Welcome Home, Moose...

Clockwise from left: Moosey gets some much needed holiday cheer; Wall cabinets gets a taste of the Jerman wrath; Original oak flooring hiding below some hideous parquet flooring.

So it's safe to say that we are diligently working in our new home by the lack of posts on this blog. But I am just bursting with post contents and overwhelmed at the same time with the flurry of house related activities. Our blog silence really speaks volumes.

But I have been meaning to do a bit of post about what we've done so far after getting our keys.

It's been just a day over a week ago that we actually closed, and with the holidays right smack in the middle of things, you'd think that we'd have yet to spend a minute in our new place. In fact, we've spent almost every waking moment we've had, tearing down cabinets and wallpaper, and opting for a shortened holiday at home to maximize vacation time on the house.

First things first, since we bought a short sale, we wanted to make sure to get our locks changed out right away. And what a perfect excuse to start setting the theme for hardware in the house too! We chose an antiqued black finish locks and knobs on both the front and side door (which coincidentally matched perfectly with our Moose knocker) and even got a fancy keypad deadbolt for the side door, which immediately made me feel like we've updated this century old home to the technology savvy age. We are just one step closer to our very own smart home..

And speaking of dear ol' Moosey, she's also found her new home upfront and center stage on our solid wood front door. Sadly, we had to cover her up temporarily as we hung up a wreathe (and a little bit of Christmas cheer) right on top of her head. Sorry Moosey!

Then from day one, we were on a tear of terror and destruction as we ripped, demolished, and smashed (ok, we were a lot more delicate than that) wallpaper and decades old kitchen cabinets. Actually, we were careful enough to salvage a lot of the cabinets for repurposing in the garage or basement, so destruction wasn't quite our MO (it just sounded cooler)

We also discovered (during our reign of destruction) that the dated parquet on the kitchen floor hid the original oak floors underneath and is currently giving us hope of salvaging and refinishing those beautiful old floors. But we've got a lot of work digging ahead of us since the parquet are glued down pretty tight. Oh and I forgot to mention the sticky laminate underneath said parquet and atop the original floors. Oh joy!

Underneath the parquet and laminate,
original oak flooring waiting to be brought back to life.
Also note,  even more hideous wallpaper
hidden behind the cabinets.  

So the past week has been one part jolly and another part folly (ha! both applying to the house and the long drive home to Michigan for the holidays) but we can't wait for our sweat equity and hard work to pay off in spades when we're enjoying our new tranquil kitchen and home in a few month's time. (We can't wait for our walls to come down, I am itching to take a sledge hammer to it, but I have a feeling that I am no match for this old house)

In the meantime, we're going through the rigmarole of contractors and bids that we can't even keep our schedules straight, let alone blog. Sad :(. Busy, busy.. but we're still in new house bliss with our heads to the cloud, feet off the ground, and there ain't nothin' keepin' us down!

And for that awkward (albeit) essential,
carrying over the threshold photo.. Poor Steve..

Hope everyone had a very Happy Holidays and have a Happy New Year! So far, this coming year is holding a lot of promise for us already, in more ways than we can think of!

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We got the house!! Part Two

As of 5:15 pm on December 21, 2012, we've become official owners of a new, long yearned for, short sale house. After a 2 month wait for the ss approval and 3 extended closing dates, it felt like forever and I never thought I would say this, but the house is finally ours! (Yahoo!!)

I am still in complete shock and awe, overjoyed, overcome with anxiety among other things. And this close to the holidays, it's safe to say that I AM FREAKIN' OUT, MAN!!

I'll probably have to sit down another time and write in another post about the gory details of the process and the current state of the house (OUR house!!!), but I will make sure to do so when I am not in such a frenzied mental state. (And this post is coming from a few hours and a good short night's sleep later after closing) I am just in that much disbelief and its taken me about that long to realize what we just did.

So here's to new beginnings, a new year, a new life lived, and century old homes gaining new families and memories. May the coming years be kind to us all, through thick and thin, surviving renovations and new neighborhoods.

And let's hope the Mayans were correct in predicting that doomsday (the timely date that was chosen for our closing) is not about the end of life as we know it, but the end of an era and a new beginning, and a good one at that!

Cheers to everyone and hope everyone enjoys their holiday season!

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UPDATE: We got the House!

Whoomp, there it is!

As of noon on this VERY Happy Friday (today is a two-fer Friday post), Steve, Olive, our dog Erin, and myself are moving into a new (old) house!  I expected this day not to come for awhile since the house is a short sale, but a month and a half of patience and wishful thinking later, the house has been approved. Yippee!  And I won't even apologize for the excess amount of exclamation points in this post, because that doesn't even express how excited I am for this day to come (wait for it..) !!!

I was going to wait to post a photo of our new crib, but in the spirit of not-waiting-anymore.. here she is  in all her charming glory.  Grab your bibs, and get ready to do some droolin' (ooooh... ahhhhh)

Isn't she beautiful??  She's almost perfect in every way, just a few updating/maintenance items (gutters, siding, kitchen update, 2nd bathroom, radon mitigation..the list goes on)  but I wouldn't have her any other way.  We're in love (but not in the crazy TLC show, kind of love)

So tell me, have/did you guys feel/felt this excited about buying your/a house (that you just can't hide it)??

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How sweet it is...

Happy Sweetest Day everyone!

I know our morning just got sweeter when we got this text from our realtor..

Optimistically should have the approval on the second [lender] in the next 10-14 days.

We also got this yesterday as part of our updates.

[the house] is looking good. Just need 2nd lien approval. Working on it Daily

hope your day is just as.. well.. sweet! :)

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Halfway there..

Update.

We wanted to see progress. And today we got it. Today, my hubby Steve received this text from our realtor.

Hi Steve,

I have the first lien approved with [1st lender], still waiting for the second lien approval. The investor on the first lien cut some of the fees, namely the attorney fee and closing cost fee. We are short $500 of those combined. Other than that, it looked good!

...reason enough for a happy dance! Yay!

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Much ado about ... everything

Whoever said "Patience is a virtue" must have never had to wait for a lender to hear about a short sale.  Right.. so moving right along.. 

Although the house we are in the process of buying is sold as-is, hubby and I thought it would be wise to get an inspection done, just for our peace of mind.  As we followed the house inspector while he looked at every nook and cranny of said home, I couldn't help imagine myself already living there.

So I came around to wondering, am I setting myself up for disappointment? is my innocent daydreaming bad for my emotional health?  I'm not alone in this, hubby is so convinced that the deal is done, he started buying things for the house already!   

The other day at work, I found myself doodling about how I'm planning on opening up the kitchen and the finishes that I would choose... from the subway tile backsplash, open shelving, apron front sink and even down to the vintage adjustable barstools. 



dream kitchen... or just a dream.



Am I insane?  I've read countless blogs and internet articles about the  short sale process.  Buyer loves home, agrees to wait. Bank takes their time even acknowledging the sale. Buyer's patience grows thinner.  Bank finally begins the process.  Buyer's hope renews.  Bank goes through negotiations. Buyer's wait again. And again. And again.  Months later, Bank finally agrees and approves short sale. Buyer moves on, finds another home, and cancels bid.  --And that's a scenario where the bank actually approves.

And to this point, though thoroughly warned, I start to question my stamina.  How long can we really hang on? We love the house. I mean we really love the house.  Can I handle the rejection of not getting the house? 

Anyways, that's enough self-doubting for the day.  After the inspection, everything seems to be mostly in great working order, just a lot of maintenance type things that comes along with a turn of the century home.  Looks like quite a bit of a list, but manageable.  Here's hoping, we actually get to do any of it!

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The VERY long and short of it... a dream house pending

Call me Ishmael...

hi there, welcome to my new blog! :)  I want to share my adventures in buying our first "old house", turning those keys and living the American dream....  ...  WELL-- not quite yet.. 

So here's the rub.  Hubby and I are, and have been, in the process of purchasing this beauty of a short sale.  A 1909 Post-Victorian American Foursquare, a "prairie box" as they are sometimes called, in a lovely little New England Style town just outside of Chicago.  We've been searching for over a year now for an "in-town" home, in a great school district (for the tot), with vintage charm up the wazoo.  We've seen a lot, placed several offers, lost several bids.. and just when we were in our darkest real estate hours.. there she was, all shiny with a come hither look.  She is, for lack of a better term, our great white whale.  And just like that, our bid was placed.  Several days, and lots of grey hairs later, it was accepted. Huzzah!

We are hoping the short sale gods spare us with a very quick process.  It'll be one month this Thursday since the sellers accepted our bid and so far the bank has acknowledged the forms and is going through a processor right now.

Maybe this blog about fixing up a home, that isn't yet ours, is quite a bit premature.  Perhaps this will be more a blog about the process of buying a short sale that'll help someone out there thinking of suffering through the same.  Or maybe this will be just about life.. in general. ...  Let's just say that I will blog all about it either way and leave it at that. Stay tuned!

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