Better Late than Never

I uploaded these drawings nearly two weeks ago, but got interrupted and forgot to finish the entry. We're nearly complete. Just a few minor tweaks to the basement to go. Stewing on elevations now. In a way they are harder because I don't have a concrete idea what I want. One thing I do know is that I get tired of siding. I'm told bricks are too expensive here to put all the way around a house so I guess I'll have to compromise on that issue. The inside is more important to me than the outside.

A New Contender

Yes, that's a house in there.

We stumbled upon this place a couple of weekends ago while driving north of Columbia City and just happened to notice it is for sale (by owner). So Liane called and made arrangements for us to see it, which we did yesterday.

After having looked at it I can say it's one of very few we walked away from we can actually envision ourselves living in. It's about the only house I've seen on our quest that has a master bedroom, bath, and closet comparable to what we want. It has a walk out basement, a good sized out building, and the view from on top of the hill it sits on is pretty spectacular. The configuration of the rooms is decent, although we'd have to make a few changes. One of the bigger drawbacks is that virtually all of the woodwork is oak, just like what we have now and are SO tired of. This includes a set of bookshelves built into the great room, and the bar area of the basement, not to mention all the kitchen cabinets. Normally I'm not one to be put off by decor because I feel like things can be reworked, repainted, etc., but swapping out all the cabinetry would be a huge expense, and not really something that would add much to the value of the house. This is a major drawback for me.

They also are asking quite a bit too much for it in my estimation. But...at the end of the day it could be workable. They aren't in any big hurry to sell so we have time to sort through our stuff before we have to make any decisions.

Meanwhile, we're still waiting on what is hopefully the final layout from Nicole. Then we go to blueprints, and then the fun begins.

Buying a Home

Simon, a friend and coworker happens to sit near my office. I often hear his conversations with customers. He's fluent in a few languages so it can be quite fascinating to listen in (somehow it makes me feel more "worldly").

He's been building a home, which is now nearing completion, so sometimes I hear him talking to contractors, banks, and so forth. Recently the "talking" has been more like yelling. A couple of days ago he sent me the following.

Today's topic is buying a home. Enjoy.

DAY ONE:

March 1st:

Enter the scene a young happy romantic couple smiling with their beaming children they are pre-approved and very happy as they saunter out of the bank with a colorful picture of their dream home in their hands.

June 1st:

Me (With a glittering face): What else do we need to do to be able to secure the money for our house?

Bobby the Banker: "Well your credit is perfect and you make way more money than you need to live on and have a lot in your savings account and it looks here as if you have the signatures of all of the living presidents on the bottom of your resumes. You will be just fine, we should have you in your new home in a couple of months.

Me: Great wonderful you are the best banker ever.

Bobby: "I know, I know...now sign here on the dotted line...(insert theme to Jaws).

ONE DAY BEFORE CLOSING

Ring. Ring....

Me: "Hello"

Bobby: "Its Bobby the Banker, I'm working remotely today (he says from his iPhone from the golf cart between Tee #4 and the green) but I noticed that you failed to include the blue prints to the sheik of Iran's bedroom along with your credit application (mutes phone to snigger to the under-writer)....silence..

Me: "Are you serious"?

Bobby the Banker: "No, I'm just kidding... seriously that would be ridiculous... we meant the sheik of Oman. Anyway, get that to me by tomorrow or we won't be able to close.

Several weeks pass and thanks to a covert operation run by an ex-CIA agent and a group of underground spies working in close contact with the mafia and the Afghan rebels, I get the plans in my hand and pay off the spies. Fortunately for them only one of them dies recovering the blueprints.

THREE WEEKS AFTER ORIGINAL CLOSING DATE

Ring....ring..

Me: "Okay Bobby, I managed to get those blueprints."

Bobby: "Really? (flipping through the Psychological Torture Methods for Dummies manual while his caddy fishes for an iron at the 16th tee)... "Now we noticed in the well report that you submitted last week that there was no test done for Kryptonite" (barely containing himself as the lender tips the caddy with a hundred dollar bill).

Me: "Okay I didn't see that in the list of things to test our water for, but then again I only read the first 647 pages of the FHA requirements before I fell asleep. "

Bobby: "Well it is pretty clearly stated there on page 648 just have that faxed over to me when you are done."

Click.

Me to my wife: Sweetie I need to rent the space shuttle to go get some krpytonite for the bankers,

My wife: "Okay, well I already sold my hair and all of the family heirlooms last week to pay the rent since we aren't allowed to use our bank account or any of our credit cards so that the lender doesn't ask for more photocopies.

Me: "We ran out of ink for the photocopier again, huh?

My wife: "Yes and I've already robbed the kids piggy banks twice, we really can't afford to make any more copies, plus the bank is asking us for the interest on the construction loan that is now overdue from the delays and we owe another month of rent on our apartment that we hadn't planned on.

Me: "I'll think of something."

AN HOUR LATER:

Me: (to the black market organ vendor on the corner): So you can really only give me $10,000 for this kidney.... Okay go ahead and take it...can you give me more if you don't use any anaesthesia?

FIVE WEEKS AFTER ORIGINAL CLOSING DATE (from my hospital bed)

Ring, ring forever...Bobby's voicemail picks up..."Today is Monday November 1st, I will be out of the office for the next month in celebration of the ...umm...Thanksgiving Holidays...yeah... feel free to reach any of my associates if you require immediate assistance...

Me: (after three hours of calling everyone at the bank..getting transferred to Bobby's cell phone...by a desperate secretary...)

Ring..Ring...

Bobby: "Hello..how did you get this number?...)

Me: "I got your Kryptonite".

Bobby: (getting desperate) "Well good. Did you have the County Official certify that the Kryptonite was captured according to the state code, I will need a letter in triplicate, signed by your paternal great-grandfather as well as a relative of the author of the original superman novels."

Me: "But both of those people are dead.

Bobby: "Well that isn't our fault, the government has made mortgages a lot harder for everyone this year."

SOME INNUMERABLE NUMBER OF WEEKS AFTER ORIGINAL CLOSING DATE:

My Four Year Old Daughter: (Eating thanksgiving dinner- on top of a cardboard box shared with her brother in the middle of my furniture-less living room)

"Daddy, why can't we move into our new house now?"

Me: "Daddy isn't really sure sweetie... I couldn't get on the internet to find out who wrote the superman novels because the cable company has already moved our phone and internet over to our new house..

This fairly well encapsulates the mood of many of my friends as they've neared the completion of their homes they've built. Something to look forward to....

November...

I never thought we'd still be working on drawings in November. Very close now, I think. Didn't I say that on one of the drawings a few weeks ago? In fact, I think I thought we were done. HA! That was September 20th.

This is Option #1 of a couple of similar, but different versions. Initially I liked the other one better (it had a shorter hall to the master bedroom), but after a few minutes this one grew on me and is now my favorite, primarily because of the laundry room, half bath, and the closet off of the garage entry. Liane has a few minor (?) reservations so we'll just have to see where we are after sleeping on it a few days.