We're back!

It's been about three months since I've updated this, and perhaps you're wondering why. 

When I last updated, we were waiting for Jon's bosses to make a decision regarding his employment status. At the time (and based on the way it was explained to Jon), he would either be hired on full-time, or given another contract extension. Our mortgage was contingent on his being hired full time, and fingers were crossed. Then one day, just after the first of the year, Jon came home with some bad news--the company (a small start-up) was more or less through. They were letting nearly everyone go, and his last day would be at the end of that week.

The super lame part about this, is that his direct boss had known about this for over a month, and instead of telling Jon to start looking for another job, he continued to allow him to believe that everything was ok, and that full-time employment with the company was close on the horizon. Why? Because he didn't want to "ruin the holidays" for us. I was more than a little upset. 

Fortunately, my husband is skilled, intelligent, and relentless. He was able to find a new and better job in just a couple of weeks. The company he works for now is profitable, stable, and able to offer benefits and a much better salary than he was making before. We were back in business!

We had to start the mortgage process all over, but the seller has been very patient with us, and pretty much all that's changed is some of the information we submit to the mortgage company. Jon recently got his first paycheck from his new job, so we're really moving along quickly now. 

We have to close on the house before the end of the month (per our contract), and there's still so much to do...which is exactly how I like it! I'll be updating this regularly from now on, so check back soon!

I leave you with this:

My little "helpers". They're actually rather terrible at helping, but they're pros at standing on the boxes and glaring at me.

Home Inspection - Part 1!

We had our home inspection last Saturday. I was super nervous going into it--I just kept cycling through possible horrifying scenarios in my head: "What if there are rats!?", "What if there is tons of damage from the fire last year!?", "What if the basement floods!?", and eventually, after finding out from our agent that the seller intended on being present the entire time, "What if the seller is mean and defensive and changes his mind about selling us the house?!".

None of that happened. In fact, the inspection went so well that we left the house that day even more in love with it than we were before.


We rolled up to the house bright and early. It was in the low 20's, and there was snow on the ground. Not ideal conditions for an inspection, but we didn't really run into any problems.

Our agent was there, but she only stayed for a few minutes. I found this a little strange, but we didn't really need her around for anything, so it was fine. The seller stayed the entire time, but kept out of our way and wasn't intrusive in the least. He's actually a very nice man, whose parents had bought this house when it had first been built, and lived it in until the end of their lives. The aforementioned fire had started while his mother lived there alone, and she had to move in with him while the repairs were being done. She died before it was ready to move back in.The seller said that he had done many of the repairs himself, and could answer any questions about them, which is why he wanted to stay for the inspection. He had intended to make this house as safe, and strong, and efficient as possible for his mom, and as we went through the house, this became quite evident.

 
The first thing we did was head outside. The driveway and sidewalks surrounding the house are virtually crack-free, though the porch has settled some over the lifespan of the house, and, while it isn't a hazard now, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world for us to consider replacing it at some point.


One of my favorite things about this house is the patio in the back yard. There's a sliding door in the current-family-room-soon-to-be-dining-room that leads out onto it, and I think we can make it a really pleasant place to spend some time once it's warmer outside. Imagine it with no snow, better landscaping, and that gross old table replaced by a nice one. Anyway, aside from some foliage growing too close to the house, and a recommendation that we use some fill-dirt to slope any rainwater away from the foundation (a project the seller has already started!), everything looked great!

Unfortunately, the roof was covered in snow, so it wasn't safe for our inspector to go up there. Fortunately, the roof is only a year old, under warranty, and from what he could tell from looking (on the ground and in the attic), in great shape.

After examining downspouts, gutters, and everything else on the outside of the house, we made our way into the garage. I'm not going to go outside to take a picture of the garage at our current house, in Hamtramck, but imagine a 100 year old brick cube with no lights, no windows, and a garage door that only works sometimes and that is so rusty that it's almost split completely in half. Compared to that, the garage on our new house is a castle. Unfortunately, I don't have any good pictures of the entire garage, in fact, this is the best one:

..but it's so clean, and white, and bright in comparison. It has a window, the inside walls are made of drywall, and can be painted, and the door is new. The only downside is that we have to buy the little box and door-opener, but it's wired up and ready to go as soon as we do.


After a lot of  ladder-wrangling, false-starts, and serious acrobatics on the part of our inspector, it was attic time! The attic in this house is tiny, and is pretty much just a place for insulation to go. The entrance is up in a closet, and is nearly impossible to get to. One of the first things the seller told us that day was that we weren't likely to find a house in town that was better insulated than this one. Turns out, he was telling the truth! The inspector came down giddy about the strength of the beams, the quality of the repair that had been done, and indeed, of the insulation. I don't think I'll ever be giddy about insulation, but I'm pretty stoked about low heating bills and being a comfortable temperature.

After that, it was time to check out the dreaded basement. Here's some exclusive footage:

Love you, Dad.

Anyway.

I was super nervous about the basement, because this is our future block when we get a substantial amount of rain:

This picture is from two weeks ago.

The seller told us that since the building of the house, the basement has never flooded. He also said that he noticed a small trickle of water coming down one of the walls after the last hard rain we had, and that he had it professionally repaired. The inspector confirmed this, and thus alleviated one of my biggest fears as a homeowner! Hooray!

The basement of this house is partially finished. We are considering finishing it, but if we decide to, it won't be for a little while. In the meantime, it's pretty large, and with a little bit of work, we can turn it into a decent place to set up a fooseball table and a a place to play boardgames.


I'm not going to post any more pictures of the basement right now, because it all looks pretty much like this. Not exciting. There's an ancient washer and dryer down there that I'm hoping aren't included with the house. There's a makeshift room with walls made of wood panelling, the knocking down of which will be our first act as homeowners.All of the windows are currently glass block, and we plan on replacing a couple of them so that we can get some ventilation should we want some.

If brevity is the soul of wit, I'm afraid this entry is in danger of becoming quite dull. With that in mind, I'm stopping here and slapping a "Part 1!" on the title. I'll post the second part sometime soon, so if you're interested in hearing about what was found upon inspecting the rooms, water heater, and furnace, keep your eyes peeled. We should have the results of the radon test then, so I'll include that as well.

Oh, one last thing: I've used PicturePaste to instantly paste these pictures from the PDF Inspection Report into Blogger, and would recommend this quick little download to anyone else who wants to quickly paste images from PDF files. It's easy as pie and a serious timesaver!

First post!

This is Jon. He is a computer programmer, philosophy instructor, and by all accounts, a very nice man. 

This is Chrissy. She is a full-time student, and author of this blog. Jon is much nicer than she is.

Chrissy and Jon are married. This is where they currently live, in Hamtramck, Michigan. They rent a house there.

Hamtramck is a small city surrounded on all sides by Detroit. It has a lot of culture, bars, restaurants, festivals, and shops.

Unfortunately, it also has a lot of arson, theft, vandalism, and blight. So far, Jon and Chrissy have had their car broken into, and their garbage cans and back gate stolen. The house next door to theirs is abandoned and creepy. 

This is Allen Park, a small city about 30 minutes south of Hamtramck. It is closer to Jon's work and Chrissy's school. It is closer to many of their family and friends' houses. It is closer to their doctor, dentist, veterinarian, gym, and everywhere else they ever go. Jon and Chrissy have decided to move here.

Allen Park isn't nearly as cool as Hamtramck. But Jon and Chrissy don't mind. You see, they aren't very cool either. 

This is the house that Jon and Chrissy will be moving into. The seller has accepted their offer and, pending inspection, they will be moving in some time in January. It is in a subdivision called Princeton Estates. Jon and Chrissy are extremely excited to own a home of their very own, in a neighborhood that they love. 

Hey everyone! I've decided to write this blog as a chronicle of our first home-buying experience. Here I will post updates about the buying process, the moving process,  and eventually, about the renovations that we're doing. I'll try to keep it relevant, entertaining, and informative. 

Hopefully, our experience can be helpful to other first-time home-buyers, or at the very least, allow our friends and family to feel  as though they know a little bit about what's going on in our lives. 

The house we're buying is a 1300 sq foot ranch, with 3 bedrooms and 1.5 bathrooms. Everything in it is updated, but we still plan on doing some renovations so that it is more suitable to our tastes and lifestyle. The projects we intend to take on include:

• Painting the entire house--all the walls are currently white!
• Pulling up most of the (brand new) carpet, and laying resilient plank flooring.
• Converting the family room into a dining room, and the (currently eat-in) kitchen into a large kitchen with a pantry and an island.
• Weeding and landscaping.
• Finishing the basement (pending inspection--if it's likely to flood often, we might skip this one).
• Designing and decorating every room to fit our needs and personalities. After renting for years, we're both more than ready to have a place that really feels like a reflection of who we are.

This Saturday, we are having the home inspected. I'm a little nervous, because the seller stated that there was a fire in the kitchen last year, and even though it appears as though everything has been replaced, repaired, and updated, I know that sometimes fires can damage the upper beams of the house...and that's a serious foundation issue. It's scary to know that the possibility exists, however unlikely, that we will not be moving into this house. The odds of us finding another place this perfect for us anytime soon (in terms of price, location, and amenities) isn't very likely, and the thought of staying in our current rental house in Hamtramck any longer than we have to is...depressing, to say the least.

I'm a worrier, but I'm trying to stay optimistic! Really! It's just scary to get so excited about something when there's even a slight chance that it won't work out. I'll update this blog with the findings of the inspection, so check back this weekend if you're interested!