On Monday, Megan and I officially became homeowners. We would have been more excited, but it’s been a 1 1/2 month process. We’ve visited the home several times so we know what it looked like. With finals coming up, Brett had a lot of work to do so we didn’t get a lot of time on the actual closing day. But a few friends came over to wish us well and bring some house-warming gifts. Thanks for the goodies!
Now that we have had time to walk through and look more carefully, we see all the small projects that will take our time: painting, carpeting, broken outlets, chipped banister, strange wiring (using two switches to turn on one light), and more. We’ve already started with windows – was that a painful process. Every salesman has an hour long presentation they’re excessively trained to deliver. After only two, we couldn’t take any more so we went with the second guy and cancelled the appointments with other companies. We learned that you can counter-offer to bargain the price down. One guy said that 90% of all the window business is done on the first visit.
Tonight we did some painting prep. Two good friends from our church, Aaron and Reagan came over to help out. Hopefully carpet will come (from Lowe’s) this week and we’ll be able to move in before the end of the month. We’re living at Lowe’s and Home Depot – too bad we have to drive to Burbank each time. I’m expecting we’ll get better at preparing lists and planning.
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They say there’s a fine line between hunting and sitting there looking stupid. I’m not much a hunter but far be it from me to look stupid (OK, it happens once a day) – our hunt is over. That’s right, the Harveys bought a house.
After racing like rats every time a house went on the market to beat out all the other rats who scurried to the same house the day it listed, we finally got into one that worked out for us. Sorry for the animal references but my AP Bio students are dissecting tomorrow – got rats on the brain. It is truly a buyer’s market right now and the LA market is hot. We couldn’t even squeeze into some houses there were so many people looking. Thanks to our great agent who was on top of the inventory and ready to take us the day homes with our details listed.
We are really happy to provide a home for our upcoming (or is it outcoming?) baby. This was a big thing I really wanted – to have a house before the baby came. I don’t know why people are sometimes afraid to share details about the house they purchased – maybe they worry it’s boasting, perhaps in the act of describing it they might realize they got a raw deal, or maybe I shouldn’t be describing where I live for all those predators of biology teachers scouring the internet for their next prey. I’m not sure why it’s taboo in some circles, but all our friends seem to want to know the details and we’re happy to share them so here they are:
It’s a 3bdr. 2.5 bath, two-story that looks like a New England cottage. It was a short sale but pre-approved so all we had to do was put in a bid over the pre-approved price. The selling realtor has proven to be less-than-competent which has caused us some frustrations (like the owner getting pissed off when he came home find 5 people in his house for the inspection/appraisal because his realtor didn’t tell him the date & time of the inspection).
The front looks little plain but it’s got color and with Megan’s touch will be look quite cozy this summer. One drawback: our neighbors are all the commuters on the 210 freeway. Yes, our backyard is a hillside leading up to the freeway. Luckily, previous owners sound-proofed the house with double and sometimes triple pane windows. This kills me – the master bathroom has not 1, not 2, but 3 small windows you have to slide open to get air! It’s got a large side-yard with an above ground pool. Megan wasn’t keen on a pool when we were hunting but it’s above ground so we can sell it off if we decide it’s too much maintenance for us. For now, Megan is warming up to the idea of relaxing in the water in August at 8 months pregnant when it will be truly warm. Lastly there’s a great little playhouse built in the back we’re going to fix up as a sleepover place for our nieces and nephews.
Of course, there’s always work to be done and we’ve been making a list for over a month now. Most of it is work the inspector recommended. The house was built in 1988 which for La Crescenta is like brand new. Most places built in the 40’s require a bit of rennovation. We’ll post updates on work we do with pics. For now, check out our new digs: http://www.3720mayfield.com/ Note: by the time we saw it, the sellers had switched to a different realtor than this site, and we paid way less than that!
brett
Tags:house
Tip #7: Take good photos. This is the entry in the Idiot’s Guide to Selling Your House. OK I didn’t really look but it’s gotta be in there.
Ever since we’ve been married, Megan has been on the hunt – for a house. Visiting Zillow & Realtor.com is not a daily hobby for Megan, it’s an addiction. She’s always scheming some way for us to get into an area with good housing and good jobs. The search has taken us physically to a dozen places here in CA as well as virtually to just about every state in the West.
Recently, we stepped things up a notch by going out to look at places with realtors. We feel we’re getting to know the market and the game pretty well. We’re on the MLS list serve which sends us houses in our price range and geographic area. These emails come daily and most have pictures. The pictures are usually taken by the selling agent who wants to show off the attractive features of the house. They’re supposed to be good advertising, which is why it always surprises me to find something like this:
Yes, these are actual photos from the real estate listing for a house here in SoCal. What does this say to the potential buyers? “Yardwork and ladder to fix consistently leaky roof included. Creative storage opportunities for ladder & tools.” It was accompanied by the text, “Classic house, high on hill, montrous lot”. Apparently spelling and focusing the camera are not qualifications for a real estate license. How about this:
“Our decoration approach is best described as chaos theory.” And finally . . .
Oh . . . This one is pure sabotage.
Tags:house photos
