New house blues

[Hustle]

It's been a long few days.

We moved in to out new house Friday. About two things have gone right: Our movers were great and our DirecTV dish got installed.

Beyond that, it's been a struggle. I nearly reached my breaking point this a.m.

- No gas hooked up. Which means no warm showers. That happens Mon.

- Fridge doesn't cool enough. So we eat out until Tues., when that gets looked at.

- Our home inspector missed a termite problem; we discovered damage last week. This afternoon, we had a swarm in our kitchen.

- One cat adjusting well, the other not so much. I hear him banging on the door now; we locked him into the room with his food, water and litter after he hopped up and pissed on furniture for the second time today. The first time, he was on the arm rest of the recliner. With me in it.

I mean, I expected problems but it seems like zero is going right. I really thought I was going to lose it after the swarm fiasco.

Oh and no net yet, which is why I'm struggling on the wife's BlackBerry. There's so much welled up, but the fat fingers and small keys aren't a great combo.

Any words of advice from you homeowners? And thanks for letting me vent...

 

[imjustagirl]

So sorry to hear that, Huss. Wish I could do something to help.

But thanks for reminding me why I'll never own.

 

[ArnoldBabar]

Two and a half ****ing months, and every minute of my "spare" time is still spent unpacking/painting/fixing something. It never ****ing ends.

 

[KJIM]

Except the termite problem, that's really not too bad. My heater blew out in the first week. I had a warranty, but it was 12 degrees out on a Friday.

And now, in my little Peace Corps abode in Morocco, I have no fridge and hot water only comes when I heat it with the little gas stove. (But I don't have a shower anyway, so it doesn't matter.)

So those parts I can't empathize with.

However, check your inspector contract to see if there's any recourse. Missing termites is awful. My inspector had a clause to where he'd be held responsible for missing big things.

Here's a cat suggestion. I've heard it, but never tried it.

Rub butter on your cat's paws and let him or her wander around. I've heard that when they lick them clean, they'll pick up the smell/taste of the new surroundings and get used to it.

I'm a dog person, so I've no idea if it works.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

I agree to check on the termite problem in your paperwork. Not that you should cancel the sale of the house (unless it's about to collapse), but someone other than yourself should be paying to resolve that problem.

My big problem on Moving Day was that the seller didn't have any of her stuff out of the house yet. Our lawyer (who sucked monkey balls), forgot to have us inspect the house two days before closing, so, after we closed on the house, we showed up the next day with the moving van to discover the old lady still had everything in her house. She had lived there a long time, and wanted more time to move. We let her store some of her stuff in our garage for a week, but we told her it was time for us to move in.

 

[EStreetJoe]

For the cat that's not adjusting well.. not sure what to tell you. Maybe keeping him closed in the room with his litterbox, food, toys and bedding might be best with constant visits from you and other family members to reassure him everything's fine.
When the Mrs. & I moved last year we went against the advice I received on a "Pet expert" message board and the cat adjusted fine. What we did was - since the place we were moving to was already empty - have my wife go-ahead to the new place with the cat and play with him in the empty new house so he could get used to the smells and surroundings while I stayed with the movers while they packed up the fragile items and loaded the truck. Once I knew the moving truck was fully loaded, I called ahead to her and she put the cat back in his carrier and went out with him for a couple of hours while the movers loaded everything into the new home. He adjusted fine.
On the message board the advice was to keep him closed in a room in the old house while the movers were there (despite the fact the movers needed to get into every room to move furniture). Then at the new house keep him locked in a single room with his food, litterbox, toys and bedding for the first several days while going in often to constantly heap love on him, play with him and reassure him everything's ok. Then after a few days, let him out for 30 minutes a day of supervised exploring, then put him back in the room, and do this for at least a week. That way the cat would be safe and be given time to adjust to his new surroundings.

 

[trifectarich]

The termite problem is a priority.

As others have suggested, check your contract to see if you have any recourse. At worst, you ought to ask your inspector to refund some of your fee.

You might also check with your realtor about nondisclosure by the previous owner. Depending on the severity of the problem, you might have a case that there's no way the previous owner didn't know about it.

Good luck. I dealt with a termite problem previously, but fortunately, it was in the very early stages and it wasn't a major problem to deal with.

 

[EStreetJoe]

The termite problem is a priority.

As others have suggested, check your contract to see if you have any recourse. At worst, you ought to ask your inspector to refund some of your fee.

You might also check with your realtor about nondisclosure by the previous owner. Depending on the severity of the problem, you might have a case that there's no way the previous owner didn't know about it.

Good luck. I dealt with a termite problem previously, but fortunately, it was in the very early stages and it wasn't a major problem to deal with.

Some excellent advice there.
Check your home inspection contract and then check with the realator about non-disclosure.

 

[fishwrapper]

I will say this a million times if I have to.
When buying a house, buy the one-year warranty. Buy it. Buy it.
It will be the best $300-500 dollars you ever spend in your life.

(Your home inspector should have caught the termite problem. Get him out there immediately. Tell him you want the affected areas treated or you will be contacting his licensing body).

 

[Moderator1]

Yes.
Termites and water damage are Inspection 101.

 

[21]

Get a real estate lawyer on the phone asap, and let him/her tell you what your options are.

The rest of the problems are annoying but temporary.

The important thing is to have sex in every room of the house....seriously. Make it all yours.

 

[Bubbler]

The important thing is to have sex in every room of the house....seriously. Make it all yours.

Yes. Do this ASAP.

 

[fishwrapper]

Be careful, though. Unless you want to fill all of those rooms.

 

[JR]

How could a house inspector miss a termite problem? That's sheer incompetency.

Lawyer up.

 

[BTExpress]

But thanks for reminding me why I'll never own.

T-minus 47 months to last mortgage payment . . . and $300,000 worth of equity.

That's why we own.

 

[BYH]

It's probably too late for Hustle for this move, but when we moved to a new apartment in the fall of '06, we boarded our cats at our vet for the weekend (moved on a Saturday). That kept them out of harm's way during the moving process.

On Monday, we picked them up. The vet told us to keep them in the spare room, w/their food and litter, for at least a day or so and then slowly introduce them to the other rooms over the course of the week.

But within a couple hours, the older cat was crying and scratching at the door. So we let him out, he explored, mewed a whole lot and slept on the bed that night. The younger one was a little more timid and spent the first couple days under the heaters in each room, but it didn't take her long to grow comfortable.

Good luck with everything else, Hustle. The termites bit made me cringe, I can only imagine what it must have been like for you guys.

 

[mike311gd]

 

[BYH]

Let it be stated that Mikey does not in fact fail at everything.

 

[slappy4428]

Let it be stated that Mikey does not in fact fail at everything.

 

[StormSurge]

But thanks for reminding me why I'll never own.

T-minus 47 months to last mortgage payment . . . and $300,000 worth of equity.

That's why we own.

Ditto, along with inputting those mortgage interest payments into Turbo Tax & watching my refund amount shoot up.

Hang in there Huss.