Flip Floppers

The Gallaghers have switched gears pretty drastically. We put in an offer on a townhouse Friday night, and with a little negotiating, it was accepted this morning. What took us 2.5 months last time took us just 5 days. That's how it's supposed to work! After checking out other townhouses, condos, fixer uppers and already flipped houses in the last week in what seems like every neighborhood in Denver, we felt pretty good about picking it. Every fixer we checked out was above our ideal price range (or a short sale) and would still require a big investment to turn around. And I didn't like any of the already flipped homes - hate to pay for work Curt and I can do ourselves.

This was the first one we looked at, by far the biggest and newest - and closest, unintentionally, since it's barely two blocks from where we're renting. It's over 1300 sq ft with 2 bedrooms with big closets, 2 full bathrooms and an office. The floorplan is open with the kitchen/living/dining area adjoining. It's a big kitchen too - I counted and it has the same number of cabinets as our last house (each lower cabinet has pull-out drawers inside which is awesome) plus a pantry. We'll also get a garage and a big double deck that has a view of Sloan's Lake and a bit of the city skyline. Tall ceilings, lots of large windows and morning sun, plus AC and a gas fireplace. No neighbors above us, only one below and one to the side. Not too shabby. It's not what I originally envisioned for us at all, but in retrospect probably fits better into our plan for the next year or so. So I'm excited and relieved both.

We're actually paying the same amount we had settled on at the Meade house - which really doesn't mean anything except we stayed under budget and achieved the goal of cutting our mortgage literally in half. I didn't think they would take our low offer but they did. Unlike the last loan(s), we shouldn't hit any snags. But I could be wrong, who knows. The townhouse is barely 9 years old so nothing should come up in the inspection. This all may be an exercise in futility like last time, but of course I've already been stewing on ideas...none which we will tackle in the near future so we can save our resources for Breck. We won't be changing the bones of this place, but it will be fun to change its attitude over time.

We're the upper level from over the stairs to the middle garage - that's the office jutting out over it. Our garage is the far left. Big connected double deck out the front door - room for a good-sized eating area near the BBQ as well as some lounge chairs and plant pots.

The walls are dark orange (not red, more accurate in the pic below) which Curt likes. It's a big room, not sure how we will fill it but at least we know how to hang a tv over the fireplace. Too bad we sold our sectional with our last house because it would actually fit here. High ceilings.

Every light fixture visible, I want to change. Same for all the brass doorknobs - my nemesis. Can't wait for our IKEA to open! In the hallway, you can see the laundry room on the left and in the middle is the doorway to the main bathroom. Spare bedroom is to the right of that, master is to the left.

Office french doors straight ahead, vaulted ceilings inside, an extra long hall/entry closet to the left and front door to the right. We will definitely replace the carpet in this main living/dining/kitchen space with engineered hardwood in a year-ish. Something we can do ourselves in a weekend - my goal would be to do it under $1500. Above average trim/mouldings/baseboards though.

Nice long wrap-around bar that seats 4+. The counters we'd replace and Curt has the idea to lower that bar and make an extended flat island instead.

Kitchen cupboard doors need hardware and stainless appliances will come over time as we find rock bottom deals. At least the stove is gas. Pantry door on the left. Glass mosaic tiles would make a nice backsplash. I had a dream that we put in concrete countertops. This area could look radically different with a few inexpensive changes.

Huge master bedroom with vaulted ceilings - the current owners have a big bed and two nightstands on this wall plus a huge bureau, tall dresser AND massive wardrobe in addition to a walk-in closet on the other side of the room. Master bath door to the right. It's been a few years since we've had our nightstands in the right place, on either side of our king size bed, which will be nice.

Hallway bathroom. Will tile that floor in time. At least both tubs already have a tile surround rather than plastic.

C'est La Vie

Well, I can finally unclench my teeth and take a breath. We didn’t make it through underwriting. Even though our second appraisal valued the home even higher than the first by $10k, the appraiser attached our structural report to his report and this was a red flag to the bank – even though it didn’t note any action needed or specific repairs that were urgent. Conventional loans shouldn’t go through this process but I guess due to the economy, no one wants to take any kind of risk, no matter how low or implied. It went through two underwriting reviews and two reviews by the mortgage insurance company, who finally poked a hole in our house-buying balloon. We knew we had a 50/50 chance of this happening since last Thursday so it’s not a shock, just a disappointment. I’m going to leave all my photos and posts below up about the house as a reminder to me how quickly ideas and excitement can form. Curt practically broke his back trying to make this happen, in the middle of closing two real estate deals of his own along with working full-time and managing all angles and communication with the many people involved in our Breck situation. Without his help, advice and guidance, I would be a lot more crushed. When he can't make something happen, I know 100% it just can't be done! I need to resolve myself to another month or two in our rental and just be thankful we have this back-up at all. I know if I asked anyone, they would say (and have said) "things happen for a reason, maybe it wasn't meant to be" and I will adopt that mantra for the time being.

There aren't a lot of houses out there on the market right now, especially foreclosures which make great fixer uppers, so I'm going to do my best to be patient. Seems like every foreclosure we find gets snatched up by a full cash buyer within days of being listed. The other houses we've seen that are great deals but don't sell as fast have all been short sales, and I don't know if we will go through that process again. We may switch gears entirely though because we've been considering townhouses and condos. It makes sense for a few reasons: leaves us time and money to focus on Breck, no other upfront repair/reno costs, no maintenance. Of course there are cons too: probably no yard for the pups or space to build furniture, less room for guests, many don't have garages, most have high HOAs and most of all we'd be back to sharing a wall. And no crusty old house projects for me to tinker on! Except for that other BIG project we have...building an entire house. Hopefully after looking at more properties on both sides of this spectrum, one will rise to the top as the better idea since right now we are both pretty torn.

On a happier note, two weekends ago we met with our first contractor up in Breck and it was absolutely crazy to hear someone put numbers and timelines in front of us. As in, he said in 6 weeks he could have the siding, roof, windows and doors on, leaving us in a position to start all the plumbing, electrical, drywall, etc… and finish work inside. The reality of that house being built – and possible liveable by this winter in time for ski season – is beyond exciting and certainly softens the sting of our wasted few months in Denver, because that’s my dream house (for now!) and the one that really matters. Unfortunately we can’t start as soon as we thought (read: immediately thanks to our eager beaver contractor) because our permit is being held up by the Environmental Health Department. They are required a perc test or some such thing involving groundwater and wells and all that jazz, and can’t test until the snow melts. So we’re back to waiting. But verrrrry ready.

Deep Breaths

I'm not enjoying the waiting game on our new loan but we just got through underwriting and the appraisal has been scheduled for Monday, so I'm crossing my fingers that things fall into place very quickly after that...like by next Friday! I'm still clinging to hope. Curt pulls off miracles all the time so it could happen. We're lining up visitors weekend by weekend - first the Fosters from Seattle, then my oldest friend Renee from San Diego, then a few family visitors from both sides in May I hope! I'm as excited to host guests in this house as I am to finally move in.

We spent some time in it (shhhh) last weekend cleaning and it's amazing what a little elbow grease can do. I have a lot left ahead of me but the formerly brown-bottomed tub on the main floor cleaned up nicely as did the floor tiles. We still need to reglaze the tub but it's not urgent. I hauled all of the dirty upholstered radiator cover benches and ratty window coverings and rods into the spare bedroom and that alone made a huge difference in opening up the space. We measured all the windows and got a quote for replacing those, as well as a new exterior door, which is the first step toward "greening" up the whole house and making it more energy efficient. Curt agreed that even if we don't close next Friday, it would be the following Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday for sure - so we could still spend next weekend doing demo and prep for the floor refinishing. I'm SO excited to tear out the carpet. The wood floors are gorgeous underneath, and in great shape. Just getting all that junk out and stripping the house back to the bare bones makes it so much cleaner and more "ours". A blank slate. I've been gathering paint swatches and can't wait to tape them up in their intended rooms. Our kitchen cabinets arrived too!

We're heading up to Breck Saturday to meet with a contractor who finally gave us a reasonable estimate on the initial work we need done - tearing off some of the water-damaged framing and sheeting, finishing the remaining framing and getting the structure ready for adding the roof, windows and doors. This new estimate was only $8k compared to the $32k bid we got a few weeks ago - ridiculous. Unlike a lot of mountain builders, we aren't made of money, so we're excited to meet this guy who seemed more down-to-earth. Our permit application is apparently almost complete which means we may be able to get this guy started working next month. Something to look forward to.

Always a Snag

Curt always says that getting mutual acceptance/approval on a house offer is only step one of three more things that need to happen: the appraisal, inspection and getting the key. We waived the inspection because we had a copy of the previous attempted buyer's inspection report from December. The house's value appraised fine, above what we're paying, but the appraiser made his report "subject to the repairs noted" including peeling paint, structural issues and plumbing problems. The sellers should be responsible for fixing those items, but in a short sale there's little the buyer can do to force the issue. The sellers don't have the money anyway, in most cases. As soon as we sent the previous inspection report as well as the structural report we had done by an engineer to the bank so we could prove that we had explored or addressed those issues, I knew we were going to lose our loan. Though the house is sound, there are items that will need repair over time. Typically a person can buy any house they want, in any condition, but we were trying to get a type of loan with a lower downpayment and lower interest - they are meant for people who will be fixing up the home. Yet these loans get turned down all the time because of the issues noted in our appraisal - which all old homes needing fixing up have. Again, a completely illogical, circular process that makes no sense and doesn't do what it's intended.

So in spite of me spending a lot of time over last weekend stressing out, scraping paint, defacing half of the exterior of the house with ugly white primer to correct the peeling paint and Curt tearing out some moldy drywall around a tub that we are gutting and moving entirely, we still had to start from scratch this Monday by getting a brand new loan. Actually, a brand new lender - the bank couldn't just change the loan type. (Bank of America, I knew there was still some wrath left in me!) Thanks to a personal friend and former colleague of Curt's in Seattle, we got a new bank and new loan immediately and hopefully lost less than two weeks total - I'm crossing my fingers we close by Friday, March 18th or earlier. That gives us at least two full weeks and weekends to work before our first visitors arrive. And even though Curt is being rightfully cautious, I'm planning on doing some work before then anyway - mostly cleaning and making sure the floors, kitchen and bathrooms are prepped and ready for their quickie overhaul. I ordered the kitchen cabinets. We have a bathroom cabinet to build too. But not this weekend - we're going to Vail as originally planned to snowboard and burn off steam. Oh, real estate...you are so much fun.