The house that would not be bought

I'm in the midst of buying a house; except, if you asked my sister, she would probably assure you that I was on the periphery of buying a house and she was in the midst of it. However you want to put it, the house is being bought, and, it's a big, big, crazy step, fraught with peril.

Currently, the peril comes in the form of HUD vs The City of Tucson, in an all out battle for supremacy over all things utility. Which is to say that the City of Tucson says that they must pass approval on the house before they will turn the electricity on. Now, this would be fine, except that we know the house is missing some minor (to us), yet, crucial (to them) bits that might mean it will not pass the inspection, even if everything else is all the way skippy dory.Which would also be fine, if we could simply nip out, purchase them, install them, and, get on with the day. However, we cannot. Enter the dreaded opponent, HUD.

We are not allowed to make even a slight alteration on the house, before it is purchased; not even to get it inspected. HUD will not make an alteration on it. Which leaves us at, probably, having to take the house without an inspection.

Strangely, I am okay with this. I have faith that the house is the right house, and, all will turn out well. And, with all the cost of inspection, de-winterizing, re-winterizing, de-winterizing again, turning on the utilities, turning off the utilities again, turning back on the utilities, we would save enough money by not getting it inspected to cure whatever ills might crop up. Unless, of course, all the pipes needed replacing. Even so, the next best house in price is still $20,000.00 more. This is a small place -I don't think there could be $20,000.00 worth of repairs needed, without it being somewhat visible to the naked eye. There is a broken drawer in the kitchen, yes. It is not a $20,00.00 drawer, however, and, the wee holes in some of the doors and walls are not $20,000.00 worth of damage, altogether, even including the drawer.

I think it will all be fine.  And, the electric company and the gas company do their own inspection of things, so, that takes care of the majority of what needs inspecting. Plus, one of us, the people who will be living there, has a relative who is in construction, so he can help us determine if anything is wrong, and, if there is anything, he can help us figure out what to do about it.

Now, the main dilemma is, can I get my sister to believe that? Which, she indicated she is likely to believe it, earlier today. I think, mainly, because she is tired of dealing with b.s. about the house, and, she just wants to get it signed and over with.

I would show you pictures of the house, but, I don't want you rushing in and offering them more money. So, I might let you see it, after all the papers are signed!