Hurdles of Buying the Homestead

Closing on our new house is supposed to happen Friday. Late last week we were hit with the fact that the loan people need a water test done, to check for E. Coli and coliforms. Generally that wouldn't be a problem; call the realtor, get in, turn on the tap, and BAM, sample. Not so easy with a rehab house that's been vacant for about 4 years and owned by a bank in like California. The power is shut off, and it can't be turned on without an inspection from the utility company. The inspection would fail because of wiring (that will be fixed in the rehab loan). On top of that, all of the copper piping has been stolen, so you can't even get water from the sink!

It's a good thing we are so handy. We had loan people and realtor people saying it was impossible to start the well pump with a generator (why do you think people buy generators in the country!?!). We spent all Saturday-Monday visiting the house each day to turn on the well pump and let the water circulate for a bit.

It started off with a nice yellowish brownish tinge, with sulfur and iron smells, but after running it for a few days, it has cleared a lot. On Monday I couldn't smell the sulfur anymore, but it definitely has iron, which we figured, since the bathroom sink and tub both have iron stains on them.

Luke got up nice and early this morning to run back over with the sample bottles from the water treatment plant and get a sample, then run it to the plant, since they do testing today and it needed to be in by 10:00AM.  We should know after noon tomorrow what the results are, and we believe this is our final hurdle!

We'll see what tomorrow brings!