Life in Lochlanland

SOLD!!!

Our house, that is :).

Our realtor had called us on Thursday to see if we'd be interested in moving our possession date provided we could move the possession date of the new house because he had been contacted by a realtor who had a client who was interested.  We said sure - the only reason we wanted it so far away was because we wanted to sell our house first and if we could sell it sooner and move sooner, then we'd be happy campers.  So we waited... and when I heard nothing all weekend I assumed that they just weren't that interested or found someone who was willing to let them move sooner.

Nope!  I went to get dishwasher detergent since we were out and needed to do dishes in case anyone came to see the house tomorrow.  Oh, and chocolate.  I wanted chocolate too...  So I come home and Darren's got a big grin on his face "We've got an offer" he said!!

So I went up to read The Bug a story because apparently Mommy is the only one who can read "Deck the Halls" to him and Darren got the details.  $384,000, possession date of Feb 29 conditional on financing and a home inspection.  A little low so we countered at $395,000 and we settled at $393,500.  I wanted to get above $390,000 so I'm just thrilled.  We both are - Darren's smiling that crinkly eyed smile of his that I love so much and suddenly we both feel 1000lbs lighter.

We'll get the conditions settled in a week, I'm not expecting any problems with the inspection or the financing.  Then we can get going on our own financing, which will be a piece of cake since we're not going to need two mortgages!!

I'm thrilled - yes, we need to move two weeks sooner than what we were expecting, but that's also two fewer weeks of moving stress.  I'm so very, very happy.

I just knew this was all going to work out somehow :) :) :) :)

We're Moving!! (Maybe)

Okay so it's not a done deal yet, but we really, really liked the house we saw today.  Here's a couple of links:

Real Estate Listing

My Photos

So it's a raised bungalow - you come in at the basement level. The entry was a decent sized and there was a closet down there. The garage is only a single car garage, but since the plan is for me to stop driving we really only need a spot for one car anyway.

The basement had a good sized family room, two bedrooms, a decent bathroom, laundry room and some storage. Most of it was tiled - the tile was nice, kind of an odd choice for a basment since the floors can get cold, but it seemed to work. The bedrooms had carpet - in one it wasn't in great condition but replacing carpet in one or two rooms is not a big deal.

The upstairs was great - bright and open. The kitchen/dining area was big enough for our dining room table. There won't be a formal dining space, but since we never really have lots of people over, I don't think that's an issue. If we ever have 22 people over for Christmas dinner, we can set up the current kitchen table in the living room without a problem!

I loved the fireplace in the living room - so much nicer than the one I have here. It's not a gas fireplace, so there is a bit more maintenance involved but nothing that I can't live with.

The bedrooms are a decent size, as is the bathroom. The master has an ensuite - it's not huge, but since I never really used my massive soaker tub I'm not broken up about losing my palatial master suite. There is piles of closet space, which is good since we have a lot of crap.

The backyard is a little bit small, but the deck is big enough for our table and it has an outdoor fireplace that is really cool. There's some flower beds and a small grassy area so it'll be interesting to see what comes up in the spring time.

Then there are the conveniences... elementary and jr high schools are right across the road. Lochlan won't be bussed until he's in high school. The bus stop is right across the street, so that is super easy to get to work. There is a 7-11 (do you have those in the US??) convenience store that's a short walk away...

And the view.  It has a terrific view of the mountains.

It is smaller and older than our current house - but that's a price to pay when you move close to downtown here. It may mean we need to purge a lot of stuff, but I'm okay with that too since I think we have way too much crap, but with a big, undeveloped basement it's easy to collect junk!

So we'll be making an offer... we're waiting on some info from our mortgage broker and then we'll have a look at what other stuff in the area has been selling for and make an offer by the end of the week!

I think we'll be able to make it work - but keep your fingers crossed that we can reach a deal with the sellers... I would really like to live in this lovely little house!

Well, We're Not Moving This Weekend!

We are all set for our search. We met with our realtor, set up all the online searches so now we'll get emails with all the listings as they are listed or as listings change.  So that's good.

I'm coming to the conclusion of a couple of things.  First of all- this isn't going to be as easy as I thought.  And secondly, that any place we do look at is likely to need some renovation and it's going to be tough to tell if any house is our house if we need to do some remodelling work on it.

As for the house we saw yesterday- well, it's on the list.  It's not perfect- the main floor is quite nice and would work well.  The basement was done well enough- there was a large family room, a large bathroom with a soaker tub and two bedrooms- one nice an big, one pretty tiny.  But workable.  The only probem was the master bedroom was really too small.  It would fit our bed, and dresser, but that's about it.  I told Darren I could put my make up table in the 3rd bedroom upstairs and then I wouldn't be bothering him in the morning when I'm getting ready!!  He liked that idea- but still pointed out that we'd need to remodel upstairs and create two good sized bedroom and two good sized bathrooms. 

So- it's on the list and we'll see what comes up next.  We're not quite willing to make an offer yet, and we're not going to cry if this one sells.  So we'll see what else comes up and if, in a couple of months, the  house is stil there, we may re-think things.

Now all I can do is wait.  Cause THAT'S something I am oh, so, good at!!

In Other Real Estate News...

I found a details sheet on one of the houses that I'm interested in... our furniture should fit in this one!  And I like the pictures... which doesn't say much but I know it's the right size anyway.

We're seeing it on Saturday.  Once again, I'm hoping I like this one...  It's a bit less expensive too.  And I think it needs a lot less work.

So we'll see...

News News News!!

We're moving!!!

Eventually...

Here's how it's been shaking out:

6pm, Kristina and Lochlan stumble in the door after a 45 min drive home. 
Lochlan:  "DADDY!!!!!"
Kristina: "Mrrphfffel... I want to move"
Darren:  "We're not moving"

Repeat...  I went back to work a year ago and after a variety of playing with hours, Darren starting to work from home and a couple of switches in daycares, we finally got a system that more or less worked.  It meant that I drove, with Lochlan, to work every day.  Before Lochlan, Darren drove and we carpooled and somehow that didn't bother me.  Probably because we were spending time together and I didn't have to drive.  I thought that maybe Darren just didn't mind driving as much as I did, however I remember that we used to come home, he'd go nap while I made dinner and somehow that worked.  Now with the little dude, we can't really carpool and I can't have a nap when I get home.  Darren does take Lochlan for a walk or to the park most days, but I have to make dinner so there's no rest for me until bedtime.

Add in that it's about 1.5hrs of driving (there and back) and if there is a snow storm or an accident, delays can be more than an hour.  In March I came home and told Darren I wanted to move.  We got me a cushier car... I started working later to avoid morning rush... we did as much as we could to make it tolerable so we wouldn't have to move because we really love this house.  Darren told me to see how the summer went and to see if it's a winter thing or a commute thing.

Well... that was March, now it's September again and I still want to move.  Darren still really didn't want ot hear it.  Which is fine... but a little over a week ago we had some friends over and we started talking about possibilities... we started talking about how much it is actually costing me to commute.  And... there was a house for sale.  Right on their street!  It would be a 15 min commute on transit, I wouldn't need to drive, schools and parks are close... it would be great.  Assuming we liked the house.  When faced with the money involved in driving, and my continuted discontent with my drive, we decided to check out the open house this weekend and... see.

Well, we didn't like it.  It was too small, too dated and too expensive.  We'd need to do massive renovations to make it work and given the price... well, that wasn't going to happen.  But we did stop at another open house and it was much nicer.  Still not the right house, but it was enough that we can find something we like in this community, eventually.

There are two more houses listed that might work, so we're checking to see if there are open houses this weekend.  Then we can see if those would work... if there isn't an open house, then I suspect we'll contact a realtor and see what they can do.  I'd like to get moving sooner rather than later, but since this would have to be the last time we moved, we have to be sure it's something we can live with.  So it may be a slow search.  But knowing that this may be the LAST winter I have to drive on the highway..

So, we're moving.  Once we find a house.  And sell this one!!

(In the meantime it's given us the push to get all the little fix-it and organizational things done around the house... stuff that should be done anyway, but really needs to be done if we're going to sell this place.)

I hope this goes quickly... I'd really like to be taking the train this winter...