Should've known better...

We got our general and pest inspections done this week on that darn house we're trying to buy. Both went well. The consensus was that there's certainly work to do, but the house is in remarkably good shape for being approximately 110 years old. Though upkeep faltered under the last owner, the owners before her took really good care of the place and did a lot of upgrades, including new wiring, plumbing, roof and foundation work. As Steve and I believed, it's much better than it looks.

 But we should have known better than to get too excited. The listing agent claimed that the water was on. Not only is it not on, but it hasn't been connected since 2008. Our realtor confirmed this with the city water department. Steve and I chatted with two of the neighbors who told us that the paranoid former occupant lived without running water, apparently bringing bottled water home for all her needs. She probably suspected that her water was being drugged/poisoned. Really sad stuff.

Anyway, point is that since the water has been turned off for so long, a new sewer connection fee has to be paid. All in all, it's something like $6,000. We were prepared to take care of it ourselves once we got the house and have the bank credit us at closing for the cost, but the lender is requiring that it be done before contractors bid on the work (which the lender uses to determine the amount of the renovation portion of our loan). So the bank has to do it. All we can do now is wait and see if/when they will comply. The ball's completely in their court now. We can't get the loan unless they do it, since we're certainly not willing to put up $6k of our own money before the house is officially ours. 

It's ridiculous that the listing agent and the bank had no information on the current utility status. The listing agent's assistant claimed (again) that the water was on and our realtor said "have you been getting a bill?" Apparently that stumped her. Unfortunately, we've gone back to getting a lot of attitude after a brief period of cooperation. The listing agent's assistant literally told our realtor to "just do your job and let me do mine" after we provided them with what we'd found out about the water status. Gee, we'd love to let you do your job. Let us know when you plan to start...

 I understand there's stress all around with the foreclosure mess. But being busy (and therefore brief in your correspondence) and being professional are not mutually exclusive. It would have been just as easy for them to say "we'll look into it and let you know what the bank wants to do" sans attitude. 

Our realtor is going to try and move up the food chain and see if we can get another attitude adjustment. I'm not holding my breath. But I'd like to think we're due for some good luck in this situation anytime now.