Just In! The Latest on the House

Well, the appraiser came out to the house today and wandered around. He soon realized that he had appraised this house once before many years ago. I showed him pictures of the house with all the remodeled areas and then let him into the house in its current state. He audibly gasped and kept repeating how saddening it all was! He just could not get over the sight. I will be emailing him the pictures tonight so he can add them to his report. Unfortunately, he stated our losses are heavy (no surprise there). And it looks like that loss will be in excess of $250,000!!! OUCH!!

After my meeting with the appraiser I took the pups to the vet to get their annual shots. We got talking about the house. He (the vet) knows the area and our house. Since he treats horses and livestock, he remembers SWIMMING out to the barn back in 1984 when the first flood occured to the first owner (we bought from the second owners who lived through the 1986 flood) to rescue their two horses. His comment was--"no one told you about the flooding?! EVERYONE who has lived in this area at that time knows that. " Anyway, it sounds like the damage to our house in the first flood was far more extensive than just filling our sunken living room as we were told by the neighbors. What a mess.

THEN....

When I got home there was a message on the answering machine.....

It was from our mortgage company!

The verdict is IN: Yes, Freddie Mac (aka "The Investors") will accept our request to apply the funds to the balance of the loan...

BUT (yes, there is always a "BUT")....

they want their own appraisal before. Thankfully the rep at the mortgage company took pity on our plight and asked them how long it would take for them to get this done--they stated that they hope all is said and done within 30 days (of course I'm not holding my breath). Apparently, they don't like to hold mortgages on property that has been damaged! And, the best part...

...they MAY release the lien to us and called the loan satisfied without us having to pay the balance of the mortgage (all 7K of it--not much, but we are still grateful!)!

YAHOO!!!

Maybe there is light coming at the end of this VERY dark and long tunnel.

We are SO blessed....

Now... did I mention that my car needs a new windshield?! That's a whole other story---complete with another insurance claim! But, thankfully, it's not my insurance. The Readers Digest version: A defective windshield wiper caused extensive damage---and the company that installed them is taking the hit. I was impressed by the way they handled this...now to find the time to get the windshield installed..........

The excitement never seems to end....