HOME DEMO: Part 1

okay readers. This is the post ya'll have been waiting for! Please caution yourselves as this home is my little diamond in the rough but to others, it's just a big fat mess!

Here is what we will be working on...

Good bye yucky carpets.

{we'll be laying down pergo floors)

Adios Mr. Big Ginormous Hideous bar in the family room! I will not miss you!

See ya later linoleum in laundry room and bathrooms.

Mr. Pergo, sad to see you go. Although you're in perfect condition, I just can't have you in the kitchen...

or the foyer. Tah-Tah!

See you never weird wall in the garage! Your purpose in this home did not serve a good one. Both you and I know. I think it's only right that I tear you down!! You've been a very bad wall! A hazardous one at that!!

Oh Mr. Electrical... you have been a pain in our a$$ during the time of purchase. NOT COOL! I am so happy to have PG&E replace you. PEACE OUT!

Oh my poor sweet sink. What ever happened to you? You leak, your faucet isn't attached and you do not have a sprayer. Poor thing. It is time to retire you.

That are a few spaces I did not post that will be getting a new face lift. I will update that soon.

But for now, it's DEMO TIME!!!

House Hunting: WE GOT THE HOUSE!!

and then ends in such a sweet ending.

After 90 days of hustling, this is what we got.

Isn't she a beaut!

Mr. Wonderful and I decided we wanted a fixer upper to make our oWn. What was most important was the layout, space and foundation that brought warmth and charm. We are truly blessed to get exactly that!

There are a few things that we will be changing in this home and in fact, our contractor has been ripping A LOT out this past week! YAY! But before I get to the fun stuff, I would like to take you all down memory lane of what really happened while purchasing this home.

Are you ready? I's suggest you buckle up because this, my friend, is going to be a bumpy road!

TIME LINE TO HOME OWNERSHIP!

1. JANUARY 12 - Submitted our first offer with an FHA loan (offer wasn't accepted due to home not being up to FHA level of expectations)
2. JANUARY 13 - Submitted 2nd offer using a Homepath loan
3. JANUARY 20 - Offer accepted
4. JANUARY 27 - We're in contract. Loan process begins
5. FEBRUARY 20 - Didn't get approved with Homeloan and switch to a 203k Rehab Loan. We spoke with the sellers (Fannie Mae) transaction Coordinator and made a verbal agreement that we were doing so. The coordinator said to proceed with the new loan
6. MARCH 7 - Fannie Mae PULLED THE DAMN PLUG! Looks like there is no such thing as a "Verbal Agreement" in the Real Estate world. RULE OF THUMB: If there is any changes when purchasing a house... WRITE AN ADDENDUM!! No Qs asked! Just do it!
7. MARCH 8 - House was put back on Market and we resubmitted our offer.
8. MARCH 9 - Bidding War with two other offers! (UGH, so annoying)
9. MARCH 14 - WE WON and is back in the house! Wahoo!
10. MARCH 15 - {A 203k loan is a rehab loan meaning you must hire a contractor to fix the home in up and running condition} Got 3 bids from 3 different contractors to fix the house.
11. APRIL 15 - Got an appraisal done on the home. It came back 20k under our contract price! {OMG! You have got to be kidding me, right?!}
12. APRIL 16 - Negotiated with Fannie Mae to lower the contact price.
13. APRIL 20 - Fannie Mae met us half way and lowered it 10k and we had to come up with the other 10k to meet appraisal.
14. APRIL 28 - LOAN WAS FUNDED!!
15. APRIL 29 - WE GOT THE KEYS!!!!!!

And that's a wrap ladies and gents. Mr. Everything and I have a home! A home to finally call OUR HOME! Yeehaw.

Tomorrow's post: DEMO TIME.

HOUSE HUNTING: Signing Docs!!

And we finally get to meet face to face with Mr. Escrow!

Oh hello Stewart Title. What a pleasure meeting your acquaintance. Especially under these circumstances. Rather special I must say! ;)

Below is a picture of the million pages of signing. Thank goodness for our mom to be there to read between the lines. She has been a saving grace in this process and I am so glad she was with us till the end.

{{Note the tired look on my face! This is how one looks after 90 days in contract. Swollen, tired and just doooone! lol}}

After a few hours of signing docs and submitting our deposit we decided the best way to end the night is to have breakfast as our dinner! And that is exactly what we did. Yummmm. The best!

Just a few more days until it's ours!! YAY!

HOUSE HUNTING: Rumor Has It.....

that today will be the day we sign our docs for our loan!

SERIOUSLY?!! I am pinching myself right now. We have been in contract with this home since January 27th! And boy has it been a roller coaster. We have gone through the ringer with this home. With in these last 3 months we have went far and beyond to make this happen. Such as: submitting 3 offers to finally get ours accepted. Submitted first with a Homepath Loan, ran out of time, the sellers pulled the plug and re-listed it! UGH, most devastating time in my life! Then we resubmitted our offer, went into a bidding war with 2 other offers. And without raising our offer... we won and were officially back in contract as of March 24th. We decided to go with a FHA 203K Loan which is a rehab program for homes that require a little elbow grease. {{Thank the Lord for this laon! Although the process is more tedious and time consuming than the average laon, the benefits freaking ROCK THE NATION! More deeds to come once we move in}} And a few weeks later, here we are... awaiting the call from the underwriter to schedule an appointment to sign docs. They say we should be funded by FRIDAY! eeeek!

So from this day till Friday, I will be dreaming of this sign!

And once I see that sign come to life, I will finally be able to take a picture that I've been dreaming of since the beginning of our house hunting journey back in November 2010.

Look at the faces on this adorable family. They are bLESsed!

Stay tune and don't skip a beat. As soon as I get these key to our home, I will be BACK IN THE GAME and my DIY wand will be once again in full effect!!

YEEHAW!

HOUSE HUNTING: OFFER ACCEPTED!!

YEEHAW! We are officially in contract with this beaut!

After hearing the grrreat news, first things first! I had to make sure this wasn't a dream! I google searched the address and this is what I found!

I was tickled pink to see the house titled "sale pending". Come to think about it, I think my heart skipped a beat!!

Mr. AWESOME and I got pretty much everything on our must-have list and so much more! We were content with 3 bedrooms. Well, we got four! Technically five, but we'll use that for the kings quarters. A pool was a MUST! We got it {doing the happy dance} plus a spa that spills into the pool! What a dream. The kitchen is perfect in size and the family room is just full of charm! We had to compromise the master suite. In a perfect world, we were hoping for a soaking tub and dual sinks, but we figured everything else we're getting out of this home overcompensates the mini master bath. We're good!

The space that excites me most is the formal dining room. This is one space I did not want to give up while searching. I've always dreamt of hosting dinner parties where family and friends could break bread over good conversations and wine. So what better place to accomplish that setting other than an intimate space such as this!

OH GAWD, it's just beautiful! Notice the pillars and the multi-layered vaulted ceiling. It also has recessed lighting that dims to the perfect settings. I have big plans for this room. You just wait and see!

HOUSE FULL OF CHARM + NEEDS TLC + HANDY HUBBY + CRAFTY WIFE

= A HAPPY LIFE!

Stay tuned for updates and PROJECTS!