Renovations part 1

Wednesday the granite guy came and ripped out the kitchen and guest bath counter tops. If you remember in the kitchen we had we had a "bar" area in front of the sink. I guess the idea was that you could put stools and people could sit and watch you in the great expanse of the kitchen (just a little sarcasm). The problem, was that it cut off the kitchen and reduced the counter space. So "A" had a great ideal that we would cut down the raised bar and extend the counter top in front of the sink. Brilliant!!!

Friday our good friend Ron helped us sand and paint the cabinets. If you have ever tried to paint cabinets you know that it takes ridiculously long to do. It sounds really simple, just sand and paint, but not really. Especially these because there was so much grease and gunk caked on, yuk.

We were able to put a coat of paint on the kitchen and guest bath on Friday and today we did the master bath. Unfortunately I am sick and not able to put 100% into the project but overall I am pleased with our accomplishments this weekend.

We also had a floor guy give us an estimate for laminate floors and on Monday I have another floor guy coming in. I could do it myself but I really don't want to.

Renovations begin

Now that we have closed we have tops begin the renovations. The counter top guys should be out this week to demo the old counter tops and get the templates for the new granite tops. We are going for a lighter granite and will paint the bottoms cabinets black and the tops white, very European.

This weekend we will try and tile the bathrooms and hopefully get a coat of primer on the cabinets.

Still have not gotten the damn parking down. I am pretty sure I know where one of the spaces are but not the other. What a goat F#%$.

Stay tuned for photos and updates!!!!

Close of Escrow

Finally escrow closed and we received the keys. Now the hard part begins for us, renovating the property. I will keep you posted.

The Never Ending Short Sale

If you remember back in February we put in an offer on a short sale condo. Then in May the bank gave their approval for the short sale.

We opened escrow and the sale was to be completed by June 8th. So on Friday June 7th about an hour before we were to close and the funds had been submitted there was a "problem." Apparently the negotiator or the closer with the lien-holder, or somebody had an issue as to how the past due HOAs were going to be paid. Are you sh!^^!#& me? We were in escrow for a month and the loan docs had been signed for a week and NOW there is a problem?

The lock ended the following Wednesday June 12th so my lender extended it for a week and they ate the cost. So then a week goes by and no word. So on June 19th my lender did a second extension and they ate the cost again, which was very nice of them.

So yesterday June 20th I got word that the bank approved the short sale again and would pay for the past due HOAs. Sound familiar? So it was to fund either Thursday or today, record and we would get the keys this afternoon.

At 1pm I got a call that there was a "problem." Apparently the title company is a small no name company and they needed to be "approved" by the lender. Are you sh!^^!#& me? We have been in escrow for over 6 weeks and some dumb ass just notices the title company!!!

Supposedly they have been "approved" but the record deadline had been passed, so now we have to wait until Monday. Does anyone want to take a bet?

New Page

If you look just above where I post you will notice that I created a new page Links from the Internet. There I will post links to various sites that either amuse me or piss me off or are just informative. Either way check back ofter for new content.

Comments are always welcome.

Valedictorian photos

As promised here are some photos.

Valedictorian

Today we went to a high school graduation for one of our friends kids at James Madison High School. We have known them for about 10 years and today she graduated as VALEDICTORIAN!! I don't think I have ever known a valedictorian, just shows what kind of circles I hang out in.

She earned a full ride scholarship to Cornell University (yes this is an Ivy League School). I'll post pictures tomorrow.