oooh oooh oooh what did i win? :) a free trip down married lane?
tw On 2/27/06, Scott Stewart <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Ding ding ding ding... > > We have a winner.... > > -----Original Message----- > From: Tony [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Monday, February 27, 2006 2:20 PM > To: CF-Community > Subject: Re: Well - I'm now part of the Landed Gentry > > 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:5:198193 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
