Thursday, June 26, 2008

Home Inspection, Parts I and II

We had the home inspection the other day. Only a few things that need to get fixed. The sellers, however, balked at fixing any other them, calling it a "laundry list." It is, however, important that the newel post get fixed. We don't want anyone taking an unintentional leap from the 2nd floor. Upon hearing what her clients said, the seller's agent stepped up and said she'd get the items fixed (at her cost -- including the hose bibb and the door). Great news. We didn't want to have to haggle over a few last minute items.

We're getting an estimate for how much to move our heavy items (bed, armoire, dressers) from a local moving company. Many of our friends have used them and said they worked quickly and did a good job. We hope to have a "moving" party for our friends here to help us with the small boxes. Payment = food and drink.

My parents are graciously coming up to help us at the end of the month --cleaning up the old and new places before the respective moves. This will be a big help. We are glad to be leaving our old neighborhood here in Pasco. The gang graffiti and the proximity to Walmart will not be missed.

Monday, June 23, 2008

A Little Look Inside

We followed the home inspector around for a few hours today. Only a few things to fix -- a broken hose bibb and a loose newel post/bannister on the top of the stairs. We close on the 30th of July.


We have a home warranty so hopefully if anything goes wrong, it will happen in the first year.
The house is a tri-level. The lower floor has a office/4th bedroom, utility room, and a family room. The middle floor has the kitchen, a full bath, an eat in dining area, formal dining and living room. The upper floor has bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms.


The pictures don't really do it justice, so to see for yourself you'll need to visit! (:


The Entry Way/Middle Level.





The Kitchen










The Living Room



The Family Room



The Eat in Kitchen/Dining Area (didn't get a photo of the formal dining room)



The camera started going out, so we only got another few photos of the bathrooms, which aren't anything too special. The mirrored closet doors in the master (cover a walk in closet) are in the 1st to change out list, but otherwise we're really happy with what we've found. We don't anticipate we'll have too much to do beyond getting some doors and perhaps new carpeting in the lower level in year 1.

Till our next adventure....

Saturday, June 21, 2008

We finally did it!


After many failed offers, we finally were successful. Unlike the current housing situation in the country, the market here is pretty tight. Within hours of going on the market, the house had been shown multiple times. We submitted an offer 24 hours later, only to be told another was on the table as well. No surprise, as it is a great little house with wood floors, 4 bedrooms, and a really nice open floor plan. We liked it the instant we saw it. It has nice touches inside as well and the sellers even threw in the appliances and a large gas grill, a nice bonus since we have 0 appliances from our many years of renting.
Buying a house is scary business. Your credit goes under a microscope, there are a pile of papers to sign to even put an offer in, and you have to look at a lot of really different (aka ones having very personal touches only that person would love -- green and brown faux painting anyone?) houses before you find just the right one.
Now the fun part begins. Inspection, insurance, and mortgage. Luckily we've done quite a bit legwork upfront on the mortgage and the other two shouldn't be a major headache.

We've already started thinking about little things we'd like to change, but nothing major for now. The fun will just have to wait. Until the next payday.....