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May 04, 2007

The End of the Real Estate Saga

It was a VERY close call but we are now in possession of the keys to our very first plot of land on which sits our very first house. Construction (gutting the kitchen and at least one bathroom) starts Monday. The appliances we've chosen will be ordered today or tomorrow. We hope to have the 50+ year old hardwood floors refinished instead of replaced so two wood floor experts will give us their opinions and estimates this weekend. Time is tight. Our lease ends in Mid-June when we're on our two-and-a-half week vacation. We need to move out before we leave.

April 19, 2007

The Celebration

04-18-07

When the results came in there were 17 offers on the Mountain View house. We have no idea what the next highest bid was. Hava claims we won by $2.00 and we're going to stick to that story. It doesn't seem wise to know that we overbid by a brand new car, a month long vacation in Hawaii, or both. We wanted this house in this neighborhood in this school district more than we wanted any of the others and we will pay the price (literally). Luckily, while reading the disclosures, we realized that this old house is in better condition than any of the others we've seen. The roof is new. Copper plumbing was installed not very long ago. It doesn't need to be tented for termites.

That isn't to say we won't be spending the next two weeks at Home Depot coming up with a plan. The hardwood floors (throughout) need to be replaced. The floor in one bathroom needs to be repaired and both bathrooms need an update including new tile, sinks, and possibly toilets. We'll need a refrigerator, an oven/stove, a microwave, a dishwasher, and a clothes washer and dryer. We will probably put up a new partial wall by the front entrance to replace the 60's screen and remove the partial wall between the kitchen and the dining room to open up the space. The kitchen cabinets and counters could use an update. There is no air conditioning. Five to ten years from now we can turn the garage back into a garage and build a second story to provide additional space. There is a lot to be done and we're excited at the prospect.

We close Friday, May 4. Our current lease ends in mid-June (just before our big vacation). So we have a month or so to do any major repairs before we move - once again.