Downtown Luxury Slum

We got the preliminary work-write up from the HUD consultant and it aligned pretty well with what we were already planning, so that was reassuring.

We also had a structural engineer come out to the house this week which was a little less reassuring. We learned that several of the piers that supported the house would need to be repaired, there were no concrete footers supporting the piers, and that much of the wood in the attic was charred. After talking to the contractor and the HUD consultant, we learned that structural repairs would add about $15,000 to the renovation costs. Awesome.

We also got a response back from the Raleigh Historic Development Commission. They were okay with most of our application, but wanted more details on a few items so we sat down with them and hammered out the details. They were extremely helpful and we got our Certificate of Appropriateness by the end of the week, coinciding with our last day of due diligence.

As a result of the news from the structural engineer, Louise, our realtor, asked the seller’s realtor if there was any chance he would consider lowering the price even more. At some point shortly before the end of the due diligence period, she surprised us with the news that he had offered to reduce the price all the way down to what we had originally offered. We’re still waiting to get that contract signed though, and given that the due diligence period is officially up, I’m concerned there’s nothing motivating him to sign it.