By Martin Cross, August 26, 2020
With time, patience, and a little (or a lot of) money, most things can be fixed. Question is, should you have to?
John is a young tradesmen eager to buy his first home. John was willing to take almost any home, in an ok neighborhood, that feels strong in its bones. 33 your old rusty water heater? No worry, my brother does that for a living. New roof? No problem, I’ve got a buddy. Dead animals in the crawlspace? No problem, I have a friend who will do that for a six pack of beer. Garage walls are a little bowed? Not to worry, with the installation of wall corner protectors and a few more foundation fixes, my brothers and I can fix that over a weekend.
His eagerness and enthusiasm were sometimes infectious but I had to slow him down many times on what condition issues were reasonable to accept from a seller. He was so excited to move into a new house, he was willing to take on most problems if the seller wouldn’t.
The seller was a “contractor“ who was really only interested in doing the minimum amount possible in the quickest way. Needless to say, this is rarely the path to a good resolution. It took many attempts at repair lists, many re-inspections and many considerations to get through the repair contingency period but eventually we negotiated for money instead to move on to the next phase.
But, even all through all that, when it was all said and done, John was moving into his new house exactly 4 weeks after our offer was accepted.
Martin Cross
Broker | OR & WA
He/Him
I've lived in the Portland-Vancouver area my entire life, so I'm very familiar with its many neighborhoods—both in the heart of the city and throughout the suburbs...
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