The update is that I have the house. It is officially mine. That would be why I am not at home to update my blog.
Sorry.
Im painting all weekend and would love the help.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Friday, July 3, 2009
t-10 days
Hopefully, there are only 1o more days until I am officially a homeowner. I am getting really excited to actually get in there and get started with my list of everything I am going to do. There are two things that I know about myself.
1. I love making lists. I make lots of them because there is something about crossing things off after I complete the task. I don't like the tasks app on my blackberry because I can't cross anything off it just goes away and I don't feel a sense of accomplishment.
2. I love to talk everything out. Talking things out either calms me down or makes me realize what I am really saying.
We had a little snafu with the re inspection. The guy came out and basically just said that the job done on the house was crap. We worked everything out with the seller and now everything is fixed. It is a little difficult not being there because I want to see for myself that it is done as they say it is. My realtor is going to head over there and make sure that EVERY SINGLE piece of wood is replaced and that the foundation is pacified. I guess it is just difficult to weigh the fact that this is a 70 year old house and the desire to not have to fix this problem in a few years.
Anyways, in 10 days I will have the keys to my new house. In the meantime, I will be boating, touring downtown Nashville, going to the beach with Eric, and heading to Andrews wedding!
Friday, June 26, 2009
The past 2 days I have made countless appointments for estimates for floors, countertops, windows, doors, patio doors, insulation, etc.
I have made spreadsheet after spreadsheet in hopes of being efficient. There are so many things to consider: warranties, quality of work crews, and cost being some of them.
I have officially decided on my windows. They are the BEST windows I have seen and let me tell you I have seen a lot in the past 2 days. We are getting double pane and double hung windows. They are going to have the grids in them so that the house will stay with the "classic" look. My window screen is on its on track so it can slide up and down. They also qualify for the tax credit since they will meet the energy efficient guidelines.
I have a gutter guy. He was the best deal and there are so many gutter ploys out there...
I have a countertop man. Let me tell you...the countertop space is about 12 feet including the sink. I am going with granite and this company called $39 granite. They actually don't have the one I picked out in stock (figures) but they are getting it from a different supplier and they are honoring their quote. Sink + Faucet + Counters = $1600. Not too shabby.
I have an insulation guy (who is the same guy as windows). He is pretty much great. He is going to blow insulation and put radiant barrier inside my attic for $1.49/ft. I have 900 ft. so you do the math, but pretty inexpensive when you have pretty shotty insulation as is. With the new windows and door and attic insulation supposedly I will save 60% in my utilities. It should be 5% of the square footage of my house...so around $50/month. We will see...
I had a flooring guy come out and price refinishing the hardwoods and tiling my kitchen/bathroom, but since the renters locked me out I couldn't get in to actually have him measure. I think tiling may come later in the process than I originally thought. I still need to square that away.
Ok...furniture is being delivered...I will add to this list later....
Monday, June 22, 2009
A day of firsts...
Today I...
...climbed in and went in my first crawl space with every creepy creature out there (and Scott)
...experienced my first day of summer efficiency
...got lost going to my new house
...began the homeowning experience by requesting numerous estimates on windows, doors, gutters, counters, and tile.
As far as the crawl space adventure, we went in to see if the seller had completed the work that he said he completed. He had not. It is a good thing Amerispec and I are best friends. I pushed back the re-inspection so that they would have enough time to ACTUALLY complete the work.
I will be at the house all day Wed and half a day Thursday trying to find the best possible company to work with in each area. Last night, I made an incredibly efficient spread sheet with everything I need to do, in the order that I need to do it in, with all contacts names, numbers, and quotes. I will be updating it post-Thursday.
Here are some lovely pics of the wood that was supposed to be replaced. The white stuff...mold. Also, what makes me the most frustrated is that half of the wood is replaced and then they leave the rotted wood right next to it.
Tonight I am headed to my adopted parents house for dinner and 24 and then home to pack a few boxes.
Efficiency has been my motto the past couple of days...hopefully it will continue.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
to do update
To Do for this Week:
DONE: copy all paperwork for loan
-get renovation estimates (plumbing, electrician, handyman, etc)
DONE:(waiting for return call) call for re-inspection
-start packing up parts of my current house since the next month is basically shot and once I get the house it will be cleaning and remodeling time!!!
I need the names of plumbers, electricians, etc. Please forward my way...
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
my daily to do
Tomorrow is my first full day of summer! My classroom is basically put together and I have my summer reading list ready to go (next to my pool bag). Basically, I have 4 weeks off until I go back to work. Here is the breakdown...
July 1-July 6 Surpriseville with the family
July 10-11 Wedding Weekend in DC
July 14 Closing on Georgia Ave
July 15 Best friends fly in and we head to the mountains
July 20 Teacher Work Week and the Year #4 begins
To Do for this Week:
-copy all paperwork for loan
-get renovation estimates (plumbing, electrician, handyman, etc)
-call for re-inspection
-start packing up parts of my current house since the next month is basically shot and once I get the house it will be cleaning and remodeling time!!!
Summer Reading List:
Reading Essentials
Guided Reading
Units to Plan:
Guided Reading/Shared Reading
Reading Workshop
Writing Workshop
Investigations-math workshop
Summer Goals:
1. Get tan
2. Sleep some
3. learn to like running
4. organize my clothes/belongings (quite the feat)
5. make something crafty
We will see how this goes...
Monday, June 15, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
peace
I realized today that I tried to take control of my situation and I actually do not have any control over it whatsoever. Tomorrow, I find out about my job and hopefully some more clarity on the whole loan issue. I feel like I have been unusually calm throughout this typically stressful venture. Do not take that as I have not had my fair share of freak outs because I have def. had moments of breathlessness.
I have prayed for peace and wisdom and to see clarity through this entire situation and have felt like the Lord answered those prayers, but today I feel like I stepped backwards.
Isaiah 26:12 "LORD, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us."
I always loved chapels that ended with this benediction...
The LORD bless you
and keep you;
the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace
Tomorrow...I will be better.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
inspiration/first purchase
The loan I am getting requires me to do certain things to the house. Some are things that I want to do and some are things that I def. do not want to do. For example, I do not want to put a railing on my broken front porch, but I am going to have to. The consultant wants me to just put one railing up, but I think that will look ridiculous. So, I already have the posts and rails I just need to add the railing part to both sides. This is going to be my inspiration I think depending on how hard this is to create. Any thoughts or ideas are welcome.
This is going to be the color of my tile in my kitchen I think. I was going to do white, but I don't really want to be bleaching my kitchen every week. This is a really really light grey and it has a matching grout. Who knew?
This is maybe my favorite tile ever. It is so classic and is going to be my bathroom tile. It is safe to say that I am in love with this tile. 
TADA!!! This was my first purchase (besides you know the house). I bought a vanity/sink. Currently, there is a huge vanity that takes up the entire bathroom. I wanted a square pedestol sink, but then I decided I needed some cabinet space. Laci and I went to the Habitat Restore and we walked in and I was saying I needed a sink for my bathroom and we walked directly into about 20 sinks. The lady had this one that she was unwrapping and it was the only one with cabinet doors. She was like if you want it, tell me now because someone will buy this. I started to get overwhelmed with the thought of making such a quick decision. I took the tag and walked around the store for an hour or so and then bought it. I think this may be it until I close on the house. Isn't it cute. 
This weekend I met my neighbors. I am really excited about living at Georgia Ave. The amount of things that have to happen before then are a little daunting, but when I start to "panic" I just have this sense of calmness that it will all get done and that I do not need to worry about it. I have not felt this sense of peace about anything in a very long time. My personality just tends to freak out and then talk it out with whoever to calm down. This seems to be the exact opposite...
before pics
Warning: the kitchen is alarmingly yellow. Oh and it is renter occupied right now so imagine it empty or with my cute stuff. It's hard I know.
maybe I will get lucky and they will leave that workout bench so I can pump some iron in my spare non renovating time...
the bathroom
the working fireplace that won't be filled up with crap when I get my hands on it
the side porch where everyone will but grandma will enter in. aka where my alarm will be
loving on the original hard wood
from broken sliding doors/cracked glass to french doors
dining room although it looks like the "office"
The sink is the original. It is nasty. I don't think nasty quite describes it though.
Remember that my kitchen is going to be completed updated as is the bathroom floor, toilet, and sink.
Any ideas on how to make my front porch have rails without paying a ton of money since I am not really in love with the current porch?
Can anyone guess what my first purchase for my house was? Hint: I bought it today at the Habitat Restore.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Call Me Crazy...
and some do call me crazy. In fact, I think insane was the actual word used to describe this idea. I bought my first house this past week.
Meet Georgia Ave.
This whole process seems like a whirlwind, but a researched, thought out, prayed through mayhem. There were many reasons why I decided to start searching for a house, but I did not expect to find something so great, so quickly. I looked at it a couple of times, brought people that matter to me to look at it, did price comparisons, met neighbors, had discussions with brokers/lenders, etc. After I proved sanity to certain people my realtor and I made up a contract and put in an offer. The offer went in Monday afternoon around 4pm and 3 hours later we had already counter offered twice. Tuesday we continued to counter offer and then by Tuesday night I was signing the contract and researching home inspectors.
Thursday, I met Scott. He was my home inspector or my guardian angel however you want to look at it. He and I walked throughout the entire house/yard and pulled it completely apart. I think my inspection report is 40 pages long complete with many pictures.
There have been many times where I started to panic about the huge decision home buying is or home buying plus renovations, but I am really excited and overall feel confident in my decision.
Soon to come...pictures of the (lovely) yellow kitchen and the rotted wood (from the inspection).
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