We'll be able to park our cars in the garage?

The garage floor is all ready for the cement pour. We've been told it will happen on Friday. Here's hoping! It'll be nice to be able to put our cars in the garage. Rather, it'll be nice to be able to put one of our cars and a bunch of junk in the garage.

Photo by A.

Pre-closing pondering

I've looked at enough books of bungalow interiors that I've started to wonder what this massive built-in in the northwest bedroom would look like with the paint stripped. Obviously, this isn't a project that I'll get to any time in the near future, but it could be marvelous. Of course, I'd have to do something to lighten up the rest of the room, because otherwise, it'd suck all the light out of the space.

Almost there!

Closing is scheduled for tomorrow at 1. Possession will be on Thursday!

I chose this image, a large switch related in some way to the boiler, because it, in some way, symbolizes change - a switch being turned on, something being activated, etc. Ok, so it's already in the "on" position, but that is beside the point. Additionally, I like the way it looks and I couldn't think of any other post I might use it in in the immediate future.

Waiting, and not for the election

I'm waiting to hear back from the two contractors my real estate agent suggested to us. The only thing stopping us from closing early (actually, just stopping us from closing, early or late) is to get an estimate from a Shaker Heights registered contractor on the work detailed in the city's point of sale inspection. Once we have an estimate, we can work on figuring out how we're going to put together the funds to meet 150% of the estimate, for the city's escrow requirement.

For now, it's just an awful lot of looking at photos of the house and waiting.

Or not

The seller countered our offer with one that is 98% of the present asking price - rather considerably outside our budget. This does not bode well. Our offer remains open for a couple weeks, so there's still a chance. I don't think there's a huge chance, with things as they are right now, that there will be a better offer, it's just a matter of whether they'll actually take the best offer when the bidding period ends.

We're still looking elsewhere, but not nearly so hard. The question in my mind is only as to whether I can convince my wife that we really want to take on the enormous project of doom.

Waiting

We've made an offer on a different house.

Last weekend, I noticed a listing that I hadn't seen before, and which caught my eye, so we decided to do a drive-by. Much to our surprise, there was an open house, so we checked it out.

We made an offer yesterday. The seller is taking offers until the 8th, at which point she will take the best offer. Our offer is quite a bit lower than asking price, but it's as much as we can afford. Given the state of the market here and the fact that the house has been on the market since the beginning of 2006, I think we have a decent chance.

If this doesn't work out, A. wants to look at other houses like this one - ones that don't need so much work. While I respect that, if this doesn't work out, my heart is still set on the one I've been talking about rehabbing.

Now, the waiting.

Progress?

Our realtor has finally made contact with the listing realtor for house A. This Saturday we're going to meet with her and hopefully make an offer.

Tomorrow is my last day at this job. We're moving out on Friday. Most of our belongings will go into two PODS, to be stored until we close on a house. We'll be living with my dad and stepmother.

I fully expect it to be another three months before we move into our new house, whichever one it ends up being.

Interesting connections

This weekend, I learned that, for our two top choices, one is just around the corner from the house where my paternal grandmother grew up, and the other is across the street from the house where my paternal grandfather lived for a few years as a child.

Still waiting.

Waiting

We're waiting for our realtor to contact the listing agent for one of the houses that we're interested in. She hasn't been able to get any response from him regarding the point of sale inspection. Once we have that, we can get a contractor to provide an estimate as to the cost of the work detailed in the inspection.

With the estimate in hand, we'll be able to make a decision as to which house is truly more attractive.

For now, it's just a lot of waiting.