Is this the house the had the mold assessment? The tile and the hardwood sound exciting. Amazing what some people will cover with crappy carpet.
>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:5:198237 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
