I was informed on Friday that I am "officially" being riffed from my middle school position. Not a big surprise, but a bummer nonetheless. Most likely will have some sort of job in the district, but not sure if I want to accept at any of the other middle schools... If worse comes to worse... Re-applying to other districts again... Hopefully having a year under my belt will make it a bit easier this time around.
After even more drama today, everything came into place and we got a key to the house! We ended up having to drive 2 hours last Thursday to sign papers at the main escrow building, so we technically closed then. But the seller's paperwork had to go through, etc. and last minute we got the title recorded this afternoon.
Tomorrow we'll get the garage door opener and mailbox key, but one was good enough to get in there! We brought a pizza and some camping chairs over then proceeded to take out ALL the screws and nails and brackets out of the walls. John ended up with a mound the size of Mt. Eyjafjallajökull on our counter. I "installed" (screwed in) cabinet knobs that had already been drilled but were taken off. Overall a wonderful productive start to homeownership! The rest of the Week? Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday/Sunday
... until the keys are in my grubby little hands!! What a roller coaster. I could write a book on this whole house business. I feel like everything in my life is up in the air right now - namely my house and my job. I feel like this:  Waiting to get confirmation that I'm being laid off. Won't come as a surprise because I am the absolute bottom of the totem pole. Just want to know soon.
As far as our home is concerned... turns out our lender has been sending all our paperwork to the wrong fax number... Who is receiving all our confidential documents? Who knows. Also, our seller "forgot" to order a dishwasher and "mis-measured" 2 doors so they improvised in order to pass the re-appraisal. Frustrating because we are paying for those repairs, so they better get done right!! This has been a mess and it's completely out of our hands. Hope we close on time! SO glad we're getting close to the end of the year. I'm not so nervous about getting laid off because I know something will work out. I'm just completely ready to have this year under my belt. These kids have been terribly challenging, but I really feel that the second semester has gone better than the first and MAYBE I've earned some of the kids' respect. I hope I've taught them SOMETHING.
I can't wait to get into our house so I can start posting before and after pictures and turn this into more than a talking blog. This is more for myself right now but perhaps I can share some of my crafts soon.... 11 days until closing! Our principal sent out her Monday Message yesterday and while I wasn't caught completely off guard, it's still disheartening to see it "for real."
Of course teachers are being laid off every year in most districts, and of course it's usually based on seniority. Anyway, our principal announced that because of the other 2 middle schools being tagged in Obama's 5000 lowest school we are no longer accepting transfers to our school (which happens often). This will lower the number of incoming 7th graders by about 100. This will mean cutting 4-5 teachers. I am set to teach 7th grade next year (we loop through 7th and 8th with the students) and was technically the last full-time employee to be hired (4 pm the night before school started....). 100 students is approximately how many students 1 science teacher has.... Did you do the math? I am probably losing my job. As a first year teacher hired so last minute I new I was at the absolute bottom of the totem pole but it's still a bummer. AND, principals have up until May 15th to let us know. She said she'd be talking to those individuals privately before announcing it.. Least I know why she'll want to talk to me if I get summoned. Anyway, sucks since we're just buying this house but luckily we bought below our means. Hopefully now that I have a year of inner-city teaching under my belt I can find something... if something opens up... We shall see! Closing has now moved to April 26th, not the 23rd. It's reasonable, and while it pushes back all our plans a weekend, we're still excited. Have to find a new day to move our stuff but now that we don't have to do the repairs it's not quite as stressful. The bank is getting Stainless Whirlpool appliances (said they were required to get Whirlpool?), so that's good news. The amount we're NOW getting back at closing is a little lower but it should all still work out. Can't wait! I've been looking and Credenzas on craigslist and see SO many that would fix up great, like below (a steal for $100):   That's my latest kick. That and old chandeliers that I can paint a fun color... Too bad the mister can't see my "vision."
Monday back to school ended with a headache, no surprise there. But, it's almost like I never left, so we're back at it again! 50 Days Left!! Well, 100 people looked at my inspiration boards and I only got 1 feedback post. You must have to be in the D&R "in crowd." :)
I've been off on spring break for the last week and it's back to the grindstone tomorrow! Per usual, I have a pit in my stomach. It's been quite a school year and I'm ready for it to be over (only 50 more days!). I know once I get back into it it won't be so bad. I'll survive! Of course my last day was my most productive as far as packing and moving. We have "most" stuff in boxes, which we moved into the garage that's not attached to us -- it'll be easier to move into the van. I hope I can be productive and have everything but the big furniture in there to make it easy on all our helpers. Can't wait! Just lost the post I just made... :( Anyway, here are 3 "inspiration boards" I made on publisher. Note: This is far from professional, I simply cut+pasted pictures together. My first attempt, so be gentle. These are for the downstairs office, entryway, and living room. They're 3 different colors, but hopefully not too disjointed since they're all muted tones. Both John and I like uncluttered, clean lines. I lean more towards modern/eclectic furnishings while he is more traditional. We both want comfort and livability, though. Here goes:  ^^ENTRYWAY^^ The entry, kitchen, dining room will be this color. We're leaning towards the Mosaic mirror and black Dexter table. Chair pattern may change but I like the style.  ^^ OFFICE ^^ Gray walls with blue/turquoise accessories. Mix modern (ie table lamp and wall plaque) with traditional (floor lamp/chair that John requested). John's antique jars and stuff will be on the bookshelves. Cream rug.  ^^ LIVING ROOM^^ Work in progress. Paint = BM Aganthus Green (sage-y) in the middle of picture Chair options for seating beside sectional White accents to keep room light Accent colors = ? Like I said, this is really my first attempt at serious decorating, planning, researching since I've lived in apartments and am just out of college. I really want to have a PLAN when we get in the house so we can get going on it! Let me know what you think! Oh, and let me know where I can find the money to do all this! -Lindsay. So in checking with our lender about creating an escrow account to put in $$ for repairs (to show that we plan on making them), they denied it and said the amount is too high and we can't make any changes before closing. Really, that's them sticking up for us.
So, the seller (bank) is agreeing to make the repairs and deduct it from the closing costs. They agreed to give us $6320 (200 less) MINUS the cost of repairs+appliances (~$3000). To me, that's a win. We planned on spending that money anyway on repairs and we're still getting $$ towards our closing costs. So this is great news. John is worried that "things won't be done right" but our addendum says that we get to see an itemized bid for the repairs before approving it. No, we probably won't get the appliances we really want, but that's fixable. John, in fact, is checking to see if we have any say in that. But we'll see. Only other thing is that we have to get a second inspection done... which is frustrating and $$$. Good thing we have our friend for it who hopefully won't charge as much the 2nd time around. As long as the repairs are done by the 15th we will be able to close on the 23rd (on time). Here's hoping! Wow, three posts in one day -- you can tell I'm on break!
Quick update: Now that the appraisal has documented the repairs the house needs, even though the bank was selling it as-is, they are somehow obligated to do something about the repairs. SO, our realtor thinks they will either give us $$ to make the repairs (probably take $$ off our closing costs) or will make the repairs themselves. I'd rather do it ourselves since it'd mean we could still close on time. The selling agent also said they may still pay the same % of closing costs with the new lower price (about 2.7%, which is still great). Not sure what they'll work out but either way i don't think we'll have to come up with that full $6000 now. Yippee! Funny how at first both realtors said no one was going to budge, either $6000 or no house. Makes me wonder just how much of a "buyer's agent" we have... This whole thing is a big game of chicken! Everyone wants to get the most money out of it. Jeesh, I'll be happy when it's over! Good night! | AuthorI am a 24 year old wife, teacher, daughter, sister, and recent homeowner from Washington state. This site is an outlet for my thoughts and crafts. ArchivesNovember 2010 CategoriesAll |
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