GOGO Gadget! July 24, 2010

That’s right, we had our home inspection this afternoon!  It went… okay.  We are still moving ahead but there were a few curve balls thrown our way.

The first problems were electrical.  The plugs in the kitchen are not GFI protected but after further investigation they are at the breaker (I didn’t even know that was possible).  The bathrooms are not grounded so there will be a little work there for safety reasons.  The rest of the house has two prong outlets, so no ground anywhere.  We will have to run a few dedicated lines in order for surge protectors to work. 

The next set of problems was plumbing.  The water lines are all galvanized steel that are getting close to the end of their life span.  That is something I’d like to get fixed before winter.  I would rather not ignore this problem and have something go wrong this winter. 

Everything else was cosmetic.  The upstairs was once a separate apartment and has an extra electrical service up there.  That will make life easier if we ever decide to add an extra air conditioner to cool the space.  The AC is 22 years old, but it’s still running good.  No insulation in the second floor.  The second story deck needs some sturdy-ing up.  The fireplace needs to be re-tuckpointed.  New sump pump and basement needs sealed and cleaned.  Aluminum siding needs some TLC.  Plaster has effervescence in the living room. 

All and all: nothing major, just a good sized honey do list.  We will have the report tomorrow to actually go through, this was all from memory. 

Are we brave, or just crazy, or maybe a little of both?

 xoxo – Manda

Woo-Hoo! July 17, 2010

I will post more updates later, but it looks like our offer was APPROVED! *Some major excitable dancing going on over here*

There were other offers on the property so we went ahead and offered $56,000.  Neither one of us wanted to lose out over $1000.

We are on our way right now to add $250 more to the earnest money.  Having a total of $500 was one of the contingences of our offer being accepted, but that’s not a big deal.  After that we have to get all the inspectors and appraiser in, if all goes well we will close on August 16^th.

A late birthday present to Wolfy and in plenty of time to set up our backyard as the perfect backdrop for our wedding.

 xoxo – Manda

*more jumping and squealing*

Fabric Frame July 10, 2010

While we were redoing the bathroom at our rental I was having no luck at all finding frames I like.  The bathroom had been painted a light tan and a light brown (stay tuned for pictures of that later).  Similar colors are also on the shower curtain with a green base.  I wanted to find two frames that would hold multiple pictures and would go together.  After searching several stores I could not find what I was looking for, so I decided to make my own.  I ended up covering two frames in a fabric napkin.   Here’s how:

Step One:

Gather your supplies:

Frame

Fabric (like I said I used a napkin, but anything from remnants to an old tee-shirt would work)

Staple Gun

Glue (I used Beacon Adhesives’ Fabri-Tac)

Screwdriver/pliers (something to pull out staples that got away from you)  

 

Step Two:

Lay the frame on the fabric.  Turn over to make sure you like where the pattern on the fabric will hit the frame.

 

Step Three:

Cut the fabric to size

 

Step Four:

On the top pull the fabric tight and staple, repeat on the bottom.

 

Step Five:

Fold one edge over and staple

 

Step Six:

Repeat  step four and five on the sides.  Turn over and make sure everything has been pulled tight.

 

 

Step Seven:

Draw a square.  Make sure there is enough fabric to cover the supports and be hidden

Step Eight:

Cut the square out.  Slit the coroners.  Apply glue and fold flaps back.  You may have to hold it for a little bit until it gets sticky and holds.  Make sure the fabric has been pulled tight.

Step Nine:

Allow to dry. 

Step Ten:

Load up with pictures and hang!!

Garden Update – Second Week of July July 10, 2010

How about a picture of the whole front garden to start things off this week!

 

Not too many new blooms this week.

Look at the Hibiscus:

Out of the three, this guy is the tallest and first to bloom.

In the back the Rudbeckia has started to bloom:

I am kind of surprised to see it, our resident ground hog has eaten a few blooms off already this year.

The Third House July 10, 2010

After looking at four houses, we made our mind up.  The Third House is the one we hope to make ours.  This morning we called the realtor to tell her of our intentions. 

The house is priced at $54,900 and is a foreclosure.  Great news!  However we have to come in with our strongest offer we can (or wish to).  Foreclosures like this don’t happen very much around here and most of them aren’t even close to this good of condition or price, which means there is a lot of competition.  Monday when we hope to make our offer so will several other people.  We are going in strong with an offer of $55,000 and hopefully try to get our bank to agree to close in three weeks instead of four.

Which brings us to another interesting point, our loan is for the multi-family home that we first looked at.  So Monday first thing we have to get ahold of the bank to change the loan.  Hopefully it will be okay, as the plan is to ask for less ($50,000).

Property Virgins – Part II July 10, 2010

The Fourth House (1900 sq ft):

A three bedroom, one bath with kitchen, dining room, living room, and full basement

 

 

Pros:

BIG (huge rooms and bedrooms)

Great hardwood under carpet

Huge master suite (open second floor)

Tall ceilings

Big closets

Tons of storage

Full basement could be finished (possibly)

Cons:

Small backyard

Gutters need fixed

Roof might need replaced

Needs all new windows

Has no appliances

Has been sitting for almost 2 years

Garage far away from house (on a separate half lot)

Need to replace hot water heater and maybe furnace

Verdict: It has some great potential.  It could be an amazing house, but it could be a money pit. 

xoxo – Manda

Property Virgins: To Find Our Wolf Den July 8, 2010

No word yet on the house we put an offer in on.  The realtor says it may be a short sale, or it may not be no one has let her know anything at all yet.  So today we took time out from our projects and went to look at 3 more houses.

The first house (1274 sq ft):

A charming little one story ranch with three bedrooms, one bath, a living room, and an extra den with fireplace

 

Front room with big windows and new carpet

Once upon a time a porch now an extra living space

Pretty hardwood

Side yard

Backyard… look at the neighbors nice fence

 

Pros:

Nice size yard

Nice hardwoods

New carpet in the living room

The extra living space

The Cons:

Tiny bedrooms

Gas everything (I dislike gas with a passion, even to cook on, we just don’t get along)

One bath

Verdict: Nice, but dated.  We would have some work ahead of us (a total kitchen reno for starters), but it has great potential to be a really nice house.

The Second House (842 sq ft):

A one story bungalow with (alleged) three bedrooms, one bath, and a partial unfinished basement

Front Door (Notice the two types of foundation)

Loved the arch

“Hi Paul, hows the wife and kids?” – Can you say awkward?

Oh look, theres the rest of the window

Pros:

Red front door

Like the buttresses?

Pretty trim

Arches inside

Cons:

No parking

No appliances

Not only does it have a Jack and Jill bathroom but it also has a Jack and Jill closet

No gutters

Short basement

3^rd bedroom can never really be a bedroom, just an office

And to top it off massive foundation issues

Verdict:

Pass.

Third House (1250 sq ft):

A one and a half story foreclosure with three bedrooms (one has been converted into a laundry room), 1 ¾ baths, and unfinished basement in a good part of town

 

Front room with fireplace

Amazing kitchen; sorry for the blur, I got excited!

Upstairs… master suite

The view from the bedroom (look at that backyard!)

Pros:

Amazing kitchen (updated appliances and cabinets)

Close to a nice park

Huge, lovely back yard

Deck off the upstairs

One and three quarter bath with one being off suite of the master

Wood burning fireplace in front room

Cons:

Basement is wet (have to have an inspector look at it, most likely it is due to the sump pump not being turned on)

All carpet needs ripped out

Lots of cosmetic work

There may not be much (if any) insulation in the upstairs

Verdict: Where do we sign?

The third house was something we fell in love with and intended to make an offer on.  However, before we can do that we have another appointment to look at one more house tomorrow.  It all hangs in the balance of what tomorrow’s house looks like.

xoxo – Manda

Pretty in Pink July 2, 2010

My name is Manda and I have a problem.  When I visit my mother I like to steal some of her pretty flowers.  That’s right, last weekend when I was there (sorry for the delay!) I took another vase of pretties home with me. 

This time I had an idea of what I wanted rather than just flowers.  I went with a sweet pink and white color scheme.  A pink hydrangea was the starting point and it grew from there.  The arrangement also has Shasta Daisies, one white rose, Coconut lime coneflowers, several other pink cone flowers, a hosta leaf for some greenness and some decorative grass for the same purpose.  I think it turned out nice, what about you?

xoxo – Manda

Garden Up Date – 1st Weekend of July July 2, 2010

So it isn’t really the first weekend for everyone, but for us it is!  I also realize this isn’t an update as pictures of our garden have yet to get out there on the blog. 

Garden Specs:

The one in the front yard of the rental is about 25 feet long and two feet wide.  It houses a large lily bed along with several different perennials and a few annuals we’ve put in for splashes of color.  It curves around the front steps and includes more annuals on one side and miniature roses on the other.  In a little 1’x1.5’ area next to the garage we ripped out a huge monster of a weed last year and planted some tiger lilies (which much to our surprise doubled and need more space desperately).

In the back yard we added a 6’X3’ raised bed.  Half of it houses ornamental flowers, the other half a mass of tomato and pepper plants (we may have slightly over bought on the first category).

As for the new bloomers…

In the front yard…

The orange tigers:

I’m the one hiding behind the tigers

For the small space we were quite shocked at how well they grew up.

Tomato Soup Coneflower:

So much better than Campbell's

I love the red color.  Situated between hibiscus and sedum plants it’s sure to be quite an eye catcher later on.

Random Oriental Lily:

Not the Salmon Star I was promised, but still an eye catcher

She is gorgeous, and smells divine but her name is unknown to me.

In the back yard…

Fragrant Return Daylily:

A wonderfully buttery yellow was a nice surprise to us one morning last week.

Veggies:

Shhh… you can’t see us!

Yes those huge creatures in front of us are tomato plants; and look at those jalapenos go!

Getting that perfect shot June 25, 2010

I am a photo fanatic.  I love taking pictures of anything and having my picture taken.  Which means when we are traveling I spend a lot of time using my 10-second delay feature to get pictures with Wolfy and I both.  Using this technique I have had great success, but have always been limited.  The picture had to be set up in such a way that the camera could be sitting on the ground or on something that the land provided us.

Not anymore!  I bought a Joby Gorillapod the other day.  It has to be the best $15 I have ever spent. 

The camera attaches to it and then you have the freedom of the three (very bendable) legs to place your camera anywhere you can imagine.  It enabled us to capture some great pictures today without worrying about the camera falling to its death.  It can also be used as a great little tri-pod to steady your hand.

The only regret I have about this one is not buying it the first time I saw it months ago.