Sometimes You Just Can't Go Back . . .

We found THAT out yesterday - -

Dear Hubby Steve saw a house for sale in the Sunday paper that we had looked at about 11 years ago, before we bought our present home. I totally fell in love with the house! It was located right at the edge of town, so it had city water (a definite plus!), was on a 1.2 acre lot, was all brick exterior, and had been build by a house builder for himself. As I walked through the house, I was instantly charmed by it! Not only by the quality of work, but the people selling it had a definite sense of color sceme. The walls, woodwork, everything - - just seemed to exude a "warmth" that was very comforting. We walked downstairs to the "Rec Room" area, and it was the same warm feeling - - wood accents, wood-burning fireplace - - it just seemed to radiate a feeling of "home" and "comfort" to us.

HOWEVER - - the couple selling it was really - - um - - "strange", I guess would be a good word for them. It became very obvious real soon that the husband did NOT want to sell and move. The WIFE, however - - was determined that they most definitely WERE moving, and that he could just shup his mouth and accept it!

That, and the fact that they were asking $129,000 for it (remember, this was 11 years ago, and it was NOT worth that much at that time - - not around these parts, at least) - - made for a *very* uncomfortable situation we had found ourselves in - - and it didn't help any when Hubby told them that other houses in the area were going for $100,000 or less, and that we could not consider paying more than $100,000 for a house - - ANY house - - that our budget wouldn't allow it.

S) - - we politely excused ourselves and wended out way back home.

We talked to our realtor and told her what we had encoutered and our feeling about the house. We also told her that we felt it was not worth the asking price. She agreed, but said she felt they would be willing to deal. So we discussed it, and decided that our offer would be $89,900, which we felt was more than fair. Sure, the majority of the house was in great condition - - bricks were tight with no tuckpointing needed, indoors was ready to move in to, but we had to take into consideration that we would have to do some roof repair, and run heat to the enclosed front porch, and Dear Hubby wanted to have a big outbuilding for his car "stuff". Our realtor agreed that it was a fair price, and arranged to meet with the couple to discuss it.

So our realtor met with them and gave our offer.

She was met with dead silence.

AND a deafening GLARE from the wife.

Who proceeded to ream our realtor with no mercy.

And claimed that Dear Hubby had actually OFFERED them $100,000 for the house the day we looked at it, and was now not willing to keep that part of the "bargain" . . .

HUH?!?!?!?!?????

I could have sworn I was with him that day, in that same house, with that same couple.

What "BARGAIN"?!?!?!?!?????

I don't remember any "BARGAIN"!!!!!!!

Our realtor gave us a call when she left them. From her tone of voice, we could tell she was still reeling. She asked us why we had not warned her that we had discussed a price with the couple before she went over there.

WELL - - maybe it's because we had NOT discussed a price with them.

To us, mentioning that other houses similar to theirs were in that price range, which is the most we could even cosider for a house - - ANY house - - was not "discussing a price" with them, or in any way did it resemble a "bargain" - -

These people were NUTS!

Well, we didn't pursue THAT house anymore . . . . *sigh*

They had that house on the market almost another year! And what was the price they FINALLY sold it for?

$100,000.

Yup - - that's right - - $100,000.

NOT the $129,000 they (or I should say, the WIFE) was insistent upon getting.

By that time we had already bought our present home.

BUT - - here it was - - on the market again - -

WELL - - let's just see what it looks like now.

We walked in to the kitchen area, and it had all been redecorated. All white and stainless steel. Very cold . . .

We walked through the rest of the house. ALL the walls, the woodwork, EVERYTHING - - was painted white. Stark. Plain. White. EVERYTHING.

Very cold.

The enclosed front porch had been opened up to be a part of the rest of the house, and had heat and ceiling fans and was decorated really nicely! I knew it would be a good idea to do that - -

But it was also painted white. Totally. White.

All the carpet was off-white - -

There was not "warmth" in the house anywhere! *shudder*

SO we decided to head downstairs to the "Rec Room" area, which the realtor lady was prattling on about it being the "Showcase of the WHOLE HOUSE" - -

And it was painted WHITE. With 45 records nailed to the walls. And a black & white "Steak 'n' Shake" type of floor.

And white speckled countertop.

White kitchen.

White walls. White trim.

Cold.

I just wanted to get out of there.

We managed to laugh about it a little later - - once the SHOCK had worn off!

Oh, and now the asking for that house is $174,000 - - and considering I would have to pry 45 records OFF the walls - - and tear up the Steak 'n' Shake floor, and replace ALL the trim in the WHOLE ENTIRE HOUSE with wood trim, and repaint the WHOLE ENTIRE HOUSE - - that is, AFTER steaming off all the wallpaper cutouts they plastered up as "border" by the ceiling (in a "woodsy", moose and bear theme . . . *sheesh*) - -

We have decided to pass on it.

Sometimes you just can't go back - - *sigh*

A Hopeful Sign

Well, Dear Hubby spoke to his housebuilding acquaintance, Larry, last night. Larry is very excited about the prospect of building the house for us. He is going to get back with us by the weekend so we can start talking figures and numbers and seeing what it will take.

We are definitely looking at Plan B - - being our own General Contractor, and Plan C - - selling our house and the extra lot, and buying a lot in another location.

So we are considering this a hopeful sign - - and we sure needed one!

Keep ya posted . . . . .

Another Disappointment . . .

We had the next contractor come by with his bid Saturday morning . . .

and it was even higher than the first too-high bid we got!

Y'know - - if this house was a big fancy thing with lots of roof cutaways and house angles and lots of other high-end stuff, I could understand some of these prices we have been quoted.

But it's a straight ranch house. With a straight roof.

No cut-aways, no angles, no fancy "stuff" anywhere - -

It's a BOX with a ROOF on it, for God's sake!!!!!

I can NOT believe that these people expect us to want to even CONSIDER paying over $350,000 for a 2700 sq. ft. BOX with a ROOF on it!!

They are on drugs - - they MUST be - - that's the only explanation I can think of . . . *sigh*

And then they sit there and tell us that the housing construction market in Central Illinois is so slow - -

WELL, NO DAMN WONDER!! YOU ARE ALL PRICING YOURSELF RIGHT OUT OF BUSINESS!!!!!

Fools.

*SIGH*

Okay - - I've vented - - I feel better - -

Not really, but I'll keep telling myself that until it's true! *laugh*

However - - on a GOOD note - -

Dear Hubby Steve met with our realtor Saturday morning and took her around the area we have been checking out for lots. She now has a very clear idea what we are looking for, AND - - she does have a lead on a contact for one of the lots. So y'all keep your fingers crossed - - once we get the lot, we can move forward with some other things.

ALSO - - Steve called his long-time house-builder friend this evening and left a message for him to call us. It looks as if we are going to have to implement "PLAN B" - - buying a different lot and selling our current house and extra lot, AND "PLAN C" - - being our own General Contractor.

Sure, it would be much easier to pay someone else to do that for us, but we see how THAT is playing out. So even though this way means much more "sweat equity" on our part, in the long run it will be worth it.

Steve and I can do it - - we actually CAN work together on a big project and not want to kill each other! I know that sounds too good to be true, but it is.

I'm not saying there won't be times that things will be a bit "strained" between us, but we are a team; we are in this together; we are working towards a common goal.

We're gonna do it. Period.

Stay tuned - - I'll keep ya posted . . .

Going To Hell In A Wheelbarrow . . .

. . . or at least that is how it seems sometimes!!

Okay - - it's been a LONG time since I posted anything, because I didn't feel like posting all the bad news lately. But here goes . . .

Contractors: One came in at a bid so high, he basically just bid himself right out of the running; one we really liked a lot withdrew his name from consideration because his schedule for this year is full; one came in at a bid that was MUCH lower than the first one, but STILL too damn high; one is visiting with us by the end of this week to present his bid; and one has not contacted us at all (which doesn't really upset me, because I didn't like him from the moment I met him!).

We have one more to talk to a second time - - a man Steve has known for many years, who builds houses for a living, and feels that we could be our own General Contractor and hire him to do the work. That would also save us money, but would be a HUGE investment in sweat equity. But it may be the way we need to go.

Location: We thought we had it all worked out - - we own the lot behind our house, and planned on building there. HOWEVER - - due to circunstances I do not care to explain in detail at this point, that is more than likely not going to happen. We are now in the process of talking to a realtor about lots in other locations, and have her looking at some in an area we both agree we like and wouldn't mind living in. That will then involve fixing up this house for sale, listing it and the lot (probably sell them separately), and then moving a lot farther than just the back yard! That also means I will lose the formal garden Jerry and I worked so hard on a couple of summers ago, and my street lamp from Taylorville Square, and all the landscaping I have done. We will be at Square One with the new place . . . *sigh*

But we will do whatever is needed to get through this. Steve and I have both agreed that the important thing is that we are in this TOGETHER. That it doesn't really matter that our plans have gone to Hell in a wheelbarrow, that we have to start from scratch and figure out all over again what we are doing and where - - we are TOGETHER, and that's what matters.

We can still use the house plans - - those are not lost. There may need to be a few modifications, depending on the lay of the lot we buy, but the overall plans are staying. Steve has put so much into this house - - planning, dreaming, lots and lots of thought. He says he has already cooked in the kitchen, eaten in the dining room, slept in the master bedroom, and sat in the hot tub in the sunporch!

You can't argue with that - - and I refuse to do anything or say anything that would kill that man's dream. OUR dream. I haven't gone as far in my mind as he has, but it's my home, too.

We'll get there. It's just not going very smoothly at the moment. But we WILL make it. TOGETHER.

That's how it should be.

Keep ya posted . . . . .

Two More . . .

Well, we have now heard back from two more of the contractors. One is going to come out next week and give us his bid, and the other will be out the week after that.

SO - - let's see if either one of these two are any better than the first one was!

Keep you posted. . . . .

Good News, Bad News . . .

We have heard back from two contractors so far - -

One has priced himself TOTALLY out of the ballpark - - and then some!

The other returned our drawings with a very nice letter letting us know that his schedule for this coming year has filled up and he would not be able to fit our house project into his schedule.

I would be lying if I said we weren't disappointed to hear that from the second contractor. He was the one we felt really good about, and felt that would could have worked very well with.

Oh well - - three more to hear from.

On the "Good News" side - - Steve's uncle has referred us to a company down in Charleston that builds homes, and we are going to talk to them next week. I'll keep y'all updated on how that goes.

Also - - Steve knows someone who builds houses, and gave him a call a couple of evenings ago. He's a very nice man and an excellent builder. He is coming out tonight to look at the house plans and talk to us.

SO - - it's still going SLOW, but - - at least it's still MOVING . . .

Keep ya posted as things happen.

EVERYONE HAVE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HOLIDAYS, AND A FABULOUS NEW YEAR!

Quick Update

Not much to report yet - - still waiting to hear from contractors. But, we have been getting in some estimates for house materials. So far we have heard from the HVAC, lumber, and brick companies.

SO - - things are still in a "holding pattern".

I'll keep you posted as things get going.

Our Next Move

OKAY - -

We STILL have not heard anything from any of the contractors, except for one who has called us twice asking questions for clarification.

So we decided the next move was up to us.

Last night I got into PrintShop and created a greeting card. We sent one to each of the contractors thanking them for taking the time to meet with us and go over our house plans, and that we hope to hear back from them soon so that we can move the process forward.

Hopefully that will kick something into motion with some of them, because - - as ANYONE who knows me will tell ya - -

Patience is NOT one of my strong points.

I'm just sayin' is all. :-)

Sorry . . .

Yes, it's been a long time since my last entry - - Mea culpa . . .

There has been a small bit of progress that I need to update, but it will probably have to wait till this weekend. Life has been out of control lately with work, homework, sickness in the household, etc.

I'll be back on here this weekend and get things all updated.

Stay tuned . . .

Filling In the Quiet Moments . . .

My Daddy, bless him, gave me an offer he had received in the mail for THREE YEARS of Better Homes & Gardens for $13.00. He knows how excited (and scared!) we are about this new house, and thought this might give us something to look through to get some ideas of what we might like in the house.

So we have been spending time while waiting to hear back from the GC's poring over the magazines and dreaming . . .

which is really kinda fun!

Also makes the time we are WAITING go a little faster - - and helps me cultivate patience . . . :-)