Decision

Well, we have made a decision - - we are going to make an offer for the house!

We called our realtor this evening, and she is out of town for the week at a conference. But, she is going to call an associate at her office and ask her to help get us started on the process. She is to contact us tomorrow morning.

I'm not gonna sleep very well tonight, I can already tell . . . . .

LOTS of Thinking Going On . . .

I didn't sleep very well last night, and it shows today - - I'm walking around like a zombie.

Dear Hubby had to work today, but campus is closed for Columbus Day today, so I'm off work. Good thing, too, because I'm not navigating very well.

That house was going round and round in my head all night last night . . . I know Steve didn't sleep very well either - - he was pretty restless, too.

We need to have a LONG talk when he gets home this evening. The more I think about that house, the more living there appeals to me . . . from the first moment I walked in the front door, I felt as if I had come home.

I hope he felt something, too - - he will be home soon, and I'll find out.

We Looked At ANOTHER House . . .

Not just ANY house, mind you - - this is a very special house.

Let me back up and explain a bit . . .

A couple of years ago, before we had our house plans drawn up, Dear Hubby drove me by this red brick ranch style house, and told me, "This is how I picture the outside of our house looking." Red brick, white trim, and a BIG yard.

Now fast-forward a couple of years - -

This morning in the paper we saw that this same house was for sale, and there was an Open House this afternoon. Curiousity got the best of us, and we decided to see what this house looked like on the inside - - to see if it matched up in any way to the plans we have drawn up for our house.

Oh my . . . . . this is one nice house. Built solid, large rooms, full basement, 2 outbuildings (just like Dear Hubby was wanting), and 5 acres of property.

We looked around for about 30 minutes, and then left. We went to Dairy Queen and just sat there looking at each other. Finally, we decided to take a second look, and came back to the house for another look-see.

It looked even better to us the second time. This place is awesome - - and very much like the layout in our house plans.

NOW what to do? Do we consider making an offer? Do we say, "Forget it" and keep looking for a lot to build on?

I'm not goona sleep very much tonight . . . . . *sigh*

We Looked At A House . . .

No, we have not changed our minds about building. But when a house such as this comes along, we would be foolish not to check it out. So check it out we did.

It was a gorgeous house - - 7 acres, partially wooded; approximately 3,100 sq. ft. of living space with the main level and lower level areas. It was built as a showcase home for a carpenter who wanted to run his business out of the home. GORGEOUS kitchen with solid (2" thick) granite countertops. All appliances stayed, along with a big screen TV and full house stereo system. It was worth A LOT of money - - a lot more than they were asking.

So we made an offer. I THINK - - but I'm not SURE - - that our offer was turned down.

I say this because neither the listing agent OR the lawyer handling the house (it was part of a bankruptcy settlement) gave us the professional courtesy of a response.

UN - BE - LIEV - ABLE.

Maybe our offer isn't what they were looking for - -

BUT - -

Our offer of $250,000 is not small chunk of change - -

AT LEAST GIVE US THE COURTESY OF A REPLY!!!!!

Even a "No" would be okay . . .

I hate unprofessionalism. I'm angry.

And I am NOT done with this - - someone WILL be hearing about it.

Period.

Not Much New Yet . . .

There are a couple more lots we have noticed that we are having our realtor check on for us, but that's about it for now.

If anything comes of ANY of these lots we are looking at, I'll let ya know . . .

*sigh*

Hey . . .

When we FINALLY get our new house built . . .

And we FINALLY get to put our current house up on the market . . .

I'm hoping ~this~ will be one of the selling points . . . . .

Nothing To Report

That's why there hasn't been a blog entry for the past couple of months - - there is literally nothing to report at the moment.

We are just hanging in there, keeping in touch with our realtor, looking at lots - - we do have a couple of "possibilities", but so far nothing firmed up.

As soon as anything at all happens, I will post it here.

Sorry for the 'down time' . . .

Interesting Information

We had to have the furnace worked on today - - it was misfiring quite a bit, and we thought the igniter was going our again (it has happened a couple of times before). But fortunately it wasn't. Some of the jets were misfiring because they needed cleaning. So the Air King guy came out and gave the whole unti a good once-over, and it's working like a charm - - just in time for it to get up in the 70's today and we don't need it! But that's okay - - at least we know it's all in good shape.

While the HVAC guy was there, Dear Hubby talked with him about different types of systems for new home construction. We had been seriously looking at a geo-thermal system, which cost quite a bit more upfront, but was supposed to be so efficient and cost-effective that it would pay for itself in 3-5 years.

WELL - - seems like that is not quite the case . . .

The first thing the guy asked Steve was what kind of back-up system he planned on installing.

Back-up system??? What for?

THEN the guy told him that he, and anyone else he had talked with over the past few years, had to have a back-up system installed, because the geo-thermal system by itself could not keep up with the heating needs of a house. In fact, even though we have had a fairly mild winter with fairly mild temps, he had to constantly run his back-up system,. If he didn't, his house temperature would drop to the mid-50's!

Hmmmmm - - doesn't sound good to me.

AND - - in our area, there are only approximately 18 homes that have geo-thermal systems. NOW - - if they were so good, why don't more people consider them? Good food for thought.

So they discussed other HVAC systems, and the pros and cons of each.

Thanks to this guy, we have a LOT more information to store away for building time.

Thanks, Paul! And Thanks, Air King, for taking care of us one more time! :-)

STILL On the Market . . .

Remember the house we looked at about a month ago? The one decorated like Steak 'n' Shake? That they wanted $179,000 for?

And then 2 weeks later there was another Open House, and the price had dropped all the way (heh!) down to $169,000?

Well, there was ANOTHER Open House today at that house, and the price has dropped again - - to $164,000.

Heh.

We'll STILL pass . . .

Lot Update

We met with our realtor for supper tonight, and had a great time! She is such a good, nice person, we have known her for many years, and we all have a great time together.

We gave her a reduced-down copy of our house plans, and asked her to please go back and talk to the folks who owned the Summit Street property, so that they would know who is interested in the lot, what we are intending to build, and give them some information about what kind of people we are (yes, we ARE good people - - a little bit loony sometimes, but harmless!)

I can understand how they might feel - - they do not know us, or anything about us, and I would abe just as uneasy as they are about selling to someone sight unseen and maybe get stuck with the worst neighbors in the world.

We also talked with her about another addition right on the south edge of town. There are 26 acres available, and they are wanting to split it and sell lots. It's not too far from the property we looked at last weekend, and it's nice property. Some wooded areas to it, lots of deer to see, and it not only fairly private and quiet, but it's close enough to town to get to everything we need to easily.

SO - - things are looking up a little - - even though we will not be building now until NEXT Spring, at least we are still on the way . . . .

Keep ya posted . . .