A few weeks ago we had an open house. Approximately 11 people came through, which was awesome, considering we were hoping for one or two people. We don't know how many were just nosy neighbors...but at least we've had some foot traffic.
Other than that, we haven't had any interested parties contact us...that is until yesterday afternoon.
Shannon called me at noon, and asked me if I could have the house ready for a private showing by 2:00. Which, quite frankly, was crazy talk. But who am I to keep from showing our house to a potential buyer, so I hung up the phone, turned up the tunes, and started running around like a mad woman. I got this house cleaned from top to bottom in under two hours, including vacuuming and folding/putting away laundry.
Then I loaded Murphy up, and vacated the premises for a few hours. Haven't heard anything else, but we're keeping our fingers crossed.
On another note, we did find out our buyout offer...and while it's not as high as we were hoping for, it is at least a positive balance. So with that in mind, we'll be setting off on another house hunt on Sunday!
We're also picking up, (dog and all) and moving down there on Sunday to live in a hotel until we find a house, since I have to start my new job on Monday!!
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Fire! Fire! (alarm)
So, I told you yesterday about getting our MCI back...well, another issue that we addressed was the lack of a carbon monoxide detector. We decided to buy a fire alarm/CO combo, and while we were at it we decided to go ahead and update the other fire alarm as well.
The task itself was fairly simple. Just detach the old, hook up the new to the existing 120V connection and attach to the wall. The end.
We tossed the old alarms in the trash and went on the next item on our "Fix it ourselves, before we get charged $150 to replace a $2 light switch cover" list.
Late Sunday night, right in that peaceful just about to drift into dream state, I hear a little beep beep beep beep beep beep beep. I shook Shan (who irritatingly is able to go from awake to sleep in the snap of the fingers) awake, to see if he'd heard it. We thought maybe it was the new fire alarms? Although, hopefully those would have sounded more like this: BEEP BEEP BEEP. Remember this was of the softer (or in this case, smaller font) variety. Just as we were ready to write it off as a fluke and go back to bed...we heard it again.
We both start wandering around the house trying to figure out what the crap is deciding to show it's butt NOW. I mean, it's had all night...it could have interrupted River Monsters, or the folding of the laundry...but no...it has to be now.
Is it timers on the stove? Maybe we need to set the clocks since we turned the power off? Is it the water softener? WHAT THE HELL IS THAT BEEPING?!?!?!? Did we throw something away that beeps?
Epiphany: The old fire alarms! We left the old batteries connected. Of course! We're so silly! Just disconnect the batteries, and all will be well!
As we're patting each other on the backs for our wondrous Sherlock Holmes/Dr. Watson abilities, especially late at night when our faculties aren't necessarily at the sharpest, the fire alarms decide to let us know that they've yet to be bested with a "CHIRP!"
Shannon: How is this happening! They don't have any power! I have to get up in three hours and drive three hours! I hate these stupid things! They have to stop in a minute, THEY DON'T HAVE ANY POWER!
Jenni: Honey, I don't think they're going to stop. Ironically, they're letting you know that they don't have any power. They want a new battery.
Shannon: Oh, I'll give them a new battery!
(At which point, he opens the garage door, and hurls them frisbee style into the ditch that runs along the side of the house)
Problem solved!
(Don't worry, I did go out and retrieve them the next morning)
The task itself was fairly simple. Just detach the old, hook up the new to the existing 120V connection and attach to the wall. The end.
We tossed the old alarms in the trash and went on the next item on our "Fix it ourselves, before we get charged $150 to replace a $2 light switch cover" list.
Late Sunday night, right in that peaceful just about to drift into dream state, I hear a little beep beep beep beep beep beep beep. I shook Shan (who irritatingly is able to go from awake to sleep in the snap of the fingers) awake, to see if he'd heard it. We thought maybe it was the new fire alarms? Although, hopefully those would have sounded more like this: BEEP BEEP BEEP. Remember this was of the softer (or in this case, smaller font) variety. Just as we were ready to write it off as a fluke and go back to bed...we heard it again.
We both start wandering around the house trying to figure out what the crap is deciding to show it's butt NOW. I mean, it's had all night...it could have interrupted River Monsters, or the folding of the laundry...but no...it has to be now.
Is it timers on the stove? Maybe we need to set the clocks since we turned the power off? Is it the water softener? WHAT THE HELL IS THAT BEEPING?!?!?!? Did we throw something away that beeps?
Epiphany: The old fire alarms! We left the old batteries connected. Of course! We're so silly! Just disconnect the batteries, and all will be well!
As we're patting each other on the backs for our wondrous Sherlock Holmes/Dr. Watson abilities, especially late at night when our faculties aren't necessarily at the sharpest, the fire alarms decide to let us know that they've yet to be bested with a "CHIRP!"
Shannon: How is this happening! They don't have any power! I have to get up in three hours and drive three hours! I hate these stupid things! They have to stop in a minute, THEY DON'T HAVE ANY POWER!
Jenni: Honey, I don't think they're going to stop. Ironically, they're letting you know that they don't have any power. They want a new battery.
Shannon: Oh, I'll give them a new battery!
(At which point, he opens the garage door, and hurls them frisbee style into the ditch that runs along the side of the house)
Problem solved!
(Don't worry, I did go out and retrieve them the next morning)
Monday, April 11, 2011
Stairway to Heaven....or, Front Porch, as the case may be
So, we got back our MCI (Major Component Inspection, for those of you not in the know) report...which is a list of things that an inspector perceived to be wrong with our house and that we had to address to their satisfaction, or take a cut in our buyout price.
One of the things on the list was that there were no steps from the front porch into the garage. Now, in the five years we've been here I think I can count on one finger the number of times that door has even been open...and I don't recall EVER having to get to the front porch in such a hurry that I couldn't either go through the house or out and around the garage, but I digress.
In order to keep from walking through the door from the front porch and face planting into the garage floor...well, you could just look, and hop down, but apparently that's not good enough...so Shannon took on the task of stair building.
He essentially copied the plan of the existing stairs from the garage into the house and modified it to suit the other door.
Original model, sporting the latest in Mt. Dew fashion
Shannon got to play with power tools! Well, a circular saw, and is drill...but you know how men are about power tools.
Showing off his circular saw skillz
One of the things on the list was that there were no steps from the front porch into the garage. Now, in the five years we've been here I think I can count on one finger the number of times that door has even been open...and I don't recall EVER having to get to the front porch in such a hurry that I couldn't either go through the house or out and around the garage, but I digress.
In order to keep from walking through the door from the front porch and face planting into the garage floor...well, you could just look, and hop down, but apparently that's not good enough...so Shannon took on the task of stair building.
He essentially copied the plan of the existing stairs from the garage into the house and modified it to suit the other door.
Original model, sporting the latest in Mt. Dew fashionShannon got to play with power tools! Well, a circular saw, and is drill...but you know how men are about power tools.
Showing off his circular saw skillzThe whole process was actually pretty painless (with the exception of a board falling on Shan's Achilles tendon and the hopping around/cursing that followed) Before we knew it, we had something that certainly resembled a stair skeleton:
Taking a second measurement...you know what they say about those-generally a good idea!
Taking a second measurement...you know what they say about those-generally a good idea!And speaking of measuring things...Shan specifically bought a mini tape measure to keep in his pocket:
Here is that same tape measure...surreptitiously NOT in his pocket...but on the grass, where it was 9 out of 10 times he went to use it.
When I wasn't actively taking pictures, wrangling the dog, standing on boards to keep them from moving while they were being sawed, or retrieving the tape measure AGAIN...I tried to stay out of the way...
Yes. I am sitting on the lawn mower. No. Murphy isn't dead in this picture...and if you look closely, you can see Shannon actually working in the corner.
Within a few short hours, we had a complete set of stairs. No more face plants onto the garage floor for us. Heck, we may even start using that door just because we can! More than likely, we'll send in some pictures to satisfy the inspectors, and take care of that $500 dollar deduction from our buyout for just about $15. Ha!
Just to prove I wasn't lying about Murphy being dead a few pictures above...here he is proudly modeling his Poppa's great achievement.
Yes. I am sitting on the lawn mower. No. Murphy isn't dead in this picture...and if you look closely, you can see Shannon actually working in the corner.Within a few short hours, we had a complete set of stairs. No more face plants onto the garage floor for us. Heck, we may even start using that door just because we can! More than likely, we'll send in some pictures to satisfy the inspectors, and take care of that $500 dollar deduction from our buyout for just about $15. Ha!
Just to prove I wasn't lying about Murphy being dead a few pictures above...here he is proudly modeling his Poppa's great achievement.Saturday, April 9, 2011
I'll tell ya what I want, what I really really want...
When it comes to house hunting for the second time, we have a little more realistic idea of what we want.
When we first came to Iowa on our whirlwind trip back in April of 06, we looked at about eight houses on one weekend. A few were 100 year old farm houses, with choppy floor plans, and ceilings so low even the dog could stand up straight in them. We looked at one that had an AMAZING floor plan, but was completely unlivable because of a leaky roof--which in and of itself wasn't a deal breaker...but the price was. One even had carpet in the kitchen (Yuck!) So when our realtor brought us to this house we were blown away.
I instantly fell in love with the willow trees, the hardwood floors, and the kitchen. Shannon loved the over-sized garage and the amount of land that came with it.
After living here for five years, there are certainly a few things we would change, and there are some things that we know we could do without in our second home. For instance, vaulted ceilings are not my thing. They're difficult to clean, and it's almost impossible to change the light bulbs. I love the amount of light that the sky lights let in, but they're also more difficult to clean.
With all that said...here are some things we know we MUST have in our next home, and some things that we'd like, but aren't deal breakers.
Must Haves:
Of the houses we've looked at so far, none of them meet ALL of these criteria, but there have been quite a few that came pretty close. I figure that having a list here may help me keep all these things in mind when we go on our next house hunt...hopefully next weekend!
Unfortunately, we can't go this weekend, because we have a long laundry list of things we need to do to please the stupid inspection report. Sad Face. But, I'll let you know as soon as we get our search on.
When we first came to Iowa on our whirlwind trip back in April of 06, we looked at about eight houses on one weekend. A few were 100 year old farm houses, with choppy floor plans, and ceilings so low even the dog could stand up straight in them. We looked at one that had an AMAZING floor plan, but was completely unlivable because of a leaky roof--which in and of itself wasn't a deal breaker...but the price was. One even had carpet in the kitchen (Yuck!) So when our realtor brought us to this house we were blown away.
I instantly fell in love with the willow trees, the hardwood floors, and the kitchen. Shannon loved the over-sized garage and the amount of land that came with it.
After living here for five years, there are certainly a few things we would change, and there are some things that we know we could do without in our second home. For instance, vaulted ceilings are not my thing. They're difficult to clean, and it's almost impossible to change the light bulbs. I love the amount of light that the sky lights let in, but they're also more difficult to clean.
With all that said...here are some things we know we MUST have in our next home, and some things that we'd like, but aren't deal breakers.
Must Haves:
- At least 4/10 of an acre (we love having a large lot, but we don't really utilize it)
- A minimum of 1800 square feet (I personally want 2000+, but when looking at real estate sites, they don't usually count the finished basement in the total square footage--so keep that in mind)
- 3-4 bedrooms
- A bathroom on each floor (I am not running upstairs every time I have to pee! Nor am I running downstairs in the middle of the night, those of you who know me, know my intense fear of serial killers creepin' in the dark!)
- A fenced yard (we can clearly do this ourselves...but we'd really like if it were already done)
- Some kind of deck/patio
- A finished basement
- A fairly updated kitchen (It doesn't have to be brand new, and I'm not a stainless steel freak like most house hunters, but I don't want a 1970's rust colored dishwasher)
- A fireplace
- More than one living space
Of the houses we've looked at so far, none of them meet ALL of these criteria, but there have been quite a few that came pretty close. I figure that having a list here may help me keep all these things in mind when we go on our next house hunt...hopefully next weekend!
Unfortunately, we can't go this weekend, because we have a long laundry list of things we need to do to please the stupid inspection report. Sad Face. But, I'll let you know as soon as we get our search on.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Strike One
So I told you yesterday about a house that we’d fallen in love with enough to put in an offer…well, here are the details. (Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures to share, so you’ll have to use your imagination…)
After looking at a few options, we found a three level ranch, which sounds weird, but basically it was a three story house built into a hill, and instead of going up, the “top” floor was the only thing you could see when you pulled up, and then the rest of the floors were beneath it. Each level had ground access.
The lot was a huge hill, and not necessarily ideal for the dog, but it was landscaped, and terraced out to a point that we thought we could make it work.
The top floor had the kitchen, living/dining rooms, and master bed and bath. The middle level had two more bedrooms, bathroom, another living area with fireplace, and a laundry room. The bottom level was just an empty partially finished area. We envisioned finishing it out for a mother in law suite.
The house is in a VERY desirable neighborhood, and the location was great for Shannon’s commute. We’re only looking on the Iowa side of the river, even though Shannon is working in Illinois, because the tax situation and school systems are better on the Iowa side.
The house is a buyout situation, meaning that right now it is owned by a company as opposed to a person. It has been owned by said company since September, with zero offers on it…so we assumed they would be very motivated to sell. Knowing this, Shannon put in an offer for 40K less than the list price (Which I’ll refer to as $X), with a contingency on a successful closing on our house by June, 15.
They countered back, and reduced the price by 5K. At which point, we walked away, since it didn’t appear they were willing to play ball. A few hours later, our realtor called us back, and told us that they had decided to sign it back to us at $X-30K, but they wanted to move the closing date up to May 15, and wouldn’t place a contingency on the closing of our current house.
Our realtor told us we had until end of business to decide…(which was about 2.5 hours)…then called back and told us that someone else was putting an offer in, and we’d better make a decision in the next 30 minutes. (We’re fairly certain this was a ploy, since there had been no movement on the house in six months…but we’re not for sure)
Since we’re in a buyout situation, we KNOW that our house will be out of our hands 90 days after our list date, however, we don’t know yet how much money we’re going to get for it….this is where to problem was. Shan was willing to meet the price, but was not willing to take the risk without knowing what our buyout will be.
With that said, we told our realtor to tell them we’d take it ONLY if they agreed to put the closing contingency back in the contract. And, apparently they didn’t like that.
We don’t know if the “other guy” bought the house, or what. It’s not listed any longer online, but that could just be because it was supposed to go to another listing agent at the beginning of April. We continue to check online every few days to see if it is relisted…but until then we’re putting together another list of houses we want to look at…so, we’ll see what happens!
UPDATE: The "other guy" did indeed get the other house for 3% more than we offered. Oh well. Onward and Upward!
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Here are the things you need to know...
I know most of the people that read this will already know most of what I'm about to say here, but for those who don't...
Let me introduce myself: Hi, I'm Jenni!
(with a fern on my head...don't ask)
Let me introduce myself: Hi, I'm Jenni!
(with a fern on my head...don't ask)I'm originally from Georgia, and graduated from Georgia Tech a few years ago. While I was there, I met the man I would soon marry.
This is my fiance: Shannon
Shannon is originally from Pennsylvania, and after graduating from Penn State, he came to GT for his Masters in Mechanical Engineering. After he graduated from GT, he accepted a job in Iowa.
For the last five years, we've lived here:
Which we bought after a whirlwind weekend trip during our senior year to find a place to live. We bought it because it was a compromise for what we both wanted in a house. It had a little bit of land (approx. 4 acres) but was still in town. It's a small town, but it has a grocery store, and it has a $2 movie theater, and the Traer Pizza Palace; which has the best pizza I've ever had...all within walking distance.
The pond and the willow trees were two major deciding factors in the purchase of this home.
One other being I should introduce you to is Murphy. He's our three year old Brittany, and he's spoiled rotten.
You should know that Murph HATES having his picture taken, and usually makes a weird face...like that one.
Up until now, the last five years have been pretty comfortable and routine. Shannon would get up and go to work everyday. I've had a couple of unfulfilling jobs, until I decided to go back to school to get certified as a medical lab tech. I still hadn't found a job doing what I really loved...but was still looking, and planning our wedding, which is to take place at the end of May, when our world got turned on it's ear.
In mid-January, Shannon found out he'd gotten a promotion, and we were going to be relocated to the Quad Cities, which is about three hours from where we are now. Luckily, Shannon's company is putting up for our relocation, so we started immediately getting the house ready for listing. We did a few things, like change hardware, and lighting fixtures, and got that sucker listed.
Shannon has been been working in the QC since February, and has been staying in a hotel, and coming home on the weekends. It's been an okay situation, which has allowed me to stay home with the dog, and meet the slew of appraisers and inspectors that have had to come through on official relocation business.
However, as of Monday, I now have a new job in the QC as well(!!!) working in a hospital lab, and I start in a few weeks. This means we HAVE to figure out our housing situation. And this has NOT been fun.
We found one house that we absolutely LOVED, and put an offer in on it, but (it's a long story, that I may get into in another post) it wasn't accepted.
So, in a nutshell, that's what I'm hoping to cover in this blog. Adventures in house hunting, starting a new job, getting married, and any other surprises that may be coming my way in the next two months and beyond.
Shannon is originally from Pennsylvania, and after graduating from Penn State, he came to GT for his Masters in Mechanical Engineering. After he graduated from GT, he accepted a job in Iowa.For the last five years, we've lived here:
Which we bought after a whirlwind weekend trip during our senior year to find a place to live. We bought it because it was a compromise for what we both wanted in a house. It had a little bit of land (approx. 4 acres) but was still in town. It's a small town, but it has a grocery store, and it has a $2 movie theater, and the Traer Pizza Palace; which has the best pizza I've ever had...all within walking distance.
The pond and the willow trees were two major deciding factors in the purchase of this home.One other being I should introduce you to is Murphy. He's our three year old Brittany, and he's spoiled rotten.
You should know that Murph HATES having his picture taken, and usually makes a weird face...like that one.Up until now, the last five years have been pretty comfortable and routine. Shannon would get up and go to work everyday. I've had a couple of unfulfilling jobs, until I decided to go back to school to get certified as a medical lab tech. I still hadn't found a job doing what I really loved...but was still looking, and planning our wedding, which is to take place at the end of May, when our world got turned on it's ear.
In mid-January, Shannon found out he'd gotten a promotion, and we were going to be relocated to the Quad Cities, which is about three hours from where we are now. Luckily, Shannon's company is putting up for our relocation, so we started immediately getting the house ready for listing. We did a few things, like change hardware, and lighting fixtures, and got that sucker listed.
Shannon has been been working in the QC since February, and has been staying in a hotel, and coming home on the weekends. It's been an okay situation, which has allowed me to stay home with the dog, and meet the slew of appraisers and inspectors that have had to come through on official relocation business.
However, as of Monday, I now have a new job in the QC as well(!!!) working in a hospital lab, and I start in a few weeks. This means we HAVE to figure out our housing situation. And this has NOT been fun.
We found one house that we absolutely LOVED, and put an offer in on it, but (it's a long story, that I may get into in another post) it wasn't accepted.
So, in a nutshell, that's what I'm hoping to cover in this blog. Adventures in house hunting, starting a new job, getting married, and any other surprises that may be coming my way in the next two months and beyond.
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