We have another yellow contender for the door! We painted our wood scrap sample and so far we're really liking it. It's Behr's Sunburst. Here it is: Today we bought a beautiful Maytag gas stove top (black) for the island. Home Depot was changing out a display and this cooktop was more than 50% off. We couldn't pass it up! So now we have a $299 stove top for the house we MIGHT own after Thursday morning. And, finally, we received a reasonable insurance quote! And we don't have to make any changes to the little cottage to qualify for it. Whew! Things appear to be coming together!
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We started early this week requesting quotes for homeowner's insurance. Guess what we found out! Mountain homes in North Carolina are among the hardest to insure. The general rule is this: "No thermostat controlled heat, expect to pay a non-standard rate (about $4000 a year)." And that's just ONE of their rules. Apparently, North Carolina put very strict guidelines in place this past January. We plan to upgrade, BUT that doesn't help us right now. And Phil Elder "ain't signing a thang until we've got insurance." Due diligence is up on Monday at 5:00 pm and if we don't have a policy, we're pulling out of this deal. STRESS!
And I also learned something else today. You can't choose a paint color by looking at pictures on the Internet. Nope. Remember the yellow door I loved so much in an earlier post (Benjamin Moore Stuart Gold)? We bought a pint to try out on a scrap piece of wood and it was nothing like I expected. Far too mustardy for me. On a positive note, I think we found the gray--Benjamin Moore Timber Wolf. We painted a piece of scrap wood and looked at it throughout the day. We liked it in bright daylight and in the late afternoon shadows. So we're making final paint choices for a house we're not sure we're buying yet. What a weekend this is shaping up to be! Today we submitted our repair requests under "due diligence." We asked for a new roof, new propane gas tank, two new windows (for two windows with broken locks), and termite treatment/debris removal from under the house (termites are in the debris, but not in the house structure yet). The current owners will respond in one of four ways: 1. Have the repairs done prior to closing.
2. Deduct the repair estimated costs from the selling price. 3. Pay a portion of the repair costs. 4. Refuse to assume the costs of any of the requested repairs. We should have their response by Monday morning. And, yay, we have a new closing date! Thursday, May 3rd (if all goes well), we will become the new owners. I think we've decided on an exterior paint plan...almost. I'm currently loving gray walls, white trim, and a yellow door. But there are so many shades of gray and yellow and white. After looking at countless photos, I like a richer, warmer gray--not too light, not too dark. I don't like a lemon yellow--it's too "in your face" for me. Here's two photos of houses I DO like in this color scheme...hmmm...is that first gray deep enough? Is that second gray too dark? And we're close to picking out a roof. We've decided we don't want a metal roof. We really like the architectural shingles. Below are two nice choices of color. I love the two doors below. The first door is a beautiful color. I love the actual doors in the second photo. We had decided on french doors, but I'm wondering if I can find doors like the ones in the second picture.
Our closing date has been set for May 14th. I feel like an expectant mother awaiting the birth of her child! I bought an electric blanket and sheets for Two Holt this weekend. And I bought a guestbook for our little cottage. It's probably a silly purchase since we have so much work to do before Two Holt will be ready for overnight visitors, but somehow it just felt right.
It's been a long time since we've been involved in a house closing. We had forgotten all the potential extra dollars it would take. Will our little pot of money we had hoped to use to begin our renovation be drained? $2000 closing costs, $900 termite treatment, $700 survey, $300 home inspection...will it ever end? Will my nerves settle down? I am in pure agony trying to decide on exterior paint colors. I have studied dozens of paint chips, narrowed down my choices, and expanded those choices again and again. The paint has to be perfect. Success in this little task will help boost my confidence level. A poor paint choice will cool my enthusiasm and start this journey on shaky ground. |
Phil & SharonMarried 40 years and hoping to enjoy many more! Archives
December 2019
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