Grown up status officially achieved. We’re buying a house! The hunt started this summer, once Chris decided to take a long-term local job and our rent lease was coming to an end. My job also, quite surprisingly, terminated. Knowing that we were going to be staying in Salt Lake for some time, we decided to make it official and own some land….or at least a building on land. We spend many, many Saturdays attending open house after open house, never quite finding anything we liked. The Sugarhouse area where we were looking was full of bungalows, bungalows plagued by shelf basements and only half the square footage was livable. The market was very good for buyers and there were many, many houses to look at. We found one we could tolerate and strongly considered it.
After another couple hours of fruitless open houses one Saturday I talked Chris into stopping at a project our friends Tristan and Terri had been raving about. We picked them up and headed over to the model they had open. With every floor, every room, I grew more and more excited. I could totally see us living here! I was sold by the time we passed the spacious laundry room and saw the master bath with his and her sinks, and the double shower! I was convinced this was the place for us. Terri was doing a fantastic job of convincing us it was as well. They live 3 blocks away, so her enthusiasm was purely selfish at that point. I looked out the window, saw the double garage, and knew that this would be the selling point for Chris. The man needs a garage. Or in this family, 3 or more. Here was a brand new double, where all we had seen so far was maybe a single, and even then it would have to be torn down and redone. He was hesitant, very hesitant. But me, in swooning love. The price was around our range, our friends were right down the street, and it was all brand new! Not 40+ years old and molding like so many others. We sent his parents down to see it that day and I also ordered my sister to go view it. It was probably more their style than ours, and they were house hunting as well. They were over condo living and passed.
Over the weekend we thought long and hard about it. The neighborhood is questionable, but changing. It would be condo living, but all brand new and modern. It’s on the edge of our price range, but very, very close to work and a block from the Trax station. I stopped by during the week and questioned the builder at great length about the project and the availability. It became apparent that there was a lot of interest in the project and if we were interested, need to act soon. Chris and I talked about it a lot more and 2 more days later I found myself back at the model talking more with the builder and asking his recommendation for a realtor. He gave me Julie’s number and I met with her 20 minutes later.
Before we knew it we were touring units, running our budget, and putting down an offer on an end unit with great views and a much bigger yard. Before we actually put down our offer we happened to be in the neighborhood attending a baseball game (2 blocks away!) and saw the only residents of the unit outside watching fireworks. We boldly begged them to tell us everything they knew about the builder, the unit, if they loved it. They invited us in, gave us all the gossip and cautioned us strongly about the builder. It was so very informative and only strengthened my love for the gay men. Hooray! We thought long and hard about it, feeling better that we were getting the truth from a third party.
I wish I could say the next few weeks and even months went by smoothly and we closed on time. It was not meant to be. All of the guys warnings about the shadiness of the builder came true. As time went on we discovered that what you saw in the model is not at all what you would get, despite everyone telling you otherwise. The cement countertops changed. The tile in the second bathroom changed. The flooring options changed. We toured a unit that was almost done and noticed that in the bathrooms there was only one handle for the faucet. In the model there were two, hot and cold. The single handle just looked wrong. Being a slave to symmetry, this was not going to do. We entered one of many battles and came out with our two handled faucets, thank you very much, but at the expense of our realtor paying the difference. Thanks, Julie!
We were so excited about the move, planning our budget, making a paper chain to count down the days until moving, planning on furniture and paint colors. It was freakin awesome! More dreaming than actual purchases, but fun. We were scheduled to close Nov. 19, the week of Thanksgiving, giving us time to move during the holiday. We were disappointed to find that the unit wasn’t done and the closing would be moved back. I made another paper chain and waited out the 2.5 weeks. And then, again. Finally it was looking promising for Monday, Dec. 3. We scheduled an inspector and scheduled a walk through with our realtor at 5pm. She received a call at 4:20 that all inspections need to be done during site hours 7-4. We raced down there, played phone tag with all parties, and in the end were left locked out in the cold, frustrated at being lured into yet another builder game. Yar! Two days later we were finally in. It was our house! It looked great. Mostly. Serious paint touchups were needed. Odds and ends, but it was totally liveable. I longed to start moving in boxes then, but we have to wait for the cleanup work and the mortgage to close.
And that brings us to now. A week from closing, but so very, very close. We’ll move in the week before Christmas, nearly a month from our first expected close. I’ll force Chris to put up a Christmas tree, we’ll unbox our enormous tv, put together our new furniture, and live happily commute-free ever after.
After another couple hours of fruitless open houses one Saturday I talked Chris into stopping at a project our friends Tristan and Terri had been raving about. We picked them up and headed over to the model they had open. With every floor, every room, I grew more and more excited. I could totally see us living here! I was sold by the time we passed the spacious laundry room and saw the master bath with his and her sinks, and the double shower! I was convinced this was the place for us. Terri was doing a fantastic job of convincing us it was as well. They live 3 blocks away, so her enthusiasm was purely selfish at that point. I looked out the window, saw the double garage, and knew that this would be the selling point for Chris. The man needs a garage. Or in this family, 3 or more. Here was a brand new double, where all we had seen so far was maybe a single, and even then it would have to be torn down and redone. He was hesitant, very hesitant. But me, in swooning love. The price was around our range, our friends were right down the street, and it was all brand new! Not 40+ years old and molding like so many others. We sent his parents down to see it that day and I also ordered my sister to go view it. It was probably more their style than ours, and they were house hunting as well. They were over condo living and passed.
Over the weekend we thought long and hard about it. The neighborhood is questionable, but changing. It would be condo living, but all brand new and modern. It’s on the edge of our price range, but very, very close to work and a block from the Trax station. I stopped by during the week and questioned the builder at great length about the project and the availability. It became apparent that there was a lot of interest in the project and if we were interested, need to act soon. Chris and I talked about it a lot more and 2 more days later I found myself back at the model talking more with the builder and asking his recommendation for a realtor. He gave me Julie’s number and I met with her 20 minutes later.
Before we knew it we were touring units, running our budget, and putting down an offer on an end unit with great views and a much bigger yard. Before we actually put down our offer we happened to be in the neighborhood attending a baseball game (2 blocks away!) and saw the only residents of the unit outside watching fireworks. We boldly begged them to tell us everything they knew about the builder, the unit, if they loved it. They invited us in, gave us all the gossip and cautioned us strongly about the builder. It was so very informative and only strengthened my love for the gay men. Hooray! We thought long and hard about it, feeling better that we were getting the truth from a third party.
I wish I could say the next few weeks and even months went by smoothly and we closed on time. It was not meant to be. All of the guys warnings about the shadiness of the builder came true. As time went on we discovered that what you saw in the model is not at all what you would get, despite everyone telling you otherwise. The cement countertops changed. The tile in the second bathroom changed. The flooring options changed. We toured a unit that was almost done and noticed that in the bathrooms there was only one handle for the faucet. In the model there were two, hot and cold. The single handle just looked wrong. Being a slave to symmetry, this was not going to do. We entered one of many battles and came out with our two handled faucets, thank you very much, but at the expense of our realtor paying the difference. Thanks, Julie!
We were so excited about the move, planning our budget, making a paper chain to count down the days until moving, planning on furniture and paint colors. It was freakin awesome! More dreaming than actual purchases, but fun. We were scheduled to close Nov. 19, the week of Thanksgiving, giving us time to move during the holiday. We were disappointed to find that the unit wasn’t done and the closing would be moved back. I made another paper chain and waited out the 2.5 weeks. And then, again. Finally it was looking promising for Monday, Dec. 3. We scheduled an inspector and scheduled a walk through with our realtor at 5pm. She received a call at 4:20 that all inspections need to be done during site hours 7-4. We raced down there, played phone tag with all parties, and in the end were left locked out in the cold, frustrated at being lured into yet another builder game. Yar! Two days later we were finally in. It was our house! It looked great. Mostly. Serious paint touchups were needed. Odds and ends, but it was totally liveable. I longed to start moving in boxes then, but we have to wait for the cleanup work and the mortgage to close.
And that brings us to now. A week from closing, but so very, very close. We’ll move in the week before Christmas, nearly a month from our first expected close. I’ll force Chris to put up a Christmas tree, we’ll unbox our enormous tv, put together our new furniture, and live happily commute-free ever after.
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