House update

I brought mom home today and she is quite happy about eating food she selects and sleeping in her own bed. Even when it is good, institutional care is bad.

I forgot to give a housing update. The day before I left town, I got the seller to agree to a price that is roughly $16,500 less than we initially agreed. This is only one-third of the estimate the surveyor came up with for needed repairs. It covers the list of immediate work, but not the list of work needed over 1-3 years. We decided to assume the additional costs because we really like the house and there are always costs to living in an old house. I don't think the seller would have come down anymore.

Buyer's remorse set in soon after, when a recent homebuyer told me his surveyor estimated repairs would cost 10,000 pounds and they turned out to be more than three times that. It hadn't occurred to me that the surveyor could have badly underestimated the cost. We're paying cash for the house and won't have much of a cushion when we're done. Here's hoping we can manage cash flows and don't meet with nasty surprises.

In our favor: the dollar is strengthening against the pound.
9/5