OK, so I've been lax in updating

The house has not sold. There were a fair number of people who checked it out, but no one was interested in making even a low-ball offer.

I attribute the lack of success in selling it on a few different factors:

1) I put the house on the market just as the mortgage industry collapsed. While loans were (and are) still available, buyers are spooked and don’t want to make a move.

2) The house is too big to show bare. I think people didn’t know what to look at, so their wandering eyes settled on the few cosmetic issues such as no shower curtains (someone actually said that in their feedback) or the bland curb appeal. I should have staged the house with a bit of furniture, artwork, and silk plants.

3) I was greedy and priced it too high and took too long to adjust it downward. I should have stuck to the original plan and sold it at a small profit when I might have had the chance in early July.

4) Insufficient marketing, though I’m at a loss of how to fix that.

So in late August, when I realized that my very-high-interest-rate construction loan was about to get even higher after the six month point, I decided to do something different. I could have rented the place, but I didn’t trust tenants with the house. I wanted to refinance, but the only company that would underwrite me insisted that it be owner-occupied. So the approach was pretty clear: Move in.

So in mid-September we moved into the house and put the other one up for sale. We had to leave some of our furniture at the old house (remember my lesson about leaving a house bare?), so the new place looks kind of bare. Huge house with nowhere to sit.

Next entry I’ll report on the Craigslist furniture search….

There goes the neighborhood

So there I was, planting some bougainvillea in the front yard, when a Realtor showed up with two people in tow. They went into the house, looked around for a while and came back out. I chitchatted with them for a few moments (they didn't like cypress, I said I could shape it as an elephant, blah blah blah). All innocuous stuff.

I then read their feedback (the realtor is supposed to provide feedback after a showing, and it's done via a website). They said the place was too big, and they didn't like the neighbor and didn't like the neighborhood. I didn't get it, our conversation was bland, and why would they call me the neighbor? Maybe the hired help, but neighbor (they saw my truck in the garage).

Then I got it: two of the neighbors on the block are African American. Those people were racists complaining about our integrated neighborhood!!

Hard to believe there's still crackers like that out there.

Old vs New pictures

I'll not do a lot of commentary in this entry. Instead, I'll just give you before and after pictures (along with a few in-process ones).

Front

Entryway

Living Room

Dining Room

Kitchen

Master Bath

Master Bedroom

Family Room

Downstairs bathroom

Upstairs Bath

Back Deck

Back Yard

For Sale

The IP has a "For Sale" sign in the front yard and is listed on the MLS.

The past several weeks have been absolutely intense. I was working 12 hour days, 7 days a week for at least a month to get things finished and finalized. I even suckered Kathleen into working late with me, but she laid down the law when at 9 PM one day, she had a container of kerosene fall on her as we were loading up the truck. Needless to day she was mighty irritated. And stinky.

In construction, we use "punchlists" which are huge lists of things that need to get fixed, here's one page of my punchlist for the past two weeks. But in addition to the punchlist, I have endless daily lists of things to get accomplished.

Finally last Friday the electrical and plumbing inspectors from the city came and gave me final OK. And Chris came with a listing contract. We discussed the price and agreed on a number (as before, I won't be giving details that can let a potential buyer pinpoint this blog... too much liability, if you know what I mean. However, I'll be happy to give you those details in an email, just send me a note). And on Monday the Final Inspector came and signed off the permit.

Now that it's done, I'm still working through a min punchlist. For example, today I will

> put no-grow film and bark chips on the bare spot in the back yard where the old flowers were

> clean the gate (I had painted it and cleaned it. Then the bozos from the powerwash company blew dirt all over it)

> Move the sprinkler controller. The choice was to move the controller, or run a new wire to it for power. Moving it is much easier.

> Tidy up the boiler room

> Get the gick off of the tub. American Standard had put some sort of label over the on-off switch. I took the label off and the adhesive they used left a gross residue on the tub. Wonderful.

> Paint the pantry door

There's others, but they are pretty minor. I'd like to get those minor things wrapped up this week, I don't want to have a potential buyer come in while I'm still running around with my toolbelt.

I'll try to take some pictures today and post them.

White flag?

Got lots done this last week, including:

> Installed the wetbar counter in the family room

> Roberto tiled the new bathroom and the counters. This turned out to be a major headache, as I didn't read Elysia's instruction and told the tile guys to use the wrong stuff. Needless to say, they ran out, and had to tear it out and re-install with the right stuff

> Frank installed sinks in the new bathroom. Another headache, as we used the wrong template for the sink and the opening wasn't big enough. Had to buy Frank a special grinding wheel to make the holes bigger to install them.

> John finished, but didn't install the access doors in the downstairs bedrooms and the master bedroom closet

> John mortised the 13 new interior doors for hinges and hung them. Didn't paint them yet, but began drilling them for locks and handles

> Frank installed the pedestal sink downstairs. If Frank weren't a preacher he would have let loose with many explatives. As it was, he only said "dag burn it" a bunch of times (Don't worry, the avocado green commode goes next week).

> Installed the heater covers, and only had one missing piece. Not sure what I'm going to do about that.

> Walter installed the granite countertops in the kitchen. Installed the new microwave and the stove.

> John installed door handles for the four exterior doors

> Installed the baseboard. All 196 feet of it. I had to contend with all the existing carpet tack strips with their hundreds of very sharp tacks. I only punctured myself about four times, but now I know how a swimmer feels with that first piranah bite. Only make one serious error when I installed some door casings backwards and had a wierd gap. I doubt anyone will notice

> Paul choped down the ugly two trees in front. That left a huge pile of pine needles which I was just going to bark over. Today I noticed Kathleen raking and digging them up. How was I supposed to know that you're supposed to get rid of them first??

> Kathleen also uprooted about 125 iris bulbs from the back yard. I'm sure glad she likes doing yard work, I find that part of the property to be a big mystery.

> Tore out most of the basement carpet, and all the carpet from the stairs.

> Applied clear polyurethane to the banisters. Now they're all nice and shiny.

This week I hope to finish up with the sinks, install the lights (I should have done that weeks ago), finish installing the stove and begin the dishwasher, put casings around the freedom doors, and get the carpet installed.

Heater covers

Today I put the covers back on the heaters. I'd been dreading this, as I just knew I would lose at least once cover. This usually isn't such a bad thing, as Depot sells pretty much everything. Except, of course, covers for the kind of heaters at the IP.

Well, I got them all on and no covers were missing. I am missing a corner piece, but I'll figure out a way to wing it.

The appliances arrived today and Walter began installing them. Microwave went in fine, but the stove interferes with the gas supply line. Yep, the gas supply line that Frank put in for me a few weeks back. Per my directions. Per what the stove manufacturer said to do.

I guess Frank will be re-routing the gas line tomorrow.

The kitchen is almost done. All cabinets are in, the appliances are almost in and the slab got installed today.

John has mortised all the new interior doors and they're all well hung. Just need to add handles and paint them.

Kathleen came over today and measured the windows. She'll be dealing with the shear curtains to hide the ugly windows.

Tomorrow I'll start with the baseboard and the casings.

The camera was out of batteries, hence no new pictures for this post.

Week of June 4th

(This is the third of three posts from Sunday night)

I expect to get lots of progress this coming week:
> Pickup and install the wetbar counter in the family room
> Tile the new bathroom and the counters
> Install sinks in the new bathroom and the two wetbars
> Finish the access doors in the downstairs bedrooms and the master bedroom closet
> Mortise the new interior doors for hinges. Paint the doors, drill them for locks and handles, and hang them (sounds like a movie parody)
> Install the commodes
> Install the pedestal sink downstairs, once the workmen are done with cleaning their paint and mud brushes
> Figure out how to reinstall the heater covers (of all the tasks, this is the one I fear the most)
> Install the granite countertops in the kitchen and install the plumbing
> Get and install door handles for the four exterior doors
> Get power to the sprinker system (currently using an extension cord)
> Begin putting in the baseboard
> Chop down the ugly two trees in front

Obviously more than I can possibly do myself. Walter and his crew of professionals will be helping, as will Frank and John. I'm still eager to be finished on the 15th.

I'm still shooting for June 15 completion. It'll be tough, there's numerous tiny details still left.

June 3

We made great progress last week and got the following accomplished:

> Painted the exterior body color in a cream/yellow shade. Began the secondary color (deep navy blue)

> Installed the kitchen cabinets

> Installed the master bath vanity and prepared the surface for tile

> Tore out the cast iron tub in the second upstairs bathroom. Only weighed about 250 pounds. Kathleen managed to get rid of it on Craig's List, so I didn't have to deal with taking it to the recycle place.

> Build plumbing in the upstairs second bathroom for the second sink. What a nightmare, I'm so glad Frank did the work.

> Installed all shower and tub faucets

> Installed and wired the recessed light cans in the master bedroom

> Got measured for carpet

> Repaired the fence gate

> Built the access for the sprinkler valves in the downstairs bathroom

> Drywalled the upstairs bathroom

> Installed the two patio Freedom doors (ever hear of freedom fries?)

Back Steps

Frank and John came over last week to help me. I realized that I wasn't going to make the June 15 date unless I got some help, so the budget continues to go over...

Anyway, one of the things they did was build a new set of steps for the back patio. The old ones were pretty raunchy and narrow. And some former owner built some sort of windbreak from which to tend bar on the patio. All in all, a rather unappetizing sight from a re-sale perspective.

So Frank and John tore the steps and the windbreak apart:

And here's the finished product:

Pretty good job, eh?

Nemisis gone

The fireplace wall has been my nemesis, and my nemesis is conquered.

For some reason, a previous owner had the lovely brick wall in the living and bedroom plastered. But left big holes in the Mexican Restaurant look. I knew no potential buyer would want that, so I needed to fill them in. I spent hours and hours and hours patching the holes, 1/4 inch at a time. At the end I sanded the plaster, then put on more, then sanded, etc etc etc. I'd have white lung disease had I not been wearing my respirator.

Friday was a HUGE day: The painters painted the two walls, and you can't even tell how bad they once looked. What a relief, the ugly wall, my nemesis is no more.

Memorial Day

Spent a half day with Kathleen helping me. Last Friday I demolished the upstairs bathroom and re-wired the GFI outlet and moved the electrical connection for the lights. Oh, and I drilled the holes for the plumbing for the double vanity.

Today Kathleen cleaned up the master bedroom, master bath and downstairs north bedroom. Yech, what a job... they were filled with construction debris and dust. Lots of dust. Expecially in the carpets and pads which she removed.

Today I removed all the tile around the tub in the upstairs bathroom. And together we measured where to put the recessed lights in the master bedroom. I wanted to make sure we measured twice and cut once, as I don't get a second chance as everything has been painted.

The plan for this short week:
> Plumb the upstairs bath
> Sheetrock and mud the bathroom
> Install floor tile in the bathroom
> Install tub in the bathroom
> Install fixtures in the master and downstairs bathrooms
> Install the recessed lights for master bedroom
> Install kitchen cabinets
> Finish painting interior
> Select exterior color scheme
> Install range, microwave and dishwasher
> Install vanity in master bathroom
> Order carpet

Sounds like a bunch of work. I am shooting for completion on June 15, so I'm going to outsource more of the work to Frank.

Boycot Homelite products

Two weeks ago I bought a Homelite brand electric lawn mower at Home Depot. Yesterday Kathleen hit a hidden root and bent the blade.

After hours at Home Depot and Lowes, came to discover that no aftermarket blades fit the Homelite mowers.

The Homelite website does not recognize the model number that I bought. Their "customer service" department is open 7 till 4 Eastern time, which kinda ignores 70% of their market. And when you finally do get through to them, they don't sell replacement blades.

I wish I had never bought that mower. Do yourself a favor and tell anyone who'll listen to avoid products from that company.

Mud

Today I worked on finishing up patching the ugly brick and plaster walls in the bedroom and living room. I carefully mixed the mud (drywall compound actually, everyone just calls it mud) using my hand held Oster mixer (worked great), applied it, and sanded it. Took hours and hours and hours.

At the end of the day the fellow who was applying paint texture to the walls couldn't stand it any more. He got out his mud knife and applied some to one of the holes. In two minutes he accomplished as much as would have taken me two hours.

He then proceeded to teach me how to do it. I'm now an expert, though next time I'll hire someone who has experience!

What a difference a week makes

This is the first of two posts today.

Much progress has been made the past 10 days.

The drywall guys and the mud guys have finished the kitchen, the family room, the upstairs and downstairs bathrooms, the closet and the tan room (actually there's still a bit of sanding to do, but not much). While they looked very humorous working in stilts, they did a great job. I painted the kitchen ceiling, then the flooring guys arrived to put in the hardwood. They were ahead of me, I wanted to tear out the carpet in the dining room and living room, but they were on a mission and the next thing I knew they were nailing planks down.

The tile guys did the fireplaces, and the downstairs and master bathrooms. All went smooth, except we ran out of three types of tile. Apparantly you have to allow for a LOT more waste (or "yall" (yield allowance) to industrial engineers). Luckily the tile store still had enough to sell me.

As this was going on I fixed the big hole in the siding and primed it. That only took three trips to Depot, one to buy the stuff, a second to get the correct nails for the nailgun and a third because I didn't get enough wood for the battens. No worries, all is done.

The new floor made it impossible to open the front doors, so I had to cut off 1/4". No worries.

PS to see the old posts, just use the twisties on the list on the right ---> and double click on the title of the post. It should pull it up.