The Saga Continues

Home ownership is not for the faint of heart. 

As a Realtor, I see how hard it is to find "the home" and then get all the paperwork done before you are given the keys to your new home.  Right now, I have a client that is supposed to close on a house on Monday, but their paperwork has still not been cleared because the bank is waiting to get the appraisal report back from the appraiser (who completed the appraisal last Friday!).  To say my buyers are on pins and needles is an understatement.  Especially since they have to travel here to get to closing and they have a child in middle school that either needs to skip school or find a friend's house to stay while they are gone. 

I've seen it time and time again, no matter the stress leading up to closing day, the buyers are so excited to have a place to call their own.  Once those keys are placed in their hands, the troubles they just overcame are forgotten.  After all, they have a home that someone else can't tell them what to do (except if they live in an HOA where they restrict what you can do to the outside of the property), right?

Last fall I learned that's a bit of a fallacy.  My insurance company was able to force me to replace my roof (or else they would drop my insurance).  If I didn't have insurance on the house, my mortgage company would have forced me to pay for their policy (which cost 3X as much and only covered the structure of the house and not any of our stuff).

We closed on our house almost 3 years ago.  Since then, we have repaired or replaced:

• Pool pump
• Kitchen sink (rusting and ruining counter) and kitchen faucet (leaking)
• Roof
• Air Conditioner
• Carpet through pretty much the entire house
• Washer & Dryer
• Refrigerator
• Oven element
• "Storage Room" flooding with water when it rained heavily

And last night we had septic water start backing up into one of our showers.  We're praying it's a simple plugged pipe.  If it's not that, at a minimum we will need the septic pumped but we could also need to have our septic tank and or drain field replaced.  Add to that the fact that we have a detached pole barn that is beginning to fall apart and we've got more expenses on the horizon.

Like I said in the beginning... home ownership is not for the faint of heart.  We will get through this.  We always have.  But for those of you out there that think you'll get those keys and life will be easy after that.  Not necessarily true.  It takes work to keep the house in good shape.  It takes money (sometimes lots of it) to be able to sell your house a few years down the road and gain some equity (and that's not even guaranteed).  But it is nice being able to have a place that, for the most part, you can call your own and decorate it as you see fit.

Overdue Updates

A Thing of Beauty

I've been asked about our roof a few times, so let me start off by saying that our homeowners insurance company is no longer breathing down our neck.    Yay!  The metal was installed over a 2 week period (only half of the metal was ordered at first - oops!) and installation was completed about 2 weeks ago.  The same day I submitted the paperwork letting them know it had been completed, they mailed us a refund check - ugh.  Rather than pay them the exact amount of the refund, I was told to wait till we knew what the new rate would be (new roof = discount).  I got that figure earlier this week and paid the insurance company yesterday so we are now good to go.

Front of business card

Back of business card

I also mentioned in an earlier post that I was changing real estate companies.  It's now official (I got my business cards and name tag yesterday), so I am happy to share that I am now working for Sarasota Bay Real Estate!  I also have my own website (KarrieMeHome.com) where you can search for homes in Sarasota, Manatee, and Charlotte Counties of Florida.  One of the really awesome things about this site is that you can set up your own search so that it emails you every time a new home becomes available (and I can see what you've been looking at in case you want to give me a call about a specific house you've seen).  If you want to make an adjustment for some reason, you can do that as well.  This is a wonderful feature I didn't have with my last employer.  Oh, and I can now list homes for sale too!  It's so nice not being restricted by the team I was on before.  And if you are curious... I love my new company!  The people there are wonderful.

Hubby's had some interesting goings-on at work lately too.  A few weeks back he was asked to come in to the weekly management meeting (he's not management).  We thought he was going to get in trouble, but he didn't.  The issue really stemmed from the day guy complaining about hubby fixing things (uh, that's his job) without talking to the day guy first (you want a phone call at 2AM or don't you want the paper to print before you get in at 6AM?).  Upper management gave hubby the okay to keep doing what he's been doing, so we were able to breath a sigh of relief.  In fact the only way the meeting could have gone any better for my hubby was for them to have offered him a raise (from what we understand no one has gotten a raise in 3+ years).  So how surprised were we when last week hubby was called in to work during the day to help the day guy try to fix something he couldn't figure out.  Day guy is almost eligible to retire and claims he knows how to fix everything there.  Guess not.  And how proud was I when they called hubby in because they trusted that he could do it?

As for the kiddos, my son has officially started with his FLL (First Lego League) robotics team.  They have their pre-qualifiying tournament on Nov 22 so they are meeting twice a week for at least 2 hours each day trying to get ready.  Fun times for Mommy and Daddy.

This year my daughter is signed up to participate in a mini-horse class.  She meets every other week for 3 hours each time and is learning how to care for a horse as well as how to train it to jump (and maybe pull a small cart later in the year).  She's having a blast.

My daughter walking "her" mini-horse Headliner

Brushing Headliner

We've also gone on a few field trips already this year to a science museum, aquarium, and zoo.

Making a stop animation film

"They are really soft."

So cute

Needless to say, my family is very busy these days.  Especially considering in a couple days we have grandparents coming into town for a week.  We have some fun stuff planned with them, so I'm sure I will have more pictures to share after that.

The Saga Continues

Yesterday was a good day for our roof.  With the help of a friend of ours, we were able to put the water-proof barrier down over half of our roof.  We even got a little rain part of the way through putting it on, and were able to glory in how well the rain just rolled down the barrier.

That barrier stuff is AWESOME!

Because of hubby's work / sleep schedule today, we opted to finish the second half of the roof tomorrow afternoon so we left the tarps only on the half that was not complete.

This evening we were sitting in church and we heard thunder in the distance.  Hubby whipped out his phone and looked at his radar app.  After seeing all the red coming at us and our house, he went out to the lobby to see if there was a lot of wind with the storm.  He came back a couple minutes later and said there didn't appear to be much wind, so he didn't think we needed to worry that the tarps would blow off the roof.

Three and a half hours later (after church, small group, and dinner with our small group) we got home.  When we noticed small branches down on our driveway we were a little worried.  When we got out of the car hubby said he smelled wet wood.  After quickly changing, he went up on the roof.  I had something to do real quick inside, and when I went outside to see how things were, he yelled down that the tarps had come off.  Ugh!

Unfortunately, the tarps had slid down the roof about 1/3 of the way.  The roof has been re-tarped for the night just in case more rain comes.  The current plan is to take the tarps off as soon as I wake up tomorrow (provided no rain is coming) so that the wood can dry out before we are hopefully able to finish putting down the barrier before we get more rain.

I can't wait for this part to be done.  Aside from the barrier and some paperwork, the rest is being done by someone else. 

The Clock is Ticking

A little over a month ago we were told by our homeowners insurance company that we needed to replace our roof or they were going to drop our insurance.  Finding insurance in Florida is hard enough as it is.  Add to that that our house was built in 1970 and it's even harder.

A week ago, we received the money from the home equity line we applied for.  We also got the permit to do the roof work ourself.  With the help of some wonderful friends and family we were able to get the old shingles and tar paper off in 2 days.  It was tough work, but from what I've been told it'll be the hardest part of the process.

Unfortunately, since then it's been raining every day so we haven't even been able to get our first inspection completed (there are 3 different inspections we need to pass).  Not only am I watching our deadline quickly approach, but we are constantly checking and adjusting the tarps to make sure they are covering the roof so we don't get any leaks.

With just over 3 weeks left till our deadline, I pray the rain stops long enough for us to get the roof done soon.

The Joy of Homeownership

Have you ever heard a story of something that happened to someone and say to yourself, "What?  I've never heard of such a thing."?  I have, but I didn't think it would ever happen to ME.

A couple weeks ago we were contacted by our homeowners insurance company.  They stated that they needed to send someone out to do a 4.1 inspection on our house.  This inspection is pretty common in Florida and is required for all homes over a certain age when you first get your policy.  For those not aware, this inspection looks at the main (aka. expensive) components of the house: the air conditioner / heater, plumbing, electrical, and the roof. 

Although our house was originally built in 1970, there were many updates to the house before we moved in.  We knew the electrical and plumbing had been updated in the 90's and the roof was updated around the same time.  We knew the roof was getting old but were told when we bought the house a couple years ago that we had maybe 5 years left.  So our big concern was the air conditioner.  Hubby has fixed it to help limp it along for a while and we were worried the inspector would say it's too old.  When he didn't even look at the air handler (the thing hubby fixed), I thought we were in the clear. 

Unfortunately, that was not the case.  The middle of last week we were informed that if we don't repair 3 things, our insurance will be dropped.  The first thing mentioned was that we needed to power wash the outside of the house.  Say WHAT?!?!?  Yep, they will cancel our policy if we don't power wash our house.  And yes, every time I think about that my mouth drops. 

The second thing is that we have 2 very large trees in front of our house and some of the larger branches reach over the house.  That one's legit.  In fact, we started work on it last fall but haven't finished.  So now we have the incentive to finish sooner rather than later I suppose. 

The third and final thing is that we have to replace the shingles on our roof.  Like I said before, we knew it was coming.  We just thought we had a few more years.  So when I was informed last week that we had till Aug 2 to get everything done, my heart skipped a beat (or three).  You see, with hubby being without work for a while, we had to dig into our savings and we haven't been able to replenish it back to the point where we could redo the roof and still have money left in savings.  That means we have to get a home equity loan of some sort.  Those take time.  I've been told it could take up to a month to get approval.  Umm... that takes us beyond Aug 2 right there!  So I explained to the lovely people at the insurance company that there is no way we can get it done that quickly.  They were SO generous (insert sarcasm here) and extended the repair date to Sept 9.

Needless to say, I've been on the phone a lot the last few days.  Scheduling contractors for bids.  Contacting the county to see about whether we want to do it ourselves.  Contacting the bank to get the home equity stuff rolling. 

Contractors start coming today, so hopefully we will know how much it will cost soon.  First thing on the list is working on the branches (that way if they damage the roof, at least it wasn't the NEW roof).  We can do this ourselves while we wait for the home equity approval too.  Then we deal with the roof.  And after all the roof work is done, we can power wash the house (I'm sure the roofing will add some dirt and grime so might as well clean that off at the end).

Now I'm off to have a little lunch before the first contractor of the day shows up.  Wish us luck!

When It Rains, It Pours. But then Comes the Rainbow

As my regular readers are aware, we recently had to replace our dryer.  Others may know that one of the elements in our oven died a couple months before that.  Rather than bore you with the details, let's just say that since then, it seems like every large piece of equipment in our house is dying or has died.  Needless to say, dealing with these issues during the slow time in real estate around here is hard on our already-tight budget to say the least.

All of that changed this week though.  How's that?  Well, today hubby finished a week of paid training for a new job.  A regular paying job.  A job where he is eligible for benefits in a few months.  As a family that has been self-insured for 9+ years this is a big thing.  As a family that has been dependent upon contractor pay (can you say irregular) for those same 9+ years, it's an even bigger deal.  To know that we will have money each month is an answer to prayer.  And what's even better, next week he's set to switch to a "night shift" that will still allow for me to homeschool and work in real estate.

Not only will his work schedule not impede on our current lives (much) it will mean I don't have to work quite as hard and will mean we have the ability to fix those things that are broken or breaking around the house.  God it good!

Oh, and a big shout out to hubby's new boss.  He's the friend that recommended hubby for the job.

Hubby gets to work on this beast (plus many other large pieces of mechanical equipment).  Anyone who knows my hubby knows he loves to tinker.  I think he's going to like his new job.

A Triple Blessing In Disguise

Saturday morning was a pretty typical morning.  I had a few showings in the afternoon but my morning was free, so I was doing stuff around the house (cleaning, organizing, etc).  So was my mom.  And one of the things she was doing was laundry.  That's when she discovered that our dryer was dying (it was making a grinding noise and smelled like something was burning).

So what did I do?  I called my hubby who was out yard saling and let him know that he may need to plan on repairing the dryer, but if he finds another good deal buy one.  Another good deal?  Yep.  You see, our washer has been irritating me for a couple months now because nothing I do can get it balanced.  We've realized it wasn't leveled so we fixed that (which made it worse so we unleveled it again).  I've even tried shifting clothes around numerous times each load but every time it hits the spin cycle it tries to dance out the door of the laundry room.  So a couple weekends ago, he called me while he was out yard saling because he had found a washer and dryer set (that had never been used) for $200.  Unfortunately, while he was calling me to find out if I wanted them, someone else bought the set.

So on Saturday, shortly after I had sent him my text message about the dryer dying, hubby sent me a text that he'd found a washer and dryer set for $150.  $50 less than the set the weekend before... yay!  Granted they were 4 or 5 years old, but they are a really expensive brand.  The only issue was that he was told the washer has some strange thing where it has to sit for 5 minutes between each wash.  Being an electrical engineer, he figured he would look at it and see if he could figure it out.  Worst case, he figured it might be the circuit board which would cost $100.

The boys trying to diagnose our issue

A couple days ago he hooked it up to see if he could duplicate the problem.  He wasn't able to duplicate that problem, but he discovered a more serious issue.  Perhaps it was a result of moving it, or perhaps the symptoms the previous owner experienced were the beginnings of our problem.  Whatever the case, a part was broken in a such a way that the washer was filling and draining at the same time.  Kinda hard to wash clothes that way, right?

Being the handy kind of guy he is (as well as having access to some really cool tools), hubby made the part he needed, and now I have a functioning washer and dryer again.  I hate folding laundry but the washing and drying will be much more fun now.

Oh, and another bonus that came out of all this... when we moved into the house, there was carpet in the laundry room.  Crazy, right?!  And I've been wanting to remove it and put down tile ever since we moved in.  I knew I didn't want to mess with it till we were replacing the washer and dryer.  The other day I told hubby to keep his eyes out for some cheap tile as he was out and about (since it looked like we would be needing a washer and dryer soon).

When hubby brought home the washer and dryer, we hadn't found any tile yet.  I decided I would rather have concrete floor than that carpet anymore so I decided it was time to rip out the carpet.  How surprised was I when I found this under the carpet...

Tile!  And we didn't have to buy any.   And we didn't have to lay it either.  God is good!

Old set: currently waiting in our carport for a new home

 

New set with "new" floor

Update:  Shortly after posting, I was working on my computer which is near the laundry room and heard a pop.  I run into the laundry room and find water pouring out from the back of the washer.  Oh no!  I run to get the shop vac and yell for my dad (who was closer than hubby).  We proceed to clean up the water and as we are discussing whether we will be buying a part for the washer after all, my son walks in, looks at the valve area behind the washer and dryer and say "I know what's wrong."  I look at what he was looking at and then I noticed it too... the drain pipe had come out of it's hole and was on the floor.  So thankful for easy fixes (and a practical and smart son too).

A Shift in the Wind = Trouble

This morning my kids went to VBS at our church.  After lunch, they asked if they could go swimming.  Being that I want them to sleep well tonight, I said yes.  I knew they wouldn't have too long becuase I could see on the radar that rain was coming.

And boy was I right.  I saw dark clouds rolling in but when the wind picked up suddenly, it was time to hop out.  Just after they got out I heard what sounded like a tarp flapping in the wind.  It was coming from the pole barn in our back yard.  Hubby has kept some things tarpped in the area so I figured it was just that flapping in the wind, till I noticed this....

Apparently a tree next to the pole barn fell over in the wind.  That caused the roots to crack the slab the barn was built on.  That in turn caused the cement blocks that were stacked just inside the pole barn to fall in.

When I made it inside to see what was damaged (a few broken cinder blocks is all I could find) I noticed that the slider door panel had almost been blown off the slide.

The Tyvek to the left of the door is the flapping noise I heard.

This was certainly not something we expected to deal with today.  Our concern now (aside from the fact that we're not sure we can finish the pole barn like we wanted), is that it would appear from how easily the tree was knocked over that our ground is saturated.

If we get more rain and wind, we are afraid we will loose an even bigger tree and we have 2 of them that are next to our house.

Really?

We've been in our house for 2.5 weeks now and today we changed our 8th dead light bulb.  There also appears to be at least 5 more bulbs that are going to need to be replaced in the very near future.

While changing one of the bulbs, I realized that the blades on the fan in the kitchen hadn't been dusted in probably 5+ years.  I kid you not, there was a solid layer of dust and grim on that fan and it's right over where I stand when I cook.  YUCK!  Now, I'm going to dust the rest of the fans in the house. Being in Florida, there are a lot of them so it's going to be a multi-day task (gotta give my allergies a break as well).