Let's Give Them Something To Blog About

Escrow = Drama

Plain and simple.

I have never had a pleasant escrow experience, even when its a simple refinance. Thank GOD this is Andy's escrow, I have been through it so many times and although I always try to keep an even keel and "go with the flow", it is always like having a match lit under your ass for 30 - 45 days. My last escrow was a nightmare...complete disaster. This is Andy's escrow, however...I get to be the observer, well...sort of. He is doing the same thing, trying to stay calm...keep the paperwork flowing, jump when they say jump, wait when they say wait...and last night, poor guy, he went to bed tied up in knots. I feel for him.

From the time he got home at 5pm, until we went to bed at 10pm...the phone kept ringing and the news kept changing. The loan is off, the loan is on, the loan is off, the loan is on...ridiculous. I can't describe in too much detail what happened, but from what I understand Andy's friend who was getting his loan for him dropped the ball and completely screwed up. I'm not sure how this is possible since we have been on the phone with him everyday for the past 3 months...but he did. The sad part is, Andy had to fire his friend. I am sure it kind of felt like a betrayal, when you hire your friends you trust that they will treat your business with kit gloves, especially when it comes to large amounts of money and personal information. Sad.

Anyway, the phone continued to ring throughout the evening. These people want to sell us this house...so SOMEONE is going to write a loan for us. It's the process that is maddening.

Soapbox is now put away. Thank you for allowing me to vent! :)

Water Tank and Hardwood Floors

Our Real Estate Agent did some extensive research and with the help of the current owner, we found a solution to our water pressure problem. A large holding tank is going to be installed somewhere close to the house, this tank will be filled with water from the well at the bottom of the hill and will provide us with adequate pressure. It is a pretty inexpensive fix, and the seller is kicking in $2,000 toward the project.



Andy and I have been kicking around our thoughts as to the timing of our move, the upgrades we want to do before the wedding, etc... Andy wants to paint the exterior of the house before we move. He HATES the color it is now...which he calls "battleship gray". Personally, I don't understand why we can't do interior upgrades first, then move our furniture in, and THEN paint the exterior. BUT, I have decided to bow to his judgement. If he cannot be happy with the color, then we should paint it.



My big thing is the floors. Whenever I move into a new house, I want to redo the floors before the moving truck rolls in. My family has been in the carpet business for 30 years, so flooring has been fairly inexpensive for us. New flooring just makes the house FEEL new, and it gives it that personal touch. In this particular house, I want to go with hardwood floors. It is now wall-to-wall off-white/beige colored carpet. White carpeting is like a nightmare for me. I live with three men and three cats. I love my family, but spills happen, and white carpeting is practically impossible to keep clean. Andy's suggestion is to keep the carpet until we beat the hell out of it and the kids move out...then put in the hardwood floors. The thought of it makes me cringe.



So, I have put my mind into a different perspective. I am not going to be selfish, I am going to just keep my mind focused on the hardwood floors but find a way to be content with the ivory colored carpet until that happens.


I think Andy would like us to move out of the condo ASAP so we can start collecting rent money. So, I am thinking December 1st is probably our target move-in date, since escrow is estimated to close on November 20. This gives us 10 days to paint the exterior. One month from Sunday...here we go! Hang on to your bootstraps!

In Escrow

As of yesterday we are now in escrow. We went out to the property yesterday with our real estate agent and an property inspector. He gave the property a fairly "clean bill of health", although we discovered that the water pressure to the house is very low. VERY low. The owner even mentioned that to us before the inspector got started. The house has its own well, which is AWESOME. That means we do not have to pay for water AND the water is usually pretty clean tasting. I have lived on property with well water before and loved it. The problem is that the well is at the bottom of the hill and the house is at the top of the hill...gravity rules apparently. SO, we need to investigate the possibility of getting an additional pump that can provide better water pressure to the house. Andy says that he cannot live with the water pressure that low...and I can understand how that would be a frustration in time. So, I have my work cut out for me this week, I need to investigate how much a secondary pump would be or find out what the options might be.

On a happier note, after the inspection Andy says he is more in love with the property than ever. He brought his boss out there and he said this property is an excellent opportunity...even the inspector said he would love to have a house in a location like that. ALSO, Andy mentioned this morning he would like to have his friend Pete help us with the landscaping. Pete is an artist, not just a landscaper...he is amazing. That would take a huge weight off of both of us to have the yard professionally landscaped.

Anyway, off to work! More later on my findings!

Our Initial Goals

To start, we made a list of the things we liked and disliked about this house and property.

We liked:

The house is on the hill

Although we have neighbors, they are quite a distance away.

We have room to grow

We can pretty much do whatever we want on this property

The house is cared for by the current owners, no damages to repair

We have an incredible view in every direction

It has a water well

We disliked:

The house is a modular home

The exterior color of the house

The house is smaller than we would have liked

There is minimal landscaping (this is both good and bad)

- good because we can do whatever we want

- bad because the ground is susceptible to erosion, and it is going to cost money to make it look nice

There are only 2 bathrooms and 3 bedrooms

Our first goals are to fix up a few things before we move in. THEN we need to work toward our wedding plan.

The finished look we are going for is a southwest style ranch home. So we decided that we will repaint the interior and exterior an eggshell white and the trim of the house brown. The white walls will open up the home, and the brown trim will give it that southwest feel. These neutral yet dramatic colors will lend to nearly any other color we choose to decorate in over the years. It also matches all of our existing furniture. We also want hardwood floors, and have not decided if we want hardwood throughout or just in the livingroom area.

Before:

(see how dark it feels?)

Here are a few pictures of the "After" looks we are shooting for:

(light, airy and more open)

So, before we move in, Andy INSISTS that we paint the exterior because he REALLY hates the color. BUT, it is really necessary to do any flooring and interior paint we want to do BEFORE we start moving furniture. SO, hardwood floors, interior paint and exterior paint. Aiy Yai! *My guess is, once we put in the hardwood floor and paint the interior he will be okay to move us in and paint the outside afterward. ;)

Still, it sounds like a hefty project, yes?

One Year Later

It is nearly one year since that last post. Ten days after I wrote it, I found the man who I was meant to spend my life with. His name is Andy Long. He is a musician, a hard-worker, a partner, he has a tender heart and yet he is strong and stable. We met putting together a music project and we ended up falling in love. In June he moved into my house with me and we have been house-hunting all summer. Many of the homes in this area are bank owned (repos) and it was actually creepy walking thru these houses. Some of them have been vandalized by the owners before they left. Others, you can just feel the anger and sadness of the people who had lived there and were forced to leave. In fact, we made an offer on a house that was a short-sale and the owner made demented phone calls to us, trying to discourage us from purchasing so she could live there a little longer (without paying her house payment probably). So, after awhile I told Andy we should probably stop trying so hard...the right house will come to US when the time was right. He proposed a few weeks after that and then...lo and behold...the perfect house DID come to us.

Both of us have had a dream of owning some property...perhaps do some farming, have some horses...and ultimately we would like to grow grapes and learn how to make wine and build a family business. Andy's real estate agent e-mailed me a listing (without knowing our dream) of a property that would be perfect for that.

The house is a little smaller than we would like, and Andy does not care for the color or the decor AT ALL. So, I have been assigned to put together the design project for the interior, exterior and the landscaping. All VERY exciting. We would like to have our wedding there on the property in about 6 months. (GOOD LUCK, RIGHT?) hahaha

Anyway, escrow will open this week and it will probably close by Thanksgiving. Once we start doing a few of the initial remodeling projects we will get a feel for how long it will take us to be ready for the wedding.

Over the next few weeks I will post "before" pictures and my vision for what I would like to accomplish before March of next year. Then the following posts will be the renovation in progess...YAY! Exciting!