So we went and looked at the house – and no – we are not buying. We realized that no matter how awesome it was – because it was awesome inside, there were such huge issues that we couldn’t overlook.

Issue one: THE DRIVEWAY
It was shared between the house and the one next door. We could be able to deal, but the space was tight. You couldnt get two cars down the driveway, but maybe a motorcycle 🙂 As we don’t have a motorcycle, we checked out the garage. There was space inside so that took care of that fear.

Issue two: THE ROOF
The roof was put on at least 16 years ago. Who knows what state it’s in and most likely will need to be replaced first thing in the nice weather. That’s a long way up and $5000 we wouldn’t have in a house at the top of our price range.

Issue three: THE FENCE
It’s old, it needs replaced if not this year, next year. Manageable really but when added to everything else – not such a good thing.

Issue four: THE STRUCTURE
The house, having been built in 1916, is old. And therefore is prone to a few shifts and things. But one of the main support beams of the house was cracked. There was water that leaked into the house due to issues with the slope of the land at the side of the property and the driveway. There were soft spots on the main floor that you could feel as you walked around – in that the floor wasn’t supported completely. We plan on having kids in a few years and if we got that house, we’d have a very tough time putting a rec room in the basement. It is questionable that the current owners put up a support wall smack dab in the middle of the room. Is it possible when they made the main floor open concept they didn’t support the house well? I don’t want to be the one to find out

I could have overlooked nearly everything, but the structure scared me. We had two things about the house going in that we worried about – the driveway not working with two cars at the back and the basement being able to turn into a rec room. For James that was key as he wants to be able to grow with the house.

It was good that we had both sets of parents with us because it made it easier to talk about all the things we questioned and realize exactly what we were getting in to. They were supportive either way, but wanted us to understand what we were getting in to.

Our agent, as I knew she would be, was/is awesome. She went through comparable listings that had sold in the area. Was completely understanding when we talked about our current mortgage preapproval situation and is more than willing to go with us anytime to go look at other listings.

So the hunt continues…