Home Inspector: "Don't Buy This House!"

So this past Friday we had our home inspection.  We were planning on leaving Jack with my sister so we wouldn't need to bring him along, but he was not feeling so good once we got to her house so I stayed with him and Mark went to the inspection on his own. 

Boy am I glad I didn't go!  The inspection took about 3 hours and we found out some things that we didn't really want to know.

First off, my dad recommended the home inspector to us who is a very knowledgeable guy and we got a great deal on the "no frills" home inspection.  "No frills" just means that we don't get a written report about the house, which we were ok with.  We probably saved $350 to $400!

When they walked into the kitchen/family room he was like, "You don't want to buy this house."  That particular part of the house, which is the addition, is very open (which is why we like it so much) and it does have a significant slope in the floor.  However, he wasn't concerned about that.  He said "There is nothing supporting this roof."  WHAT!?!  There needs to be a girder truss that supports the roof of the addition.  They looked in the attic and there was a wall blocking the view into the space above the addition.  At that point the inspector didn't really want to continue any further, but Mark asked him to.

Here are some other things we learned:

None of the outlets in the house are grounded
The bathroom fans are not properly vented
The attic needs more insulation
There is a crack in the concrete pad in the garage that's allowing water (ie. snow and salt from the car) to leak into the basement and it's creating salt deposits on the basement wall! 
There are no heating vents in the bathrooms or kitchen
The floor in the addition is sloped because the current owners laid a new bamboo floor ontop of the original hardwood that stops just after the kitchen.  Why!!!!
And the main breaker for the house is located outside where anyone one can walk by and shut our power off!

Needless to say when Mark told me all this I was disappointed.
But then he told me the good news!

They ended up finding the girder truss through an opening in the garage!  Thank goodness!  The addition was put on sometime in the 70's so we just knew it had to be there! The next day it was confirmed by a friend (a former inspector from the 60's/70's) of the home inspector who drove by the house and remembered everything about that house!  He knew who the owners were and the name of the guy who built the addition, which was very important!  We now have the whole history of this house and I think that is so cool.

The house was built in 1963 and it was the first one built in that area, which was the premier neighborhood of that time.  It was the spec house so that explains why the main breaker is outside.  The original owners of that home lived there until 2010 when they sold it to my friend's parents who bought it for their daughter (my friends sister).  She lived there for only a few months before moving in with her boyfriend, who is now her husband.  So basically there has only been 1.5 owners of this house.  Oh and one other tidbit.  The original owner was a blueberry farmer and he had his own gasoline tank buried under the ground for fueling up his truck so he could go out to the fields!  The tank is still there!  Isn't that crazy! 

So to make a long story even longer...we are still going to buy this house.  We just have a few conditions for the sellers that we hope they can address.  We have a meeting tomorrow with our mortgage lender and then we just have to pray that the FHA inspection goes well so we can be approved for our mortgage. 

Talk about stress!  We have not been sleeping well lately, but it will all be worth it in the end.  I do sleep a little better knowing that I have 3 brothers-in-law that are home builders/contractors and they can help us with those other issues.

-WW

My Brain Feels Like Scrambled Eggs

As I had talked about previously we have been house hunting near the lakeshore.  It's had it's ups and downs for sure.  We would find ourselves getting all excited about a house we saw online, even going as far as picking out paint colors and furniture.  Then we would go to the showing and be all "WHAT?!?"

Bottom line...Online photos are deceiving.  That also goes for online dating profiles, but the world has already learned that lesson.

Two weeks ago we looked at a nice ranch-style house with a big addition on the back.  I didn't want to get too excited but it was 3 bed 2 bath worth of fabulous!  Yes the bathrooms are on the tiny side, but this house has so much space! (Can you say 5 main living area closets!) And a full unfinished basement for all our crap and brewing stuff!  I went back two days later when there was an open house.  I still liked it and secretly cursed the other house hunters there to get out of my house. hee hee.

Mark and I talked about the house for the next few days.  It is at the top of our budget.  But we decided to put an offer on it last Saturday.  We bid 20 grand less than the asking price.  And did I mention the sellers are my best friend's parents? (talk about awkward)  They countered at $132,500.  We came back at $130,000.  They came back with $132,500.  We surrender!  $132,500 and seller pays the closing costs.  We get a great house in a great location.  Only 10 minutes from the beach!

Now we have appointments up the wazoo with home inspection on Friday, mortgage lender on Monday.  And Mark is currently interviewing for a new position within the hospital so we have to work around those appointments.  And we need to get our taxes filed so we can GET THAT MONEY BABY!

Oh speaking of babies.  I'm having one and we found out that it's another boy!  I'm soooo happy, and sooo out numbered now, but hopefully they will treat me like a queen. 

So it's been a busy week, and our brains are scrambled, but WE HAVE A HOUSE!  YES!!!!!!

I'll keep updating as things progress!

Later,
Bri

I Heart Disney!

Ok so I have a slight (read HUGE) obsession with Walt Disney World and everything that goes along with it.  The movies, the music, the cartoons, the theme parks, the resorts, I could go on and on!

I saw this picture on facebook the other day and my first thought was "OMG I have to have that!"



It's the satchel from the Dooney & Bourke Retro Collection.  I have fallen in love with anything that's considered "Disney Retro" and this bag is so that!  I love the design and all the little detail in the graphics. 

I went to disneystore.com and it's $245!  Yikes!  I've never spent that much money on a purse let alone anything for myself.  http://www.disneystore.com/walt-disney-world-satchel-by-dooney-bourke-retro/mp/1319850/1000291/

Then it came to me...what holiday's are coming up?  Oh yeah Valentine's Day...Mother's Day...my Birthday.  Hmmm who needs to buy me a gift?

I "accidentally" left the web page open on a certain someone's computer, ya know like Ralphie Parker would have done if he was looking at Red Rider BB Guns online.

-WW

New Year Resolutions

I thought I would share some of my New Year's resolutions for 2013.  Some of them are the same as last year, but I'm hoping I can really stick to them this time.

I'll just list them in no particular order:

Stick to my household chores schedule
Start a skin care routine (aimed at preventing fine lines and wrinkles!)
Plan our meals for each week and grocery shop once a week
Do more craft/learning projects with Jack
Get outside more!
Organize our photos and home videos
Kids Babybooks!!!
Be a better wife and mother
Pray more often
Live life positively.  Be happy!
Get into wearing makeup again
Blog regularly :)
Stick to our budget
Become a better communicator

Whoa!  That's a pretty big list.  I'm up for the challenge!  I love a fresh start.

Love,
Bri

Merry Christmas!

Yikes!  Has it really been 5 months!

I can't believe it's Christmas Day!  We had Christmas with my side of the family last Sunday.  On Christmas Eve we had our own little family Christmas, because Mark works on Christmas Day this year (hospitals never close, especially the er).  Then today my parents came over to spend the afternoon and dinner with Jack and I.  We had a wonderful holiday season and it's not over yet.  We still have one more family gathering this Sunday. 

Then it's one of my other favorite holidays...New Years!
Although I'll take it easy on the bubbly this year, meaning I'll have none, because.....

I'm pregnant!!!!!!!!!

We are expecting the next member of our famliy in June!  So happy and excited!

We are also house hunting pretty serious now.  We've looked at three houses and no luck so far.  We have a small budget and what's available in our ideal area of choice isn't shaping up to be a good fit for us.  We aren't giving up though, and maybe this spring some more houses will come on the market. 

I'm hoping to post more this year. (new year's resolution!)  I think it will keep me organized.  I have an exciting year coming up and I'm ready to live it!

Have a Merry Christmas!

Love,
Bri

The Cream Puff

So, for the past I don't know 5 years maybe? we have been trying really hard to become debt free.  I paid off my student loans from my first college degree before Mark and I got married.  I also owned my car.  I paid cash for everything when I went back to school to get my Radiography degree.  Thank God Mark was able to support me with his income, because I didn't work while I went to school.  Mark had lots of debt when we got married, but since then we've paid off his truck and credit card and when we sold the condo we got rid of that debt too (so blessed!). 

A few months ago, or probably more, we had discussed selling Mark's Jimmy for a different vehicle.  We really wanted one with better gas mileage and more room.  The only logical vehicle to choose was a minivan.  I have always been anti minivan, and with all the other more attractive options out there I felt we could avoid them.  We looked at al ot of the "crossover" type ones and they were all out of our price range, even the used ones. 

Price was a big deal to us and we had a limit that we didn't want to exceed.  Mark had the Jimmy up on Craig's List but we only had 2 interested people that fell through.  Then the Jimmy started to have some issues with the anti-lock breaks engaging when they weren't supposed to.  We almost slid into another car when we were at the mall!  That day we went to a nearby dealership.

I think you can guess where I'm going with this story!  We got a minivan!

Meet "The Cream Puff"

And I actually like it (shhhhh).

It has bucket seats in the middle row.  All the seats fold down into the van so you don't have to take them out, automatic slider door and tailgate, rear climate controls, leather interior, and I love the color.

What I don't love?  The price.  We have added a new debt to our pile and it's something we I really struggled with.  The good news is that it's the smallest debt we owe (yikes! ).  Right now it was the best decision for us, especially with the truck's braking issues and the possibility of an addition to the family (we'll see!).  This purchase has given me more motivation to follow our budget and pay off these debts as fast as we can.

Gazelles!!!  (Dave Ramsey reference)

See you on the road!

Love,

Bri

Mickey Lake Vacation

Doh!  We've been back for a few weeks now, but I just haven't had the time to write up a trip report.  I am however going to include some of my favorite pictures from the trip in this post.

We had a great time at the wedding!  It was so wonderful to catch up with friends we hadn't seen in a while.  It was a beautiful day and Mackinac Island is such a charming place, I love it!

Little Stone Church, Mackinac Island

The rest of the week with the family was great too (minus Jack throwing up at a restaurant we tried to go to.  Eeek!).  The first couple days we super hot (like in the 90's!) and we didn't have AC, but the rest of the week was nice weather and the lake was really warm.  There was a tiny island (Picnic Island) we boated to one morning and walked around for a little while.  It had very clear water and was a great spot to look for Petoskey stones.  We also visited Sleeping Bear National Park which has gorgeous views of Lake Michigan and some of the largest dunes in America.  One of the other highlights was visiting Short's Brewery in Bellaire.  Always good great beer and amazing sandwiches!  Totally worth the 50 min drive! 

Mark and Jack in Mickey Lake



Mark and I enjoying the paddle boat

Our cabin

Sunsets from the dock



Jack and his cousin





At Sleeping Bear



At Short's Brewery

Fam Pic!

I hope everyone is having a great summer!  I can't believe it's almost over. 

Love, WW