I Want To Throw Up

I closed on my house in Texas.  Or thought I did.  Right after I signed the papers I got an email from my realtor saying that the foundation repair people detected a sewer problem that had to be fixed before they would provide the warranty.

Today, a plumber scoped the line and found a crack in the pipe smack dab in the middle of the house, plus massive tree roots in the line in the yard.  To fix it (which I have to do in order to sell this god-awful, money pit, soul sucking monstrosity), will cost me $22,000.  No, that's not a misprint.  $22k.

Of course I'm getting another opinion, but right now I want to curl up in a ball in a corner and suck my thumb.  Right after I throw up.

It's Getting REAL

My house in Texas is still under contract - yahoo!  Now the foundation repair people are ready to go in and fix the foundation there.  The costs for that will be taken out of my closing proceeds, so I guess it's not that big of a deal.  The closing date is unusually far out - August 31; my realtor assures me that they're doing all possible to speed it along and close sooner.  Tomorrow would be nice.

And, drum roll...I close on my construction loan Friday morning!  A few days after that, my contractor will get the first part of the money, and ground breaking can begin.

The estate sale for my Mom's house is scheduled for August 8-9, and after that we'll get it deep cleaned and on the market.

My stress level this summer has been through the roof (work has been very challenging of late too).  I can feel the tension in my jaw and in my shoulders; I have to conciously force myself to unclench at times.

But here's to my new life in Minnesota - I finally am about to realize my dream of a house in the woods...with chickens.

Rolling Along

My Texas house is under contract for the third time.  I'll know Friday (the end of the option period) if this time might be the charm.

And I own a lovely 5 acres of woods.  Yes, I closed on that property, and we're just waiting on the appraisal for the construction loan to be approved.  My contractor texted me yesterday that he had just gotten off the phone with the appraiser, so I'm hopeful that construction should be able to start soon!

In addition to my Texas house, my siblings and I are going to sell my Mom's house now that my stepfather has moved into assisted living.  First step is the estate sale, which is scheduled for August 8-9.

This has been a summer that will go down in history as one of the most exciting, challenging, and stressful ever.  And it's not over yet!

Lovely Thunder

Yesterday was the postcard perfect day here in lake country - sunny, warm, with a little breeze to cool you down.  One of those days you save in your memory banks for the dreary winter days to come.

Today, it's raining, and that's perfect too.  The thunder is that gentle, off-in-the-distance kind that doesn't scare the bejeezus out of you, and isn't accompanied by bright flashes of lightning.  It's the kind of day made for baking frittatas (spinach, bacon, cheese in the oven) and doing nothing much.  The air smells sweet, and my garden appreciates the moisture as much as I do.

Grace the cat is happy, laying on her bed with her eyes half-lidded and her chin on the edge of the chair.  She got some catnip earlier, which made her alternate between rolling in the stuff and climbing into my lap to thank me.  I think she loves Minnesota as much as I do.

On the home selling/building front, I close on my 5 acres of woods next Friday.  Finally, something is going right.  My house in Texas has been under contract twice now, and both have fallen through.  It doesn't look like building is going to start until close to August, so I'm starting to wonder where I'm going to live over the winter if my house isn't ready for occupancy by the time the snow flies.

But all of that is just noise in the background, while I listen to the rain and the lovely thunder.  That frittata is gonna taste even better today!

Strange Courting Rituals

In my quest to build a house, I've worked with many people, including a very nice young lady at the tile and flooring place here in town.  My second visit there, she asked if I was married - I said "no, never have been; no kids".  She asked if I might be interested in going on a blind date with her father-in-law then?

I'm trying to adapt to my new home and get to know as many people as possible in the community, so I said "sure, why not".

Later that day she called to ask me if she could give him my phone number, which I agreed to.  That very night he called, much to the amusement of my family members sitting in the kitchen taking my turns at the board game while I chatted with him.  He promised to call another day to set up a dinner date.

This afternoon he called again.  This region has a very strange courting/mating ritual that I am unfamilar with.  I'm used to meeting someone for coffee/a drink/dinner at a neutral place, or meeting with mutual friends.  But this guy?  He has extra sunfish that he caught that he wants me to have, and wants to come by my camper to deliver them.

So is it a courting ritual to give a girl a fish on the first date?  Is this a Minnesota thing?  I'm so confused!

Champagne Taste, Beer Budget

I have definite visions in mind most of the time when it comes to design.  I know that I don't want a cookie cutter builder grade house, nice as that might be.  I'm going to be paying for my vision the rest of my life it appears.  But, considering that this is my "forever" home, that's okay with me.

I went back to the dating site tile and flooring store this morning to pick out fireplace surround for the bedroom side of the fireplace, and the design consultant, who loves my vision, asked if she could set me up on a blind date with her father-in-law.  Sure, why not?  I could do worse than have a future daughter-in-law that thinks I rock.

Here's some of my vision - first up, the fireplace (see through to the master bedroom) as seen from the living room:



On the bedroom side, think white mantel, with this tile surround, which is 3D marble in a basket weave pattern:



For the master bath, shower (no tub), with 2 pedestal sinks and this tile:



Kitchen sink faucet (if I can afford it, which remains to be seen)?



Laundry room floor:



Kitchen cabinets haven't been designed yet, but my vision there is only lower cabinets, with open shelves above.  If it ain't pretty, it won't go on the shelves.  I have a huge pantry where most of my kitchen crap neccessities will go, and I'll still have the lower cabinets and the island for storage.

The style will be kind of like this, without the upper cabinets.



See the white subway tile with the charcoal grout?  That'll be everywhere in my house.  Bathrooms and kitchen backsplash both.  It's a timeless look that I don't think I'll ever get sick of.

Paying for all of this?  Hmmm...

Good Instincts

I always thought of my house as a blank canvas; one where I could experiment with color and style.  Some of my friends marveled at my bravery for painting the walls other than the white they came in, saying that they were so unsure of themselves they would never try it.  One memorable wall treatment involved paint, stain, water, and plastic grocery bags.  I loved that room, and felt a little sad when I finally painted over it when remodeling.

When I remodeled my kitchen in Texas, I obsessed over the details before I ever called the contractor.  I knew in my head exactly what color, style, and grain I wanted in my cabinets, where I wanted shelves as opposed to cabinets, and even designed a wine rack for that ackward space over the fridge.

I remain proud of my kitchen to this day.  The contractor told me that his job was relatively easy - he just had to do what I told him to do!

So now, I've put in an offer on 5 acres of land in Minnesota, and I'm working with a builder.  He's one of those guys that know that they have no design sense, so there's not a lot of judgement at my choices (other than "that's going to be expensive").  Turns out I can't afford a true Craftsman home, but I'm going to get as close as I can.

Did I mention that I'm about to buy 5 acres?  Turns out not being able to have chickens on the 2 acres I looked at for a year was a good thing.  Just down the road there's a 5-acre parcel that's zoned agricultural and is heavily wooded.  They've even cleared a spot for a home and started a driveway.  My contractor, after looking at it, called me all excited and told me that I must jump on it - it's a special piece of property.  After negotiating a bit, the seller has verbally agreed to a price - whoo hoo!

I've gone to two banks for the construction loan.  My problem is that my home in Texas is still on the market, and I can't come up with the 20% down payment until it sells.  The first bank said to give it awhile, and if it doesn't sell, perhaps I could take out a home equity loan.  I started adding up the monthly payments for a mortgage, 2nd mortgage, and construction loan in my head and mentally shouted "EEK"!

So I went to another bank, and told her my situation.  She very calmly said that they could roll the remaining principle of my Texas home into the construction loan in addition to the property.  Sounding too good to be true, I asked about the interest rate.  Well, a construction loan has a higher interest rate (5%), but you only pay interest for the amount used, and at the end, it converts into a real mortgage at a much lower rate.  My mortgage in Texas is 5.75%, so that's a good deal.

Then the kicker.  "How much cash do I need to come up with to make this work?", I said.

She looked surprised, looked down at her figures, then looked back up at me.  "Nothing", she said.

"But you don't know me, you haven't looked at my credit - how can you say that?"

"Well, you'd have to qualify, of course."

"My credit rating is 814, and I was told by your competition that I would qualify for xxx".

"You qualify".

You gotta love a small town bank!

So now I'm running around the region to pick out tile, flooring, cabinets, countertops, plumbing, etc. in order to give to the bank for the construction loan.  I spent quality time at the tile and flooring place yesterday afternoon, where a designer was on hand to assist me.

I had told her on the phone that I would be easy - I knew exactly what I wanted.  I could tell that she didn't really believe me, but once I started to explain my vision to her, she got very excited.  At the end, she said that I could work there, and that I was the easiest client she'd ever had.

Here's an idea of what my bathroom is going to look like:



I can't wait to talk to the cabinet maker!