I think we found our house

IAmSherlocked

That is so awesome! I'll keep my fingers crossed that it all works out for you guys. Sounds like this house would be a great fit for you!

smbenevides1989

Wow such a great house! FX that things go in your favor!

ta78

How exciting! Looks like a great house with tons of potential too.

Also... we have slowly been redoing our floors. There was the unfinished hardwoods under our carpet too. And it's been a pretty easy process doing it ourselves. And definitely worth it.

hoffse

Yay!  Thank you everybody for the support!

They accepted our offer!  We are going to start setting up financing tomorrow!  Can't wait!

JoanE2012

hoffse said:

Yay!  Thank you everybody for the support!

They accepted our offer!  We are going to start setting up financing tomorrow!  Can't wait!

Congrats!  Cute house.

vlagrl29

vlagrl29 said:

We want a hot tub and will probably finally purchase it next year.  We built our patio with the idea of there eventually being a hot tub.  Costco has some great deals on them.

We are about to build DD's enormous wooden swing set.  We actually might pay someone to do it because it's a 19 page instruction book.  DH said that whenever we do move we will leave the hot tub and swing set.

Great photos!

Ha!  That made me chuckle.  My dad - super handy man extraordinarie - says that the worst thing he's ever built/assembled/whatever was the Barbie Malibu dreamhouse.  Apparently it took 4 adults 6 hours to figure out how the damn thing went together.

hoffse said:

Yay!  Thank you everybody for the support!

They accepted our offer!  We are going to start setting up financing tomorrow!  Can't wait!

yay!  Some times the best things happen when you aren't exactly expecting it to  

You can remodel/fix up the house on your own time now.  It doesn't have to be done all at once.  Gosh, there are so many things I want to do to our house and we bought it new construction in 2006.  We try and do 1 project on it every year even if it's a small thing.

juliebeannn

hoffse said:

Yay!  Thank you everybody for the support!

They accepted our offer!  We are going to start setting up financing tomorrow!  Can't wait!

YAY!!! Congrats!!!!!

brij2006

Congratulations hoffse!!!

smbenevides1989

Congratulations!

hoffse

Thanks!

Got our financing prelim approved this morning, and we have an inspection set up for Friday afternoon.  Not going to lie, I'm more interested in contemplating paint chips than following the inspector around... but of course I'm hoping it goes well!

Also - sounds like Home Depot is going to have a big paint sale over the July 4 weekend.  I went there on Sunday and asked the guy if they would be willing to tint paint a month after we bought it.  He answered in the affirmative, so I think we will use that sale to stock up on the base!  The bank might not love that move, but it will save us a bundle.

hoffse

AprilH81 said:

When you change your address with the USPS online you also get some coupons, including a 10% Home Depot coupon.  Save that for a larger purchase like appliances or patio furniture...

Awesome tip!  Thanks!

Mom987

Hoffse were you able to meet all your goals with this house (like 20% down, etc.)? That is super exciting!

IAmSherlocked

Congratulations! Super excited for you guys. Hope the inspection goes well!

Another thing to keep in mind if you guys are planning on doing any landscaping or anything, if you sign up for Home Depot's Gardening newsletter they'll email you coupons for like $10 off and stuff like that. I'm always getting coupons from them in my email.

hoffse

Mom987 said:

Hoffse were you able to meet all your goals with this house (like 20% down, etc.)? That is super exciting!

We were!

Looking ahead, I think August is going to be pretty tight since H doesn't start his job until September 2, but our solution is to simply pause on buying a few things we were originally planning on buying upfront (ie: couch) until after he is drawing a paycheck.  That way we have some extra in case closing costs are more than anticipated.  We don't want to fully drain our savings.  We will paint and refinish the floors before we move in just because those are both messy projects.  But we will be pretty bare bones on everything else.

We do have a $10K fund leftover from H's student loans that we can dip into if needed.  However, we are hoping to send that money back to loans, so hopefully we won't touch it.  That said, we're holding onto it until H is drawing a paycheck just in case.

hoffse

RockyMountainGirl88 said:

Congratulations! Super excited for you guys. Hope the inspection goes well!

Another thing to keep in mind if you guys are planning on doing any landscaping or anything, if you sign up for Home Depot's Gardening newsletter they'll email you coupons for like $10 off and stuff like that. I'm always getting coupons from them in my email.

Oh man I am loving these tips!  

Mom987

Fun!! Sounds awesome.

vlagrl29

I don't know if you have a scherwin williams in your area, but they almost always have 30% of paint sales.

Smonet

hoffse. It must have been the week to negotiate. We got our offer accepted too!! However, it will be fun to hear the projects you guys have to pick out at yours!!

lifeonthehill

Smonet said:

hoffse. It must have been the week to negotiate. We got our offer accepted too!! However, it will be fun to hear the projects you guys have to pick out at yours!!

Congratulations to you too!

Xstatic3333

Smonet said:

hoffse. It must have been the week to negotiate. We got our offer accepted too!! However, it will be fun to hear the projects you guys have to pick out at yours!!

Congrats, Smonet! We got ours accepted as well! We'll have to do a home buying/home project weekly check-in or something. It will be great to hear about everyone's projects!

hoffse

Xstatic3333 said:

hoffse. It must have been the week to negotiate. We got our offer accepted too!! However, it will be fun to hear the projects you guys have to pick out at yours!!

Congrats, Smonet! We got ours accepted as well! We'll have to do a home buying/home project weekly check-in or something. It will be great to hear about everyone's projects!

Sounds like it was the week for house-buying on MM!  Congrats to all!

hoffse

AprilH81 said:

Congrats to the new homeowners!

Be prepared for some massive credit card bills as you start purchasing the odds and ends that you will need.  We just got our bill *gulp*...  Seeing it all there in black and white (even thought we have the money to pay it off in full) is a little nerve-wracking.

Yeah I'm starting to see the writing on the wall with this one....

Our plan is to basically use our cards strategically so any necessary expenses in August go on cards that will be paid in September, after H starts working.  I'm thinking we'll be able to cash flow a good bit of our "start up" expenses with just my income, but I'm not positive.  

So I'm thinking we'll need paint (lots), new locks, a lawn mower, outdoor trash cans, hoses, etc.  No appliances because the people are leaving all of them (including washer/dryer).  

What have you found to be an unexpected expense?

Xstatic3333

AprilH81 said:

Congrats to the new homeowners!

Be prepared for some massive credit card bills as you start purchasing the odds and ends that you will need.  We just got our bill *gulp*...  Seeing it all there in black and white (even thought we have the money to pay it off in full) is a little nerve-wracking.

Yes, I am definitely on guard for this.  We're going to need to get a dish washer right away (after closing of course), but I'm going to put off other purchases until we're comfortably settled.  This will mean a couple of empty rooms for a little while, but hey, no worries.  We're actually going to be gaining appliances in the deal since the house comes with two fridges (we have one) and a washer and dryer (which we already own and really like).  I'm planning to sell some of the extras to hopefully get new couches down the line.  I asked if the homeowner would leave the lawn mower on a lark and she said yes, which I'm pumped about!  

@hoffse one unexpected expense that a friend just warned me about is that if the home has oil heat, you'll have to pay for any oil left in the tank at closing.  I'd love to hear other unexpected expenses from the seasoned homeowners around too!

hoffse

Xstatic3333 said:

AprilH81 said:

Congrats to the new homeowners!

Be prepared for some massive credit card bills as you start purchasing the odds and ends that you will need.  We just got our bill *gulp*...  Seeing it all there in black and white (even thought we have the money to pay it off in full) is a little nerve-wracking.

Yes, I am definitely on guard for this.  We're going to need to get a dish washer right away (after closing of course), but I'm going to put off other purchases until we're comfortably settled.  This will mean a couple of empty rooms for a little while, but hey, no worries.  We're actually going to be gaining appliances in the deal since the house comes with two fridges (we have one) and a washer and dryer (which we already own and really like).  I'm planning to sell some of the extras to hopefully get new couches down the line.  I asked if the homeowner would leave the lawn mower on a lark and she said yes, which I'm pumped about!  

@hoffse one unexpected expense that a friend just warned me about is that if the home has oil heat, you'll have to pay for any oil left in the tank at closing.  I'd love to hear other unexpected expenses from the seasoned homeowners around too!

I didn't ask about this, but in retrospect I should have.  That said, they have 3 lawn mowers (yes, 3), so I'm hoping they leave at least one behind.  If not, we're prepared to buy one.

I should ask about the heat - but I don't think we use oil down here.  It just doesn't get cold enough.  These people actually just replaced the roof and added turbines to cool the attic, which is fantastic.  That should lower our cooling costs significantly.

J9lawrence

@hoffse‌ So I haven't posted much in here but I wanted to recommend the Marque line of paints at Home Depot. We painted the exterior trim on our house this week and it was awesome to work with. More expensive than the other paint but we only had to to one coat. Saved us time and money on extra paint! Enjoy!

hoffse

J9lawrence said:

@hoffse‌ So I haven't posted much in here but I wanted to recommend the Marque line of paints at Home Depot. We painted the exterior trim on our house this week and it was awesome to work with. More expensive than the other paint but we only had to to one coat. Saved us time and money on extra paint! Enjoy!

Thanks!  Is that by Behr?  We were looking at their various options this weekend.  My apartment is full of paint chips

smbenevides1989

@xstatic3333 first off, Congrats! Second, I remember you mentioning you were looking in RI, did you decided to move to RI or stay in MA?

J9lawrence

hoffse said:

J9lawrence said:

@hoffse‌ So I haven't posted much in here but I wanted to recommend the Marque line of paints at Home Depot. We painted the exterior trim on our house this week and it was awesome to work with. More expensive than the other paint but we only had to to one coat. Saved us time and money on extra paint! Enjoy!

Thanks!  Is that by Behr?  We were looking at their various options this weekend.  My apartment is full of paint chips

Yes it is.

Xstatic3333

smbenevides1989 said:

@xstatic3333 first off, Congrats! Second, I remember you mentioning you were looking in RI, did you decided to move to RI or stay in MA?

Thanks! We went with RI. Honestly, the homes are so much more affordable! If we wanted to look in MA only we'd probably still be a year or two off, unless we bought in Worcester (which we did look into). It's going to be H's turn to have the long commute for a while! If you look in RI and need any recommendations just PM me.

Wulfgar

For us, we had a $1000 electric bill since our drip line was basically gone and the newer electrical box was rusting so we had to get both fixed.  I am not sure how much we spent in paint, but it was a good amount.  MW bought an older home that will take us about 5 more years to fund everything that we need to fix up.

The worse thing I have coming up will be a kitchen remodel since the press board cabinets are all falling apart.