I had to repeat this same philosopy to my wife for a full year before she finally grasped the concept.
I thought I was going to go nuts - I swear she thought everything needed to be done ASAP. Had to keep reminding her we're going to be here a LONG time - you can't think about it like your last apartment, where everything could and would get done in a couple of weekends. I *think* we're going to be able to take the summer off this year. No deck building, painting, etc. Just enjoy what we pay for every month. :) Tony wrote: > my freakin beef with this whole owning a house thing is this... > > nothing in life prepares you for the following: > > 1. getting married > 2. being married > 3. building a house > 4. buying a house > 5. upkeeping a house > > there are myriad things you *can* do, with your house, that ultimately > you have to realize that its a process, and not an event... and with that > you kinda have to take a step back, chill, choose your battles and go > from there. anything else will result in frustration, expectations that will > never be fulfilled, and general malaise. > > tw > > On 2/27/06, Ray Champagne <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> Jim, are you living there right now? Or was this just a trip down to do >> some pre-move in work? >> >> At any rate, welcome to home ownership. It's a blast and a PITA all at >> the same time. I can see you're loving it already. :) >> >> Jim Davis wrote: >>> We closed on our first house Friday morning. It was months of living hell >>> getting there, but we're done. >>> >>> We borrowed the down-payment from my Savings and Investment retirement plan >>> and they screwed up the transfer so badly, TWICE that we had to, at the last >>> minute, borrow the money from my parents to close the deal (I got my actual >>> money a day too late - and six weeks later than they originally said). >>> >>> We wanted to close on Tuesday to give us some time in the house (the kids >>> were off from school last week) but the seller wanted Friday. So we decided >>> on Friday on 1pm so that we could split the driving into two days and stay >>> with my mother-in-law one night (we're in Boston, MA the house is in >>> Scranton, PA). >>> >>> So then two days before the lawyer announced that he could only do Friday at >>> 8:30 AM or 3:30pm. The seller had a shit-fit about the later time so we >>> moved everything around and lost our money on the hotel reservations and had >>> to drive through in one evening. >>> >>> But we did Okay on our end. The U-Haul cost much more than I thought it >>> would but we got it loaded and unloaded without incident or disaster. >>> >>> I'd never seen the house in person (my wife did all the hunting). It had >>> some unpleasant surprises. Nothing that has to be addressed immediately but >>> still: >>> >>> +) The yard was much smaller than I thought and much more uneven... then >>> again most homes in Scranton are on the valley wall - about 70% of them have >>> uneven lots. >>> >>> +) The owner had run cable lines - VERY BADLY - EVERYWHERE. He had Cable >>> TV, Satellite and two (what he called) "backup" roof antennas. He had two >>> TV's in the living room, two in the family room, one in the kitchen, and one >>> in each of the three bedrooms - and he lived alone! He drilled holes in the >>> carpet and walls floors... it'll take me a week to pull out all of that >>> wire. >>> >>> +) The garage floor is a lot rougher than I could have hoped. Not at all >>> dangerous (it's smooth) just rough. >>> >>> +) The downstairs (finished basement) lights and drop ceiling are in >>> poor-ish shape. Nothing that needs to be addressed at all soon but >>> eventually. >>> >>> +) The carpets in two of the bedrooms were self installed at some point: cut >>> badly and wrong. The edges are ragged and make any furniture you set >>> against them uneven. >>> >>> +) I can see I'm already going to have a fight with my neighbors: my yard >>> has no fence and abuts theirs and my yard is dug up like crazy and COVERED >>> in dog-shit. We always planned on getting a fence put in sooner than later >>> but still... >>> >>> However there were some very nice surprises as well: >>> >>> +) The crappy carpet in the bed rooms covered up some very nice original >>> hardwood floors - so we pulled it up in those two and will probably do the >>> same in the last one. Also as we pulled up the carpet in my daughter room >>> we found a small cache of birthday and Christmas cards hidden under the pad >>> - one of which had $250 in it. Nearly covered the money flushed down >>> because of the missed hotel reservation. ;^) >>> >>> +) As bad as the carpet was in those two bedrooms the carpet in the living >>> room/dining room/hallway was good. Pristine, well mounted and not a single >>> stain (although he did, as mentioned, drill through in several places to run >>> crappy cable lines). >>> >>> +) The bathroom was carpeted with an indoor/outdoor pad - it didn't look bad >>> really but we didn't like it (ALL of the houses we looked at in the are had >>> carpeted bathrooms - something I'd never seen before). We peeked under it >>> and found that it covered some gorgeous original tile. We mopped it and >>> looks like new. >>> >>> +) The owner had just recently put in all new windows and doors - very good >>> windows and doors. The house has four outside doors (Backdoor, family room, >>> utility room and front door). All of them have a heavy screen door with >>> full length screen or double paned windows and strong locks and all eight >>> doors use the same key (I currently have three keys just to get into my >>> apartment). >>> >>> +) The house has central air but we didn't realize that the lower level has >>> vents as well (there's a negative - the ducts actually travel through my >>> daughter's closet, but that's a small price to pay). >>> >>> +) The kitchen has a garbage disposal that we didn't know about and some >>> really nice built-ins (a slide-out cutting board, a rotating cupboard and >>> several custom built cutlery guides). >>> >>> So all told I think we made out pretty well. >>> >>> Jim Davis >>> >>> >>> >>> >> > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:198184 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
