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

[Lily left the valley]

We offered $100 over asking just in case someone else might have bid at asking, with a verbal ask to the selling agent for an option to revisit if we weren't the best. Our inspection is Tuesday. We don't expect any dire issues, but we're bracing ourselves just in case.

I just got off the phone with the family selling the stove. We're going to drop off a deposit on that tomorrow, then we'll measure it to see if maybe it can fit in our PT with the seats out since the top hutch portion comes off. Two trips, but still might be doable and they're not far at all from us. Otherwise we have to ask a favor of a friend with a truck.

Spouse isn't really the man cave type. He's a boy hideout type which we'll actually share because that will be the miniatures and other geeky hobbies room in the one upstairs bedroom. That'll still be his room to decorate as he wants, because I've promised him that since practically the beginning of house hunting.

The garage is TINY...and jammed with antiques and such. We already told our realtor whatever the family doesn't want to clear out we'll be happy to keep. This included some great radiator covers and a...wait for it...old Costco fold down stool. (It needs a bit more work than the one we just bought.)

[Powermuffin]

Congrats (so far)! This seems like a heck of a deal to me. I love all the woodwork and the amount of land is great. There is so much that you can do to make it your own. Wow, I am excited for you!

If this home was in our small town CO, it would have gone for at least $300,000, assuming that it requires some fixing up. One this size, completely fixed up went for $505,000 two years ago and prices have gone up since.
Diane

[Lily left the valley]

Thankies, Diane. We're so happy that it came back around so we could find it again.

We just got back from our inspection a bit ago.

No big bad surprises, although I ultimately had to be the one to peek in the uppermost attic. Spouse found the hatch inside the hall linen closet, and it was much easier for me to fit than our inspector (to be fair, he's really not that big of a guy--the hole is just that small. I barely got in there, and a thin and wiry lass, am I). I took pics with our digital, and passed down the camera so our inspector could see what I was seeing. No insulation at all in there except for two quilts that were opened up in there for reasons we're not certain (they all thought I was joking because the pictures just looked like rolls, but they really were just two quilts opened up). That space is so small, it won't be hard to remedy even cost wise, so instead of what we thought we'd be doing (adding more to make current height recommendations) we'll just be adding it all in one go.

I have to say, even though I've said it before, I really like this inspector. When he started talking about how to replace wood with the new style windows, and I gently reminded him that we were going to be restoring them, he then shared some info about a new product that works with the sash style but insulates on those sides better without even missing a beat.

Oh, and his modem is all fixed now, so we shouldn't have the same issue this time waiting on the report. I also took better notes this time around, since some things were a second go around for similar older bits.

We did pull the permits and although the roof was done in two parts two years apart (none of us knew why), it is still in really good shape despite its age. He pointed out a few spots where some shingles could use an adjust come spring. There are some suggestions he made regarding the venting and changing it, something to do with soffits (?) are better than the through attic or some such, and I need to read up on that to even begin to really understand what he was explaining.

The boiler is even newer than we realized--2013. He said it's a good make too.

All in all, we do have some work ahead of us for the long haul, but we knew that going in. The good news is there's no immediate "OMG we have to get this taken care of by when?!?" sort of thing.

So our agent will tell theirs, "Yep, moving forward," and hopefully we'll have the P&S soon so we can get the next leg rolling with the mortgage. Another new territory for us, but we like the mortgage agent, so I have less fears than I did prior to dealing with him all along this rolling path we've found ourselves.

I joked with our agent as he arrived that we had to buy the house because we already bought the perfect stove. (And our inspector talked me through some ways to vent it, given there is currently no venting for such in the kitchen.)

Spouse did throw a bit of a curve when he asked our agent if we'll really need the RE lawyer for this home, as the trust is much higher than with FM 42 or the permit avoiding Pleasant. Took our agent by surprise too. We have to talk about that. I know spouse is thinking of saving money, but I thought we'd had agreed on this already.

Edit: Just remembered that last night when we went to look at the stove, it actually did fit (all of it!) in the PT Cruiser since it broke down into three parts. (Base, stove, hood with warmers.) So that's in our garage here right now. We bought a nifty cabinet from them too, it's the bottom half of an old hosier with a handcrafted top (it doesn't have the top cabinet). The son will be delivering that later today, hopefully after the rain here stops.

[Deb]

Got my fingers crossed that everything goes well from this point forward!

[Lily left the valley]

Thanks, Deb!

We talked to our mortgage agent a bit ago, and he's sending us paperwork. I've warned spouse it will be many, many pages.

[Old house lady]

Best of luck Lily! Hope everything goes through smoothly!

[Lily left the valley]

I'm sure we'll have a few bumps, Lady. Time will tell. Thankies for the well wishes.

Tonight we're both a bit "woah". I've been alternating between looking at stuff (like cork flooring and borders) I shouldn't be yet; oogling the new tools I also picked up yesterday when we got the stove; thinking about what out of boxes we did unpack can be repacked; and what we still haven't gotten rid of that we meant to weeks ago. His schedule is already picking up with Xmas deliveries, so I know it's only going to get crazier the closer we get to closing.

Then Kira reminds me she's eaten all her food, so I scurry off to do that, and notice a few projects I still haven't started, dishes that need doing, and towels that need folding. To the latter bits, I say "Not today!". Kira, though, gets what she needs, as winter is slowly creeping in so she's eating like crazy. Oh dear, that reminds me, I have plants I want to take with me that are still in the ground, which I better get to tomorrow.

I should probably start a gallery of my hand tools one of these days, too. No, no...that can wait for a snowy day after the move. My brain is so all over the place tonight.

[Lily left the valley]

I have to laugh as I catch myself trying to figure out where things will go in the new house today.

Just now, it was the litterbox. Then I remembered the half bath is oversized (likely used to have a tub), so there's plenty of room in there, and it won't have the usual "never dries out" issue of putting it in a full since there's no tub/shower in there. I saw a DIY hide a litterbox cabinet a while back, and this might be an excuse to finally make one.

[Deb]

Start making "To Do" lists. I lived by mine when we were moving. Little things like "dig up plants" go on the "moving list". When things are hectic, we often forget from one minute to the next what we planned on doing. Well...at least I do!!

[Lily left the valley]

Deb, I can't tell you how much I agree with this great advice.

I had a corkboard leaning on my desk with various lists, but it keeps sliding down between the edge and the wall--and I'm still trying to figure a way/place to fix that. (The moulding pushes the base of my desk over just that much--it's still down on the side there as I type this.) I didn't want to put new holes in an apartment we'll be leaving, especially because here it's plaster, and no chair or picture rail to work with. I think I might have some scrap wood somewhere I can make a temp T on the bottom so it will be too wide to do that.

One out of state move really broke my heart due to a lack of checklists. Spouse was sicker than a dog the week we had to be out (landlord had tenants coming in right on the 1st--wasn't even going to paint!), and in the mad rush, an entire storage closet got missed because the door to it gets visually lost when you enter the room as it's behind the entrance door. If I hadn't had to go ahead for work reasons, I would have done my usual open every single closet and cabinet trick, but I forgot to ask my inlaws to do that. (Fortunately, they were helping him since he was so sick--I don't know what we would have done if they didn't help.)

We lost two good cameras, almost all our wedding towels set, loads of pictures and much much more--most of which was irreplaceable. Of course when we later called after realizing, and asked if we could pay to have the stuff mailed, the landlord claimed we left nothing behind.