Blogging Excuses

There are many I could make for my lack of blogging, but the truth is I have been a tad preoccupied with the upcoming closing on my first house. I have been planning, measuring, window shopping (both in person and online), and making a few purchases. Tonight I went to Lowe's were I grabbed lots of paint color cards. I have lists and sketches. I am such a visual person I keep going back and measuring walls and furniture...I even laid painters tap all over one room to see if my plans would actually work. I am sure I will get back to normal...it may take a while though!

Sunshine!!!

After a week of rain, the sun finally made an appearance today!!! Abbey, Reed, and I took advantage of the beautiful day by taking a nice walk this afternoon. (Abbey and I working out regularly...alternating running and walking. She has decided that she would like to run a half marathon next year for her 30th birthday. Like a good friend, I am encouraging her, training with her, and will run the half marathon as well. Since her birthday was just last week, we have a whole year.) After our walk, we hung out on the deck until Jeff got home for work. I am sure there will be some pictures on their blog later today because I sure took some cute ones! When I left their house I took a drive by my new house to take a few pictures...or 80!!!

I am going to show some of my favorite things about the house.

The grass had been cut earlier in the afternoon, but I think the house has great curb appeal even when the grass is too tall. And with all the rain we have had, it was quite tall!!!


There is already landscaping in the front and back. I'll probably do a few things next spring, but at least there is a start.


I had already decided that one thing that was going to be a non-negotiable for me was a fireplace. This is a gas fireplace with a remote control start. There is wiring for a flat screen to be mounted above the fireplace, but for now this will just be living room and the tv will be upstairs in the bonus room.




One of the first thing I noticed in the master bedroom was the tray ceiling and the fan.


Then there is the master bath with the separate tub and shower.


Honestly the double vanity doesn't do much for me, but I figure it will be an advantage for resale value.


But the walk in closet...Definitely a plus for a girl with lots of clothes and shoes! :)


This little window connects the kitchen to the living room.


Oh how I LOVE the chandelier in the dining area!!! (For those of you who are wondering, I am serious. I don't think it would be something I would pick out, but it's very fun!)


The kitchen may be my absolute favorite part of the house. The hardwood floors extend throughout the kitchen. The appliances are very nice with a five burner stove and a bottom mount fridge.


The sink is and undermount with one side being larger than the other.





The granite is called blue eyed granite and the specks of blue don't even begin to photograph well.


The stair that lead to the bonus room are oak...I am so excited about not having to vacuum those!


There is also a good sized deck off the living area. The deck is even equipped with a gas hook up for a grill.


The view from the deck...where the property ends there is "green way" so there won't ever be a houses built there.

Thanks for coming along on my little tour of my future home. I am set to close on May 29th or 30th. Make sure you come back in the next few days because I will be sharing some of my decorating ideas. You might have noticed that every wall (including the garage) is painted yellow. I will leave some of the rooms yellow...mainly those with incredibly tall ceilings. I will definitely be painting the master bedroom though.

The following pictures are for my dad and his "daddy doo" list that I am working on for when he and my mom come in June!

More Than I Imagined

About a year ago I began searching for the perfect home, my first house. I have seen quite a few homes...more than I care to count and several that I do not even want to remember.

When I came to Tennessee in January I looked at a few houses, and found one I really like. However, by the time I was ready to make an offer, it had sold. I decided that I would find something after I had been here a while. I've only looked at one house since...of course I've looked at a bunch online. Anyway, yesterday my offer was accepted on this house.

View from front

Dining room

Living room

Kitchen

Master bedroom

Master bath

It is everything I dreamed for and more. It has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. There is a bonus room over the garage, which is fairly common here. There is a deck off the living room. It also in the same neighborhood as Jeff and Abbey and take just a few minutes to walk to their house.

There will be an inspection this week, which I am not worried about since the home is only 5 years old. The closing is schedule for the end of May...at the latest middle of June...my mortgage broker is a little worried about getting everything complete by May 30th.

Thanks for all your prayers on this long journey.

House Hunt

I saw 5 tonight. Two good ones, two bad ones, and one that was okay. Let's start with the bad...the first was such an obnoxious color of yellow...it was hard to get passed that. The second most likely would have been nice had it not been for the profanity and graphic pictures that had been spray painted in every room. It was just sad. The okay one...well, it was just okay. The two nice ones...one has some definite potential but not a side of town that I had looked at before tonight. The other was interesting, but also had a lot going for it. I actually put an offer last week on a house on the exact same street, but obviously that didn't go any where I wouldn't still be looking.

Now it's late and I have much to think about and some zzzz's to catch!

Life Without Regret

One of my goals in life is to not have a ton of regret. I don't want to be plagued with "if onlys" or "what ifs". I want to live a life of walking in faith to God and obedience to Him.

This week I had an opportunity to make a decision that hit all three of these areas: no regret, faith, and obedience.

I made an offer on a house. And while a previous offer that had been considered "dead" emerged Friday afternoon, I have no regrets. I took a huge step of faith and did exactly what I felt that God was leading me to do.

Yes, I am disappointed, but I am at peace. Things may still work out on this particular house, but if not then there is something even better. Until I find "better" (or the current deal falls through) I will continue in faith and obedience which will produce no regret.

I Don't Think It Was Decaf!!!

First mistake, meeting the realtor at Starbuck's. Second mistake, thinking it was wrong to park my car at Starbuck's without going in and buying a little something while I waited for my realtor. Third mistake, ordering a nonfat decaf latte. Fourth mistake, drinking the whole thing.

It's 11:00 pm and I can't get to sleep. I know it isn't that late, but I will pay in the morning when the alarm goes off at 4:40 am.

On another note, I saw a definite possibility on the house hunt tonight. I don't want to say to much because I am trying to contain my excitement. I'll know more tomorrow and will keep you all posted!

I Meant To...

blog last night, but some where in my exciting evening of produce shopping, making dinner, watching mindless television, giving some TLC to some plants, and going to bed early, I forgot. I mean, my evening was jammed packed with critical tasks.

Hopefully tonight I will be a little more on the ball. I am also hoping to look at a couple of houses with my realtor after work, so maybe I will have a house hunt update. It's been 2 1/2 weeks since I have actually looked at anything in person. Last week I did resume the Internet search.

House Hunt Halt

It has become an all-consuming task. The laundry is piled high. My room needs some serious attention. And I need to find the life that I have lost under the MLS listings and meetings with the realtor. I also need clarity. I've seen more houses that I can begin to count...some nice, some okay, some...well, there are no words. Houses without appliances, houses without floors, houses without air conditioners, houses that had been trashed, houses with the owners in the them, houses abandoned and full of junk. A couple that had actually been "staged".

What started out as something fun has become exhausting. Last night after looking at 5 homes, I almost felt physically sick.

I need time to clear my head, to regain some insight.

With all that said, I am taking some time off from the "hunt". A sabbatical, so to speak. This "hunter" is tired and a wee bit frustrated. I think a week or so should do it. I will tentatively resume my search on July 7th.

Until then, maybe there will be more compelling content on my blog...wait, who am I kidding...my content is always thought-provoking and compelling! :)

Dealing with Disappointment

I thought the search was over as of last night. I thought I had found it, my future home. The neighborhood was nice. The location was great. The condition of the house didn't even compare to many of the "interesting" places I have seen in the last two months. The price...well, it was good. It would give me room to do a few things after the purchase...including buying all new appliances, which it needs. I mean my realtor and I were talking numbers. It was as almost too good to be true. Almost...because by the time I arrived back at my apartment the status in the listing had gone from "active" to "pending". Apparently that is real estate talk for "we got a good offer so you don't even need to be looking here any more."

I thought about crying. I thought about wallowing. I thought about giving up. Instead I have decided to move on, to press on, and to continue my search. I have decided that this deal will either fall through or there is something even better out there waiting for me to buy.

(Imagine a great and encouraging verse of Scripture here...however, I am too tired to think any more.)

Lessons Learned Part II

I've lost track to a degree. I think I have seen almost 20 houses and two of those I have seen twice. I am also back to square one, but I will press on and continue looking. In the mean time I thought I would share some new lessons that I have a learned during this experience.

• There is a reason there aren't any pictures of the interior.
• You should never start off a listing with, "This is a sinkhole property..." Any sane person will hit the back button on the browser before reading any further.
• If the price looks too good to be true, then it most likely is.
• If you list "volumed ceilings" as an asset to you home, you should at least call it the correct term..."vaulted ceilings".
• When a high selling point of your listing is that the single wide trailer on the 1/2 acre of land is surrounded by $400,000 homes on either, side...well, you don't want to be the person who buys said trailer. I am sure the neighbors would be ever so excited and friendly.
• There is no such thing as the perfect house when you are on my budget...I will have to make compromises...the question is what should they be.
  

I'll keep everyone posted on this little adventure!

Lessons Learned on the House Hunt

For those of you who have not picked up on a small detail in my life...I am looking into capitalizing on the extremely sad housing market here. I spoke with a realtor a couple of weeks ago and he sent me my first set of listings. On Monday I saw four homes. I received a second set of listings (condos this time) yesterday and tonight sent a list of both condos and homes I would like to see.

This is what I have learned from a whopping two weeks of looking at homes:

• You shouldn't take pictures of a dirty house and post those for potential buyers to see. This includes, but is not limited to: dirty dishes in the sink, wet towels on the back of the office chair, beds not made, "gifts" from any pets on the floor, and laundry in the floor.
  
• Pictures listed can cover a multitude of "sins". While a picture may be worth a thousand words, they also lie.
• When it says that there is a washer and dryer hook up and a shed that is code for the washer and dryer hook up is actually in the shed.
• Diamond in the rough is code for "needs TLC" which is also code for prepare for some back breaking work.
• "Quaint home in charming neighborhood," "older home in mature neighborhood," and "located in the historic district" can mean that this house is in the ghetto.
  
• Located in Central Tampa with easy access to 275 and downtown also means located in the ghetto.
  
• It doesn't matter if a home has hardwood floors, ceramic tile, wood burning fireplace, granite counter tops, and stainless steel appliances, if it is painted lime green, it's in the ghetto. Trust me, I drove by just to make sure because I decided the outside could always be painted.
  

Out of the four homes I saw, two had some potential. One was too small and the other backed up to a major road. This next set seem to have some potential, but I've already learned that the truth comes out when you walk through the front door! I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens...I'll keep you all posted!