A crafts forum. CraftBanter

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » CraftBanter forum » Textiles newsgroups » Quilting
Site Map Home Register Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

OT Finally! Actively house shopping



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old June 10th 17, 05:12 PM posted to rec.crafts.textiles.quilting
Night Mist
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 44
Default OT Finally! Actively house shopping

As most of you may grok based on my posting history, the house I live in has been going all to heckies for better than a decade.

I have finally gotten my family to agree that we must move. What is more I have convinced them at long last that it will be more economically sensible to buy.
Between medical bills (paid!), general expenses, and the fact that I have been unable to do much paid work for the past 5 years it will be tough. We found a grant we are eligible for that will contribute to the down payment, and we qualify for a program at the bank, so it will be doable. Stupid medical bills were actually a saving grace. We pay for what we buy up front almost all the time, and do not take loans or own credit cards. So we do not have a credit history except for those medical bills. Being fiscally responsible has its downsides.

Now we just have to find the right house at the right price.

4 bedrooms, not in a city or village, and at least an acre of land. Lord knows I would like a bit more land, but much more than around 5 acres would probably be to big a tax burden. Of course everybody else has their wishes, I have been trying to get across the difference between what you want and what you need. For example I want the laundry hookups to be either in a laundry room or in the basement, at least not in the bathroom. I don't need that, it would just be more convenient.

Poor kiri does not know what to think. I was looking at online listings with the help of google earth and she discovered that there are houses where the mailbox is a five or ten minute walk from the front door. She seems to have had no idea that such a thing was possible.
Poor woman thought living in a city of less than 40K people was country living. LOL! She grew up and lived in Columbus Ohio, which is a very different sort of place, until she came to us.
I am just done with living in town. Given the choice I would take us back up the hill to where DH's people are from. Unfortunately that would put us in Pennsylvania. Now there is nothing wrong with Pennsylvania except that services for the disabled are poorly provided in rural areas, and we have Ash to think about. He is going to be 18 next month and in NY that gives him 3 more years of public school, plus we have a center that caters to the needs of the developmentally disabled in this county, so this county is where our search focus is going to be.
Besides, if we stay in NY DD3 can finish her college degree at a better school, and I can get those pesky 3 classes I need to finish mine, all for free. Yeah, I did the drop out cause I got pregnant thing THREE times. After DD3 I figured I had best wait a while to go back because college seemed to be a fertility charm.
Now I don't have to worry about it.

NightMist
Ads
  #2  
Old June 10th 17, 05:25 PM posted to rec.crafts.textiles.quilting
Bobbie Sews More
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,210
Default OT Finally! Actively house shopping



"Night Mist" wrote in message
...

Dear Night, sure hope you will be able to get things just the way you want
them to be! Or at least the way that will be acceptable! The best of
luck!
Barbara in SC

  #3  
Old June 12th 17, 12:31 AM posted to rec.crafts.textiles.quilting
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 32
Default OT Finally! Actively house shopping

Oh, Nightmist, I hope you have great luck in finding what will fit your life! I have usually done a list of "these things I will not budge on", then a list of "these things are negotiable", and a third list of "just do not want these things". And then realize it is all negotiable )

Keep your sanity and peaceful feelings during it all, and please keep us updated!

Ginger in CA
[real email is ]


On Saturday, June 10, 2017 at 9:12:12 AM UTC-7, Night Mist wrote:
As most of you may grok based on my posting history, the house I live in has been going all to heckies for better than a decade.

I have finally gotten my family to agree that we must move. What is more I have convinced them at long last that it will be more economically sensible to buy.

  #4  
Old June 19th 17, 04:31 PM posted to rec.crafts.textiles.quilting
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 89
Default OT Finally! Actively house shopping

Hello Night Mist,
This move sounds like it is well thought out. What you want and don't want. There are always things I had to put up with that seems to go with every house. If you get 95% even it would be great. Having an acre sounds wonderful, so hope you can put in a nice garden. Good luck on your house hunting.
Sandy$
  #5  
Old June 20th 17, 02:09 PM posted to rec.crafts.textiles.quilting
Night Mist
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 44
Default OT Finally! Actively house shopping


After scouring the listings and contemplating and discarding a number of foreclosures, we are going out to look at a house.
Those foreclosures are tempting, but after viewing the specs, it seems that there is always a potentially (or genuinely) catastrophic problem with them.

The place we are going to look at is practically perfect on paper. So now we have to go look and see what is actually wrong with it that you don't see looking at the outside. Outside it has a couple of things wrong that are actually pretty minor.

I had looked at the listing, considered and discarded this place previously. It was too good to be true and the taxes listed were low enough I thought it had to be wrong.
Come to find out it is an irregular lot and most of the land is not even cleared. With only two acres roadside, the taxes are legitimately quite low.
Still, a 4 bedroom house with a four horse stable, on 23 acres, 20 minutes out of town, with low taxes, and less than $10k over the list price range we were looking at, there has to be something wrong with it.
DH says that maybe the universe has just decided to be kind to us.

We shall see.

NightMist

PS the laundry hookups are in the bathroom
  #6  
Old June 20th 17, 03:32 PM posted to rec.crafts.textiles.quilting
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 32
Default OT Finally! Actively house shopping

oooh, keeping fingers and toes crossed that this is right for you!
New moon fortunes?

Ginger in CA
[email to respond is ]


On Tuesday, June 20, 2017 at 6:10:00 AM UTC-7, Night Mist wrote:
After scouring the listings and contemplating and discarding a number of foreclosures, we are going out to look at a house.
Those foreclosures are tempting, but after viewing the specs, it seems that there is always a potentially (or genuinely) catastrophic problem with them.

The place we are going to look at is practically perfect on paper. So now we have to go look and see what is actually wrong with it that you don't see looking at the outside. Outside it has a couple of things wrong that are actually pretty minor.

I had looked at the listing, considered and discarded this place previously. It was too good to be true and the taxes listed were low enough I thought it had to be wrong.
Come to find out it is an irregular lot and most of the land is not even cleared. With only two acres roadside, the taxes are legitimately quite low.
Still, a 4 bedroom house with a four horse stable, on 23 acres, 20 minutes out of town, with low taxes, and less than $10k over the list price range we were looking at, there has to be something wrong with it.
DH says that maybe the universe has just decided to be kind to us.

We shall see.

NightMist

PS the laundry hookups are in the bathroom


  #7  
Old June 23rd 17, 06:45 PM posted to rec.crafts.textiles.quilting
Night Mist
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 44
Default OT Finally! Actively house shopping

On Tuesday, June 20, 2017 at 10:32:35 AM UTC-4, wrote:
oooh, keeping fingers and toes crossed that this is right for you!
New moon fortunes?


Well that was disappointing.

I had a tape measure with me and the listing flat out lied about room dimensions and total floor space.

The downstairs is OK, though the "Laminate wood flooring" turned out to be that thin self adhesive stuff you use to do a quick repair on cheap furniture. The bathroom is absolutely wonderful though.

The upstairs was an architectural nightmare.

At a guess? One of the owners who were a senior married couple (from published tax roles) became ill. We speculated this by the smell of the place. One of their children and their family moved back in to help out. We conjecture this by the description of an equestrian business that was running out of that address. We are guessing that this is when the stable was built and a couple of modifications done. One of those modifications was turning the upstairs into three bedrooms, in part by moving the stairs. To call the bedrooms cramped would be being generous. You literally could not fit a twin bed into one of them. They wallpapered the ceilings, and it it is falling off in a couple of spots. We think that originally the stairs had a landing and a turn, now they are a steep and narrow single flight with odd spacing, like who was meant to climb up and down them had legs that were not quite human normal. In changing the stairs they stranded the attic door mid wall about 4 feet away from the floor. Which is a pity because it is naught but a good big unfinished room at one end of the second floor. Why they didn't just put in some insulation, lay some flooring over the slab wood, and smack up some sheet rock is beyond me. I risked life and limb to get in to take a look and the room is even wired. Why go to considerably more work and expense to make a mess of the whole second floor when finishing one room would have done the job admirably?
DH suggested we lowball the place and see if they take it. My thought on that was well OK, but if they do take it where are we going to live while we fix it up enough that everyone has a place for their bed?

NightMist
still looking
  #8  
Old June 23rd 17, 11:44 PM posted to rec.crafts.textiles.quilting
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 32
Default OT Finally! Actively house shopping

Well, the search for the right-for-us property is always a challenge.
Don't get too stressed out by it all. Deep breaths!

From experience I can say that living in a house while remodeling it at the same time is not very fun.

Ginger in CA
[email is ]

On Friday, June 23, 2017 at 10:45:08 AM UTC-7, Night Mist wrote:
On Tuesday, June 20, 2017 at 10:32:35 AM UTC-4, wrote:
oooh, keeping fingers and toes crossed that this is right for you!
New moon fortunes?


Well that was disappointing.

I had a tape measure with me and the listing flat out lied about room dimensions and total floor space.

The downstairs is OK, though the "Laminate wood flooring" turned out to be that thin self adhesive stuff you use to do a quick repair on cheap furniture. The bathroom is absolutely wonderful though.

The upstairs was an architectural nightmare.

At a guess? One of the owners who were a senior married couple (from published tax roles) became ill. We speculated this by the smell of the place.. One of their children and their family moved back in to help out. We conjecture this by the description of an equestrian business that was running out of that address. We are guessing that this is when the stable was built and a couple of modifications done. One of those modifications was turning the upstairs into three bedrooms, in part by moving the stairs. To call the bedrooms cramped would be being generous. You literally could not fit a twin bed into one of them. They wallpapered the ceilings, and it it is falling off in a couple of spots. We think that originally the stairs had a landing and a turn, now they are a steep and narrow single flight with odd spacing, like who was meant to climb up and down them had legs that were not quite human normal. In changing the stairs they stranded the attic door mid wall about 4 feet away from the floor. Which is a pity because it is naught but a good big unfinished room at one end of the second floor. Why they didn't just put in some insulation, lay some flooring over the slab wood, and smack up some sheet rock is beyond me. I risked life and limb to get in to take a look and the room is even wired. Why go to considerably more work and expense to make a mess of the whole second floor when finishing one room would have done the job admirably?
DH suggested we lowball the place and see if they take it. My thought on that was well OK, but if they do take it where are we going to live while we fix it up enough that everyone has a place for their bed?

NightMist
still looking


  #9  
Old July 29th 17, 05:33 PM posted to rec.crafts.textiles.quilting
Night Mist
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 44
Default OT Finally! Actively house shopping

We have been looking, discarding wet basements, dubious roofs, hodge podge electrical wiring and etc.

Found one place that was a little small but very nice indeed, except you could fit the bathroom in a teaspoon and the 4 bedrooms were on the second floor with an open floor plan. An open floor plan for the bedrooms?! We might be a little kinky, but even we were all saying Who does that! The place was more or less a hunting lodge for rich weirdos. Getting out there was an experience. I was going to print out a map, but DH and kiri were insistent that we didn't need to because she has GPS on her phone. You all might recall how impressed I am by GPS. So we went up the road and over the hill and then we ran out of pavement and were on gravel. kiri was mightily unimpressed by that. we turned up another hill and went a few more miles and the gravel road gave way to dirt, and kiri stated to growl. After anther 5 miles the phone said your have now reached your destination and lost signal. We had not reached our destination, and kiri pulled over as best she could since the road was down to one lane, and let the estate agent pull up along side. He had never been to the place either, and took the lead. after another half mile or so we found the place. With a repeal the SAFE act sign out front and a This Property is Protected by a Gun sign in the front window. The only other domiciles we had seen since the road became dirt were log cabins and rusty trailers. When we got up to the front porch we found iron bars on the front windows. I was feeling pretty comfortable because I was out in the woods and back among my people of origin, then I remembered that my people of origin were pretty much a**holes. Even today my siblings lean to the paranoid gun nut lifestyle. I had a brief flash of memory involving peeing in the woods and musket fire (my family were civil war reenactors). After we had determined that the bedroom floor plan was not acceptable, and kiri would likely strangle us in our sleep if we even gave the place passing consideration, we started home. Only instead of going back the way we had come kiri and the estate agent agreed that the lure of visible pavement 50 yards or so down the road was too tempting. We went thataway, came to a T and decided left seemed to be a likely direction. Wrong. So again we were going over hill and dale, and found ourselves headed into Pennsylvania. Then through part of the Alleghany forest, after about 45 minutes of driving the cellphones came back to life. It took us considerably longer to get home than it did to get there. It also left us with the question of why on earth were there three golf courses scattered across next to nowhere Pennsyltucky hard by an obscure corner of a state forest.

NightMist


On Friday, June 23, 2017 at 6:44:27 PM UTC-4, wrote:
Well, the search for the right-for-us property is always a challenge.
Don't get too stressed out by it all. Deep breaths!

From experience I can say that living in a house while remodeling it at the same time is not very fun.

Ginger in CA
[email is ]

On Friday, June 23, 2017 at 10:45:08 AM UTC-7, Night Mist wrote:
On Tuesday, June 20, 2017 at 10:32:35 AM UTC-4, wrote:
oooh, keeping fingers and toes crossed that this is right for you!
New moon fortunes?


Well that was disappointing.

I had a tape measure with me and the listing flat out lied about room dimensions and total floor space.

The downstairs is OK, though the "Laminate wood flooring" turned out to be that thin self adhesive stuff you use to do a quick repair on cheap furniture. The bathroom is absolutely wonderful though.

The upstairs was an architectural nightmare.

At a guess? One of the owners who were a senior married couple (from published tax roles) became ill. We speculated this by the smell of the place. One of their children and their family moved back in to help out. We conjecture this by the description of an equestrian business that was running out of that address. We are guessing that this is when the stable was built and a couple of modifications done. One of those modifications was turning the upstairs into three bedrooms, in part by moving the stairs. To call the bedrooms cramped would be being generous. You literally could not fit a twin bed into one of them. They wallpapered the ceilings, and it it is falling off in a couple of spots. We think that originally the stairs had a landing and a turn, now they are a steep and narrow single flight with odd spacing, like who was meant to climb up and down them had legs that were not quite human normal. In changing the stairs they stranded the attic door mid wall about 4 feet away from the floor. Which is a pity because it is naught but a good big unfinished room at one end of the second floor. Why they didn't just put in some insulation, lay some flooring over the slab wood, and smack up some sheet rock is beyond me. I risked life and limb to get in to take a look and the room is even wired. Why go to considerably more work and expense to make a mess of the whole second floor when finishing one room would have done the job admirably?
DH suggested we lowball the place and see if they take it. My thought on that was well OK, but if they do take it where are we going to live while we fix it up enough that everyone has a place for their bed?

NightMist
still looking


  #10  
Old July 29th 17, 07:30 PM posted to rec.crafts.textiles.quilting
Bobbie Sews More
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,210
Default OT Finally! Actively house shopping


Just Keep searching! The right place has got to be out there somewhere!
Barbara, now in Florida
 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
shopping ? Karen Z Quilting 26 September 1st 09 01:57 AM
House Of Gods & House Of Kings [email protected] Beads 0 January 4th 08 01:40 PM
WIPs finally finished & pictures finally posted!~ Terbear Quilting 5 January 8th 05 04:02 AM
In new house finally! Donna McIntosh Yarn 7 July 6th 04 02:53 PM
Finally, finally my kreinik arrived Addie Needlework 2 May 13th 04 07:29 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 07:35 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 CraftBanter.
The comments are property of their posters.