Housing Update

So, we've pretty much decided to buy the house we're currently renting. Sure, it does need a bit of work (paint for nearly the whole interior, windows, carpeting, kitchen update, and some electrical and plumbing - we want to make a first floor laundry out of part of the mudroom), but we should be able to buy it pretty cheap (well below market value), have a pretty low mortgage payment, and slowly fix up the house. We're currently just waiting for the loan pre-approval, which should be coming in any minute, and the listing of the house to actually go live so the realtors can get to work.

Our landlord offered us the house before approaching a realtor. He originally wanted "market" value, which was WAY more than the house was worth, so we turned it down. He then got a bit desperate and told us he'd be willing to take a significant loss. We still didn't accept or even ask how much. The problem is we don't trust him. He's kind of a scuzzy person and was going to get HIS lawyer to draw up documents and do the deal. There was NO way we were going to go that route. We just DON'T trust him. So, we let the house get listed.

The Point of Sale person for the city came today and found lots of violations he's going to need to fix, especially the electric boxes (which are fire hazards, apparently). There are numerous other violations he's going to have to deal with or lower the cost of the house even more. Good for us. Bad for him. We'll see what happens.