The Tour

Get your houses ready people cause here we come...




Here's the deal: We're looking in two basic areas. The west side of Ann Arbor (in 4 different school districts that we've determined to be the best fit for top ranking public schools, walkability and our price point), and the neighboring town of Dexter. Dexter is a "quaint" historic village 5 miles west that boasts great schools (as a district even better than AA), high level of walkability, easy commute to work & downtown Ann Arbor. Dexter also buys you quite a bit more for your money. We have also checked out Chelsea, MI which is a town further west (15-20 minute door to door commute to AA) which also has fantastic schools, high walkability, and lots of historic charm... so far we haven't found a house we think is the perfect fit there (no pics... that was this past Spring) but we have one house left to review there and we're doing that tomorrow. Pictures of that to come it's a gorgeous big stone craftsman house right in the heart of the downtown historic district. It also happens to be one of the cheaper houses we're considering.

And in case you are wondering, these houses range in price from 189K to 350K. That's a considerable price drop in housing since we moved from Ann Arbor two years ago. We're trying to be smart and buy the best deal we can get. Which has meant stepping out of our comfort zone to look at neighborhoods and areas we didn't know much about before. We're trying to get a house for about 100K less than we sold our house for in Ann Arbor in 2008. Asheville taught us a big lesson, and we never want to get a house at the top end of what we can qualify for again...as tempting as that can be. We're looking for a house we could cover on a social work salary should we have to (and social workers don't make much)... which is also the same as a house we can cover on Mr F's salary, while still taking Disney vacations and going out to eat. We're looking at houses pretty much the cost of a whole house LESS than the one we're selling in North Carolina. This was a very good move. Stressful, and a long time coming, but a very good financial move for us.

1100 sq ft 3 bedroom 50s ranch in Ann Arbor:






price: spot on
positives: good sized lot with sidewalks, updated kitchen, nicely finished, close walk to school & park, same street as good friends, best AA public schools
negatives: turns out basement was not finished as implied in ad and smelled of mildew, no central air, big lot but no usable play space, not walkable to town.
take away: Too much money for size, we've already outgrown it. Not right for us.


1900 sq ft 4 bedroom 70s colonial in village of Dexter:










price: spot on
bonuses: huge 1 acre yard w/ mature trees, pool & hot tub, good basic layout, across the street from playground and elementary school
negatives: no sidewalks, horrible kitchen & bathrooms, overall bad shape, deck falling apart, pool is nasty, no a/c!
take away: dump that would require 30-50K in upgrades. I want to like it because of it's potential, but just not in good enough condition to be worth the investment.


1500 sq ft 4 bedroom 50s ranch in Ann Arbor:








price: low
positives: recently flipped... all new bathrooms and hard wood floors, good sized bathrooms, new kitchen, huge basement partially finished just needs flooring, sidewalks, walk to school
negatives: no character, small boring yard w/ no trees, kitchen & eating space are awkward, feels like a rental, not walkable to town, not a neighborhood we'd stay in, not a school I know as much about... although rated well.
take away: awesome price for quality & size, but I'd like to own it as a rental not as a home for us.


1500 sq ft 3 bedroom newer (2000) ranch subdivision house in Dexter:

















price: a bit over (but houses are actually selling for our target price)
positives: gorgeous secret valley in backyard with huge mature trees, nice decking, big basement, beautiful den, Kid thinks it feels "rich", neighborhood is family oriented with several playgrounds, walk to school, sidewalks, cul-de-sac location
negatives: mis-labeled... really only 2 true bedrooms... would have to use den as 3rd bedroom, finished space in basement is at back of house and not ideally located (have to walk through entire unfinished basement to reach it... not near walkout doors (?!?), ugly exterior, no a/c!
take away: the layout just isn't going to work, Kid is devastated


2500 sq ft 4 bedroom 60s ranch in village of Dexter:










price: a bit over
positives: HUGE 3/4 acre mature lot with large flat play space and tons of mature trees and perennial gardens, long flat paved driveway for bike riding, good layout with big bonus room over garage, massive dry basement, big kitchen, bus stop is at the end of driveway, neighbor runs a small home daycare with before & after school care (handy if needed), house has been meticulously maintained and updated and is high quality
negatives: no character on the inside... white box feeling, no sidewalks, half mile to town & schools... walkable but just barely, "older" neighborhood (as in old people... not kids), bathrooms and kitchen are functional but would update eventually. Carpet needs to be replaced in the bedrooms. House is one flight up from driveway/garage... pain with groceries, huge yard & driveway to maintain (mowing & plowing).
take away: great house for the price, unbeatable lot, good house for a family with kids, easy floor plan to live in, decorating could go a long way, when you get out of your car you immediately feel at peace... like a private park. Great house for now, but ultimately Mr F and I would probably move on to a historic home in the future.


1800 sq ft 3-4 bedroom 1890s victorian in heart of Dexter:









price: over
positives: fucking gorgeous... amazing original details... AMAZING... original lighting, stain glass windows, elaborate wood working, french doors, new electric, basement, garages, etc, 2 staircases (yo!), gorgeous landscaping, one block to the center of town (restaurants, bank, library, farmer's market, gym, shops, DAIRY QUEEN, center pavilion, etc)
negative: very busy street, big long lot but garages are placed midway with driveway going to back alley... eating up almost all the back yard... no play space, house was a duplex... need to rip out upstairs kitchen and eventually put in full bath (just a small bath upstairs (gorgeous full downstairs). Weird layout with hard to define bedrooms... tons of space & rooms but lots of sitting rooms (including upstairs) not bedrooms, downstairs kitchen can function but is too small and claustrophobic
take away: love the location in town for me... but not the street for the kids... worried about Baby in the little time we were there, gorgeous hard to find details, needs 30-50K to make the interior ideal... we would have to live in it awkwardly until we could afford to bring it to where we want it. Currently awkward floor plan but it has the potential to be our dream house (as in live in it forever).


1800 sq ft 4 bedroom craftsman in idyllic Ann Arbor neighborhood:

price: WAY over
positives: ideal location, close to good school, historic charm, great neighborhood, walkable to town (but close to a mile... so not everyday), good bones
negatives: needs lots of renovating... lots.... including demo... bathrooms, kitchen, floors refinished... not good condition, moisture damage in basement, small basement, tiny yard... no play space.
take away: this location is just not worth 100-150K more to us... it's just not, needs too much work and the yard is not big enough.


1800 sq ft 70s colonial in secluded western Ann Arbor neighborhood:

price: over
positives: surprisingly nice neighborhoody feel, close to nature preserve w/ lakes, sidewalks, quiet, close to good school, decent yard
negatives: neighbor's have above ground pool w/ noisy filter, THE HOUSE IS A FREAKING DUMP, can't walk anywhere but school and nature preserve.
take away: wow I'm surprised this neighborhood is so expensive... yet I'm also surprised at how nice it feels(neighborhood not house), this house is overpriced... I wonder what it will actually close at, an ideal house in this neighborhood might be worth it's distance from town... it feels really family friendly.


1500 sq ft 3 bedroom 1915 bungalow in idyllic Ann Arbor neighborhood:

price: over
positives: great neighborhood, close to good school, walkable to downtown (although at least 3/4 mile), family friendly
negatives: yowza a crazy dump inside, needs major renovations of baths & kitchen, no usable yard, weird impractical floor plan with basement bedrooms, no interior charm
takeaway: this guy is smoking crack... no one is going to pay that... certainly not us


So can you guess which two houses have made it to the 2nd round?

Deal

She accepted our final offer!

We'll have it in writing by the end of the day.

We're off to house hunt.

Major updates plus previously promised house tour photos tomorrow!!!

Get Ready For Another LONG Day

Party #2 is not meeting the noon deadline. They are seeing the house AGAIN (fourth time) tonight before offering.

Party #1 finally decided to counter our counter. And she came up 20K... so she's entering our ballpark now. She's giving us another deadline of 5 PM.

Of course Party #2 sees the house at 5:30 PM. Of course.

Oh, and there is another showing (unrelated from all this) today too.

So we're countering Party #1's counter at 5 PM.

If she accepts then that's that and we feel pretty good about that number.

If she counters it that will give Party #2 (and #3 if they jump in) a chance to make their offer before we're in contract.

You know, this whole experience (since Mr F accepted this job) has been crazy making.

But it seems like it's all going to work out.

Could This Day Feel Any Longer?

Okay:

Countered party #1.

Waiting on party #2 to make an offer (maybe) by end of the day.

Party #1 is now waiting to counter our counter until they know if party #2 jumps in.

So we wait.

And it's excruciating.

Will there be a competition?

Or will party #1 wait it out and hold strong with their low offer?

I can't tell if this whole thing has hurt us or helped us with them.

GAH!

We've started the negotiations. It's tricky and stressful. We needed to respond to party #1 by noon. Party #2 JUST finished their walk through and need to talk before making an offer on either our house or another. So we don't want to lose #1 BUT we also want to leave it open for #2 to jump in. See? Party #1 did this on purpose knowing party #2 was coming this morning. See? We don't know for sure if party #2 will come through with an offer and put this in competition... but... it's a good chance and we don't want to be locked in with #1.

So we're hard balling it back to #1, only coming down a nod (2K) and they can either meet it or they can counter giving #2 a chance to jump in which would then give us a chance to go back to both and say BRING IT! We're really hoping that works.

Until then I'll be in the bathroom...

Belated

Okay we were gone ALL DAY.

Lots of stuff happened.

We got an offer (hold your applause... it's low and we haven't countered yet).

We may be getting ANOTHER offer tomorrow... so... things are going in the right direction.

We found a house we LOVE.

Well... not KId.

She said she loves houses that are "richy" and "seem like they are REALLY rich".

Let me translate for you that "REALLY rich" = REALLY tacky. (sometimes you can take finishes too far, Kid)

We're going back to see the house this weekend and walk around the area and be REALLY sure before we make an offer.

Also by then we'll know what's going down with our Asheville house and we'll have a better idea what kind of offer we can make.

Pictures and commentary to come once Mr F downloads his camera!

Tomorrow Will Be Fun... Come Back For That

We've got a line up of 8 houses to see tomorrow. After watching back to back to back episodes of Sarah's House (love it) with Mr F, and his related commentary that the episode wherein she previews her potential houses was the most interesting, I've decided to give you all the same experience (what fun for you).

Although on a much less impressive scale.

So come back for that.

We're looking at everything from 1000 sq foot 1950s ranch (yowza that's small), to a somewhat ugly 70s house with a pool, to a .... get this... new (ish) subdivision house (I know).

We've got cul-de-sacs, we've got one acre yards, we've got hot tubs and swimming pools, we've got lots of blue toilets and salmon bathtubs and wallpaper borders.

Don't worry I'll take pictures.

We've got our list of priorities (3 bedrooms, a place for me to exercise, a yard to play in, sidewalks, walkable to school, etc). Our new motto is "This house is for the kids". So with some regret Mr F and I are sacrificing our personal aesthetic in order to get the best possible family house, in the best possible school, IN OUR LIMITED PRICE RANGE. It has become very unlikely that you'll see us in a cute Craftsman style bungalow this time around (Ann Arbor hasn't gotten that cheap.... yet....sniffle)

But, hey, there's a lot to love about 70s architecture... right?.... right?

One thing we know is that school starts in two months. We kind of need to get this show on the road if we're going to get in in time.

P.S. We're having two 2nd showings at our house this week. Fingers crossed, people. Because if our house sells I won't have to kill myself. (just kidding... kind of)

Wait For It

"No, no, no!" Mr F reprimands Baby one night.

"You can't put a toothbrush in your butt crack." I hear him continue.

Baby mumbles something in return.

"Is your butt that itchy?" He asks.

Baby mumbles something in return.

"You need to put Sissy's toothbrush back on the counter." He finishes.

Okay.... How Do I Say This?

I didn't dig it.
We're withdrawing our offer.
It's not that it isn't a great, original, historic home.
It is.
Some spit & polish (aka kitchen reno... a must... and floor refinishing), and it could have been a beautiful house.

BUT

You just can't change it's location no matter how hard you try.
So, I'm not ready to risk it.

Sure, we can't get anywhere near the deal on that square footage... but... I kind of want my kids to be able to play outside and not be in the road.
Since it sits at the corner of a three road intersection, well, that's kind of hard not to do.

And, it's nice (kind of) not to have the added pressure of having to close whenever the bank up and decides with no real idea when that will be.

We're looking at other options.

And waiting for our house to sell.

My Apologies

I'm going through a bit of a strange adjustment period (and I know the blog is suffering for it).

While it is nice to have removed the daily constant stress of showing the house, and 24/128 single parenting, we're still a bit adrift.

And the constant stress of selling a house has not abated. In fact, in some ways, not being onsite has only intensified it.

We're lowering our price AGAIN this week. Fingers crossed.

I'm also going to see the house we've got a bid on this week (the short sale... still no word). I'm pretty excited about that. If I hate it we can withdraw our offer... if I love it, it will give me something to look forward to.

Maybe something exciting will happen soon (like someone buying our house!) and then I'll have some good blog fodder. Let's all pray for that.

If You Give A Cat A Bowl Of Milk...

It will come back when it's raining and ask you to build it a shelter.

If you build it a shelter it will want some super expensive all natural deli turkey to go with it.

If you give it some super expensive all natural deli turkey, it will want you to groom it.
If you start to groom it, you might start thinking you should take it to the vet.

If you take it to the vet, you just might have yourself a new cat...

Are You Kidding?!

Mr F just told me that our neighbor called (the one with the 30K over our price house on the market).
It sold FOR CASH.
In less than 2 weeks.
Oh, and he did it For Sale By Owner to boot.

The good news? (if you can call it that)...
He's prepared to rent our house come August, and buy our lot to build on. That's not really the best answer but it will at least help should we still be holding the house then.

But more than that, I'm just wondering what the fuck is going on?

Two more people came to our house yesterday. At this point we have had some ridiculous number of showings in the past nearly 4 months... I mean really... 80?...100? Something like that.
EVERY single person leaves feedback that the house is great, in excellent condition, a 4 or 5 out of 5, and that they are "Somewhat" or "Maybe" interested. But nobody (except those jackasses) comes back with an offer. And with our neighbor's house selling so quickly, for so much, I'm not even sure it's a price issue.

I mean CASH?! No realtor fee?! Kill me now, please.

Since we aren't getting any negative feedback we just sit wondering what it will take to get an offer.

Bueller?

Bueller?

Update

A lot of stuff has happened:

#1 Took my car in for an oil change and found out I need IMMEDIATE $1200 repairs before I drove to MI.
So, in an effort not to kill my children, I had to postpone our drive a bit until I could get that taken care of. That money had to come out of our moving fund... so U-haul it is.

#2 Mr F did come down and scoop up the apples. Of course the trees have only shed about half, so problem solved on the short term apple front only. He also did some major basement packing, and took a load of kid stuff to Goodwill (shhh) for me. I managed to pack up all my desk stuff (paperwork, etc), all our clothes, and the kids' most important toys & art supplies. I've got the house as good and closed up as I can manage without actually moving out.

#3 We are slumming it tonight crazy Super 8 style. God. It's awful. Ever since putting my No Ho In Hotel Act (aka not staying at motels anymore do to hooker sightings and all around creepy nastiness) into action the girls and I have been living large on the road thanks to Priceline. Well... see #1... and the fact that I haven't had internet access. So here we are. I just told the girls they had to keep their underwear on! And don't sit on the floor! Or the blankets!

"So that chain lock means that if someone tried to get in our room they could only get in the length of the chain?" Kid asks.

"um... right."

And later after discovering dried blood on the pillow:

"So someone's head was bleeding in the night?" Kid asks.

"um... right."

I'm not sure the $40 saving was worth it. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's not.

So, yeah, we're headed up to Michigan. Mr F left this morning and I waited and cleaned the house and then, miracle of miracles, loaded the car and the kids up at 6 PM after the car was finished. Oh did I fail to mention after walking with the kids to get the car in the blazing heat?! Our house is so empty (no food, no TV, no toys) that keeping the kids there for one more night would have been more painful than just hitting the road and getting as far as I could. And I'm just done cleaning, and one more night would mean more touch up cleaning... and it's just not worth it!

Only six and a half hours to go!

And about 3 more Mc Donald's stops!

Let's hope there aren't any bedbugs.

The insect carcasses on the bathroom floor kind of make me think there are.

Hey Ho

We've got another showing this morning, so there's hope.... right? Right.

The house is spic and span.

I said to Mr F last night "It's no joke how clean this house is. People don't get it... it's as clean as humanly possible."

And it is.

I've got to take some pride in the only things I can control these days.

I haven't worked out in 3 weeks. It's always amazing to me how quickly you can lose your will to carry on when you've had a break like that. It's as if I NEVER did it. You know?

I'll get back on that when we go North and I have more time, or at least have more time that isn't constantly interrupted by crises (knock on wood).

I've never wanted to have an RV more than I do know. It feels like some sort of an answer. Too bad that isn't going to happen right now. I'd like to have a space of my own that I could obsessively organize with cute little cubbies and whatnot.

It's hard being here now. Our house feels less and less like home, and more and more like a place to sleep and eat strange concoctions of non perishables from our pantry.... and a job. A serious, exhausting, never ending job.

We kind of shuttle around from one chunk of time to another, in the house between showings, driving around to random errands or time killers during them, not fully living. Not really cooking, not really playing.... just treading water, watching whatever crappy DVDs we can get from the library (the kids), and cleaning the bathroom AGAIN (me). It's been ridiculously hot and humid and the mosquitos are out in full force... so the kids are stuck in that awful summer trap of not wanting to be out but being bored to tears (or fights) by staying in.

This part will end soon at least.

We're heading up to Michigan on Monday (we think). Still haven't heard from the fence guy... but I can't wait here forever. Maybe our realtor will step up and actually help me with something... like... meeting the fence guy and showing him where to move it?

Or, maybe, the showing today will end with an offer?

Pretty please?

Chin Up?

It's not.

I'm starting to really feel the pressure of 3+ months of separation, trying to sell a house in a down market without losing the kids college funds, and overall loneliness (for real peeps... it can be a bit much at times).

All in all, things are not going well for me. I need something to change soon.

I've got a good plan for the property/finance situation. We're moving the fence (as soon as the guy calls me back!!!). Then as of August 1st we're selling the lot, and refinancing the house (for less obviously, lower rates now too... bonus). That way I can pull out a majority of the equity we have locked up in the house & lot (unnecessarily at this point) and we will still have a lower mortgage on the house than we do now. I'll feel a whole lot better when we have real cash back in our hands and not trapped under this roof. Then we can move forward in Ann Arbor, put money down on the new house, and still reserve some to cover the carrying costs we'll have here until it sells. Again, hopefully it all sells before August 1st... but if not, I have a good solid plan.

I do have a lawn guy, and we came back from our trip, in part, to check and make sure he showed up and did what he said. He did.

On the tedium front, I've got the car inspected and renewed... also had to come back for that before the end of June. And on Friday I've got the car going to the shop for maintenance before we head out AGAIN. I've also got calls in to the fence guy (please call me back) and movers who are coming on Friday to give me some estimates (just in case). Then I'll feel like I can close up and head north until our house is in contract, and or we need to sell the lot and refinance, whichever comes first.

Assuming the fence guy can bump us up (please) we'll stay until the fence is moved. If that isn't going to happen in the next week then the girls and I will leave on Sunday or Monday and just trust the guy to do it right (we do-ish). Mr F is coming down to help me tie everything up and leave the house good for awhile (which involves a million small annoying tasks like replacing our porch flowers with drought tolerant ones, etc... the list is endless). I had to give him my old "Thundercats Ho!" call.... aka... crying into the phone completely overwhelmed by having to manage everything on my own. So plans were changed and he's coming down to help me load up and haul out the nasty rotting apples before we go (seriously... it's an overwhelming task), rather than having me drive up for Father's Day after pushing myself to the brink of my emotional/physical capabilities. It's just not worth the risk on that front, peeps.

Too Disappointed To Even Get Into It

Bad offer.
Not just low... obnoxiously low. 70% of asking price... which by the way is priced fairly and 30K less than our neighbors house which was just put on the market yesterday. We're looking at selling the lot since that seems to be the major hiccup... everyone wants the house and lot as one deal at house price. Sadly that ain't happenin' seeing as the lot is worth 60K and that's what we paid and that's what it's worth today. I'm looking at moving the fence to just enclose the house & it's parcel so the lot is clearly A SEPARATE LOT... not just a big bonus yard.
I'm crazy disappointed since these people came 3 freaking times and seemed serious... even their realtor apologized today for the bogus offer. Kind of wish I hadn't gone to Cost Plus World Market and window shopped for our new house yesterday. That just made it hurt more.
Oh and no word or movement on the Ann Arbor house either.
Oh and all the apple trees that line our property dropped their apples while I was gone and it smells you're swimming in a barrel of apple cider vinegar at our house now (not good).
Gah!

Who knows when I'll be back.

Kind of wish I hadn't shut off our internet & tv.

Seriously, what was I thinking?!!!!

Just A Quick Note

To say....

Tomorrow (Monday) at 1 PM (Eastern... so set your clocks accordingly)

We are having a, as of yet elusive, but highly coveted, SECOND SHOWING!!!

Send all your mojo this way. We need it.

I'll return the favor.

I promise.

(1-2 PM tomorrow!, people... don't forget... we need you and your magic powers)

On The Road Again

We're headed back to Asheville to tie up some loose ends (register my car, oil change, car inspection, etc.... forward mail, water plants, kill slugs, etc... pack up some valuables, toys, & paperwork... my step!!!!!).

We'll be there this week and then we'll head north to Michigan on Friday. We should be up there in time for Father's Day with Mr F. I'll have driven 3000 miles in two weeks. I am, by now, thoroughly qualified to write a book about how to travel alone with kids. Maybe someday I will.

P.S. Please, someone, buy our house. I'm ready for the madness to end.