So today i bought a house

Today I closed on my new home, which was very exciting!!!  I took the day off, which turned out to be very smart, because my closing got moved from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Since I had the morning free, I decided to kill some time by heading to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore to check out their goods. If you've never been to a ReStore before, it's kind of an adventure, you never know what you're going to get. They have a collection of items that have been donated from both your average homeowner as well as contractors and businesses. So, if you want say, beige, but don't need it to be a specific shade of beige they may or may not have enough of it for you depending on how much you need. They also have some appliances etc. I was mainly going to check out their paint supplies and also see what kind of ceiling fans they had. I got lost on my way there. I thought I would be super cool and not use Carmen the Garmin to get there. I knew it was near the CASA office. So I got a bit lost, which was okay, I had time. Plus, I got to see some of Omaha that I don't normally see, and eventually busted Carmen out to find my way. The store ended up being a bust for what I was looking for, they had a crapload of wood stain, but since my flooring is fake wood, no dice. I texted my sister in an effort to convince her to buy a couch that would match the one that she owns and probably doesn't like much. She declined. So I headed home to kill some time.

And then finally, two rolled around and it was time to sign my life away. Paper after paper, document after document. They probably could have snuck something in there and said, "Here's where you give us your 401K." and I would have just said, "Where do I sign and initial?" After all that, I got the keys!!!! Yay! I made a quick stop at my friend Jessica's and then headed over to my new townhouse. Which I apparently forgot to take a picture of the outside. Doh.

Tomorrow I begin the painting of the bathrooms. And next weekend is the painting of the living room/dining room area.

I'm almost a Homeowner....

So, my realtor and I got back together today to go over the counter offer. The owner of the construction company agreed to everything except the internal warranty. My realtor found a warranty to cover all that stuff through Service One for a decent price, so I'm good to go. I accepted the counter offer and signed the purchase agreement. And on November 12th, I will be a homeowner!!!! WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

The Saga Continues....

So, this morning I contacted my realtor and expressed my concerns about the financial stability of my builder. Or lack thereof.
She assured me that things were fine and that she would email over a letter from builders's bank stating as much. She said that what had happened was that builders's financing had been with one bank and their loans had then been sold to a bank in Australia (in the past year) who then called the loans due. Still not sitting well with me at this point. She said the owner had secured financing thru another bank - okay that's a bit better, but I'd read about a bunch of liens on the properties with the builder from contractors and wanted to make sure that those had been resolved as well. After everything that had happened with Regency Homes in Iowa and Benchmark in Omaha, I'm definitely concerned. The complex/area that I made that offer at has four units that are currently under construction (I've never seen any work being done on those units - basically it appears to be the outside is done, don't know about the inside) and then a LARGE open lot where another 40 or so units will go.


So, I asked for documentation that everything was good with their bank and my location. I've currently received a letter about another complex in town, but not my complex. My realtor called earlier tonight and said that there wasn't one for my complex and asked if it would make me feel better about this because the other realtor would get one if needed. I said I wanted one. My offer has expired. So that's where things are at this point.

This is fun.

And then I went for it...

So I decided to go with the "more expensive one." While I didn't like that it had been lived in before (biggest downer for a new complex for me). I did like that I'd get a little bit of a yard, and a bigger deck. And I liked the dining room area, and that it comes with blinds - which apparently aren't cheap. (So I'm told, I've never bought them.). I requested in my offer that it be cleaned. And then put some other junk in my offer.

The place comes with a 1 year interior warranty and 10 year exterior warranty. I had lunch today with my boss and some agents. I mentioned that I was going to be making an offer on a townhouse tonight and the one agent mentioned my builder and that they were having money problems. YIKES!!! I should start reading the newspaper or really watch the news everyday or something.  Um, hmmm....that's not cool. Chances are good that my first offer will of course - be rejected. And that's making me question what I want to do. Not because it'll be rejected but because I now have addtional information that I didn't previously have which I feel gives me more room to negotiate. I really like this townhouse, but I can walk away. There's other options out there in my price range. Sucks though, thought that I was done looking.

And then there were two...

So the search for "the place" has come down to the final two. I've decided on a townhouse development out west. Within that development I'm trying to decide which one of two places I want. Both are three stories, with two bedrooms, two full bathrooms, and two car garages and have the same square footage. Oh, and all my appliance (washer, dryer, fridge, stove/range, dishwasher and microwave) are included. Both kitchens include a small island area. The first floor - bottom level is the garage, the second/middle floor is the kitchen, living room, pantry and a full bathroom. And the third floor is the two bedrooms (same size) with another full bathroom and the laundry room.

So what's the difference? Well....price of course and several other things.

On the plus side of the cheaper one:
-It's cheaper
-New, never been lived in before
-Larger pantry
-Larger kitchen
-Lots of nearby parking if people come to visit - not really a big plus, kinda minor.

On the negative side of the cheaper one:
-It's part of a 10 plex, so there's only windows on one side
-Smaller deck, overlooks the garage and currently open lot which will eventually be other townhomes.
-Lower grade carpet    
-Uses non-oak laminate in the kitchen, bathrooms, entry and laundry rooms. I'd rather have tile in some of these areas - that's not an option in either. I see this as a plus/minus

On the plus side for the more expensive one...
-Designated dining room area alcove
-Larger deck
-Only part of a four plex, so only neighbors on two sides and windows on two sides.
-Slightly upgraded carpet
-Comes with blinds
-My realtor also told me this one would have better resale value, not really a big concern for me since most likely my company will eventually move me and purchase my townhome.
-Oak laminate - I'm not really sure how crazy I am about this stuff, but apparently this is a plus, again, I'd probably want to replace some of this again, maybe plus/minus?

On the negative side for the more expensive one:
-Previously rented, i.e. not new
-Smaller kitchen
-The deck looks out onto an open lot which is going to be commercially developed
-The stovetop appeared to have "something" on it - i.e. near the burner it looks burnt - I can't explain it.

Ah, decisions, decisions...

Weird recycling

So, in the summer of 2000, I called home to chat with my parents and they told me that they were tearing down my childhood home to build a new house.  They recycled a bunch of the brick from the 100 year old house, which was used on their basement/garage, reused some ledges from the windows as thresholds for doors and kept the stained glass. Additionally, they kept three inside doors. One for them, and one for my sister and me. I don't currently have my door in my possession and I've been trying to figure out what on earth I'm going to do with it. For the longest time, I was thinking coffee table. But it would be the longest coffee table ever.
But here's the thing. The dining table I have now I'm not really a fan of, it was passed down from my sister's friend (well, mine too), Kristin. I appreciated it at the time and I love free stuff, but not really me. So I was surfing the internet and thinking. These are around 7 foot doors. And then I found this link: http://designspongeshop.com/tablediy.pdf. That doesn't look to difficult. The door shouldn't need a ton of rehab work. The hardest part is going to be getting the hundred year plus old handle off. OH and attaching the legs. Minor detail, right. But should be a fun project in the future. And then I can get some fun chairs to go with it. Woot!

What matters most...

So my job takes me all over the eastern part of Nebraska. Days like today I spend four to five hours in the car heading down the highway wanting the slow a.k.a. "Sunday drivers" to get the heck out of my way because I have places to be and people to see. Most likely my previous appointment ran long, I ended up grabbing Subway and I'm trying to make up time to get to my next stop. But Monday, I stayed in town and was checking out prospective offices, one of which was in a less than safe part of town. A place that I sure as heck wouldn't be hanging out after dark. The office that I visited wasn't in the worst of the worst but it was on the edge and to get to the next stop, I essentially drove through one of the worst parts of town, not by choice. My friend, Carmen the Garmin directed me that way.
It made me realize that one of the things that matters most to me when I'm looking for a new home is safety and security. If I live downtown, I definetly want to be in a secure building - like the one that I checked out the other day - it had key fobs, required a key combo to operate the elevator and required a key to get into the building. So pretty safe and secure. I feel pretty safe and secure in the building that I live in right now. Ever since I was robbed twice back when I still lived in West Des Moines, I don't live in basement level apartments - I make the thiefs work for my stuff. Yes, I realize that safety and security should be a no brainer, but when I was making my list of things to have, I didn't have it on the list. So, living in the 'hood, definitely out. Surprisingly I don't think that will eliminate that many townhomes that I was previously considering from the list.

On the Hunt

I headed out to a few open houses today in a few different areas of town. Mainly what I'm looking for is either a townhouse or condo. In a perfect world, it would have at least two bedrooms, 1.5 (or more) bathrooms and a two car garage. The amount of garage space is the most flexible thing. I also want a bigger kitchen than my teeny, tiny kitchen. I found out a few things in the process:

a)I need to get a realtor, these people can practically smell me coming and want my money. I realize that they work off commission and while they may be well intentioned, I'm just getting started - but some of them were really agressive. Almost creepy. I also need to get a realtor because the place that I've been watching online for awhile has never had an open house and I want to find out what the heck is wrong with it - Why hasn't it sold? Why is it so much cheaper than the other places in the complex? I've hypothisized that someone was murdered in the unit - though it doesn't really go with the neighborhood. I have an incredibly active imagination.

b) Just because it says "townhouse" don't assume it's actually a townhome. One place was listed as a townhome, but it was half a duplex and would require me to maintain the yard, exterior of the building (roof, siding of the home), and do snow removal. The only bonus was that there was a small annual fee for some commons areas as opposed to monthly dues. My job isn't really condusive to all that kind of stuff - which is why I want a townhouse/condo in the first place! ARRGH!!!

c) Need to remember to keep an open mind. I went to check out a place downtown, completely for fun and ended up liking it. It'd be fun to be able to walk to bars, restaurants and concerts. The kitchen and bathroom could use a little bit of updating, but it came with parking (bonus) and a secure building (bonus).