So. Shingles. It’s dealt with; the insurance guy neglected to tell us that we have up to about 30 days after closing to deal with the shingles on the garage. He also didn’t tell us that he’s talking about a patch of shingles about three feet long and maybe three rows of shingles tall at the most… that’s something that we can repair ourselves quite easily, and will give us some experience in case we decide we “want” to do the whole garage roof next summer. To have the whole thing done by a contractor would likely run about $1100. I mean, yes, we need to have the *house* roof re-done, and we very well may have *that* done professionally, but Paul has looked at what’s involved for this part, and figures it’s relatively small potatoes.
The house already has two layers of shingles, so they’ll need to all come off, there is a board in the attic roof that looks like there used to be a leak a long time ago that we’ll want replaced, and there is a vent that needs some work. Paul is going to look at the vent once we have possession of the place, to see if it’s something he can just plop a new one on; if not, the pros can do it next spring when we replace the whole thing.
We have lots to do with the house; lots we can do ourselves, and lots we can learn to do ourselves. We’re very excited about it all, really! Though once there’s plaster dust everywhere and that was just one “oops” too many, we’ll see how excited we’re feeling. :o)
The last two hurdles are in sight: underwriting, which will be underway shortly, (that will tell us officially if we get the mortgage or not), and the closing itself. The current target is to close on Monday November 7th. Right now is a temporary period of relative calm… no immediate panic-stricken running about for *this* document to satisfy *that* particular requirement. The next place that could come from is from the underwriter.
Keep on wishing us luck… I’ll keep you all posted. And thank you all so much for your good wishes so far!!
Dang that fellow to warm in heck, anyway!! I mean, either the roof is good enough or not right?! Tenterhooks are uncomfortable! RaaaRRR!
***a little while later***
OK, the insurance guy called, and he says the house looks fine but there is a patch of shingles on the garage that are curling. That means either we need to fix the garage roof or … I dunno. But to re-do the garage roof is relatively cheap, something we were going to do anyway, and likely something we can do ourselves. AND we may be able to just repair what is curling … somehow. We’re getting a rough geusstimate of how much it’d cost to have it done professionally, as a “most-case” scenario.
At least we are making progress in *some* areas: Paul got a call from his HR department saying his cheque is ready (we took a loan from his 401k to cover closing costs). We weren’t expecting it until November 1st, so this is a plus! Especially since the seller wants to close asap. We’re happy to close anytime in November; the earlier it is, the more time we have to fiddle with it before we move in. Painting and such like can be done *so* much more easily if all our crap isn’t in the way.
I *still* haven’t been able to get a hold of my parents, so they still don’t know we bought a house. They’re visiting Ron and Clara, some friends in eastern Ontario, and I’ve left messages for them both at R&C’s house and on my folks’ cell phone, but so far, to no avail. If this thing actually happens, we are going to ask them to come to us for Christmas, instead of the current plan, of us going to them.
I’ll keep you posted…
House: inspection was Friday, went ok. A number of little things have to be done, and it needs a new roof within the next couple years, so we went back to the seller and asked for a concession to cover part of the cost. Happily, he agreed, but in return he wants us to move the closing date up. I'm pretty sure he doesn't understand that we'll close as soon as we can, but that it's up to the bank, not to us.
We met with the house insurance guy this evening, and learned that if they don't like the look of the roof, they can deny us coverage, and *then what*?? I don't know, but we'll find out tomorrow, after they've looked at the roof. The inspector said the shingles are beginning to show some curl, and the roof ought to be re-done, but next summer should be fine... the insurance company may not agree. I guess, we'd have to get the roof re-done right away then. Dang it! I have *plans* for that money, people!!
Friday evening was the inspection. Saturday I felt awful; headache, stuffed up, and my ears were humming so loud I could hardly hear what was going on around me. So I did what any sensible person would do - I slept. Sunday I felt much better, and we went to see Serenity. Good movie. Dramatic, funny, some great action sequences in space.
Today it was Paul's turn to feel awful - I didn't ask him if his ears were humming; we dealt with the insurance guy and then I put my husband to bed.
Gotta be brief - Paul is sleeping and my computer is in our bedroom... so, sshh! type quietly!
*whispers* G'night...
Teeth: Ben is getting his top braces ‘installed’ today, and he gets his REX expander off as well. Mom and Dad took a good look at his face when they were here a week ago, and declared they could easily see that his jaw is wider and his face is not as sharp. His treatments are progressing much faster than mine did, and I’m really glad.
House: We have a couple estimates for homeowner’ s insurance. The appointment for the inspection is Friday, and Paul and I are both cleared to leave work a little early so we can get there. I’m trying to not be nervous, but I can feel my muscles cranking down.
Pirates: Further to the need for more pirates worldwide (to reverse global warming); go play Puzzle Pirates. Paul’s friend C introduced us to it and we’re bitter about it, let me tell you. It can really use up a lot of time if you like puzzle games.
Games: Of course if you like games, but WANT global warming, you can try Popcap Games. I like Bejeweled and Bookworm the best, but there are lots there as well.
Take care, all!
So, holy cow.
I think my signature is broken now.
We arranged for a house inspection (to take place on Friday), got our hands on a cashier's cheque for the earnest money, went to the lender's to sign the mortgage paperwork, drove down to the seller's real estate agency to drop off the earnest money cheque, drove back up to downtown for Curia (monthly Baronial business meetings) then came home...
... all in a daze.
The next steps are the house inspection, and arranging for homeowner's insurance. If the inspector doesn't find anything that would materially effect the price of the house or the safety of the people living there, we can close the deal as soon as we get the loan from Paul's 401K and can convert *that* to a cashier's cheque.
Are you confused yet? Cuz let me tell you, I sure am.
More later.
New Info: We learned that first time homebuyers are allowed to take up to $10,000 out of their 401k's (retirement plans) for use in the purchase of their principal residence. Paul is going to check on that tomorrow. If we can get that, we can edge our upper price limit up a shade more, which brings a few more properties into the picture.
So we went and looked at another house. A little info about the house is here, but I don't know for how long. The back yard is big, which is really nice, and backs onto train tracks, which is not really nice, but we're trying to find out how often (and when) the trains run, or if the tracks are still in use at all.
It's got oil heat, but it looks like there is a gas line to the house, so we may be able to convert it if we want. So there may be a gas stove (and perhaps eventually even a gas clothes dryer) in my future! :o)
The third bedroom could be used for either a dining room (it has a door to the kitchen), a computer room, or a sewing room. The basement is partially finished - which means in this case, the floor is carpeted, the walls are painted bright red and yellow, and there is a built-in fridge (also for some reason, painted bright red. It only needs the thunderbolts and it's a real Lost Boys fridge). We're thinking we could ask a carpenter friend of ours to build us a "library" of shelves, for *all* our books; the space is comfortable enough to put a couple comfy chairs down there and voila! a reading room.
I expect my sewing stuff would probably end up living down there, too. Mental note - we're going to need to buy LOTS of good lights. We may put the computers in the basement as well, to free up that third bedroom for a dining room. We'll see (if we get the house) how damp it is down there.
So. We're meeting with the agent tomorrow to put in another offer. We like this house better than the first one, except for Ben, who doesn't like that he will have 'all that grass to mow'.
Again, I will keep you posted.
We did not get the house. They accepted someone else’s offer, because when the selling agent (fondly referred to hereinafter as "Bonehead") presented the offers to the seller, we didn’t have a pre-approval letter. Except we *did* have a pre-approval letter, and the selling agent had misplaced it. It makes me think that the agent wanted someone in particular to buy the house, so he ‘lost’ our letter to make their offer look better. Or something. Bastards. Look! Conspiracies everywhere!!
That said, we have to decide if we are going to pursue this now, or wait until summer. There are pros and cons to both, of course. We’ll have a little more money and a little better credit if we wait, but interest rates will be higher. The sooner we get into a house, the sooner we get the tax deductions, too. And the headaches… sigh.
Our financing guy (if you want his name, email me, I’d be happy to pass it on. He’s very good.) is encouraging us to proceed now, since interest rates *are* going up, and that makes a big difference.
We are both primarily feeling disappointed; but honestly, we are both also a bit relieved. I mean, it was a nice house, but it wasn’t *perfect*. Not that we are expecting to find perfect in our price range. In fact, we’re both feeling like there isn’t going to *anything* in our price range again for a long while. Owroo!
Paul and I put in an offer on a house. We're both REALLY nervous. They have till 5:00 pm today to get back to us.
It's a small house near where we have been living. It has a big yard, with a small pond, storage shed, huge garden and a gazebo. The gazebo is kind of scary, really... Once the garden is mostly cleared out (I won't use a garden that big, frankly) there will be loads of space to fight in. We are already planning to sink a permanent pell.
The house has attic above some of it, which is perfect for storage; there is space in the rafters above the (two-car) garage for more storage. We may ask Ed, who works for Ginger in the tights shop during Fair season, to help Paul with the garage (Ed is really good with building things; he is an engineer (steam, I think) and is a really "handy" person). It looks like they put a false ceiling in the garage, and it's kinda crappy. We'd take that out and put in a good solid floor on a portion of the rafters, and stairs so we can get up there. I like to have some of the rafters open. I hope that Ed will be able to tell us how much of a load the rafters could support, and things like that. I certainly don't know enough to just go ahead with it on my own, without perhaps bringing the whole garage down!
The floors are mostly ratty old carpet, though the kitchen has stone tiles, which is wonderful. We'd take the carpet out and replace it with some sort of flooring - probably not wood at this point as I expect to find out it's too spendy. Tiles or whatever the modern equivalent of linoleum will be the likely choices.
The living room is panelled in tongue-in-groove wood, and there's a fireplace. The dining room is painted mustard yellow. The current owners are smokers, so there's no telling how yellow the walls are actually, but a wash with TSP or whatever will clean that right up. Sadly we may end up with our computers etc in the dining room... there isn't space for them in the bedrooms.
We offered to close Nov 4, since they want to move out ASAP... their grandson (in South Carolina) has leukemia and they want to move to be with him. So if we get it, we'll have Nov and Dec to work on the place; cleaning and carpet and garage and whatever... and to move in. Our lease is up at the end of December.
I'll keep you posted.
I'll try to remember to breathe.
Paul and I recently decided we want to try to remember how to be more social, you know, have friends over and stuff. To that end, we bought a second-hand couch last week, and Paul shoehorned it onto our living room. Somehow, the room looks *bigger* this way… perhaps he moved the walls?? He was very creative in keeping all the stuff in there that needs to be, and was also very thorough in hauling stuff that we didn’t need at hand to the storage locker. (That poor locker. I wonder if that’s where black holes come from…) So, combine the new living room with the new dining room table and chairs (from Paul’s grandmother. Thanks, GoGoMommy!), and we could actually have people over for dinner. Shocking, I know. :o)
This set-up will be getting its inaugural run soon: My Mom and Dad will be coming for a one-day visit, on Tuesday this week. It’ll be SO GOOD to see them!! And because of all the hard work Paul did in re-arranging the living room, we will all have comfortable places to sit and chat.
My parents both had recent surgeries; mom cataract, and dad, hernia. They are both doing really well, as evidenced by the fact that they are traveling to visit their friends in eastern Ontario. We will be spending Christmas with them in Pinawa, and I expect we are more excited about seeing their new home, than they are about seeing our new couch.
Hockey is back! I decided that since I don’t have a favourite team to follow, I simply had to pick one. I chose the Blackhawks, since they’re relatively nearby. They lost their first game… kinda ironic. Do not trust me to pick you a winning team!
Crown tourney was last weekend. Sir Lars won, defeating Viscount Hrodir in the finals. It was a beautifully clean and well fought tourney, though only the finals were really up to Crown tourney caliber. Viscount Hrodir fought really well, and though Sir Lars was clearly the superior fighter, he did not simply walk over Hrodir to the win.
In the finals, Lars had to beat Hrodir in one two-out-of-three match to win. Hrodir had to win two consecutive two-out-of-three matches to win. Lars got to choose the weapons form for the first bout, which he won with weapon and shield. It was Hrodir’s choice for the second bout, and he said, “Let’s stay with this. I know it’s your best form, and if I can’t beat you with this, I don’t deserve the win.”
I was *very* impressed by the chivalry of that choice. I didn’t think it was especially smart, you know, in terms of his chances of winning, but since honour is the point, and it’s not life-or-death, there is space for that kind of class. So, Well Done, Hrodir!
Lars approached the King and asked His leave to speak to the populace, which was granted. Lars told everyone that he was so impressed by Hrodir’s decision, he would waive his win; that meant that Hrodir only had to beat Lars once, instead of twice. Very gracious of Sir Lars, too!
So, while Lars took the finals in only two bouts, those bouts proved to be the most illuminating of the two personalities in the list. I was very pleased by what I saw there.