Montpelier House

The house we are buying is in Montpelier Vermont on the west edge of town. It is fairly close to the interstate exit and where route 2 enters town. It is almost exactly one mile to the corner of State and Main which is as downtown as Montpelier gets. Montpelier may be the state Capital, but it has fewer than 10,000 residents.

The house is a moderately large late 60's ranch with full basement. It is well landscaped at the entry, and has a nice set of decks behind occupying a few different levels and including a semi-shaded eating area.




Basement est divida in partes tres. The first part is a two car garage, the second part is the unfinished basement, including a cedar closet storage room. The third part is the family/rec room featuring a wood stove and movable hot tub. This will almost certainly be the room that gets our oversized television.



Upstairs are the rooms one would expect to find. A living room, kitchen/dining area, bathroom and laundry area and three bedrooms. The kitchen is definitely the high point here as it has been very nicely done. Cherry cabinets, wall oven, tile backsplash, corian counters, the works.



And finally, there is in every house that one room that you just don't get. The one room that doesn't really belong. The one room that ought to have been redone ages ago. In this house though, perhaps they left it long enough that it is almost cool again. Almost.

In this house it is the basement bathroom.



Yes. That is carpet on the wall.

Patience Pays Off

A prior post disappeared into the digital dumpster, so my statement that we put in an offer on a house got buried into the comments. Our Monday evening was eventful as we put in an offer, got a counter offer, and fairly quickly countered this. Our original offer had been placed with an expiration of noon on Wednesday.

Driving this entire process was the dilemma of moving from or remaining in the house we are currently renting. Basically we had an ultimatum from the landlord to get out at the end of July (maybe he could spare a week of August) or sign up again through the winter and remain until April. We needed to give 30 days notice if we wanted to stay, so that left us with only the working week.

We were still pretty far apart on price at the end of Monday. There were also concerns that the closing date we proposed wouldn't work for the current owners. Tuesday came and went without a word. We talked a bit and resigned ourselves to staying in place through the winter. We had a number in mind we wouldn't go above, and the seller was still farther from it than we were.

On Wednesday we discussed with the agent where things stood. More specifically we said "I guess that's that, should we get our deposit back now?" Word had been that the seller was getting another offer, but as we had been the last to speak I wasn't going to change what we had on the table without the seller response. She indicated she didn't think the deal was done and if we could, wait until Thursday. We agreed.

Thursday came and by noon I had to leave the office for an all afternoon meeting. There had still been no word. By the time I came back from the meeting the terms had been worked out. We ended up where we expected on price, but I'm glad that it worked out and the seller was willing to come down more than half way to meet us in the end.

We got the papers today. Now we need to finish coordinating financing quickly, pack our stuff and arrange to move in mid August. Once it was clear to our landlord we were going we managed to get a couple weeks out of him, so at the moment it looks like we'll have at least a full weekend to make our move.

More on the house in the next post.

More Time Wasting

Well, the offer is in. We've had one exchange with the seller, but still working on finding common ground for price and schedule. I'll be posting more info about the house we are interested in if it works out. Hopefully the seller will come down a bit and I can do that!

In the meantime, we are waiting. And what better when you are waiting than some time wasting. So, without futher ado, here is a musically themed set of links:

First is an entertaining take on the world of instruction.

Second is a great little short movie about a dj.

Third is a clever bit of editing mixing politics and pop culture.

Fourth is apparently serious, but it just cracks me up.

Anyone who can decipher lyrics in the refrain of that last link... well, more power to you I guess.

Enjoy!

Another Contender

We looked at two more houses last night and another contender turned up. This house is on the outskirts of Montpelier and has the definite advantage of being in a real neighborhood and attached to municipal services like water and sewer.

It also has a beautifully redone kitchen and some well conceived amenities like the rear deck and family room with hot tub and wood stove in the basement. Tomorrow we see the inside of the last property on our list and then back for a second visit at the prior front-runner.

House Hunting on the Longest Day

Today is the longest day of the year. Actually that isn't true, it just offers those of us in the Northern Hemisphere the most hours of daylight. I used the first four or so to sleep.

We've been frantically househunting for the past week or so. Since last Tuesday we have seen eight houses (although one was an impromptu visit with the realtor and we couldn't get in). Finding something great isn't easy. I could list pro-cons on every one, but I think we'll be making the selection soon. At the moment there appear to be three contenders.

The first is a house in Duxbury that is about 1 and a quarter miles up a dirt road. It is by far the biggest and is the most modern structure. The disadvantage is that it is surrounded by forest and so feels isolated. Internet would be by satellite (surprisingly affordable), so that is a downgrade from what we are used to. Also, no garage.

The second we looked at was for sale by owner. The little listing doesn't quite do it justice as it is quite clean and modern inside. We aren't fond of the raised ranch appearance, and of course one of the bedrooms and the large family room are half below ground. Still it is a nice and attractive property. This one is just down the road from where we live now.

The third likely choice we've found was the one we ended up at today but couldn't get in. It is the smallest and least modern of the houses we are considering. It also isn't anything incredible for architectural style, although so simple as to be unobtrusive. What it does have is six acres of beautiful property, including a decent summer view that is through hardwoods and so should open up even more in the winter. Despite being a mile up a dirt road it is practically next to town and does have services like cable and internet.

The decision is coming quickly, because we are getting less cooperation than hoped for from our landlord. We are already talking to the bank and have pre-qualified ourselves, so things could move fast. Feel free to give me your comments. If they are good enough I'll even let you come lend a hand to help move our stuff!

Getting A Groove

I started a new job at the end of May, so at least I have a vague excuse for no recent posts. But really this should give me a bit more structure and schedule. The bottom line is that it is my intent to keep this up and the only way to do that is to get in a groove.

Part of the challenge is that I really prefer writing articles with a fair number of links to outside information. It gives the reader an opportunity to share my perspective and allows me to call attention to things I found interesting, amusing or important in a very direct way. Of course this is a bit harder than just jotting off a note about my thoughts. One way or another I'll find my way through.

Anyhow, that is where I've been. Tomorrow, back to a routine.