Maybe you won't have to really fuss with something right out of the gate, right?
Well, we found out today as our appliances are being delivered that lo and behold there is NO SUCH THING AS A STANDARD HEIGHT IN REFRIGERATORS. So not only that but the top of the cabinets were ok width wise but the bottom cabinet was 1/2 inch too tight. So here is the installer who quickly says, I'm not going to install this till you decide to return it or not. I'm sure you can find someone to come in and move those cabinets. (what means find someone?)
SO Level, plumb, and square do not exist any longer and must be a figment of a realist mind.
There sat our brand new fridge in the middle of the kitchen floor while Terry is off and running on his first project! And since he could pretty much find the tools he needed (to include: Tape measure, pry bar, hammer, pliers, stud finder, hollow wall anchors, chop saw, compressor, and air nailer ) he moved the lower cabinet and raised the upper set of cabinets. This meant un-installing them, and reinstalling them, measuring and making sure where things will need to go, and he had to trim and replace the floor trim at the bottom cabinet. Also good for us, the flooring was laid before the cabinets were in place so no missing spots on the floor.
Now our new fridge is cooling and being primed for ice making. AND it now fits. I tell you, you just can't count on a thing anymore. When we replaced the Jenne Aire range in AK we basically upgraded to a newer Jenne Aire but lo and behold the new one was about 3/4 of an inch wider and deeper. Thank goodness we did not have granite or other hard surface counter top.
By Monday we'll have the pipe guy here to run the gas line and we'll have dryer and range all set. Boy does the new stuff look great in the kitchen. We went with all white appliances, I found the stainless steel to be a real bear to keep clean.
So, Terry is off to buy a cabinet for the garage for what doesn't fit in the kitchen will live in the garage. The kitchen otherwise went together real well so this is a small compromise and we are both real good with it. This way the kitchen is very workable, and things are not crammed in. I will need one of those grabber things for reaching tall places cause these cabinets are the taller ones and I'm not one of the taller ones.
Pretty soon we can buy real food and cook and eat real food (as apposed to instant weird stuff), in our own real home not the rental, on our own real dishes (not paper), at our own table. Well, ok in front of our own TV. LOL
ME
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Home is where the Heart is . . .
And two loud kitties, and boxes everywhere, and can't find a thing, and the new tv controllers with comcasat don't work, *sigh* but the TV's lived through the move and except for some serious bashing of my computer, most everything we have unpacked has lived!
I would like to say at this time that people who work for moving companies are a breed apart from the rest. They have to haul stuff in and out of homes, heavy stuff, light stuff, up stairs down stairs and they laugh, and horse around with each other, they get along, they make sure they help each other so no one gets hurt and generally are pretty cool dudes! Amazing!
We spend our first night in our new home. Today we'll head back to the rental and spiffy our way out. The landlord said we didn't have to do this, but it's really only the right thing to do. We aren't scrubbing carpets or anything like that, but I sure will clean the bathrooms, vacuum, do the laundry for the towels and bedding we used and just make sure it's right. After all, this was our first home in UT and it was an absolute blessing that she took us with the two cats and all for short term.
So, while the movers were preparing to start the move in to the house, Terry is on a cell call for work when he gets my attention and says, Mag, there's a cat in the house. (HUH?) A CAT? Ours were still at the rental at this time so I start looking around and sure enough here is this 6 month old (give or take) little guy in our bedroom. HE IS SO CUTE. Well fed and mannered and would have loved to make this his home apparently. I tried a neighbor or two but no one knows this kitty and said he just showed up a couple of days ago on their doorstep. He's part Siamese and has the color of a blue point but without points. and Pretty blue eyes. Just a cutie. We spent the rest of the day shooing him away from the house, and out of the moving truck, and out of the papers and boxes. great comedy relief.
So at this time, ON THE ROAD AGAIN is HOME! I'll continue the blogging as it's been quite fun, I'm leery of loading pics till we see the extent of the damage on my computer but I'll see how far I can get! Gee but it's great to be back home, home is where you want to be. . . . .
I would like to say at this time that people who work for moving companies are a breed apart from the rest. They have to haul stuff in and out of homes, heavy stuff, light stuff, up stairs down stairs and they laugh, and horse around with each other, they get along, they make sure they help each other so no one gets hurt and generally are pretty cool dudes! Amazing!
We spend our first night in our new home. Today we'll head back to the rental and spiffy our way out. The landlord said we didn't have to do this, but it's really only the right thing to do. We aren't scrubbing carpets or anything like that, but I sure will clean the bathrooms, vacuum, do the laundry for the towels and bedding we used and just make sure it's right. After all, this was our first home in UT and it was an absolute blessing that she took us with the two cats and all for short term.
So, while the movers were preparing to start the move in to the house, Terry is on a cell call for work when he gets my attention and says, Mag, there's a cat in the house. (HUH?) A CAT? Ours were still at the rental at this time so I start looking around and sure enough here is this 6 month old (give or take) little guy in our bedroom. HE IS SO CUTE. Well fed and mannered and would have loved to make this his home apparently. I tried a neighbor or two but no one knows this kitty and said he just showed up a couple of days ago on their doorstep. He's part Siamese and has the color of a blue point but without points. and Pretty blue eyes. Just a cutie. We spent the rest of the day shooing him away from the house, and out of the moving truck, and out of the papers and boxes. great comedy relief.
So at this time, ON THE ROAD AGAIN is HOME! I'll continue the blogging as it's been quite fun, I'm leery of loading pics till we see the extent of the damage on my computer but I'll see how far I can get! Gee but it's great to be back home, home is where you want to be. . . . .
Friday, October 24, 2008
The Bonneville Salt-Flats
We took a drive out past the Great Salt Lake and on to Wendover Nevada. Along the way just before you get to the border is the Bonneville Salt-Flats and the Bonneville Speedway.
Now, neither of us had ever been there before and our only experience with this has been on TV with scarce reports on the speed trials or in the movies. Our niece informed us that parts of this area are under water. We're thinking, desert and under water? How could this be?
From the beginning, we headed west out of SLC and drove to the marina for the Salt Lake. The lake is pretty cool, the edges can be kind of yukkie but the lake that day was very serene with sail boats out and generally a grand day. The marina is not a lot different than others, but mostly there are sail boats. So on down the road we went finding terrain that became flatter and flatter and the flora and fauna less and less.
In the distance we see solid white mountains of what turned out to be salt being processed a lot like gravel pits process gravel. The first plant was the Morton Salt company with the big ol sign with the little blue girl and the umbrella "let it pour" symbol. But the white mountains of salt are very impressive.
On down the road we went, to yet another bigger company processing salt. couldn't tell the name of that company but they had more and bigger piles than the Morton Salt company. Sure makes you think twice about what you shake on your food.
As we travelled on towards the west we began to see these areas on the sides of the highway that were different. Lots of tracks through what looked like dried mud sort of. And there are lots of messages written with rocks or our favorite, beer bottles stuck in the ground. only problem is the ground is so flat, and the speed limit is 75 so you can't read them at all. Some were obviously well thought out and took a great deal of time to orchestrate. But I bet they had fun doing it.
About half way there is a structure of a big giant tree with various colored balls on it. Like 5 balls and one that is in pieces on the ground. This is some sort of art project from a foreign artist calling it the tree of life or some such thing. It's pretty funny and it certainly is the ONLY thing out there of any significance for several miles.
Then the ground to the north starts getting white and it glitters not unlike snow, and flatter with nothing out there at all and we get to the rest stop and lo and behold we are at the actual Bonneville Salt Flats. This is the most unusual and amazing thing I have ever seen. The area is about 30,000 acres and the flats are a hard ruff crust of salt that is WHITE as virgin snow and on a sunny day you can't stay out there very long cause your eyes hurt like heck. If you chip away at the crust there is water directly below the surface. No we didn't taste it, I believe entirely that some things should not be put in your mouth!
The view from the flats is ethereal. the mountains to the north appear to be floating boats above the water. there is a considerable amount of water in places and it gives the strangest mirage effect I have ever seen. So we got off the flats and proceeded to the speedway. Expecting to see stands and official stuff. NOT. This time of the year the speedway is under about a foot of water. The road out there ends at a cul de sac and other than that there is nothing but this weird sort of lake on the white sand. So, somewhat disappointing, but still a great drive and one I would heartily recommend. By next summer we'll be heading out that way again to see it. Armed with SUN BLOCK and the best sunglasses we can find.
ME
Now, neither of us had ever been there before and our only experience with this has been on TV with scarce reports on the speed trials or in the movies. Our niece informed us that parts of this area are under water. We're thinking, desert and under water? How could this be?
From the beginning, we headed west out of SLC and drove to the marina for the Salt Lake. The lake is pretty cool, the edges can be kind of yukkie but the lake that day was very serene with sail boats out and generally a grand day. The marina is not a lot different than others, but mostly there are sail boats. So on down the road we went finding terrain that became flatter and flatter and the flora and fauna less and less.
In the distance we see solid white mountains of what turned out to be salt being processed a lot like gravel pits process gravel. The first plant was the Morton Salt company with the big ol sign with the little blue girl and the umbrella "let it pour" symbol. But the white mountains of salt are very impressive.
On down the road we went, to yet another bigger company processing salt. couldn't tell the name of that company but they had more and bigger piles than the Morton Salt company. Sure makes you think twice about what you shake on your food.
As we travelled on towards the west we began to see these areas on the sides of the highway that were different. Lots of tracks through what looked like dried mud sort of. And there are lots of messages written with rocks or our favorite, beer bottles stuck in the ground. only problem is the ground is so flat, and the speed limit is 75 so you can't read them at all. Some were obviously well thought out and took a great deal of time to orchestrate. But I bet they had fun doing it.
About half way there is a structure of a big giant tree with various colored balls on it. Like 5 balls and one that is in pieces on the ground. This is some sort of art project from a foreign artist calling it the tree of life or some such thing. It's pretty funny and it certainly is the ONLY thing out there of any significance for several miles.
Then the ground to the north starts getting white and it glitters not unlike snow, and flatter with nothing out there at all and we get to the rest stop and lo and behold we are at the actual Bonneville Salt Flats. This is the most unusual and amazing thing I have ever seen. The area is about 30,000 acres and the flats are a hard ruff crust of salt that is WHITE as virgin snow and on a sunny day you can't stay out there very long cause your eyes hurt like heck. If you chip away at the crust there is water directly below the surface. No we didn't taste it, I believe entirely that some things should not be put in your mouth!
The view from the flats is ethereal. the mountains to the north appear to be floating boats above the water. there is a considerable amount of water in places and it gives the strangest mirage effect I have ever seen. So we got off the flats and proceeded to the speedway. Expecting to see stands and official stuff. NOT. This time of the year the speedway is under about a foot of water. The road out there ends at a cul de sac and other than that there is nothing but this weird sort of lake on the white sand. So, somewhat disappointing, but still a great drive and one I would heartily recommend. By next summer we'll be heading out that way again to see it. Armed with SUN BLOCK and the best sunglasses we can find.
ME
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
We officially own a home in Utah!
Today we completed the purchase of our new home in Payson UT. How cool is that. We have been in Utah since September 26th and today closed on the house. It feels great!
I know, pictures are yet to come!
ME
I know, pictures are yet to come!
ME
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Utah Scenery
We had the pleasure to take two road trips this week. First one was down to St George and Cedar City. Terry had work to do so I was able to tag along for the ride. This was a distinct pleasure when we lived in AK and something we hope to continue here. I think we are off to a fabulous start.
While in St George we traveled the short but fantastic distance to Mesquite Nevada. For the most part, Mesquite wasn't thrilling but the drive through the Virgin River Gorge was unbelievable. It was like travelling through parts of the Grand Canyon but from below not just from on top. Plus, since it's just a short jog down there we turned around and came back to the thrill of the full moon rising in the gorge. MAN. Talk about timing. My poor little digital camera could not do the moon justice but I tell you it was spectacular!
The next morning we headed up to Cedar City and I got to shop around down town while Terry visited with his dealer account. I found some great coat hooks we'll get to hang in the new house. Try as I might I could only spend all of $11 at the shops.
Then it was just a drive back home. Most of the time the speed limit here is 75 so the miles clip by much quicker. Plus there is just so much to look at you don't even realize your time on the road. We are starting to recognize some of the mountains and discovered you can see the Timpanogos some 100 + miles from the south. This is one of the areas in Salt Lake City.
Every now and then you could see some spectacular jutting rock formations of brilliant deep reds and oranges, then as formidable in grey or soft yellow that would peek out from behind the range along the highway. This particular trip was just a highway drive up and down and certainly wets our appetite for more adventure and exploring.
Then today we headed to Price. Just like the drive earlier in the week the sights were unimaginable. Once you get to Price, it looks again like you are IN the Grand Canyon. It's certainly pretty arid and not much growing in places but the rock formations are so impressive, and BIG. Just the most amazing scenery. The colors range from the silvery grey, to a most amazing deep red, to tan and even a really cool greenish grey. This is of the rock formations along the side of the road. We topped out over Soldiers Summit at over 7000 feet. Looks like a major snowmachining place.
Our drive today brought us back to I-15 near Payson so we decided to do a drive by to see how things were coming on the home we are buying. The house is fine, we are very anxious to move in next week. We stopped and looked over a couple of garage sales and didn't see anything exciting so we headed out to the highway. There was one more garage sale I had Terry stop at and as we turned around and stopped it appeared that the owners of the sale were driving off. There were signs all over that said FREE. No one was home or at least didn't answer our knock on the door so we were really fortunate to find two end tables for the guest room and a cool little wooden table that knocks down flat for what ever reason I can find for it. Free! well worth the stop in Payson. (AKA our new Home Town)
So, we have been enjoying the calm before the storm of moving in that comes in the next couple of weeks. We purchased the appliances we needed to get, we have made appointments for cable TV, Internet and Telephone to be hooked up, And appt with a HVAC contractor to come out and clean the furnace and run a gas line and install a cold air return. The cold air return is for the basement family room and basically was overlooked when someone finished that part of the basement. Not a big deal but will help the furnace work much better so we'll go for it. We are going to miss hot water heat but it's almost unheard of here. Next on Monday I'll speak to the City of Payson and the Gas company for the rest of the utilities. We have city water and sewer AND we have pressurized irrigation for watering the lawn that is supplied by the city. cool!
That's what we've been up to, the next couple of weeks will really be exciting!
ME
While in St George we traveled the short but fantastic distance to Mesquite Nevada. For the most part, Mesquite wasn't thrilling but the drive through the Virgin River Gorge was unbelievable. It was like travelling through parts of the Grand Canyon but from below not just from on top. Plus, since it's just a short jog down there we turned around and came back to the thrill of the full moon rising in the gorge. MAN. Talk about timing. My poor little digital camera could not do the moon justice but I tell you it was spectacular!
The next morning we headed up to Cedar City and I got to shop around down town while Terry visited with his dealer account. I found some great coat hooks we'll get to hang in the new house. Try as I might I could only spend all of $11 at the shops.
Then it was just a drive back home. Most of the time the speed limit here is 75 so the miles clip by much quicker. Plus there is just so much to look at you don't even realize your time on the road. We are starting to recognize some of the mountains and discovered you can see the Timpanogos some 100 + miles from the south. This is one of the areas in Salt Lake City.
Every now and then you could see some spectacular jutting rock formations of brilliant deep reds and oranges, then as formidable in grey or soft yellow that would peek out from behind the range along the highway. This particular trip was just a highway drive up and down and certainly wets our appetite for more adventure and exploring.
Then today we headed to Price. Just like the drive earlier in the week the sights were unimaginable. Once you get to Price, it looks again like you are IN the Grand Canyon. It's certainly pretty arid and not much growing in places but the rock formations are so impressive, and BIG. Just the most amazing scenery. The colors range from the silvery grey, to a most amazing deep red, to tan and even a really cool greenish grey. This is of the rock formations along the side of the road. We topped out over Soldiers Summit at over 7000 feet. Looks like a major snowmachining place.
Our drive today brought us back to I-15 near Payson so we decided to do a drive by to see how things were coming on the home we are buying. The house is fine, we are very anxious to move in next week. We stopped and looked over a couple of garage sales and didn't see anything exciting so we headed out to the highway. There was one more garage sale I had Terry stop at and as we turned around and stopped it appeared that the owners of the sale were driving off. There were signs all over that said FREE. No one was home or at least didn't answer our knock on the door so we were really fortunate to find two end tables for the guest room and a cool little wooden table that knocks down flat for what ever reason I can find for it. Free! well worth the stop in Payson. (AKA our new Home Town)
So, we have been enjoying the calm before the storm of moving in that comes in the next couple of weeks. We purchased the appliances we needed to get, we have made appointments for cable TV, Internet and Telephone to be hooked up, And appt with a HVAC contractor to come out and clean the furnace and run a gas line and install a cold air return. The cold air return is for the basement family room and basically was overlooked when someone finished that part of the basement. Not a big deal but will help the furnace work much better so we'll go for it. We are going to miss hot water heat but it's almost unheard of here. Next on Monday I'll speak to the City of Payson and the Gas company for the rest of the utilities. We have city water and sewer AND we have pressurized irrigation for watering the lawn that is supplied by the city. cool!
That's what we've been up to, the next couple of weeks will really be exciting!
ME
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Good Sunday Morning
Last night it started to snow. This morning we awoke to a few inches on the grass, parked cars, and trees and it was still snowing. Now at 11:30 am it's pretty much stopped snowing and all the snow has fallen out of the trees and melted off the lawns. Don't you just love early snow falls.
We are supposed to have pretty good weather for the rest of the week.
The banker called our realtor regarding the appraisal on the property. Because of our good credit rating, and the amount we are putting down on the house, they will just do a paper appraisal and declare the house worth the amount we are paying for it. So, that part is a done deal. Just like that.
We'll have a chance to view the closing paperwork probably Friday next week and closing is scheduled for the 21st. Recording is on the 22nd, and we'll take possesion on the 23rd.
We headed out to see about some used furniture and were sorely dissapointed in the ONE store we found. This involved a long drive up State street to almost downtown SLC. So since that was a bust we went ahead and took a drive to the downtown area.
The capitol building of Utah is impressive! Actually more so than the Temple. Temple square is pretty amazing but the capitol is awesome. We had burgers at Hires Big H. This is a traditional spot and apparently we have "now arrived". Just driving around the downtown area is pretty jaw dropping. It's been years since I have been to any sort of big city. The HUGE buildings are amazing to see, the homes tucked into the downtown area are tight but with characture. To top it off, we didn't bring a camera. bummer. We really hadn't planned the trip and I assure you there will be plenty more.
Speaking of trips, we'll head down to see St. George and Cedar City next week. Terry has reason to go for work so I can tag along. There is nothing we'll need to do with the house and the Kitties are good for an over night. At least it won't be devilish HOT this trip for me.
The otherday we tried to drive to the house on our own as all the other trips have been with the realtor. Well, apparently you can't get there the way I thought you could get there. So we proceded to drive around pretty much lost till we got our bearings. LOL The countryside we had the pleasure of driving around was full of farms, horses and old buildings. We found ourselves on the west side of the interstate and needed to be on the east side of the interstate. It's a wide open valley with mountains on both sides. So we finally found our way to Payson, and then finding the house was a piece of cake. We purposly wanted to drive the back roads which is how we got lost. The highway is cheating. So we also bought a map of the area once we got our bearings and drove the back roads back for a ways. There is some major road construction going on at one of the overpasses north bound that binds traffic up, so we want to know the back way. There are several choices. Something we didn't have in AK. Payson is all of 15 minutes from Provo, and if you play your cards right you can drive through, Salem, Spanish Fork, and Springville before you even get to Provo. All of them are nice little towns, more like little communities.
So a week of relaxing (?) before we close on the house. Relaxing as in, go to the city of Payson and line up garbage collection and any other details we need to know, calling and setting up the utilities that the city of Payson doesn't cover, cable TV Internet, Gas Company. Put in a permanent change of address! WHOO HOO!! oh, and take the drives with Terry. Then we make what ever changes we want before all our stuff is delivered, the cable and internet hooked up, the bees nest eliminated, and if we want to paint or what ever. The bees have a nest under one of the landscaping timbers in the back yard right outside the back door. They are going to have to go away!
This is going to be really fun!
ME
We are supposed to have pretty good weather for the rest of the week.
The banker called our realtor regarding the appraisal on the property. Because of our good credit rating, and the amount we are putting down on the house, they will just do a paper appraisal and declare the house worth the amount we are paying for it. So, that part is a done deal. Just like that.
We'll have a chance to view the closing paperwork probably Friday next week and closing is scheduled for the 21st. Recording is on the 22nd, and we'll take possesion on the 23rd.
We headed out to see about some used furniture and were sorely dissapointed in the ONE store we found. This involved a long drive up State street to almost downtown SLC. So since that was a bust we went ahead and took a drive to the downtown area.
The capitol building of Utah is impressive! Actually more so than the Temple. Temple square is pretty amazing but the capitol is awesome. We had burgers at Hires Big H. This is a traditional spot and apparently we have "now arrived". Just driving around the downtown area is pretty jaw dropping. It's been years since I have been to any sort of big city. The HUGE buildings are amazing to see, the homes tucked into the downtown area are tight but with characture. To top it off, we didn't bring a camera. bummer. We really hadn't planned the trip and I assure you there will be plenty more.
Speaking of trips, we'll head down to see St. George and Cedar City next week. Terry has reason to go for work so I can tag along. There is nothing we'll need to do with the house and the Kitties are good for an over night. At least it won't be devilish HOT this trip for me.
The otherday we tried to drive to the house on our own as all the other trips have been with the realtor. Well, apparently you can't get there the way I thought you could get there. So we proceded to drive around pretty much lost till we got our bearings. LOL The countryside we had the pleasure of driving around was full of farms, horses and old buildings. We found ourselves on the west side of the interstate and needed to be on the east side of the interstate. It's a wide open valley with mountains on both sides. So we finally found our way to Payson, and then finding the house was a piece of cake. We purposly wanted to drive the back roads which is how we got lost. The highway is cheating. So we also bought a map of the area once we got our bearings and drove the back roads back for a ways. There is some major road construction going on at one of the overpasses north bound that binds traffic up, so we want to know the back way. There are several choices. Something we didn't have in AK. Payson is all of 15 minutes from Provo, and if you play your cards right you can drive through, Salem, Spanish Fork, and Springville before you even get to Provo. All of them are nice little towns, more like little communities.
So a week of relaxing (?) before we close on the house. Relaxing as in, go to the city of Payson and line up garbage collection and any other details we need to know, calling and setting up the utilities that the city of Payson doesn't cover, cable TV Internet, Gas Company. Put in a permanent change of address! WHOO HOO!! oh, and take the drives with Terry. Then we make what ever changes we want before all our stuff is delivered, the cable and internet hooked up, the bees nest eliminated, and if we want to paint or what ever. The bees have a nest under one of the landscaping timbers in the back yard right outside the back door. They are going to have to go away!
This is going to be really fun!
ME
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Looks like it's a house!
The home inspection today didn't not reveal any war stoppers. In fact it was pretty much as we expected. Still a lot of things to absorb about the house in general as we have never had to deal with automatic sprinklers, vinyl siding, and air conditioning. Every thing is pretty much good to go and the way it goes here, the seller really is not responsible for taking care of anything. For example, the garage has a man door off the back side to the back yard. It was never really installed correctly, for what ever reason. The owners have lived in the house for just over 2 years and have never fixed it. DUH. In fact when asked by the home inspector if they intended to fix that, they said right out NO. So, if that's the way they are going to be than fine. Get out! Get out now, sooner than later.
The Utah laws are pretty lax when it comes to code stuff and requiring things to be up to code before a property changes hands. Alaska does it right!
Still, our whole purpose of buying a newer home is so we do not have a big laundry list of things to take care of.
Now all that needs to happen is for the appraisal to come out ahead of selling price. Then we are set. Closing is scheduled for Oct. 21st. woo hoo!
And our little Toyota truck is good as home again. We picked it up from the transporter last night. Now it's an international traveller just like the kitties!
ME
The Utah laws are pretty lax when it comes to code stuff and requiring things to be up to code before a property changes hands. Alaska does it right!
Still, our whole purpose of buying a newer home is so we do not have a big laundry list of things to take care of.
Now all that needs to happen is for the appraisal to come out ahead of selling price. Then we are set. Closing is scheduled for Oct. 21st. woo hoo!
And our little Toyota truck is good as home again. We picked it up from the transporter last night. Now it's an international traveller just like the kitties!
ME
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
holy toledo
Now not but a few minutes after the last post I find Terry calling and he got a call from the realtor that they have accepted our offer, but now want to close October 21. That's going to make things pretty hot for a while. Then we can't get in till 24 hours after it records. It's a weird thing they do here.
so the realtor will be over in a little while, and we'll sign the paperwork. He has a call into the home inspector and we'll try and get that ball rolling as quick as possible. Plus the bank will order the appraisal. Hopefully they will be quick about this.
If the timing works out it's better for us, we'll have the condo till the end of the month and will have time to go through the home and get the appliances ordered and paint if we want.
Pretty exciting. Actually I think the people are being a bit nasty now cause that will not allow much time to really go through things. what ever.
ME
so the realtor will be over in a little while, and we'll sign the paperwork. He has a call into the home inspector and we'll try and get that ball rolling as quick as possible. Plus the bank will order the appraisal. Hopefully they will be quick about this.
If the timing works out it's better for us, we'll have the condo till the end of the month and will have time to go through the home and get the appliances ordered and paint if we want.
Pretty exciting. Actually I think the people are being a bit nasty now cause that will not allow much time to really go through things. what ever.
ME
Offer vs counter offer
well, Long story short, they didn't like our offer so they countered and we countered back and we will wait till 5 pm tonight to see if they will accept. Our big decision may be if we wish to pay the full asking price. The house may not appraise at that level looking at the comparables in the area that have sold.
We did not know that they started in April with the home priced way to high and have dropped the price three times already. However, they still have not had any takers, so we are hopeing they accept the second offer.
we'll keep you posted!
me
We did not know that they started in April with the home priced way to high and have dropped the price three times already. However, they still have not had any takers, so we are hopeing they accept the second offer.
we'll keep you posted!
me
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Offer on a house time!
Today marks one month since we closed on our house in Chugiak and today also marks the day we made a decision to make an offer on a house we saw on Thursday. The realtor will be looking up comps tonight and has spoken to our banker so we will be making the offer officially tomorrow.
On Thursday we trooped through 9 homes. Today we looked through 5 more. Nothing has stood up to the one we looked at and liked on Thursday.
This home is 2300 (approx) square feet. Located in Payson UT. It's a ranch style with three bedrooms up, master bath and public bath, living room and open kitchen with eating in the kitchen. Cathedral ceilings for the living room and kitchen.
The hallway is wide open and the stairway to the basement is very nice, well it's wide and very sturdy and open feeling, but it is a full length stairway to the lower level. The basement is partially finished with another bedroom ( AKA Terry's office ) and family room ( AKA TV Room ). On the other side is unfinished but has the Washer and Dryer hookups ( including gas dryer connection a plus ). Also on the upstairs, the fridge is plumbed for water. We need to buy a fridge and wanted one with water and ice so this works perfect and we even tested it. (shhh don't tell the home owner)
Also the basement windows are very large with the cut outs and the metal things that make the window wells. So well, the basement view is not of anything but the light is greatly appreciated.
The part of the basement that is unfinished is insulated, and wired. There is plumbing in place for a toilet drop and sink so this area can be finished for a second master bedroom when we get around to it. The basement is really only about 4.5 feet deep and the rest of the walls are framed.
Novel thought for us to graduate to a home that has 6" walls. I'll finally have window sills.
We won't have the 5 window view out of the home that the Alaskan house had but its such a nice house we just felt it was the best one in the lot that offered us plenty to do if we want and really nothing that has to be done immediately. Well, it needs some paint as all the walls are the same color, except for the upper children bedrooms. But that's up to us!
The home doesn't have tile or granite and that suites us fine as well. It also does not have a fire place or wood burning appliance which also suits us well. The back yard backs up to the soccer practice field of the highschool. Today they had a home game and you can hear the band. This is NOT a problem for us. Plus, no one is going to build behind us EVER. The yard has a nice decent garden spot, also is planted with a lot of stuff that is in great shape and will be easy to keep that way. If any of you remember our rental when we first moved to Chugiak? its nothing to that level at all. And it's still in control.
We are a whopping 15 minutes from Provo which is where Terry's main person to contact with weekly is so that works. And if the highway is no good there is the secondary road as well. Plus, Between us and Provo is a town called Springville. Any and all of Payson, Springville and Provo will have an opportunity for me to work. YEA! We'll see what's available and go for it.
If everything works out we will be celebrating a very special Thanksgiving this year in our new home! You are ALL INVITED!! Our banker says if the offer is accepted and the appraisal and inspection do not come up with anything that would slow us down, we can easily close before the end of October! Yea!
Pretty soon On the Road again will be settling in for the long haul. (is there a song to that name - Little ruff on the humm) maybe our on the road again will just have to refer to the road of life! I like that!
ME
PS: Now we can shop for a sofa and love seat and some easy chairs and a new fridge!
On Thursday we trooped through 9 homes. Today we looked through 5 more. Nothing has stood up to the one we looked at and liked on Thursday.
This home is 2300 (approx) square feet. Located in Payson UT. It's a ranch style with three bedrooms up, master bath and public bath, living room and open kitchen with eating in the kitchen. Cathedral ceilings for the living room and kitchen.
The hallway is wide open and the stairway to the basement is very nice, well it's wide and very sturdy and open feeling, but it is a full length stairway to the lower level. The basement is partially finished with another bedroom ( AKA Terry's office ) and family room ( AKA TV Room ). On the other side is unfinished but has the Washer and Dryer hookups ( including gas dryer connection a plus ). Also on the upstairs, the fridge is plumbed for water. We need to buy a fridge and wanted one with water and ice so this works perfect and we even tested it. (shhh don't tell the home owner)
Also the basement windows are very large with the cut outs and the metal things that make the window wells. So well, the basement view is not of anything but the light is greatly appreciated.
The part of the basement that is unfinished is insulated, and wired. There is plumbing in place for a toilet drop and sink so this area can be finished for a second master bedroom when we get around to it. The basement is really only about 4.5 feet deep and the rest of the walls are framed.
Novel thought for us to graduate to a home that has 6" walls. I'll finally have window sills.
We won't have the 5 window view out of the home that the Alaskan house had but its such a nice house we just felt it was the best one in the lot that offered us plenty to do if we want and really nothing that has to be done immediately. Well, it needs some paint as all the walls are the same color, except for the upper children bedrooms. But that's up to us!
The home doesn't have tile or granite and that suites us fine as well. It also does not have a fire place or wood burning appliance which also suits us well. The back yard backs up to the soccer practice field of the highschool. Today they had a home game and you can hear the band. This is NOT a problem for us. Plus, no one is going to build behind us EVER. The yard has a nice decent garden spot, also is planted with a lot of stuff that is in great shape and will be easy to keep that way. If any of you remember our rental when we first moved to Chugiak? its nothing to that level at all. And it's still in control.
We are a whopping 15 minutes from Provo which is where Terry's main person to contact with weekly is so that works. And if the highway is no good there is the secondary road as well. Plus, Between us and Provo is a town called Springville. Any and all of Payson, Springville and Provo will have an opportunity for me to work. YEA! We'll see what's available and go for it.
If everything works out we will be celebrating a very special Thanksgiving this year in our new home! You are ALL INVITED!! Our banker says if the offer is accepted and the appraisal and inspection do not come up with anything that would slow us down, we can easily close before the end of October! Yea!
Pretty soon On the Road again will be settling in for the long haul. (is there a song to that name - Little ruff on the humm) maybe our on the road again will just have to refer to the road of life! I like that!
ME
PS: Now we can shop for a sofa and love seat and some easy chairs and a new fridge!
Thursday, October 2, 2008
true house hunting 101
It was a very educational day. We looked specifically in the Payson UT area and looked at 9 homes. some were occupied some were not. We quickly eliminated several, as in, do not even continue walking through the house and just as quickly took quite a bit of time in a couple of others. We do find one in Payson that we would entertain putting an offer on. We'll see what Saturday brings for looking first.
It is really sad to see homes that are on short sale. These are homes that are in foreclosure, or heading there. Homes that have been let go, have bad issues with them, and you have to wonder how they got so bad. Were the owners just over their heads in the first place? would they ever have been able to manage a home no matter what size? Or did they have other issues, work, illness, divorce etc. Man, it could go either way but it's still so very sad to see.
The house we liked is pretty darn nice. It's been very well taken care of and has a full basement that is partly finished. That leaves us with some fussing to do. The yard is well planted with stuff that looks pretty darn do able. just a nice cottage feel to it. The neighborhood is just beautiful.
We will be looking in the Provo and Springville area on Saturday. This is closer in but the commute is only 15 minutes anyway from Payson so it's not really an issue.
We'll keep you posted.
ME
It is really sad to see homes that are on short sale. These are homes that are in foreclosure, or heading there. Homes that have been let go, have bad issues with them, and you have to wonder how they got so bad. Were the owners just over their heads in the first place? would they ever have been able to manage a home no matter what size? Or did they have other issues, work, illness, divorce etc. Man, it could go either way but it's still so very sad to see.
The house we liked is pretty darn nice. It's been very well taken care of and has a full basement that is partly finished. That leaves us with some fussing to do. The yard is well planted with stuff that looks pretty darn do able. just a nice cottage feel to it. The neighborhood is just beautiful.
We will be looking in the Provo and Springville area on Saturday. This is closer in but the commute is only 15 minutes anyway from Payson so it's not really an issue.
We'll keep you posted.
ME
rental Life
Well, it's been a long time since we rented. We are very spoiled. Internet is very spotty as is the water in the main shower. As in, good luck trying to get wet or rinsed off. Still, this is a thousand percent better than a hotel.
We'll be looking at houses to day with the realtor so I am trying dinner in a crock pot. Hoping it works.
Storms are coming in on the weekend, with snow expected in the mountains. Looks like our extended summer will finally start winding down.
ME
We'll be looking at houses to day with the realtor so I am trying dinner in a crock pot. Hoping it works.
Storms are coming in on the weekend, with snow expected in the mountains. Looks like our extended summer will finally start winding down.
ME
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
abject lesson on futility
So the reason I am confused at our global positioning is the hotel is on a lot that has two driveways and they exit to two different streets. (I think) anyway, I thought we were on one particular street named Canyon but it turns out we are on University Pkwy. Not to be confused with University Ave. This is why when I ventured out the other day I got lost and ended up in some university parking lot. LOL today I did better and actually drove all the way to Springville on my own.
Only to find out I was early to pick up our mail. And early at the bank. So, I was able to get the mail cause they actually open when they get there not what's posted on the door. (small town) So over to the bank I went to see about using a computer with a printer. Well, that is not available but they suggested the library. So I go over to the library to find it doesn't even open for another hour. Do you think they may have mentioned that at the bank?????
So, I drove back to Provo and found the Provo library and figured bigger city, the library is probably open and it was. There are ZERO signs to the entrance so that was educational in and of itself. Once in, none of the computers have printers. So I went to the help desk and was informed all computers print to a main printer, ok, I could handle that, but if I do not have a library card it's going to cost $1 to use the computer, and 10 cents a page to print. OK well I need to print 2 months bank statements for 4 different accounts. They will be several pages long. The bank is going to have to wait a few more days, we should be up and running at the condo by then.
So other than an exercise on getting to and from Springville on my own this was a totally wasted trip.
But it is sunshine and gorgeous, and once Terry is done at the paint store today we get to move to the new condo we rented. WOW - out of the hotel!!
Only to find out I was early to pick up our mail. And early at the bank. So, I was able to get the mail cause they actually open when they get there not what's posted on the door. (small town) So over to the bank I went to see about using a computer with a printer. Well, that is not available but they suggested the library. So I go over to the library to find it doesn't even open for another hour. Do you think they may have mentioned that at the bank?????
So, I drove back to Provo and found the Provo library and figured bigger city, the library is probably open and it was. There are ZERO signs to the entrance so that was educational in and of itself. Once in, none of the computers have printers. So I went to the help desk and was informed all computers print to a main printer, ok, I could handle that, but if I do not have a library card it's going to cost $1 to use the computer, and 10 cents a page to print. OK well I need to print 2 months bank statements for 4 different accounts. They will be several pages long. The bank is going to have to wait a few more days, we should be up and running at the condo by then.
So other than an exercise on getting to and from Springville on my own this was a totally wasted trip.
But it is sunshine and gorgeous, and once Terry is done at the paint store today we get to move to the new condo we rented. WOW - out of the hotel!!
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