No place like home

Oh Congratulations, Mac!! Buying a home is so exciting And fixing it up to your liking is fun, too. I hope you post pics when you're in there. Congrats again.

Thanks everyone. I'm pretty excited in case you can't tell.

I've heard of the bread, sugar, & oil gifts, but I don't remember much about that tradition. I may have learned about it on a2k.

I have an inspector lined up for tomorrow morning. That will be interesting. The guy was amusing and helpful on the phone.

I currently live in an 800 sf, 1 bedroom apartment. I made an offer on a different townhouse a couple of weeks ago, but the bank had foreclosed days before, and the owner didn't inform his realtor until he got the call about my offer. (!) That one was over 1600 sf, which was a rather alarming amount of space and would have required a great deal of additional furniture. I think 1200 sf will be plenty (for a while). I've never been one to acquire a lot of stuff, but I agree that people generally expand to fit their living space. We shall see how that goes.

I've never had a guest room. That's one of the things that pushed me to make this move. I've also never had a washer/dryer or a garage or an attic. Or more than one toilet to clean! Lots of firsts for me. (I didn't own a bed or sofa until I was 42. I'm a late bloomer. Or just delaying adulthood, perhaps.)

Furniture plans:
- I will buy a new bed and put my current bed in the guest room. I'll eventually buy more furniture for the guest room, but the bed will happen soonish and the rest later. (After the tax credit comes thru perhaps?)
- I've been using my small dining room table as a desk for years which I've been wanting to change, so I'll buy a desk before the move, probably from Ikea.
- Not exactly furniture, but I'll need some rugs because the hall and living room/dining room are tiled. I don't know a thing about rugs - I need to research/shop, and form an opinion.
- Some sort of patio furniture will be required. I have a couple of cheapo plastic chairs on my balcony that the pigeons love, but I'm ready to move up to something nicer. I like rockers and gliders, so maybe one of those.

Happy shopping, Mac You can sometimes get great deals at garage sales or in the paper - cheaper than new, but often just as nice, and sometimes they'll deliver for free.

All I can say about area rugs is that the underlay is really important Gives even an inexpensive (IKEA) rug a quality look.

I'm so excited for you!!

chiming in on the "It's mine! It's mine!" revelation.

Now you can paint your walls whatever color you want, or paint murals of Frank Zappa or sharks in the ocean, or anything else you want. It's yours!

Congratulations on your new purchase!

I know! Painting the walls is something I haven't wrapped my head around, since it's never been an option for me. Maybe I'll start small with the half bath (currently an aggressive shade of orange) and see how that goes.

Also, just reminding myself - this place isn't mine yet! The desk is a sure thing, but spending bucks on anything else needs to wait until closing (4/20). Or nearly that long, anyway. Shopping is another matter, of course.

Yes, yes, the planning!
The planning can begin!

I would keep a tote bag in my car with swatches of fabric, a soap dish, a piece of tile, etc.
I was able to whip them out at any time if I found something in my travels that caught my eye.

Yeah, I'm a big planner. I already have lots of lists.

I've done a little online shopping, but now that I'm not spending all my spare time house hunting, I can go out and shop in the real world a bit.

IKEA is really the king of this sort of thing. You already mentioned it for a desk, they have really good rugs too (good quality and SO much cheaper than anywhere else I've found).

Ooooooooooooooooooooooh Mac - VERRA EXCITING.

Very happy for you - can see you really smiling. YAY for you.

NEW HOME - fab!

I'm looking forward to your having fun on this, your being able to make these choices..
My only advice so far is don't rush the process, if you are like me, which you might not be. (Some people like to get the process over with, which can also make sense.) I found I would change my mind - which is not the end of the world, especially with painting. "It's only paint", my design partner would say.
If you are going to go towards different colors instead of a 'easy sales' white, look at the color samples in different lights, different times of day. Think about how the rooms would work together..

Great news, mac! Congratulations. You'll love it. Pride of ownership and an association to take care of the heavy maintenance stuff.

Yahoo!

Great news, Mac.

One of the best things you can do.

I'm in no rush, osso. I'm more likely to never get around to something than to rush to a decision.

Ah, like minds..

Let's say you pull in a pro to do a job, any job. If they say we can do this quick, this is easy, be cautious. The real work is in the details.

I suspect Mac will like to do this herself. (I would too).

Before I drift off to sleep, I have to add that one of my favorite houses ever is the home of a cookbook author/friend - tiny house, small lot. You walked in the main door and you were in her kitchen, where she held classes. Much of their floor was bricked. No closets, just some hooks. Some walls were entirely bookshelves, but the books, in their case, were contained there and not dribbling about (as is my way).

My point, you don't have to do that. But.. consider what you actually want.

Yesterday I spent five hours with an inspector who I paid lots of money to tell me what's wrong with this townhouse.

I keep trying to remind myself that it's his job to find what's wrong. And that there are things wrong with every house. I spent a lot of time online researching the issues, and I'm feeling pretty gloomy about the whole project today.

I still don't have the written report, but here's a sample from my notes:
- Federal Pacific breaker box is a fire hazard
- Aluminum wiring is Coal/r corrected, but still a fire hazard
- Floors upstairs and down are extremely un-level (foundation movement)
- No GFCI outlets
- Patio may be draining thru the garage(!)
- ABS plumbing pipes (I'm not clear on why that's bad)
- Ancient A/C system, probably need to replace the whole thing
- Fiberglass duct board in attic
- Deteriorating ducts in attic
- Front door threshold repaired incorrectly - drains in, not out - so the door frame is rotting

How long ago was this townhouse built?