You break it, I fix it

I'm sure this happens to everybody - you have an inspector visit your potential new home and they go over the place with a fine-tooth comb, giving you an overview of the good and the bad before you move ahead with your purchase plans.

And then you move in and find all of the stuff that the inspector missed.

Fortunately for us, all of the things that were missed were minor, but they add up to point towards a very particular trend.

• easily 1/4 of the lightbulbs throughout the unit were out
• the security cameras outside of our building were non-functional
• the refrigerator's icemaker/water dispenser weren't working
• the filter to the HVAC had obviously never been cleaned
• the built-in coffee machine wasn't working
• the clothes dryer wasn't drying clothes
• the home's security system wasn't functioning
• the hot water heater was turned up to scalding levels
• the door to the deck wouldn't open
• the jacuzzi bathtub wasn't functioning

The thing about all of these items is that they're all easily fixable. Taken together, we couldn't help but to wonder, "Why would the former owner let all of these things pile up like this?"

And then we recalled meeting him during that same inspection and it clicked: when asked about living here he responded, "Well, you know, the place was built in 2000 so everything's still new. We haven't had to worry about anything." Basically, this guy didn't understand the notion of maintenance! Yeah, the stuff might be new but that doesn't mean you don't clean out the HVAC filter!!!

I may not be the most "handy" guy in the world, but most of these things took nothing more than a little bit of time, patience and research to figure out. On the plus side, every time I fix one of these things it does wonders for my man-ego as I feel like Bob-freaking-Villa every time I get something fixed in our place!