Today is the last official day of summer, which is a bit hard to believe since the weather has been autumnal for the last few weeks. I have been reluctantly accepting the onset of Fall for quite a while and was dreading the prospect of moving more than 20 miles in chilly (and perhaps snowy) weather. I don't dread that anymore because our hopes of moving before the return of warmer weather have pretty much been dashed. Tuesday we went back to see the house up north in the Timiskaming Shores region, spent a couple of hours walking in town and having lunch, spoke with some very nice, helpful residents there, decided to throw caution to the wind and make an offer on the house despite the drawbacks, met with the realtor again and did, indeed, make an offer on the property. Toad signed the offer. We all knew that it would be rejected as too low and expected the bank to come back with a figure to continue the give and take process of negotiation.
Throughout the night and next day I struggled with a sense of foreboding, afraid that we were making a terrible mistake because even though the house and property met three of our criteria (walking distance to town, minimum amount of living space, and a place for Dudley and the chickens), it needed a LOT of work and financial investment to get the basement dry, replace the roof, do cosmetic work inside and out, reduce dependence on fuel oil, and actually move in. Toad isn't physically able to do more than maybe ten percent of the work on the house and we don't have the money to hire anyone to do it for us. I can do a bit but not much. I would have the bulk of the moving (helping to load the moving truck, driving the loaded moving truck, getting hired help to unload it up there & staying overnight, driving back for another load, helping to load the truck again...) on my shoulders, leaving Toad in Mattawa to tend the animals. I figure that it would take four or five trips to get everything moved, maybe six considering the firewood, over a three week period. Ideally I could/would clean and paint and do as much as possible at the new house before returning for another load. It would be a huge effort, one I would like to think that I could do alone but which is not very realistic. It would also involve a huge expense, considering the rental of the moving truck for three weeks, the gasoline for six trips, hiring help to unload the truck, etc. Toad would have to come up for one trip to ready one of the outbuildings for Dudley and the chickens. So much to plan and do!
The more I thought about the wet basement and oil furnace and our financial situation and the likelihood of bitter, snowy weather for the move, the colder my feet got at the prospect of continuing the negotiations for the house. So when I got home from book club/Friends of the Library on Thursday afternoon and learned that the realtor had called with word that the bank had rejected our offer without making a counter offer I was relieved. Had the picture been rosier as far as being able to afford to do what needed to be done for all of us to be safe, dry, and warm I would have encouraged Toad to make another offer. I let it drop instead. Friday he called the realtor back and told her that we would let it rest for now but would she please keep us in mind if something suitable came up for sale, knowing what we want and can afford. She noted she believes the bank wanted to deal with someone willing to make a first offer of $44K (perhaps planning to get at least $50K) but we cannot, as that would leave absolutely no money for the necessary repairs. If we take out a $50K mortgage it has to be for a house that needs only cosmetic fixes.
We have since checked mls.ca listings a few times to see if anything new has been put on the market in our area, but the results are discouraging to say the least. So our hopes of moving before winter into a house we can afford, a house we would be free to do with as we pleased, have fallen with the advent of Fall. It's not all bad, though. We do have firewood, hopefully enough to last the winter. We have great neighbors on our road. We have an increasing number of friends in the area, meeting more and more interesting, welcoming faces all the time. I have my volunteer work with the Friends of the Library, running a successful public education program. Life could be much worse for us. As long as we don't have to use any of what is left of my savings, and as long as Toad can get pre-approved for a mortgage again in January, we may be in a better position to find a house with a bit of land next Spring. By then I just MAY be landed and thus be able to have my income be included in the calculations for mortgage pre-approval. And by then I just may have a part-time job that would help boost our income a bit. To that end I need to get a work permit without waiting to be landed first.
It helps me feel better about not getting the house up north when I look at the basement photos that I took last Tuesday. See for yourself.
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