After we finished errands today, we went following house signs again. Again, it was difficult to find the $200,000 and under places as opposed to the groves of $300,000 and up places. One of the developments had houses for $800,000. Wow, these people must make great salaries or they're like the guy in the commercial "up to his eyeballs in debt." There are some signs that say $150,000 to $170,000 but these are condos, not houses.

We tracked all the way out on Dallas Highway out to Paulding County (for those in the know, behind the Hardy Chevrolet dealership) and there was a very nice development out there, but we didn't stop. Heck, it takes me 45 minutes to get to work now; this would add an extra half hour to my commute (at least).

A little further down on Macland (to friends: just before the turn for Ron and Lin's house) we found another promising development; we went through one house that actually had a partial basement and another that for some reason had a two-car garage and then another one car garage at a 90 degree angle from it. This one was more finished and we were looking around with a bit of interest until we saw the kitchen. Electric stove! We hightailed it out of there without another word. Ewwww.

Well, we ended up back at Trellis Oaks. The place is so darn convenient. And I would love to live in Smyrna again. In addition to being able to use the Cobb County library you can also use the Smyrna library and there is an indoor walking track and gym at the community complex free to all residents of the city.

Today we went into a house we had not gone into last time. I think we like this one almost as well or even a bit better. Its layout name is "the Dubois" (which is the married name of my cousin Linda) and it actually has a tiny bit of a front porch; well, maybe two people could sit out there in small chairs. But it has an entryway where you could actually do something novel like leave coats, hats, boots, umbrellas and walking sticks rather than having them hung up in the corner of your den because there's no other place for them to go. You go downstairs, where there's a nice size hallway (enough room for Wil to have her "home" down there) leading to the door to the garage is. (It's a two car garage with a room in the back for the HVAC unit and a little bit of storage as well.) There is also the laundry room, a big closet, a nice size room with a small walk in closet ("For my unbuilt models," said James), a little full bath, and a big room with no closet. ("For the books!" I said.)

Upstairs it's a combo living-dining (with fireplace) and a compact kitchen with a nice-size pantry closet. (Note: there's enough room downstairs in the laundry room that we might also have a small freezer we could stock with meat on sale.) Door from the dining room leads out to a nice size deck. Master bedroom has a walk in closet, and there is another closet (zoweee!) in the master bath, which has double sinks, a separate shower, and a "garden tub" (which my perpetually aching right shoulder would love to replace with a jacuzzi tub, thank you). Then there are two other bedrooms as well (guest room and craft room for me).

But they expect that one to be finished by the end of October and certainly someone will claim it soon. It is already scheduled to be "finished" anyway, so even if we had the money for it now, it wouldn't be the way we wanted it. They're putting wall-to-wall in it. Pale beige. Ugh. If we can do this, I want to do it right and I don't want a speck of freaking, dusty, dirty carpeting in the house. When I want to clean the floor I just want to pull out the dustmop and do it. No dragging a heavy vacuum cleaner everywhere. It can be hardwood or it can be Pergo (and vinyl in the kitchen and baths), but carpet...pffft!

And the %@#!$#@$!!$! fluorescent light in the kitchen would have to go. Not to mention the big, heavy, awkward looking chandelier they've seen fit to weigh down the dining area with. Yuck. We want ceiling fans in all the rooms. Nice little ones with "schoolhouse light" fixtures.

The agent there did have some hopeful news: there are still some empty lots that the construction company hasn't decided what model will go on which. The county inspector apparently has to approve it based on how much room there is. There is a good chance that another Dubois will go up on another lot. If things would just work out...maybe that would work out.

I get tired of things being so hard. I don't mean I don't want to work for it. I know there will be forms to be filled out, fees to be paid, a pile of papers to sign, approvals, meetings, money transferred, packing, moving, the whole nine yards. It's a batch of work and it will be tiring and frustrating, but we're both willing to do it. We're just tired of barrels being thrown in our path. We fill out all the right forms, pay all the right fees, and despite all our best efforts, it turns out wrong.

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. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 11:28:00 PM

Comments:

Just a quick note - if the house is otherwise suitable, you can usually get the builder (or the seller) to swap out something you don't find suitable, such as a gas or electric stove. They're not that expensive. You simply ask the realtor you're working with to put it in your offer. The worst that'll happen is they'll say no. (When we bought this place, they did about $500 of repair work, AND they paid for the inspection, and that was part of the contract.)

Ask us if you've got questions!

J.

# posted by  Jerry : 2:37:00 PM

 

Judging by what we saw, the development was all electric; no gas pipe for a furnace, either. I don't think the place is even piped for gas.

# posted by  Linda : 5:35:00 PM

 

That's weird. Going for the high-priced heat? I'd hope those places are insulated like crazy...

J.

# posted by  Jerry : 9:53:00 PM

 

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