Life: Homeownership

June 22nd – October 7th (15 Weeks, 3.75 months). That’s how long it took from applying for a home-loan after seeing the house and getting the keys. I think this is in the higher-end of time-to-close for people but if you read my post about the FHA/203K process, you’ll see it wasn’t a straightforward process.

As the seller’s agent remarked on our closing-meeting, “I’m glad this is over.” It’s not something you really want to hear from a realtor but she said there were 5 offers pending for when my sale failed to go through and she said that she could have basically camped out there during the process because so many people were interested.

Now that I have the keys, it feels like nothing has really changed.

I sat down last week with my contractor who had me sign the permits requests that go to the town. This week, he and his crew will begin demolition of everything inside of the house removing walls, ceiling, floors, windows and doors. Even the propane and plumbing lines are being updated and relocated for efficiency and some additional support will be added to the roof in preparation for solar panels.

At this point, I probably won’t be moving in until the 2nd or 3rd week of December. This allows the contractor to wrap up everything and I’ll be out of the way. HUD legally requires the owner not take up residency until the rehab construction is fully completed. The advantage is that I don’t own any mortgage payments until I’m able to live in the home which is another nice thing bout the 203K program.

That didn’t stop me from going over yesterday to measure the yard for fencing and install a new mailbox, one that won’t be destroyed by the plow-trucks (knocked over, sure but not disintegrated) and the mailbox replaces one that was rusted and not water-proof. Like any typical DIY home-owner, I forgot to buy adhesive numbers so another trip to Home Depot had to happen :) I think that people should buy homes based on how many miles from the hardware store they are.

In order to simplify things and save money, Heather and I are considering…well she’s certain this is fine and I’m on the fence that we’ll store all of our things in a U-Haul Pod and live in her parents’ house for 2-4 weeks while construction wraps up. This will save heating propane at the current house, rent, electricity and allow us to move in to the new place as soon as possible w/o delays. I have to fill a propane tank at the new house in a few weeks and turn on electricity so costs are already going to begin very soon.

  1. What is not in the remodeling scope? Here are a few things not included that I’d like to take up before this time next year. We’ll see how I do:
  2. Outdoor Rock Patio
  3. Outdoor Smoker + Grill hooked up to my Propane tank (none of these portable tanks anymore)
  4. Extra Parking spot w/ retaining wall against hill
  5. Asphalt poured making it easier to plow my drive-way and pull out (huge drop scrapes my Golf R front lip)
  6. 4 Raised Boxes for gardening
  7. Hop Vines planted along fencing
  8. Fencing to keep porter in so he can play w/o issues escaping
  9. Finish framing in the basement
  10. AC Unit for Beer/Wine Cellar separate from home central air
  11. Whole-Home AC Unit that will marry to existing duct work currently connected to heating furnace
  12. Herb Garden on Kitchen Window
  13. Outdoor motion cameras to assist with existing motion lighting
  14. Fire Pit at ground level (recessed)
  15. Brick-Oven Chimney (lots of DIY guides on this)
  16. Remove small shrubbery in back-yard
  17. Drainage installed at rear of house where water collects in spring-time (hill-slope)
  18. HomeKit Blinds w/ auto-blackout at sun-rise to save cooling costs
  19. Beer Glassware Display…not dorm room style but I want something elegant to display my growing (100+) glassware but w/o it falling and breaking

I think total cost for all of this will be about 10-15 grand doing almost all of it myself where possible. The parking area, propane work and asphalt poured will take some professional work and some special licensing because construction where I am on a lake requires environmental approvals from state of NH which takes some time. i was told to apply for permits this winter and expect 3 months of waiting before I can start.

I’m looking forward to finally getting moved in!

For those of you who missed it, here are a few photos. There will be more over the course of remodeling.