Househunting with the DH from hell.... or, I want a house, and he wants a lake...

[AahRee]

My husband is insane. He's SO into the idea of having a house on the lake, that I SWEAR he'd live in a tent, so long as he could dock a boat next to it. :rolleyes:

We're casually househunting... well, he's casual about it, and I'm deadly serious. :lol: I want to move out of our house and be settled in a new house asap.

Phil is completely sold on the idea of this house...
http://pics.windermere.com/ImageStore.dll?id=863866BD703DBD72&w=400&h=298

Built in 1924, 3 bedrooms/2 baths, 1400 sq. ft. BUT it has a boathouse, a covered dock and a nice little piece of waterfront property. They're asking $325,500 for it.

I, on the other hand, couldn't care less about living on the lake. For the most part, I'll be IN the house, regardless of where it's located, and I care a whole heck of a lot more about the inside than the yard/surroundings, even if we are talking about a lake. In fact, since we have a toddler, I'm not all that excited about the idea of having to supervise her around a lake, nevermind the fairly busy road the house is on.

I'm way more into houses like this:
http://pics.windermere.com/ImageStore.dll?id=159F6138CBB23C7A&w=400&h=298

Built in 1997, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, corner greenbelt lot, 1900 sq.ft., access to community boat storage and a private, community dock/boathouse. Asking price is $249,950. In a great, quiet neighborhood, not on a busy, main street! Plus, think of the vacations you could take on that extra $75,000!

We looked at a house today that I thought was perfect (not the one above), but Phil hated it. If I can't get him to compromise on something like the one I just posted, we might have to each buy our own house... :lol:

Anyway, what do you all think of these two? Am I missing something here? I just don't see what he sees in that first house, lake or not!

[SarahK]

I'm definitely more into the house you posted...and I'm more into that price, too!

[JillMelissa]

I love the one you like, and that's such a great price! I also love that it's such a good compromise, since he could still dock a boat there!

[AahRee]

We're going to go do a driveby right now... he's actually somewhat interested! :lol:

[Nocona]

Good! I love that 2nd house. The 1st one is ick and that driveway is crappy. The 2nd one is beeeeautiful.

[Wendy]

I love the second one! Good luck in trying to get him to go for it :)

[AahRee]

Good! I love that 2nd house. The 1st one is ick and that driveway is crappy. The 2nd one is beeeeautiful.
My thoughts exactly! However, it does have a nice boathouse and dock... :rolleyes: :lol:

The drive-by went well! He's intrigued. The community has boat storage (probably not ON the water, but nearby, I guess...) and a private dock, so it's kind of a compromise. He could walk down to the lake, carrying his kayak, and although it wouldn't be as convenient as having his *own* boathouse... there are other considerations besides how easy it is for him to kayak/waterski/whatever!

The owner was out in his garage when we drove by, and I felt like such a stalker... we sat in front of his house for something like 5 minutes, and then drove away and drove back by again. :lol: I hope he didn't think we were casing it...

The neighborhood is AWESOME - the house backs up to a greenbelt, and there are walking/jogging/bike trails throughout, and several parks, too. And it's FLAT!!! (We currently live on a fairly steep hill, and I can't go for walks because I'd pass out trying to get back up the hill...)

We're going to try to go look at it asap, and we might look at another one that is for sale in the same neighborhood, too. And we're going to look at the dreaded pink, lakefront house as well. :rolleyes: I'm trying SO hard not to push the issue, because the harder I push, the less interested Phil will be in the house. SO I'm going to have to gush about it on here this weekend, okay? :lol:

[Nocona]

Fine by me :) It sounds absolutely perfect. He, of course, would have to compromise a little, but you wouldn't have to at all :aok: :lol: Hopefully, the lightbulb will turn on when he sees the pink house in person!

[AahRee]

Oh, he's seen it. We've driven past it MANY times. And since the owners aren't living there, we've even peeked in all of the downstairs windows, walked into the backyard, walked up onto the front porch... I swear, the neighbors probably think we're up to something! He couldn't care less about the condition of the house. He's just totally enamoured with the boathouse! :lol:

And you're right... I wouldn't have to compromise at all... but let's not remind him of that, shall we? :lol:

[AahRee]

I'm going to dig up the other photos of the house I like from the listing...

Okay, this is the backyard, with the greenbelt...
http://photos.mywindermere.com/Photogallery/13/prod763913.jpg

Family room with fireplace:
http://photos.mywindermere.com/Photogallery/22/prod763922.jpg

Kitchen and eating nook:
http://photos.mywindermere.com/Photogallery/24/prod763924.jpg

Downstairs hall, to front door:
http://photos.mywindermere.com/Photogallery/26/prod763926.jpg

Living room:
http://photos.mywindermere.com/Photogallery/27/prod763927.jpg

Another view of the living room:
http://photos.mywindermere.com/Photogallery/28/prod763928.jpg

Master bedroom:
http://photos.mywindermere.com/Photogallery/33/prod763933.jpg

Master bath (with, IMO, the best feature... that tub...):
http://photos.mywindermere.com/Photogallery/35/prod763935.jpg

Can I just move in now, please? :lol:

[AahRee]

I have to say, I would link to the listing, but it annoys the carp out of me. The listing agent, or whoever wrote the write-up, can't spell the word *desirable*, and it drives me NUTS. :lol: I can't subject you all to that...

[Nocona]

Please don't because I couldn't hack it! :lol:

I LOVE that house!

[Alyssa]

I agree with your tastes in houses, Anne - and it's such a good compromise!! Good luck!!

[Alyssa]

(Did anyone else notice the wealth of wreaths in that house?!)

[AahRee]

(Did anyone else notice the wealth of wreaths in that house?!)
:lol: Yep! Especially in the living room. :lol: Maybe it's a hobby or something? :lol: (Wreath-making, not wreath-collecting... although I suppose either could be a hobby...)

We're looking at it today, and at the one Phil likes tomorrow. On the way back from our drive-by, he was making some really encouraging comments about it, so I'm hopeful. :crossfing:

[Nichole]

Ooh! I love that house, Anne! :aok:

Maybe you can convince him that a community boat house would be better, because then you (he) wouldn't have to personally maintain it. ;)

[SarahK]

I love the house you like...I like it even better than our new house!

[sheila]

...and with a community boathouse. he could meet & socialize with more boater/neighbors. and you could always hint that some of that 75,000 could be used for boat upgrades (that he'd be getting a great deal on because of his community boat house connections...)

[Stacy]

I hope he likes that house. It's beautiful and alot more house for less money.

[TtownAnne]

That house is BEAUTIFUL, Anne (the one you like, not Phil's freak-o-building); and I highly recommend that tub - we have one just like it and I'm there more often than is even healthy for my skin! :biggrin:

[JillMelissa]

Oh, wow, I liked the house from the one exterior photo, but I absolutely LOVE it now that I've seen the inside. You must have it! :) It's gorgeous!

[AahRee]

...and with a community boathouse. he could meet & socialize with more boater/neighbors. and you could always hint that some of that 75,000 could be used for boat upgrades (that he'd be getting a great deal on because of his community boat house connections...)
See, this is the FUNNIEST thing about his obsession with being on the lake. We don't currently own a boat! :lol: His brother has one, and doesn't have a place to keep it, so we'd probably keep it in the community storage for him, and get to use it whenever we want. And if we had our own dock, like in the house he likes, it would be really easy for him to just get up and go, provided BIL wanted to keep his boat there. But I think the other good thing about having a community boathouse would be that he could probably find people to drive him waterskiing... since I really don't know how. :lol:

I really hope he likes it, too. And I hope I'm not selling myself on it, sight unseen. I have a little trouble being objective sometimes. :lol:

Anne ~ The bathtub looks like heavan. The one we currently have is so small, you have to sit straight up to fit into it. I think I'd probably disappear in there for hours at a time...

[AahRee]

Okay, we're back from seeing the house. And I TOTALLY loved it!!! :biggrin: It's awesome!!!

The Pros:
BATHTUB (it's even better in person...)
Vaulted ceilings in living and dining room - vaulted to the roof of the second story, so REALLY high
Decent-sized bathrooms and bedrooms
White millwork in living room and dining room
White molding and 6 panel doors
Computer desk in kitchen
Computer desk in upstairs office
Cute backyard, with a little stream that runs by it
Awesome neighborhood - pretty much flat, with nice, wide sidewalks and lots of jogging trails, and a playground/basketball court area right down a little path from the house
Access to the beachouse & boat storage are included in the HOA fees, which are only $300 a year (I thought they'd be a lot higher)

Cons:
No 3rd car garage (but the boat storage sort of makes up for that)
Steep staircase
No island in kitchen
Backyard isn't fully fenced
Family room is kind of small (according to Phil)
Housing development is kind of small (according to Phil)

I'm ready to move in tomorrow, but I'm sort of a new house slut. I'm willing to go for just about anything that has a nice bathtub. :lol: Phil is a little more skeptical. He likes it, but he doesn't love it. He's thinking it might grow on him, though... he just doesn't want to make a rash decision. (I'm the impulsive one, he's the practical one.) He did, however, give me the green light to list our house for sale, so I'm going to start getting ready to do that asap. :aok: I need to do some serious de-cluttering and carpet cleaning before the house will be ready to do anything with. But once I get that done, we'll list it and see how quickly it sells. And if that house is still available then, we'll give it a HARD look.

I'm not too hopeful, though, because the house down the street from us is for sale. It's essentially the same as our house, and it's been on the market for quite a while. But, who knows? I know they have teenagers... maybe it's trashed? I can hope, right? :lol:

[Stacy]

Good luck!!!
DH is a realtor up here and the market is great for sellers. I hope it's the same there.

[cimberdog]

My advice is to find out how much the house down the street is selling for and do some comparisons. Also, ask your realtor to set up a showing so you can go through it and see what it's like. We did that to comparison shop in our neighborhood when our house was for sale. Also, think hard when you list your house - if you list if for higher than market vakue (hoping to make some extra $$) that may backfire. List it fairly and at a good price the first time, so it doesn't take forever to sell.

Good luck

[AahRee]

Kelli, that's a great idea. We're not working with an agent yet, but as soon as we choose one, I'll ask them to set up a showing of the house down the street. I've also been watching *Sell This House* on A&E, for ideas on how to make the house more appealing to buyers. Our house has a LOT of clutter in it, so I'm going to start working on clearing all of that out.

We went and saw the house Phil likes (the one in the first photo) yesterday. OMG... it was WAY worse than I thought it would be.
The heat hasn't been on in a long time, so the house was ICE cold. It was warmer outside than in that house. And when you first walk in the door, the smell could knock you over. It's horrible! A mix of stale cigarette smoke and mold. :dead: The carpet had HUGE stains all over it, and there was a giant crack in the ceiling in the living room. The fireplace looked like it would explode if you tried to light a fire in it. The kitchen was a decent size, but the cabinets were probably the original, 1924 cabinets. SOOO ugly and flimsy and the dining area was tiny. The master bedroom was downstairs, while the other two bedrooms were upstairs. The master bedroom had an ancient (but not charming at all!) bathtub, and the upstairs bathroom only had a shower. The floor SANK as you stepped on it in places, because the house doesn't have a FOUNDATION!!! It was SO bad. You'd have to pay me $300K to live in that dump! Even Phil agreed that the only thing you could really do with that place is level it and build again.

And if we had that much $$$, it wouldn't be a bad idea. The plus is, of course, a nice, flat lot, with a nice piece of waterfront. So if someone comes along who wants to buy the place and burn it down, and then build something on that lot, they'll have a really nice place, and probably make a quick profit on the deal. However, we don't have that kind of cash. Apparantly, the owners are in the middle of a messy divorce, and are desperate to sell it. I joked with Phil that we could offer them $150K, and then build something on that lot. But I'm sure they wouldn't go for that - that's less than half their asking price. :lol: Anyway, I was glad it was so bad, because it left NO doubt in Phil's mind that that isn't the house for us.

[cimberdog]

Hey I'd offer the $150K anyway and see what they do! I just wouldn't get sucked into anything more than that. Actually if you had an appraisal done of the lot itself you could figure out how much the land is worth and with your offer explain the house would have to be leveled anyway so you aren't paying for anything other than the land and the boat house...If you are first time home buyers, I would STRONGLY recommend you hire a realtor. Strongly strongly recommend!

[Nocona]

Those people are totally insane for trying to sell that crap for that price! I'm glad Phil sees the light now :lol:

[EricaMG]

Hi Anne! :biggrin:

Just joined here, and I'm checking things out. I didn't know you planned to move...shows what I know! And I was going to tell you last week during our get-together that your house was really cute, and that I liked the family-ish neighborhood. I hope you'll sell it easily...sorry if Adam tried to trash it:blush:

What is so desirable about living on a lake anyhow? For the the $$ you have to spend maintaing the house and preventing water damage and what-not, wouldn't Phil be just as happy to but a boat and rent a dock on someone else's property????

Anyway, good luck!

Erica

[AahRee]

Hey I'd offer the $150K anyway and see what they do! I just wouldn't get sucked into anything more than that. Actually if you had an appraisal done of the lot itself you could figure out how much the land is worth and with your offer explain the house would have to be leveled anyway so you aren't paying for anything other than the land and the boat house...If you are first time home buyers, I would STRONGLY recommend you hire a realtor. Strongly strongly recommend!
Kelli, that's a good idea. We really should have an appraisal done of just the property. Or, would the county have that information broken down for tax purposes? Anyway, around here, I'm fairly sure they could get a lot more than $150K for a lake lot. There was a lake lot on our side of the lake that was undeveloped, but right on the water (as opposed to this one, which is actually across the street from the lake itself), and it went for $250K last year. But you never know... apparantly, they're pretty anxious to get rid of it. And we'd have another $150 or so to build with if they actually went for that.

We're not first-time homebuyers, but we'll probably hire an agent, anyway, because I'm pretty sure I don't want to go through the hassle of selling our home myself. We could use the agent who sold us our house (a friend of a friend), but our house was the first house she ever sold, and her father (also a real estate agent) helped her a LOT. I have no idea how competent she is on her own (her father is retired now) and I'd rather not get into a situation where we're unhappy with her work, and it creates problems among our friends. So, we're looking for someone else. And I have SO much to do to get this place ready to sell!

Erica ~ Hi!!! :biggrin: Welcome! I love it here. I'm hardly over at UB at all anymore. Anyway, thank you for the compliments on the house. And no, Adam didn't destroy it! :lol: Phil loves our house, and I like it, but with my lung problems, I don't want to live in a split level if I can help it. Our living areas are spread over three floors, so I'm going up and down the stairs constantly, and my lungs just can't keep up! So that's the main reason we're looking for something else. I'd prefer a ranch-style house, but since those are extremely scarce around here, a two-story would also be fine. Just so long as I can come downstairs in the morning and stay there for most of the day. :lol:

[AahRee]

Those people are totally insane for trying to sell that crap for that price! I'm glad Phil sees the light now :lol:
No kidding! I have to wonder :wtf: they're thinking!!!

[EricaMG]

Anne-

Ranch style houses do seem less common...good luck finding one. And if you do get one, you'll have one less thing to worry about, as Katie won't be able to fall down the stairs.

Erica

[AahRee]

I crack myself up. :roflmao: I just emailed the listing agent an offer of $150K on that dumpy house. I told her that the price was based on the property only, since the house actually depreciates the value of the land. And I based the price on the price of a piece of property that is selling right down the street. It's 30% bigger, has a nice, double-decker dock, and has all the utilities on site, and there's no house to have to bull-doze. It went for $224,500, so my offer of $150K is slightly less than 70% of that, to reflect the smaller lot. :lol: Phil can't stop laughing at me. He's sure they'll call me back and just laugh into our answering machine! :lol:

[Stacy]

:rotflmao: Hey you never know!

[SarahK]

Hey, worth a shot...and the listing agent does have to present ALL offers to the seller...

[AahRee]

Really? OMG, I can't even imagine what they're going to say to that! :lol:

[SarahK]

Makes you want to be a fly on the wall, huh?!

[AahRee]

No kidding! :lol: I can't imagine what kind of response they're going to get! :lol:

[EricaMG]

Soooo, what's the word??? What'd they say to your offer?

My BIL made a crazy low-ball offer on a house like that, and got it! Sometimes people are just really anxious to sell! You never know! And if they accept this, then you can REALLY laugh at Phil! :nod:

Erica

[AahRee]

Erica, I haven't heard anything yet. But Phil made me ALL kinds of promises if we actually got it. He said he'd take me to Paris, and he'd give me total control over the house we built - he'd have NO say whatsoever. :lol: I'd seriously pass out if they accepted it, though! :lol:

[AahRee]

(However... we ARE due for some good luck...)

[EricaMG]

You certainly ARE due for VERY good luck. I'm so sorry to hear of your ongoing health problems, Anne.

Erica

[Brooke]

Did you ever hear back about your "offer"?

[Faye]

I like both houses, but the house you like would be the better investment due to the size of it. :nod: with the first house ofcourse you are paying for the scenery. We currently rent our home and have a lake in our backyard. We pay for that in our rent and it's very high. We are moving soon and I can't wait!

I just read your update on this page. :owow: yuck about the moldy smell. Yep, house #2 is definitely a better deal. or perhaps you could keep looking and find something very close to a lake for what you both want and need. :) Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

[AahRee]

Did you ever hear back about your "offer"?
:lol: Yeah, the real estate agent said they'd entertain an offer of $300K. :lol: I basically laughed at her and said there was NO way. :lol: I'm secretly relieved. I'd really rather just buy that second house. But this was my good-faith effort, for Phil's sake. ;)

Now, since we're not working with an agent yet, we're going to have one of those *we'll buy your house today* agencies come out and tell us what they'd buy our house for. If it's reasonable, we'll do that, and then move in with MIL and FIL until we find a house we want to buy. (Reasonable would be about $12K under the value we had it appraised for, because we'd have to pay an agent at least that much, anyway.) I'm guessing they're going to totally low-ball us, though, so we'll probably wind up doing the whole agent thing. Ugh.

[Karri]

I am going to be the black sheep here. While I am not sure I care for that first house (i cant really see what it looks like), I am all for living on the lake. My parents do and it was WONDERFUL having it as a form of recreation growing up. We still go out there almost every weekend during the summer. Also, I am a fan of older homes. We just bought a 1929 bungalow and I love it. While it needed some work, its got soooo much character and the craftsmanship is just so much better than new homes these days.

[SarahK]

Anne, have you looked into a low commission place like Sutton?

[AahRee]

Karri, I agree with you on both counts, actually. It's just that we really can't afford something *nice* on the lake, and that house we looked at was a total disaster. (No foundation, even!) I think it was built to be a cabin, not a home... and you can definitely tell. I actually love older homes, too, but this particular one is in such a state of disrepair that it isn't even salvagable, IMO. :( I wouldn't mind living on the lake if we could afford something decent there. I even suggested a home that was on a smaller lake, but since you can't waterski on that lake, Phil wasn't interested. :lol:

Sarah ~ nope. I need to get on the ball about selling our house this week. I'll look into that company. I've never heard of them, actually. We do have a friend who is a real estate agent, but I don't really want to use her. I'm not completely confident in her abilities (she's really new to the business) and I'd hate to complicate an already-complicated friendship with an important business transaction. I was thinking that if we wind up going with an agent, we might use the one who showed us that second house. I really liked her. :)

[SarahK]

Sutton Real Estate is based in Mill Creek--they charge a flat 4% commission. They get 1% and they give 3% to the selling agent. http://www.suttonre.com/

[cimberdog]

Oh good grief they'd 'entertain' an offer of $300K? Well let them entertain with someone else then because if they are selling it as a HOUSE it will never pass inspection.

It would be interesting if they come back later after having no luck and entertain your original offer. My guess is that they still owe on it though. DId they actually live there???

[AahRee]

Thanks for the link, Sarah! I'm checking them out right now. :)

Kelli, their agent said she thinks it will go to auction, but that she *knows* that one couple she has talked to will bid up to $280 for it. :rolleyes: If they want to get ripped off, they're more than welcome to! :lol: I don't think they actually lived there - I'm guessing it was a cabin. And I'm also guessing (but this is purely a guess) that it was built by a relative back in 1924, and has been passed down. It definitely seems like something someone just whipped together. I'm glad Phil sees the light, now, though! :lol: It took every bit of strength I had not to burst out laughing on the phone with their real estate agent! :lol:

[AahRee]

We FINALLY found a house we both LOVE!!! :biggrin: However, it's a little more $$ than we really wanted to spend. And we don't have our inheritance money yet, and our house isn't sold, so we can't do anything about it but drool, at this point. I hope everything works out, because if it does, we WILL be buying this house. :biggrin: Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures because it isn't built yet, but we toured the model, and it was everything we both want in a house. Neither of us would change a thing. I'll attempt to describe:

You walk into the formal living room, and then the formal dining room. (No wall between them.) To your right is the staircase to upstairs (but not right in the doorway - there's a coat closet before you get to the stairs, and the coat closet has a little storage area beneath the stairs that would be the perfect little hideaway play area for Katie...). You keep going straight, and you get into the GORGEOUS gourmet kitchen. It has a corner sink and HUGE corner pantry, as well as an island and a bay window in the nook (eating area). The kitchen and nook floor are tile. If you keep going straight some more, you're at the sliders to the backyard (which is a nice size, and has an elementary school behind it, which would be great for Phil. He could apply to work there and would be able to come home for lunch!) To your right is the family room. It's extra-large and has a gas fireplace and media center. Next to that is the laundry room, powder room and door to the garage.

Upstairs: You walk up to a nice-sized landing area, which you could make into the laundry area if you want an upstairs laundry. Across from the landing is the master bedroom, which is a decent size. AND the master bathroom, which is awesome. Double sinks, huge soaking tub, seperate glassed-in shower, HUGE walk-in closet. I could live in the bathroom alone! :lol:

Next to the master are two kid bedrooms, which are a nice size and both have walk-in closets. Finally, at the end of the hall is a loft, which could be a 4th bedroom, but is really cool as a loft. It is open to below (it overlooks the formal dining and livingrooms) and would be an awesome little TV/Computer/playroom type area.

Oh! And there's even a cute little front porch! :biggrin: I'm all tingly, thinking about it. :lol: We NEED to sell our house! :lol:

[AahRee]

Oh, the only downside is the price. It's $279K, and that's with basically no upgrades. So it's a little more than we were thinking of spending. And I'm honestly not sure we'll be able to qualify for a loan for that much, eventhough we'd be putting 20% down. We'll have to figure all of that out!

[Stacy]

That sounds beautiful.

[AahRee]

Thanks Stacy! I was actually just going to pm you about this, but maybe you're still on? Anyway, I was wondering what the likelihood was that they (the builder) would consider a contingency offer? We really can't afford two mortgages, but we LOVE this house, and we'd love to buy it, as soon as ours sells. We'd have to make the offer contingent on the sale of our house and the financing coming through, but do you think they'd do that? Or are we dreaming? I know you know a bit about real estate, so I thought you might know the answer to that!

[Stacy]

I am quite sure that you can make an offer conditional upon the sale of your home even with a builder. All you can do is really try it and see. Around here you can do it.

[AahRee]

Really? I guess it never hurts to try, right? I'll give the buyer's agent a call in the morning, then, I guess! The only trick for us is, our downpayment is going to come from Phil's inheritance, which is being worked out by the lawyers right now. :rolleyes: We have two more steps to do before we actually have it, and while I'm pretty sure we'd have it in time, it's a little scary to think about making an offer without that cash in hand. On the upside, though, we'll easily have 20% to put down, which is good for mortgage rates, I think!

[Karri]

Well dang...I missed your description of that hell-hole :lol:

Your house sounds great!!! I really hope that you guys are able to get it!!!! I used to work for a real estate firm and we had a development company and people would put offers on it with contingencies. But often, the contingencies were counter offered b/c in this market (or the market this past year when I was working), we (the company) knew we could get a buyer w/o having to worry about them selling their home. Sucks. BUt anyway.....BEST OF LUCK to you!!

[AahRee]

Karri, that's what I'm afraid of. :( There are only 4 houses left in the development, and only two of this floorplan. :( I really think we'll have to sell our house fast if it's going to work. And I don't know how fast our house will sell, unfortunately. We're scrambling to get it cleaned-up tonight and tomorrow, and I'll call the real estate agent first thing on Monday to get it listed, but I still think the chances are slim. However, it's definitely worth trying for!

[SarahK]

Oh Anne, it sounds great!!!

[AahRee]

:banana: WE BOUGHT THE HOUSE!!!!!!! :banana:

I'm SOOO excited!!! We made our offer, and acceptance is pretty much a formality, from what I understand, so the house is pretty much ours!!! We did make it conditional on selling our house, but since the house won't be done until May, we're not too worried about it. We'll have the financing set up so that we can remove the contingency if necessary, so we'll get it either way. :banana: I'm shaking and I feel like I'm going to puke. :lol: I can barely sit still enough to type this!!!

Phil is making me sign an agreement stating that we'll never move, and I'm more than happy to. :lol: I ADORE it!!!

I took some pictures of the model, so I'll post those in a second. Our house is basically the same, except for the amazing paint jobs throughout the model, and some upgrades, like cherry cabinets, etc.

OMG!!! We just bought a new house!!! :lol: :banana:

[Stacy]

:woo: I am so happy for you!! :woo:

[gulp!]

Anne, that's wonderful news!!! Congratulations!

[Cortney]

Congrats Anne!!!!!

[AahRee]

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4dc29b3127cceb8797d8609b20000003610

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[AahRee]

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[AahRee]

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[AahRee]

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[AahRee]

Thanks Stacy, Steph and Cortney!!! :biggrin: I swear, I'm going to be walking around with a stupid grin on my face for WEEKS. :lol:

[mcox]

Congratulations!! The house is beautiful!! Any pics of the outside?

Michelle

[AahRee]

No, like a dummy, I completely forgot to take any!!! :doh:

[EricaMG]

It's absolutely gorgeous! Congrads!!! I really like all of the windows, especially the entry way ones.

How big is it? It looks lots bigger than your current house. Do you have enough furniture? We're trying to get rid of a green pappazan chair and some ceramic blue inside planters...you want them???:lol2:

I hope all goes well with the selling of your house...good luck with all of it!!!

Erica

[AahRee]

Thanks Erica! :biggrin:
Yeah, it's a LOT bigger than our current house. Our house is 1750, and the new one is 2409. :eek: And we don't have anywhere near enough furniture, but Phil hates Pappazan chairs with a passion. I had one when we were dating, and he despised that thing. :lol: But thank you, anyway! :biggrin: I think we'll have a pretty empty living room and dining room for a while. Oh well! We have a lifetime to fill them up, and we're REALLY stretching to afford this house, so it will be a while before we can do much with it. As it is, Phil is sweating blood over the increase in our payment, even with 20% down. It's going to be REALLY hard for at least the first year. After that, though, it should be okay, because Phil *should* have his masters by then, and will be making about $500 more per month. So maybe after that, we can think about buying more furniture and things like that. But it won't be for a while. So I'm going to have to be patient... which isn't my strong suit... :lol:

[AahRee]

Oh, and Phil and I were just talking about options. We have $1K that we *have* to use on options, and another $1K that we can use for options or on closing costs. Of course, Phil wants to use it on closing, and I want to use it on options. :lol: So, on to round 2... :lol:

Also, he made me sign something that said we wouldn't ever move again :eek: and that I wouldn't call him a cheapskate ever again. :lol: Wise move on his part. I would have signed away a kidney today, I'm in such a good mood. :lol:

[AmyLynn]

What great news!!!!! :banana:

[Cecily]

:rahrah: Congratulations, Anne! :rahrah:


I am so happy for you guys. I can't wait to see the pics of the outside. I bet you and Katie will be doing a lot of drive bys in the next few weeks, huh? This is just so exciting!!!

One thing I wanted to tell you is that I have a townhouse with an arched window like the one pictured in the Master Bedroom, and it has been really hard to work with. If you plan on getting Plantation Shutters eventually, they are VERY expensive for custom shapes like that. And, even just using curtains is hard with those. I like for my room to be really dark when I sleep, and it was REALLY hard to work something out with that arched window. If they could make it a transom window or something, it would be a lot less expensive to dress.

Cecily

[Stacy]

:hug99: Your new home will be gorgeous!!! Congratulations again!!! :woo:

[mommytheresa]

Thought I would delurk to say

Congratulations!!!! Your new home is BEAUTIFUL!!!!

[AahRee]

Thanks Amy, Cecily, Stacy and Theresa! :bighug: I'm so excited!!! I found a sketch of the elevation in our paperwork, so I'm going to scan it and if it scans well, I'll post it. :biggrin:

[MizLacey]

Anne, it's GORGEOUS!!!!

I'm so happy for you!

[AahRee]

Thank you so much! :biggrin:

Here's the elevation. You have to picture it without the 3rd car garage, though, because ours won't have that. But otherwise, that's our house!

[Cecily]

I love the front porch! That house is beeeyoutiful!

Cecily

[EricaMG]

I think we'll have a pretty empty living room and dining room for a while. Oh well! We have a lifetime to fill them up, and we're REALLY stretching to afford this house, so it will be a while before we can do much with it.
Anne- Don't rush to fill up the house with furniture! Katie will be sooo lucky to have empty rooms where she can run around and play, and you won't have to worry about her breaking the furniture!

When we moved here 5 years ago from Boston (from a TINY one bedroom apartment to a 4 bedroom house!), Josh's company paid for all moving costs. And, because it was free to ship, and we were so desperate for furniture, we ended up hauling a bunch of crud from family memeber that we didn't need. We have his grandparents dining room set, which is very nice, but totally ornate, and completely not functional for our lifestyle right now. We've used it once! I wish we could sell the set and use the room for something else, but because it's so sentimental, we really can't. So, my point is that I wish we had waited to get the right furniture for the room...and I would be VERY happy with having it be an empty room right now.

You don't want my pappazan chair??? What gives???:lol2:

Erica

[SarahK]

Okay, I'm a dummy and didn't realize you BOUGHT A HOUSE when you were sending me those PMs! Congratulations--it is gorgeous!! I love the loft area--I would love to have an area like that for the computer and what-not.

[SarahK]

Oh yeah--we have a totally empty formal living room right now...it's not so bad to have empty rooms...makes vacuuming a lot easier! :lol:

[AahRee]

Cecily ~ Me too! I really wanted a porch!

Erica ~ That makes perfect sense. :nod: Fortunately for us, all of the relatives' stuff is junky, so we wouldn't have to worry about that. :lol: I was laughing earlier, though, because we have a bunch of HUGE pictures of our family, so we could turn the living room and dining room into a family gallery of sorts for a while. :lol:

Sarah ~ :lol: True!!! Thank you for the congrats!

[Kate]

Anne, Congrats on the house, it is beautiful!!

[Nocona]

Congrats! I love that porch. The colums are really cool on it :aok:

[gulp!]

Love the sketch! I'm drooling over your porch. I desperately want a farmer's porch on my next house. We only have a tiny deck right now that you can't do much with. The stinky part of being in a townhouse...

[Karri]

WOW! Congratulations, Anne! Its beautiful!!! I love that it has so many nice big windows...lots of natural light! And those nice high ceilings.....
CONGRATS AGAIN!

[gardner101]

Congrats Anne! Love the house! Will you come work your magic for us!?!!? :awink:

[Kaybee711]

Beautiful house! I bet you will decorate even nicer than that! Exactly what you wanted! YEAY! Paint is cheap you know so you can go crazy with that! How close is it to a lake?

[kim]

congratulations anne! it's gorgeous!

[Leslie]

Woo Hoo! Congrats! That's a nice house! I love the high ceiling in the LR! :)

[JillMelissa]

That's so wonderful, Anne! I'm so excited for you... and of course, ridiculously jealous as I continue to wallow in angst. :lol: 2400 square feet, huh? It looks really spacious. That gives me some encouragement that the 2300-sq ft one I'm looking at will be a nice size after all!

[Cortney]

How beautiful!!!! :yippee: You're going to have SO much fun!

[Nichole]

Congratulations, Anne! What a beautiful house! :yippee:

[AahRee]

Thanks, everyone! :biggrin: We're really excited. I talked to Phil some more last night, and he's getting more and more excited about it. We drove past it again last night, and decided that of all the lots in the development, we'd have chosen ours, so it was fate that it was still available for us! I have an appointment to go pick out colors and options tomorrow morning. I'm trying to talk Phil into getting the white trim throughout, but it's expensive. The standard is maple, but the house has white 6-panel doors, and I think they look funny with maple trim. But it's not the end of the world if it doesn't happen. We're really lucky just to be in the house, and if it came down to a choice between a different (cheaper) house with white trim, and this one with maple, I'd choose this one, hands down. :nod: We're going over all the options now, trying to figure out what is important to do now and what can wait. Most things can wait, fortunately! We have $1000 of their money to spend on options, and we have to match that, basically, so that's about $2000 for options, and we'd like to stay close to that, if possible. If we wait on the garage door openers (they're seriously overcharging for them) and stick with the basic fixtures (which I really like, actually), we can use most of that to upgrade the flooring and counters. I think we're definitely going to get a glass door for the pantry and glass cabinet doors for the kitchen, though. I'm actually taking my MIL over to the model later this morning, to preview the option choices with me. :woo: This is definitely the fun part!

[AahRee]

How close is it to a lake?
:lol: That's the best part, IMO. We're actually FURTHER from the lake in this house. :lol: But Phil loves the location, anyway. So we're both happy, and Katie has a nice neighborhood (full of little kids!!!) to play in! And she'll be able to walk to school for elementary and high school, and ride a bike to middle school. It's a GREAT location!

[JillMelissa]

You know, that still seems so strange to me that they consider white trim an upgrade! But I totally agree that your option money would be better used on flooring and countertops than boring old trim! :)

[gardner101]

Anne - you can always paint over the maple trim if you want. It shouldn't be hard to paint over stain! I'd definitely choose to upgrade the flooring & counters first, much harder to upgrade those once you're in than it is to paint some trim!

[SarahK]

I've heard that when you're upgrading carpeting, you're much better off upgrading the pad than the actual carpet.

Oh, I'm so excited for you!!! :supergrin:

[BeckyEsq]

Hi Anne! Just stopping in to check out your house pictures, it looks like it will be beautiful! We built a few years ago and we are very happy with our new house. Congratulations!