Massive news... House PURCHASED!

Where have I been the last 8 days?

I'm a little frazzled to post a full catch up but have some massive news.

We finally own a home. The house we pulled out of a few weeks ago actually didn't sell to anyone else. So we negogiated a lower price and last Thursday, we signed contracts. It's ours.

5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 3 car garage, pool, enough yard space for play equipment AND a veggie garden, but most of all, a place to call home.

Here are some photos of our new home. We plan to practically GUT the whole place and renovate it.

In the next few months, we are adding a new kitchen, bamboo floors, new bathrooms, new paint, new carpet, shutters on the windows, adding ducted air con, and most of all, a lot of love and TLC.

Only 5 weeks till we get the keys and we cannot WAIT. Abi even has her own PLAYROOM which is off her room. And she has her own ensuite too.

Front of the house

Abi's new playroom. We are removing the fire place, adding new carpet, updating the lights and fan, new paint and a wall mural. And 1,072 toys and books!

Huge outdoor area. They have 2 tables outside! We will have a bbq, table setting and possibly a daybed.

Huge pool with solar heating. Bring on the pool pony races!

 

This is the current casual dining area. We plan to knock down that maroon wall to extend into the family room. We will have bamboo floors here and possibly bi-fold doors in the future.

Learning Curves

Today was hard. We viewed 8 open houses and except 1, they were all a big disappointment.

I cried on the way home from the last house. We left Abigail with my mother as she Abi is still not 100% well and I'm sure the last thing she felt like doing, was being driving around, getting in and out of the car etc. It was easier doing the house hunting without Abi because we could really look around with a fine tooth comb and actually inspect the house top to bottom.

Today made us realise that perhaps we should just build a new house on our land. We drove to our block of land after we picked Abigail up and sat there, gazing at the possibilities. Our future, Abi's future, on this block of land. I hate being a Virgo sometimes, my terrible procrastinating and indecisiveness plagues me often.

I realised that, while my life is really all over the place at the moment, the issues with the car, the house. These are all temporary. I have my health. My husband and daughter love me, we are a very happy little family. I am thankful for all my friends who care about me and my family who support me through thick and thin.

I am grateful for where I am, right now. Tonight. With love and happiness in my life. Yes, I don't own a home yet, but that will change very soon. And yes, recinding on the car contract was very frustrating and time consuming, but it's just a car. It's not the end of the world.

Images via weheartit

Great opening lines on real estate websites...

James and I are house hunting again. We have decided to sell our block of land and buy an older house instead. We have had 2nd thoughts about building in the area where our land is, and we also don't want to wait the 12 month turn around time for a new house to be built and completed. Patience is not my virtue.

Our land is going back on the market this weekend and our agent hopes to sell it for $30K more than we paid for it which would be fantastic.

In the mean time, we have started the gruelling task of house hunting. Some weeks I love it, jumping on Domain and seeing all the new houses for sale. Other weeks, it's so disappointing that I could cry.

Last Saturday, we viewed 10 homes, only 3 were really appropriate for our family's needs. Tomorrow we have 12 to view, but realistically won't get to all of the open homes.

My favourite part of the web browsing, is the catch phrases on each home listing to entice you to open and read more info. These are some of my favourite opening linesof the recent home listings I've been reading:

Opportunity isn't knocking, it's screaming!
This is just brilliant. Now the agents are SCREAMING for my attention.

Top This!
Simple, to the point. Top this open home. Well, I went... And it sucked.

STOP, you're home.
Warning, this is your new home. Scare tactics won't help you Mr Agent.

A pleasure to call home.
Any house that isn't a pleasure, is no house of mine. But most of the ones we viewed last weekend, were FAR from a pleasure.

I'd say, close to perfection.
Mmm, close, but not quite there. The 1970's kitchen and bathroom are a dead giveaway.

Happy memories begin here.
Yes, leave your scary nightmares behind at your old house, and move in here.

Thanks Mum, this is home.
Playing the Mum card here, which is hilarious. Can we have this house Dad? Ask your mother.

And my all time favourite:

Is this your new home?
Maybe, but probably not. In fact no, this house is next to a cemetary!

I will be adding more of these amazing opening liners as the weeks progress. I hope for my sake that we find a house sooner rather than later. I can't stand these poetic real estate agents anymore.

xx