Painting 101

OMG...I finally painted my 12x12 library/studio this weekend.  I thought would be a breeze but I was very mistaken.  This past weekend I took off Friday thinking I could get this done in one afternoon.  I should have known better!  On Friday it took me 4 1/2 hours just to prime the walls, the boarders and doors. This was crazy for real. I swear the previous homeowners were nuts. Who lets a child paint a room neon blue and black. THEN proceeds to paint ALL the trim everywhere black and blue also! So much damn work to repaint! I kept the accent wall black, but I couldn't keep the closet door painted the same, I tried to do 1 squeare with grey primer and it looked horrible. It's clear I'm a novice at painting and can't do all the little detailed art. Anyways, after consultig with my go to person (aka my wonderful sister in Altanta), I decided to paint the whole closet door grey.  I really needed to empty out the closet and paint it , but I didn't want to...it needs to be done since the inside is pink, from first crazy color the previous owners had that room. Even they were also too lazy to paint over the inside of the pink closet when they changed the room to blue and black.  On Monday morning I finished it up with a little over 2 more hours of labor.

Needless to say, I told my husband that he can do his bubble gum pink and yellow man cave himself!

I used Sherman Williams paint and products.  Started with a 75% tinted Dry Wall Primer (since the walls were so dark), then a coat of Samovar Silver Super Paint.  In addition to the primer and paint, my shopping list also included a 2" brush, a roller, disposable paint tray, blue tape, plastic tarp, plastic gloves (gotta save that manicure!).  Thank goodness the paint was 30% off, in addition, I had a $10 off coupon.  Total project cost: $76.

Now all I need to finish the room are a few paint touch ups and then decorate! Almost finished!

Before pics of the crazy blue and black room.



Check out these crazy ass colors!



I did a swatch of both grey and brown...grey (silver) won!



Check out the blue trim by the floor!

More blue...

Finished and beautiful!  All that is left is the fun part, decrorating!

Please ignore the blue tape! LOL...

Ditto for the tape on the closet!

 





Outdoor Living Space

We are making baby steps towards getting our outdoor living space together.  About a month ago we purchased our first patio furniture set. A couple weeks ago the weather finally broke and we were finally able to put it out. 

We bought a grill and put that out.  Next up, some kind of umbrella for the table.  I'm thinking a rectangle shape to copy the table shape.  Just in time for our June open house! Hopefully I can convince the hubby to get on board to get a fire pit to put out in the yard. I really want one, but he has this hang up about accidentally setting things fire...hmm...we'll see!

Eventually, once the funding becomes available, I'd like to add on to the deck for a hot tub area.  Maybe a gazebo style or something.  Then get the hot tub!  I'd like it to be off to the side in a secluded area.  Possibly plant some natural fencing around it for additional privacy.

In the mean time we'll have to start doing something with the landscaping.  You know, flowers, shrubs...all of that stuff.  Starting with the crazy looking tree in my front yard! I'm excited to get started.  Here are a few pics of my poor landscaping.  We clearly have our work cut out for us.

Backyard by deck 1

Backyard by deck 2

Front yard by porch 1

 

Front yard by porch 2



Front yard - the crazy tree!

Our first photos are hung!

I had a couple engagement photos, wedding photos and a shadow box of wedding stuff sitting up against the wall in the hallway.  I mean they've been sitting there since Thanksgiving,  I finally got tired of seeing them on the floor...anyways, here is our mini photo wall! Yay, not bad for my first time hanging pictures.

Finally...the end of a short sale purchase!!!

We are closing TODAY!! Finally!! My husband and I started this journey looking at homes exactly one year ago, November 2009. After looking for 5 months we found a house that we both loved. We went for the hardest and most complicated buy when we decided to go with a short sale on our very first home purchase. To be quite honest, all in all, it’s been a long, frustrating and tiresome process. We had to wait a very long time, be as patient as possible and work HARD for it! Dealing with two lenders was a very interesting and mind-numbing experience. As was dealing with our lack luster agent, the sellers slow moving agent and last but not least, the real nightmare ~> the sellers bank (Chase Bank)! All too much drama! LOL. But honestly, in the end, it’s been totally worth it! We have a house that we love at the price that we love…and the interest rate that we really love! My advice, if you’re going to purchase a short sale home…have lots of patience and be ready for a long ride! Clearly, some of us have to wait MUCH longer than others...


Day 1 - April 7,2010 – Sellers accepted our offer and we signed a PA.

Day 183 - October 7, 2010 – Notified that the Seller’s bank agreed to our PA.

Day 183 - October 7, 2010 - Due to timing on having to wait on IRS documents from the original lender... we switched lenders and submitted new credit app.

Day 184 - October 8, 2010 - New lender approved our credit app...underwriting begins!

Day 208 - November 1, 2010 – Appraisal ordered.

Day 223 - November, 15, 2010 – Appraisal results received.

Day 231 - November 23, 2010 - Our lender cleared us to close! House walk through completed.

Day 232 - November 24, 2010 – We close this afternoon and we'll FINALLY be homeowners!!!

I'll post some photos of the house in the next day or so!

House Update!

Another chapter in the ongoing saga! How funny, after looking at apartments last weekend … this happens. Thank god we didn’t sign a lease! Exactly 6 months ago on April 7th we signed the purchase agreement for a short sale purchase, we’ve been in limbo waiting for the sellers bank ever since. Yesterday on the 7th, the offer was accepted by the sellers bank!!! This is awesome, it’s taken so long and finally we are so close to being in our own home! It’s funny when you think about it, we should have threatened to jump ship on this deal 3 months ago!

The sellers agent is asking if we can close by the end of this month…and now we may have a minor (or major) speed bump on our end. Our lender needs a document from the IRS for my husband’s taxes…the IRS hasn’t sent it yet and god knows how long it will take!! Our lender will not give us the green light without it. I’m nervous about what this will do to the deal. Most of yesterday all I could think about was now that we’re here I didn’t want to lose this house over paperwork!

Fortunately, yesterday afternoon our realtor (who hasn’t been much help so far) actually got off her ass and did her job! She presented us with an option to go with a different lender who will do our loan without the IRS transcript! They’ll take the stamped copy that we already have! YES! We met with her last night and signed an all new loan app for the new lender. We should know in the next 24 – 48 hours if we have the loan approved with the new lender. I’m feeling very confident about that and I’m sure we’ll get it. Thank god! That woman is finally taking care of business!

House Update… Continue On or Walk Away?

Trying to get this house has become the biggest cluster ever. Basically my husband and I are now unsure if we even want to continue with this fiasco. Next week it will be 6 months since we’ve had a signed PA from the current home owner. We feel like our realtor is so full of sh*t. The lady is useless. The sellers agent is a dead beat and the broker we are dealing with (also through our agent) is coming up with the most ridiculous things they want us to gather for the lender! We are both sick and tired of this situation.

A week ago, this past Thursday, I went to take another look at this house because our PA expired (again) on Sept 30th and we wanted to check it out again before we extended it because it’d been a little over 5 months since we’ve seen the house. While I was in the area of the home looking around, I visited the Kroger store down the street from the subdivision, and let me tell you. I was not impressed. I’ve always had reservations with the area because it’s much more country than I’m used to…but that trip to the store confirmed it. I already knew that we were sacrificing location for a larger home for the money with less taxes, but jeez! Maybe this is a blessing after all, maybe we aren’t supposed to be in this house, maybe we are supposed to be in a nicer and more urban/suburban area, not the country!

We had been doing 30 day PA extensions since July, but this time they wanted us to sign a 45 day extension. This morning we told our agent that we would sign 15 day extension because we need to think about this some more before we commit ourselves to another 30-45 days or more for a house that we aren’t even 100% sure about any more. All in all, maybe I would feel different if we absolutely LOVED this house. We both really like it, but we also feel we could walk away from it with no love lost.

We are thinking about getting a 6 month lease and then waiting until spring time to start up house hunting again. We need a break from this! Maybe a fresh start with a new agent will get us a much better situation. We’ll have to reapply for a loan at that time, but who cares. I’d rather be living with my husband, renting a townhome that I like, in an area that I like rather than us living separately with our parents for an undefined amount of time. Seriously, we’ll be married 2 months next week and we don’t live together! That’s craziness.

Exploring our options! We are going to look at two townhome rental complexes this weekend to see what’s out there. Both complexes are in very desirable areas (in my humble opinion) and by looking at the websites, they look great with awesome amenities. Cross your fingers for us!

Short Sale Hell…

We are two blissful newlyweds…except one thing. Sadly we don’t live together yet! We came home from our honeymoon and we both still stay separately with our parents. We are anxiously waiting to close on a short sale home that we have been in the process of purchasing for the last 5 months! It’s a beautiful house in a newer neighborhood. We are so close to calling it our new home, yet still so far. We are at the mercy of Chase Bank! Here are a few pictures of the house we are trying to make our own.

We are both first time homeowners, so this is a very exciting time for us. This process of short sale…let me tell you. If you don’t have to do short sales…DON’T!! I believe it will pay off in the end, but getting to the end is the most difficult. The short sale process is full of ups and downs and tons of frustration. My husband has kept a cool and level head while at times I’ve been close to blowing a gasket! I’m 2 seconds from going off on our agent, the seller’s agent and Chase Bank!! This past week we had to resign the purchase agreement and some other things. I hope that we will FINALLY hear something good this week. Supposedly, the seller’s agent says that he finally got a hold of a supervisor at Chase and with our resigned purchase agreement; they’ve promised things will finally start moving. We’ll see. Sadly, I do not really believe him. I just try to keep remembering that nothing worth having comes easy.