The Good, The Bad and The Ugly--- Big week for Real Estate

Thursday:
(THE GOOD) Thursday was a great kick off for our newest adventures in house hunting. We sold our vacant Greeley house (yea for not paying a mortgage on an empty house anymore!). We closed on time and made more than we expected! So, after watching our debt meter go way down and a down payment on the new home suddenly appear-- we got pretty excited about hitting the MLS. (Marriage to a really great Real Estate Agent comes in handy). In fact, Mark got so excited he put an offer in on a house on the way home from the closing. Surprise! Most people like to see the house first but I guess we do things a bit differently. Mark saw the outside of the house and called to tell me he wanted to put an offer in. Hmmm... Sure why not! (THE BAD) Well, the house is a great deal for sure, but after he got home and showed me the pictures I am afraid I squashed his enthusiasm- pretty much ground it right into the floor- as gently and sweetly as one can say "Honey I really think it's great you "bought" a house today without really consulting me first but don't you think with four rowdy boys a back yard would be a good idea?" Well as it turns out a backyard is a good idea and so is a finished basement. While surfing the available homes we decided that once we had built a fence for the sliver of a yard and finished the basement on that house, that we would really be talking about a higher price range. So, we decided to scope a higher price range and voila' we discovered that for the same-ish price as putting the time and money into the other house, we could get a large lovely home, a block from our first choice school, over sized 3 car garage, with a yard (currently occupied by a perfectly good in-ground swimming pool which I am sorry to say would be removed, and 3000 sq ft of.... sweet early 1990's decor (THE UGLY). Darn it! Oh well, we live in a beautiful small condo now and I would rather take yards of linoleum and pink bathroom tile than inches of custom cabinetry. (for anyone wandering if they would make that trade insert four little boys into the equation)

Friday: We went to see 8 houses. We saw two and quit looking. Offer #2 in two days went in (wish us luck). (The first offer was on a short sale and has since expired by the way)

So we shall see! We did decide on a few things as far as provident living and how we want to use our time and money. We decided that instead of rushing into remodeling the house right away (IF WE GET IT) we were going to fight the urge to tear through the house ripping out floors and brass fixtures and instead use our remodeling impulses constructively. What does that mean for us? Uh Oh... Mark talked me into agreeing that we would rely on money made from my art for our more unnecessary projects. (I had to convince him that a refridgerator was not a luxury item). So, now I'll really need some luck and I guess I am about to run out of excuses not to pursue a more professional art career. Unless. . . . For Sale: One gently used swimming pool and a collection of four different variations of checkered vintage linoleum. Classy -- hurry this deal won't last for long! (10% discount if you remove it yourself!!- we'll even throw in a nice roll (also gently used) of floral wall paper and sea shell & vegetable tile stickers.

.....IF we get the house..... (dun dun dun) To be continued...