A second look

We're planning to head back out to the property to take another gander at it.  Our dear Good neighbor and friend has made his living first running a home inspection business, and then buying, renovating and renting out houses.  We sat down, looked at photos and discussed what we saw.   He's going to join us for this trip out to the farm and do a thorough look-over... but has told us that unless there is something very, very wrong with the place that we're not seeing immediately (i.e., septic, water and soil contamination, etc), we'd be crazy not to buy the place at that price.  The damage that we saw that appeared to be so scary, it turns out, isn't very scary at all, and is entirely within our skills and means to fix, with a little guidance.  Even the asbestos insulation around the pipes in the basement (which I didn't recognize, but he did from the photos we showed him) is something he said should be manageable.

So, this weekend we'll head back out there and he'll get a closer look.  If it gets his seal of approval, we'll call up our mortgage guy and get approved for financing.  We'll make an offer, with contingencies for the official home inspection, well, septic, and soil tests... and we'll see if the seller will cover closing costs (which would be really helpful, since we'd like to have that cash handy for the work that's needed on the house).  We'll get all of the testing done that needs doing, hope that it all comes up to snuff, and perhaps by the Spring we'll be landowners, picking out rich shades of red and olive and amethyst for the walls.