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We're mostly moved in. Most of our furniture and boxes are at least in the proper room. Most of the discarded packing paper has been bagged up and tossed in the garage. Most of the blinds have been hung. I'm mostly happy with our new house. There's almost enough cabinet space and almost enough natural light. Everyone warned me of buyers remorse. And sure enough, after a few days of this is our house euphoria, remorse has set in. I drive by blocks and blocks of old houses on my new commute and they make me a little sad. Even the ones that are a bit run down have enormous trees and countless windows. They probably have original wood floors, weird nooks in the kitchen and cabinets and telephone shelves built into the hall. Of course that's along with their cast iron pipes and shifting East Austin foundations.Then I remember that our house doesn't require fixing. The yard is great big and Dog already loves it. Dog and Little Cat also love thundering up and down the stairs. We've met our friendly neighbors across the street who told us about the farm we can walk to for fresh veggies, eggs and milk. I'm quite sure the remorse will fade as we get everything unpacked and all the empty boxes go the way of craigslist. I'm a certified nester and when my nest is in disarray I am too.Picture: Big Cat feels about the same way about moving as I do. She spent almost 2 days in that cabinet.
After months of fighting with old homes we gave up. It's obviously not the right time for us to buy a project house. Almost overnight we shifted to the opposite end of the spectrum. We are officially buying a brand-spankin'-new, never been lived in house. We've both spent a few days mourning the idea of what we wanted. We're now working harder than ever to think of what we can do to make this new house a home and how we can make sure it reflects who we are. It's really the practical decision and we're increasingly excited about it. We never imagined we'd have so much space or such a large yard. The location is remarkably convenient and there are real live trees that are more than a year old. The particular subdivision we're moving to kept as many of the original elms and oaks as they could. We have two slightly scraggly native elms (as pictured above, the view from our bedroom window) and a large, bushy persimmon.
This is the epitomy of a family home.
This is what the back patio on the potential house looked like yesterday afternoon. I'll save everyone from having to view the lovely stagnant water that is currently residing in the abandoned septic tank that the plumber unearthed yesterday morning. Though I have pictures of that too. For posterity, of course. And proof. This would be the very same septic tank the seller swears up and down is not in fact a septic tank and also swears that it has been filled with dirt. If by dirt they mean dirty water then they're right on. If not...then we have a problem. The house also failed the static plumbing test which means there's a leak somewhere in the sewer pipe. Awesome. Seems that putting cast iron plumbing directly into concrete is a really fantastic idea...until it isn't. Especially when jack-hammering up the middle of the living room floor becomes the only solution. Fortunately the plumber thinks the leak is above the slab, probably a drain trap from one of the showers which requires much less jack-hammer action to fix. This is assuming the sellers are willing to approve the work. Their agent is on vacation all week (!!) and our option period ends Monday. It's a shame this process is so horribly boring.
Things seem to be progressing on the house front. As expected, the FHA appraisal came in well below the contracted price. Amazingly, the sellers are taking it and we've actually come to a negotiation that will work for everyone. I was beginning to think that wasn't even possible in the home buying world. So we'll do final inspections next week and pray that we don't find something that wasn't found in the other 2 inspections done earlier this year. Our projected close date is September 15th, and since I hear that closing is even more stressful the the rest of the process there will be no collective sighs of relief. Not yet. Until then we'll busy busy ourselves with packing and working on our list and trying not to loose all touch with the rest of the world.
It's easy to get so sucked into the vortex of wedding planning and home buying and "omg we have so much to do!" that we forget about those people around us who make us happy. This weekend we're beach bound with friends (and 2 of my favorite almost 2 year olds) after game night with other friends. We'll recharge our batteries with IBC Root Beer, board games, sand castles & sunshine and we'll be ready Monday morning to resume the maddness.
Picture: Our soon-to-be long hallway
Or 3 strikes you're out?
We're officially under contract on a new house. Part of me feels that we shouldn't count our chickens before they hatch, but they're not being counted so much as documented. This blog is as much for me as it is for the 3 other people who read it, so I want to document as much of this process as I can. We're fulling expecting to have appraisal issues again (darn you FHA) but hopefully this time we can work it to our advantage. The home itself is wonderful. Built in 1961, orange brick, oozing with old lady charm (ie: pink tile in the bathroom). It's begging for a few coats of paint and new flooring but otherwise fits us perfectly. And so we begin that painfully stressful countdown of the option period, where we throw money at inspectors and beg the sellers to fix just one more thing. And maybe, just maybe this time we'll make it to closing. Hopefully I won't spiral into complete insanity between now and September 15th.
I can now say I've seen the inside of a sewer pipe. Specifically a sewer pipe that contains a big fat root from the lovely tree in the front yard. I've also seen an ancient roof with hail damage and rotten plywood. And last but not least, I've seen exactly what an exterior electrical panel should not look like. We knew there was a problem when 4 consecutive people (2 building inspectors and 2 licensed master electricians) took the cover off, cocked their head to one side, stared for about 5 minutes before shaking their heads and saying "what the HELL did this guy do?!". The only good news...no termites!
Now for negotiations. If seller-man won't at least bring the electrical work up to code and replace the roof (or give us back the money to do it ourselves) then this house may not be ours after all. I mean really, who wants to buy a fire trap with a leaky roof and a clogged toilet? All the cosmetic stuff is amazing...new wood floors, tile and carpet, new cabinets and appliances, new light and plumbing fixtures. But what good does that do it when it's charred and soggy. Very little, I'd say.
We had our official home inspection Sunday morning. It was nerve racking waiting to see what all is wrong. This was also the time everyone came to check out the house. At one point D's dad and the inspector were up on the roof bouncing up and down while my mom wandered around measuring things. My dear friend Amanda came by with her son, Ronan - who's almost 2. He inspected the big sticks in the back yard and made sure to check all the doors for us (don't worry, they work). Amanda's dad is a building inspector and he provided a 3rd (4th? 5th?) opinion for us along with an idea of what work needs to be done. Fortunately, it's a pretty solid little house it just has some electrical issues and could really stand to have a new roof due to past hail damage.
On Tuesday we'll have a hydro-static plumbing test and termite inspection as well as meet with a roofing company and an electrician to get bids on the work that needs to be done. I feel like I'm learning so much through this process, but it's still really overwhelming. I don't want to miss a single step and end up with a really expensive problem. I'm beyond excited about starting completely fresh with D in a house where we'll hopefully live for a long long time.
How about a half-bath today?
So after a full week of pulling our hair out we have a contract. Not a full house yet, just a contract...but at least that's something. Inspections are schedule for this weekend and hopefully in 30 days - give or take - we'll have a real live house of our very own.
Now to tease with another, though slightly less obscure, picture. Enjoy...
So we're a whole 50 hours away from our offer and we still have no word from the seller. Our Realtor called on rant-mode about how unacceptable it is to hold an offer this long with no response and that she was going to call and demand a response immediately. Here! Here! Of course that was 3 hours ago. So much for immediate.
This process definitely helps me understand why people by new homes. You sit down and negotiate the features of your house like a new car. There's no one waiting to outbid you and no seller holding out for the best offer. But we want an old house. With trees and a story and neighbors who've been there 40 years. Silly us for being so picky.picture: Flickr squared circles - clocks
Alright World, please keep your proverbial fingers crossed. We just submitted an offer on a fantastically wonderful little house. Out of pure superstition there will be no pictures until we know more. In the mean time...enjoy the back yard in all it's ginormous glory.
We're mostly moved in. Most of our furniture and boxes are at least in the proper room. Most of the discarded packing paper has been bagged up and tossed in the garage. Most of the blinds have been hung. I'm mostly happy with our new house. There's almost enough cabinet space and almost enough natural light. 
