Competitor's House

Just an update on the former competitor's house – it is finally under contract. It took them 51 days...wow.

Happy closing day!

In a couple of minutes the buyer of our house will be signing all the papers, and Brent and I will really not own that house. It was very strange doing the final walk through of our empty starter house last night; it didn't feel real. I think everything will truly kick in once I have to clean the new house for the first time, and I will insanely miss the 900 square feet we once had.

The closing for the new house is at 4 p.m., and I am so excited! Granted, I'd be more excited if that meant we could move in right afterward, but a month break will do me good.

House #1: The Basement

The famous before and after of the stairwell:

House #1: The Bathroom

We are homeless

Brent and I signed all the paperwork on Tuesday to say goodbye to our Fairway house. It's weird that at this moment we technically do not own a house. Of course, all that will change come Friday afternoon, but it's still an odd thought.

In other house news:
- Very little is left in the house – just the random crap that will mix together in a box that I'll label with a "?"
- The POD is being picked up as I write this.
- Tonight is cleaning night and moving all food to my parent's house.
- Last night was the first night spent at my parent's house. It was different, but my eyes are on the prize, and it is totally worth it.

House #1: The Office (Bedroom #2)

House #1: The Master

I still don't understand how Brent and I fit everything into this tiny room. Now that this room is empty again, it once again looks the size of a cracker box.

House #1: The Kitchen

The kitchen color before the house was on the market:

















The kitchen post market:

The Competitor's House

The house dropped in price again. It's now listed at $162,900. It's still $3,000 more than what Brent and I started at, but considering the original price was $169,900 – the price is becoming more reasonable.

You would think that the home owners could take the hint on the price though. Their house has been on the market for 6 weeks; mine went under contract in 6 days. Apparently, they aren't in a rush to move.

House #1: The Living Room

My beautiful home, is not looking like my home anymore. Most of the rooms are
empty of furniture, and all my personal accessories are gone.

In honor of the starter home Brent and I have loved for the past 3 years, I will be posting photos of the way I will always remember my Fairway house.

And now, the living room:

The POD

I have never seen one of these dropped off before, and was rather amazed with the process. Even our nosy neighbor came out and watched.











Last night's accomplishment:

Weekend Wrap Up – I Hate Paint

Friday night, Brent and I decided to take things off the walls – so everything could be spackled and painted. The living room was definitely the worst off, because of the huge screws from the floating shelves. Plus, Brent didn't get the screws in correctly the first time around, so there were just holes galore.

So I spackled those mofos, and then realized the living room paint was dried and crusty. I have no idea when the living room was painted, so I was expecting the paint to not be usuable. Fortunately, the paint can had the store name and color code.

I went to Sherwin Williams thinking I could buy a $5 sample can. Ha! Jokes on me. Apparently, they only have sample sizes in satin finish, not flat. Since I needed the exact same paint, I walked away spending $38 on a stupid can of professional paint (which was terrible quality IMO).

When the touch up area dries, this is what I see (ignore the spackle marks):















At this point, really my only thought is "mother fucker." While the paint is the correct color, the sun faded the walls, so the living room is no longer that color.

So my Sunday was spent bitterly painting. I still don't see what was so "professional" about that paint either. I hated it. The paint would just soak into the roller and edger, and I lost a lot of paint because of it. I had maybe 2 drops of paint leftover, which I think is beyond ridiculous. Granted the living room is large, but factoring in 3 doorways and 4 big windows – a gallon should have been enough plus a little.

I'm just hoping I don't have to do anymore touch ups in the living room, because I am in no mood to spend another $38 on crappy-ass paint.

The Roof, The Roof

Work started on the new roof yesterday. This is all finally started to feel real.

In the others: Brent and I realized we close in 2 weeks and 2 days, and we have packed minimal (we blame this on the appraiser, but still), time to get to business. The Pod arrives in 1 week.

Cleaning time

The appraisal is scheduled for tomorrow. I am so excited for it to be over with – that way we can start packing whatever, and not have to worry about keeping the house looking nice.

In other news: The great paint debate has started, and paint swatches have been collected.

Weekend Update with Kevin Nealon

Friday
- Packed
- Watched "Eurotrip" with Brent

Saturday
- Costco (and somehow managed to spend less than $100 – I deserve a medal for that)
- Packed
- Cleaned
- Goodbye party for friend

Sunday
- Cleaned
- Packed (noticing a pattern?)
- Dinner with parents
- Watched "True Blood," "Hung" and "HGTV's Showdown"

The Waiting Game Continues

What the hell? Now we aren't going to know anything until next week about the roof. I want to smack the crap out of this adjuster/insurance company. This is just another reason why I love Shelter Insurance, they understand people don't like to wait.

As for our house, we went ahead and sent negotiations back to the buyer, so we shall see what happens. And speaking of the buyer, I actually got to meet him yesterday! He lives down the street from us with a roommate, and when Brent and I were on a walk with the dogs, he happened to be outside. He seems really nice – I approve.

Competitor's house

The house we were competing with (the one with the matching address a block away, but listed for $10,000 more than our was), dropped in price by $5,000 today. I wonder when that one will sell.

No word on the roof yet, and I'm going nuts.

Towels

I have been trying to take my mind off the insurance adjuster going to the new house to look at the roof. I have been doing this by looking for towels for the master bath.

The new master will be almost an exact match to the old one. The only difference is that the paint color will have a little bit more gray in it. I want the master bath to have the same paint color as the master, so it all looks like one room.

Here is my master now:

I thought finding black-and-white towels would be a lot easier than it actually was. Black-and-white towels are either zebra print or polka dots – no thank you.

After several hours of searching I think I found the perfect towel (even though it's online only). I love the pattern; it looks like an even more modern spin on damask.

So once again, I am back to the waiting game about the roof. Even if the seller's insurance company covers part of the roof because of the hail damage, that would help out greatly. It just feels like every other day we are learning about another $500 or $1,000 we have to spend, and it's really getting depressing. The total is now at $7,800 (and this total does not include the $700 3 weeks ago spent on new tires, etc., for Brent's car).

When this is all said and done, I wonder if I'll even be able to afford towels?

$$$

In the span of about 2 hours yesterday, Brent and I learned we get to drop an additional $1,600 plus change – this, in addition to the $3,500 for the new roof we learned about 2 weeks ago. Yes!

We got our negotiations back yesterday from the buyer, and he wants a radon mitigation system put in the basement. This involves drilling into the foundation, pipes, and other fun work that cost about $1,000.

So after that fabulous news, Brent and I leave to go have lunch with his parents, when his car dies. So after waiting in the heat for a tow truck, etc., we learn he needs a new alternator. Awesome! That's another $635 put on the tab for the month of June.

We got an offer!

And it has nothing to do with crazy agent lady!

Some guy came to the open house today, and completely loved it. Thirty minutes after the open house ended, he came back for another showing with his girlfriend, mom and sister, who all loved the house.

At 9:30 tonight, we got the offer. While it's not perfect, it's better than offer #1 (which wasn't really difficult to do).

The offer:
- $5,000 below asking price
- We pay closing costs
- Wants kitchen appliances
- Wants washer & dryer
- Home warranty

The counter:
- Asking price
- We will pay closing costs
- Gets kitchen appliances
- No to the washer & dryer
- Gets home warranty

So now it's the waiting game. :)