks. We had a home inspection and a pest inspection. Neither one found anything that was surprising. It needs a lot of work but nothing really big.

The appraisal for the loan was less thorough and listed nothing that wasn’t noted in the inspections. The loan underwriter highlighted three things that need to be taken care of.

1. Electrical issues specified in the report must be fixed and certified by a licensed electrician. That make sense except that the report didn’t list any electrical issues. It did include a picture of an uncovered j-box. We’re all assuming that’s all that needs to be fixed. So $150 to have someone come out, put a cover on the box and certify that it now meets code.

2. The leaks in the upstairs bathroom must be fixed and certified by a licensed plumber. The bank had the leaky toilet fixed so it’s done.

3. A stove must be purchases by the buyer and installed. Hmm, we are planning to remodel the kitchen so the fact that there’s no stove is a benefit to us. Well, not to the loan company. We found a stove for cheep, but getting it properly installed is another problem. 40 years ago, electric stoves used less power and the codes to install them didn’t require neutrals. Any modern stove will require a neutral and will need larger breakers. The electric panel is full and can’t accommodation larger breakers for the stove. That means a new panel. Our loan officer has been pretty understanding and go with the definition of “installed” that means it is located in spot in the kitchen where a stove would go. Replacing the panel seems a bit unreasonable for a place we don’t yet own.

Next step; “install” the stove and supply the required paperwork. Meanwhile, the list of things that we need to do grows larger every time we see the place.