home inspection

Friday, 30 December 2005

I know that it has been awhile since my last post. We have been feverishly working on our house in every spare moment, and I have hardly had time to eat and sleep. But that is winding down. Our house has to be ready for the market by Tuesday, and it will officially be listed on Thursday the 5th.

Today was our home inspection of the new place. It was neat to go over there again, and really get a good look at the place. We even met the next door neighbors who were very friendly, and even invited us inside for a tour of their house. It was essentially the same house, and gave me much hope for how our house could look with some work and paint. Anyway, here are some pictures of the new place.

front

BackPatio

Backyard

Pond

LivingRoom

Dining Room

Kitchen

Family Room

big decisions

Well, I know this will seem a little surprising after my last post, but Ed thought alot over the weekend, made a major amortization spreadsheet that covered every possiblity of interest rates, taxes, prices, fees, monthly payments, etc., etc. And decided that we should go for it. He explained to me that if the interest rates went up .25 percent, it would be the same as spending another 10,000 anyway, so we might as well accept the offer now (seeing that interest rates are going up, and there is no guarantee the house will be there later at the lower price we wanted). So we now have a January 31st settlement date, unless something horrible shows up in the home inspection (after which I will post pictures)!!

So seriously, if anyone knows anyone who wants to buy in Glenside, we are putting the house on the market the first weekend in January for $235. Four bedrooms, one bath, lots of new paint, and a beautiful backyard to name a few features. Let me know...

offers

What a day! We waited until about 12 to hear from the sellers about our offer. Our realtor said that they actually received 2 offers, but wanted to work with us, so they countered at 15,000 above our offer. We said that our offer was firm, but we would negotiated an earlier settlement if they wanted. Around 5:30 we heard from our realtor again, and they had dropped another 5,000, with a settlement date of Jan. 15th (Yikes!!), but we were still firm on our initial offer. Our realtor then told us that they have decided to keep the house on the market through January, and see if they can get more money. If not, they may come back to us.

So, no new house, but I feel a real sense of peace about it. We have been praying through this whole process for the Lord to make it very clear to us if we should have this house or not. And since we were not financially able to meet their price, it is very clear that for today, at least, the house is not ours. I am a little sad that the house that seemed so perfect to us probably won't be ours, but I am so thankful that God answered our prayers and made the decision very easy for us.

Well, at least we don't have to work like crazy people over the holidays trying to get our house in selling shape by New Years. We will have the time to work at a reasonable pace, and maybe even sell our house in the spring when our garden will be at its best!

More car troubles:

1. Apparently (unbeknownst to me) when PepBoys installed our battery they disconnected a wire that enabled the automatic doors to work. So after a week of struggling with trying to open the doors manually (which is very difficult if the doors are automatic, there is a lot of resistence), I decided the problem might not resolve itself, so I took the van to the local Honda Dealership. Well, after 4 hours of labor (at $90/hr) they figured out the problem and fixed it. Now I am stuck with a $380 bill which I am trying to get PEP Boys to pay. Coincidentally, every time I have called them, the manager is busy, left early, coming in late, and as of today, off until Wednesday.

2. On the way to Jim and Steph's house today to watch the kids I was coming up behind a van that was turning left and my car slid slightly on ice. I was going slowly enough, and had started applying the brakes early enough that disaster was averted... for 10 seconds. As I watched in my rear view mirror the van behind me kept coming, and swerving, and rear-ended me. Everyone was fine-- we had just left a school zone and were traveling pretty slowly, but the right rear bumper has some damage. So although I don't have to pay to have the car fixed, I will have to drop it off at some point and be inconvenienced by the repair time, for a couple of days. But on the plus side, it is the same side that was hit by the TJ's shopping cart!

Nothing lights a fire under your butt more than the prospect of selling your house. The past two weekends have been spent in painting (me) and installing a new kitchen floor (Ed). It still remains to be seen if we can even afford to move, but at least we are getting much needed projects done.

musings on moving

When we first moved into our house we had the plan to stay here for 5-10 years. It has now been 7 and we are making noises about moving. It is a bittersweet experience. I love our house, all the memories it holds of our young family, the hours Ed has put into it, and the backyard that I wish we could move with us. It is a nice little house, but we are outgrowing it. If our kitchen was bigger, and we had a garage, and maybe a family room, it would be perfect, and we'd stay forever.

So we have given our list of "requirements" to a realtor, and have been getting lists of possibilities. Houses are so expensive-- it's hard to find a nice 4 bedroom home in this area within our price range. If only I had 900,000 to spend on a house. Well, reality is that we might not find anything, and will be staying here until I can work full time.