JediDefender.com Forums
Community => Watto's Junk Yard => Topic started by: JediMAC on May 8, 2003, 02:10 AM
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This may not apply to everyone here, but I'm sure a number of you have been through the house (or condo) buying at least once now - perhaps some of the old farts like Brent and Dale are on their fifth abode by now...
Anyways, as some of you are already aware, the Mrs. and I have been diligently home shopping now for a solid three months (first time mind you), and let me tell you - IT SUCKS! Especially here in L.A. I'm obviously a nitpicky freak as most of you already know, and Patty's not much better, so we're a tough couple to satisfy. Throw in the fact that her and I really like different things in a house and its location and it's a recipe for disaster. She likes trees and hills and quaint little "fixer-upper" houses, and I like the big city with neon lights, shopping malls, movie theaters, etc., plus a nice, clean and new home works very well for my future place. Oh yeah, and throw in the fact that we're not terribly rich (likely due to my obsessive SW collecting), and are searching in some rather affluent areas... Needless to say, things ain't working out so well thus far... >:(
So around and around we go, where we wind up, nobody knows. That's assuming we wind up anywhere! The housing market is absolutely insane here. Most of the places that we're interested in generally sell in a matter of hours after getting listed. Yes, we're talking hours here. Usually not even enough time to jam over and check the potential pad out. Add to that the fact that the rich folks around here keep outbidding us by several grand, as most places wind up going for at least $10,000 over their original list price. See where I'm going with this...? :-\
Plus, my mom is our real estate agent - I know, usually a bad move to involve the family, but considering it's going to save us almost $10,000 grand for her commision that we're not going to be charged with, and it's worth putting up with her incessant rambling, suggestions, criticism, and supposed insight (though my wife may disagree with that)...
So say it with me... Mindnumbingly, annoyingly, absolutely freaking aggravating! There, that should suffice for now. Just wanted to get that off my chest and share with y'all! More gripes to follow, as our quest continues...
So what about you folks? How have your experiences been with the situation? I know several of you are doing the same thing right now... How goes it? Hopefully better than our searching...
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I'm not quite to that point yet, Matt. The wife and I live in a suburb of Boston and have rented for years. The real estate in Massachusetts is so bad (overpriced POS houses that I wouldn't even think of living in) that we've decided to move out of state to New Jersey (where I was born). We are looking in South Jersey near Philadelphia and will probably make the move in September. I'm lucky that my parents have offered to let us live with them for a few months while we settle into new jobs and look for a home of our own.
All I can say is keep with it and good luck to you and the Mrs. ;D
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Hopefully next year I will have a house. This will be my first one too. I'm just saving enough for a real good down payment. Between collecting & saving money, I have to cut down on something.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm! Let's see, I can sock away $1000. plus this month or get a nice vinty item for my collection.
Oh the heck with it, carded POTF Yak Face here I come. ;D
God, she would kill me. :-X
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While the housing market here in the Twin Cities is bad it sounds nowhere near as bad as SoCal or Boston. We just bought our first real house this past January after living in a townhouse which we bought new in 2000. We paid $125,000 and sold for over $160,000 pretty nice return on two years huh? That is the crazy thing, once you are in the door it gets easy because you have a lot more cash to put down on the next one...
Good luck to both of you guys, it will happen just a matter of time!
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Well Matt I can relate.
We bought our home last Oct. Prior to that we had an extensive search. We looked at more homes than I ever thought we would. I also am a picky person when it comes to such things. Sue isn't any better. We missed out on the one we thought we really wanted because she dragged her feet to long. After that we sat down and talked about how we would proceed from there. I ended up finding the house we bought on realtor.com. I looked at it that night then Sue the next day. ( we work differnt shifts). Then we made the offer. We had a few bugs to work out but we got it. After we found out we beat another couple to it by an hour.
Looking sucks, financing sucks, moving sucks but once it is all done it sure is nice to be in the house you wanted.
Mine is out of town totally surrounded by hardwoods and evergreens. As soon as I saw it I knew it was the one. And I even got my collection room I always wanted plus my workshop for my cars.
Stick with it. It is a pain now but well worth it in the end.
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I have an inspector checking out a place we're looking at tomorrow, along with a contractor to provide repair quotes and a... lumberjack, I guess, to tell us how much it will cost to have three huge pine trees removed. If all goes well, we're in. If not, it's back to square one.
I feel your pain, Matt. Hang in there.
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WEll, I suppose I can relate. I am on my first house which I've been in for 7 years, almost to the day. We were more fortunate in that we bought when the market was slow, so the price was relatively low (130K vs market appraisal of 179K). The drawback is we bought from an absolute prick and ended up taking him to court. Twice. Winning both times. We probably should have been back more, but just got tired of the hassle and grief.
We have a pool. When we moved in, the liner was ripped. He refused to pay. Off to court.
The heater for said pool was also not functioning, that was in the above court scenario.
Come spring (we bought in winter - duh) the roof leaked. Off to court. Grr.
Lots of other crappy things with the house, so I would back your assessment of not buying a fixer upper Matt. New, while lacking some of the charm and challenge, tends to be a whole lot less expensive, at least in the short term. I need new siding, soffits, faschia. We've removed so much crap vegetation from the property. We had to finish the backyard. Which brings me to an entertaining story.
There is a raised garden in the back yard. About 10 feet by 30 feet. When we moved in, we thought we should do some work with the garden and found it to be a very, very heavy clay soil, so we got some sand and some peat to mix in. Wanting to get it mixed thoroughly, I decided to dig out a bunch of the heavy soil (the garden is about two feet deep (or raised above the surrounding ground). I started digging, got about a foot down and *CLANG* the shovel hits something hard. Clear away the dirt and it's one of those interlocking bricks. No idea why it's there, throw it on the lawn and go on digging. *CLANG* Again, another brick. *CLANG*CLANG*CLANG*
Holy crap! Some four hours later I'd pulled out almost three hundred bricks. The moron had decided to raise the garden on the basis of 0.85 per interlocking bricks. :o
The bright side is I had enough bricks (still have some not used) to finish paving a section in front of the garden that was just mud.
We are thinking of moving to the other side of the city. It would save me 15 minutes of driving each day. That's pretty considerable in terms of time and gas expenditure. Just all the hassle that Matt's going through, lawyer fees, realtor fees, land transfer fees, taxes. Blech. You don't get much sympathy from me Matt, but you have it on this issue.
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All I know is that it can't be as bad as this one was for us last fall :o
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Would You Ever Buy A House Where Someone Was Murdered?
My wife and I are house shopping, we are starting to outgrow our two bedroom townhome and need some storage space and I want my Star Wars room back dangnabbit.
So last Friday we found a wonderful house built in 1960, quiet nice neighborhood, 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, the entire house had been remodled, top to bottom, new appliances, new hardwood floors, new carpet, new porch etc etc etc. It is well within our price range but had been on the market for two months. We went back tonight to look again when we read the statement from the seller stating that there was an arson in the house and some died.
Searching around the old Minneapolis newspaper archives, I come to find out some dude set fire to his still living wife in this beautiful house we are looking at and killed her to collect $378,000 in insurance. Then dude leaves the state on bond has been on America's Most Wanted, Unsolved Mysteries etc. and is still at large
http://www2.amw.com/site/thisweek/20001216/weavergordondouglas20001216.html (http://www2.amw.com/site/thisweek/20001216/weavergordondouglas20001216.html)
My wife refuses to even think about living there, I wouldn't mind it because it really is a nice house, right where we want to live. Kind of like Marge trying to sell the murder house to the Flanderereses, would you buy it knowing someone was still on the loose and he had murdered someone in the very place you were living???
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Is it just me or does Scott's arsonist kind of look like Steven Spielberg?
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Scott, that was a great story you brought to our attention. This story involves you, right?
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My wife and I will be searching for our first home sometime next Spring. We live in a 3 bedroom townhouse right now, but there's not enough room for my Star Wars collection. Obviously that's not the main reason for moving, but it is one of the reasons.
I feel for you Matt... I really do. Best of luck finding the perfect house for you two.
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I still am kind of remorseful that we didn't get that house, it was gorgeous, our current one is very nice as well but this was the kind of house that you walked in and went wow. Every room got better, the space and size were all prefect. Nice quiet street...
Arsonist and Murderer, Still At Large...Not priceless :-*
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I am getting married later this year. We were all gung-ho about moving to the Phoenix, AZ area. Then we got to thinking about it. Heck it would take at least $2000 for us just to move our stuff there. Then we would need to stay in an apartment to save money and throw in a deposit on top of it. Then we'd waste money on a commute. Plus we'll probably start a family shortly within 2 years. That will take up all our disposable income as well.
So, now we are thinking of just staying with our current jobs and saving our money for a downpayment on a home instead. Of course we have to find a town that has city sewer around here. She works in the health deparment and knows the horrors of folks who's septic tank breaks down and have to spend nearly $5000 to replace a thing that takes care of your poop. No thanks!
So, the search and decision making continues. It should be an interesting year. I would like to get a home relatively soon since the interest rates are very low. The good news is I don't have to get rid of 80% of my Star Wars toys to move :)
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Another advantage to living in the US. The interest on your mortgage is tax deductible. Mine is not ??? >:(
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Thanks for all the well-wishes everybody! And a big "good luck" to the rest of you currently on the house hunt as well! Sounds like John's the closest to sealing the deal, as he's already to the inspection phase, which is much further along than we've made it yet...
My new gripe is that while my wife has found a couple new places that she's very interested in while searching around today, I can't even get out of the freaking office to go take a look at them myself! >:( They'll probably be sold by tonight. Oh well... :-\
So how many of you look(ed) at your prospective new residences with the idea in mind that a given room therein would make for an excellent SW collection room?! I sure have... 8) Hopefully I wind up with something cool, like a huge basement all to myself like Scott lucked out with (not that houses have basements here in SoCal)! **fingers crossed**
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Heh, we have a four bedroom house. When my Mom was alive, she and my dad used to come back to Winnipeg more frequently than just my dad does now. The fourth bedroom is in a lower level (it's a four level split) with a bathroom right beside - almost an in-law suite.
Since it hardly ever gets used, my wife decided (yes, it was her decision) to let me convert it to the computer/Star Wars room ;D
I just need to stop buying crap long enough to be able to afford some shelving ::) Didn't help that I ordered some Tomy stuff today. :P
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Hey Matt, I feel your pain. We've been in our new house for almost two years now but I can tell you that the pain and suffering you endure now is well worth it when you find the "right" house. The last house we built was a small cape cod on a small lake, we loved the location but ultimately wanted to move so we could send our children to the same school district that my wife and I work for. It took us nearly a year to sell the house and find a new one, add to that the fact that we had litterally two day in which to vacate our old has and move into our new house. Sometimes that's the way it works depending on the signing.
Anyway, when we were looking for our new home, I definitely had "certain needs" that had to be met due to the fact that I am a rabid model railroader and avid SW collector. I just couldn't rebuild "the sanctuary" in any old basement, it had to be BIG. Fortunately everything worked out and all of my wifes, as well as my, needs were met. The new digs turned out to be a cozy new ranch with a good-sized basement (50'x30') that I ended up dry walling and carpeting myself in the last year. I love finishing basements because it's like adding an entirely new floor to your home.
Point is, don't worry too much becuase you WILL find the perfect place to call home. And when you do the sky is the limit man!
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Anyway, when we were looking for our new home, I definitely had "certain needs" that had to be met due to the fact that I am a rabid model railroader...
Another model railroader, eh? That's cool Todd! Seems we've got a few of them in here, including the boss man himself (Chris) and I think Darth Kenobi too. I've been into them for years, since I was a wee lad playing with Grandpa's setup and collection. HO gauge of course. He eventually retired from them a while back, so I inherited the lot of 'em. Unfortunatley, I've never really had any room to set up tracks and the whole nine yards since I got out on my own, but I'm still pluggin' away on building a bunch of the little Campbell kits in the meantime. That's the funnest part of it for me (which is a little odd I suppose, since it should be the trains themselves). But when I get the new house, the Star Wars room is going to get priority, and hopefully on down the line when we become rich millionaires :P we can upgrade to a nice big place with different playrooms for all my toys! 8) Just have to be patient 'til that day ever arrives. But thanks for the encouraging words...
My parents in law have a HUGE set up at their house which takes up most of their (formerly) 2-car garage. My bro and pops-in law and myself hit that once a month. Always in progress that layout is... Fun!
What's your layout look like Todd? HO as well, I assume...?
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I've got some old Tyco stuff I'd be willing to trade. Not sure of the gauge or any details, but drop me a line, I'm not at all attached to it anymore. Good memories but not about to start up again.
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What's your layout look like Todd? HO as well, I assume...?
Oh yes, HO scale all the way! Actually I have yet to rebuild my mini-empire after the move, but this is a good thing because I will be drastically changing what and where I am modeling. I am going to do a large layout of the BNSF's Chillicothe Subdivision, this particular stretch of double track lies between Chicago Illionos and Ft. Madison Iowa. I don't know if you are familiar with the area at all but one of the highlite of the area and my layout is and will be Joliet Union Station. This particular place hosts many railroads like, Amtrak, Iowa Interstate, Metra, Union Pacific (formerly Southern Pacific and Rio Grande) and the BNSF (formerly Santa Fe). I think the tioimeline is going to ba around the year 2000, give or take, so I can run as much of a variety of merger railroads motive power as possible. The second highlite on the layout will be the Mississippi river double decker bridge that allows trains to cross on the bottom level while motor vehicles cross on the top. It also has a swing portion that I will not be animating not to mention the fact that my structure cannot be to scale length, for obvious reasons. Another highlite of my layout will be the very eastern end of the Santa Fe system, Chicago's Corwith Yard, also scaled down unfortunately.;D
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Lucky for me we bought our house in January 2000 just before the market exploded here. The housing market in T.O. is just plain crazy with the low interest rates. A fixer-upper 3-bedroom will easily run you north of $300 000. A 4-bedroom? We're talking $500 000 plus in a lot of neighbourhoods. And these aren't palaces we're talking about either.
If you want a reasonably priced, spacious house you have to be prepared to commute over an hour or more each way.
We could never afford to upgrade here in town. But I already work 12 hour plus days so there's no way in hell I'm adding 3 or more hours of driving onto my day.
Morgbug, I DREAM of 'Pegger prices :'(
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Yep, as well you should. ;) I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but we paid 130K for a 1900 sq ft house on a 60x120 lot with a pool ;D
Glad you were able to find something prior to the re-nutifying of the TO market. If it's any consolation, I commute an hour (96 km) to work everyday thanks to government decentralization insanity. >:( Like I need to pay $5K a year in gas costs (and either way, my wife or I commute, so it's unavoidable unless one of us quits) :-\
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We paid $186 000 for a 800 sq ft 2-bedroom bungalow :'(
And that was a GOOD deal!!!
Growing up as I did in Niagara in big houses it was quite a shock to see the prices here in the city. 186 grand would buy a lot of house down in St. Catharines/Niagara.
Too bad there's no jobs down there.
About the commute: most days in T.O. it can take you an hour to drive 10km in rush hour, which lasts from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Friday.
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Yeah, similar commute in White Rock on the wet coast. Two hours if you time it poorly to go 45 km. 7-8 months of the year I'm good to go. 110 KPH there and back. The other 4 months are pretty much a test to see if God is done with me yet. Winters are not nice here and the roads are down right miserable. Still, what would you expect for the bald, flat prairie.
Regarding house size/price, yeah, I'm spoiled. Our market is hot too, could sell this place for about 180K now, problem is finding somewhere to live. Took long enough, but we finally got hot too.
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I can relate. I bought my first place in 1999. I own my condo, and 2 others that I rent. I learned alot by working as both a Broker's Assistant, Property Manager, and a Title Clerk. If your considering buying for the first time. I would suggest looking into the Fannie Mae Foundation. they are a HUGE help. Also, lots of cities have programs to help 1st time buyers. This way you can find out how big of a loan your can get approved for. if you know how much you can spend, it makes looking alot easier. I closed on my first place for $.01. It was a loft, and ran $37K, but I put another 10K worth of upgrades into it. After you pay the first 20% of the loan off, you can quit paying your PMI. It's an insurance that protects the lender in case of default. You can deduct your loan's interest from your income taxes if your itimization is more than the standard deduction.
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Time for an update. House bid #4 has left the building! Geographically, it's a bit further away than I'd like, but it's a nice pad, with some pretty cool Home Owner's Association ammenities included, like a 9 hole golf course, tennis, hoops, pool, etc... Doesn't have the extra room I wanted for the collection, but Patty says I can just take the guest room if we get it.
We'll see what happens. Should know by tomorrow if it goes for $10,000+ over list price and we get outbid by 17 other parties like usual... ::) :P ::fingers crossed::
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Well, I am currently boxing up my loose collection in anticipation of closing on our first house next Wednesday. That's about 25 years worth of toys - not all Star Wars, but most - and a buttload of U-Haul boxes. (Which are working out pretty nice.)
This is giving me an opportunity to dust and catalogue, but no time to play. Once I'm moved, I'll be getting another collection room I can do with as I please. Finally.
Your turn, Matt. ;)
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Good Luck to both of you...moving is such a pain in the behind I would love to stay where we are for at least 5 years. We'll see once the little guy reaches school age though if we want to stay in our current district
Viva la Collection Rooms :-*
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Related to this topic, I would like to proudly announced that this week I closed refinances on both of my homes, and I am now paying 5% (even) interest on the 15 year loan for one, and 4.00% on a 5/1 adjustable for the other.
That's down from 7.75% and 6.75%, which saves me hundreds every month in mortgage payments. All on interest! That money wasn't doing anything but going to the bank, and now it's going to ME!
The only thing better than buying your home, is lowering those darn payments! ;D
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Matt, CONGRATULATIONS on finding your new home! When are you moving into it? Do you have any pictures of it with you in your bulky sweater? ;)
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Yeah Matt, CONGRATS! You'll have to have me out sometime!
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Party at Matt's house!!!! 8)
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Matt, CONGRATULATIONS on finding your new home!
Thanks Chris(s)! ;) Yeah, I've been meaning to poke my head back into this thread and drop an update in here now that I actually have some positive news for a change!
Scored the new pad officially on Sunday (while I was out in Vegas, so unfortunately Patty and I couldn't celebrate together). It's a bit further out of town than I had wanted, and tucked in among some hills so there's not a lot of hustle and bustle of people, malls, "stuff" right nearby - which is exactly what the Mrs. was looking for. I, on the other hand, was a little more interested in being right in the "middle of the action", but I guess I'll live. Most of the exciting stuff is about 3-5 miles away, but we got more bang for the buck, so she's ecstatic, and I'm pretty happy... But one of those things nearby is the Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park, so you can bet your butt that we'll be getting some annual passes for that place! 8)
But I don't want to get too excited just yet, until we've had the official inspection, appraisal, etc. Basically, I feel like I'm in the first few months of a pregnancy, but don't want to announce anything 'til I'm further along, and things are looking a lot more solid. When I finally get the keys in my hand, then I'll start celebrating. Until then, I'll probably just remain as pessimistic as always that something will inevitably fall apart during escrow, and the search will have to continue... :-\
But anyways, escrow officially ends July 31st, but we gave the sellers the option of staying another 3 weeks due to some questions on when their new house will be finished and ready to move into. So move in for us will either be on my birthday, or anytime within the following 3 weeks...
But I love some of the ammenities included in the neighborhood that come with our homeowner's association, including a 9-hole golf course, tennis courts, basketball courts, gym, pool, jacuzzi, clubhouse with ping-pong and a pool table, etc... So at least I can finally get my fat ass in shape! The house itself is pretty cool, and is in the city of Santa Clarita. It's not quite as big as I'd like and is missing the extra room I was shooting for for the SW collection, but it's a real nice starter home for us. I don't think we're planning on staying there for more than 3-5 years anyways.
The only crappy thing about the new place, is that the 1 mile (3 minute) commute that I've had to my office for the past 5 years (and enjoyed immensely), is now going to become 21 miles, and God knows how long in duration on the insane L.A. freeways... ::) Ugh.
I'll give another holler when I've got the keys in my hand finally, but in the meantime, I now have to deal with packing up the entire current abode. Not going to be fun. At all. :'(
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That is so awesome Matt! Lets hope the inspection and everything else goes well for you. I know how stressful it is with buying a house. It took my wife and I about 6 months to find the right place for us, and we had settled on a townhouse. Next year we're going to start looking for a house, and one of the most important things for me is that I get a very big basement for my collection. My wife already told me the basement will be all mine.
But, congratulations again to you and your wife! Post some pictures when it's all officially yours, OK? ;D
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All Right!!!! Congrats Matt, that's super news. I'm very happy for you and Patty. LMK when you have a new address and I'll send you that money I owe you ;)
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(http://images.ibsys.com/2001/0613/818708.gif)
Very Happy for you & Patty. (http://adwoff.com/ubb/graemlins/bigokay.gif)
I'll need your new addy too for the bucks IOU. ;)
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I already told you congrats once but now that I find out you have a private 9-hole golf course, tennis courts, basketball courts, gym, pool, jacuzzi, clubhouse with ping-pong and a pool table and live near Magic Mountain...
OCB said Californee is the place they ought to be
So they loaded up the truck and moved in with Patty and Bulky Blockeeeeeeeeeeee
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Classic
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Well, I am currently boxing up my loose collection in anticipation of closing on our first house next Wednesday.... Finally.
Your turn, Matt. ;)
So, are you in yet John? How does it feel? What do I have to look forward to? Do share! :-*
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You live near Magic Mountain??!!
So... Matt, just how big IS your place? ;) :D
BTW, congrats!!
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Guess I'm about due for an update on this thread here, since we've officially been "homeowners" for almost two weeks now... 8) Hasn't really quite hit us yet though, since the current owner isn't due to leave the premises until next Monday though. But we're getting close to the big move-in day finally! I've gotta tell ya' though, closing escrow and signing ten billion papers was one giant and freaky pain in the butt! Thank God that all went smoothly though...
So tomorrow I officially start a two week vacation off from work to start up with ALL the packing and preparation (like picking & buying interior paint, some different light and bathroom fixtures, new locks, furniture, curtains, etc., etc., etc...). It's close to crunch time now, and since we've totally procrastinated on everything so far, I've got a very busy week ahead of me! The Star Wars collectibles packing is going to be a nightmare! :-\
We've got my family and some friends coming into town in a couple weekends to give us a hand with the serious stuff, but fortunately my mom splurged for some professional piano movers for the piano, along with a few of the other heavier items, so that's a pleasant relief!
Totally stressing over picking our interior paint colors though, as we'll likely be painting the entire place the second we get in the doors. Considering how out of shape I currently am, this is going to be one all-around PAINFUL process. Much Advil I'll be downing along the way, I'm sure!
I'm a little nervous that once we get over to the new place though, that we're going to blow off our more important responsibilities in favor of delving into some tennis, golf and basketball there. Now THAT part's going to be fun... 8) I'll have to exercise some serious self control with respect to the fun stuff, and try to stay focused on the matter at hand, lest I'll be paying another month's rent at the guest house we're still in! We've got it lined up through the end of August so the move won't have to be such a rush, which will also be a nice relief... Alright - enough babbling!
So John, you all settled in now? How'd the collection do in transit? I think we had a few other JD'ers here moving along in the house buying process as well - any new home news from any of the rest of the gang?! :-*
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I thought I'd jump in here as well. Here's a pic of my new house. Not finished yet but we move in around
Oct 1st.
(http://images.andale.com/f2/101/112/10188355/1058723368064_new_house_001.jpg)
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I thought I'd jump in here as well. Here's a pic of my new house. Not finished yet but we move in around Oct 1st.
Congratulations Bob! Looks great! Take it from me, I'd start packing up sooner than later... ;) So what's the SW collection room(s) situation looking like at the new pad?
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Yes, Congratulations Bob! 8) Thats about the size of a house I'm looking for. Do you know if that house to the left is sold? Would be interesting if I bought it & we built a tunnel to each others houses! ;) We could drive the better halfs crazy! ;D
So like to you need a hand moving your collection when the time comes? ;)
Hopefully next year I will have a new home. 8)
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So tomorrow I officially start a two week vacation off from work to start up with ALL the packing and preparation (like picking & buying interior paint, some different light and bathroom fixtures, new locks, furniture, curtains, etc., etc., etc...).
Two weeks will NOT be enough. Although you don't have a two-year-old to "help," if your collection is as big as mine, I hope you don't have a long transit to the new home. Packing a collection is TEDIOUS. The good news is that my boxed and carded stuff was cake to pack, but required a LOT more boxes than the loose stuph. On the other hand the loose stuph took MUCH more time to baggie (figures, accessories, stands, etc.) but fit into far fewer boxes. Classic example of "six of one, half dozen of the other." You can't win.
If you don't have an inventory of your current collection, now might be a good time to do so. I bought U-Haul boxes in a common size for easy loading. I numbered the boxes in a common spot so I could easily read them when stacked up against a wall. I kept track of what was in each box by making a corresponding list. It can be as detailed or as vague as you need. Mine went something like this:
Box 01:
2x POTF2 Power FX X-wing
1x POTJ TIE Bomber
24 x Saga figures
...and so on. I did this to have a rough catalogue of my Star Wars collection. Everything else - Batman, LOTR, Star Trek - I didn't bother with (someday). I've also read horror stories from collectors moving great distances who made the mistake of labelling their boxes "Star Wars Toys," only to find their storage unit ransacked or a few boxes missing from the moving truck. Just give it a number and a room. Keep the list of contents seperate just in case.
So John, you all settled in now? How'd the collection do in transit?
My collection made in through just fine... I think. I haven't really gotten a chance to unpack it since it's not a necessity (like toilet paper or clothes). In fact most of it might remain boxed since I've decided my collection room will be going to my son. He needs a place for all the cool Lego sets his Dad gets him. I figured this was my second childhood but his first. He should get the space while he's still at home. (But once he's off to college, ZING! Daddy's room!)
I'll unpack the figures for my shadow box displays, and I should probably go through the rest just to make sure nothing was damaged in transit. But since I moved it myself a total distance of 5 blocks, it's not a huge concern. Had this been a cross-country move, I'd have triple-checked everything by now.
Other than that, prepare to be sore. As a flabby 36-year-old, I lost 12 pounds doing the most exercise I have in years. Moving FROM a 3-story home TO another 3-story home is like Stairmaster™ HELL. If your legs need a workout, I can recommend this one. ;)
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Packing a Two weeks will NOT be enough. Although you don't have a two-year-old to "help," if your collection is as big as mine, I hope you don't have a long transit to the new home. collection is TEDIOUS...
Other than that, prepare to be sore. As a flabby 36-year-old, I lost 12 pounds doing the most exercise I have in years. Moving FROM a 3-story home TO another 3-story home is like Stairmaster™ HELL. If your legs need a workout, I can recommend this one. ;)
Yeah, I'm fully expecting to be sore and exhausted as hell, as a flabby 33 year old myself... I think I mentioned somewhere above that I'd probably be hitting the Advil pretty hard over the next couple weeks...
As for the collection, you're talking seriously 25 years worth of stuff (with no break at all, even during the "dark ages" of the late 80's). Vintage, a COMPLETE carded and loose collection of the entire modern era, with many, many ships, beasts, playsets, etc..., plus the hoardes of "other SW collectibles" that I have... It's going to be an immense challenge. But fortunately (in this case), most of the stuff is already in storage. I've got two giant storage facilities out of town, plus a ton more stuff stashed away at my parents and aunt's houses. So I've probably got only about a tenth of my collection here at my current place, which is the only stuff I HAVE TO move right away. I can get to the rest later on when I've got a little more time... 8)
Still won't come close to fitting it all in the house, so I'm going to have to keep at least one of those damned storage units... :-\ Oh well, at least I can finally get some stuff set up and displayed!
Very nice of you to sacrifice the collection room for your son John! I mean, what's another 16 years, right?! ;D
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Actually the boy will be 11 this fall, my daughter is the 2-year-old I was referring to. Once HE'S out, if SHE wants a "playroom," she can have HIS bedroom and I'LL take the 3rd floor playroom.
If your the Emperor, you have to plan ahead. 8)
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Actually the boy will be 11 this fall, my daughter is the 2-year-old I was referring to. Once HE'S out, if SHE wants a "playroom," she can have HIS bedroom and I'LL take the 3rd floor playroom.
If your the Emperor, you have to plan ahead. 8)
Well that's good news! Phew... I was thinking you had 16 years to go. 7's not quite as bad. That's about what I've had to wait in our current place, 'til we get moved in a few days. Good luck with the waiting period! :-*
Our new place is "tri-level" so I'll be getting a workout on the stairs as well. Fortunately, it's only about 8 stairs from floor to floor, since it's not actually a "3-story" house. Regardless, my body's gonna be toast! :'(
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Matt, if you feel like saving some money on storage, I'd be pleased to pay the shipping for you to get rid of all of your 'extras'. :P :-*
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Man, I started to pack up my collection today, YIKES!!, do I have allot of crap!! :o I started at 10
this morning, only breaking for lunch and I've just about packed all the newer stuff except the bigger
boxes.
I'm charging my Dig. Cam battery right now, when it's ready I'll take a few pics.
We went out to the new house today to check it out
and I made a few measurements for my new Collection
room. WoooHooo it's going to be nice. Only thing is, it's going to be a few weeks or more before anything
gets unpacked, groan!! :'(
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Man, I started to pack up my collection today, YIKES!!, do I have allot of crap!! :o
Don't we all my friend, don't we all! :-*
Packing is the hard part then after that, the unpacking. But atleast you can take your time. You gotta give yourself something to do in the cold winter months ahead! ;)
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So I get up today and find these. I guess they wanted out. Damn Chickens, :o
(http://images.andale.com/f2/101/112/10188355/1059786083884_chickens.jpg)
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Bob, I think Raid™ makes an indoor fogger for those. Knocks 'em right out.
And Matt, seven years ain't bad at all. I mean, Hasbro has the license 'til 2018 or something, right? (Who am I kidding. I'll need another house by then...)
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Looks like I should check in here. I've been checking out some condo's with a local realtor, and the whole thing is frightening, to say the least! Living in the NY tri-state area is not all it's cracked up to be, especially when it comes to real estate.
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Done packing, Matt? ;D
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The wife and I closed on Thursday night, so we are now homeowners. The Jersey thing didn't work out, but we find a fixer upper for a great price in a great neighborhood that convient for both of us work wise. Today was our first full day of improvements and I am sore. We cleaned out the yard, and I demoed the kitchen while she painted. We're completely re-doing the kitchen, so I tore out the old cabinets. This house had that old faux brick on the kitchen walls, so of course that had to come down.
What a pain in the ass. First I had to chisel the "brick" off, then with a smaller chisel take off the glue and backerboard. It sucked. Now I have to fill some holes with spackle, sand and then paint. But it will be well worth it to have a brand new kitchen with state of the art appliances and new cabinetry.
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What a pain in the ass. First I had to chisel the "brick" off, then with a smaller chisel take off the glue and backerboard. It sucked. Now I have to fill some holes with spackle, sand and then paint.
Why didn't you just go to the corner of the wall, chissel the brick untill you found the backerboard, and then go the seam of the wall on either end. You could have stuck a prybar or a large screwdriver between wall and board, and popped that sucker off!
You might have had to do it a couple more times in some spots, but its a hell of alot quicker than chisseling everything!
Kevin
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I owned both of my houses for about 7 years now I just sold the 1st one a few months back....what irrattes me the most. no matter what state oyulive in there is always something you get jerked around with during the whole process. I'm pretty much a no nonsense guy don't bull**** me don;t him and hll give it to me straight and your going to get much farther with me. There hasn;t been one real estate transaction that I have made that has gone smooth because of either other people inept abilities or my lack of patients(yes I admit I am part of the problem). The sale of real estate should be one of the happiest moments in your life if your buying personally if your buying as a business(which i have) that's all out the window.
My ramblings are leading me here No matter what you can expect to get jacked around and don;t sweat the stupid stuff your not going to back out of a house because the seller isn;t going togive you the fir place tools. so don't sweet the small stuff.
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Congrats on the new pad Mikey! So where did you wind up moving, if not Jersey? Are you still in/near Boston? Fixing a place up can definitely be a pain in the ass, but the hard work will all prove worth it in the end, so keep at it Mikey!
BTW John, no - 8 months later and we're STILL not done packing! :-[ :P
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Why didn't you just go to the corner of the wall, chissel the brick untill you found the backerboard, and then go the seam of the wall on either end. You could have stuck a prybar or a large screwdriver between wall and board, and popped that sucker off!
You might have had to do it a couple more times in some spots, but its a hell of alot quicker than chisseling everything!
Kevin
It's not drywall, it's plaster. So there's no finding a section and just ripping that out. Once I got the learning curve down, it went a lot smoother. Just have to patch up some small holes with compound, sand and finish. It will look so much better than faux brick.
Congrats on the new pad Mikey! So where did you wind up moving, if not Jersey? Are you still in/near Boston? Fixing a place up can definitely be a pain in the ass, but the hard work will all prove worth it in the end, so keep at it Mikey!
Thanks Matt! Still near Boston (Waltham if anyone in Mass is wondering). Unfortunely, the job market in Jersey / Philly when I started looking wasn't that great. The decision wasn't easy, but we decided to start looking in Mass and stop pissing our money away renting.
Today was fairly easy. Painted the master bedroom and bathroom and cleaned up the debris from yesterday. That's one great thing about just buying a house - you get to buy all new toys. I got a wet / dry Shop Vac and Dewalt drill to use now. ;D
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MMmmm, DeWalt rocks. I love yellow. Get a reciprocating saw, very, very therapeutic to use one of those babies.
Congrats on the move Mikey. My job seems to have survived the first round of cuts, so we'll likely be moving across town sometime in the next little while. Yippee! ::)
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MMmmm, DeWalt rocks. I love yellow. Get a reciprocating saw, very, very therapeutic to use one of those babies.
Congrats on the move Mikey. My job seems to have survived the first round of cuts, so we'll likely be moving across town sometime in the next little while. Yippee! ::)
Come to America.
Kevin
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Well. I'm a little late to this thread...but I figured I'd chime in since the girlfriend and I decided that renting was for suckers and we bought a condo in January. It's a 1-bedroom loft right in downtown Dallas. It was a 5 year old building that was just renovated and converted into modern-style lofts - and as they were trying to sell over 100 units all at once, the prices were low compared to similar properties in the area.
We feel that we got a great deal and that it will probably go up in value considerably over the 5 years we plan to live in it. It's got granite counters, 12' celings, concrete floors, fantastic location, a second parking space, washer and dryer, and stainless steel appliances for the kitchen. The best part was that we managed to crunch all the numbers and after the downpayment, our mortgage payment is pretty much the same amount each month that we were paying to rent.
Here are some images from the website of the building and model properties:
(http://www.liveoaklofts.com/dallasloftimages/night.jpg)(http://www.liveoaklofts.com/dallasloftimages/newgallery1.jpg)
(http://www.liveoaklofts.com/dallasloftimages/newgallery4.jpg)
Anyways...we were pretty happy with our experience and after four months are just about moved in.... we're still looking to add more bookshelves (ours are all but full) and I've still got some star wars unpacking to do (vehicle hanging) - but...yeah....so that was our buying experience.
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MMmmm, DeWalt rocks. I love yellow. Get a reciprocating saw, very, very therapeutic to use one of those babies.
I have a friend who has a "saw zaw" who wants to use it badly, so I promised him he can come over to my new house to try it out ;)
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Congratulations on the new place Mikey, I hope it is exactly what you were looking for. Sounds like you are in the process of making it even spiffier too, best of luck on all the home stuff. It can be stressful, but exciting at the same time I am sure.
On a side note, it looks like my wife and I will be moving here soon too, probably by the end of May. We put our house on the market (had it up once before a couple of years ago, didn't get much interest), and found some buyers after about a week and a half. It happened quicker than we thought, but were happy that it worked out. My wife had the opportunity to transfer with her job to a bigger city (Lincoln, NE), so we decided that might be a good move for us. I currently work "remote" (from home), so it wasn't a problem for me to move either, which worked out well.
We currently live in a town of about 6,000 or so, and Lincoln is about 225,000 (still not big compared to where many of you live I'm sure, but a big adjustment for us). We have a lot of friends that live down there (and very few here), and there is just more to do, better opportunities if we move. We went down there two weeks ago to look at houses, and ended up making an offer (and got it accepted) that same day. The way things are looking now, we could be moved by the end of May. We were just thinking about moving "sometime this year", but it ended up popping up faster than we thought. It is exciting, but kind of nerve-racking at the same time. I guess I'm the type of person that always second guesses, and wants to make sure we are making the right decision. It is still on the same side of Nebraska, so we won't be too much further away from family...and much closer to some family and friends.
Another plus for us, is that the house we live in now is a "manufactured" home, which means the house itself is pretty nice and new, but we don't have a basement or a garage, and we have to pay lot rent for where we live. It is funny how exciting little things like having a basement or a garage is for us now, we're looking forward to the move (or to the move being overwith actually). The house we're moving to needs a little work, but nothing major, and seems like something we could be happy in for a long time. Anyways, best of luck to those house buyers (or current home owners out there), hope everything goes great for all of you.
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My wife & I have been shopping for a new house for the last couple of months, and we made an offer on a house last night that is less than one mile away from us. Click here (http://www.chrisrhoads.com/photos/our_house.htm) to see pictures of this house, and here are some specs on the house...
- 2800 square feet
- 4 bedrooms
- 2.5 bathrooms
- 9 foot ceilings
- berber carpeting with real hardwood floors in hallways and kitchen
- HUGE kitchen with real maple cabinets
- HUGE full basement with crawlspace (for my Star Wars collection)
- all rooms are already painted, so no painting is necessary
Now it's just a waiting game, so hopefully the sellers will accept our offer. We're keeping our fingers crossed. ;D
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Damn, nice place Chris. Hope it works out for you.
Question: does the square footage count the basement or is it 2800 PLUS the basement???
I ask because up here in Canada, what you can claim as square footage varies by province. In BC, you can advertise the whole house including basement, but here in Manitoba, real estate laws only allow you to claim the square footage that is above grade. Basements are not allowed.
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From what I understand is that basements are only included in the square footage if it is in a finished state, meaning it's setup to be a "lived in" environment. I could be wrong about that, but I could easily believe that the basement isn't included in this house's square footage based on how big the house is.
Thanks for the compliment!
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That makes sense. The rules always change, no matter where you are. It sure looked big enough to not be included.
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Really nice pics Chris. But did you post pics of the basement?
Hope you guys get the place. ;)
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Wow, what a beautiful home. Best of luck on the offer!!
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Really nice pics Chris. But did you post pics of the basement?
No, I didn't end up posting pictures of the basement because it's just a basement. It's unfinished but it's a HUGE basement. Can't wait to start displaying my stuff in it. ;D
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Wow, great house Chris....a beautiful home. I hope that it all works out for you guys, good luck! We're actually moving in a couple weeks as well to a new house, although ours could probably fit inside yours :P. It is an exciting time for sure, best of luck.
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Very nice house Chris. Best of luck to you both.
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We heard back from our realtor and the home owners have done a counter offer, and we have agreed to it. We just have to wait for them to officially accept our offer, and then we will have either a 24 or 48 hour contingency. After that is up the house is ours! I wish I didn't have to wait like this, but there's no choice in the matter.
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Wow looks great Chris, definitely some space to display the toys and raise some Padawans! WHere at in the Chicago area do you live? My buddy lived in Lisle and the Roselle for like 5 years when he went to Optomotry school so I got to see that part of town fairly often.
Good Luck!
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WHere at in the Chicago area do you live? My buddy lived in Lisle and the Roselle for like 5 years when he went to Optomotry school so I got to see that part of town fairly often.
We're going to be living in the same town that we currently live, and that is Aurora. Lisle is about 20 minutes east of us, and Roselle is about 45 minutes north of us. My wife works in Roselle, and it is a very nice town.
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WHere at in the Chicago area do you live? My buddy lived in Lisle and the Roselle for like 5 years when he went to Optomotry school so I got to see that part of town fairly often.
We're going to be living in the same town that we currently live, and that is Aurora. Lisle is about 20 minutes east of us, and Roselle is about 45 minutes north of us. My wife works in Roselle, and it is a very nice town.
Home of Wayne and Garth...excellent ;D
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The seller has accepted our offer... more to come later! ;D
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2800 square feet?! ****. Congrats and goodluck.
Is it just the picture or did someone cover the kitchen walls with avocado?
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Congrats Chris. Sounds like a sweet pad! 8)
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UPDATE:
Our townhouse sold yesterday for $1,000 less than what we really wanted to get for it, and it sold to a non-contingent buyer! That means she can move in at any time, and she isn't in the process of selling any property that could have belonged to her. Also, she's already given us a nice FAT check for earnest money, so everything is all complete. We'll be moving into our new home in late June.
;D
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Thats great Chris. 8)
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Chris,
Congratulations to you and your family, beautiful home.
We just bought our first home last week. Open up the "Our new home folder"
here (http://community.webshots.com/user/fisheyedlouie). This has been quite a stressful situation since I have not even landed a job in the state that I am moving to. God will provide for us! We finally decided that L.A. is too expensive for us. The median home in L.A. is $371K plus!
We looked at about 18 homes, and this one was it. The pebble tec pool with waterful and built in table did it for me. The backyard is like paradise with palm trees etc. Another house was not even close, how about for you and your wife?
-Fish-
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Fish, that is one beautiful home you have there! I love the pool with the table... how cool is that!? Are you guys all moved into it yet, and if not what's the date of your closing? Only 19 more days for us to move into our new crib, and I just cannot wait any longer!
My wife had already looked at this house and had totally fallen in love with it. She called me while I was on the train ride home, and said, "You have to come see this house tonight! It is by far the best house we have seen yet!" I was in no mood to look at houses that night, because I had a really crappy day at work and I had a massive headache. But, I decieded I would look at this house for her.
Good thing I went to see it that night, because I fell in love with it just after walking through the front door. I said within 10 seconds, "THIS is OUR house! I want it!" So, after looking for 3 months it all paid off in the end.
Fish... congratulations!!!
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Chris,
Our escrow closes the 29th and like you, I too cannot wait. Funny how that works, as soon as I walked in I was like this is our home! The great thing about it is that we love the paint, nice tile through most of the house etc., so we do not plan on doing anyhting for some time.
How about you guys, any plans to change anything right away?
-Fish-
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How about you guys, any plans to change anything right away?
The only thing I plan on doing when we move in is to POSSIBLY finish the basement. Nothing really needs to be done as far as repairs, but there is one room we MIGHT change the color of the walls. Otherwise, the house is in as close as perfect condition as you can get.