Grrr! I'm so frustrated, my camera won't let me upload pictures! Or the computer won't. I'm not sure which. The USB port, I think, because our webcam isn't working either, which means no Skype. LAME! I have actually been remembering to take a few What I Wore Wednesday and Small Style pics and can't use them! We also have other fun trips and such that are stuck in my camera!! Hopefully that gets resolved soon.....
Wow, midway through October already! Once Halloween hits in our family, the time goes into warp speed, birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas and before you know it, Baby Jakiah will be here!! That is crazy! I'm feeling really good these days, but bigger and bigger. I swear, I'm going to outgrow maternity clothes that fit me all the way up last pregnancy....maybe because he's a boy, maybe because it's the 2nd pregnancy, who knows why? I know part of it is that I am carrying him a little different than Kalaya too. Other than getting bigger and feeling lots and lots of movement from this little guy, I feel totally normal. Appetite is fine, sleeping pretty well, etc. I know that sleep may be affected soon, he's getting bigger and as a tummy sleeper (sigh...), I know my days are limited....I've been padding with more and more pillows, which is helping for now.
Kalaya is busy busy these days! We just started swim lessons last night and she LOVES them. She is probably the oldest in the class (it's the baby and me style), but it's perfect for her. She follows the teachers' directions exactly and gets so into it. I hope to post pics soon! It's a fun time for the three of us.
We went to the pumpkin patch on Sunday, again, hopefully will post pics soon! I can't believe this is already our THIRD YEAR of the pumpkin patch/Halloween and that next year we will be visiting as a family of four. Crazy! We went with two of her little friends and they had a blast. I scored her Halloween costume at a consignment store last week and it is sooooooo cute! I can't wait to show pics. And, it is really nice and warm and was really inexpensive! I'll do a special WIWW for Halloween. Stay tuned!
It's funny. I just posted last week about co-sleeping and literally the next day, she requested to sleep in 'Kalaya's bed'. I think a big part of it is that I finally got her room in order, and bought some new things to decorate it. (again, ANOTHER pic I want to post....as well as more 'after' pictures of the house!) I have been trying to avoid licensed characters as long as I can, but decided to cave and decorate her room with Sesame Street stuff, because I knew she'd want to spend more time on it. Again, pics will (hopefully!) be posted soon! But, she has started sleeping in her own bed, every night, with no problems. She did roll off the end her very first night, but it barely phased her and she was fine. Don't know if it will last, but it seems to be okay. We are SO glad we let her decide on her own when to do this. There's more room in our bed now, which is nice, but she will always be welcome back if she changes her mind.
We have been working on potty training much more than we have in the past. Since we're finally settled in (and most of our house is laminate, not carpeted....), I've been trying the 'diaper free' method. Everyone I know who tried this raved about it and said it was quickly a success. Well....not the case yet at our house. The point of no diaper is, of course, to let them learn to feel what it feels like when they have to go. That is not a problem for Kalaya, she gets that. She literally holds it all day, until the pull up goes on at nap or bed time and then goes almost immediately, reports to me and wants to be changed. She seems to just be being stubborn, we're not sure why. She will sit on the potty no problem, for extended periods of time, but not go in it. She loves watching 'Elmo's Potty Time' and totally gets all of the concepts, but...nothing yet. It is tiring, but I know we'll get there.
The house FINALLY is starting to feel like home. The inside is pretty much in order. Everything is put up, put away, organized, etc. There are a few more pieces of furniture we'd like to add over time, but for the most part, we're about there. We still need to order and install blinds and curtains, but everything else is about done. Because of the plumbing issue I posted about, we can no longer afford to upgrade our half bath to a full at this point. I'm disappointed, but I'm choosing to focus on the fact that we had the money to pay for the problem we had, rather than having to go in debt for it. Maybe if tax return time is good to us, we'll upgrade then. Though, I think we're going to try to find a way to purchase a second car (mini van baby!!) because we are going to need it!! We'll see. At this point, here are all of the things we have done or had done to the house: professional cleaners, painted all walls, doors, trim and ceilings, repaired large hole in living room wall, replaced family room carpet, paid a LOT to have a working washer and dryer, replaced all indoor thresholds, replaced flooring in laundry area, removed dead tree from back yard, had very large tree in front yard professionally pruned, attacked 4 foot tall weeds in front yard, fixed garage door opener, changed water dispenser/ice maker filter in fridge, had all ducts professionally cleaned, replaced light switches, had multiple electrical stuff done, furnace cleaned and serviced, had exterminators out to get rid of yellow jackets in crawl space (3 times...), had roof repaired, and replaced all gutters. We are still: having the gas powered wood stove (you read that correctly) serviced before we use it (today), having drywall put up over the large hole from the washing machine repair (tomorrow), having a french drain and trench put in the backyard to keep runoff from going under the house (Saturday), and ordering and installing mini blinds on all the windows. WHEW!!! Thank you very, very much to my parents for letting us live with them to save up, as well as my aunt and grandparents for some gifts along the way. Otherwise we would be up to our eyeballs in dept! Even with ALL this stuff, we still got an incredible deal on this house, I swear!!
Showing posts with label Buying our first house. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Buying our first house. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
It's the little things...
You know what I have REALLY taken for granted since my 3rd year of college?? Having a washer and dryer in my apartment/house. You know what I've missed since I bought a house? Having a washing machine in my house that WORKS.
Yes, in the grand scheme of life, with starvation, war, etc, I know that this is a petty thing to complain about. But OH MY WORD, it is so inconvenient to be without!
I will say this again: WHAT WERE THE PEOPLE THINKING WHO LIVED HERE BEFORE US?? I'm seriously trying not to judge. They had their house listed short sale, which means they lost a lot of money on the sale. They probably had something happen to their financial situation that was pretty devastating. But, COME ON. Their house was so filthy, the yard a disaster and now we have found out that most of their draining pipes were fairly clogged and needed replacing (which we have done) and there's NO WAY they had been able to do laundry in any way, possibly for a LONG time. Now, of course, even with doing all of the repairs and things necessary to the house, it's STILL a steal at the price we got it. But, it's been a hassle.
So, FOUR VISITS FROM THE PLUMBER LATER, it appears to be fixed. Of course, now I have a gigantic hole in my wall behind my washer and have a drywall guy coming out in a few days to take care of that, another expense. But, I've already done about 4 loads of wash today and it is GREAT.
Thank you to my mom for letting me use her washer for the last couple of weeks.
Yes, in the grand scheme of life, with starvation, war, etc, I know that this is a petty thing to complain about. But OH MY WORD, it is so inconvenient to be without!
I will say this again: WHAT WERE THE PEOPLE THINKING WHO LIVED HERE BEFORE US?? I'm seriously trying not to judge. They had their house listed short sale, which means they lost a lot of money on the sale. They probably had something happen to their financial situation that was pretty devastating. But, COME ON. Their house was so filthy, the yard a disaster and now we have found out that most of their draining pipes were fairly clogged and needed replacing (which we have done) and there's NO WAY they had been able to do laundry in any way, possibly for a LONG time. Now, of course, even with doing all of the repairs and things necessary to the house, it's STILL a steal at the price we got it. But, it's been a hassle.
So, FOUR VISITS FROM THE PLUMBER LATER, it appears to be fixed. Of course, now I have a gigantic hole in my wall behind my washer and have a drywall guy coming out in a few days to take care of that, another expense. But, I've already done about 4 loads of wash today and it is GREAT.
Thank you to my mom for letting me use her washer for the last couple of weeks.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Our New House
Things that I love:
*Our mortgage, even with taxes and insurance, is less than rent for a decent apartment around here
*4 bedrooms (on the smaller side, but still 4)
*Living room PLUS fairly large separate family room
*Central heating and CENTRAL AIR!! (I have been turning on heat room to room since I started living on my own)
*All one level (one less stress with a toddler and future toddler!)
*HUGE corner lot, the back yard needs work, but is BIG
*Very quiet cul-de-sac
*Great elementary school
*Within walking distance of public pool, which offers inexpensive memberships and classes
*Very close to gym with same as above
Things I'll Accept:
*1 1/2 bath, with the 1/2 in the master. This will change within a few months to a full bath!
*Kitchen is on the smaller side and outdated. This is on our list over the next couple of years. It certainly will do the job, just needs some updating.
*Though the yard is HUGE, it needs some serious landscaping. Again, a project for the next year or more. We plan to weed, trim, etc. We also want to put in some raised beds to start a garden (this may wait a year, since I'll be busy with a new baby this spring...) and eventually a play structure for the kids.
*The crummy, small cement 'patio'. Again, in the next few years, we'd love a deck or something similar.
*Ugly, dirty family room carpet. Will be done in the next month.
Things That Need Attention ASAP:
*CLEANING. Seriously, I don't know what the sellers were thinking. They are so lucky we were able to see past their ungodly, hoarder-like housekeeping skills. Cleaners are arriving first thing Saturday morning!
*Removal of the 2 hornet nests in the crawlspace. (exterminator coming Tuesday)
*Furnace and ducts cleaned and serviced (Wednesday)
*All gutters replaced and roof cleaned (next week, hopefully)
*Painting the entire interior. Nelson and a couple of guys from church will start this weekend.
*Repair hole in living room wall (Saturday)
*Minor plumbing (will be done when we upgrade the bath, okay to wait that long)
*Minor electrical (within the next week; Nelson's dad is a certified electrician)
*Dishwasher needs replacing (within the next week)
*No window treatments. We are going to buy temporary blinds where necessary (this weekend) and I'll add curtains over the next couple of weeks.
So, all in all, things are looking GREAT! Hopefully we'll get a LOT done in the next few days and can move in ASAP. SOOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!
*Our mortgage, even with taxes and insurance, is less than rent for a decent apartment around here
*4 bedrooms (on the smaller side, but still 4)
*Living room PLUS fairly large separate family room
*Central heating and CENTRAL AIR!! (I have been turning on heat room to room since I started living on my own)
*All one level (one less stress with a toddler and future toddler!)
*HUGE corner lot, the back yard needs work, but is BIG
*Very quiet cul-de-sac
*Great elementary school
*Within walking distance of public pool, which offers inexpensive memberships and classes
*Very close to gym with same as above
Things I'll Accept:
*1 1/2 bath, with the 1/2 in the master. This will change within a few months to a full bath!
*Kitchen is on the smaller side and outdated. This is on our list over the next couple of years. It certainly will do the job, just needs some updating.
*Though the yard is HUGE, it needs some serious landscaping. Again, a project for the next year or more. We plan to weed, trim, etc. We also want to put in some raised beds to start a garden (this may wait a year, since I'll be busy with a new baby this spring...) and eventually a play structure for the kids.
*The crummy, small cement 'patio'. Again, in the next few years, we'd love a deck or something similar.
*Ugly, dirty family room carpet. Will be done in the next month.
Things That Need Attention ASAP:
*CLEANING. Seriously, I don't know what the sellers were thinking. They are so lucky we were able to see past their ungodly, hoarder-like housekeeping skills. Cleaners are arriving first thing Saturday morning!
*Removal of the 2 hornet nests in the crawlspace. (exterminator coming Tuesday)
*Furnace and ducts cleaned and serviced (Wednesday)
*All gutters replaced and roof cleaned (next week, hopefully)
*Painting the entire interior. Nelson and a couple of guys from church will start this weekend.
*Repair hole in living room wall (Saturday)
*Minor plumbing (will be done when we upgrade the bath, okay to wait that long)
*Minor electrical (within the next week; Nelson's dad is a certified electrician)
*Dishwasher needs replacing (within the next week)
*No window treatments. We are going to buy temporary blinds where necessary (this weekend) and I'll add curtains over the next couple of weeks.
So, all in all, things are looking GREAT! Hopefully we'll get a LOT done in the next few days and can move in ASAP. SOOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!
Monday, August 22, 2011
Upcoming Events
Oh boy, oh boy, oh BOY!! BIG and exciting things happening to the Sigrah family in the upcoming weeks! I will probably have less time than ever to blog, because look as this schedule:
This week:
Tues: Trip to the beach with my mom
Wed: SIGNING FINAL DOCUMENTS FOR OUR HOUSE!!
Thurs: Shopping and finalizing HS reunion plans
Fri: CLOSING and getting the keys!! (hoping our realtor can get cleaners in to deep clean the whole house!!)
Sat: High school reunion BBQ, hoping to get some priming and possible painting done on the house, start taking loads over.
Sun: Nelson and some guys from our church will hopefully get a BIG chunk of painting done
Next week:
Mon-Thurs: Finishing all painting, visits from exterminators, plumbers, and roofing/gutter guys. Take loads over every day of our crap.
Fri: (after Nelson works a full day....) Pick up U-Haul and move remainder of stuff from my parents' house and storage unit. Mainly just to get furniture in house, unpack a couple of boxes.
Sat-Tues: Camping at the coast
Note: We made the reservations to do this in MAY. Long before we knew what would happen. Yes, we've considered cancelling, but don't want to lose the money and actually are really looking forward to the time away together just the 3 of us.
Following week:
(Labor Day) Mon: My niece Allie arrives from Texas
Wed-Fri: Watch my niece and Kalaya while attempting to unpack our house.
Sat: My brother's girlfriend and son arrive from Kentucky. Luckily, Allie, Holly and Archer will be staying at my parents' house from this point on.
Sun: My brother is scheduled to arrive for his mid-tour leave from Afghanistan!!
Following weekend: Pendleton Round Up
Again, all good, exciting things, but WHEW!! We are going to need a vacation from all of this!!!
This week:
Tues: Trip to the beach with my mom
Wed: SIGNING FINAL DOCUMENTS FOR OUR HOUSE!!
Thurs: Shopping and finalizing HS reunion plans
Fri: CLOSING and getting the keys!! (hoping our realtor can get cleaners in to deep clean the whole house!!)
Sat: High school reunion BBQ, hoping to get some priming and possible painting done on the house, start taking loads over.
Sun: Nelson and some guys from our church will hopefully get a BIG chunk of painting done
Next week:
Mon-Thurs: Finishing all painting, visits from exterminators, plumbers, and roofing/gutter guys. Take loads over every day of our crap.
Fri: (after Nelson works a full day....) Pick up U-Haul and move remainder of stuff from my parents' house and storage unit. Mainly just to get furniture in house, unpack a couple of boxes.
Sat-Tues: Camping at the coast
Note: We made the reservations to do this in MAY. Long before we knew what would happen. Yes, we've considered cancelling, but don't want to lose the money and actually are really looking forward to the time away together just the 3 of us.
Following week:
(Labor Day) Mon: My niece Allie arrives from Texas
Wed-Fri: Watch my niece and Kalaya while attempting to unpack our house.
Sat: My brother's girlfriend and son arrive from Kentucky. Luckily, Allie, Holly and Archer will be staying at my parents' house from this point on.
Sun: My brother is scheduled to arrive for his mid-tour leave from Afghanistan!!
Following weekend: Pendleton Round Up
Again, all good, exciting things, but WHEW!! We are going to need a vacation from all of this!!!
Friday, August 12, 2011
Ketchup
Lots and lots going on lately (it's taken me about 4 days just to finish this post!!), not been motivated to post! Here's a run down:
*Had another midwife appointment yesterday and everything looked great! I got to hear the heartbeat and it was good and strong. I've gained 4 pounds total and am measuring right on schedule. Blood pressure was great as well. I'm about 15 1/2 weeks and am definitely showing. The first trimester symptoms seem to be fading away (knock on wood), so I'm feeling better. I definitely have more energy and my tummy has been feeling a lot better. Some foods are tasting normal again, but not all. We have our ultrasound to find out gender the 2nd week in September, very exciting!!
*Had a very, very up and down emotional last weekend. On the positive, went to a bridal shower and bachelorette party with college friends and had a really good time. However, it was soured by the stress I've been getting for the last week about my high school reunion. I AM SO SICK OF IT. Long story short, I was part of a committee last fall, they ALL bailed on me, I scrambled to plan something any way, with the help of one other person, came up with (what I thought) were 2 nice events, priced VERY reasonably, put down a large deposit, got negative feedback and not enough RSVPs, cancelled the evening reception because of it, kept the day time BBQ (this was about March-May) and have JUST NOW started getting people who 'wanted to come, but now all of this is too last minute'. ARE YOU FRICKIN KIDDING ME??? People have been posting really, really rude things on Facebook, which I'm trying to ignore, but it's been hard. Where these people were a year ago when we started planning.....I've kind of stopped caring. The good news is SO many people have said very nice things to me and been very grateful and understanding, so I feel much better.
* We are so, so close to getting the house!! Our offer was finally approved a couple of weeks ago and we are scheduled to close on the 26th, 2 weeks from today! It is not completely move in ready though. We will be hiring cleaners BIG TIME and then painting the inside. The family room carpet needs replacing too. The inspection turned out some minor repairs, including replacing the gutters, minor plumbing and electric and needing a new dishwasher, so we'll take care of those as well. Plus, there are some hornets nests to get rid of. Luckily, all of this is in our budget, which is thanks to how long we've been saving, living at my parents' house. The house is a 4 br, 1 1/2 bath, but we can probably to upgrade the 1/2 bath (in the Master br) right away, which is totally awesome! So, the house definitely qualifies in the 'fixer-upper' category, but I'm totally excited. We went to Home Depot on Saturday and it was the beginning of a whole new world for me!! I have always loathed, hated, DESPISED that store, but now? I could spend hours in there, looking for ideas and inspiration. More about plans as we get further along in the process. I'm trying to decide on paint colors currently and am completely overwhelmed!! The good news is that the house had a lot of the major things replaced 4 years ago (furnace, AC, yes, central air!!, all the windows, floors), so the 'bones' are in pretty good shape, which saves us a lot of money.
*At 2 years, 3 months, Miss Kalaya has been enjoying the sun and summer weather we've been having. On warm days, she has a her wading pool on back and we've taken several trips to local fountains to play. She will be starting swim lessons almost immediately after we get into the new house. (long story why we've waited, but the short story is that it's cheaper this way!!) One of the things I am most excited about for the new house is that potty training will kick into high gear. She is beyond more than ready, just a few days of the diaper-free method is going to finish this process up, I'm convinced. I've wanted to do this for longer than the last 6 months, but didn't for 2 main reasons. 1. My parents have carpet that is fairly new and 2. I have heard over and over again that you should wait until after a major change like a move.
Some other favorite things these days are coloring (she can finally make the crayons do what she wants them to do, more or less), being read to, longer and longer 'big kid' stories, take walks, run around and explore rocks and leaves in the back yard, practicing walking the dogs on their leashes, pretending to cook a wide variety of foods, but 'rice and grapes' seem to be the most popular (neither of which I make too often....), eating 'melon' (water melon was a big success on the 4th and cantaloupe is too), practicing letters and their sounds, dancing, singing LOTS of songs, kissing 'mommy's baby', going to the park, getting stickers at Trader Joe's and Target, riding in 'Oma's new car', 'talking on the compooter' with family and friends, visiting 'Elena's new house', playing night night with all her animals and toys, watching 'Pig' (aka, Word World) and practicing 'let's build a word!!' on Saturday mornings (she only gets to watch TV on Sat mornings and Word World and Elmo's World and VERY occasionally Mickey Mouse Clubhouse) and lots and lots and LOTS of other activities. She is a little sponge, learning and soaking up SO much new information every day!!
*Had another midwife appointment yesterday and everything looked great! I got to hear the heartbeat and it was good and strong. I've gained 4 pounds total and am measuring right on schedule. Blood pressure was great as well. I'm about 15 1/2 weeks and am definitely showing. The first trimester symptoms seem to be fading away (knock on wood), so I'm feeling better. I definitely have more energy and my tummy has been feeling a lot better. Some foods are tasting normal again, but not all. We have our ultrasound to find out gender the 2nd week in September, very exciting!!
*Had a very, very up and down emotional last weekend. On the positive, went to a bridal shower and bachelorette party with college friends and had a really good time. However, it was soured by the stress I've been getting for the last week about my high school reunion. I AM SO SICK OF IT. Long story short, I was part of a committee last fall, they ALL bailed on me, I scrambled to plan something any way, with the help of one other person, came up with (what I thought) were 2 nice events, priced VERY reasonably, put down a large deposit, got negative feedback and not enough RSVPs, cancelled the evening reception because of it, kept the day time BBQ (this was about March-May) and have JUST NOW started getting people who 'wanted to come, but now all of this is too last minute'. ARE YOU FRICKIN KIDDING ME??? People have been posting really, really rude things on Facebook, which I'm trying to ignore, but it's been hard. Where these people were a year ago when we started planning.....I've kind of stopped caring. The good news is SO many people have said very nice things to me and been very grateful and understanding, so I feel much better.
* We are so, so close to getting the house!! Our offer was finally approved a couple of weeks ago and we are scheduled to close on the 26th, 2 weeks from today! It is not completely move in ready though. We will be hiring cleaners BIG TIME and then painting the inside. The family room carpet needs replacing too. The inspection turned out some minor repairs, including replacing the gutters, minor plumbing and electric and needing a new dishwasher, so we'll take care of those as well. Plus, there are some hornets nests to get rid of. Luckily, all of this is in our budget, which is thanks to how long we've been saving, living at my parents' house. The house is a 4 br, 1 1/2 bath, but we can probably to upgrade the 1/2 bath (in the Master br) right away, which is totally awesome! So, the house definitely qualifies in the 'fixer-upper' category, but I'm totally excited. We went to Home Depot on Saturday and it was the beginning of a whole new world for me!! I have always loathed, hated, DESPISED that store, but now? I could spend hours in there, looking for ideas and inspiration. More about plans as we get further along in the process. I'm trying to decide on paint colors currently and am completely overwhelmed!! The good news is that the house had a lot of the major things replaced 4 years ago (furnace, AC, yes, central air!!, all the windows, floors), so the 'bones' are in pretty good shape, which saves us a lot of money.
*At 2 years, 3 months, Miss Kalaya has been enjoying the sun and summer weather we've been having. On warm days, she has a her wading pool on back and we've taken several trips to local fountains to play. She will be starting swim lessons almost immediately after we get into the new house. (long story why we've waited, but the short story is that it's cheaper this way!!) One of the things I am most excited about for the new house is that potty training will kick into high gear. She is beyond more than ready, just a few days of the diaper-free method is going to finish this process up, I'm convinced. I've wanted to do this for longer than the last 6 months, but didn't for 2 main reasons. 1. My parents have carpet that is fairly new and 2. I have heard over and over again that you should wait until after a major change like a move.
Some other favorite things these days are coloring (she can finally make the crayons do what she wants them to do, more or less), being read to, longer and longer 'big kid' stories, take walks, run around and explore rocks and leaves in the back yard, practicing walking the dogs on their leashes, pretending to cook a wide variety of foods, but 'rice and grapes' seem to be the most popular (neither of which I make too often....), eating 'melon' (water melon was a big success on the 4th and cantaloupe is too), practicing letters and their sounds, dancing, singing LOTS of songs, kissing 'mommy's baby', going to the park, getting stickers at Trader Joe's and Target, riding in 'Oma's new car', 'talking on the compooter' with family and friends, visiting 'Elena's new house', playing night night with all her animals and toys, watching 'Pig' (aka, Word World) and practicing 'let's build a word!!' on Saturday mornings (she only gets to watch TV on Sat mornings and Word World and Elmo's World and VERY occasionally Mickey Mouse Clubhouse) and lots and lots and LOTS of other activities. She is a little sponge, learning and soaking up SO much new information every day!!
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Sigh...another house hunt update...
There's some things to report, but we're still not moving forward. Our market is so incredibly frustrating, because of all of the short sales. We are STILL waiting for final word from the banks on both of the short sale offers that we have.
Okay, I will confess something. We are pretty picky. That's part of the reason this is as hard as it is. I think there have been several times where our realtor (Tammie, who is awesome, by the way) has wanted to just shake us and say, "It's your first house, it's not going to have absolutely everything!!!", and want us to lower our expectations about something just slightly. But, bless her heart, she has put up with our standards.
But, the reality is that I know too much about the schools in the area (which is good for our future children, but makes it harder to find houses in our price range), so there are some areas I don't want to buy in. There is nothing wrong with any of these schools, but I'm being picky. There's nothing wrong with the Hillsboro School District, but we'd rather be in Beaverton. We want (need) a yard, we want 3, preferably 4 bedrooms. We want a house, not a cookie cutter condo or 'house' with houses 2 feet away on either side. We can't afford/don't know how to work with much of a fixer upper. So, needless to say, this has been a challenge for our realtor. But, again, she has been GREAT!
The Tualatin short sale looks like it is probably not going to happen. The bank will not approve anything below $190K, which is way out of our price range. Actually, we are qualified for that high, but I am not having our mortgage be half our income or more. NO WAY. It's frustrating, because it was short sale listed at $159 and we made an offer lower than that. I honestly don't care (TOO MUCH) that we probably won't get it, but it has made me SO angry that we've been basically been waiting for 3 months, having our hopes up for nothing. This just proof that if something seems too good to be true, it very likely is...... Basically, a short sale owner can list at any price to get offers and then has to wait for the bank in charge of their mortgage to approve the offer. This bank will not approve our offer because every other property in the area is worth much more than that. (which we knew) The listing agent is trying to prove to the bank how much work the house needs and the condition it is in, but they don't care. They are hundreds of miles away, have never seen it and only see the value of the property it is on. SIGH
The second offer we have on the 4 bedroom in Aloha (our 2nd choice, but still a lot to offer) seems to be doing better. The listing agent is much more positive about our offer (which is much lower than the Tualatin offer) being accepted. It is on a very quiet cul-de-sac, has a large family room and living room, HUGE yard, 4 bedrooms, dining room and 1 1/2 baths. It needs a lot of yard work and we would likely paint all of the inside. It also needs to be cleaned BIG TIME. I don't know what the current owners are thinking honestly. I'm so embarrassed for them. It is SO FULL of junk and clutter. Luckily, it doesn't appear that there's any damage, just dust and dirt. I'd be mortified for someone to see my house like this. Here is the listing. It is a LIE. I have no idea when these pictures were taken, the house is full of trash and clutter, as well as the yard. But, we are able to see past it for the house's potential and we really like it. We should hear 'any day now'. FINGERS CROSSED! After our offer is hopefully accepted, we cross our fingers for inspection.....
God bless my parents for letting us stay now for 7 MONTHS, which is so much longer than we ever planned or anticipated. We have saved our down payment and enough for minor work and repairs, as well as paid of any additional debt. (not counting Nelson's under grad student loans) It's time to be back in our OWN house!!
Okay, I will confess something. We are pretty picky. That's part of the reason this is as hard as it is. I think there have been several times where our realtor (Tammie, who is awesome, by the way) has wanted to just shake us and say, "It's your first house, it's not going to have absolutely everything!!!", and want us to lower our expectations about something just slightly. But, bless her heart, she has put up with our standards.
But, the reality is that I know too much about the schools in the area (which is good for our future children, but makes it harder to find houses in our price range), so there are some areas I don't want to buy in. There is nothing wrong with any of these schools, but I'm being picky. There's nothing wrong with the Hillsboro School District, but we'd rather be in Beaverton. We want (need) a yard, we want 3, preferably 4 bedrooms. We want a house, not a cookie cutter condo or 'house' with houses 2 feet away on either side. We can't afford/don't know how to work with much of a fixer upper. So, needless to say, this has been a challenge for our realtor. But, again, she has been GREAT!
The Tualatin short sale looks like it is probably not going to happen. The bank will not approve anything below $190K, which is way out of our price range. Actually, we are qualified for that high, but I am not having our mortgage be half our income or more. NO WAY. It's frustrating, because it was short sale listed at $159 and we made an offer lower than that. I honestly don't care (TOO MUCH) that we probably won't get it, but it has made me SO angry that we've been basically been waiting for 3 months, having our hopes up for nothing. This just proof that if something seems too good to be true, it very likely is...... Basically, a short sale owner can list at any price to get offers and then has to wait for the bank in charge of their mortgage to approve the offer. This bank will not approve our offer because every other property in the area is worth much more than that. (which we knew) The listing agent is trying to prove to the bank how much work the house needs and the condition it is in, but they don't care. They are hundreds of miles away, have never seen it and only see the value of the property it is on. SIGH
The second offer we have on the 4 bedroom in Aloha (our 2nd choice, but still a lot to offer) seems to be doing better. The listing agent is much more positive about our offer (which is much lower than the Tualatin offer) being accepted. It is on a very quiet cul-de-sac, has a large family room and living room, HUGE yard, 4 bedrooms, dining room and 1 1/2 baths. It needs a lot of yard work and we would likely paint all of the inside. It also needs to be cleaned BIG TIME. I don't know what the current owners are thinking honestly. I'm so embarrassed for them. It is SO FULL of junk and clutter. Luckily, it doesn't appear that there's any damage, just dust and dirt. I'd be mortified for someone to see my house like this. Here is the listing. It is a LIE. I have no idea when these pictures were taken, the house is full of trash and clutter, as well as the yard. But, we are able to see past it for the house's potential and we really like it. We should hear 'any day now'. FINGERS CROSSED! After our offer is hopefully accepted, we cross our fingers for inspection.....
God bless my parents for letting us stay now for 7 MONTHS, which is so much longer than we ever planned or anticipated. We have saved our down payment and enough for minor work and repairs, as well as paid of any additional debt. (not counting Nelson's under grad student loans) It's time to be back in our OWN house!!
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Ketchup
It has been a VERY busy couple of weeks. We/I have been busy! Here are the main things going on:
*With only a month before summer, I suddenly found myself the only person (apparently) who was still interested in planning our 10 year high school reunion. Everyone else I had originally started planning with had backed out on me. And, we hadn't finalized anything yet. Since I still wanted it to happen (and I know others do too, even if they don't want to plan), I decided to take it on myself. I found one other stay at home mom to help, which is actually turning out much better than having a committee. One text or phone call and decisions are made. We have had to do deadlines and such to keep prices down and get people to RSVP, but it's still not working. It's a lot of work and people don't seem interested. I'm really disappointed that the high school reunion days may be over, thanks to Facebook..... I've also discovered that people are going to complain no matter what you plan, yet some how don't want to plan it themselves. And, because of this, people don't realize what it costs to even have a simple reception/get together. Or that one person from the class would have to pay a large deposit to get things going!!!
*Birthday plans are in full swing for Kalaya (mainly) and Nelson as well. Kalaya's party is coming up and I didn't realize how much the theme I chose would save us so much money!! Since Kalaya LOVES bunnies (though we have more than enough stuffed bunnies and books about them!), I decided on bunny decorations and to make a bunny shaped cake. (Even the not so skilled cake decorator that I am knows how!) It turns out that it is SUPER cheap, because I hit up the Dollar Tree and the after Easter sales for party favors and decorations and have hardly spent anything. AND, our church said we could have the party there for FREE, which is great and it's a perfect space for a bunch of toddlers to run around and play. I can't wait!
*The housing search is continuing. We took a break for a few days during Easter week, because we were really busy and I didn't want to ask our realtor to work Easter weekend. (though it turns out she did anyway) We went out the Tuesday after Easter and found a couple that we were interested in and actually ended up making 3 offers. Sounds totally crazy, I know, but it makes sense in our market. One of the properties was bank owned, but the other 2 are short sale. Basically, (this is all new to me) that means that it could take 2-3 months to hear back from the short sales, but we'd hear back from the bank owned within a few days. (short sales are still owned by the owners, but are being sold for less than the people owe on the house, likely because they are no longer able to make payments)
We heard back quickly from the bank owned house. We knew it was a long shot. We made an offer under asking price the afternoon that it had dropped almost $20k. Someone else had offered more and it was accepted. That was okay, the location was actually our third choice. However, the house needed next to no work and was a really nice property and house, so we decided to try. So, that one is out.
The next house is in an okay location, but will need some work. However, the lot size (especially for Oregon) is HUGE. It is seriously like 2 full back yards. It is a corner lot and they had turned half of the back yard into an RV space. We would remove the gravel and put in turf. It's 4 bedrooms and priced really low. (it's been on the market a long time) It's short sale, so we won't hear back for quite awhile, but we couldn't pass it up.
The house that we are trying not to get our hopes up on too much, but REALLY hope is in God's plan is a 3 bedroom 2 bath house in Tualatin. We lived there while I was pregnant with Kalaya and really liked the area. We hadn't even looked, because almost all of the houses are WAY out of our price range and it's more than we ever dreamed for. It has a formal living and dining room, family room, and eating area. The school district is FANTASTIC and it's a really good location for us. There is a bus stop Nelson could get to work from a block from the house, which means I could actually have a car during the day and we could put off trying to buy a car for a few more years. And, get this, it has a hot tub and a POOL. In Oregon it is almost unheard of. It's an above ground pool, but the previous owners (before the current) built a really nice deck up around it. It is fenced around the deck too and off to the side, so there is still plenty of yard left. The current owners haven't kept it up, but we sure would!!!! I am focusing on praying that I trust in God's plan... This is a short sale too, but something has happened that should let us know in the next couple of weeks!!!
*With only a month before summer, I suddenly found myself the only person (apparently) who was still interested in planning our 10 year high school reunion. Everyone else I had originally started planning with had backed out on me. And, we hadn't finalized anything yet. Since I still wanted it to happen (and I know others do too, even if they don't want to plan), I decided to take it on myself. I found one other stay at home mom to help, which is actually turning out much better than having a committee. One text or phone call and decisions are made. We have had to do deadlines and such to keep prices down and get people to RSVP, but it's still not working. It's a lot of work and people don't seem interested. I'm really disappointed that the high school reunion days may be over, thanks to Facebook..... I've also discovered that people are going to complain no matter what you plan, yet some how don't want to plan it themselves. And, because of this, people don't realize what it costs to even have a simple reception/get together. Or that one person from the class would have to pay a large deposit to get things going!!!
*Birthday plans are in full swing for Kalaya (mainly) and Nelson as well. Kalaya's party is coming up and I didn't realize how much the theme I chose would save us so much money!! Since Kalaya LOVES bunnies (though we have more than enough stuffed bunnies and books about them!), I decided on bunny decorations and to make a bunny shaped cake. (Even the not so skilled cake decorator that I am knows how!) It turns out that it is SUPER cheap, because I hit up the Dollar Tree and the after Easter sales for party favors and decorations and have hardly spent anything. AND, our church said we could have the party there for FREE, which is great and it's a perfect space for a bunch of toddlers to run around and play. I can't wait!
*The housing search is continuing. We took a break for a few days during Easter week, because we were really busy and I didn't want to ask our realtor to work Easter weekend. (though it turns out she did anyway) We went out the Tuesday after Easter and found a couple that we were interested in and actually ended up making 3 offers. Sounds totally crazy, I know, but it makes sense in our market. One of the properties was bank owned, but the other 2 are short sale. Basically, (this is all new to me) that means that it could take 2-3 months to hear back from the short sales, but we'd hear back from the bank owned within a few days. (short sales are still owned by the owners, but are being sold for less than the people owe on the house, likely because they are no longer able to make payments)
We heard back quickly from the bank owned house. We knew it was a long shot. We made an offer under asking price the afternoon that it had dropped almost $20k. Someone else had offered more and it was accepted. That was okay, the location was actually our third choice. However, the house needed next to no work and was a really nice property and house, so we decided to try. So, that one is out.
The next house is in an okay location, but will need some work. However, the lot size (especially for Oregon) is HUGE. It is seriously like 2 full back yards. It is a corner lot and they had turned half of the back yard into an RV space. We would remove the gravel and put in turf. It's 4 bedrooms and priced really low. (it's been on the market a long time) It's short sale, so we won't hear back for quite awhile, but we couldn't pass it up.
The house that we are trying not to get our hopes up on too much, but REALLY hope is in God's plan is a 3 bedroom 2 bath house in Tualatin. We lived there while I was pregnant with Kalaya and really liked the area. We hadn't even looked, because almost all of the houses are WAY out of our price range and it's more than we ever dreamed for. It has a formal living and dining room, family room, and eating area. The school district is FANTASTIC and it's a really good location for us. There is a bus stop Nelson could get to work from a block from the house, which means I could actually have a car during the day and we could put off trying to buy a car for a few more years. And, get this, it has a hot tub and a POOL. In Oregon it is almost unheard of. It's an above ground pool, but the previous owners (before the current) built a really nice deck up around it. It is fenced around the deck too and off to the side, so there is still plenty of yard left. The current owners haven't kept it up, but we sure would!!!! I am focusing on praying that I trust in God's plan... This is a short sale too, but something has happened that should let us know in the next couple of weeks!!!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
The House Hunt Continues....
Well, we may be about to walk away from this house we've been trying for during the last month. We have now had every single inch of the property inspected and have determined that the following things need to be repaired before we even move in:
1. The roof needs to be torn off and completely replaced
2. A large amount of the siding needs to be replaced
3. A large amount of standing water needs to be cleaned out of the crawlspace (as a result of the issues with the siding)
4. The furnace needs a lot of repair work
5. The sewage pipe leading away from the house needs to be replaced and the trench re-dug (I don't think that's a word) to make it work properly.
And, that's just the major things. Throughout the house there are dozens of little repairs that need to be made, as well as several projects that the previous owners did themselves, improperly and need to be torn down or removed.
We have submitted an addendum to the bank requesting that they completely repair the five things I listed, before closing. And, it doesn't look like they're going to. We're waiting for a final decision, but it sounds like all they would do is lower the price of the house some more. This doesn't help us, as we are 'cash poor' (realtor word, not ours, even though it's true) and don't have the money in hand to pay for all of those repairs ourselves. We had estimates done on those 5 things and it is NOT a cheap total.
Yesterday, I was pretty discouraged about the whole thing. I had a lot of prayer time with God, trying to understand why He is having us go through it. I came (once again in life, as I do almost every time something major happens...) to the realization that God's plan for us is SO much better than what we had thought was going to happen. There's something better in store in the future. This whole house buying process is totally in His hands and I know He sees the end result and I know it will be awesome!! I am having a lesson (AGAIN) in patience and learning that I don't have control. God does.
So, last night we went and looked at some more houses, just for fun, kind of, but to see what else is out there right now. (and, so the bank knows we're looking and serious about being ready to walk away) I was actually very encouraged and we found another house to put in the back of our minds. Here it is, if you are interested. I'm deciding not to get too excited yet, but it is nice to know that the world will not end if we don't get the original house. : ) And, God bless my parents for letting us live with them as long as it takes for this to work out!!!
1. The roof needs to be torn off and completely replaced
2. A large amount of the siding needs to be replaced
3. A large amount of standing water needs to be cleaned out of the crawlspace (as a result of the issues with the siding)
4. The furnace needs a lot of repair work
5. The sewage pipe leading away from the house needs to be replaced and the trench re-dug (I don't think that's a word) to make it work properly.
And, that's just the major things. Throughout the house there are dozens of little repairs that need to be made, as well as several projects that the previous owners did themselves, improperly and need to be torn down or removed.
We have submitted an addendum to the bank requesting that they completely repair the five things I listed, before closing. And, it doesn't look like they're going to. We're waiting for a final decision, but it sounds like all they would do is lower the price of the house some more. This doesn't help us, as we are 'cash poor' (realtor word, not ours, even though it's true) and don't have the money in hand to pay for all of those repairs ourselves. We had estimates done on those 5 things and it is NOT a cheap total.
Yesterday, I was pretty discouraged about the whole thing. I had a lot of prayer time with God, trying to understand why He is having us go through it. I came (once again in life, as I do almost every time something major happens...) to the realization that God's plan for us is SO much better than what we had thought was going to happen. There's something better in store in the future. This whole house buying process is totally in His hands and I know He sees the end result and I know it will be awesome!! I am having a lesson (AGAIN) in patience and learning that I don't have control. God does.
So, last night we went and looked at some more houses, just for fun, kind of, but to see what else is out there right now. (and, so the bank knows we're looking and serious about being ready to walk away) I was actually very encouraged and we found another house to put in the back of our minds. Here it is, if you are interested. I'm deciding not to get too excited yet, but it is nice to know that the world will not end if we don't get the original house. : ) And, God bless my parents for letting us live with them as long as it takes for this to work out!!!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
House Update
Well, buying a house is definitely an emotional roller coaster. And this one has (luckily) been a rather quick process so far. Still, the waiting game is never fun, and we've done that a few times in the last month.
So, we put our offer in for the house and went back and forth with the seller for a couple of days. Since it's bank owned, we didn't feel guilty what-so-ever about offering much lower than the asking price and sticking to our offer. The reality is that we can't go much higher than what we offered anyway, unless we want me to take on a second job. That is certainly a possibility, since I am considering nannying again once we're settled, but we don't have anything locked down and don't want to depend on an income before we have it.
So, we made the offer, the bank came back with a joke (barely lowered at all), we came back with a slightly higher (but not by much) offer and said if it wasn't accepted, we'd walk. They came back with another joke of an offer and we said no thank you. 24 hours later, they agreed to our offer, with a slight change in what they're paying in closing costs, so we took it!
The next (and hopefully last) major hurdle was the inspection. We had it Monday and it had some not so good news. The house is in alright condition, but needs lots of little repairs (which we expected, since it was built in '72) and 3 MAJOR repairs. The roof needs to be completely replaced ASAP, all of the siding is showing signs of dry rot and needs to be replaced and the furnace doesn't work (though that could be a minor repair, it may be just because the house has been vacant for so long). So, it could be 15-20 thousand dollars worth of repairs, which we do NOT have. So, we wrote up a proposal for them to take care of those 3 things and we'll do the small stuff. The other issue is that the people who lived there tried to do a lot of upgrading and home repair themselves and, apparently, didn't have a clue what they were doing. So, we'll be doing some tearing down and (down the road) replacing those things. They're nothing necessary, just things that would have been nice. (example, the covered patio and the laundry room added into the garage)
So, now we're waiting. The bank did get back to us really quickly and say that it's possible, and to get an estimate, which our realtor said is a good sign, so we're working on that now. Hopefully they will replace it all or we'll have to walk away. But, I haven't given up hope yet!!!
So, we put our offer in for the house and went back and forth with the seller for a couple of days. Since it's bank owned, we didn't feel guilty what-so-ever about offering much lower than the asking price and sticking to our offer. The reality is that we can't go much higher than what we offered anyway, unless we want me to take on a second job. That is certainly a possibility, since I am considering nannying again once we're settled, but we don't have anything locked down and don't want to depend on an income before we have it.
So, we made the offer, the bank came back with a joke (barely lowered at all), we came back with a slightly higher (but not by much) offer and said if it wasn't accepted, we'd walk. They came back with another joke of an offer and we said no thank you. 24 hours later, they agreed to our offer, with a slight change in what they're paying in closing costs, so we took it!
The next (and hopefully last) major hurdle was the inspection. We had it Monday and it had some not so good news. The house is in alright condition, but needs lots of little repairs (which we expected, since it was built in '72) and 3 MAJOR repairs. The roof needs to be completely replaced ASAP, all of the siding is showing signs of dry rot and needs to be replaced and the furnace doesn't work (though that could be a minor repair, it may be just because the house has been vacant for so long). So, it could be 15-20 thousand dollars worth of repairs, which we do NOT have. So, we wrote up a proposal for them to take care of those 3 things and we'll do the small stuff. The other issue is that the people who lived there tried to do a lot of upgrading and home repair themselves and, apparently, didn't have a clue what they were doing. So, we'll be doing some tearing down and (down the road) replacing those things. They're nothing necessary, just things that would have been nice. (example, the covered patio and the laundry room added into the garage)
So, now we're waiting. The bank did get back to us really quickly and say that it's possible, and to get an estimate, which our realtor said is a good sign, so we're working on that now. Hopefully they will replace it all or we'll have to walk away. But, I haven't given up hope yet!!!
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Colds
Well, we made it almost the whole winter without much in the way of illness and then February became runny nose month. Nothing too major, but then we attended (within 8 days):
*A one year old birthday party with around 40 guests
*A two year old birthday at Chuck E Cheese (sigh.....I am really trying not to judge, but for a 2 YEAR OLD???)
(Did I mention both of these were on the SAME DAY?!)
*A babysitting night at church (our youth group was in charge of it) with 10 other kids
*3 play dates
*ANOTHER party for a 2 year old with around 25 guests
It's no wonder the sniffles turned into a hacking cough, fever and major congestion. Really, she's fine, but we are going through a LOT of burp-cloth-turned-nose-wipers at our house right now. And, I will take it, because it's making her tired enough that bed time has become MUCH easier!! (knock on wood, I probably just jinxed myself) She has been going down within 20 minutes and with hardly any fuss or complaining and at the reasonable hour of between 8 and 9, rather than 11:30. And sleeping until 8 or 9. THANK GOODNESS)
The parties were all fun. They are all good friends or family. It is crazy that these kids are already another year old, because it means that my child is quickly approaching 2 and another party is in store. (this year's will be smaller than last year because in Nelson's family, only the 1st one is the BIG one) I'm thinking something VERY low scale, because (1) she's only 2 and won't remember it (2) I don't want to stress out over it and (3) We are on a budget right now, while saving for a down payment.
I know there are parents out there who will think I'm a b**** for saying this, but I am NOT doing the Chuck E Cheese thing. I am not going there again with my child for a LONG time. That. place. is. HORRIBLE. Everything about it. The crazy activities, the flashing lights, the shows, the food, the crowds of people, the greed over tickets, the greed over tokens, the greed over cheap, crappy prizes, the wild kids, the parents not controlling their wild kids....it is all just too much. Yes, Kalaya had a fun time, but she was so overstimulated and so overwhelmed. Nelson and I agreed that we will do ONE, just ONE party each for our children there and only if we can't talk them out of it. And, not until they're 7 or older. There are just so many better ways to spend time with family and friends to celebrate a birthday!
Speaking of our down payment, this process is actually moving forward!! We have submitted out loan application and it looks like we are going to qualify for the FHA loan for enough to buy our first house! We are SO excited, because we only have to put 3% down and it's definitely a realistic goal by May or June. We've met with our Mortgage banker several times and it turns out we have FANTASTIC credit (who knew???) so we should get approved no problem. The down payment it very reasonable and realistic as well. We have contacted and started meeting with a realtor and are actually starting to see this happening!
*A one year old birthday party with around 40 guests
*A two year old birthday at Chuck E Cheese (sigh.....I am really trying not to judge, but for a 2 YEAR OLD???)
(Did I mention both of these were on the SAME DAY?!)
*A babysitting night at church (our youth group was in charge of it) with 10 other kids
*3 play dates
*ANOTHER party for a 2 year old with around 25 guests
It's no wonder the sniffles turned into a hacking cough, fever and major congestion. Really, she's fine, but we are going through a LOT of burp-cloth-turned-nose-wipers at our house right now. And, I will take it, because it's making her tired enough that bed time has become MUCH easier!! (knock on wood, I probably just jinxed myself) She has been going down within 20 minutes and with hardly any fuss or complaining and at the reasonable hour of between 8 and 9, rather than 11:30. And sleeping until 8 or 9. THANK GOODNESS)
The parties were all fun. They are all good friends or family. It is crazy that these kids are already another year old, because it means that my child is quickly approaching 2 and another party is in store. (this year's will be smaller than last year because in Nelson's family, only the 1st one is the BIG one) I'm thinking something VERY low scale, because (1) she's only 2 and won't remember it (2) I don't want to stress out over it and (3) We are on a budget right now, while saving for a down payment.
I know there are parents out there who will think I'm a b**** for saying this, but I am NOT doing the Chuck E Cheese thing. I am not going there again with my child for a LONG time. That. place. is. HORRIBLE. Everything about it. The crazy activities, the flashing lights, the shows, the food, the crowds of people, the greed over tickets, the greed over tokens, the greed over cheap, crappy prizes, the wild kids, the parents not controlling their wild kids....it is all just too much. Yes, Kalaya had a fun time, but she was so overstimulated and so overwhelmed. Nelson and I agreed that we will do ONE, just ONE party each for our children there and only if we can't talk them out of it. And, not until they're 7 or older. There are just so many better ways to spend time with family and friends to celebrate a birthday!
Speaking of our down payment, this process is actually moving forward!! We have submitted out loan application and it looks like we are going to qualify for the FHA loan for enough to buy our first house! We are SO excited, because we only have to put 3% down and it's definitely a realistic goal by May or June. We've met with our Mortgage banker several times and it turns out we have FANTASTIC credit (who knew???) so we should get approved no problem. The down payment it very reasonable and realistic as well. We have contacted and started meeting with a realtor and are actually starting to see this happening!
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