Sean to the rescue!

We have a great friend, Sean. He is a plumber and he has taught Dan plenty in the renovations field, and given help out the ying-yang. (Sean was one of the youth leaders at the church when Dan was there.) Sean is such a do-anything-for-you type of guy. It's so hard not to take advantage of his big heart. Here's why we are happy to know Sean yet again:

The house inspection did not come back well. Heavy sigh. There are quite a few things that need to be changed and fixed througout the house; namely, the plumbing and the outside siding. The rest are small enough, but pesky enough when added all together to form a large sum of work to be completed. Dan and I have been flip-flopping all day long as to whether we should proceed with buying the home knowing this, or to just let it go. What we need is for a plumber to go through and tell us how much it would be to fix the shoddy workmanship that is prevelant throughout the whole house. (The house inspector couldn't advise us as to cost or extent.) So, that's more money put in to getting an unkown plumber in to see the house and give us his opinion and quote. Why unkown, you ask, when Sean's our friend? Well, Sean just took a job up in Morrinville (commuting from Cochrane, away from his family for 3 weeks at a time) and so is not at our disposal any more. We are wondering if we should go in low on the offer (even lower than the already low-for-the-neighbourhood-price) in light of the plumbing and siding issues, or just walk away. Hmm. I think I might have already voiced that dilema. At any rate, Dan called and left a message for Sean on the off chance that he'd get the message and be able to give some verbal advice. Sean couldn't get ahold of Dan, but got me, painting a much more positive picture of what may need to be done, and how it could be blown out of proportion. He is waiting for Dan to call him later tonight (Dan's doing the all-important task of helping his Uncle Bill move a bed from Granny's to another Auntie's place for his little cousin... ahh, good to be around family again) and set up a time to go through the house tomorrow and actually see it and give us his opinion. We trust Sean with our house-lives. The big IFs: If Dan can pick up Sean due to two work schedules; and IF they are allowed to go in the house tomorrow. I would sleep better knowing that good ol' Sean would be giving us his professional, and friend-to-friend opinion. Isn't the knowing advice of a friend worth its weight in gold?

I shall let you know, dear friends, if, indeed, Sean and Dan make it in, and what the verdict is. Then, if we no other offers have come in at that point to compete with ours, to decide if we want to strike the condition of the house inspection and keep the same price, or to rewrite the offer a bit lower, or to just walk away. Big choices. Fear overcomes me as I worry: will we ever get a house in such a nice neighbourhood if we pass this one up? ( I know deep down the answer is yes, but it's hard to see for the trees, er, house). Are we jumping willingly into a money-pit? Where is the balance and answer?

What are your thoughts?? PLEASE voice them, regardless of if you think it matters or not. Any extra thoughts are welcome at this point. Thank you, my friends.