Lending

This is awfully early in a blog for a bitch fest, so I'll try to make it short.  I wouldn't call my house a dump.  Some people might.  I call it neglected.  Apparently the bank is in the former camp.  Historic homes were, if not better built than new homes, built out of better materials.  But many of them were complicated, particularly homes from the last third of the 19th century.  The industrial revolution changed buildings more rapidly in thirty years than anything for the preceding several hundred years.  Maybe since the arch?  Houses had central heating, and central plumbing, and in the case of my house, a built-in gutter system.  There is nothing better than box gutters at the bottom of your roof to move a lot of water rapidly.  Because they are broad, they're easier to clean, and it's easier for leaves to be blown out of them.  But they were expensive.  REALLY expensive.  But they last about a century with little to no maintenance (save for cleaning, and in the case of non-copper gutters, occasional painting).  My house has now surpassed that mark.  It'll be turning 120 next year. So the gutters need rebuilt.  Some of the slate needs patched, the windows need  a few rails replaced, and the house needs painted, etc., etc....  I'm trying to get the slate patched first.  That will allow me to finish the bathroom upstairs as the roof won't be leaking on it.  Then, I could potentially bring in another housemate, which would increase my buying power so that I can ultimately tackle the $40k in gutter work that needs to happen.

Baby steps.  I bought the house as a foreclosure and have, based on the appraisal, 4x what I owe on the house in equity.  I want to tap into 1/6 of that equity.  But no one will do it because of the condition of the house.  Just saying...it's not like I'm using the money to take a trip to Hawaii.  Frustrating to say the least.  Everyone keeps telling me to do one thing at a time, but people seem to forget that everything is related.  I can't do a bathroom if the roof leaks on it.  I can't do the roof unless the bathroom is fixed and I can generate more income.  I can't do the pantry, if I don't do the other bathroom, but I can't do the other bathroom till the one above it is finished.  I can't paint the house unless the gutters aren't leaking on it.  Maddening.  I know it sounds like a dump but it is more than just an awesome house, it's my home.  There is nothing better than a warm spring or fall day and having the tower windows open and a breeze blowing across the bed.  You can't appraise that.

My complaint is to all of the banks out there...there are those of us who want to do things slowly, so that we don't get in over our heads.  Please help us, and we'll help you make a profit, AND not get into the mess that you got yourselves in before by allowing people to get in over their heads.  Think about it.