Well, today was the first day of my spring break and it was definitely a busy one. Scott and I started off the day by driving to his soon to be new job to pick up the drug testing form, then drove to the testing lab so he could prove he was drug free (mandatory for employment for management level). His new store seems like it will be a million times better than what he had in the past. The store is large, clean, has a full management team and does a good amount of sales. The other managers also seemed very nice and the customers weren't the same brand of crazy as the ones he and I have dealt with in the past.
Then we high-tailed it to Leesburg to meet with our loan officer, hopefully for the last time before we closing. He was stuck in traffic but his processor helped us with the paperwork. Stan had actually faxed all the necessary papers over to us earlier, so everything was filled out. I'm getting far too efficient at filling out this paperwork and I sincerely hope I don't have to do it again for another 10 years at least.
We also talked about home insurance and I got a quote from USAA. I still think it's incredibly bizarre that we pay twice the amount for the first year (pay the entire year in advance, then pay a monthly fee on top of that) but there's nothing I can do about it so I will try to keep the complaints down.
Then we drove back home and picked up my parents to go see the Terra Cotta Warrior exhibit at the National Geographic museum in DC. While it was very cool seeing terra cotta statues and bronze artifacts that were over 2,000 years old, I left the exhibit feeling very underwhelmed. The archaeologist in me understands why they would not want to ship more than 10 statues from China, these are irreplaceable and incredibly fragile after all, but I left the building wanting more. You could not get an appreciation for the magnitude of the find just by looking at a few individual statues, and I felt the pictures were far more impressive.
We came back early and decided to hit the Home Depot with my parents as a way to kill time and wait for traffic to die down a bit. We came out with about 50 paint swatches, ideas for landscaping the yard, and some neat ways to replace the counter top in the kitchen with granite tiles to cut down the cost, but still have a granite counter top. That project won't be happening for quite some time though, we're still working on the packing phase!
Scott also found 2 black cats hiding among the potted trees! We asked a worker how they got there and he laughed and said they lived here to keep the mice down. It reminded me of a book store in my college town where there was always a black and white cat sitting in the window. We would go in there just to play with her.
We did get some colors more or less figured out there. The army green dining room is going to turn into two shades of darker blue. The kitchen will go a lighter and brighter shade of blue, while the adjoining living room and hallway will take on a white with blue tint color. Our bedroom is a steel blue/grey, and my bathroom is looking like a very slight purple tinted white. The nursery/ guest room is a toss up between two very very light shades of green. My sewing room/chinchilla room is currently veering towards a sandy honey color, or possible purple if I can find a purple hue that isn't extremely bright or Easter egg pale. I still haven't figured out what to do with the main entrance way/staircase, so that will be next on the swatch list. I think we are going to do most of the house in shades of white with a smidge of tint to be on the safe side. We'll worry about the downstairs later.
I also had fun watching a family picking out paint for their rec room. There was a father, mother, 8 year old boy and 5 year old girl. Naturally the girl thought the room HAD to be pink or purple, while the boy wanted nothing but blue. I couldn't help laugh as two minutes later Scott came over and said "let's do the house in blue" and I responded "But I don't want everything to be blue, it's a boy color."
Some things never change...
Monday, March 29, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Scott's new job
So today has been an exciting day! On Monday night Scott applied to about 8 jobs closer to our new home. He received emails from 3 saying "we don't have a position that will fully utilize your job skills" aka, overqualified. While that sucks, it's also kind of funny, as Scott never completed college and yet can still be over qualified for a job which is interesting.
Well, he also applied for a position with our old company, a well known pet store chain which will remain nameless. He received a call early yesterday morning that they would like for him to come interview. I spent a while yesterday crunching the budget to figure out how little pay he could take (they are not well known for paying well) before we would be losing money.
He had the interview this morning and was immediately offered a job. The pay is borderline comfortable but I think we will be ok. It will also put him about an hour from home, saving him an hour each way commuting to work. He will also have earlier hours so there will be no coming home at midnight and having to be back at work at 7am, definitely a plus.
Well, we've got the house (still working on an April 16th closing, should know by the end of the week), he's got the new job, and we'll find out in less than 24 hours if the third part of our wish list has happened. Exciting!
Well, he also applied for a position with our old company, a well known pet store chain which will remain nameless. He received a call early yesterday morning that they would like for him to come interview. I spent a while yesterday crunching the budget to figure out how little pay he could take (they are not well known for paying well) before we would be losing money.
He had the interview this morning and was immediately offered a job. The pay is borderline comfortable but I think we will be ok. It will also put him about an hour from home, saving him an hour each way commuting to work. He will also have earlier hours so there will be no coming home at midnight and having to be back at work at 7am, definitely a plus.
Well, we've got the house (still working on an April 16th closing, should know by the end of the week), he's got the new job, and we'll find out in less than 24 hours if the third part of our wish list has happened. Exciting!
Monday, March 22, 2010
March 22nd, inspection day
I will begin this blog post with a word about how odd timing can be. We finally get a house, I have strong reasons to believe that I am finally pregnant, and the school board votes on the school budget tonight. I may not have a job there next year, awesome. But I will worry about that when I need to. At least my school salary can be easily met (if not far exceeded) if I get back into the retail world. I've been spoiled by education though and don't want a new job. We will have to see.
Today was our housing inspection! Scott and I arrived early and walked around the edge of the house. Yep, as good as we remembered. The yard is a bit steeply sloped so it will make gardening a bit more...creative, but I'm still excited. Our Realtor arrives to let us in and we spend 10 minutes just walking around the house again.
I was so pleasantly surprised. I've seen so many houses that they've all been combined into one house, and my mind had put a lot of the less attractive points of the other houses into this one. Both of the bathrooms are a bit bare, but are still very pretty and have good bones. The bedroom is 12' by 12', which is not huge, but has a large walk in closet I completely forgot about. We fired up the gas fireplace and that thing radiates some serious heat! We also learned that because it's gas it will still work in the case of a power outage, so we can huddle around the fireplace but not have to go out for wood.
The inspector found a few things to comment on. The water heater was the original heater for the house, so we may need to replace that in the next 5 years or so. There is a power outlet on the outer wall of the house that is not functioning (apparently an easy 10 minute fix) and our driveway slopes towards the basement so we will have to fix that (again, "eventually').
A much better bill of health than the last house, with it's grade of "replace the roof asap, buy a boiler before moving in, redo deck flooring in the next year, replace entire house wiring before moving in..."
All in all, good day!
Today was our housing inspection! Scott and I arrived early and walked around the edge of the house. Yep, as good as we remembered. The yard is a bit steeply sloped so it will make gardening a bit more...creative, but I'm still excited. Our Realtor arrives to let us in and we spend 10 minutes just walking around the house again.
I was so pleasantly surprised. I've seen so many houses that they've all been combined into one house, and my mind had put a lot of the less attractive points of the other houses into this one. Both of the bathrooms are a bit bare, but are still very pretty and have good bones. The bedroom is 12' by 12', which is not huge, but has a large walk in closet I completely forgot about. We fired up the gas fireplace and that thing radiates some serious heat! We also learned that because it's gas it will still work in the case of a power outage, so we can huddle around the fireplace but not have to go out for wood.
The inspector found a few things to comment on. The water heater was the original heater for the house, so we may need to replace that in the next 5 years or so. There is a power outlet on the outer wall of the house that is not functioning (apparently an easy 10 minute fix) and our driveway slopes towards the basement so we will have to fix that (again, "eventually').
A much better bill of health than the last house, with it's grade of "replace the roof asap, buy a boiler before moving in, redo deck flooring in the next year, replace entire house wiring before moving in..."
All in all, good day!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
So now what?
So now we have to go through the steps.
We have our inspection on Monday (many pictures will be taken) and then we get our loan ready to go. We are trying to get an April 16th closing, but we will close on May 16th at the very latest.
Now I can start plans for wall painting, furniture buyer, and how we want to decorate. I can start to plan my garden, landscaping, and get my dog out in the sunshine. We can have a house that we are proud to be in, and I can have my friends come over to visit. So far it is nothing but blue skies in the future (and the present as the weather has finally turned for the better).
What comes next? We'll just have to take it as life happens :)
We have our inspection on Monday (many pictures will be taken) and then we get our loan ready to go. We are trying to get an April 16th closing, but we will close on May 16th at the very latest.
Now I can start plans for wall painting, furniture buyer, and how we want to decorate. I can start to plan my garden, landscaping, and get my dog out in the sunshine. We can have a house that we are proud to be in, and I can have my friends come over to visit. So far it is nothing but blue skies in the future (and the present as the weather has finally turned for the better).
What comes next? We'll just have to take it as life happens :)
Tuesday March 16th
The day before Saint Patrick's day and my department's open house at work. We are busy debating door prizes when my phone rings. Its Scott.
The other offer is better than ours, they are giving us one chance to put our best offer on the table. Ok, we increase our offer by $10k over the asking price, but the seller has to pay closing. If we get it we only pay $5k more than our original offer, still in our budget, and if we lose it, well, so be it. He leaves a message and we cross our fingers, expecting to hear back Wednesday or maybe Thursday.
20 minutes later I get a text message "We got it, we got the house, holy shit!"
I just stared blankly at my phone, then started laughing. We got the house, they actually accepted our offer. If everything goes smoothly we're going to get the $8k tax refund before the extension runs out, I can take my dog out to pee, and we're going to have a house. 24 hours after we put in our offer and we have a house!
The other offer is better than ours, they are giving us one chance to put our best offer on the table. Ok, we increase our offer by $10k over the asking price, but the seller has to pay closing. If we get it we only pay $5k more than our original offer, still in our budget, and if we lose it, well, so be it. He leaves a message and we cross our fingers, expecting to hear back Wednesday or maybe Thursday.
20 minutes later I get a text message "We got it, we got the house, holy shit!"
I just stared blankly at my phone, then started laughing. We got the house, they actually accepted our offer. If everything goes smoothly we're going to get the $8k tax refund before the extension runs out, I can take my dog out to pee, and we're going to have a house. 24 hours after we put in our offer and we have a house!
Sunday March 14th
So Rebecca is the first house we see. A quick stop to pick up my parents and we are on our way. The house is about 5 minutes away, 10 minutes closer to our jobs, and in a really nice neighborhood. We walk up the front steps and enter the house. A carpeted staircase goes 4 stairs up or 4 stairs down. We walk up the stairs first and go into ...a kitchen! A real kitchen with cabinets and a countertop and even appliances! I never thought I would get so excited over freaking appliances but there you have it.
The kitchen opens up to a living room and dining room, then there are three bedrooms.
We walk downstairs and there is a fireplace in the living room, a laundry area, and the 1 car garage. The entire house has new carpeting, fresh paint on the walls, and a nice airy feel.
Mom points out the bird nest above the front door, a symbol of good luck (as long as they don't poop on your head). We decide to look at the other houses but put an offer on this one at the end of the day.
We then go to the Wilkins houses. Both very close to the freeway, smaller, and more beat up. Not even worth the time to look, next please!
We pull up to the O'Brien house which is in my parent's neighborhood. It looks like a study little house, another split level. The outside is having a bit of an identity crisis with its bright red stairs, baby blue cement foundation and gray siding, but that's minor right?
The two car garage immediately draws the attention of the men, while the brand new carpeting has my attention. The kitchen is missing appliances and could use some work but it does have cabinets and counter top. Ah the little things in life.
We decide to make this our second choice. It's a bit of a fixer upper, but it's a fixer upper we can live in while fixing.
We stop at my parent's house for some chili, then go the Realtor's to get the paper work in. While there we find out the house already has another offer placed, but they won't look at the offers until Monday. We put ours in but don't expect much to come out of it.
The kitchen opens up to a living room and dining room, then there are three bedrooms.
We walk downstairs and there is a fireplace in the living room, a laundry area, and the 1 car garage. The entire house has new carpeting, fresh paint on the walls, and a nice airy feel.
Mom points out the bird nest above the front door, a symbol of good luck (as long as they don't poop on your head). We decide to look at the other houses but put an offer on this one at the end of the day.
We then go to the Wilkins houses. Both very close to the freeway, smaller, and more beat up. Not even worth the time to look, next please!
We pull up to the O'Brien house which is in my parent's neighborhood. It looks like a study little house, another split level. The outside is having a bit of an identity crisis with its bright red stairs, baby blue cement foundation and gray siding, but that's minor right?
The two car garage immediately draws the attention of the men, while the brand new carpeting has my attention. The kitchen is missing appliances and could use some work but it does have cabinets and counter top. Ah the little things in life.
We decide to make this our second choice. It's a bit of a fixer upper, but it's a fixer upper we can live in while fixing.
We stop at my parent's house for some chili, then go the Realtor's to get the paper work in. While there we find out the house already has another offer placed, but they won't look at the offers until Monday. We put ours in but don't expect much to come out of it.
Dogwood - I'm over you
March 10th:
The latest on the Dogwood house comes in...well, remember the lien the seller took out on the house? The credit card company who he borrowed from is not willing to settle with the house. I can't really say I blame them, since settling would mean getting $2k out of the $10k borrowed. They didn't get a government handout, so why should they lose money to the financial institution who did? The bank is giving them until Friday to settle before they turn the house into a foreclosure and our deal is void.
Again, cue hysterical crying ( p.s. I hate crying so this is driving me absolutely up the wall).
Our agent sends us more houses to look at the following weekend, and we give Dogwood until Friday at 5 before we pull our deal. Friday at $4:30 the bank extended the lien's deadline until Wed. We say "screw this" and pull the account. "But you'll close in two weeks" "yeah and we'll win the lottery too, goodbye".
I'm randomly sifting through mls listings and what do I chance upon...the Rebecca house! The prior contract fell through and it's on the market again! Our plan for Sunday, Rebecca house, O'Brien house, and 2 other houses. I'm feeling a little more excited again.
The latest on the Dogwood house comes in...well, remember the lien the seller took out on the house? The credit card company who he borrowed from is not willing to settle with the house. I can't really say I blame them, since settling would mean getting $2k out of the $10k borrowed. They didn't get a government handout, so why should they lose money to the financial institution who did? The bank is giving them until Friday to settle before they turn the house into a foreclosure and our deal is void.
Again, cue hysterical crying ( p.s. I hate crying so this is driving me absolutely up the wall).
Our agent sends us more houses to look at the following weekend, and we give Dogwood until Friday at 5 before we pull our deal. Friday at $4:30 the bank extended the lien's deadline until Wed. We say "screw this" and pull the account. "But you'll close in two weeks" "yeah and we'll win the lottery too, goodbye".
I'm randomly sifting through mls listings and what do I chance upon...the Rebecca house! The prior contract fell through and it's on the market again! Our plan for Sunday, Rebecca house, O'Brien house, and 2 other houses. I'm feeling a little more excited again.
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