Hullo from the "there be dragons here" area of MA

[Gothichome]

Lily, great news on your offer being accepted. Congratulations.

[Lily left the valley]

Thankies, Gothic!

Spouse found out today he has to take a class in order to be eligible for our bank's First Timer loan. He also told him our interest rate, and I almost passed out with joy. It's even lower than what was on our approval letter!

So far, our mortgage agent doesn't see any issues, and he gave us some good advice regarding how we planned to handle a few things.

We also have our inspection report! Woo! Right on time this time.

Our realtor dropped off a copy of the P&S, which I think there was only one thing I didn't understand on it. It's very straightforward--it's a standard form from what it's titled anyhoo.

Spouse is still dithering on whether we need the RE Attorney or not. I told him to me, it was about making sure we didn't miss something, but I'd stand by whatever he decides since he's determined to be the "provider" with the house buy, so it's his money at stake.

Does anyone have thoughts regarding if one is needed or not? I know his best friend didn't get one when he bought his house, so that might be part of why he's backing off. Same friend also had a lot of frustrations later too, but I don't know that a lawyer would have prevented that. (Oh, the dreaded pool stories I could third handedly tell!)

It could also be that spouse isn't as worried because of the reasons I mentioned before--not a Fannie Mae, and not with someone who lacks permits.

[Nicholas]

On RE attorneys I remember having one for the sale of our house, who represented us, the sellers, but we were selling as is, and that may have something to do with it. We bought this house as is, we did not have an attorney, but it was a purchase from an entity, (Fannie) not a home owner. Not sure if any of that makes a difference

We also sold some acreage and I did not have a real estate lawyer for that, I never even met the buyer or the agent in person. It was all email and electronic signing and a couple phone chats.

I do know the forms are standard Realty and are not there to mess with anybody, just read the highlight things they want you to sign and initial. If I remember correctly the lawyer for our house sale was about 500 bux in closing.

Ah...moving day. Twice in 5 months. We had accumulated a lot of stuff in 30 some years and our motto was if it wasn't touched in 5 years, donate to Vets of America. For a few months I had been collecting about 5 heavy duty boxes a day from where I worked and tons of wrapping paper that the inventory came in. When we moved into the rental we never even unpacked a lot of stuff, fortunately the rental house had a lot of inside storage.

When we finally moved to this current house we actually had more boxes of stuff than we did furniture, and to this day I have no idea where all of that stuff is, I think there is about ten boxes of stuff in the attic. We actually set aside a box for each of our cats, cut holes in them, and taped them shut. They made the journey in wife's Hyundai.

Later, when I saw about 50 empty boxes full of wrapping paper stuffed in the barn, I ran a free stuff craigslist ad. I got three calls in one day, first come first serve.

Well first come turned out to be newswoman Kendra Conlon of CBS WTSP Tampa. I stuffed her SUV with as many nested boxes and wrapping paper that we could.

[Vined Porch]

Hi Lily
I don't post very often ( guilty look ...but I'm shy and don't have much interesting or constructive to post!) but I do read the forums every day and have followed your roller-coaster ride and just wanted to say congratulations and am so pleased you finally settled on the bungalow,it was by far my personal favorite and wish you all the best on your move.

As to the RE attorney I don't have much advice except for me it gave me peace of mind knowing that professional eyes were looking over everything as I'm a natural worrier and as Nicholas says the fees when we bought 3 years ago were $550 and when we finally sold our previous home this year the fees were $600. Of course this is not including searches and title insurance etc.

Anyway I will be following your journey and can't wait to see more pictures it really is a lovely home!

[Lily left the valley]

My thanks to you both. I did some more research about when you need one, and from what I'm seeing since our P&S is so straightforward, there's not much need for that part. (Although I did catch some math that doesn't make sense on the first page. I think someone just copied it wrong from the bid or misunderstood what was binding versus actual deposit. I have to tell our realtor.) I am a bit confused as to whether the attorney would be advising on the mortgage or not. I know it's more to make sure we know what we're getting into and that mistakes aren't made, but it's not like we're going to try to strongarm or bank when they've been very helpful. (Spouse jokes someone must have a postal worker in the family, they treat him so well.) Also, our mortgage guy loves the fact that we seem to be less clueless than most first timers and we're well within what we could have asked to borrow. He does chuckle over the roller coaster good naturedly, though.

We had talked with the attorney about looking over things and being at closing, but the details got muddled in my brain in the shuffle as at the time, as Pleasant was quickly going down the drain. I am of the peace of mind camp, but I am honest in saying I would support whatever he decided.

We did talk about this quite a lot last night, and he's set on not using one. I did tell him honestly that it's more of a burden for me because I'm the one who always fine tooth combs things, so if something gets missed, it will be my fault. He thanked me for again for helping with things since he's been busy with work, and has been relying on me a lot. (As if I didn't have interest in making this happen. ) At one point in the conversation he did a huge sigh and said, "If you really think we should..." and I replied, "I have NO IDEA...first time for me too, remember? I'm only sharing worst case scenarios I've found." Then he dropped it and I had to ask before he went to bed if it was a firm no because I'd be calling our realtor today.

I did post a half dozen pics in the Baker folder of my gallery if anyone is interested, including the growing in infamy insulation quilts. I didn't realize at the time how bad the flash muddled the maker's mark picture. I'll take a better one later, when I actually have my photo lights in the house.

I wish we had thought to snap a few in the garage in case they do empty it out, as there are some neat things in there. How does that work, anyway? The P&S says all contents within, with only the lack of appliances as the exception. So once we sign that, can they still remove stuff from the garage? I'll be annoyed if they take the radiator covers that are obviously made for the house. The other stuff I can see--and especially like--I'd miss, but I not sure on that. Especially that one chair frame that's upside down along the back wall. And the chests (trunks, really?)! Even if they are empty...don't care...they will look so nice after some cleaning.

One funny thing when I was uploading the newest images was when spouse handed the camera up to me in the attic, he somehow started the video function, which I had forgotten about. You can't see a whole lot because it's dark and getting passed up a linen closet, but the audio had me cracking up, mostly due to me talking half to myself since all the men were standing on the landing chatting amongst themselves as I entered the attic. Listening to that reminded me why I wore my "work" clothes since I think I was the first human in that attic in a long time, judging by how many droppings showered down on spouse when he popped the hatch.

Nicholas, spouse tried to act like he had to remind me that we're repacking boxes to try to organize better and get rid of some stuff. In reply, I handed him a sharpie (he never labels), and told him if I find any old weekly adverts for grocery stores from three states ago or more in his boxes, he owes me BIG. I have found junk mail from as far back as 2008 in the last year. I wish I was kidding.

Vined, I am honored you replied, given your admitted nature. I am openly glad we got the bungalow although I am still happy about learning about Carpenter Gothics. Spouse just tells everyone, "She really wanted a bungalow anyway."

I promise that if it all works out, there will be many pictures in 2017 and beyond. My hardest thing now is to focus more on the steps that will get us to a successful closing, and less on the "oh, flooring!", "Ooo...how long will I be able to put up with no vanity in the main bath?", "Oh, well, I bet I can find a shade of honey yellow for the exterior that won't clash too bad with our neighboring bungalow's red/black/white coloring," et al.

[Lily left the valley]

Bits and Bobs Update:
We should be meeting with our realtor soon to sign the corrected Purchase and Sales agreement. (I had found a minor math error on the first page regarding the binder.)

We have to take a class that's required for our loan type, but we're happy to do so given the info the program provides even after we get the house. So I have that paperwork to fill out this weekend.

I do want to say one thing regarding this loan. Had we not had some misfortunes since the economy took a nose dive, we would not have qualified for this loan program and all the benefits that come with it. In addition, had we stuck with our original plan of waiting a year to buy, our combined income alone for next year would have been just a shade too high. I guess we're Fortune's Fools afterall.

The loan application and general info should be arriving any day now. That's going to take a while to weed through, I know.

The latest thing we've been debating is when to tell our landlady it looks like we'll be moving in January before our lease ends. We're not sure when to do that just in case something goes awry and we can't close/on time. We both agree we should tell her after we get the one letter from the bank saying "Yes, we'll loan you money for sure" which I think we'll have on or before Dec. 19th. So that'd be at least a month and a half notice.

The plan right now is to move out as much clutter as possible first to help make the apartment more show-able. We can keep the heat lower over at the house if we're not living there since it's included in the rent here, but we're still not sure when we'd want to move the everyday must haves like bed/bath/kitchen/etc. Do we do that sooner after the general clutter so we can live in our new home, and maybe help her rent the apartment easier if it's empty, or do we wait until the last minute and try to get some work done over there while reaping the benefit of already paid for heat here as long as we can? This also applies to when we'd want to deal with Comcast installation and shut off. We already know it's not difficult to have two electric bills with our company because of his two week rental before our place was available, so that we're not worried about.

Another reason we're doing this in stages is because the house is actually only a few blocks from where we're renting. Most of our stuff is small or was bought with moving in mind (like fold up wood bookshelves, as well as some tables and chairs), so we can do trips in the PT Cruiser. One of spouse's co-workers (another old house lover) has also offered to help us move the few big things on his truck. We're still half joking that we'll just push the piano up the street on dollys, but that last hill is a doozy. Our piano is a 77 key parlor upright, so it's not like we're trying to move a grand piano.

Not renting a truck will also save money, which we'll put towards the missing appliances. I'm actually glad there were no kitchen appliances, since I wanted to keep it period, but it would have been nice to at least have a beat up but working washer. There's a used appliance shop in town, so we'll likely get the washer/dryer there. I've mentioned before my idea for how to incorporate smaller fridge only and freezer only units, which leads me to...

We picked up this cabinet pictured below for our kitchen last night (same seller as we bought the stove). We have to go back because we didn't realize in the dark that one of the wheels popped out during.


I did a roughly to scale plan last night, and realized there's not much wiggle room after the stove and cabinet go in for my original plan. So now what I'm thinking is instead of going for the metal side by side doored cabinet, instead I'm going to see if I can put the freezer in the doored portion of the cabinet we just bought, and build a false facing for the fridge which I'll put on top to match the style on the bottom. I'm not sure if I'll keep it painted, but since we have the metal undercabinet with the sink, and they'd be directly opposite with my floor plan, I probably will link them together with color. The stove is black and white, so that ties in to both the sink/undercabinet as well as the metal top on this cabinet.

Anyhoo, that's all for now!

[Old house lady]

I'm enjoying how excited you are! Very happy for you both!

[Lily left the valley]

Thankies for saying so, Lady.

We're not quite out of the overwhelmed woods yet, but as each check box gets ticked off, we definitely are feeling happier and thinking that finally being home owners might actually happen. (There was a time or three in the above mentioned misfortunes that we honestly thought we'd never get our heads above water again.)

We should be meeting with our realtor tomorrow for signing the corrected P&S. Then come Monday, I think I have to send that to our mortgage guy so he can order the appraisal. I have to check my notes for sure. Some things in the process I don't think I'll ever forget. Other bits get confused or I desperately need my lists so I don't muck things up.

And we got the missing wheel tonight. As well as some local farm grown ground beef, stewing beef and a whole duck! I haven't had duck in ages. Oh! And I forgot to mention when we went to get the cabinet yesterday, the hubby side of that pair grabbed a flashlight when he found out I'm a crafter too, and we headed out to their shed so he could show me some of his tools. He has some wonderful stuff. Then he surprised me by offering a few "extras" he had, and I was so humbled at his sharing spirit, given how little we knew each other. I definitely will put up a gallery of my tools after the move, and I'll be sure to note the three I did take out of the ones he offered. (My first drawknife! I had been eyeballing a small one that needed repair at my favorite 2nd hand shop, but have been trying to only buy what we absolutely need of late, given the buying a house thing.)

[Nicholas]

Sounds like you are doing the first time home buyers mortgage. My daughter did the same thing. The lucky thing about doing that since 2012 is that after 3 years you can sell or do a refi without paying back that down payment to Uncle Sam.

And moving a few blocks away. The scariest thing I ever did in my life was driving a 20' Uhaul, a real truck, not one of those van/box things, packed to the gills with stuff. Up the Florida turnpike, SR 60, and later I 4, a total of 257 miles or so. What a P.O.S. It took forever to get up to speed, popping and backfiring, and steering it felt like the front of the truck wanted to go one way, the rest the other way. I remember a few times, drifting a little towards the shoulder, and when I went to correct, it was like whoooaaa....

[Lily left the valley]

Nicholas, it is a first timer, but it's backed by the state not the fed. Since this is our forever home, we're not planning on ever moving, and I doubt we'd refinance given how low the interest is, but we'll see on the refinance half down the road. One thing spouse keeps saying happily is "last move ever". One of the things we both like about the home is even if one of us gets infirm in our old age, the room we'll be using as an office is really a bedroom, and the full bath is right next to it, so we can easily adapt to life without using the stairs if need be.

I have three "ugh" moving stories:
1) When I swapped grad schools mid year, I had a 20 footer, and drove it through a most horrible blizzard in the MidWest heading to Minnesota from Massachusetts. I had never seen so many cars and trucks that slid off the road. There were too many to stop and offer help to them all. (And honestly, most of them were ones that had whizzed by the sensible folk driving well below the speed limit, only to later be seen in the median ditch or buried deep in the snow on the right side of the road, stuck.) I can't remember which state it was, Indiana or Illinois, but I swear they only have three snow plows for the entire state, and that was the worst stretch. As soon as we crossed the state line, the road clearance difference was astounding. It was literally the difference between white icy snow pack and wet black asphalt within a few miles. That was something I'd never want to do again ever. One fond memory I do have of that trip, was the next morning after arriving, when I opened the front door to start to empty more out of the truck, Mendel (now passed kitty) tried to bolt out the door (he loved pushing boundaries), and went face first into the 4' high snow drift outside the door. I probably still have a picture of the open door in a box somewhere.

2) When we moved to California from Jersey, the 24' Budget truck broke down just over the border in PA. I was all by myself, since spouse had gone out early to start work. I had to wait for Budget to send another truck with two guys to help me move everything from one truck to the other, which was packed Tetris tight. You should have seen their faces when I rolled up the door. I had to guide them how to do it, and I was so thrilled they only broke one thing that wasn't boxed properly anyhoo. Although they did that for free and didn't charge me the extra day, I still had to pay for another night in a hotel that I wasn't planning on, and I ended up having to reschedule some things I was supposed to do right after moving. The lights failed, including the ones on the upper truck body--turned out to be an electrical short and not just a fuse--so imagine trying to find the nearest hotel at gloaming--I was lucky in that I managed to find a hotel before it was too dangerous to drive.

3) When we moved to North Carolina to a temporary room rental on an old farm property that had been parceled off, the morning after spouse drove the 24' truck down (I had gone ahead in this case--this was the time he was so sick right before we moved), we found the truck had sunk deep into the dirt driveway thanks to the rain the day/night before. Since we were going to be putting most of our stuff in storage as we had to wait until our rental home opened up a few weeks later, we couldn't exactly try to lessen the weight even though we did still try. (What a pain trying to keep everything dry while we emptied it out before realizing it wouldn't help.) We had to get a tow truck which was not cheap for a large heavy truck!

So many moving stories.

Our easiest move was when we lived in an old motel in California (Tarzana! What a fun name for a town) that had been converted to apartments. One side was townhouse style, where you have up and downstairs as one unit, the other single floor smaller apartments, one over ones. When we moved from the single side to the townhouse, we just carried it all across the breezeway as the two apartments were almost directly across from one another. Easy Peasy.