House Update

Well, it has been quite a while since my last post – we’ve been so busy that my plan to update this blog daily has flown right out the window (I started writing this post over a week ago!).  And now for an update…

We officially took possession of the house on July 16th, but we were lucky enough to get the keys to the house a full week before that!  The previous homeowner was heading off early, and kindly left us a set of keys so that we could check up on the house.  That first night, after she had left, we had a picnic in our very own backyard.  We then went on a patio furniture shopping spree over the weekend, purchasing a table with two matching chairs, two lawn chairs, a little side table upon which to place our icy margaritas while lounging (that is, if we ever get a chance to lounge), and cushions for all the seating.

The last two weeks have been an absolute blur of painting, packing, tearing up carpet, ripping off baseboards, and trying to remember to feed ourselves (and the cats!).  We’ve been busy busy busy, and we’re now on the final push to finish the projects that we’ve started and get packed for the big move.  Our fingers are crossed that when we begin to move the furniture over on Friday, we won’t be moving onto bare plywood floors (actually, sexy green underlay).  The kitchen has undergone a major transformation, and I anticipate that the living room and bedroom will be pretty amazing as well once we have a floor!  Pictures to come soon!

A Much Needed Break

Well, as the title of this post implies, D and I took a much needed break from house stuff last weekend.  After gathering all those quotes, in the end, we decided not to go ahead with the plan to roll the line of credit onto the mortgage…it was just too stressful and complicated!  BUT, we are still planning lots of projects and renovations – we’re just going to take them one thing at a time. 

As I mentioned in previous posts, we’re still planning on painting the cabinets.  We also hope to get that dishwasher installed sooner than later.  For anyone wondering, we didn’t end up buying the Kenmore during the sale…we figured we should wait until we have access to the house so we can measure and make sure it fits. 

Another fairly imminent project is our plan to install laminate flooring throughout much of the main floor.  And this has been the source of some contention between us.  We both agree about putting in the flooring, but disagree on which rooms to put it in, and exactly what type of laminate to get.  D favours this easy install flooring from Windsor Plywood (manufactured by Kaindl), and while I like the idea of the easy click, I’m not happy with the colour choices, and won’t rest until I find the perfect (in an aesthetic sense) floor.  I figure, what’s the point in spending all this time and money on a floor we (I) don’t love?

More about our kitchen…and dishwashers!

I recently posted about our plans for making some changes in the kitchen.  Well, plans change, and we’ve received so much advice (from our families, and online) about waiting before making any major changes, that we’ve decided to hold off on project “remove annoying hanging cabinets that cut off the kitchen” for a while, until we’ve lived with it for a time and decided whether we can live without the extra storage and/or how much storage we really need.  Once we’ve lived in and cooked in the kitchen, we’ll have a better sense of how truly annoying those cabinets are, or whether they’re something we can live with (at least for now)  Also, we’ve got to save our money for some other projects we have planned, and we don’t want the whole cabinet removal thing to end up resulting in a big mess that will cost a lot to fix (for example, if we end up tearing a giant hole in the drywall or wreck the countertop in our efforts to remove said cabinets).  And, I failed to mention previously that we are also planning on installing a dishwasher as soon as possible, which will cause us to lose even more cabinet space.

Speaking of dishwashers, here is the one we are thinking of getting:

It’s currently on sale (but only until Sunday!) which is a plus, and as far as dishwashers go, it seems like a happy medium.  It’s not a fancy stainless steel interior, or expensive brand name, like this Bosch that we would love to get, but it seems like a decent buy, plus, our fridge and stove are Kenmore also, so at least it’ll match!

 

As for the cabinets, while we’ve decided to hold off on tearing anything apart, we are still planning on doing some painting.  I think a nice fresh coat of white paint and some new hardware will do wonders for updating our little old kitchen.  Besides, if we really mess up, we can always tear the cabinets out later…(ha!)

A Few Tips For First Time Home Buyers

Since we’ve just gone through the process of buying our first house, I thought I’d post a few ideas and tips for first time home buyers (or any other buyer), inspired by this question:

Tip #1: Know what you’re looking for.  Searching for a house can be completely overwhelming, and if you don’t know what you want, it is easy to be swayed by a beautifully decorated home that is not actually a good fit for your lifestyle.  Having a good sense of what you are looking for (lots of space, potential to add value, turn-key, etc) can help you sort through it all.  Talk together about what is most important, and what can be compromised on.  D and I spent hours (and hours, and hours…) talking together about what we wanted in a house.

Tip #2: Look past the small stuff.  As long as you don’t mind putting in a little bit of elbow grease, many things that often put buyers off (dated light fixtures, ugly wall paper, paint colours) can actually be changed quite easily and inexpensively.  And remember, their furniture and belongings will be gone, so look at the house itself, not how it is decorated!

Tip #3: It’s what’s underneath that counts.  This relates to the previous point, in that paint and other aesthetics are not a big deal.  What you want to look for is a house with good bones.  If your home is structurally sound and in good shape, then you can focus your time and effort (and money!) on the fun stuff, rather than on expensive repairs!  We were lucky to find a home that has been really well-maintained, with great bones, but lots of room for putting our own touch on things and adding value.  It’s a blank slate!

Tip #4: Think about your future plans.  The house you buy will depend not only on where you are now, but where you are going.  When looking at houses, you should think about how long you plan on staying in the house, and how your life may change during that time.  If you plan on having children and want to stay put, you will want to factor that in, in terms of the size of the house, number of bedrooms, etc.  If you plan on moving in two years, you will want to think about resale, and plan your purchase and your renovations accordingly.

Tip #5: Location, location, location.  The one thing you cannot change about your house is its location.  You’ll want to familiarize yourself with the neighbourhood and make sure its a place you can be happy.  Talk to neighbours and others in the community about the area, and visit at various times on different days.  We actually ended up buying a house on the very same street that we were already living on, so we knew and liked the area already.

Tip #6: Inspect it!  You will definitely definitely want to hire a reputable inspector to check out your home before you finalize the purchase.  Make your offer conditional upon conducting and approving a home inspection, so that if it does turn up a host of expensive problems, you can always back out of the deal.  You can also bargain with the seller to see if they will take on the repairs before you move in (which is an even better idea than reducing the price accordingly, in case the repairs turn out to be more expensive than first thought).  And completing a successful home inspection is very reassuring…you can also learn helpful tips about maintenance and so on from your inspector.

And finally…

Tip #7: Go for it!  Sure, it pays to take your time and make sure you know what you want, but once you do find that perfect house, make an offer!  If you over-analyze too much (often my problem), you’ll never make a decision.  And you don’t want to end up losing the house because someone beat you to the punch.