It's broken...and it needs to be fixed

I'm not typically one to post negative thoughts or rants or raves that are slanted. So you know that if I do go off on a tangent, it must be pretty bad. I've just experienced first hand why our country has so many financial issues.

We've been working over the last few weeks with the mortgage company to get our loan approved. So as not to be sued for slander let's call them Snails Largo. As anyone who's been through the process knows, it takes an act of congress and about 10,000 trees to make it happen. But since we consulted with a mortgage broker BEFORE we started the process, we felt confident that we'd have no problem being approved. We also shopped around to find what would work best for our situation - a house that needed immediate renovations.

Prior to going in to the house buying process we had worked hard to pay off almost all of our debt  including our cars (there might have been a piddly few $100's on a credit card from a recent online purchase but certainly nothing substantial). Literally the only thing we had was our current house mortgage, which has been rented and thus covered through the rental income. Our debt to income ratio was very, very good. On top of that we have worked hard to ensure our credit scores are high (above 800). Should be no problem, right? Mortgage lenders should love us, right?

Wrong.

We had no problem getting through the pre-approval and the first approval with the underwriter. That's when the brakes stopped. Really it felt more like a head on collision.

Just one day back from being home from vacation we get a note from the lender.  They say they can no longer count a chunk of money in our savings account because it was a gift. We've discussed this with them before and even provided them with a signed letter from the giver and a copy of the check (it was given to us before we even found the house) and they were happy with the justification.

Upon further review (final underwriting), they decided that this money is not allowed to count towards our "liquidated cash" that is needed to put 5% down. They also were not counting any rental income we've received thus far (deposit and last month rent) despite me asking what paperwork they needed to show it was valid and "traceable".

I explained why we don't keep a ton of cash in our local account (we pay cash for most everything and use Dave Ramsey's envelope system) and that we had just paid off debt and thus our savings wasn't extremely high...but that's also why we had the other money that they decided not to count. Seriously, we have more than the 5% required to put down sitting in our account.  

Their solution? Take out money from our 401k. Never mind the same amount and more is sitting in our savings account. They want to see that it came from some other source in order to "count it." At one point they even told me that I couldn't even make a cash deposit (from our envelopes) to use because it was untraceable too. 

I even asked "so because we've been fiscally responsible, that's not good? It'd be better if we had more debt?"  Their answer "in this situation, yes." They freely admitted they didn't review it appropriately the first time but were also clear that it doesn't change their decision.

It completely boggles my mind that in our country, those with high debt but make regular payments are better off than those who have worked hard to have no substantial debt. Since when did we become a country that doesn't reward those who are fiscally responsible? Or have we become so warped that having high debt is the new "American Way"? I'd love to know how much Americans spend annually in just interest alone.

Someone told us today that we aren't the ideal candidates for banks because it's obvious we are likely to pay off our loans quickly and also not default, hence they make less money and can't charge us any random fees.  

Whatever the reason, I'm confident it will work out and we've already taken steps towards a solution despite the Lender's lack of assistance. Sadly, this has showed me just how far away we've gotten from the Godly values our grandparents once had where one lived within their means. And don't even get me started on the other values we've fallen away from...that's a post for another day.

The system is broken...and it needs to be fixed. Can I get an AMEN?

Packing is Dangerous

Packing. That's all we seemed to do this weekend. Packing and more packing. But we are committed to having almost all of the house packed so that we can leave for vacation on Friday. We know when we get back we will only have a week to get completely moved out of the house and we still have to pack and move all the things we'll need for the 2 month interim.

 

 

Anyway, after tackling the attic and the remainder of the house inside on Saturday, I opted to start working on the shed late Saturday afternoon. I figured if I could spend a couple of hours on it, then I could get the majority of what we were taking with us done (we are leaving the yard equipment since we'll still be maintaining this house's yard while the renters are here). Daniel was inside getting a bite to eat and Charlie and Cole were excited they get to go in the shed where the "mo-mo" lives. They aren't usually allowed in there without one of us. Two boys + sharp objects + chemicals = nothing good.

I'm casually packing up my various cans of spray paint and other painting items I'm taking with me. I'm feeling OK given that I'm terrified of spiders. Bugs - check. Snakes - check. Spiders - I run for the hills. There are a few very small ones in the corners but they were tiny and I could tolerate ignore those. Cole couldn't. He was poking at the webs the entire time. And then...

A giant man-eating spider attacked me. OK. Not really but it sure did seem like it wanted to! I went to pull a can of spray paint off the shelf and my fingers went in to a thick, sticky web. I'm getting the heebie jeebies just typing this. I pull the can of paint down and there is a GIANT black spider behind it. It's a good thing that Charlie was outside standing at the door and Cole was close to him because I proceeded to throw the entire box of paint down and scream hysterically while jumping up and down. The spider didn't move but I sure did.

Charlie: "momma what happened!?"
Me: "a spider scared me"

So after both children looked at me like I had lost my mind I decided I MUST BE STRONG FOR THE CHILDREN. I found an old shoe and prayed that there were no spiders in or on it while I picked it up because if there were it was going to be every man child for himself! (and yes, I very likely would have trampled my children trying to run away. Not proud. Just honest.) Thankfully no spiders were present so the GIANT spider was squashed with said shoe. Seriously it never moved.

Looking back I'm pretty sure it was a black widow. Ugh. Heebie Jeebies.

I promptly quit any and all packing for the day and proceeded to get a libation to calm my nerves. Packing is dangerous business.

Two days later this is still the conversation in our house...

Charlie: "mommy that spider in shed scare you?"
Me: "yes, that spider really scared me"
Charlie: "mommy you squish it?"
Me: "yes, I squished it and killed it" (thank goodness)
Me: "what did mommy do when the spider scared her?"
Charlie: "mommy, you go aaaahhhh!" (as he opens his eyes big and raises his hands yelling - makes me chuckle every time)

Yep. Still a topic of conversation and yep, I'm still traumatized.

What are you doing?

What all are you doing? This seems to be a common question when people hear we are going to do some major renovations to the new house before we move in. Part of that is because, well there are some major renovations that need to occur, but a big part of it is because we don't want to live through those renovations with two toddlers. It's already confusing enough for them to get the concept of a move but then to try and keep them out of all the dust, dirt, tools, etc. - well that would just be a nightmare.

So to answer that question, here's a little breakdown of what we plan to do in the coming months before we move in (once we close of course). And by "we" I mean mostly our contractor and his fleet of henchmen. This isn't a complete list of what we plan to do overall but it's what we'd like to do before we step foot in with any boxes.

OUTSIDE

• remove the very large cedar tree blocking most of the house (and maybe a few of the smaller, scraggly trees to open up the yard
• new roof
• new heating/air gas pac that also includes repairing the duct work that is in bad disrepair
• replace all exterior doors (3) with six light steel doors to add extra light (may change my mind on the front door but we'll see) and then add storm doors to the front of the house and a retractable screen door to the back. (and at some point we'll paint them)

DEN

 



• remove smelly, old carpet and put down cork floor (better sound proofing for Daniel's movie watching pleasure)
• smooth and paint ceiling (it's the only room in the house that is popcorn)

DINING ROOM and LIVING ROOM

 



• remove wallpaper and prepare walls for painting
• repair and paint ceilings (I hate painting a ceiling so this was an easy choice!)
• refinish floors and add quarter round (this will be done all throughout the house)
• likely remove the decaying drapes and blinds although that's not built in to the contractor's list...but I'm pretty sure I don't want the kids playing in them upon arrival
• widen the door in the top picture so it feels more open
• widen the door from the living room to the foyer (not seen)

HALLWAY and GUEST BEDROOM

 



Here's where it gets fun so try to follow me...

• convert the coat closet (in the top picture) to a closet for the bedroom (in the bottom picture). In other words, when it's done the top picture will just be a wall with an entry to the hallway versus two doors.
• convert the current closet in the guest bedroom in to a laundry closest in the hallway. They will bump out the wall by 12 inches to give us enough depth and then wall it up. From the hallway they will create a brand new laundry closet so we don't have to keep them in the kitchen. YAY!
• new washer and dryer (hip hip hooray!)

BATHROOMS

 



• remove wallpaper and prepare walls for paint
• replace vanity in master (the pink one)
• change out faucets and light fixtures (thinking bronzed fixtures would look good in both and then light neutral wall colors to balance it out)
• add mirrors and shower curtains...oh and perhaps some blinds would be nice! (again not on the contractor's list but something we will do before we move in or ASAP)
• in the pink bathroom there is just a stand up shower and the shower pan has to be replaced which means the floor will be removed and retiled as well (probably a good thing because it's sort've gross)
• most likely we will caulk (and by we I mean me, not our contractor)

 

KITCHEN

 

This is where I get really excited...

• replace vinyl floor with hardwoods
• move the stove to the other wall (near the back door where the washer/dryer used to be) which also means the gas line has to be moved and the washer/dryer connections have to be removed
• cut out cabinet to add microwave above the stove
• build cabinets where the old stove and vent are currently located
• build cabinets beside stove in it's new location (there would still be a gap from where the washer/dryer were)
• install new stainless appliances
• add granite countertops
• add a disposal
• change out sink (under mount stainless) and faucet
• replace hardware on cabinets (eventually we will replace the cabinet doors but that was out of our budget for now)
• add a table to use as an island (unless I can't find one and then we'll just buy a movable island but those can get pricy)
• installing pendant light over the sink and a light fixture in the middle (over the "island")
• and don't forget we'll change out the door so it gets much more light in there

What's not listed is that we also have lots of plumbing and electrical that has to occur here because of the moving around of appliances and the addition of a disposal.

Other things on the list in the house include:

• refinishing all the hardwoods and adding quarter round
• repairing and painting all the ceilings
• removing wallpaper and preparing the walls for paint (which we'll do as we go along)

We have high hopes of being in there by the middle of September but we'll see if we get any unexpected surprises. I can't wait to start jotting down all our ideas for each room once we move in. I need to live in the house for a little bit so I can get a better feel for what it can shape into. A few of my ideas to leave you with...light grey walls, pops of fun color (think citrus), bright white trim, fabric...lots and lots of colorful fabric.

Stay tuned as we chronicle being nomads over the coming months...Charlie (2.5 yrs) is already walking around our house asking "momma what you doin?! why you do dat?!" as we pack everything up.

BAM! And just like that...

After revealing the big news last week that we bought a house, I felt I should go back and explain the crazy. And by crazy I mean the process which then turned us crazy. Seriously, stress eating is not good for my figure.

Let's start with a simple Tuesday morning...I'm working (in theory), Daniel is torturing people at work, and the boys are at the sitter's house. I get a text from our realtor that he was still keeping an eye out for little gems in the areas we were targeting and a house came on the market that day. He was actually at the house checking it out before he even told us. Because it had what he considered "good bones", he thought we should come take a look. So off we go that afternoon...

I walk in and see instant potential. Daniel walks in and sees lots of work. Yep, we're always that opposite. Probably why God put us together, to balance each other. So while Mike Adkins (our realtor with Home Advantage...and yes that's a shameless plug for him) and I were prattling on about what could be changed in the house, updates, etc. Daniel just listened. Thankfully he trusts my vision after years of watching me transform spaces and furniture.

We left pleasantly surprised and also wondering how a big renovation project might work via a loan. Wednesday I spent part of the day investigating loans...to which there was only one I could find that would meet our needs. But that gave us hope. In this market, these type houses go very quickly since they are in a prime school zone. We had already missed out on a few houses we liked because they were scooped up in a week.

Thursday we decided to go back to the house and look at it with fresh eyes. You know, eyes that say "will this really work for our needs? what other repairs did I miss? how much is this going to cost?" Thankfully Mike's wife joined us and talked through it with me. I'm pretty sure at one point Daniel just sat on the floor with his head in his lap. I'm not quite sure if he was hyperventilating or if the room was spinning from hearing all our ideas, but he did make a point to say "I'm out. You talk amongst yourselves."

Thursday night...Daniel and I hit our knees. Nope, not on the kitchen table as we're getting up from dinner. Hit our knees to pray. We didn't want to walk through a door if that's not what God had planned for us. I speak from experience when I say God's plan is waaaay better than mine!

Friday morning we made the offer. This is where the crazy begins.

On Friday I also decided to go ahead and list our current house on craigslist for rent (apparently that's the place to find rentals these days). After all, it wasn't selling, even at a drastically reduced price, so might as well see if we could rent it. Carrying two mortgages wasn't really something we wanted to do long term. I also called a local rental company to see what the market was, how they worked, etc. in case we decided to go that route. But I'm all about saving a few bucks so if I could rent it myself, I was all for it. By dinner time we had 10 people already asking about it. Crazy.

The next day was Saturday and I strategically scheduled two potential renters to come see the house. Not only were they quick to respond to the ad but they also were quick to respond back, a sign they were serious. By 6pm that night, it was rented. Yep, both were interested and one of them came back that night to fill out all the paperwork and pay for the deposit. Crazy.

While I was still reeling from the fact we just rented our house in 24 hours, I started to realize we had to be out of our house by July 15...just ONE MONTH AWAY! Oh and did I mention that we also had to find a place to stay? Our closing won't likely be until the end of July but the renters were relocating here and needed the house early. Not to mention we have renovations that have to occur before we move to the new house. So I look over at Daniel and say "know anyone who will let us plus our two rambunctious toddlers, two dogs and a cat stay with them for two months?" Then he just laughed. To which I responded "yeah me neither."

Sunday was spent going back and forth but eventually we found fabulous friends who would let us stay at their house (and then later we found a friend with a vacant house we can use), places for the dogs and cat and storage for all our stuff. In the end, thanks to those same great friends, we are saving a ton of money and have a great environment for all our precious dependent life forms.  

And BAM, just like that...it was Monday. Pretty busy week wouldn't you say? Amazing how God worked it all out. Now I just need to step. away. from. the. junk food.

Big news!

No we're not pregnant. If we were, I'd be checking Daniel in to the hospital after he hit his head and not writing this blog post. But it is a big gas deal (get the Kmart reference?). We bought a house!

We've been trying to sell our house on and off for two years. Not long ago we decided to look around to see if there was anything on the market and if so, we'd lower our price significantly. We found a few things but nothing we just had to have right now. So we kept mulling over the idea of renting our current house, as suggested by many people, and buying a new one while the interest rates were still low-ish. That's where Mike comes in...

Meet Mike Adkins, realtor extraordinaire. He's with Home Advantage Realty and really knows his stuff.

After looking at several many houses with us, Mike learned what we really wanted. There were quite a few things important to us:

1. Had to be in one of two school zones (because they were rated high). Schools were one of the top concerns for us since we have only 4 years before Charlie starts, which I know will fly by.
2. Needed to be at least 1500 sq. feet but preferably over 1800
3. Had to have a 2nd bathroom, even if it is the size of a closet
4. Met our budget (duh!)
5. Needed to be in an area where people cared about their homes. Meaning, we didn't want to move to a neighborhood or street where we'd fix up our house but everyone else was neglecting theirs
6. Preferably in an area where we could safely walk (we miss that about the house we rented when we first got married)

The rest we were open to since we were OK (and I preferred) a fixer-upper. However I did want it to have good bones. I'm not interested in gutting a house...nor can we afford it. Daniel would have preferred a "move-in ready" house but realized a fixer-upper was more in our budget and realistic for the areas of town we were considering.

Back to the point, last Tuesday Mike called us to let us know of a house that went on the market that morning. He previewed it and recommended we look at ASAP. We actually went back and looked at it twice last week before making an offer. It met all our criteria and came in under budget!

So over the weekend an offer was accepted, we rented our house (more on that later) and found a place to stay for 6-8 weeks while the new house is renovated. I feel comfortable posting these pictures since I'm not publicizing the address or any details that can give away the house since technically it isn't ours yet. So without further ado, below are a few "before" pics for you to peruse (can't see the front, yeah, stay tuned on that):

Den - isn't the paneling gorgeous? ha! This will be the "man room" and office.

 

Dining Room - so excited to have a dining room finally!

Kitchen - lots of work to be done here but I'll be back with a list of items we want to do once the work gets started.

 

Living Room - excited we still have a big window here

 

Bedroom 1 & 2 (it's the same in both rooms...for now)

 

Master Bedroom - this actually also has his/her closets but I didn't take pictures of that part of the room. Might go back and do that later for posterity sake.

Master bathroom - this is in the master bathroom and is literally the size of a small closet. In the bigger scheme we have plans to turn this in to a nice walk in closet and add a bathroom off the back of the house (from the left window in the picture above). But for now...we'll just do some basic cosmetic changes that won't break the bank and a few repairs.

 

Guest/Kids Bathroom - I was convinced I couldn't take the mint green but too many people have told me I could make it work until we're ready to remodel it.

 

Backyard - perfect for a new shed and a fun swing set for the kids!

This is by no means all our before pictures but it at least gives you an idea of the type of house and a general layout. I love it because it needs some love but still has a lot of character. I've already decorated it 10x in my head at night.

We've also been busy working with the loan group at Wells Fargo (they have a great home renovation loan!) to get that squared away. Plus our contractor/realtor (Mike) has been busy getting the quotes for all the work we want to do before we move in. I'm still saving a lot to do ourselves but there are some major things like the roof, shower pan, kitchen, floors, etc. that we need to do before moving our busy family in. Less stress and hassle that way. And let's face it, it made Daniel feel less overwhelmed to have some big things tackled before we get there.

So now that the inspections are done, I feel that much more excited! OK not so excited about being without a home for close to two months but excited about moving in and having all kinds of work to do to make it truly ours!

Special thanks to our friends and family for volunteering to help us when we become homeless and who have already helped us along the way!