Top-Down/Bottom-Up Shades

I've spent hours thinking about the shades I will make for the 6 large (over 70 inches wide single-pane) windows in our living room.  My mom sent me photocopies of a pattern from years ago that describes how to make top down shades.  I originally was just going to use canvas drop cloths (the only fabric I can find in one piece that wouldn't require piecing the shade together) but decided to insulate.  I've bought a darkening insulation fabric (40% off at Joanns), batting that is fusible iron-on to minimize the sewing I need to do and rings for the string to go through.  I made a pinterest board for roman shades here, (creative I know). The problem with most of the links under there is they aren't instructions, they just describe the multiple options you have in creating Roman shades.

I will attempt to document the stops I take in creating our own version of Top-down (and hopefully bottom-up option too) Roman Shades.

One set of instructions I found is on Terrell Designs at this link.  I'll let you know as I follow these instructions and the pattern my mom sent me.

What is different about a Top-Down shade?  
The Top-Down/Bottom-Up shade opens from both directions, giving you lots of flexibility.  You can't hide the hardware with the Top-Down shade.  In order to do that, you have to include a valance.  I haven't decided what I'll do about that yet.

Well, I've tried to go through Terrell's info and I've now got 20 pages of "condensed" notes.  I'll go through the pattern that my mom sent and then based on that, I'll have my list of what else I need.  So far, Terrell's list of materials needed is complicated and long.  I'm not sure I can afford all of the pulleys and things the sites lists I need.  The point of making these shades myself is to save money.

I'll keep you posted.

Painting a vintage door

In planning the painting of my 3 panel door, I drafted up the following using Publisher.  What color combo is your favorite?  

magnetic paint

For my magnetic chalkboard door or refigerator panel, I orignially planned to buy metal magnetic sheets and paint over those.  After visiting several stores, it was determined I would have to go to a metal store to have them cut the sheets to size.  Instead, I decided to do the harder but maybe cheaper task of using Rustoleum Magnetic Primer - it states that the paint needs to be stirred - they aren't emphasizing this enough.

I should have had Home Depot shake the can for me.  When I opened the can up, it was very liquidy on top but I could feel clumps at the bottom.  It took a lot to stir the quart.  it also was difficult to do this cleanly.  I am still not convinced that I was able to stir it completely.  After mixing it up for almost 10 minutes, I finally decided to try painting.  I poured it into a small tray and started rolling the paint onto my door panels.

The other thing you should know to do before painting with this magnetic primer, wear gloves!  my hands were covered in black primer and it isn't typical paint so it is sticky and harder to get off.  I ended up using a scrubby sponge to get most of the paint off.

How many coats?  If you believe the can, you would only paint 3 light coats.  If you read the blogs and pinterest, you paint the project multiple layers.  I'm going for a really strong magnetic board.  Also, I have several clumps that showed up on my project that I plan on sanding smooth.  With that being said, I plan on painting the panels a minimum of 6 times.  In between coats, I put the paint tray and brush in plastic and put it in the fridge for safe temporary keeping.

Chip It up - A fun tool

Last night, I was watching HGTV Design Star and fell in love with the blue color that Britney used in her room challenge.  The problem is, I wrote the show and found out that the paint color used is only sold in California, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Lebanon and a few other countries.  That's nowhere near to us here in Washington state.  I decided to try the Sherwin Williams tool "Chip it".  http://letschipit.com/  It's a tool you can add to your browser tool bar (Like the Pin it button).   This is what it created - with a couple options of colors with the SW paint #. I'm excited to go see them at the store and see if it lives up to what I like on the tv.  I'm excited to keep using the chip it tool on all the houzz.com pictures I love too.  

Month 2: Living in construction

We've had the house for two months.  The craziness has continued.  We now have all new plumbing.  New electrical wires are throughout the walls. We even have a new water heater.  The latest discovery of which we're still trying to figure out how to take care of:  We have carpenter ants.  They are living in our ceiling between the ceiling and the roof.  Unfortunately, when the new roof was installed, they didn't dry it out - so we have carpenter ants living in a moist environment and being able to burrow into the wood.  We've looked up lots of methods and companies.  I will dedicate a blog posting to the following things we've learned:
1. Installing drywall
2. Mudding and Taping/sanding
3. Killing ants and spiders
4. Plumbing for old houses
5. Choosing a hot heater
6. Landscaping to deter bugs
7. Cleaning a flat roof
8. Choosing a Dehumidifier/ Portable AC Unit
9. Recipes for living without a kitchen
10. Drywall texture
11. Refacing a brick fireplace
12. Gravel driveways
13. Killing weeds
14. Blackberry bushes
15. salesmen and windows



The lessons are coming everyday. The biggest thing I've learned from the reno of this house is that the lessons are plentiful and there is always something to figure out.  The hardest thing about this blog is having the energy to write about the lessons learned.  

Getting to the point we can upcycle

One month of owning this house has been an adventure...

Day 1: We bug sprayed everything.  We found out from the neighbors that the occupants of this house for the past 24 months were spiders, ants and the occasional homeless person.  The neighbors would call the police when they noticed them but because the house was surrounded by trees, it was hard to tell if people were living in the house or not.

Day 3: My sister and 4 of the 5 kids came and helped me clean out the garage.  It was crazy dirty but amazing to get that done.  Having the garage cleaned - even at 70% - we still have cobwebs and lots of old stuff inherited from the previous owner, really has helped us stay organized these past few weeks.

Day 5: The day started early with Mike and I picking up a U-haul and buying a kitchen off of Craigslist.  It's a beautiful cherry brown kitchen from a very nice large house in Kirkland.  When we got to the house, we took out the kitchen and built-ins.  Well, we call the previous owner Gepetto.  I call him, Johnny - since that is what the neighbor called him.  Either way, it means that whatever was built by him was built strong and permanent and is IMPOSSIBLE to move!  We also discovered, after taking down studs that the wall was load bearing between the kitchen and living room.

Julie (my sister-in-law) and I were at homedepot and ended up buying 4x4 posts to prop up the house and replace the load that the chopped out studs were holding up.  Along with all the other smaller items we had to buy for whatever we were doing that day.  Home Depot and Lowes are becoming our daily stops.

For the month:
I've made multiple calls to all kinds of electricians, plumbers, HVAC peeps and there are a lot of people who are willing to help or recommend someone else that can help.  I had two HVAC people come.  I had called one just to be the comparison price and ended up really liking the salesman.  If I was choosing on personality, I would choose him.  He came and gave me ideas about the house and how to deal with inspections and then he gave me the name of a handyman that could help us get the cast-iron radiant wall heaters out of the house.  It was a job we were going to tackle but not looking forward to.  Well, this hvac guy got his handyman friend to do it for $400.  He was a crotchy old man but a great help!  He worked for about 5 hours and disposed of the cast iron for us.  Now, we may be naive but all I can find is that he would be paid about 20 cents a pound on that and I really think it was worth the struggle.  The cast iron was heavy.  He broke over 8 blades cutting all the metal and it was hauled away by him.

Lesson learned: Someone knows someone that would be good to work with or go with the A grade and multiple reviews people on Angie's list.

Electricians:
On Angie's list, we found a coupon to have the electrical panel replaced at the house.  I got the coupon and then had that replaced before we even had bids for everything else that had to be done at the house.  The first guy to do a bid for the house came up with $13,000!  EEEEEK!  Then, I went through a couple referrals but ended up going with the same guys who did the electrical panel for us.  I was swayed towards them partly because they already had the permit in process with dealing with the electrical panel and 2nd because they worked with us on the budget.  I had a contractor bring two electricians and they were the same price but the reality is, we ended up doubling what we had the electrician do because instead of just updating plugs, we ended up tearing out the bottom part of the walls in the living room and master and redoing all the wiring.  Ryan & Derek, our electricians are great!

Plumbers:
I've had referrals for at least 5 plumbers.  The crazy thing is I could never get them to call me back.  This last one, our electrician texted me a number for a guy named Beau.  The guy's voicemail box was full!  So, I texted him what i needed.  I felt like giving up on referrals and ended up calling Angie's list for someone to come out.  They came out and gave us a reasonable bid on Wednesday.  They could start this coming Monday.  Well, 24 hours later, Beau called me and he had a different guy, Bryan, come down and help me.  This guy bid $200 less than the plumbers we had agreed to have come the previous day and would do more.  I really liked how he explained everything to me and feel like he would do everything to code and the right way the first time.  Luckily, Mike had shown me the plumbing plan that morning and I was able to walk through knowledgeably about what we needed.  The reality is, if you watch Youtube videos, you walk away thinking you can do the plumbing yourself.  But timing and then talking about the pipes for the drain/sewer - it became too big a job and we have committed to have Bryan come.  He is here right now and doing the job today.  YEAH!  It's the last step before drywall.

 HVAC:
Well, I ended up going with the 2nd guy.  I felt badly about that since the first one had connected us with the handyman who took out our heaters.  I found the 2nd guy through Costco and there was a deal to get this done and get a gift card from Costco.  Also, because I have the Costco card and Amex card, I will get a percentage back in the next year from my rebate checks.  That's what tipped me towards this guy.  It was future money.  We ended up having the guys put in the gas line too. They put in the gas line for a gas dryer, gas stove and future gas fireplace.

It's is moving along but other than buying the craigslist Kitchen and an outlet French Door Fridge - we haven't been able to upcycle much.  I'm painting the built in closet and have been cleaning lots.  We still have cobwebs in the places we haven't been able to clean yet.  It's a process but it's coming.

This will be a great house someday soon!

Spam and Non-stop calls!

Be wary of forms that ask for your info.  I was looking for Armstrong cabinets and ended up filling out a form for more information.  Little did I know that that form was associated with Service Magic and somehow I had signed up to have contractors contact me.  I'd made my cell # public.  For the past 5 days, I've received non-stop calls from numbers I don't recognize.  The problem is, I've also been calling contractors and people, so I can't ignore unknown numbers right now.  Finally, today, service magic called me and they've "changed my account".  It's been a frustrating couple days.  Actually, they started calling me within 1 minute of my pressing "submit".  So, watch out!  

Craigslist search list

I've created a Google Doc Spreadsheet with links to each of my searches of items I'm watching for.

The list contains items like appliances, tools, yard items, furniture, construction tools.  I've shared the link.  The links work for Seattle.Craigslist.com.  If you want to have this document work for you and your city for craigslist, copy the spreadsheet into excel, then search and replace "seattle.craigslist.com" and replace with ___________________ whatever your cities link is.  For example, if you live in Portland, you can replace it with "Portland.craigslist.com"

Here is the link to the spreadsheet:

How to Organize Wood Scraps

One of the things we "inherited" at the house is a lot of wood scraps.  The former owner was definitely a wood worker.  I've found a handy cart on wheels, a wood screen for the furnace in the basement I'll be putting it back there soon since it was found in the garage) and lots of scrap wood.  Our first order of business is to make room in the garage for all of our belongings, including the kitchen that I bought on Tuesday.  How are we going to do that when the garage is already full of lots of items?  


Here are the steps I've narrowed down for us to focus on:
1. STACK IT
For the large flat pieces, stack the wood in like sizes in a divided space/ possibly made of some of the scrap wood you have.  



2. BOX IT
use a bucket or box for the smaller scraps.  


3. PILE IT
Pile the smaller pieces that are bulky in depth in cubbies


When I started cleaning up on Tuesday night, I was "Stacking" the flat pieces and tall pieces against one wall.  I also boxed the smaller scraps but filled up two small boxes very quickly.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do when we find more.  That sounds like a lot of "small" boxes to move around.  I almost need a larger box to keep the scraps in.  


I'll update this post with pictures later.  

Heated floors

One of the reasons I keep going back to tile for our future floor is because I want heated floors.  I found this web site that lists they have "infrared heating" for laminate, tile and floating hardwood floors.  That's very cool!

http://www.infrafloor.com/?gclid=CLaVyJTb5a8CFYYHRQodnEzb1A

Give the Silent Treatment...

My mom told me that there is an article in Money Magazine about renovating your home and how to save money.  There are some interesting tips on dealing with contractors.

1.  Negotiate:  Let them know that they have competition.  - I have about 2-3 contractors for each project coming.  They all come recommended, either by Angie's List or through friend's recommendations.
2. Set a low bar: This says you should mention a price about 20% less than you're expecting to pay.  This will make the contractor scoff but it will also help him know that you're on a budget.
3.  Take a collaborative approach: My husband has a demanding schedule, so I'm the one dealing with the contractors.  They are going to know that, me, the female knows nothing about these projects and what has to be done.  But that also gives me the opportunity to ask about the process and each step involved.  It also gives me the chance to ask about ways we can cut the costs.  i.e.  for the HVAC guy, is it automatically in his plan to remove the old system?  We can do that ourselves and remove the wall baseboards all around the house.
4.  Give the Silent treatment:  This step is my favorite.  When the contractor gives their opening bid, be silent for a bit and if they have any wiggle room, they might come down before you even say anything.

To read the entire article - go to money.cnn.com

More Faith and Patience

Monday night I found a kitchen and Cate emailed me back on Tuesday morning.  She said she had a lot of interest so I committed right there and promised a deposit.  When we talked on the phone, she said she was fine with a $100 deposit.  We tried to figure out a way for Mike to come see the cabinets but she didn't want us coming late at night (her husband works nights) and Mike wouldn't get off work until after 7.  This is a big day, we're supposed to get the keys tonight but this kitchen sounds like too good a deal!  It's not quite the $500 but still...  on the phone call, Cate mentioned she had sold her fridge and stove already.  I emailed her after the call to ask if she had a dishwasher/microwave to sell and that we'd be interested in those.  She told me she'd tell me the price when I got to her house that afternoon.

When I got to her house, she told me other people offered to put down a $800 deposit but she had already agreed to sell the kitchen to me.  Also, the person who bought the stove offered to buy the dishwasher but she promised that to me too :) - even though she hadn't even given me a price yet.

The house is really nice and looking at the cabinets - they are very nice and a reputable company, I don't really understand why she needed a new kitchen.

To make it easier to see everything, she had the contractor set the kitchen up in the layout that it was in inside the house (it was already removed and in her garage).  A lot of people sell kitchens on Craigslist and a lot of those people require the buyer to remove the cabinets... so Cate had already done a lot of work for us.





This picture was the only picture she posted on the ad.

I committed without seeing other pictures and then she sent some that her contractor had taken.


Here are some of the pictures I took in the garage:

I love this kitchen!  It's very similar to the color and style I have in Portland.  While I was really excited and pretty sure we were going with the Cabinets to go Kitchen, we cannot pass up this opportunity to buy this kitchen.  I think there are more pieces that we can use but we can repurpose the other pieces for another space or re-sell them.  Either way, we have a lot of cabinets to work with and Mike approved them!  

We're getting a uhaul on Saturday morning and we'll pick them up then.  

Lesson learned: I need to continue to have faith that we'll find things instead of giving up and going retail.

When I'm disheartened... I turn to retail...

The whole point of this house and this web site, is to detail how we bought and renovated a house using Craigslist and other unconventional/non retail options.  I have found that I get disheartened after days and weeks of looking for something and finding that people on Craigslist and at estate sales (garage sales and other miscellaneous ways) sell items for the same price as new.  Why wouldn't I buy a new fridge with a warranty vs a refrigerator that is 6 years old and from someone's garage?  It's hard to justify.

Today, we went cabinet shopping and rehab store shopping.  We went to Cabinets To Go and found some great cabinets.  The guy in the store was very friendly.  They had several kitchen options on display.  Their standard kitchen is dovetailed drawers and has a lot of great features.  Price-wise, they end up being comparable with Ikea.  I think they are cheaper than Home Depot and Lowes based on what I priced out.  We really liked this one cabinet, the guy even gave us a sample door to hold on to and compare colors and quality as we shopped around.  He priced out the kitchen and mocked up a design in just a few minutes for us.  Now we have that print out to compare and use as we continue to shop around.

Why look at new cabinets when I found that one for $500?  Well, the guy emailed me that he had several offers and even an offer above asking price.  That's that.  Those cabinets are gone.  I'm sad (disheartened).  Mike is feeling the push to find cabinets because we have essentially 30 days to get the house to a point where we can live in it.  A kitchen is a huge part of that.

The reality is, we could get an Oak kitchen for free if we wanted but neither one of us likes the grain.  I looked into painting and it's a huge process to paint it to the level where you can't see the grain.  I'm picky about the grain.

If you're looking for a Craigslist kitchen and are on a budget, you probably shouldn't be as picky as Mike and I are.

I'll post about the rehab stores in another posting...  Happy Kitchen Shopping everyone.

Bummed and anxious!

I didn't sleep all night.  I found an incredible kitchen on Craigslist but I had ignored the postings for 3 hours and just know that this deal was too great of one to have me be the first to contact him.  The deal was for an entire kitchen (color similar to what we want) for $500!  It is amazing and I'm so excited and know that these cabinets would work.  So, I was up all night or half asleep all night thinking about the kitchen and hoping and wishing we got it.  Oh, and the amazing part - they are throwing in the bathroom vanities for two different rooms too!  It's incredible steal of a deal.  I'm tempted to offer extra but think I'll stick with this for now.  HOPING!

Floor Planning Program - Free Online

I just found a new floor plan program that I absolutely love!  It's easy to do all the rooms in a house.  It's easy to transition between a 2D and 3D view.  I built this model and a sample laundry room layout in under 5 minutes.  I absolutely love this new program!  Check it out at http://www.floorplanner.com.

Consumer Reviews on Tools & Everything

In shopping for tools, it's important to read reviews and understand what you need.  For example, one of the best compound sliding miter saws is $1300!  But for the basic home DIYer - do you really need a $1300 miter saw?

I signed up for Consumer Reports.  I'm actually surprised by that they don't have that much information on everything I'm looking at.  Haven't they been around for years?  They should have reviews of everything!  I go to Consumerreports.org first and then I Google reviews.  You can also go to Amazon.com and read the reviews on their site.

For Miter Saws, the best site for reviews was http://www.consumersearch.com/.

What sites do you use for reviews?

Prep: Flooring samples

I am torn about what direction we should go for flooring.  Mike has allergies and I have a dog.  So, how do we keep the house allergy-free?  No Carpet is the answer.  Beyond that, there are a couple directions we can go.
1.  Laminate flooring
2. Wood floors
3. Tile
4.  Hybrid of the answers above (Cork, bamboo)

Laminate is a great direction because of price and durability. Wood Floors are tempting for resale.  Tile is a choice I choose only if I can get the "wood tile" that I saw in a friend's house. Hybrids are great because they are great for the environment but they are expensive.  Can I justify the almost double cost when we're trying to save every penny we can?



I've Googled and Craigslisted to search for options and found an option to get 5 free samples sent to the house without a credit card required.  So go through ebates - sign up with this link.  Search for Builddirect and then you will get back 2% of anything you pay for at that site.  Builddirect.com is the site that has the free samples.  What do you have to lose?

What kind of flooring would you choose?

Angie's List

Have you seen the commercials for Angie's List?  We decided to sign up for it - but only when we found a good deal.  Groupon had a deal yesterday (and I'm sure they will again) for a $20 annual membership.  If you are purchasing something from Groupon.  Go to ebates first.  You'll get a percentage back (around 2-3%) later.  Our last ebates check was about $20.  We watch our pennies with our online purchases - and this is one way to save just a little bit more.  So sign up!  It's worth getting a few cents back here and there.  I even reserved my Avis rental car in March and was recently notified that I'll get about $14.00 back for that trip.  Yeah!  I love FREE Money!!!  

Blog to check out: The Handmade Home

The Nate Berkus show had a blogger on his site to feature her home in "house proud".  You can check out her site at thehandmadehome.net.  

She had a great idea of using free driftwood to make a star.  Nate suggested putting these on bookcases.  The original idea is at WestEnd for about $59.00 each.  So, get some cardboard backing, make a shape and get some driftwood or sticks and glue away!  It's a great organic addition to your home.

Kitchen Design Planning

One of the big projects we will do first in the house is replace the kitchen.  Right now, it's a galley kitchen with an entrance from the hallway and a pass through from the living room to the laundry room.  We want to knock out the wall between the living room and the kitchen.  At one point we discussed knocking out the wall to the laundry room but we also need to put a 2nd bathroom up somewhere and the laundry area is the best place for that.

My husband told me last night, as he was mapping out the kitchen plan/option that our courtship would have gone like this:
Friend setting us up for dinner, "he is a marriage and family therapist AND he worked as a cabinet designer."
Me:  "Yes".

Well, it took us a little longer than that but we really are a perfect match - I've wanted to buy a fixer upper for a long time and I have a husband who will encourage my desires and dreams.  But it's great to have someone who understands spacing and all of that.

So in a small space, we're trying to fit a large stainless steel french door refrigerator (with bottom freezer) and everything else - AND make it feel spacious.  So, what are our options?

My husband drew this last night:

I would like to make the island have cabinets on more than one side.  My husband thinks it's large enough as a 3 foot width island.  

The issue we have with this kitchen is ALL the appliances are on one wall.  Should we move the sink or stove to the island?  Can we put a TALL pantry across from the fridge?  Does it face the fridge or the island?  These are all things we have to explore.

I started searching pictures on HGTV and found the following image that is something I want to explore:

I am wondering if our cabinets can wrap around towards the laundry room and we put a door out there?  I don't know.  It's something to explore.  The side where the sink is - wouldn't be a wall but an island and open to the living room.

Thoughts?  

I found the following kitchen planning sites that help with layouts:

http://www.floorplanskitchen.com/

http://www.floorplanskitchen.com/kitchen-layouts/galley-kitchens/

http://www.floorplanskitchen.com/kitchen-layouts/kitchen-plans-with-peninsulas/

http://homerenovations.about.com/od/kitchens/a/artkitchendesig.htm

http://www.kitchens.com/Design/Layouts/Common-Layouts.aspx

http://www.floorplanskitchen.com/kitchen-layouts/island-kitchen-layouts/

The best tools for actually playing with layout (and Free) are:

1. MY DECO 3D ROOM PLANNER

I really liked this site and playing around with seeing the room from an aerial view (2D) and being able to see it from a 3D view.  I was even able to put french doors at the other side of the room where we currently have windows.  It's fun to play with options. My complaint with the program is the options for cabinets in the kitchen were sparse.  Some of the refrigerators and appliances didn't show up in 3D view.  Also, there was no way to make the finishes of the "cabinets" match.

2. HOMESTYLER Don't be intimidated by the fact that the creator of this is Autocad - what the professionals use.  This is a user-friendly option.  I created this in 5 minutes.  I had a couple cabinets get "stuck".  I'm not sure why I couldn't get them to move past the far left corner.  So, a couple issues but overall would be a good space planning program to use.  The 3D and the cabinet/appliance options seem to be flashier than My Deco.  Definitely try this program.

3. IKEA HOME PLANNER and IKEA KITCHEN PLANNER

We went to Ikea last week and were able to pick up their kitchen catalog.  They have a lot of options and really are an economical way to go for quickly updating a kitchen.  We might go this route.  I shy away from Ikea products that look like they are from Ikea - I probably shouldn't.  It's a very useful store!

For additional program options - check out this blog posting at Freshome.

Inspection

I've created an Open Project with a list of all the tasks the inspector said we should do to bring our house up to code.  This doesn't have all the smaller steps that lead up to the bigger things he found.  There are 140 tasks.  I called the task sheet "future dream home" because this home will be a dream when we are done.  I am confident of that.  At the same time - it hits you hard how many tasks there are!  Some good news and bad news came out of the inspection. 1.  The good news is the oil furnace has already been updated to Natural gas.  The funny thing is the Gas furnace has a sign on it, "Leased by Washington Gas".  It's 20 years old so we're thinking it is paid for by now but we did question the seller about this and asked them to make sure it is purchased.  2.  The bad news is the electrical panel has to be updated and none of the plugs are grounded.  Some of them have the neutral wires switched - so we have a huge job to do there.  We'll need to rip out walls to open it up and make it easier for the electrician to update the house.  My brother-in-law said that he can do the electricity in the room - once the electrician gets the wires there.  So, that is a huge project.  The other big project we need to do is update the heating system to remove all the baseboard heating.  This will require ducting.  Luckily, we have easy access to the crawl space and basement to add bulkheads to and had the ducting.  After the inspection, we measured and measured and I took a few pictures.  Our nieces and nephew were there to help measure too - so it was a little chaotic but great to have the extra opinions to weigh our options.  It's also really generous of them that they are even offering to help us update the house so much.  We have a lot of work today but I'm confident it's all things we can do.  The question is how much $$$$$$$$$$$$$.

Our inspector was great!  If you're looking for a good inspector in the Seattle area, I was impressed by Pillar to Post.  He spent a good amount of time inspecting.  He took pictures of every issue and area of the home.  He highlighted recommended fixes for everything and printed out everything in a binder for us to have for a reference.  It's that binder that I used to build our "open Project" file.  He was very helpful in answering our questions and we still feel like our house is overall, a SOLID home.  The home inspection package included the following:

The Package

The Home inspection report will be presented to you in a three ring binder that contains:

• The report
• Seasonal maintenance checklist
• Cost and repair estimate guide
• Tags to mark major shut-off valves
• Home filing system to track future repairs

We discovered we can see the Tacoma Dome from one of our windows in the living room, so we have a "view".  Once we fix up the house and tear out dead bushes and fix the yard, we will have a great place to hang out.  Someday, I'll want to add a patio deck around the house.  We don't have much space for a yard, but who wants a soggy, muddy yard in Seattle anyway???  So, we're okay not having a huge yard.

What you want to look for in an inspector:
1.  Licensed inspectors are good - but check out the requirements to be licensed.  In the state of Washington, if you weren't licensed before a certain year, you had to go through special training.  Ask what training and background your inspector has.  Some states don't require any training (New Mexico as of 2012 doesn't).
2. Look for an inspector associated with a national organization.  Ours was affiliated with Pillar to Post.  I'd be happy to send you his name and contact info, just email me if you are in the Seattle area and want a reference.
3.  Interview the inspector. Don't be shy. Here's what to ask (Copied from MSN - link below)

• Talk to me. First, the inspector should make time to talk to you and answer your questions, Turner says. What should you listen for? "Hesitation," Turner replies. "If he's professional, the answers should roll right off his tongue."
  
• Let's see the résumé. Ask about the inspector’s credentials and experience. Generally speaking, "You should have had a hammer in your hand at some point in your background to have a good grasp of construction," Turner says. Does the inspector have a professional bio that you can look at?
  
• Got insurance? Ask whether the inspector carries “errors and omissions insurance,” says Kuhn – which is sort of like malpractice insurance for an inspector. If he doesn’t, ask why. In some states, insurance is a licensing requirement.
  
• Got a guarantee? "Do you offer a guarantee?" Kuhn suggests asking. Typically, a home inspection is good for the day of the inspection, he says – but Kuhn's firm, HouseMaster, offers a written agreement that obligates the inspector to reimburse the consumer for eligible repairs that may develop during the guarantee period, regardless of whether it was an oversight on the inspector's part or just normal wear and tear.
  
  An example: If the furnace is working fine when inspected in summer, but doesn't work when flipped on in November, the inspector's firm pays for the repair, he says. "The bottom line is that a good inspector should have no problem standing behind their inspection with a written guarantee for a reasonable amount of time after the inspection," Kuhn says.
  
• Get it in writing. Ask if the inspector puts his findings into a narrative-style report; that's what you want – not just a long checklist.
  
  
  Ask to see a sample; it's often available on the inspector's Web site. Look at it to assess whether you're comfortable with the language and can understand it. Also see that the inspector is thorough, and covers all of the areas that the organization he belongs to says he will cover in its standards of practice, Richardson says — inside, outside, chimney, heating system, etc.
  
• Invite yourself. Before hiring the inspector, ask to come along when the home is examined. "Another red flag would be if they don't want you to go on the home inspection with them," Kuhn says. A home inspection usually takes three to four hours. Unless a team is examining the home, be suspicious of anyone who tells you it will take 45 minutes.

To see the full article, go to MSN.

Your Vision is not my vision...

Well, my mom has written me twice since I sent her the link to the house.  She is scared that we're buying a "shack" that is better "leveled" than updated.

There is nothing I can say in the next 5 days.  After we have the inspection, we'll know if we want to jump into this house.  We think it has great potential for us to add value.  We'll know more Monday night.

Pending

"Pending" has been the word I've dreaded on all the houses we've lost out on.  Now, "Pending" is a word of rejoicing.  It showed up on our house listing last night!  And, the word "pending" belongs to us - NOT someone else.  YEAH!

In honor of John...

I decided to google John, the former owner, and see what I could find out about him.  The obituary is cut short unless you pay for access to it.  So, I'm limited in my knowledge.  This is what it said (if I found the right John).

JOHN L.  Obituary (Archived) Published in News First 25 of 78 words: John Passed away 12/29/2009. John was 85 years old. He spent many years as a cabinet maker and wood sculptor. John loved...(the rest is archived and you have to pay to access)

JOHN Guest Book | View 1 of 1 Entry: "John was my neighbor, always smiled, always kind, loved to garden. He was an asset to the neighborhood and will be missed."  - Ms. Brown

To be honest, the neighbor note is what gets me.  If I did find the right John - then I hope to meet Neighbor Brown someday and find out more about John.  What I know from the neighbor across the street is he had Alzheimers and no family.

To Next Steps (and no more heart break!)

"MUTUAL AGREEMENT"

Wow!  We got an answer and we have mutual agreement!  We have 5 days to have the inspection and then we'll know for sure if we have the house.  EEK!  YEAH!  I'm so excited and it's for UNDER our budget!  YEAH!  This is a miracle and prayers have been answered (said with reservations until the house is for sure ours....).

frustration & Broken Hearts

Today has been a crazy day!  I had a dentist appointment and then my first ever trainer appointment.  I ran home and could barely walk up the stairs after the workout my trainer Johnny put me through.  I changed and printed out the list of houses our Realtor was setting up for us to see.
1.  The Fire house - even though it was posted on Thursday, the sellers had already accepted an offer
2.  1/2 price house - multiple offers were already on it.  They wouldn't accept any offers contingent on an inspection.
3.  The drop house - sellers already accepted an offer
4.  The Garage Harp house - okay to see.

3 others she suggested we see:
4. Yucky town
5.  She suggested we see a $130k house
6. The Traffic Town House -

Mike nixed the Yucky town one and we all agreed to meet at the Traffic town House.  The house was cool.  it was a neat setup and would be a fun project.  The problem - it was on a busy busy road.  The other problem...  it is in the town that we do not like driving too.  We've already eliminated this town multiple times.  It just feels really remote and there always seems to be traffic getting there.  As much as the house was okay and maybe it would be in our price range, when we did the math of putting 20k worth of work in it, we'd maybe break even selling the house.  There wasn't instant equity.  It also would be hard to sell because of it's location and proximity to the busy road - the seller had it on the market for almost a year.  So, the farther we drove away from the house, the more it became a definitely NO.

House #2 that we saw - the $130k house.  This house had brand new carpet.  It had the "ugliest countertops [Mike] has ever seen"  They were a fake blue marble.  The house was surprisingly okay.  The garage was a fake.  It may have had a garage door in the front, but the room had been turned into a large family room.  That was very nice!  There was only 1 bathroom with the laundry room as part of it.  But, the biggest negative for that house was it's fenced backyard backed up to the library.  AND we weren't in the best part of that town.  I wasn't opposed to the library that much at first but the more we saw that the entrance was right next door and saw the traffic flow, the less we liked it.  It was an "okay" option.

House #3 - this is the only house from our original list - after driving by 20+ houses that we were going to see.  This is the Garage Harp house.  The house is mid-century and has a lot of the original character.  It is a deferred maintenance house but it wasn't completely stripped since it wasn't a Foreclosed/bank owned home.  It actually felt like a really solid house.  It felt really good.  The Master Bedroom is huge.  Actually, the square footage isn't taking in account a closed in sun-room between the house and garage.  And the very tall basement - there's room for a great family room and a full size bedroom with a closet and window is down there.  The Kitchen is kind of galley like - but walls could be knocked out either way to make it a large great kitchen.  The yard is pretty good. There is even a fenced in area.  This house felt great.  The house also has a new roof - that's huge to me.  It was clean and old.  It has ugly green awnings over all the windows.  But it's a great house.  the garage was huge!  There's still some furniture and personal items in that house since it's an estate sale.  I'm not sure if he had family or what.  The sale has to go through Oregon.  We decided right then that we wanted to make an offer.  I am not up to losing another house.  So.... this is how we made our offer "strong".
1.  We offered asking price
2.  We stated that we would dispose of any items left in the home - thus not requiring the estate management team to empty it or do anything else to the house.
3.  We added an escalation clause.  We will pay $3000 over the highest offer up to a certain amount.

In some ways the asking price is fair based on comps.  Comps are actually all over the place - they range from 60k to 230k.  The more we talked with our Realtor, the more we feel that once this house is fixed up with a nice kitchen, updated lighting and flooring... it will definitely be worth 230k itself.  We have instant equity in this house!  The garage could be made part of the house and we have room to add another garage. It's got "charlie" areas - meaning we have ways to have space for my dog but also keep other zones allergy-free for Mike.

And here's the funny kicker - the house ends in 8. The street is an even number.  the zip code is an even number.  So is it a sign?

We sent our offer in this morning - first thing.  Now, we have to wait a couple days for Oregon to respond.  Pray that this is the house!  As my parents said after I said, "we found an awesome house" - they said, "We've heard that before..."   But they were supportive after that comment... it was a fair comment.  But I really would like this house.  It's in our budget!  It's got the projects we can do to make it a great house.  it's got character.

Oh - I am already really invested in this house....Last night I was analyzing and looking at the aerial view via Bing, the google maps satellite and street views.  As Mike said, " you've only had your heart broken 3 other times...."  so I'm hoping that I don't get a broken heart from emotionally investing in this house.  At the same time, we gave this house our strongest offer.  We can only go as far as we went.

Best of news in the next post?  I hope so!

Driving around

I created a table of houses.  I've listed the following:
1.  Picture of the house
2.  MLS #
3. Address/location
4. Foreclosure price - the price the bank bought the house back for
5. Price the house was first listed at and date
6.  Notes/ history and information that i can gather from zillow/redfin
7 The current price
8. Status: This could be that it's "active"/Pending or I've used it to add numbers to help me sort the houses by particular orders.

This table is just in Word but was very helpful in helping me track the houses.  As their status changed to "pending" I would just sort the table and move those houses to a different page.  I am still tracking the houses we made offers on.  If anything, I want to know what they sold for.  Maybe it's trying to rub salt into an open wound but ultimately, I still believe we will end up with the best house at the right time.  So far, it hasn't been any of the other houses.  It's okay.  It really is.  I still got depressed after losing out on the last house and I really feel like the pickings/options have slimmed down tremendously.  In fact, I'm starting to see houses that sold for $80,000 in November or January re-listed at $180,000.  It's crazy to me that there really is still a housing market out there but only for those investors with the money and the means to jump in as soon as a house is listed.  We move a little slower.

So, Saturday we drove around several houses.  I included houses in our budget that were in neighborhoods we had already x'd out.  I think a part of me wanted to see if the houses were in weird awesome pockets and they should be ones we jump on.

We compiled the following list of houses we wanted to see.
1.  The Fire House - This house foreclosed in December and then there was a fire recently.  They listed this house at $80,000.  I walked around the house - the ceiling and roof would need to be replaced in the whole house.  In fact, it was probably a total gut job.  BUT for $80,000 in the town that it was in?  The property was over .5 acres.  The more we thought about it, we could even store everything in the garage and go rent something really cheap while we slowly fixed up that house for the price it was listed.  I even looked at cheap trailers to live in or ways to build garages with a flat above for cheap.
2.  The 1/2 price house - this house was listed at 114k.  It was pending and then 3 days later, it's listed for $64,5000.
3.  The drop house - this house is listed at $156k but it's been at that price for one month.  Therefore, based on it's current schedule, it should drop 10-20k in the next 7 days.
4. The hidden Garage Harp house - this house was surprising.  It's listed as a 2 bedroom 1 bath house - 1380 square feet.  The neighborhood was great!  From the street, you can see the Port of Tacoma.  There is lots of privacy for the house even though it's a corner house.  There was a garage sale across the street.  The lady was selling a harp; my mom has always wanted a harp.  Mike told me to go talk with her.  So, I found out the harp was handmade by her son and she was selling it for $10.  I don't know if it's a good harp, it's pretty.  It needs a little work but for $10 - Mike wouldn't let me walk away without buying it.  He didn't want to hear me say 5 minutes later, "I should have bought it for $10...."
Anyway, I talked with the lady over the sale and asked her about the house.  She said a man lived there by himself for years.  He was finally moved to an Alzheimer's unit and now the house was for sale so he must have died.  She said the neighborhood was great - that the houses on either side of her were recently bought and updated/fixed-up.  As we drove around, the street has new and old houses on it.  It seems like a good neighborhood.

So that's our list for the Realtor...  We'll see what happens Monday night.  

The last couple roller coasters

Well, we chose that house with the view of the sound.  We offered asking price + $8 on the house #3.  10 days later, we found out that we didn't get the house.  It was a long depressing roller-coaster.  I know we were the first ones to offer but we offered on a Friday.  They had the weekend to get more offers.  THEN... on the Wednesday after we sent our offer, they had us sign a document acknowledging the fact that we know there are multiple offers.  5 days later - so 10 days after we submitted our offer - we lost out.  I don't know how much that house sold for but I'm sure it is a lot more than we offered.  We offered our max.  In fact, we went $20,000 OVER our budget for that house.  The irony is that if we had offered asking price on the other 2 houses, we would have won those houses.  In fact, one house has closed and I found out that it sold for $600 more than we offered.  That's how much we missed out on the Fishbowl house.

That depressed me for a little bit but at the time, we offered the max we were comfortable with for that house.  And who knows...  all the wiring and plumbing had to be fixed on that house and it was in a fishbowl.

So, waiting 10 days for the result of that latest house and traveling for work...  we haven't looked at houses for a long time.  We have a time scheduled for next Monday night with our Realtor.  I'm slowly x'ing the houses off my chart because they are changing to Pending before we can even go see them...  oh the joys of the hunt!

Back on the Hunt

While yesterday was my "Wallow" day, today is my day to get over it and get back up and searching and being optimistic.  We just saw 4 houses tonight.  I think we were both surprised on what we found.

House 1:Cul-de-Sac house - this house is in a good neighborhood, in a town we were avoiding because our car was broken into in July and it just left a bad taste in our mouth.  But, the reality is, people say there are good areas in that town and it is centrally located to everything we want to be close to.  So, this house made the list.  It's a Rambler, 1 story with about 1800 sq ft.

Our Realtor met us at that house with her 6 year old daughter.  She was fun to have tag-along with us.  When we walked into the house, she said, "It's very plain".  It was. everything was white and the flooring was removed.  The kitchen needs to be completely remodeled. The garage was a fake garage/had been made into storage area.  In a nutshell, we liked it. The house was ready for us to put our stamp on it. The price is right too.  It would be a comfortable place to live.  The yard was great and very private.

House 2:Split Entry 1400 Square foot house - this house wasn't ever on our list.  It's in the same town as some of Mike's clients and it's best for professional reasons to stay out of the same areas.  We weren't super excited about the house but our Realtor had seen it and thought it would go for a price we would be comfortable paying. So, we went to see it.

My impressions:It's a run down neighborhood. Yes, it's on a cul-de-sac but the houses around it are all run down-ish too.  Then, when I compare the house with other split-entry homes that my friends have, it's like someone took the design and squished it so everything is smaller and more narrow.  The stairs were narrow... the kitchen was small...  the yard needed lots of work but was HUGE.  It had a rain barrow and a hot tub. I don't think we want any of those things.  The floors felt wonky - or uneven.  It just was not a comfortable house for us.  so, we walked away saying, "house #1 is the best".

House 3: This house is out of our price range. in fact, it's $20,000 more than our original budget.  We'd already offered $5,000 more on the last house that we lost.  But, it seemed like this house needs a lot of work. I was surprised that our Realtor let us go see it.  We drove out to the point and we were blown over by the location! it is 2 miles from a state park that is right on the sound.  It looks over the sound.  There are houses, trees and other things in the way but you can see the tops of the ships that are going through the sound.  I seriously, could love seeing that every day.  I really am drawn to water and I think a view like that would feed my soul each day.

We walk inside and it has a small living room with weird spray foam stuff along the edging/molding on the floor.  So, obviously it has some insulation issues.  The kitchen is original to it's 1954 original build date.  But after that, it has a large garage/laundry room.  It has a large family room with a wood fireplace.  It's technically listed as 1600 square feet but also has 900 of unfinished square footage. I'm not sure if that counts the garage or maybe the upstairs that used to be the attic? It's unclear to me what it is.

We liked the house. It needs a lot of sweat equity but it is odd that the house is even as low as it is. So what do we do? We were thinking we offer about $8000 less than the asking price but I truly am scared that with the weekend, we will face a multiple offers situation and lose out.  So what do we do??? How do we go over budget? What does that mean financially?  This house will stretch us beyond what we wanted to do.

Well, there is one more house to look at... let's see what that house is like...

House 4:The Rental house.  This house is a 1 story with basement.  The bank that bought it back invested some money into it. There is brand new carpet and paint on the walls.  It's a safe house. The upper level is 2 bedrooms 1 bath and nice.  Comfortable.  To get to the basement, you have to walk outside.  You also have to be under 6 foot tall!That floor is for short people!It's an odd layout but it had all new carpeting down there too.  The bathroom was old and you had to walk through it to get to a room that had an old stove and nothing else in it.  As we talked, we realized that this house would be a perfect rental. It's in our budget - below our budget.  We could rent out the basement and cut our payments into half... it would be great for us in the near future.

So now we are torn.  Do we choose house 1, 3 or 4?

1 - safe house but won't appreciate too quickly.
2 - that house isn't even an option for us
3 - loved this house.  Could we afford the higher cost?The reality is, the house should be selling for $50,000 more than it is listed for. That's encouraging because it means we could fix the house and just flip it if we wanted to.
4 - the conservative direction to go.

Well, we're not conservative people I guess.  The reality is, I looked at house #4 and realized it would be like apartment living for us.  It's only adding one bedroom to what we have at Mike's condo +a garage. The garage would end up being our storage room and we'd be living a "temporary" life.  We've done that for the first 10 months of our marriage. I don't want to do that for the next 2-3 years of our marriage. I need more roots than that.

So, house #4.  Now is the question of what to offer.

We yo-yo'd around but after talking to our friend and mortgage expert, we found out about a new program. It allows investors who put down cash for a house, to rehab a house and then secure a conventional 30 year fixed loan within 6 months of buying the house. This would be great because the cash offer we have is through a hard-money loan and the interest rate for us would fluctuate.

That allowed us to think that maybe we should just go in with the best offer possible - asking price.

So, I've emailed our Realtor and told her we're offering asking price + $8.00.

We can only hope and pray after that that we put in the best offer and get this house. This really is the highest we can go and we're making an investment in our future by buying this house. At the same time, I think we will love the house so much that we might never sell it.  We'd have to live there everyday and be able to sit out on the deck and watch the sunset over the Puget sound.  Yes, that sounds miserable to me...

Which house would you choose?