Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Before & After

Before
After
Have a great 'rest of the day' - I am taking a much needed nap!

Monday, April 28, 2014

Use for a dead fig tree

There is no sign of life coming up from the roots of my fig trees, but they are still useful. I will leave them for the next owners to decide if they like them or not. I like them, even if they are dead. I see a new crop of bird friends daily, they are using the trees as a gathering spot while they get their bearings.

It's raining today, so you must excuse the wet window and cruddy 'through the screen' shot, but I had to share.

Friday, April 25, 2014

Anxiety Reigns...

As you can see, my non-working dishwasher will have to be replaced. I have been looking into a drawer dishwasher - just a single one. I don't go through many dishes and I'm thinking it would be easier to load and unload. We shall see, they are not cheap...

I know I am getting ahead of myself, I have to pick out a roof color, then it must be installed, and then the bank will decide if they will finance it. It shouldn't be a problem, but the waiting is driving me goofy. The 36" cabinet that sits next to the stove doesn't match the other cabinets - I am thinking about having some doors made to match. I think they are so cute!

Hurry up and wait, it's the name of the game and I want to win... soon!

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Next Residence

The "Not New" House
Not sure when we will be moving, haven't signed the papers at the bank yet. The roof needs to be replaced before the bank will give us the loan. It has some bad hail damage. From the looks of it, you wouldn't want to believe it could have much wrong... it does, about 20k worth of repairs to make it safe and working properly. If you looked at the pictures on facebook - the green (non-working) dishwasher is a clue as to how long it has been since an update.

I suppose you wonder why we (I) picked this house when it has problems. Well, it's like this... Even a brand new house has its problems. Going in, knowing what the problems are give a person some advantage. The house is in an excellent neighborhood, close to shopping, medical, and pizza delivery. I had quite a list of things that we wanted in a house, not many even came close.

Large fenced-in shaded yard for J n J
Double garage for DH
Work shop area for DH
Shed for overflow and mower
Space for my 'womb' (it's small, but sufficient)
Two full bathrooms
Split bedroom layout
Bright kitchen
Wood floors (the real kind)

It has doggy doors, a gas fireplace, a large closet for my silver and crafts, but most of all - it has character! The square footage on the ad was wrong, it is smaller than my old place, but bigger than the one I am in now.

I am very excited. It's like a mile to a Chinese restaurant! I hope we are in before Memorial Day. 

Friday, April 11, 2014

Remember...

...the tender buds in February from the screwy weather we had? The figs are dead now, the hard freeze did them in.

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Date with a scary old lady...

I don't know how they took such good pictures for their listing. I decided not to go upstairs when I saw the treads were split and someone had broken through about half way up. The house was a real nightmare. I had been given the impression that the work inside was well underway. It wasn't. The inside killed any thought of a tea room or B&B... as soon as we walked into the foyer. Ah... a girl has to dream, but the reality of it was too much! She must have been beautiful at some point, it's just too bad they let her go too long.

Monday, April 7, 2014

House Hunting, the end for now...

This is the rambler - we did make an offer (10.5% higher than the selling price), and then we sat waiting to hear from the agent... until this morning. The way I understand it, they had a half dozen offers. The people who actually got the house offered less than we did, but they had cash in their hot little hands.

Of course, I am disappointed. Now, I am leery about trying to finance another house before we get this one sold. I have gone through the panic of selling and having to find something acceptable by the time we have to hand over the keys. Banks do not lend money on fixer-uppers without collateral (this house), so buying something cheap is out. The loan officer at our bank said the payments on a 'better' home were more than we want to shell out, especially if we find another money pit, like this one. Most of the flaws and problems were hidden ones.

I found a couple fixers, but, there is that higher % interest of an equity loan. I wish I had a crystal ball or something to predict how soon this one will sell. Maybe I could relax a little.

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

At the crack...

DH and I went on a house hunting mission this morning. I told our agent that we wanted to start as early as possible. We were up at the crack of dawn, heading south with our list.
 The first house on the list was the highest priced one, in a growing area, not far from Wal Mart and all the shops and major stores. We arrived about 15 minutes before it was time to meet our realtor, and decided to have a look around.
 At first glimpse, it looked untidy. 
Looking closer, all I could think was WTF? They had a huge pile of furniture in the back-back yard. Junk and debris covered most of the landscape around the yard and house.
I had DH call the gal and tell her we would meet her at the second house on the list. It looked as if they gave a two year old the can of red paint. We figured that if the outside looked this bad, the inside could be no better. No way, did I want any part of cleaning up such a mess and paying for the privilege.

This was the beginning of a very long day. House hunting is the most grueling job, I will be glad when it finally ends! To be continued...