Where have I been?

It's been a long few weeks...

If you remember, two weeks after I closed and moved into the house the basement flooded. It's been a huge headache. Contractors in and out of the house every day--7am to 11pm. Mud everywhere. Machinery tearing up my backyard. Jackhammers in my basement. Literal headaches.

After weeks of testing and then demolishing all the interior walls and the entire basement floor, drainage tile, and a few feet a dirt, they found 2 cracked water pipes. The source of my flooding basement.

But 13 weeks and $40,000 of the city's money (thank goodness for that one-year builder's warranty) and I have a brand new basement!

The old basement wasn't bad. But the new one has a finished mud room off the exterior basement door, a yoga studio, laundry room and closet, pantry area, and living room. I can't wait to start making all these rooms come to life now that the basement is done!

I'm also happy about finally getting to unpacked now that we can move everything in from the garage.

So that's where I've been. That's where my head has been focused. This has what has been eating up all my free time and energy.

Now that this is taken care of I am hoping to update this much more often and share all the fun projects we have going on at the house!

Webinar: My New Home by Chase

This week I got an email from Chase about a webinar for people looking to purchase a home. It looks like it is pretty informational... and it's free!

The first stop when you house shop

My New Home webinar April 2, 2013 7:00 PM ET

Buying a home is one of the most important financial decisions you will ever make. And as with any big decision, you want to be sure you know your facts and options first. Expert guidance. Real-life examples. In-depth explanations. The My New Home webinar offers everything you need to know as you prepare to buy a home. Register for this educational webinar to: • Understand your costs up front • Determine a price range that's realistic and comfortable for you • Know more about how a real estate agent can help you • Learn how your credit score can impact your loan • Identify the paperwork you need for a smooth loan process Please register by March 31, 2013. We hope you will join us!

If you're interested, click here to register.

If you participate in the webinar make sure you come back and share your thoughts in the comments!

Is The End of Stainless Steel Near?

Although my house came with brand new appliances, the other day I was thinking about upgrading them in the near(ish) future. Mine are standard matching black appliances--they're not beautiful but they're not ugly. Just standard.

So I was thinking about stainless steel and how much aesthetic value they would offer to my kitchen. My kitchen is small so by loosing the black appliances it would definitely bright up the place plus it would give it a more clean, sterile, and modern feel.

Somehow in my thought process I was reminded of my grandma's avocado colored appliances when my mom was growing up and I got to thinking, "When is stainless going to go out of style?" and "What's the next trend?"

And it was as if the internet gods heard me and they delivered me this news story:

Is It the End of Stainless Steel? a Reviewed.com article by Liam McCabe

His article was inspired by the Whirlpool's new White Ice finish (pictured above) and I do have to admit, it's sharp. In my opinion, White Ice is better looking than stainless.

This excerpt from his article I found particularly thought provoking:

Stainless is cheap to make, relatively easy to clean, and has become the standard for kitchen design—sensibilities don't change overnight.   

White Ice and other colorful finishes do seem to represent a shift in the way that we think about interior design: We're doing it to please ourselves and create comfortable living spaces right now, rather than designing to boost resale value. Younger homeowners in particular seem to prefer the extra choices. 

So what do you think? How long will stainless maintain its reign? Is color a passing fad? Does anybody really want an iOven to match their iPad? Aren't they just tools for cooking and cleaning anyway? What colors will our robot maids come in?

As much as I want to upgrade my kitchen, having a puppy that likes to lick every surface could be messy with stainless steel. I feel like I'd be spending all my time wiping up finger prints and puppy drool.

However options like White Ice offer a sophisticated alternative to stainless that will still be considered an "upgrade" from a standard kitchen but without all the smears and smudges.

What do you think? Is the end near?

Planning Ahead: The Day I Came Home to Find Water in My Basement

Yes, the day I came home to find water in my basement...

Almost two weeks to the day that I closed on my beautifully restored historic home, I came home to find a flowing river through my basement. Every crack and crevice in my basement's floor was weeping water at a steady pace. All our boxes, furniture, and everything else that had not yet been unpacked was now sitting in standing water.

Most of the water was streaming right into a drain but we quickly realized the basement floor wasn't properly slanted (when it was built in 1907) and water was accumulating in one section of the basement creating a huge puddle.

At first I was speechless and devastated. As a new (and first time) home buyer, I thought this was the end of the world. How was I supposed to live in a home with a flowing river and a swimming pool in the basement? What was all of this going to do to my severe mold and mildew allergies and upper respiratory issues? What is this all going to cost me?!

But then I remembered back to my initial planning when I first decided to buy a home: I do not want home built before 1950. This was because you really don't know what you're getting yourself into and everything is so old/unreliable, blah, blah, blah. However, I made an exception for this 1907 house because it came with detailed records on everything that has been done during the 2012 complete restoration (including all new insulation, electrical, plumbing, etc.) and it came with a 1-year builder's warranty through the city (since they were the previous owners of the house).

With newfound hope in this builder's warranty, I started calling the city engineering department and the construction company that restored my house. Within a half hour there were guys on the scene and they were making plans to tear up the basement floor and install proper drainage and a sump pump. If all goes well, I'll never see water in my basement again... at no cost to me.

The moral of the story, PLAN AHEAD BEFORE YOU BUY!

There's no way you can plan for every worse-case scenario but having an overall game plan for expensive, unforeseen repairs is a good idea.

For example, say I purchased this house without a builder's warranty and between closing costs, my downpayment, and furniture I spent every dime I had then this catastrophe happened in my basement. What would I do?

You never know what will happen! You could find toxic mold behind your walls, have a massive roof leak, anything. Always prepare for the worse--especially for the first couple months when money is tight and you're adjusting

Here are my tips for making sure you have resources available for an unforeseen issue:

• Before you start looking at houses, decide what you can and cannot handle
• Can you afford to replace a roof? No? Then look for a house with a newer roof.
• Can you afford new windows? No? Then look for a house with newer windows.
• Can you afford a new furance if the existing one dies? No? Then look for a house with a newer furnace. 
• Look into a builder's warranty or a buyer/seller warranties before closing
• Don't use up all you money up front (closing, moving expenses, furniture), make sure you always have a reserve
• Don't let your monthly living expenses (mortgage, insurance, utilities, bills) leave you with no additional money at the end of each month--Don't live paycheck to paycheck
• Start a household banking account that can acrue money monthly (by direct deposit or automatic account transfer) and can be used in case of emergencies
• Hire your own building inspector to come out and give you an idea of any areas you may have problems with down the line so you can keep an eye on them

And last, but not least, Keep Calm. It's not the end of the world.

My House: The Restoration is Complete!

My house was built in 1907 and in 2012 the house was purchased by the city who then did a full restoration and renovation. I put in an offer on the house based on construction plans and my offer was accepted and I committed to the house 3 months before construction was finished. That might sound crazy but I'm so glad I did it!

Now that the renovation and restoration are complete, the house is move-in ready. But there are still a lot of changes and additions I'd like to make in the upcoming months as things get settled around the house.

I'll keep you updated!

BEFORE - This is how my house looked early in 2012, under the faux-brick exterior is the original wood siding.

Construction Included:

• A new roof
• The removal of the faux-brick covering that was over the original wood siding
• Repair and restoration of the original wood siding
• Exterior of the house was painted in period correct color scheme
• New landscaping
• New front and back porches
• Skim-coating the wet plaster walls and ceiling
• Professionally painted walls
• Refinishing the original hardwood floors and moldings
• Brand new kitchen
• Two brand new full bathrooms
• Plumbing for a third bathroom in the basement
• Geothermal heating and cooling
• Wiring installed for solar panels
• New roof on garage
• New garage door
• All new electrical
• All new plumbing

So this house may be 106 years old but it's basically brand new!

AFTER - February 7, 2013

Lender Requirements

In my experience, these are the items a lender is looking for when you apply for a mortgage. It is important to know these things before applying so you can gather the necessary documentation, review them for accuracy (and so you're not surprised), and bring them to the lender when you meet.

Employment History
Lenders are looking for stability with your employment and income. This means you need to have at least 2 years of steady employment (6 months with your current employer). You need to provide information on all your income sources--part-time and full-time jobs. If you are self-employed, they won't even look at your mortgage application if you don't have 2 years of work (this was my problem).

Source of Income
Are you salary or hourly? Do you get overtime and what is the likelihood of continuing with overtime? Do you receive income from a rental property you own? Do you receive money from alimony, disability, workman's compensation, the military, pension, social security, or retirement accounts like 401k or IRA? Only the income that ir reported on tax returns and verifiable can be taken into consideration when applying for a mortgage.

Financial Liabilities
This means debts. Fortunately your current rent or mortgage payment is no considered when applying for a mortgage for the obvious reason that it will no longer exist once you close and move into your new home. However your estimated future mortgage payment with property taxes and insurance is considered. They also include car loans, personal loans, student loans, credit card lines, alimony and child support, and anything else you owe money.

Assets
They are going to assess how much money you have at your disposal including cash-on-hand and liquid assets (checking accounts, savings, mutual funds, money markets, certificates, retirement account balances, etc.). The lender will also make sure you have money left over in your accounts after you purchase a home. They do not want you to drain al of your accounts as assets to purchase a home.

Debt-To-Income Ratio
I'm not help here. They do some fancy math to figure all this out. I'm also not quite sure what their guidelines are for the allotted ratio--it may depend from lender to lender.

Credit History
If you didn't already know, you have to make your payments to credit card companies, service providers (cell phone, utilities, etc.), and other lenders based on the terms and conditions you agreed upon. There's no way around it. Timely payments when due builds good credit. Poor credit is made when repayments are not as agreed upon (late payments or no payments).

Credit Score
Most lenders currently require a 620 credit score or better. Don't have that? I recommend putting the house hunting aside and take steps to improve your credit. Your credit score is a pretty good indication on how well you deal with your personal finances (in most situations) so a poor score may be a heads up that you just aren't quite ready to take the homeownership leap. But if you still want to go through with it, there are some lenders and loan programs that will accept certain credit issues.

Source(s) of Down Payment
In most situations you will need to produce 20 percent in physical cash for you down payment upon closing (with exception to some government programs). Down payments protect the lender and helps them to recover some of the balance in the event the borrower defaults on their mortgage. Coming up with this large amount of cash can be difficult for a lot of homebuyers so I recommend checking out state-assisted programs, FHA lenders, cash gifts from family members, selling your assets, get a second job, or handle it the old fashioned way and take some time to save money.

52 Week Money Challenge

One of my FB friends reposted this 52 Week Money Challege and I thought it sounded interesting. 

Basically all you do is make a weekly deposit that corresponds to the number week of the year it is (i.e. $1 on Week 1, $17 on Week 17, etc.). It seems simple enough and the reward will be great at the end of the year when you've $1,387 with little to no effort!

Happy saving! Who's in with me?!