Find your diamond
Find your jewelry
shape
carat
color
clarity

The House Hunters Thread

Mere: I am so sorry your closing didn''t go exactly as you wanted! I think its such a big deal and so stressful that we have all these expectations on how its going to go and feel!

But I''m sure it will be outstanding once your in it! Congrats!!! Long and stressful road, but you''re there!

RPS: I hope they come back with a better price than that! Good luck with the negotiating!

Lynnie: thanks and good luck with everything. As per the doors, can you just plane them down a touch? We''ve done that before and seemed to work good.....

----

As for us, papers signed, entered into attorney review. Bank guarantees sign off within two weeks and closing set for 4/28! Yay! Hopefully no big unforeseeable problems come up.
 
Thanks steph... I have a feeling I am going to need alot of *deep breath* moments over the next 3 weeks. (Hopefully baby gives us that long.)

jcrow- I never thought I could leave a house closing irritated. lol. I''m sorry you had to endure some of the same crap. It is really disheartening just sitting in a room by yourselves, waiting...

Snooper- Thank you. You are so right about keeping focused on the baby! I cannot wait to get started on the nursery! PBK just came out with a bunch of new sailing themed stuff and I am ordering all of it this morning!
I can''t wait to see how your house is coming along! Yay for granite!

RPS- Thank you! I am so sorry to hear about your the asking price issues. I have never dealt with *knowing* you are dealing with a flipper. I would find it just as hard as you are, to pay that high price, when you know exactly what they paid for it.

Lynnie- Thank you! It actually makes me feel better to know that our 2.5 hour ordeal is closer to the norm, rather than our neighbor who''s closing was complete in 30 minutes!
11.gif
They played washers and drank beer in their backyard for hours last night... I was so jealous that we couldn''t celebrate with them. DH started packing, and when I saw how horrible he is at it, I became the packer and DH handed things to me. LOL! FYI- You and your DH are my DIY heroes!
I now realize, after helping his family move twice, that efficient packing is a learned skill, NOT something that everyone has the gift of.
2.gif


Rhb- You took the words right out of my mouth. LOL. That''s the funny thing about expectations... they never seem to be on the *too low* side when you look back.
41.gif

Congratulations on getting a closing date!!! So exciting!!!
 
Lots of activity on this thread! I love it!

Mer, I''m so sorry that the closing went poorly--I''m sure that by the end you were completely exhausted and any enthusiasm you may have had left was squashed when DH announced he was going back to work. I have no doubt your excitement will pick up with the nursery preparation!!!!! This has been such a journey for you--I was so worried in the beginning that they wouldn''t be able to close in March since they were so slooooow to break ground, but everything ended up finished on time!! By the way, I thought of you this morning when I was looking at the siding on the dormers of our house. There is only about 6 - 8 inches between the window and the edge of the dormer and the siding is perfectly fine. I literally said out loud "It IS possible!"

Lynnie, I hope that refund gets to you ASAP!

rhb, you''ll be closing in a month!!! WOOHOO!

rps, I''m so sorry about the terrible counter-offer. Stick to your guns, you might be surprised how fast they come down!

snooper, it sounds like everything is on track, which is great news!!! You''ll be closing just in time for summer!!!

I think I somehow angered the real estate gods and they are punishing me. So D and I found out we owe $7,200 in taxes this year--our withholdings were the same and we''ve never owed in years past, so we weren''t planning to have to pay so much this year. We talked about it briefly last night and decided to leave our emergency fund alone and just use the house downpayment money--then replenish it and start looking soon. Fair enough--not a pleasant surprise, but that''s life. Then our agent emails us this morning to tell us they''re lowering the price on the house I love to generate more interest. Ugh!! I was really hoping that it would still be on the market when we replenished the account and by then they might be in a place to negotiate with us more. I guess that could still happen, but I just have a gut feeling it''s going to have an offer on it within a couple of weeks. What terrible timing!!

I did bring up to DH that if we are under contract in a month, the tax credit could offset the taxes we owe :)
 
Mere,
So sorry the closing wasn''t a smooth process and DH was less than cooperative with everything. Men!

Buuut-you''re a homeowner!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Well, we''ve withdrawn our offer after the seller came back with a response that said that the comps support his price. ONE does. The others don''t. So I told our agent that he can keep his house on the market and see how much the investors like not getting a decent return on their money.

The bad thing is that since we are looking in a very restrictive area due to my older kids, there are simply no other houses that we feel anywhere close to interested in. The $8000 is only so much of an incentive because that would go to pay off whatever we''ll owe on our lease. If we don''t have a signed contract by April 30, it doesn''t make much sense to bother buying until right before our lease expires.

If it were totally up to me, I probably would have paid much closer to list because I like the house and would be glad to be done with it, but SO is completely offended that the seller wants to make so much of a profit. This experience has left a small bad taste in my mouth so I''m quite tempted to just shelve the house idea and be happy in our apartment.
 
NEL- Wow, what timing! Go figure.... urg. If it was meant to be it will work out though. Best of luck either way.

RPS- I''m sorry about dealing with the flippers. Its just like for sale by owners, they think they can get what they want, but in reality it is highly unlikely.... best of luck with the search, now or later.
 
Thanks, RHB. =)

I've been sitting here stewing for a couple of hours and this whole thing is really bugging me. I hate to say it, but I'm a bit ticked at SO. When we saw the house the other day, he loved it and agreed with me that we'd pay list if we had to. Then it changed and his limit went down $10K, which isn't acceptable to the seller. I feel like I'm stuck in the middle of these two men acting like babies! And what's the outcome going to be? That we don't get the house and since there's nothing else on the market in this area that remotely appeals to us, it's going to be at least another 6 months until we have a house. It would be one thing if there just wasn't anything...but this is annoying.

I highly recommend NEVER trying to buy a house with an architect.

ETA: I have to wonder if this isn't some sort of passive-aggressive payback about the farmhouse. SO has a farmhouse out in the country 45 minutes from here. When we first got together, I was thrilled with the idea of living out there, but soon after, I realized exactly how that would impact my time with my kids. Can you imagine having to drive 90 minutes every time you want to pick up your kids? And the Mondays that I take them to school, we'd have to leave the farmhouse at 6:00 a.m. Right. SO acts like he understands why I don't want to move out there, but he has yet to tell all of his relatives that live near there that we're not moving in any time soon (and they ask every single time we see them). Over the past several years, he also went ahead with about $15K worth of renovations...that remain unused.
 
RPS, as a woman who's in a similar boat as you right now (I love a house--and that is RARE for me, but DH doesn't love it as much), I just want to say I feel your pain. I also think it's a better idea to vent here, then approach DH with a more clear head.

I think a long chat is in your future :) I just went through this myself, but needed to let myself breathe a bit first. I don't want "buying a house" to be a phrase that causes tension and frustration for us. The other night I approached DH and told him how excited I was to have a home with him, that I knew we would find a home we loved and what in the hell is he waiting for? Only I said the last part more nicely. We were able to have a pleasant, non-frustrated conversation about why he didn't feel the house was worth as much as I did. It was a little frustrating because i disagreed, but it did help me to understand that his reasons were valid and thought-out and not him nitpicking for no reason to avoid buying a house (which was my fear).

So if I were you, I would approach this gently by telling him how much you love the house, how you can see living happily together there and why exactly he doesn't feel it's worth what you do. Then I would approach the fact that he still seems stuck on a the farm house and if that is feeding into this. I think that if he feels comfortable and knows you aren't going to get emotional or attack him, he'll be honest. It's hard to that when you're heated, though. Lots of luck! I can't tell you how many times I've said "This isn't worth it, I'm happy in our rented house!"...but we're still hunting, haha.
 
NEL, thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you. It''s wonderful to have someone understand this frustration. I thought that buying a house is supposed to be a really exciting time and it''s turning out to be not so much. Part of the issue, IMHO, is that SO has already owned 2 houses (1 that he had build), so he''s been there, done that. I''m disappointed that this feels like something that I''m doing on my own, up until it comes time to say yes to a place.

You''re right that we''re going to have to talk. I don''t like feeling like this isn''t worth it and I don''t like being mad at him because it''s a rare occurrence.

And to top it off, our agent is really hot to sell us something, so she called find out if I want to see this one house that is BUTT UGLY on the inside. Sure, it''s 400 sq. ft. bigger than the other house, but that''s 400 more sq. feet of BUTT UGLY!!! Yes, it probably would be a good investment...provided we strip the floral wallpaper out of the kitchen and then repaint every wall. It''s on the golf course and convenient for the kids and we could do the work to make it not butt ugly, but I''m not feeling it.

Did I mention it''s butt ugly??

3.gif
 
Brief update...

I wanted to smack SO last night. We talked about the house again and he had done the math wrong figuring the 3.5%! So here he thought that we didn''t have the money because he came up with some astronomical figure. Now, I suck at math and fully admit it, but he''s supposed to be good at it.

We put in our final offer today at lunch for only $4K lower than the seller''s counter offer. Yesterday, he didn''t even give a counter offer which makes me think he''s bull-headed and has his heels stuck in the sand. If he''s not willing to move at all that''s going to be his tough luck. Our agent emailed me at 1 saying that she talked to the seller''s agent (his own daughter) and she was going to talk to him. Our agent said she expects to hear something soon...and that was 2 hours ago.

If the seller isn''t willing to move, he''s going to be the one whose house stays on the market (it''s already been there 60 days). I would think that would tell him something.

Last night, SO and I went back over the other properties in the area and there are 3 that we''re going to check out if this one falls through. The houses around us are a mix of colonial and contemporary and SO has stated repeatedly that he doesn''t like the contemporaries. I like some of them, but not all. He ended up saying he likes 2 of them on the list and he''s actually willing to go see the little house that I have adored for months. All 3 would need just a little bit of work to get them great looking, and the one I love is really a steal because it''s a foreclosure.

I''m really hating this waiting to hear what the seller''s answer is. I wouldn''t be surprised if he''s just not answering because he''s a jerk -- I haven''t been impressed with him so far.
 
Honestly RPS, I don't understand a seller who won't budge for a qualified buyer with offer in hand in this market. Our realtor counseled us not to let a qualified buyer walk away.

We put a lot of work into a house too, mainly materials, did the labor ourselves- it made the house show nicely and sell quickly, but we did not recoup the costs and labor. The point was to sell the house and move on. People still expect the profit margins of several years ago, but that isn't happening right now.

Keeping the house on the market is very expensive, and ultimately the price will be reduced. They may see the light, and come back with a counter offer. Hoping for the best for you.
 
Thanks again everyone! We got the written acceptance of the $1,100! Woo!


Aw Mere I am sorry it wasn''t like you''d hoped, but I am so happy for you!!! You are officially a home owner girl!
5.gif


RPS..sending you luck and dust for good news! Really hoping that seller gets cooperative and comes through!
 
Why don't we have a smilie that's banging his head against a wall? 'Cause I could use one right now.

I think we're going to sign the contract tomorrow. Note that I said I *think*. Seller came back accepting our number, stuck with the same amount of closing costs but get this...

One of the things he was throwing in was a $1000 Visa card. He took that away in his counter offer. How freaking petty can a person be??? He also wanted to move the closing to May 14 from May 27. You know why? 'Cause that's the shortest amount of time to closing. Yes, he's all fired up to get his money and run.

I was so close to telling our agent to suggest that he stick his house where the sun doesn't shine because we're the ones that have moved quite a bit. Him, not so much. He doesn't seem to see a correlation between his non-negotiation and the house being on the market 60 days.

One thing that could be the deal breaker is the heat pump. SO is going to run over to look at it tomorrow morning and check the date since the house is 30 years old. It would not surprise me to find that the heat pump is on its last legs. If that's the case, it's on to the contemporaries...

When we get to the point where we want to sell this house, I promise promise promise not to be a jerk to buyers.


PS...GG, I know what really gets our goat about this is knowing that this guy has had the house for 5 months and is making a $55K profit over what he bought the house for and what he put into renovations. I keep telling SO we shouldn't look at it like that, but it is an annoyance. I probably would feel far different if it were a seller who lived in the house and loved it too much to move off the price. This guy is just plain greedy.
 

Hi Ladies,


I haven''t been on the boards in a while, but I''m trying to take some time for myself and get back into the groove of things a bit. I tried to scan through many of the posts in this thread, but there''ve been so many since it was started last Fall, I''m certain I missed a ton of information. Please forgive me if I ask stupid questions you''ve already answered...they''re bound to happen, I''m sure!

3.gif


So, DH and I have ''actively'' been looking for a house for a year or so now. DH owns the house we live in outright and doesn''t seem to be overly motivated to actually BUY a bigger place in a more desirable neighborhood than we live now, even though he says he is...it seems something always goes wrong, so reading about some of your spouse''s hesitancy to actually purchase a home made me feel a bit better, thank you!


We have put several offers in on random houses over the past year or so and have been met with cash buyers who simply have more cash than we do, counter-offers that we just can''t afford, or as many of you have posted, sellers who won''t budge on their price and insist on sitting firm for the outrageous price they''ve decided they just have to have, whether it''s been 30 days or 6 months. This seems to happen because they''ve either lived in the house forever and have too much of an attachment to it or it is owned by someone who scooped up a foreclosed home and immediately put minimal money and cosmetic effort into it simply to flip it for an overly inflated price.

23.gif


My only firm request for a new house is that it have at least 4 rooms. DH is a typical male and is easily swayed by things like a large shop, sheds, extra garages, streams, basketball courts, built-in video poker games (yes, one really had one built into the bar!), etc... and seems to forget that we do need at least 4 rooms to continue to coexist! He in fact tried to put in an offer on a house a few weeks ago that was larger than where we are now, but with the same amount of bedrooms, which doesn''t allow me to have my own space, which is the problem we currently have. He has an office of his own and the other tiny bedroom contains all of the master bedroom furniture from my house along with school things, all of my jewelry-making and craft supplies and boxes and boxes of things that this house just doesn''t have room for, so another 3-bedroom home would mean no office/craft room for me (which means my limited PS time will continue on
29.gif
,) and no spare bedroom for guests. We had agreed we need a house with 4 bedrooms because we each need space for ourselves and because we have so many people who come to visit from OOT that a guest room is more than reasonable.

Another thing is that DH worries about my being home alone for 2-4 days at a time while he is at work and he has mostly been looking in gated communities, yet this house he tried to put an offer in on was out in the middle of nowhere with no neighbors close by. We have also discussed that neither sets of our parents are getting any younger and having some trouble getting around and this home had a minimum of 10 steps no matter how you tried to get in, etc... Anyone seeing a pattern here???
14.gif
Needless to say, I managed to NOT go through the roof when I found out he put in an offer on a house that had so many things we really didn''t need or want, waited a day and calmly talked him down from his "But it has a 1200 sf shop on the property!" high and he withdrew the offer the next day and and we''re back to square one.
38.gif

So, in this buyer''s market, you would think this homebuying thing would be easy. Sometimes I get mad at DH because he takes me to look at homes that we truly cannot afford, and which of course I then fall in love with and then am set up for disappointment. We are having trouble agreeing on what we like and what we actually need, so it can get to be disheartening. Thanks to all of you for sharing your frustrations and experiences with everyone here and I am certain they will be valuable as we all continue on the homebuying journey! Thanks, too, for letting me rant about my situation a bit...

37.gif

 
RPS, the good news is that the seller finally budged. The bad news is that he's being a royal pain in the dupah. The sellers of the last house we put an offer in were the EXACT same way. Didn't want to budge, took away petty little things in the counter offer, etc. I didn't think much of it at first, until we had all of the inspections done (not just the regular inspection, but structural engineer, electrician, etc.) and realized that they were trying to cover things up such as flooding in the basement and the subdivided property issue which eventually led to the deal falling through. Anyway, my point is that it's frustrating when the sellers who make the ENTIRE experience frustrating and difficult.

Harleigh, welcome!! I can SO relate to what you are going through. I love my husband dearly, but we've been looking on an off for a year (got pre-approved and became serious about 7 months ago). Sometimes I still don't think he knows what he wants. When we first started hunting, he was sure he wanted an oceanfront house. We put offer on oceanfront house which wasn't accepted and he changed his mind. Then he wanted a completely private setting that felt more rural. So we went that route--offer was accepted, it fell through, now DH feels it was too rural. We went over what he wants and he wants an antique, but wants a big garage, updated kitchen and baths, a big yard, but still close to a town center, etc. Sometimes I don't think he realizes how difficult it is to find all of the things he wants in the exact right area. Anyway, I wish you lots of luck and feel free to vent anytime! I know that it's an exciting time (even when you've been hunting for a year), but it's also a stressful time!

Also, congrats to your hubby for owning his home outright! That is amazing--I dream about that day!

Good news in our household! D has decided that he thinks the house I love is a good fit for what we want and said that since we will likely be buying a home in the next few months, we may as well try to shoot for this one and hopefully we can be under contract by the end of the month for tax credit purposes. He wants to see it again first to make sure--and he wants his parents to come along as well, but for now I think things are going to move forward.
 
Meresal- I can totally related to you about the anticlimactic closing. We hired our own attorney and had our agent there and the sellers were there. At the end of the monster stack of papers they handed us keys and we got in the car and left. Definitely not what I was expecting! I hope you can enjoy moving in and setting up your beautiful new home. The silver lining is that you have your apartment for a few more months, right? It sucks that you have to pay rent for a place you aren''t using but at least you don''t have to scramble to get everything out in a day or two and can move bit by bit. I can''t wait to see picrtures of your home all set up!
 
Wow! So much has happened since I last checked in!

Jcrow and Mere...congrats on Closing!

Rhb and sarah- Contrats on the Contracts!

NEL, RPS, Harleigh...good luck with your continued hunts!

Now for bad news..Our contract has fallen through. We got through the process and got halted at the appraisal. It came in $10k lower than the offer. They couldn''t afford to sell it for what it was actually worth. So we''re out the cost of the appraisal ($400) and are back on the hunt.

We then picked ourselves back up and found a second house that we actually loved more than the first, made a competivie offer to go with the comps (we''re being really careful not to make outrageous *Unreasonable* offers so we don''t get burned at the appriasal again), but it was quite a bit lower than their asking price (which was crazy high for the neighborhood) and they rejected the offer without a counter.

We''re really starting to feel defeated. And the April 30th deadline is looming...

But, we''re going to see another house this evening that looks very promising. It''s competively priced, has been remodeled (a flip >90 days old, so no issues with ''seasoning''), is 550 sqft larger than the other homes we made offers on, and is actually closer to work/school for both of us. It''s a slightly higher pricepoint, but at our interest rate it doesn''t amount to another $200/month (including taxes and insurance) even at full asking. I did a drive by last night to check out the neighborhood in the evening and was pleasantly surprised to see multiple new contruction homes that are large and beautiful on the same street and nothing sketchy. I saw one couple walking a chihuahua in a tutu, other than that, not a sound other than the crickets. This also surprised me because it''s fairly close to a major highway (not interstate) and I thought for sure there would be traffic noise. Only downside is no garage...but for a bigger house in need of no work with a shorter commute, for our first place, we decided we''d be willing to compromise on that. Fingers crossed it''s a lovely inside as the pictures seem!
 
Thanks, NEL...so nice to "see" you again! Thanks, too, for the welcome, audball...it''s nice to be here!

I cannot tell you ladies how very nice it is to hear your stories...I appreciate the good, the bad, and the ugly at this point, and it''s actually given me a whole new perspective on this homebuying venture, so thank you!

I forgot to mention we have many friends on the opposite end of the spectrum and are either losing their houses or just scraping by trying to save their homes, so I am very uncomfortable discussing how much we have to spend and the kinds of houses we''re looking at...I never want to feel like I''m rubbing it in or putting them down, but I hate feeling bad because DH and I have worked hard and made good financial decisions throughout our lives and our able to look at purchasing a larger home in a nicer area. We may both be set in our ways and not always agree on what we want, but we don''t also HAVE to find a place right this second and we can afford to be patient until the right home comes along, but it''s hard to discuss this with friends whose situation is not quite so rosy.

With that said, I cannot tell you how happy I am I came across this thread...I think it will help to save my sanity to be able to come here and reason some of these things out with others who have experienced the same things!
36.gif
 
Oh my so much going on:

Harleigh: best of luck, can be a royal pain in the a**!!! My DH and I have very different views of potential. I''m willing to remodel, he isn''t in the price range which we''re looking in. He thinks for that much money it shouldn''t need it. But isn''t the case in our market.

audball: I know the deflated feeling! OMG been there! Still waiting on the bank to sign off on the short sale we have contracts on so the deflated feeling hasn''t gone away yet....


NEL: Sooooooooo glad he saw the light! Best of luck!!!
 
Well....I signed the contract last night! It was actually less of a thrill than I imagined it would be (while dreaming of owning a house for so long). We went over to the house late yesterday afternoon so that SO could have a really, really good look because we were trying to decide whether to have a true home inspection or not. If it weren''t for SO, I''d insist on it, but he''s qualified to do them and could if he''d take the test. He didn''t see anything that concerned him, although we do know the heat pump will need replacing sometime in the next couple of years. SO has an HVAC guy that he''s used for everything so that''s good, too.

I have a feeling the next 2 months are going to be insane with all of the stuff we have to do to get to closing because my job is getting busy too (I have 2 out of town trips planned this month). We''re closing May 27.

When we talked to the agent at the house, she hadn''t yet received the contract back from the seller so I got worried that this weekend, the seller and his daughter (the listing agent) would be showing the house. I would not have put it past either of them to try to get a better offer at the last minute. Luckily, our agent got the contract back from them around 6 p.m. Sheesh.

I''m interested to see what happens with the appraisal. I have a feeling the house will appraise just fine, but I sort of have this fantasy that it comes back lower and then the seller has to lower the sale price. Wouldn''t that be a kick in the pants for him?

Harleigh, I feel for you. How in the world have you had the patience to look for a year?? I''m sorry that you''re not able to really share with your friends. I think we''re very, very lucky to be able to buy a house when so many people are having such a tough time. I refused to buy more house than we needed just because we could have afforded it.

Audball, I''m sorry your contract fell through and that your next offer was rejected. I have to wonder what some sellers are thinking -- I can understand not being able to afford to sell it for a certain price, but to refuse to consider offers seems like shooting yourself in the foot.

The house we have under contract is a flip and like you, I was attracted to it because it needs absolutely no work for us to move in. I hope our seller isn''t typical for a flipper because he made a ton of money on this house but was impossible to negotiate with. I hope the house you saw is wonderful and the seller is too!

NEL, I hope things work out with the house you love!

What happened to you with the last house you put an offer on is my biggest fear. I''m afraid that even though our seller put a lot of work into the cosmetics on the inside of the house, he might have cheated on important stuff. It doesn''t seem to be the case from SO''s inspection, but I still worry. I know I''m naive, but I can''t believe that there are people that are so underhanded they''d cover up major issues with pretty paint and new carpet. Ugh.
 
RPS, congrats on signing the contract, that's fantastic! Do you have the appraisal scheduled already? I'm interested in how that turns out, it would be great if it worked out in your favor :)

Finally some good news for us! We saw the house again today and we both loved it more this time than when we saw it the first time. Also, my father-in-law really loved it as well, which always helps my husband feel more secure about the decision. If we can agree on a price (we have a verbal agreement that they're willing to come down, we just need them to come down a little bit more), then I think everything else should be fine. There are a couple of temporary posts in the basement, but that's the only thing I saw that I think will pop up in the inspection report (based on my VERY limited knowledge). We need things to go smoothly so we can be under contract by the end of the month.

I'm hoping we can make an offer on Monday evening--we'd probably put in an offer sooner, but we'll need our mortgage broker to draft a pre-approval letter on Monday. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that no other offers come in.

If it did all work out, we wouldn't close until June because the owners want to finish up the school year. That works out pretty well for us, anyway, because we have so much going on in May already (I'm interviewing for a new job and would likely start in May, we have a big vacation planned over Memorial Day, etc.) I have a good feeling about this!!

Good luck to everybody else who is looking today!

ETA: Audball, I'm so sorry to hear about your appraisal. I definitely understand how frustrating it is to think everything is fine and then have something pop up which makes the contract fall through. It's a terrible feeling, but I have no doubt that something else will come on the market you will love.
 
NEL- I am still in disbelief that it is all done, but soooo relieved. Thanks for thinking of me re: the siding! LOL! Too funny. I do the same thing IRL, when it comes to some of the threads from PS.
I'm so sorry to hear about the tax situation. That would completely throw me for a loop... I hope you can get it all figured out.

HH- Men is right... I won't even go into the weekend. LOL! It's like his brain went on vacation for 4 days. It's weird, but instead of getting irritated that my parents are here, he just completely checks out and thinks they will handle everything. No honey, they are here to HELP us, not DO everything for us.
20.gif


SLJS- Thank you! We are definitely excited now!

Welcome back Harleigh!

Clairitek- That seems to be the norm! LOL... I was expecting balloons and a bottle of wine... no such luck
41.gif
Yes, we still have our apartment thru June. We have aptly named it our "Lake House", since it is down by the water... it will be nice to go back every now and then over the next couple months. We still have some stuff to get, but like you said, it's nice to know it doesn't have to be done *now*.

audball- I really hope that you all are able to find a house. Don't focus on the deadline, just try and see as many places as possible.
12.gif


RPS- Congratulations on the contract!

NEL- Loving it more the second time?!?!? HOORAY!!!! Let us know if you all end up putting in an offer tonight! Eeeeek!


*UPDATE* - We are about 95% moved in... and the nursery is about 95% done as well! Everything looks great, we just need to add all the finishing touches and some extras we see that we want. (Outdoor fan for patio, dresser and side tables for bedroom, bed for guest room, kitchen table and bar stools, etc...) However, we have all teh things that are necessary!

Here are some pics of the finished inside:
(We are redoing the tile around the fireplace, with granite that matches the countertops in the kitchen... and have raised the pendant lights about 12 inches.)

PS kitchen family room 3.25.10.JPG
 
Looking from the breakfast area

PS family room and hallways 3.25.10.JPG
 
Front entry room (furthest) and dining room (closest)

PS front entry rooms 3.25.10.JPG
 
The kitchen
30.gif
... (I don''t have any bathroom pics right now, but I will figure out a way to get some good angle pics.)

PS kitchen 3.25.10.JPG
 
Looks awesome!
 
meresal - looks great! and so awesome that you guys are pretty much all moved in! we''re still going through boxes. i get exhausted so easily + my feet/ankles/calf swelling is taking a toll on me... blah! my cousin is in town helping us though. this morning we tackled the nursery. i need to get a couple of shelves hung, get an organizational box or basket for the top of the changing table, get a crib skirt and a valance or drapes and then we''ll be done in there!
 
Thanks ladies!

J- We have pretty much the same things left to do in the nursery. Have drapes (possibly) but need to be hung and find valence, paint lower part of wall, some baskets, and hang things (decorative wall hangings and shelves) once they arrive from PBK.
There is no way we could have gotten even a 1/4th of the moving done without my parents. Having all the help possible makes the difference. Glad to hear you are making progress though!
 
Rats...I just replied to everyone''s post and darn PS ate my post! I''ll have to come back later and try again....arghhh!
 
Meresal, your house looks amazing!!! And way to tackle all o the unpacking--I don''t see a single box in any of those pics! You know what I think would be fantastic about moving into a brand new house? You don''t have to clean a single thing before moving in!

We were hoping to put in an offer today, but chaos broke out at home this morning when we noticed a problem with on of our dog''s eyes and we had to rush him to the vet. The news was bad and we are waiting to hear if we are going to need to take an emergency trip down to Virginia this weekend. Normally we would just forget about the house for a week or two while we sort this out, but if we want to be under contract by the end of this month, we need to put an offer in this week. Also, I have a job interview in 20 minutes. So between the taxes we owe, the doggy chaos and my interviewing, we are hoping to get an offer in!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
GET 3 FREE HCA RESULTS JOIN THE FORUM. ASK FOR HELP
Jewelry Blog
PriceScope-Concierge-Ad
Find prime cuts.
Top