Deadline Wednesday

Today is the day of deadlines.

• We have to have all of our financing in place - Check
• Insurance has to be acquired - Check
• Inspection done - Check
• Lawyer Stuff (stuff pretty much covers it) - Check

At the end of toaday the SOLD sign goes up and then we wait - and pack - until the 20th of Feb.

The bank was pretty helpful with the financing. Our mortgage specialist Cathy-Tracy (not to be confused with Ricky-Bobby) was great. She set us up with a fantastic interest rate because we are closing within 30 days and have a decent down-payment. I don't know why closing soon affects interest but who are we to argue? They took care of the appraisal last night and all is well - so that's it for the bank.

The insurance company - Ray Fredericks on the Bedford Highway - was a bit longer in getting back to us with rates which was a bit stressful, but when Chris called me yesterday with the deals he dug up it was worth it. The price he finally delivered was half of what we had expected and I was shocked - I thought he was giving me the monthly payment but it turned out that it was the annual fee. Whoo hoo. In order to have the insurance in place for the deadline (today) the oil tank changing people had to fax over the work request to the insurance company just to prove that we are, really, having the oil tank replaced on the 22nd. No problem, the company who is doing the work is a great Mom and Pop type company in Dartmouth (Value Sales) who do good work and have a fax machine - perfect combination. Oh yeah and they're "cost effective."

The Lawyer Stuff is ongoing as far as I can tell he does all his stuff on his legal island and then we are ferried out to see him on the closing date to sign the papers, hand over the cheque and that's it.

House Inspection

Inspections of an 85 year old house are bound to turn up some worms. We were expecting to find some old wiring, crappy pipes, leaky foundation, mouldy basement, asbestos tile and a dead nanny in the upstairs closet. Fortunately, none of the above turned up, reared their ugly heads or peeked out from behind the dryer. What we did find was a leaky roof, rotting shingles, and a really stupid patch job on one of the gutters.

The Roof: The main roof is fine except that it is missing a metal drip guard. Without the drip guard there is potential for water to run off the roof into the space between the shingles and our house. Estimated Cost: $500

The really bad roof is the addition's. This one is so bad that the roofing boards are showing through the shingles. Some of these exposed boards are rotten and there is leak in the bathroom (hey that's the best spot for a leak if you';e gonna have one - it's even over the shower) There is also signs of a small leak in the kitchen.
Estimated Cost: $2000

That's really all ther was that was really bad about it, I'll scan the complete damage report and post it at the end of this section for anyone who is really into picking at scabs and whatnot.

Now I took the RealEstate agent's camera and snapped some pics so here they are -
It was a bit rushed so you'll have to make do with what I fired off.

This is what you see when you first come into the house there are three stairs up to "ground level" and then you can go left into the Living room or straight upstairs or straight again to the bathroom.
If you went left then you would be in the living room where this non functional fireplace is. The mantle is really crazy with columns and dentals and the whole 9ers. It si actually painted white.

The ceilings have these crazy fixtures hanging from them - what's really cool are the moldings around the hanging cord.

Also around the doorways - you can find some more, modest moldings - I was happy that the door frames were not simply drywall holes. I have a fondness for simnple details i guess.

If you keep going into the next "dining room you'll see the backside of the fireplace. This has a perfect nook on top for the cat to lurk in. On the bottom of the exposed brick, you'll see a little iron door that has Halifax Stamped on it. This was for cleaning out the ashes and whatnot. - very charming.

Then there's the bathroom, these doorknobs are on about 50% of the doors in the house - fancy fancy fancy. We were going to get a dragon door knocker but after seeing these doorknobe I don't think it'll go.

The bathroom sink is gigantic. It's an old washtub converted into a sink. The inspector laughed at me when I said it was perfect for washing babies.

The shower is pretty big - it's partionned at the end of the bathhroom and there is all white tile inside. Not in too bad shape, needs a good cleaning. We are hoping to pull out the partition and replace the drywall with Glass blocks. It turns out that Happy Harry's just got a shipment of them from a demolished school in Truro. Who says the fiscally irresponsibility of this provincial government has no silver lining?

The floors upstairs are in a right state - right close to very shabby anyways. I will sand some religion into these boards come hell or high water. Which religion we're not sure yet. Which ever one supports the rustic cottage floor look and shuns laminate flooring i guess.


http://www.tkrawchenko.ca/reportp1.bmp
http://www.tkrawchenko.ca/reportpage2.bmp
http://www.tkrawchenko.ca/reportp3.bmp

Moving Almost - Papers signed

5655 BLOOMFIELD ST HALIFAX, HRM, Nova Scotia B3K 1T1 Affordable Halifax peninsula living! This 3 bedroom, 2 storey detached home features many upgrades within the last 5 years. Upgrades include: electrical, windows, doors, some drywall, some plumbing and paint. Furnace and roof are approx. 10 years old (this by the way is a lie, the furnace was installed in 1979). Main floor features a 5 piece bath (stand up shower and claw foot tub) and a non working fireplace ideal for an insert. Large deck overlooks a great backyard with some mature trees. House Size: 1132 sqft Lot Size: 2200 S.F. Length / Width Main level Living room 13.9 X 12.3 Dining room 12.2 X 11.2 Kitchen 13.7 X 7.9 Bath (# pieces 1-6) 1 X 5 PC Second level Master bedroom 11.1 X 10.9 - Bedroom 11.5 X 9.5 Bedroom 7.2 X 7.1


Who I'd like to meet:A New Oil tank with self filling magical powers, A shipment of click floor that "fell off the back of a truck," Someone to love and paint me and put down nice rugs from the far east. A dumpster.

Tamara Signed the papers last night, accepting the counter offer on the Bloomfield house. So now all that's left to do is settle the inspection. I made an appointment with Amerispec for Monday evening to have the place given the once over by a pro. Hope that nothing too serious turns up.

We're having the oil tank changed right off the get-go and then jumping into some quick floor/paint renos to get us moved in by the 28th of Feb. - my Birthday. Closing is set for Feb. 20th.

Hal was great about letting us out of our lease. When I called him and told him that we had an accepted offer in on a house he said "what the one on Bloomfield?" I don't know how he knows this stuff but he does.