Moving Update: It SUCKS

UUUGGGGGGHHHHHH.....................
Yeah, It's going that well.  This whole moving process sucks.  I am absolutely exhausted both physically and mentally.  We thought we were so lucky to have had an offer just three weeks out.  We found our perfect house.  THEN, it all went downhill.

First, the buyer had an inspection.  No big deal, right?  Not until we found out that our furnace was emitting CARBON MONOXIDE!  Awesome, you know, if you like testing death.  So, the furnace was shut down.  The angry repair guy took a piece out of it and we were heatless.  Lucky for us, we purchased a home warranty for our buyer and it covers us while our house is on the market.  So, we get reimbursed for $1500 toward a new furnace (because ours is old as dirt and new parts went out with the dinosaurs)... only, because there isn't an immediate need for it (their words, not mine), since it's warm every other day, we'll get it when we get it.  We're still waiting on the check.

Then, Mr. Inspector Guy tells us that we need to update our electrical work, which we had already planned on doing.  We were still running off of a 60-amp fuse box and needed to update to a 120-amp circuit breaker.  For those that don't understand, it basically means, "Give me a ton of money and I'll shut off your power for an entire day!"  F-U-N, fun.  Oh by the way, you also need to have four of your outlets updated because (insert electrician jibber-jabber here).  Yeah, more money.

On top of those two major repairs, we also need to replace the door that goes from our house to our garage with a steel entry door and patch a hole in the garage wall where in intercom used to be because of something to do with a firewall.

Three windows need to be replaced because of broken seals causing wood rot.  This was on our inspection report when we bought our house (along with the garage door and hole) but because we were naive property virgins, and our realtor back then apparently didn't feel that it was necessary, we didn't worry about it.  Now, we are dishing out more money to fix things that should have been fixed before we moved in!  I know what you're thinking, "Why not just let your buyer deal with it?" right?  Funny you should ask!  Because the type of loan she is getting won't give her a dime until the house passes an inspection.  It's awesome.

Oh wait, I'm not done.  Do you know how expensive it is to fix your foundation?  Well, luckily we don't either, BUT we might if we stay there long enough!  Apparently the back half of our patio has a slight negative slope to it, causing a trickle of water to run down along our foundation.  This has caused a crack in a wall in the unfinished part of our basement.  The crack "isn't big enough or deep enough YET to have to repair the foundation," so instead, we only have to repair the cause.  This means, we have to have our cement patio leveled.  This involved drilling and shooting air (from what I understand) and cement injections... or something like that... until the patio is level.  Or, as I heard it, more money.

Looking on the bright side, maybe we will make enough money from the sale to do some of these repairs??  NO WAY.  Our home, that was appraised at $100,000 six years ago, that we accepted an offer for $98,000, was only appraised at NINETY THOUSAND FREAKING DOLLARS.  You. Have. Got. To. Be. Kidding. Me?!?!  Word around the block is that the appraiser had to STRUGGLE to even get it to 90 because there are too many houses in our neighborhood that are being foreclosed on, bought super cheap, flipped, and sold for more.  Grr...  The appraisal was done before any of the inspection updates, so we were able to get it up to $92,000.  We are still going to have to PAY to move, bot make any money on the sale of our house.

Mike and I have grown to HATE our house.  It is draining our energy and our bank account.  We have shed far too many tears because of that money pit.  At this point, we are doing what needs to be done to get the heck out of there.  Luckily, our buyer wants our house really bad and hasn't bailed on us.  Closing is officially on for tomorrow and then we say, "SEE YA" to Bolton Drive and all of it's headaches.

Remember back when I was all excited about being in a new house by Memorial Day? Well, we had an inspection on that house.  Luckily we did because we found out that it was structurally unsound.  The process we had to go through with leveling our patio would have had to be done to the ENTIRE house.  That would involve pulling up the new carpet and tile throughout the main level.  On top of that, the furnace had a gas leak, the A/C was on it's way out, several windows needed to be replaced, doors needed to be replaced because the damage to the structure caused the doors to break.  It was turning out to be more like a nightmare instead of a dream.  We graciously backed out of the deal and started the whole process of house hunting all over again, all while knowing that we were being booted out of our house by June 1st.

We found another house fairly quickly.  As luck would have it, someone else found that house, too.  We got ourselves into sort of a bidding war.  Fortunately, it was already priced lower than the first house, so we were able to up the price a little bit.  We ended up offering about $3000 over their asking price and they accepted our offer!  The inspection checked out with only a few minor repairs needed.  The appraisal passed.  The biggest blessing we have had was the fact that Mike knows the couple that we are buying the house from.  They have let us move our belongings into the house even though we have not closed on it.  We will forever be grateful to them because that saved us from moving twice!  We don't get possession until June 14th (this could change), so for a little over 2 weeks, we are homeless.  Mike's parents have let us stay with them, but everything we own is at the new house.

I am SO ready to be done with this whole ordeal!  I am NEVER moving again.  EVER.

Shanterest: Ideas for the Home

Ideas for the Home

Well, we have a meeting with our realtor in two weeks to get our house listed!  I am so excited, but also very overwhelmed.  A growing family can really accumulate a lot of crap in almost six years!  I've been boxing things up and clearing out our cluttered spaces.  I can probably think of a million things I'd rather be doing, but the end results look so enticing!  Obviously I'm already getting ideas for our new home (no, we haven't found one yet).  If I was able to browse Pinterest during the day, I'd be pinning these terrific ideas to my Ideas for the Home board!

I love the look of the built-ins!  I definitely need to have more shelf space for all of my books!

traditional living room design by charleston interior designer LORRAINE G VALE, Allied ASID

Here is another one... Love it all!  From the shelves full of books to the kitty on the couch, it's perfect!

traditional family room design by san francisco architect Gast Architects

I like everything about this space.  Mostly, I like the idea of having a small wall painted entirely in chalkboard paint and hanging an empty frame on it.  Very creative and we all know I loves me a good chalkboard!

traditional living room design by los angeles interior designer The Old Painted Cottage

It is my dream to have a barn-style door like this going into the master bathroom.

eclectic bedroom design

First of all, who wouldn't want a kitchen like this?  I really love all of the contrasting elements in this space.  I like the clean, white cabinets with the natural look of the wood on the island.  I like the modern lighting paired with the old farmhouse-style sink.  

traditional kitchen design by san francisco architect Arch Studio, Inc.

I really love the sense of family that this kitchen has.  I like the idea of a booth and would KILL for a water spigot over the stove!

traditional kitchen design by austin general contractor Redbud Custom Homes

I really like the dark gray here.

traditional kitchen design by birmingham general contractor Structures, Inc.

I really like the idea of having a mini office in the kitchen.  I spend most of my time in the kitchen and this would really make blogging and recipe searching easier!

traditional home office design by los angeles general contractor Dave Lane Construction Co.

I would like to have glass-front cabinets.

traditional kitchen design by new york architect Crisp Architects

This would be a fun idea for Jaden's room... only in pink, of course!  

modern kids design by atlanta artist and artisan Anita Roll Murals

My girls would LOVE a stage for all of their performances!

eclectic kids design by boise interior designer Judith Balis

A girl can dream, right?  I know I'm getting ahead of myself, but I just can't help it!  I am so ready to find a bigger space and relax in a new home.  Any advice on what I can do to sell my home faster?

"Where did Mommy go?"

People, people... Let me tell you, this momma is one busy woman!  Remember how I said that it was our goal to have our house up for sale by April 1st?  Well, apparently that is the magic date for home sellers.  Everyone wants to put their house on the market by April 1st.  Our realtor has convinced us that it would be best to put it up now because of the low inventory of houses for sale.  Now.  As in, "Hey, our house is for sale!"  Sure, we tackled the major problem in the family room, but we are nowhere near ready to show!  We compromised and told our realtor that we would need a month to make it show-ready.  One month.  The same time as the Home & Garden Show.  So, if I'm going to have a large enough inventory of goodies to sell at H&G and have my house ready to put on the market, all in a month, I'm gonna have to do some serious steppin' in tall cotton! 

The family room is done.  It has been decluttered and repainted.  Now I'm tackling the kitchen.  I'm pulling crap out of the cabinets and putting it in big boxes labeled, "GARAGE SALE."  I'm leaving only the essentials.  I'm boxing most of the decor with the exception of a few things.  I'm going to have to touch up/repaint the trim (and then make the girls wear gloves all day, everyday).  Some major organizing is going down, people!  My only problem is that our storage room is FULL.  I'm talking Hoarders full.  It's somewhat pathetic.  I have boxes to the ceiling. 

After the kitchen/dining room is finished, I'm moving on to our bedroom.  It's tiny.  I need to find a way to maximize every inch of that room.  I've "researched" via Pinterest and other awesome sites for organizing and home decorating ideas (I'm not naming them for fear they will become so popular, I'll be forbidden to look at them).  I think I've found a solution.  Now, I just need to repaint three of the four walls, do a little rearranging, and get some curtains hung.  It's such a challenge working with a small space.  Any advice on how to make it seem bigger?

The living room is pretty good to go.  I need to do some touching up on the trim.  Other than that, I think we're set.

The girls' rooms are packed.  I tried to pull out old toys over Christmas break, but they are still full.  I need to get stuffed animals into the space bags and out of the pet nets.  Don't get me wrong, I love the pet nets and those girls LOVE their "friends," but when you walk into their rooms and are immediately face-to-face with a 3-foot tall stuffed snowman, it's sort of unbecoming.  I also need to put J's blinds and old curtains up to lighten up the space.

Bathroom needs repainted.

The basement.  Ugh.  I don't even know where to start!  Like I said, the storage room is full.  I have things stored under the steps and behind the bar.  I want potential buyers to see all of the available storage space our home has.  I don't want them to see how we are taking advantage of every square inch of it and are busting at the seams.  What to do, what to do.  The plan is to have the cold weather stop for a while so it's not a pain to park outside.  That way I can move all of our packed boxes to the garage in order to free up the storage space!  Then, it just looks like we are ready to move! 

But I have only a month to do this all.  Crap.