Keeping busy

Things haven't completely calmed down just yet. The broker my son is using for this transacton is a bit of dweeb in my estimation. C noticed a couple of discrepancies in the paper work he forwarded to him for his signature and asked me to look at them. (He's nervous about buying his first property, I get it). I absolutely agreed with his concerns, and though he sent an e-mail to the broker on Wednesday, the corrections weren't made until Friday morning. It shouldn't be an issue, as the mortgage has been approved, it just has to go to an underwriter for completion and the issuance of a letter confirming the financing. 

In the meantime, I've been packing. Oh, I know we haven't had the house inspection yet, and I'll still have just over a month to get it done, but I'm using the packing to go through the rooms, sorting, tossing, donating or packing. Anything that we won't need in the next few weeks is fair game. For example I have a set of dinnerware we don't regularly use, so that's been packed, but the winter jackets in the front hall closet will stay there...who knows we may have snow in early November. 

I had spent time doing some sorting in July and August and had a pile of items for a possible garage sale. Well, the rain in the forecast and cooler temperatures had me re-thinking that idea. So on Thursday, I loaded the trunk and backseat of the car with items to donate. That task only cleared out the closet in the spare room! After I dropped off the donations at Salvation Army and Value Village, I returned home to re-fill the trunk and backseat with more items I had stored in the garage. I haven't dropped those off, but will do so early next week. 

In addition, as I packed boxes, I moved them into a central area. The boxes in the basement are in the mostly empty room with C's computer. He didn't even notice them at first, :).  There are still a few partial boxes in the craft room that need to be filled and closed and a few empty totes (maybe I bought too many). 

Upstairs the boxes are stored in the spare room. I'm not nearly as far along packing the upstairs, but that's because most day-to-day items are kept there. But I've made a dent by filling a wardrobe box with clothing that I don't regularly wear (a few dress clothes and cruise wear mostly). As I mentioned dishes that aren't used regularly have been packed, and I've started a box of extra glassware and mugs. 

My brother came by on Thursday too, to check out the "loose" beam. He used a rubber mallet in an attempt to raise the beam from below. He said it was jammed in there so tight, it took a lot of muscle to move it a mere 1/4 inch. (We can see a slightly different paint color on the wall). He also affixed the bit of cladding with a couple of brad nails. It still doesn't completely line up with the roof line, but the gap is smaller and that beam is going nowhere. To satisify the sellers, we created a receipt that read, "No structural damage, decorative beam is solid. Brad nail one piece of cladding. No charge, minimal work required." I passed on this document with his comments to my realtor. I didn't hear anything further, so I assume this satisfies the buyer.

In between bouts of packing, I've been watching curling. Oh yes, I'm in my happy place! The PointsBet invitational is being held in Oakville, Ontario and aired on TSN. The event started with 16 men and women's teams, with 8 in each bracket. It's win or go home event - it started on Wednesday and will finish today. I've checked and I don't see any other events being televised in the near future but I'm sure some will be live-streamed. There's also baseball and football to keep me amused.

And finally, this to make me happy!

Have a great week ahead everyone.

Friday Funny

 

The sky is fallling....and my happy dance begins!

Two posts in one day! That's a record for me, but as suggested, some clarity is in order.

The first photo was taken on Tuesday morning, as I battled with a GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter) plug. My realtor had been told that the house inspection on Monday had identified this plug as an issue in the basement bathroom. The inspector tripped the circuit and wasn't able to get the power back on in the bathroom. They/we assumed it was the fault of the plug, so on Tuesday morning I headed over to Home Depot to buy a new plug. 

Now, before I go any further, let me tell you I am terrified of anything to do with electricity. Although I was only a small child when it happened, I remember the family story about a first cousin who was electrocuted. He was driving a road grader, hit a power line, and stepped out of the grader to identify the problem. Sadly, he died on contact with the ground. I realize that replacing an outlet or light switch is in no way equivalent but I still approach these tasks with some trepidation.

Back to the bathroom, I made sure the power was off, set up my phone's flashlight, and took the old plug out. That in itself was fun, as it had been painted over several times and removing one of the screws had me coloring the air blue. I took the plug with me to the store...because who knows if there are different kinds and sizes, right? Apparently there aren't and the plugs are pretty much standard. 

At home, I used the photos I'd taken of the old set-up to place the wires, but it would not work.  Turning to the instructions I learned there are two screws for the line and two for the load. Alrighty then - not knowing what that meant, I watched a couple of Youtube videos. The first one had four wires plus the ground, I had only two and the ground. Trying a search for two wires, I just got more confused. I tried a couple more times and still nothing. So I gave up and called an electrician. 

The young man (Will) showed up shortly after 4 p.m. and within five minutes had determined that the issue was not the GFCI plug in the bathroom, but a separate one in the furnace room next door. These were both on the same circuit, which he explained to me should not have been done. He removed the one in the furnace room, put in a regular outlet, connected the new one I'd bought, and in less than 15 minutes everything was working as it ought to have been. 

I texted my realtor to advise, and he let the buyer's realtor know, and sent a copy of the invoice as proof of the work completed. Apparently, the buyer's realtor was quite impressed with this. Did she think we'd live for another six weeks without working lights and fan in the bathroom? 

Life got a little more interesting that evening. The second photo is a picture of an issue identified by the inspector. In my living room, I have a non-structural decorative beam that has been clad with oak. At one end of the beam, the decorative cladding has come away from the ceiling. According to the agent, the inspector saw this as a safety concern as it might "fall on someone's head". Initially, I was told that the beam was loose, when in fact, it was just about 3 inches at the end of the beam. The rest of the beam is solid - my son climbed up on a ladder and tested it to be certain.

As my realtor said, if it had been his client, he would have suggested they climb on a ladder and hammer a couple of nails into it themselves, but apparently it was enough of an issue that the buyer was hesitant about the purchase. In some ways, I get it, she's a first time buyer (likely) and is taking the inspector at face value.

It was interesting seeming some of his comments in the report. Inspectors are not supposed to address cosmetic or aesthetic issues, unless it would be a safety issue. Included in the report was a comment that a lightbulb was burned out in one of the hallway lights (except there wasn't), there is a small hole in a door in the basement - it's been there since we moved in 13 years ago and doesn't affect the function of the door, and one of the basement bedroom closet doors was of the track. 

However he also noted that neither the main nor master bathroom have GFCI plugs and these should be replaced. As my realtor said, if an entire house is inspected and this is all he could find, and then you expect the seller to pay for it....  He spoke with the buyer's realtor this morning and advised I would not be replacing the regular plugs, as I'd already spent $200 to fix an issue their inspector caused.

They are, however, expecting me to fix the beam. My brother has agreed to do the work, as he has the necessary tools. Since they insist there be a receipt, he will provide one indicating "no charge, minimal repair required". 

Then I waited, and waited, and waited some more. Finally at nearly 7 p.m. the document arrived to remove the conditions and the house is officially sold! Cue the happy dance!

Wordless Wednesday

 

The finish line is in sight

No, my son did not buy the house from Wednesday's photo. In fact, we didn't even view the property. I had contacted the realtor about it to ask if he'd check with the seller's realtor with some questions. He offered to tour the property himself, as he lives and works nearby. The photo was one of several he sent me. His comment "It's a house of horrors. Lot value only." I suspect it may have been tenanted, or alternatively the property owner passed away. One of the photos clearly showed dirty laundry on a bed, in another it appeared the toilet had not been flushed, and in one there were cracked and broken windows. The property is listed at $275,000...lot value would be around $130,000. I sincerely doubt it will sell. Oh, and it comes as-is, where-is so whoever buys it would have to deal with the contents too!

We did see a few more properties Sunday and Monday. None had what C was looking for, so the hunt continued. We saw another two properties on Wednesday. Both had been on the market for some time, but appeared to be more what he was looking for. Sigh...appearances can be deceiving. Both had badly completed DIY renos, both basements were disasters, and in the second property the front door was sticky to open, while the back door could not be opened at all. Can you imagine how much that house had shifted on it's foundation?

I went to Stitch and Chat on Wednesday, with five of us in attendance. C hasn't been there since last fall before she left for Arizona. Sadly, her mother passed away in the spring, just before she returned to Canada. She's spent the last few months clearing out her mother's 4 bedroom house. According to her, it was full of stuff. They did sell it in August and most of the possessions have been disbursed. Some to family members, some sold, donated, or tossed. 

We'll soon say so long for a few months to C and to B as they are both planning their departures for Arizona at the end of October. S is still deciding when she'll leave, as her daughter and son-in-law will be driving down to stay with her. They've just retired. That will leave I and myself - her husband R is currently undergoing treatment for cancer, so I suspect her attendance will be infrequent. Hopefully some of the ladies who dropped in last winter will return. I've no plans to travel until February at the earliest, and that is dependant on my friend S and her husband. They are scheduled to be in Yuma for a month, and I've invited myself to join them for a week if I can make it happen. Their plans, however, are up in the air at the moment so it's not a certainty.

I haven't yet booked my hotel in March for my cruise but I have flights booked. I'm planning on flying in three days ahead of the cruise...I don't a repeat of last January! Even flying in a day early, almost wasn't enough due to storms and cancellations. Of course, it takes a full day to get there from here so I'll arrive late on the first day and have two full days before I board the cruise ship. 

Of course, I can't help looking at cruises especially when a sale is offered. Princess had a 50% off, 50% deposit sale recently for certain 2023 and 2024 cruises and I've booked a 14 day British Isles cruise for late August 2024. If you've been here for long, you might remember that I had a similar cruise booked in June, 2020...we all know what happened with those plans! I e-mailed my friend J and she's offered to have me stay with her for a few days before and after the cruise. (Thanks J! I'm so looking forward to visiting with you and a return visit to the Gardens for certain.)

Because we've had such bad luck with viewing properties with the realtor, C and I took a drive on Thursday evening to look at a property. We figured there would be no point seeing the inside if the neighbourhood wasn't great or the exterior was a mess. It wasn't either of those things, so I called the realtor to ask if he could show it to us on Friday. We made arrangements to meet later in the afternoon.

On paper, the property was perfect. A decent size with three bedrooms up, a finished basement, and a large garage (which means a smaller back yard). We arrived ahead of the realtor, and spent a few minutes looking at the exterior. Shingles look good, there is a small patio out front, and a raised flower bed. 

The realtor arrived a few minutes later and we made our way in the front door. The house is about 1040 sq ft on the main level. On entry there is a closet and beyond that to the right is a decent sized living room. To the left is a large dining area with a galley style kitchen in the center. It's a bit of an odd layout, as you can reach the hall from either the living room or through the kitchen. Off the hall at the back of the house are three bedrooms and a recently renovated bathroom. One of the bedrooms is set up as a laundry room. As you'll see in the photo above (stolen from the internet) there is a ramp on the front exterior of the house so I assume the laundry set-up is for the convenience of the current owners. Back in the dining room, there is a door that leads to the side entrance and down to the basement. 

In the basement there is a den with a large closet, a living room space, a three piece bathroom with a stand-up shower, and a large storage area (which also contains the furnace, hot water heater, water softener, and built in vac). That storage area also has the hook-ups for the laundry, a set of kitchen cabinets and sink, as well as a small freezer and fridge. At some point, it would be an easy conversion to set up a separate suite in the basement for rental, though some work would be needed to update it. 

Out back of the house is a patio area and beside the garage a sadly neglected garden space. It would take some work to get that in order but I told C that would be my project. But the pièce de résistance is the garage. It is huge, the interior insulated and finished with lots of room to park two vehicles plus a space we assumed the current owner is using as a "man" cave. My son was excited about that - he could do something similar and have a space to hang out with friends. We learned later that the garage is actually rented to someone who runs a business out of the space.

The offer was written and submitted about 5:30 p.m. and shortly thereafter we learned another offer had come in. As a result, C's offer was revised a bit, and resubmitted at 6:24 p.m. His offer was accepted at 7:42 p.m., although they could have held off until morning. They even agreed to a move-in date of November 6. And btw, he paid less than the asking price of that dump from Wednesday's photo. It just goes to show that house prices are just made up numbers. 

In the meantime, there are still the conditional periods on both properties to get through. The conditions on my property are to be lifted by next Wednesday, for C the date is the following Wednesday. He'll have a busy week ahead, meeting with the mortgage broker to finalize financing and arranging for a house inspection, as well as working. 

The property isn't perfect. But it is above and beyond everything else we've looked at. The size is great, the basement is finished and would offer a space for me and allow my son his privacy, and the garage is especially a bonus. When I'm travelling, I can park the car indoors and leave it where it will be safe. There are a couple of pink walls that will need to be painted...funny, my son doesn't care for them. The back and one side fence need to be replaced/built. The back garden space is a project as it has been covered by landscape fabric and leaves and debris allowed to accumulate. It is, however, move-in ready and the work I've mentioned can either be completed over the winter or wait until spring.

Oh, one other thing - out in the front flower bed in front of the small patio on the right), are a few lilies. Back in 2018 when we were looking for my daughter's place, we found a bed of lilies out front. My mom loved lilies and had a large flower bed with numerous varieties. We always said the lilies were a sign of her approval. Apparently, it has happened again.

Today, I've got some yard work to get done. It's time to start pulling the annuals and cleaning up the containers. The house needs to be tidied a bit in anticipation of Monday's inspection. There is baseball to watch, and curling has started too (You-tube) so I'll keep myself busy. 

Have a great week ahead everyone!

Friday Funny

 

Wordless Wednesday