July 13, 2008

Scratch That

On Saturday morning, we met with the builder rep and completely changed all of our exterior colors, with the exception of the trim and window heads. We totally panicked. While driving through the development after selection, we realized we chose the wrong stone. I hated the stone we chose, up on an actual house.

So, we switched our siding to "frost" (white), our shutters to "midnight blue," and also chose our stucco color (light grayish white) and roof (slate). We basically recreated another house that we like that’s in the next development.

I told the builder representative that this was the last time I’d be "bothering him about this." He laughed and said, "Yeah right." I told him to remember that I specifically said "about this." I gave myself an out, so I can complain and change my mind about other things. It’s one thing to spend a lot of money on a shirt that you don’t like. It’s an entirely different thing to pick out the colors for your dream house and choose wrong.

Speaking of "wrong," we also got our inspection report on Saturday from the marathon home inspection. Apparently we have a radon problem. The EPA recommends that homes have a radon reading under 4.0. Our two cannisters came back at 4.2 and 4.9. Of course, the buyers want us to install a radon mitigation system and retest. I feel sort of like Leona Lewis right about now. "I keep bleeding, keep, keep bleeding" because I feel like I’m being completely bled dry of any money I was going to have to buy things like tissue holders and towel bars for the new house.

While Mr. BBM was all zen about it, I was fired up. We’re already giving them seller’s assist in no small amount. I’m not thrilled about having to spend more money on the house I’m leaving in just two weeks. My realtor also thought it was a little ridiculous. The levels were only slightly over normal and those levels can vary depending on the season, humidity level, etc. I read online that they recommend you retest if the levels come in below 5.0 before you put in a radon mitigation system, because you may not really even have a problem.

The problem is that we don’t really have time and I doubt the buyers would want that anyway. Lately it seems to be all about what the buyers want, and I’m not a give-in kind of girl. I told Mr. BBM that if we put this system in, he can expect me to be unpleasant at closing. I don’t know what he’s more afraid of: the possibility of the buyers walking, or the prospect of dealing with a grumpy me at closing.

If I were him, I’d be afraid of me.