doot di doot di doot, inspector gadget, doot di doot di doot doo doo

Inspection scheduled for Thursday at 9.

signed, sealed, delivered.

Huzzah. I don't know what Dennis meant at the end of that last post. We accepted their offer. We're in contract!

the (newest) wait begins

Welcome to MY first post. We are deciding to go with their counter to our re-issued counter after their counter Friday. It's basically splitting the difference between ours and the most recent one they offered. Yay for happy mediums!
However (cue suspenseful organ chords).....
They had an open house today, so hopefully no one revisited or fell in love with it right away. We told Milt we will go with what they've got, and everyone had a good laugh, then went our separate ways. So we wait some more.

waiting again

We put in our counter offer after their barely changed counter offer yesterday. At our realtor's advice, we resubmitted the same offer.

They have until 7:00 Sunday evening to let us know.

...breathe

So, after waiting 21 hours for any word we found out that they might be soon making a crappy counter offer - basically the exact same amount they countered two days ago.

So I grew a really sour outlook and got mad. Oh so frustrated. Come on, I thought you were motivated to sell, right? I basically started growing bitter about it and couldn't think clearly about the situation.

Now I'm feeling better about everything again. We're waiting to see what they come up with. Basically, Milt let their realtor know that we're frustrated that we've been blown off this long and that they haven't shared with us utility costs. Hopefully that comes across in a way that lets them know they should make a good counter offer to keep us interested.

Updates will come as they happen.

Traveling? Seriously. You're selling a House! Pick up your phone when it rings!

So, word from the seller's agent, both owners are traveling separately. Well, interestingly enough, you're SELLING A HOUSE! I would think you'd maybe check with your real estate agent every once in a while to SEE IF YOUR HOUSE SOLD!

Pardon my exclamation, but it just doesn't make sense to me...

Milt says, after talking to their agent, that he'll give me a call as soon as they respond. The agent expects to hear from them tomorrow. Are they flying to Australia or something - tomorrow!

Tomorrow,
Kate

Waiting, waiting, waiting........

As my status on Gmail says "Seriously. Do you have to wait UNTIL 5 to let us know if you're accepting the offer. 5 is the deadline - you can let us know ANYTIME BEFORE!".

On a positive note, my PDA started working out of nowhere today. I guess I don't have an excuse to forget things again. It's actually a really good thing! But if this house doesn't go through, I think I'm getting the ipod touch anyway. I'll need a consolation prize.

In 15-20 minutes, you'll get a fresh update.

Peace.

More

Counter offer 2 made by us.

Keep Up

Counter offer from sellers sent, bam.

Same day, still big!

We put our offer in. Hopefully we'll hear back sometime tomorrow with their counter offer. Will post then.

Big day!

We're making an offer today. Say a prayer, or cross your fingers, or whatever it is you each do!

Kate

Revisiting Screened in porch

Today we went to see Screened in porch again. Since it was the only contender left, we wanted to refresh our memories and bring some new eyes to assess.

Mom, Jane, and our friend Nate came. Nate has experience doing projects and rehab on houses. He, and wife Melissa, will be an essential resource for us, no matter what we buy and when we buy it.

We looked around closer and found some weird stuff. Here goes:

The hose from the washing machine drains into the utility sink - instead of that pipe mounted on the wall behind it. If that's a drain pipe, then is it clogged? There were no weird smells happening, so it's not backed up with stagnant water at least.

It looks like the kitchen sink must have overflowed and damaged the floor.



This vent is closed off with a cookie tin. What?!


And some good news:

Yes sir, that's wood floor under the carpet on the first floor!


Guten tag, house. At least for now.

So, we're thinking about putting in an offer on Screened in porch. Possibly soon - this week? We'll keep you updated.

Kate

Day 3

Today, 1/17, we saw two more properties - both condos. Here they are, the final two properties to look at.

(We forgot the camera, so these pics are from the listings site.)

Condo 1: Ugly awnings.

I went into this one with a pretty negative view given the ugliness of the exterior of the building. I still feel that way. The interior courtyard is kind of cute, though.

Ugly awnings

Dining room into kitchen, kitchen is VERY small

Master bedroom, medium size, big closet, sloping lofted ceiling. Kind of cool

Summary: The photos make this one look larger than it is. It's very small feeling.
Grade: S for small


Condo 2: Bavarian beauty.
Okay, that's a pretty cheesy name, but the exterior is bavarian looking. These are set near the Scioto River in a wooded lot. Very pretty area, on the west edge of Grandview. They have 2 ACTUAL full bathrooms. Amazing!

Courtyard/entrance


Dining room and kitchen, quite nice and bigger than it looks here



Kitchen close up, pretty nice.



Loft and 3rd bedroom, pretty big room

Summary: We're going to keep this one in mind, but it doesn't stack up against Screened in porch. Why? There's no garage with his unit (to have a garage, they're 20k more), the parking lot is through the courtyard, there is an external staircase to get into the unit and there's no way to get the scooter close enough to plug in to charge. It would just be too difficult to get groceries and music gear from the car to the condo, up the stairs, and (for the music stuff) up the stairs again to the loft.

Grade: C

It's COLD out!

I rode the scoot today complete with mittens, lap apron, scooter jacket, scarf and many layers. It was still pretty cold. I think my feet are still warming up, and I've been inside for 30 minutes.

Tomorrow we're looking at two more properties, condos in developments.

Write up tomorrow evening.

Hasta luego,
Kate

Day 2

Saturday, 1/12 we saw three more properties. This time, all houses. It was ambitious for us, given that it took us 90 minutes to look through 2 properties the day before, to look at 3 properties in 75 minutes.

We finished 15 minutes early.

And with no additions to the list of homes we are considering (the score now is 4 no, 1 maybe).

Here we go.

House 1: Small white House. We thought this would be similar to Screened in porch (see Day 1). It wasn't.

Small white house, I call it small, because I felt like a giant everywhere I went. Even the little picket fence is short.

Basement, Please take note of the choice of decor. and also take note of the cupboards on the back wall - and the shelves. this was a reoccurring theme in this house. Milt said that the last owner was definitely elderly, and that cupboards everywhere was common among that age group.

Basement again, And again, note the cupboards everywhere.

Summary: Nope, even with the upcoming kitchen remodel.
Grade: F

House 2: Brick house. Who can resist a brick house among all of these similar sized houses with aluminum or vinyl siding? We can, apparently. And so will the rest of the world when they see the neighbor.

Brick house, Yes, that pole is actually leaning over as much as it looks like it is. We thought this house might be promising - until we saw the next door neighbor. Unfortunately we didn't take a picture of it, but you should be able to imagine how it looks: the front is similar to this - plus 500% more overgrown bare weeds, some very very shady pine trees, and approximately 100 lawn ornaments. Dennis said that he saw a sign somewhere in that mess that said Diva Witch. There's no way a sane person would move in next to that!

Living room, bizarre, but easily corrected.

Basement (of brick house), and yes, that IS a full size mannequin on the left against the wall. It is one of the first things you see when you come down the stairs. Did they know their house was being shown? I won't bother showing any more photos of this one. There was clutter everywhere and it really wasn't sitting well with us.

Summary: Crazy neighbor, unkempt yard.
Grade: N for never


House 3: Too small, too bad. Really really too bad that this one is so small. It's a 3-minute walk to our church, and just 2 streets away from Grandview Ave (the main stretch in Grandview). I've posted tons of pictures so that you can feel my pain - it's absolutely my style, we would have had to do nothing but move our stuff in...sigh.

Living room, view from front door. Medium size. Yes, that's a wood burning fireplace.

Living Room and dining room, the dining room wasn't quite large enough to fit their table with chairs.



Kitchen, sigh. My favorite part. Did I mention that I wish this house was bigger?

Backside view, with deck.

Master bedroom, is she pretty? The room, I mean - and me, I guess.

Bedroom #2, #3 is similar in size, but a light/bright blue

Bathroom, small, like the others.

Summary: We love this. But it's just too small. It's the same square footage as our current apartment. It just won't work. Milt also said it's about 15k overpriced. And the garage is pretty much ready to be knocked down and rebuilt.

Grade: C, for crap, I like this place.


Now, some additional shots of Too small, too bad's kitchen so your heart will REALLY break... p.s. If we buy Screened in porch, these photos will be handy when it comes time to remodel.

A quartz countertop. Cool hardware

Undermount sink, yes please.

pretty, pretty ceiling height cupboards.

butcher block countertop next to the stove.
Dennis pointed out that they even made a little 3 inch counter to go between the stove and fridge. Those finishing touches really count.

check out the shiny floor tiles - they're so awesome.

The end. With a stainless steel industrial switchplate. Love it.

Day 1

Friday, 1/11, we looked at two places in the middle of the day. I've taken to giving the houses names, so keep up.

House 1, Screened in porch: Dennis originally didn't like how this one looked from the outside when we drove by to scout it out earlier. We decided to look regardless.

Here are photos. We didn't get any of the exterior or porch, because our memory card filled up. Apparently I've been neglectful toward the camera - some of the photos are from July '07.

Living room, view from slightly to the right of the front door.

The open door in the back is bedroom #2, to its left is the full bath, to its right is bedroom #1. The kitchen is to the immediate left when you enter the front door. You can't see it in this picture. Behind that short wall are the stairs leading up to bedroom #3.

Living room, view from hall near bedrooms toward front window. Front door and kitchen to the right

Bedroom #1, medium size, sliding glass door to back deck, light blue cushy carpet, medium closet




Bedroom #2, medium size, wood floor, medium closet

Bathroom, pretty small. We're used to it, though. medicine chest, ugly counter, ugly floor

Bathroom again, window in shower is new

Kitchen, view from dining area that is attached. Door to side yard. Ugly floor and counter.

Kitchen, range, fridge, more cabinets. Not tons of cabinet space in this kitchen. We'd install a hanging or wall mount pot rack to help.

Dining area, view from kitchen. Enough room for a table and chairs. (Look at the kitty seat on the windowsill!)

Bedroom #3, sitting area at the top of the stairs. on the right is a large closet.

Bedroom #3, view from sitting area into bed area. I'm standing on the right side, the ceiling is taller than it appears here.

Bedroom #3, from bed area towards sitting area - another closet!



Basement, with stairs up to main level. The carpeting isn't that new, and no water spots, so we can deduce that the basement is dry.
This give us extra living space for future needs.

Basement, when you come down the stairs

Basement, utility room. that hinged thing is the drain. you can barely see the extra toilet, and there's a standup shower to the right.

Basement, from utility room into storage area

Basement, storage past the laundry room



Back deck, view from Bedroom #1. Two-car garage!

Summary: we like this property. We've created a list of updates/changes we would need and want to make. It's a good bang for our buck, as they say. The square footage is definitely more than the county auditor says it is - and it feels pretty big inside, especially with the extra space in the basement!
Grade: B+ (kate), A- (dennis)

House 2, Yellow condo: From the photos on the MLS site, this was my favorite entering into the whole process. Unfortunately, we couldn't take any photos due to the memory card debacle. Trust me - it's awesome inside! The kitchen updates are to die for, almost literally.

Summary: While I still love how this one looks, it feels small inside. The basement is unusable for living. The upstairs doesn't have a substantial landing - the three of us kept getting in each other's way - and we were moving leisurely about. Also, Milt, our realtor, informed us that condos in small associations (this one is only two properties) are harder to sell because of how much relies on the neighbors getting along to accomplish anything.
Grade: C (kate), C (dennis)