Lance and I regrouped over the weekend. I think we both needed to take a breather and discuss the situation. Sunday we talked about our urgent to do list. We came up with a list of items to take care of first thing on Monday morning. I was in charge of getting some type of storage facility. I was able to find one right up the street at a very reasonable price. As far as we know all of our stuff could be in storage for up to a year. This weekend my family will be helping take truck loads to the storage unit.
Lance's to do list was obviously much longer. He sure was on top of things. He called the local fire department, the EPA and then a slew of other people. We had a local farmer come out to talk to Lance about leasing the land. We have also received estimates from a contractor to finish the upstairs, a roofer, the oil spill clean up people and several estimates for the build of a garage.
We have received a lot of paperwork from our agent including: the police report, the inspection reports and the insurance report. She also sent us an email from the previous owners. They said that they would purchase the property back from us. They feel really bad about what has happened and would like us to create a list of things we need them to do. I think, because of their age they would prefer us to do the work and then have them write the checks. They didn't do what was necessary for the clean up of the oil, because they said they didn't know what to do.
We should know more in the next couple of days what it is going to take to get the oil cleaned up. We feel better knowing that they will do whatever it takes to make it right by us. I will continue to keep you updated. Thanks for all of the support and for reaching out to us with offers to help. I will know more after this weekend. :) Maybe have a list pulled together of things others can do to help.
We started this blog as a way to update our family and friends on our preemie, Parker. After Parker passed away, Lance and I decided that it was important to continue the blog as a family journal. We are always up to something!
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Bigger Issue - Oil Spill
It has been a week ago Friday that we purchased The little house. We have now found ourselves in the middle of a nightmare. Background - When the crooks stole all of the copper piping from the house, apparently there was some oil spillage on the floor of the basement - NOT disclosed by the previous owners. The previous owners said that they had contacted their home owners insurance and they were taking care of everything that happened during the robbery. We now know that there was a spill and it was not professionally cleaned. After a week, the oil smell still permeates the entire house.
Everyone that has been helping us with the house is getting headaches from the smell. It is horrible. We are down to three weeks before we have to be out of our current home and the little house is currently inhabitable. The previous owners did not disclose the spill and they kept saying that everything that was damaged from the intruder would be fixed. We did not receive and have yet to receive full disclosure on what exactly happened and how big the oil spill was. It is easy to say we should have NEVER signed on the dotted line to purchase the property. What we didn't know, we didn't know. We signed and purchased the house based on the home inspection. Nothing after the inspection was disclosed to us. All we knew is that there was a break in and the owners had contacted their insurance policy and they were taking care of it.
Now isn't this fun?! Yep, I am starting to feel stressed. We have sent several emails to our agent and she is on top of it. I trust her and she has already responded and said that her manager has been notified and is involved. If we do not hear something back from the other agent and the previous owners by Monday, I guess will have to get attorneys involved. Yuck!
Everyone that has been helping us with the house is getting headaches from the smell. It is horrible. We are down to three weeks before we have to be out of our current home and the little house is currently inhabitable. The previous owners did not disclose the spill and they kept saying that everything that was damaged from the intruder would be fixed. We did not receive and have yet to receive full disclosure on what exactly happened and how big the oil spill was. It is easy to say we should have NEVER signed on the dotted line to purchase the property. What we didn't know, we didn't know. We signed and purchased the house based on the home inspection. Nothing after the inspection was disclosed to us. All we knew is that there was a break in and the owners had contacted their insurance policy and they were taking care of it.
Now isn't this fun?! Yep, I am starting to feel stressed. We have sent several emails to our agent and she is on top of it. I trust her and she has already responded and said that her manager has been notified and is involved. If we do not hear something back from the other agent and the previous owners by Monday, I guess will have to get attorneys involved. Yuck!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Saturday Evening - Security Alarm
Lance wanted to make sure we installed a security alarm right away on the little house. If you remember from my previous posts...a couple of weeks before we were due to close on the house someone broke into the house and stole all of the copper piping. They also did a lot of damage to the back door. The previous home owners said they would fix the door. I guess this is their way of fixing it...by putting big drywall screws in the door. Nice huh?
Of course you can't stop by the little house without doing a little something. The girls wanted a peice of the action and they love stripping wall paper, so Lance unleashed the girls on the dinning room.
Officially OUR little HOUSE
Friday, February 25th we signed all the papers making THE little HOUSE officially ours. Lance couldn't wait to get started on gutting the upstairs of the house. He worked on the house until 1:30am. My sister's family came over to our house on Saturday to help with packing and demolition at the little house. I was able to drive over with my Mom, Sister, and Sister in law to check out all the hard work. While the boys were working on the little house, my Mom and my sister were able to help clear out the unfinished part of the basement by bringing me the bins while I sat on our couch. We put the items into two piles. Long term storage or little house. It went pretty smoothly, but feel bad that my family is getting stuck doing all of the dirty work.
Before and After Photo's of the gut job. The large pile in the last picture was actually a very large birds nest that was up in the rafters of the ceiling. When Lance demolished the ceiling it fell to the floor...yuck! Sorry the pictures are not very clear. Lance said there was so much dust and debris floating in the air he could not get a good shot.
Before and After Photo's of the gut job. The large pile in the last picture was actually a very large birds nest that was up in the rafters of the ceiling. When Lance demolished the ceiling it fell to the floor...yuck! Sorry the pictures are not very clear. Lance said there was so much dust and debris floating in the air he could not get a good shot.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Develop an Organized Moving Plan
I spent the weekend coming up with an plan for the big move to the little house. I am on bed rest/modified bed rest due to complication with this pregnancy and my history, so I am worried that I am going to be of little to no help when it comes time to move. One thing I am good at is I am very organized and detailed oriented, especially in situations like this. When stress starts creeping in my OCD starts creeping out. Plus I am very good at bossing other people around, just ask my husband.
First - I ordered more Rubbermaid storage bends. Since most of our stuff is going in long time storage, we needed containers that are more durable to protect our stuff from rodents and the elements. They should be here in seven days. I know that exactly 15 containers fit on one storage shelf from Sam's club. We will need to purchase some more shelving units or we may just stack them on each other.
Second - We plan to build a garage. Lance and I did some research online to help us decide what we want and what makes the most since for our current needs. We went back and forth on what we should build, a barn or a garage. At this time a garage makes the most since, because there is not one currently on the property and it would be better than a barn for long term storage. Lance plans on going to a garage company after work on Monday to ask some questions and do more research. From what we can tell it may take up to 30 days to have the garage built on the grounds. If the garage is not done in time for our move at the end of March, we may have to find another means of storage for a few weeks to a month.
http://pdqpolebuildings.com/
Third - Our families are stepping up for some much needed help. I don't have to work on Monday, so my sister is coming over to help box up some things. Even if she is able to pack up one box it will be a help. Plus her boys will keep the girls stay entertained while we organize the packing. I will be sitting on the coach watching while she works. I will make sure to pay her back with future service when needed. :)
I am still not stressing. We will be just fine. I am married to an awesome man that takes such great care of his family that I am not worried. Although, our families may be getting stressed out for us. My Mom already told me that her eye is twitching just thinking about our so called stressful situation.
First - I ordered more Rubbermaid storage bends. Since most of our stuff is going in long time storage, we needed containers that are more durable to protect our stuff from rodents and the elements. They should be here in seven days. I know that exactly 15 containers fit on one storage shelf from Sam's club. We will need to purchase some more shelving units or we may just stack them on each other.
Second - We plan to build a garage. Lance and I did some research online to help us decide what we want and what makes the most since for our current needs. We went back and forth on what we should build, a barn or a garage. At this time a garage makes the most since, because there is not one currently on the property and it would be better than a barn for long term storage. Lance plans on going to a garage company after work on Monday to ask some questions and do more research. From what we can tell it may take up to 30 days to have the garage built on the grounds. If the garage is not done in time for our move at the end of March, we may have to find another means of storage for a few weeks to a month.
http://pdqpolebuildings.com/
Third - Our families are stepping up for some much needed help. I don't have to work on Monday, so my sister is coming over to help box up some things. Even if she is able to pack up one box it will be a help. Plus her boys will keep the girls stay entertained while we organize the packing. I will be sitting on the coach watching while she works. I will make sure to pay her back with future service when needed. :)
I am still not stressing. We will be just fine. I am married to an awesome man that takes such great care of his family that I am not worried. Although, our families may be getting stressed out for us. My Mom already told me that her eye is twitching just thinking about our so called stressful situation.
Friday, February 18, 2011
We sold our house!!! Ahhhh!
We are under contract. We received an offer on our house on Wednesday. We went back and forth all day Thursday and finally agreed on a price and the conditions Thursday evening. We signed all of the papers at 9:00pm. Now the clock starts ticking. We need to be completely out of our house by March 28th at 6:00pm. Closing will be scheduled for Friday, March 26th. We have a long way to go before it is a done deal. The inspection will be completed within the next seven days. We do not expect there to be any issues. We still have not closed on The Little House. We are hoping the closing will be scheduled for sometime next week. However, we had some bad news last night. Apparently someone broke into the little house on Wednesday night. We are still waiting to hear from the listing agent. There was a police report taken. We hope to hear something today on what kind of damaged occurred. We are assuming that the copper piping was all removed, but maybe it is not as bad as we are thinking. We will keep you posted. Baby news - I am on modified bed rest depending on how I am doing I can get up, but my Dr. doesn't want me to do a lot of walking. I had an ultrasound on Wednesday. The baby looks great. I am 17 weeks now. Lance and I decided not to find out the sex of the baby. We are just praying for a healthy baby. Also, it is not like we have a nursery to decorate in The Little House. LOL We are thinking the baby crib will have to go in our bedroom. 
Update on The little House - We found out this afternoon that the crooks did a number on the little house. They gutted the basement. They took the furnace, the air conditioning unit, the copper pipping and they did a lot of damage to the back door as well as the basement metal doors. The listing agent and the insurance adjuster said that this would not prevent us from closing at the end of this month. Wish us luck! It looks like we are going to be down to the wire with getting the little house ready to move in before we need to move out of our old house. We sure like to keep life interesting don't we.
Update on The little House - We found out this afternoon that the crooks did a number on the little house. They gutted the basement. They took the furnace, the air conditioning unit, the copper pipping and they did a lot of damage to the back door as well as the basement metal doors. The listing agent and the insurance adjuster said that this would not prevent us from closing at the end of this month. Wish us luck! It looks like we are going to be down to the wire with getting the little house ready to move in before we need to move out of our old house. We sure like to keep life interesting don't we.
Friday, February 4, 2011
The Little House
Our 30 acre mini farm.
Background - On January 11th we made our first offer on this piece of property. We ended up going back and forth with the owners. We made 3 different offers. There ended up being only $4,000 between our top offer and the sellers bottom offer and believe it or not we walked away. A couple of days later, the sellers came back with another offer and we accepted. Some people might think we are crazy for walking away for such a small amount. I get my negotiating skills from my mother who walked away from their current home for only $1,000 difference. It ended up working in their favor, so I thought we would try it. Plus, I have heard it's a buyers market...lol!
House Inspection -
Not really any surprises here. The house is a mess. Our inspection report was 20 pages long of defects and issues. Everything leaks. Plumbing, electrical, roof, fireplace, porches all have issues. Thank goodness we are handy people, because this place is a handy mans special. What Lance and I figured because it is only a one bedroom/one bathroom house it wont take much to fix this little bad boy up. So we are taking it as is.
Financing -
Kind of strange how things work these days. Even though we were pre-approved for a loan we were not able to get a loan from a traditional bank. It has something to do with the land being more valuable than the house...even with 20% down and fantastic credit. So, we contacted the Farm Credit Services. They have been great to work with. We are now all squared away with getting the loan. The last step is they have to appraise the property which will happen on February 14th. Hopefully everything will go well and we will have a nice Valentines Day Surprise.
Above - The Attic
Background - On January 11th we made our first offer on this piece of property. We ended up going back and forth with the owners. We made 3 different offers. There ended up being only $4,000 between our top offer and the sellers bottom offer and believe it or not we walked away. A couple of days later, the sellers came back with another offer and we accepted. Some people might think we are crazy for walking away for such a small amount. I get my negotiating skills from my mother who walked away from their current home for only $1,000 difference. It ended up working in their favor, so I thought we would try it. Plus, I have heard it's a buyers market...lol!
House Inspection -
Not really any surprises here. The house is a mess. Our inspection report was 20 pages long of defects and issues. Everything leaks. Plumbing, electrical, roof, fireplace, porches all have issues. Thank goodness we are handy people, because this place is a handy mans special. What Lance and I figured because it is only a one bedroom/one bathroom house it wont take much to fix this little bad boy up. So we are taking it as is.
Financing -
Kind of strange how things work these days. Even though we were pre-approved for a loan we were not able to get a loan from a traditional bank. It has something to do with the land being more valuable than the house...even with 20% down and fantastic credit. So, we contacted the Farm Credit Services. They have been great to work with. We are now all squared away with getting the loan. The last step is they have to appraise the property which will happen on February 14th. Hopefully everything will go well and we will have a nice Valentines Day Surprise.
Above - The ONLY bathroom and the master bedroom on the first floor. The master bedroom has the original wood floors that someone painted white which I think is charming.
Above - The Attic
I think it is hilarious that they said that this was a three bedroom house. when there are no closets upstairs, no walls dividing the two spaces and no heating, insulation, or drywall. They through up some plywood on the walls and hung some peaces of fabric.
The upstairs is going to need the most work. Frankly, we plan to gut it and start over. We are going to have to shove all the kids upstairs so it must be heated and insulated.
The Kitchen is nice, but of course very small. All of the cabinets were recently updated, but the appliances are very little. They are half the size of my current appliances.
The PLAN - Yes we have a plan. The plan is to get the keys to The Little House and start working on gutting it and painting all of the walls to get it livable for our family. As soon as it is ready to go, we will get more aggressive with selling our house. When our house sells we will move into the little house while we are building a new house on the property. It is going to be a fun couple of years. We will have plenty of projects and I love to decorate and create so I will have two house to express my creativity. After moving into the main house, Lance wants to rent out the little house. I would like to keep it for a guest house or better yet a pool house. We will see who wins out on that one.
I will continue to blog like crazy as we make changes to the house. This is something Lance and I both enjoy so it will be cool to document the changes and progress of the property. I have so many ideas already. I am getting really excited.
On top of everything...Lance and I are expecting our forth that will be here in late July...NOT any earlier!!!!
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