Monday, June 15, 2009

Colors, Colors, Colors

In an *honest* attempt to distract myself from the stress of our messed up escrow, I decided to get back to focusing on paint colors and other things that need to be decided so that we can move in.

I was going full steam on picking out colors until this whole ordeal occurred. Since we're ready to close on a moment's notice, it's best to be prepared with our paint choice, right?

It's so hard to chose a color without seeing it on the walls first...but once it goes on the walls, it's staying (it's a Catch 22) so I'm working on trying to determine what our taste is.

I really like the color Artichoke Heart by Benjamin Moore, but I'm trying to decide if it's too dark. It'll be the main color around the main level, so I better like it! The problem with it is that it looks nice a bright during the day, but looks a little dark at night.





(It's the color of the bedroom wall)

See what I mean? It transforms!

You can also see it on a bathroom wall here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/66904342@N00/2565446321 (the picture wouldn't save since it was on flickr)

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Our Rock House Has Us in Stuck in a Hard Place

We were hoping to close escrow last week, that is until we received a phone call on Wednesday night stating that the seller would not fulfill his portion of the sale contingency by signing the $25K note that Countrywide required. To add further insule, we were informed that Countrywide "lost" our short sale file and would need to start their internal process all over in order to generate the final short sale acceptance letter that was required by the escrow office. Apparently this process could take up to a month.

This has been the source of much anxiety. We have already put in our notice at our condo and need to be out by the end of the month, the foreclosure sale is scheduled for June 17th and Countrywide has not yet cancelled it, and our loan rate expires in two weeks (interest rates have increased by 1% since we locked-in!).

We were told that the seller is "softening" to the idea of signing, but there's no guarentee until closing. There's been no news from Countrywide.

*Hopefully* tomorrow we will be able to meet with a real estate attorney. At this point we are looking to file a lawsuit against Countrywide and the seller for a "specific performance" and force them to perform on their end of the sale. I'm curious to see what the attorney says, especially given the sales contract had a mediation clause in it. I do know that the sellers will have to pay for our attorney's costs if we win (which since Countrywide and the seller are both in breach of contract, I don't see that there's any way that we wouldn't win).

Time will tell...

Monday, June 8, 2009

Getting Closer!





So tonight we have to stop by the escrow company and sign a few preliminary documents. Then we will be ready to close as early as Tuesday (but it entirely depends on the escrow company). We're hoping to close by Friday!

We bought the riding lawnmower for $150. It needs some work--new front tires, a new belt, and new springs--but otherwise it seems to work pretty well. Abel wants to rebuild the clutch but we'll see where that falls in line with all of our other projects!

The fridge we bought for $200. It works great but is missing a few shelves in the door and the bottom fruit/vege drawer. We'll buy the missing parts eventually and we'll have a very nice fridge. I'm so excited to have ice and water on the door--along with a child lock! :o)