In Real Estate, "must haves" are the things that are deal killers in your home search. For most people these days "must haves" seem to be a kitchen with granite countertops, open concept (ie missing support walls and larger beams), and a large master bath with two sinks. For us it was a double oven and a house that "spoke" to us. Well, this house spoke plenty loudly to us but it wasn't until after we made the offer that I discovered that there actually WAS a double oven. Go figure.
After moving in we began to discover "sort of must haves" that were missing..things we didn't even think about until we were faced with not having them - like medicine cabinets.
Case in point: A Medicine Cabinet in the Master Bath.
As we were moving in, The Bearded One said in surprise, "Hey, there's no medicine cabinet in here!" Because there were sconces on the wall we had both managed to miss the fact that there was no little wall cabinet in which to keep toothbrushes, toothpaste, pills and bandaids... You know, the essentials of daily living. The Bearded One was all for rushing right to Home Depot. Which we did. Only the fact that anything suitable would mean either cutting a big hole in the wall or a special order kept us from purchasing something immediately.
After living without a medicine cabinet for two weeks certain things began to occurr to us: I keep my pills on a Rubbermaid turntable in the kitchen (so that I pack them along with my lunch each morning). I don't need a medicine cabinet for that. We have NEVER put toothpaste in the medicine cabinet - not in all the years that we have been married! We don't need a medicine cabinet for that. Toothbrushes have always gone into a toothbrush holder where they will dry completely so as not to breed more germs than necessary. We don't need a medicine cabinet for that. The ibuprofen bottle (without which no mature adult moves into a new home) fits just fine into the second drawer down on the right side of the vanity. Now we don't need a medicine cabinet for that either.
In fact we don't need a medicine cabinet in the master bath at all...especially since our backup supply of medicine cabinet items (most of it shower gel and bandaids) takes up the top two shelves of the linen closet in the hallway where they are easily accessible.
At any rate, about 4 days ago we agreed that not only did we not need a medicine cabinet, we didn't need the double towel bars that we "had to have". That we purchased and that sat on the bathroom floor in the corner for 3 weeks because we didn't have time to install them. We figured that if we had lived without them this long we could return them. Which we did. And got our $60 back.
I leave you with a bit of nostalgia concerning "must haves":
One of our favorite movies is "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House" (Cary Grant and Myrna Loy - early 1950's?).
Muriel Blandings: I refuse to endanger the lives of my children in a house with less than four bathrooms.
Jim Blandings: For 1,300 dollars they can live in a house with three bathrooms and ROUGH IT.
Showing posts with label Home Purchase. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Home Purchase. Show all posts
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Settling In
You know that you are actually "there" when the night lights (without which a sleepwalking mommy would fall down the stairs) are finally properly positioned to provide a dim floor level glow throughout the house.
We are finally getting settled. We now have three working, properly elevated shower heads (which means that our bathroom is no longer clogged with extra razors, makeup, hairdryers, and towels). When we moved in, one shower was set up so that spray would hit a normally sized person somewhere around waist level; another released a stream of water designed to dampen the tile but incapable, for example, of rinsing soap off of a body... The only shower head capable of producing an acceptable shower was the one in the master bedroom. That is all fixed now and we are discovering more about the "new" house.
The most troublesome thing, the thing that we did not anticipate causing trouble, is that the kitchen is centrally located - surrounded by the bedrooms. This is only a problem if, as in our house, you have two people who arise at (the ungodly hour of) 4 AM each morning - showering, making lunches, slicing bananas and eating cereal; one who crawls from bed and begins to shower at 6 AM; and another who does not have classes before 2 PM. Yesterday's comment from Stubble was, "Oh, it's YOU making all the racket." I was, at the time, measuring coffee into the coffee pot. Not exactly a noisy activity. In our former house, the kitchen was well separated from all bedroom areas and morning activity or lack thereof was not an issue.
The other issue of gravity facing us is the garbage disposal. I completely understand that MOST people have one largish side of the sink in which to wash cooking pans and one smaller side of the sink that contains the garbage disposal. We have, for the last many years, had one HUGE sink with a garbage disposal right in the middle of it. Therefore, we must learn to rinse pots into the smaller disposal portion of the sink before washing them. Something that, for us apparently, is very difficult. I spent a great deal of time this morning bailing beans and carrots out of the large side of sink so that it would drain.
There are many excellent things about this new house:
* About Tom Selleck. He was gorgeous years ago when I was first married and he has certainly aged well. I do enjoy being able tolook at him watch him in a weekly television show again. Note: The Bearded One has aged well also.
We are finally getting settled. We now have three working, properly elevated shower heads (which means that our bathroom is no longer clogged with extra razors, makeup, hairdryers, and towels). When we moved in, one shower was set up so that spray would hit a normally sized person somewhere around waist level; another released a stream of water designed to dampen the tile but incapable, for example, of rinsing soap off of a body... The only shower head capable of producing an acceptable shower was the one in the master bedroom. That is all fixed now and we are discovering more about the "new" house.
The most troublesome thing, the thing that we did not anticipate causing trouble, is that the kitchen is centrally located - surrounded by the bedrooms. This is only a problem if, as in our house, you have two people who arise at (the ungodly hour of) 4 AM each morning - showering, making lunches, slicing bananas and eating cereal; one who crawls from bed and begins to shower at 6 AM; and another who does not have classes before 2 PM. Yesterday's comment from Stubble was, "Oh, it's YOU making all the racket." I was, at the time, measuring coffee into the coffee pot. Not exactly a noisy activity. In our former house, the kitchen was well separated from all bedroom areas and morning activity or lack thereof was not an issue.
The other issue of gravity facing us is the garbage disposal. I completely understand that MOST people have one largish side of the sink in which to wash cooking pans and one smaller side of the sink that contains the garbage disposal. We have, for the last many years, had one HUGE sink with a garbage disposal right in the middle of it. Therefore, we must learn to rinse pots into the smaller disposal portion of the sink before washing them. Something that, for us apparently, is very difficult. I spent a great deal of time this morning bailing beans and carrots out of the large side of sink so that it would drain.
There are many excellent things about this new house:
- The stars. That should probably be: STARS! We live on a small private drive that has no street lights and the improvement in star viewing is nothing short of amazing. On the other hand, the lack of surrounding lights and the presence of coyotes can be un-nerving.
- The garden. The previous owners left a partial row of onions in their vegetable garden, whether by accident or design. I have discovered that there is nothing better on a hamburger than an onion pulled from the garden, washed off, and immediately sliced. On the other hand, there are seeds to be planted, soil to till, weeds to be pulled, shrubs to be trimmed. Oh, and did I mention the weeds to be pulled? And then there is the fact that one of the neighbors came by Sunday with a picture guide to local snakes to show us which ones to not kill.
- The laundry room. Which is now separate from the cat's litter boxes. There was nothing quite like surprising a kitty in mid litter box activity with the buzzer of the dryer. It accounted for some alarming noises issuing from the area behind the kitchen. And some interesting clean ups. On the other hand - there is no "other hand" here - we now also don't need to be concerned about clean sheets dropping onto scattered bits of clay.
- The "Family Room". Or as my family chooses to call it, "The Living Room" because you can only "live" where there is TV. Right? At any rate, we now have one family/living room (the upstairs room with couches and chairs and side tables) where I can read unmolested by television programs about cars, airplanes, or large machines that 'make things'. The "other" family/living room is downstairs and contains couches and chairs and side tables and is the room where I can watch Modern Family, Gray's Anatomy, The Good Wife, and (best of all) Blue Bloods (with Tom Selleck*). Those are the (few) hours of the week when I evict the rest of the family from the vicinity of the (large) television and take it over as they scatter to other areas of the house. The exception would be Ms. Flippers, who occasionally watches Gray's Anatomy with me.
- The Bonus Room. AKA "The Gaming Room". Originally a storage area off of the garage, it is now panelled, carpeted, and drop ceilinged. It now houses all x-boxes, ps-whatevers, Wii's and gaming computers and their assorted monitors, speakers, 3 easy chairs and a couch. The mini fridge left by the previous owners resides just a few steps away outside of the door. I do not go there. Ever.
- The kitty tower. It is now accessible to the kitties. Formerly it was locked away in the Family/Gaming Room which had been taken over by people under the age of 30 who left lots of power cords lying around. Power cords that would attract the teeth of kitties who were attracted to the bits of food stuck to them. It became not so much a Family Room as a No Parent's and Kitties Land.
* About Tom Selleck. He was gorgeous years ago when I was first married and he has certainly aged well. I do enjoy being able to
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Anticipation
The fun of buying a new home certainly isn't in the looking. EVERY home that the realtor finds is "perfect" and you have to sometimes work hard to come up with reasons not to like it...some of which sound really weak.
At one point we finally told our agent, "Yes, we really are looking to buy, but until a house "speaks" to us we won't make an offer."
It certainly isn't the coming to an agreement and the financial arrangements which seem calculated to employ as many people as possible for as long as possible. When we had to provide the THIRD copy of the appraiser's report (all 47 pages of it) our take on it was, "Don't you people all work IN THE SAME BUILDING? Wouldn't it be easier to just run upstairs and make a photocopy?" Well, they weren't all in the SAME building as it turns out. Our agent and the mortgage broker were in the same building. The seller's agent was across the parking lot...
It certainly isn't the final approval and closing which can, in our view, be described as: "Well, you've got our money, now where are our keys!" Any number of times The Bearded One had to explain to one party or another, "This was an electronic transfer. The money was one place and now 'poof' it is in another place. There is NO CHECK to place a hold on..."
The fun part was falling asleep at night (after throwing up dinner because of a new email requesting yet more financial documents) planning which bathrooms would get which existing bathmats and which kitchen cabinets would get dishes and which would get baking supplies. That was the fun of a new home purchase.
At one point we finally told our agent, "Yes, we really are looking to buy, but until a house "speaks" to us we won't make an offer."
It certainly isn't the coming to an agreement and the financial arrangements which seem calculated to employ as many people as possible for as long as possible. When we had to provide the THIRD copy of the appraiser's report (all 47 pages of it) our take on it was, "Don't you people all work IN THE SAME BUILDING? Wouldn't it be easier to just run upstairs and make a photocopy?" Well, they weren't all in the SAME building as it turns out. Our agent and the mortgage broker were in the same building. The seller's agent was across the parking lot...
It certainly isn't the final approval and closing which can, in our view, be described as: "Well, you've got our money, now where are our keys!" Any number of times The Bearded One had to explain to one party or another, "This was an electronic transfer. The money was one place and now 'poof' it is in another place. There is NO CHECK to place a hold on..."
The fun part was falling asleep at night (after throwing up dinner because of a new email requesting yet more financial documents) planning which bathrooms would get which existing bathmats and which kitchen cabinets would get dishes and which would get baking supplies. That was the fun of a new home purchase.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
and now my hairbrush is missing
Barring tsunami, tornado, or other disaster (like a run on the banks) we will be closing on our new property in 2 weeks. We are ALL in various stages of advanced stress. Some of us are not sleeping (The Bearded One). Some of us (me) are clenching our teeth so that our jaw does not open to permit the entry of solid food. SOME of us are phobic about the possibility of being "unconnected" to the internet during the 15 minute trip from our current house to our future one (Stubble). I understand that there may be help for him in a thingie called "EasyTether". Ms. Flippers (who found the new place) is floating above the fray except for losing (in the last week) her house keys (twice), her passport (once), and her cell phone (still not found). Also missing are three of twelve salad forks, three cereal bowls, and four 12 ounce glasses, although Stubble and I must share the blame for these missing items.
Yesterday morning Ms. Flippers used our shower in the morning as Stubble was hogging their shared bathroom right when she needed it. She left her shampoo and conditioner behind. And now my hairbrush is missing.
Yesterday morning Ms. Flippers used our shower in the morning as Stubble was hogging their shared bathroom right when she needed it. She left her shampoo and conditioner behind. And now my hairbrush is missing.
Friday, January 20, 2012
UnReal
We have been looking at real estate lately. Considering the stellar trends in the stock market and the looming European debt crisis, property (of just the right sort) seems a sane investment.
We have seen many, many properties over the last months. It is very much like HGTV when they are hunting houses and say things like, "We've seen almost 200 houses and nothing is just exactly right!" And then on the show they highlight 3 of them, at least one of which it totally unrealistic for the buyers.
We have seen probably 225 houses, beating the HGTV record to flinders. Some as "drive bys" where we are looking at the neighborhood and some as "open houses of opportunity" where we are just out running errands and spot the tell tale balloons on a Sunday afternoon.
We have seen everything from total wrecks; bathed in dog poo, pizza boxes and crumbling retaining walls to beautifuly maintained showplaces that are obviously very much loved. We have bumped into the same selling agent numerous times to the point where she said, "You guys again! Haven't you found anything yet?"
Our house hunt has covered everything from income property to McMansions to buildable lots. Our criteria has shifted from "anything" to locations limited by freeway access and commuting times to a realistic assessment of renovation/repair costs.
We saw one very "special" property that I will describe: It had excellent freeway access. It was well within our price range. The architecture was such that Stubble announced something to the effect of , "This is the kind of place the I would design for myself"..,.
3500 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 3.5 baths, it was perched on a hillside in a lovely neighborhood of "custom" homes (not mansions, just really nice places) and it had views straight from postcards.
Walking the property we were impressed. Very little other than adding grass seed and water and a new deck railing was needed...then we walked inside...
In the parts of the house where there was carpet it was pulled back to reveal a cracked slab that was settling ominously. The three full bathrooms all featured standing water in the showers - and a hole where the toilet was supposed to be. We joked that the tiled tub in the master bedroom would make a good koi pond if we just added a liner and a pump.
The kitchen was missing built in appliances and an island. The two feet of electrical conduit that was sticking up in the middle of the space was a dead give away. Another special feature was the half bath with floor to ceiling windows with no window treatments overlooking the neighbor's driveway.
Even though nothing was turned on, you could hear the sounds of running water (under the slab?).
Even though we all "liked" the house, as a group we determined that we wouldn't take it even if somebody offered it to us for free like an abandoned kitten....."House. Free to a Good Home".
House Hunting - The Saga Continues.
We have seen many, many properties over the last months. It is very much like HGTV when they are hunting houses and say things like, "We've seen almost 200 houses and nothing is just exactly right!" And then on the show they highlight 3 of them, at least one of which it totally unrealistic for the buyers.
We have seen probably 225 houses, beating the HGTV record to flinders. Some as "drive bys" where we are looking at the neighborhood and some as "open houses of opportunity" where we are just out running errands and spot the tell tale balloons on a Sunday afternoon.
We have seen everything from total wrecks; bathed in dog poo, pizza boxes and crumbling retaining walls to beautifuly maintained showplaces that are obviously very much loved. We have bumped into the same selling agent numerous times to the point where she said, "You guys again! Haven't you found anything yet?"
Our house hunt has covered everything from income property to McMansions to buildable lots. Our criteria has shifted from "anything" to locations limited by freeway access and commuting times to a realistic assessment of renovation/repair costs.
We saw one very "special" property that I will describe: It had excellent freeway access. It was well within our price range. The architecture was such that Stubble announced something to the effect of , "This is the kind of place the I would design for myself"..,.
3500 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 3.5 baths, it was perched on a hillside in a lovely neighborhood of "custom" homes (not mansions, just really nice places) and it had views straight from postcards.
Walking the property we were impressed. Very little other than adding grass seed and water and a new deck railing was needed...then we walked inside...
In the parts of the house where there was carpet it was pulled back to reveal a cracked slab that was settling ominously. The three full bathrooms all featured standing water in the showers - and a hole where the toilet was supposed to be. We joked that the tiled tub in the master bedroom would make a good koi pond if we just added a liner and a pump.
The kitchen was missing built in appliances and an island. The two feet of electrical conduit that was sticking up in the middle of the space was a dead give away. Another special feature was the half bath with floor to ceiling windows with no window treatments overlooking the neighbor's driveway.
Even though nothing was turned on, you could hear the sounds of running water (under the slab?).
Even though we all "liked" the house, as a group we determined that we wouldn't take it even if somebody offered it to us for free like an abandoned kitten....."House. Free to a Good Home".
House Hunting - The Saga Continues.
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