Almost ready for prime time

SUMMARY: move in next week! Compare and contrast to 2001

Well… This is three months since I said I would post something about the house project every day. I’m only behind by 90 days. I’m sure I will catch up eventually.

Movers will be here Tuesday and Wednesday! I am trying to be prepared. I have sketched out the furniture layout for all the rooms. I have a couple of people to help.

But the reason I brought you here all today is because of this:

August, 2001

The Last Time I Moved

SUMMARY: Reminding myself why I don't want to do that again

I plan to take photos of everything after the movers have left. I expect there to be too much stuff once again. But at least you can compare and contrast to what I moved into the house in San Jose in 2001. So, yes, despite my goals, I am more or less doing the whole thing again. But rest assured: I don’t ever want to do that again again!

>>  Visit the Wordless Wednesday site; lots of blogs. << >>  Visit Cee's Photo Challenge blog; lots of blogs. <<

Paperwork! Money!

SUMMARY: Oooooooh closing is so close!

I can't believe it has been a month since I said I'd post something daily. Hahahaha actually I am not that surprised. I have been busy, but not significantly with the house buying process.

Now, badda-bing, badda-boom, THE NEXT BIG THING HAS HAPPENED.

The Title Company* left me voicemail late yesterday (Monday) afternoon while I was out touristing that the paperwork is ready for me to sign! And they calculated how much my total payment will be! 

Thar she be! Nice green lawn (it isn't right now because it's summer and not much rain).
Patio with pergola and raised flower planters on the near side.
Small shed on the far side against the fence.
The approximate floor plan! (I'll do a larger version later.)
And my three neighbors on my cul de sac.

Today they gave me a link to a few short documents on DocuSign identifying what my final payment consists of, identifying the buyer and seller, specifying what The Title Company is allowed/not allowed to do and what they will do. Basically that's it. 

So I DocuSigned the docu's. Next, I needed to send them a whole castle-full of money. From two different banks because I split the money up from the sale of my previous house:

• Big Credit Union T*, back down in San Jose, had an online wire form that was easy to fill out and submit there. Someone called me back shortly thereafter to ask questions verifying my identity and asking things like, does this agreement require you to pay unidentified additional monies or ask for money back afterwards. Also whether I know that the property I'm buying actually exists.
• Tiny Credit Union P*, here in tiny Port Townsend, does not have an online form; not even a form online to print and fill out. Have to go in to talk to them. Good thing the one in San Jose isn't like that. When I arrived, someone else occupied the seat with the manager that I needed to occupy to have this done, I waited nearly half an hour. Actually setting up the wire transfer took no more than 10 minutes. They asked similar questions, including whether I knew that The Title Company truly existed and was truly a legit business who would not be a fly-by night thang. (I am paraphrasing all the questions for poetic license.)

So, THAT BIG THING FULL OF MONEY will be out of my figurative hands tomorrow, and into the new owner's hand this coming Monday, and then SOMEONE WILL HAND ME THE KEYS! 

So excited! So broke. [wide eyes not panicking too much really]

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* All company names changed to protect--oh, who knows. But I did it here anyway.

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Things To Get For Whatever New House

 SUMMARY: Things I need or want no matter what house I end up buying

Note: No posts for the past 3 days because I've done nothing house related and a lot of things unrelated. 

When I left San Jose, I made conscious decisions--consciously considered for, in some cases, quite a few years--to not take a variety of furnishings with me. Because: New House! Retirement! Get things I like better! Here are the bigger ones.

• 

  Welllll crud, I don't find ANY photos of the
  guest room and its furniture... after all these
  decades! You can kinda see the white & gold
  on the mirror over the dresser.

  
  Guest bedroom furniture. 
  White & gold bureau, side tables, double bed with headboard, box springs, and mattress-- inherited from my Grandparents. Good, solid pieces and in excellent condition. BUT (a) I've had them for 44 years, (b) they were never really my style anyway, and (c) I've not often had sleepover guests, so it all took up a lot of space that didn't get used often.
  Replacement: I'll definitely have some nice comfy bed for visitors, but I'm thinkin'--Murphy bed! James Bond! I've been reading up on them. With some kind of bedside table (that also folds down!) and a separate bureau...TBD
  
  
  
• Sofa.
  The large ivory fabric sectional served me perfectly for a long time. BUT (a) I bought it used in the first place back in 1991, and it is showing its age, (b) it is simply too low for me these days, (c) it is most useful with several guests (which doesn't happen much any more because EVERYONE MOVED OUT OF STATE, and (d) keeping a couch of that color clean and nice looking for guests when I had ... ta da... dogs! remained an ongoing challenge.
  Replacement: Friends with dogs and leather couches let the dogs on the furniture with impunity and it still looks great. So: Darker color, leather, higher seating profile, long enough to lie down full length.
• Entertainment center
  I got a lovely oak one that matched the rest of my furniture--free! From FreeCycle! in excellent condition. It had shelves for all of my audio/video gear (CD player etc) and plenty of storage for other things. BUT (a) the space for a TV can't be rearranged or changed in size and is useless otherwise, (b) it's so big that one needs a whole wall for it, not flexible, and (c) although I almost never watch TV anyway, the configuration of this one made it difficult anyway.
  Replacement: Not sure yet. Some kind of modular units for the audio/visual gear. So, TBD.
  
  

  

  Big white sectional sofa in the back; entertainment center on the right.

  
  
• Television
  Yeah, I seldom watch TV, but the newer ones are amaaazing. I think I want a larger TV than the one I have (which is at least 20 years old and that I got free from a friend), and I want it wall mounted. Maybe ceiling?!  Maybe silly because I don't watch often--but if I get the right seating and right TV location--probably would watch more
  Replacement:  TBD
• Sewing machine table, sewing machine
  So handy when I did sew stuff. BUT Sewing machine died and newer ones probably don't fit this table. I hardly ever sewed any more. The table took up a lot of space, even though when closed it could be used as a generic large, heavy (i.e., inconvenient) tabletop.  
  Replacement: New sewing machine, but no table for it, thenk yew.

Do not think for even a minute that I have an unlimited budget. Soooooo we shall see how this wish list goes.

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New House Documents

 SUMMARY: So many things to read and sign!

Everyone seems to use DocuSign now for viewing and signing legal docs. Did this when I sold my parent's house. Also when I put my San Jose house on the market earlier this year and then, eventually, sold it. So many documents! I'm an old pro now at signing electronically.

So far for this new house, I've read and, in many cases, initialed and/or signed (maybe not everything, and not necessarily in this order):

• The responsibilities (and limitations) of a realtor (AH is handling my house hunt and purchase)
• The neighborhood (4 houses only!) CC&Rs and CC&R Amendment -- short and sweet (What are CC&Rs?)
• Short Plat (measurement, easements, and survey notes on the property)
• Original Sewer (septic system) permit drawing and info

  

  Partial septic permit

  
  
• Residential Purchase and Sale Agreement: The original offer that I made on the house (5 pages) a week ago and the seller's counter offer, which I accepted (small mods to that document)
• Addendums to the agreement that I will provide proof of available funds for purchasing and that the agreement isn't final until I have had the house inspected and accept the results 
• Blah blah standard addendums coming out my ears (just a few more single-page items providing assorted info), plus the FIRPTA (Foreign Investment Real Property Tax Act), which essentially says, nope, we're all citizens here
• An amendment to the Agreement because I didn't think about my Trust until after the Agreement was signed
• Amendment to the agreement to extend the time for completing inspections by 5 days 
• Septic inspection reports from the last 2 years
• Contract with a property inspector specifying what they do and don't inspect
• Commitment for title insurance
• Preliminary Title Report (13 pages)

Septic system access covers
(as shown on the drawing above)

Yesterday and today, I: 

• Paid the property inspector
• Paid my "earnest money" to the title company; essentially a small deposit which, in certain uncommon circumstances, I could lose if I back out of the sale. Very standard.
• Provided the title company with proof that I have the full cash purchase price covered across various banks
• Discussed with AH the inspector's preliminary verbal report, what items we would ask the seller take care of over the next week, and that I will pay for an inspection of the HVAC system (built-in vacuum) in the same timeframe (and AH will find someone to do the inspection)

Just wait until I get to Signing Day with the title company. Six squillion more documents to read and sign and then--erk--I hand over the purchase price to the title company!

Exciting! And not too scary; this will be the 5th home I've purchased over the years.

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New House Inspection

SUMMARY: Howzit look, professionally?

Mr. Inspector Man descending into the crawl space.
Which he said looked really good, no issues.
Lots of spiderwebs.

My realtor AH and I met a house inspector this morning at "my new" house, crossing our fingers that he would not find rotting floors, shattering foundations, leaking walls, corpses in the crawl space, or anything else that could kill the deal. I have until Friday to make my final agreement to buy, but everything looked as good as I had expected (and hoped).

Previous owner took great care of this house. Also helped that it's only 14 years old.

The house, not the previous owner.

The main disappointment was that, for a house this age, the inspector thinks that the roof should probably have another 5 usable years left...I had hoped for maybe 10. Soooo... from proceeds from selling my previous house, I need to set aside at least $10,000 for that eventuality not too far down the proverbial highway of life. 

But.

Poor lilac; its base is mere inches from the house wall. Who does that? Seriously!

Otherwise, just a lot of small things to be aware of or that I or a handyman could probably handily handle, such as these examples:

• Hall bathroom grout along bathtub needs to be dug out and replaced with caulk (for Official Reasons)
• One ceiling light didn't light--am asking the seller to replace the bulb to confirm it's just a bulb issue and not Aliens.
• One door whose hang needs adjusting [um, that's my phrasing, and now it sounds kinky]
• Couple of nails to  be replaced and recovered. Assuming those aren't THE TWO KEY NAILS HOLDING IT ALL TOGETHER.
• Trim the huge lilac shrub at the corner of the house so it's not touching the house. That'll be a machete hacking cut, it just shouldn't have been planted that close to the house. 

(Lilac photo is from the house's listing online.)

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New House Layout and Tidbits

SUMMARY: It has rooms and Stuf

Few home-for-sale listings provide a floorplan unless they are brand new. This house isn't; it's 14 years old. But the home seller apparently saved a copy from Way Back When. Rooms are good sizes; layout is lovely for someone who wants a downsized footprint.

Tidbits! it has:

• Nine-foot ceilings! (2.74 m) And the living room is vaulted even higher! It feels light, airy, spacious, and so breathable. Standard modern homes in US are 8 feet (2.44 m)--and have been for decades. 
• A whole-house built-in vacuum! I've always yearned for one. This one comes with a bonus little sucker at the bottom of one of the kitchen cabinets so if you want to do a quick sweep-up of dog hair, simply whisk it into that corner, step on the switch, and pfffft away it goes.
• An extra-wide entry hall, so bookcases fit on one side and a table and bench on the other. Without feeling crowded. (Photo is from the listing and shows the seller's furnishings, not mine.) Gives me shivers of delight.

Front door is normal width; wide-angle images distort some things.

(Images are from the house's listing online.)

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New House Story

SUMMARY: Buying one in Washington!

I'm going to try to post daily how this all happened/is happening. I'm already a month (or 3 years?) behind, but there's not a lot to say until last week. 

But I am calling it my Viking House--I have traversed the wild seas of California, Oregon, and Washington, into the woods of a new seaside village,  and am setting down roots. Like Vikings of old!

Keep checking back!

Notes: 

• It's not a new house; it's just new to me
• The sale is not final yet. Keeping fingers crossed.

(photo is from the house's listing online.)

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The Last Time I Moved

SUMMARY: Reminding myself why I don't want to do that again

Backfill: Photos from 20 years ago.

This is *after* I have already started unpacking and putting things in better places. Then I realized that I'd regret not taking photos. So here's some.

Back porch/deck/whatev

The back porch was a good place to put everything that needed to go into the kitchen (so I could walk around in the kitchen) and anything else I didn't have a good place for. It was summer; it was covered and enclosed.  

Wide view:

Then, camera in hand, look left:

Standing at one end and photo left...

Jake is stunned.
...rotate a bit to the right...

...rotate a bit right more...

...rotate a bit more...

...rotate a bit and aim downward...

...and end rotation.

Living room

Left

Right My original comment on this photo from back then: "The movers have just departed after their 2nd day of unloading trucks. I wander around the house, in dull shock, thinking "Whose is all this stuff anyway?" Remington's thought balloon: "If only I could find a clear spot of carpeting to lie down on..."

Dining Room

Picture, if you will: Dining/Living area is L-shaped, so living room would be base of the L and dining would be the upright.

xxxxx

Looking along the back wall of the living room

Rotate slightly right

[[[I f***ing hate blogger and its supposed photo inclusion capability. I don't know how people do this if they don't know f**** HTML. I mean, *I* know it and I can't make things work correctly!
I have got to find a way to transfer it all somewhere else. ]]]

Step into the living room and look back into the dining room.
Many of the boxes (maybe all) are books.

Office

Office corner next to iron railing of breakfast nook/kitchen.
You can see that I've already done tons of unpacking at this point. 
So you don't get the full impact. Bummer.

Opposite corner of the office. 
All the electronics are already unpacked and mostly set up so I can function.

I had so much material in the desk drawers that it was imperative that I photograph them *before* unloading them so that I could easily fit them back in.  Is this a lot????
A few years ago, I went through and pulled out more than half, maybe 2/3 of everything and gave it away. 

Shelves on desk, left to right:

All those CD and other removable media storage things became obsolete in a few years
and are now almost all gone.

Kitchen/Breakfast Nook

Actual kitchen is to the right.  
Office is half a level down, behind the black iron railing--
you can see the tops of piles and the ceiling fan.

Yard

Many things have already been removed from this area;
movers just put almost everything for the yard here.
They also moved a few larger items out farther into the yard.

Master bedroom

Apparently I took no photos of the closet and all of its boxes and clothing.

Bedroom #1

Stuff to go into the attic room up the pull-down ladder. Later. Mostly.

Bedroom #2

Hmm, no photos. Nothing really to go there.

Bedroom #3

Did I seriously not take photos of the guest room with all of its furniture and boxes?!

Garage

I *know* that I took photos of the garage even though it was difficult. It was literally up to the level of the garage door opener, and packed nearly wall to wall, just barely space for me to get by on two sides. Terrifying.  Welllll I'll have to find that later.