So, since I've last posted: picked a house, signed contract, negotiated with seller, did home inspection, locked in loan...and am now waiting. Closing isn't scheduled until April 25 (4 weeks from next friday), and with the bulk of the pre-closing tasks done it's time to wait.
I ended up picking a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, three story townhouse. This means that I'll go from tripping over stuff in my overly crowded room to feeling as if I have absolutely no furniture. I have enough stuff though to make moving it a lot of work though.
(Town)house-hunting has begun in earnest. Botched home improvement projects, check. Questionable odors, check. Overpowering paint schemes, check. If only those were the worst problems that some of these houses had.
As a first time home buyer I've read my fair share of advice for what to look for and what to ignore. But as my first trip out into the marketplace revealed, it was hard to ignore how badly some of these houses had been treated.
#1 Sure a house can be repainted, but when every surface on the inside, and some outside, have been painted a dark shade of purple and you've got purple carpeting too, you've got a problem:
#2 Got renters? Then there's a good chance they destroyed your house. Why? Because it's not their house, and they most likely don't care about selling it--it would mean they have to leave. (I was a renter, I know I didn't intentionally destroy anything, then again I didn't make anything nicer either...)
#3 If your house isn't clean, I'm not sure how good your maintenance would have been either--a clean house is worth actual money.
#4 It's true, it's hard to sell an empty house, all the flaws are magnified because there's nothing else to look at.
#5 Hardwood or pergo flooring only improves the value of your house when you install it properly...those finishing details like edging matter.
So I realize it's been a little over 5 months since I last posted...
Here's what happened: 1. I went on vacation for two weeks (Hawaii and Oregon) which entailed the blog going on vacation. 2. I came back from vacation. 3. I didn't come back from my blog vacation.
Simple really. Anyhow, here's where things stand: I've reached 308 in the 1001 MYMSBYD count, which feels like alot, and only my ability to do math keeps reminding me that it isn't even a third--still I'm a glass is 30.77% full kinda person. The goal for this year is 400.
Another source of optimism for me is that since the economy in general and the housing market in particular are not doing great I am in a good position to begin the quest for my first house, or rather, townhouse. This will hopefully provide some good blog fodder as process kicks into gear and I'll be motivated to update the blog more frequently hence forth.
Lastly, I did almost manage to finish reading 50 books last year, coming in 75 pages shy of finishing the last one, which I could have totally done if I hadn't watched When Harry Met Sally on New Year's Eve--but that's tradition and you don't mess with tradition. I haven't set any lofting reading goals for this year luckily, because I'd already be way behind.
