Results?

Alright! For the first time since we bought Logan the yard is nearly free of debris!! I'm very excited about this. Also, excited about not getting another Notice to Abate... With structural, roofing, and windows done and paid for, we just need to clear out the access lumber in the house and start framing!

We are supposed to close on the house on Fuller tomorrow at 8:30 AM. I am highly skeptical of this because we have been misled into thinking we were going to close within the next few days for the past 6 weeks. Just in case, I've made a few emails on Heritage Hill house rentals. (I wish we could buy one of those!) Based on our experience with Chase, we have decided that we really never want a mortgage again. Hopefully, these 2 house transactions will put us in a good financial situation. Otherwise, we will enjoy the mobility of renting!

Notice to Abate

Let's just see how nice these windows are looking (do not note the siding- that is not as nice). Nice, beautiful energy efficient windows! We decided not to replace the windows in the enclosed porch because we have plans to make that an open porch. And now, let's note how nice the roof is looking. Looks nice, no more leaks, and a warranty for 10 years. Things are finally starting to turn around. I am a lot more excited about the beginning stages of reconstruction than looking at the hot mess of the deconstruction.
Which reminds me. We may or may not have recieved a notice to clean out our lawn. And by that I mean an actual Notice to Abate. Oops. Our lawn may also be synonomous with the neighborhood dump. Hopefully, once this dumpster comes and is loaded, our friendly neighbors will refrain from dumping their furniture and trash bags in our lawn. Cleaning up after them and footing the bill is not ideal. But, as aforementioned, a couple of hours and a couple hundred dollars will hopefully solve this problem once and for all.
Yay! This logan house is more encouraging than our Fuller transaction. I don't understand how we could have gotten preapproved for an amount but it not actually work out and why this process is so long. We are exhausted from being homeless. Not that we aren't indebted to our friends who have let us live at their house, but because we haven't slept on our luxury mattress in a month. That air mattress is not the same. If we don't get approval with a closing date by the end of this week, we are giving up with the house purchase. We'll be disappointed, but we could use that money in other ways (Logan St., a 4wd car, an iMac...) and we can just rent in Eastown. It will give us more mobility when we graduate anyway. So torn! Augh, well, I guess we'll see at the end of the week.

STAIRS!

I've never been so excited about stairs before! In order to understand my excitement for normal stairs, let's reflect back on what they used to look like. Steep, inclosed, and with a ridiculous landing. But I took a peak into the house yesterday to see how the structural stuff was coming along and I was very excited! We have the beam to open up our kitchen/ dining room up, our stairs installed (and cut into the floors), and the structural work finished on the bottom floor. The stairway is now opened up and the top landing isn't janky anymore! Click on our photo page for my pictures of the stairs and other structural goodies

SO blessed!

We are so blessed by the people who have helped us using their skills for this house. Everything we have done/ are going to do for this house have been at really good prices. Part of it is because I am a bargain rat but mostly it is because we are surrounded by good people with lots of talent. When this house is near complete, I'll probably post the excel spreadsheet I'm using to keep track of the costs. I went by the house the other day to collect the mail, and I saw the trimmed tree (which I'll post as soon as I locate my camera cord) and the builders working on the inside. I can't wait to see the stairs!

Wed: The Builders should be finishing up the structural work (about 6 days work)

Thurs: The windows that haven't been installed will be in and all exteriors should be finished.

Mon: The roofer will start the new roof.

Tues: The roofer will finish the new roof!

Lots of improvement in the next week- SO relieved.

Housing/ Life update

As fun as being homeless has been, we are ready to move into our new house. We faxed (knock on wood) the last of the seemingly endless documents for our mortgage over to get the underwriting started. Even though it delayed everything, that appraisal holdup (fixing the water damage/ mold/cracks) has been a good thing. I'm hoping for the end of this week but I don't want to get my hopes up.

As far as Logan is concerned, the builder is starting to work on it tomorrow and the roofer is scheduled to start the roof in two weeks. Of course, that roof work is contingent upon the construction work. I have no idea (and neither does the builder) how much that is going to cost. I'm a little worried. Eep. Oh well, I just have to keep telling myself it was a $9k house.

Back on track!

Logan street status: Our trees are getting trimmed tomorrow! We are getting a cabinet estimate too! But it's back to the drawing board for the structural engineering stuff. Augh, that house can be such a pain! But at least little things are getting done. We can't get other things done (like the roof, furnace, plumbing, electrical, drywall) until that is taken care of.

The good news is that we are really excited about 39 Fuller. Like I previously said, we are going to fix up the bathrooms and then focus all the funds on Logan. But at least we will have beautiful bathrooms. We are having Jason do our tile just like the picture (!!). So we'll have a tiled in shower and a garden bath. Yay. Okay, it's time to hurry up and close on this house.

Google street view: 49 Fuller St SE

2 houses?

There have been a lack of posts due to the lack of activity at Logan. It's disheartening to watch all of our money disappear with little results. For the past month we've been waiting on an engineer's draft for repairing the house's structural issues and then waiting for someone to then carry out those plans. We are helpless.

Worse yet, we need someplace to live in 16 days. That being said, we are considering buying 39 Fuller Ave SE. This is a better location, a safer area, and a more impressive house. 39 Fuller needs work. A lot of work. However, it is move in ready. They have accepted our offer and we are scribbling up a purchase agreement tonight.

While it will be difficult not to concentrate fully on fixing up Fuller (except the master bath- that needs our immediate attention), we just need to fix up Logan. Also, in light of the circumstances, we are revising some of the previous plans we had for Logan. More on those details as we get closer!