Counter height work space

I love my counter high work table, but I just don't have space to keep it.  

I have to sell it.

Still House Hunting

It's beautiful, will it pass inspection?
image from dohardmoney.com

I wish it was more fun to look for a place, 

but really it feels like some kind of race.

The best ones go fast but the bad ones do too

What do the folks on a tight budget do?

Rent's getting higher my lease at the end;

Do I risk month to month or renew it again?

The market is crazy with rent through the sky

I really have one choice and that is to buy.

This is the best place you've shown us to date

lets put in an offer before its to late.

Knitting Season Soon

A new place in the new season

(my August Posts are out of order. I have found a place.)

Dot and Socks, Berroco Self Striping Sox Yarn.  It is almost Knitting Season.

I found a new place and we are under contract. Close date set for late in September and now all the fun part. Inspection, corrections, appraisal; then packing, close and move, if all goes well. I hope we are able to be in and settled before the first snow flies. As in, I hope we have one of those beautiful sunny colorful autumn seasons where the weather is pleasant and the leaves stay on the trees for days on end. I want to move before the leaves even change color and way before they fall and reveal trees that look like Halloween props against a cold and gray sky. It will be in September. Snow in September is a possibility in Colorado and it is already much cooler in the mornings. It won't be long before it is crisp in the mornings, the sun is already slow to rise. 

As always, buying real estate is an adventure. You never know what you will find and what will be available when you look. In the late 80s it took us a whole summer to find a place. We made offers on three or four places only to have the seller select someone else even when the offers arrived at the same time and were equal in all ways. I had to tell myself each time that there must be something better out there for me.  

In some parts of America right now, real estate prices are low and interest rates are low. In the Denver metro area there is not a lot of inventory to chose from in the price range I wanted. The nice places are snapped up pretty fast and the not so nice ones don't stay on the market long either. Some that cost more than the one I am buying were not as nice and would have required a major rehab to work out. You learn not to hesitate when there is a good possibility.

The first place I put an offer on this time was an adorable townhouse with a large common area behind it. My offer went in within hours of looking at it, in fact it was the first offer, but the seller refused to review offers during the weekend so a couple of other offers were right behind mine. I offered above what they asked, planned to pay the closing costs and had already been through underwriting in the loan approval process. It was the nicest of the places we looked at that day and only one of two that I even considered for an offer. It had a few things I was not thrilled about, not quite as much dining table space as I really needed and only one bathroom and the tub had one of those nasty plastic liners instead of the porcelain coated cast iron. (Not nasty as in needed to be cleaned, it was brand new, but nasty as in would not be easy to maintain.)

Like before I just had to know that something better was out there when I did not succeed on an offer. The one I am getting has a real porcelain over cast iron tub that will be easy to scrub when needed, and two bathrooms. Ah Yes. There is always something better out there. This one will cut 100 miles per week off of my commute to work. It is also peaceful and quiet with a wonderful southern exposure and beautiful view. Yes, an even better view than the first one.

As you can imagine, I will be busy for a while. Follow my Pinterest boards if you like. I pin things about knitting, sewing and cooking and other things too.

Lorinda's Pinterest Boards

House Hunting

Home Sweet Home? Photo from
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/10975416

I have been busy looking for a new place to live so we may be able to move out of this little over-priced noisy uncomfortable rented apartment soon. I am sure the right place is out there and I want to find it fast, but it may need the miracle of being in the right place at the right time. 

Mountain Shack - Photo from
http://hqwide.com/mountains-landscapes-nature-shack-wallpaper-71747/

The nice ones are gone before you know they were available and the others are even smaller than this little apartment. Some hang around a while. Those are the ones that need some kind of overhaul, way more work and investment than a good deep clean and paint or carpet; very expensive things like structural reform, roofs, windows, new driveways and landscape updates. Others are protected by the previous owner's taste in paint color. Why are the extremely dark maroon reds, purples or turquoise accent walls so prevalent? These colors are so dark or vicious that it will have to be some kind of special undercoat and paint to cover it up and I am not up to hanging drywall.  

Then there are the ones that look amazing, have a great price, all the appliances, reasonable paint colors but are 3 or 4 hours out of the area. There are even larger than expected perfect places that are in other states. How do those get on the list when you draw the map to include the area you where you want to live? 

Anyway, while I am busy not sewing and looking for a new place to house the sewing hobby you can follow me on Pinterest. Some boards relate to sewing but there are others there for knitting, quilting, yards and gardens, recipes, houses, storage ideas, landscapes and more.