Our new house
- Last year
We lived in a decent neighborhood, with some nice neighbors, but we needed more space. Brad and Clint were sharing a room, Micah had his own small room, and the attic was packed full of toys, memories, and other attic fodder. Our 3 bedrooms, and 1402 square feet of living space had been adequate for a while, but no longer. We needed more space. We had started to think about looking at new houses, seeing what we could afford, and more importantly what we could qualify for. Then, came the defining moment.
- Halloween 1998
It's about 11:30 p.m., and everyone in our house is either in bed, or getting ready for bed. Across the street, someone is having a rather festive and boisterous Halloween party. We've seen and heard several cars go down the street recently, music blaring, occupants yelling vulgarities to those attending the party. Obviously, the alcohol has been flowing freely at this event. Then, the sound of 6 gun shots rang out. Paula and I jump to our feet, and run to the kids rooms, to make sure our house, and more importantly, the kids are not harmed. Once we see that everyone's OK, we call 911. It's not the first call they've received, and within a few minutes, police cars arrive on the scene.
We find out the next day that it was a drive by shooting. Some guys were apparently "fighting" over a girl. The neighborhood is littered with beer cans, alcohol bottles, broken glass, and fast food trash. Several neighborhood residents get together, and tell the party throwers to pick up their trash, which they did.
It was at that time Paula looked at me and said "We've got to get out of this neighborhood." I knew she was right. Things were going down hill. We didn't feel safe anymore.
- House Hunting
Almost the next day, Paula beings looking for a new house. We wanted to move out of Mecklenburg County (Lower property taxes), so she grabs some of those free Find-A-Home magazines you find in front of the grocery store. We looked at new houses, we looked at old houses, we looked at houses under construction, we looked at houses that hadn't even been built. At this point, we still didn't know how much house we could afford.
So, before we went much further, I got pre-approved for a loan. I had just changed jobs (From Glenayre to JM Huber), and my salary attained a nice pay increase (It was late January at this point). I filled out the forms, credit report information, current interest rates, current salary, etc. etc. and waited. We were called by a loan officer, and told what we were pre-approved for. WOW! I was amazed at how much they said I could afford. Even though we were approved for a larger house, I did not want to be "house poor". Because we had no monthly debt (Credit card or revolving charge cards), only a house, car, and utilities, our debt to earnings ratio was rather impressive (Or, so we were told). So, with this number in hand, we continued to look. Then, it happened.
That magical moment when you walk into a house, you turn to each other and say "I love this house." That happened in February of 1999. We talked to the realtor, put down some money, picked out lot, designed our house and started the process of selling our current house.
- Selling the current house
Since we only need (And can only afford) one house, we had to sell our current house. Thanks to our good friend David Kluth, he offered to sell our house for us, giving us a break on the real estate broker's commission. So, up went the sign, and out came the check book for improvements. We poured some money into the house, and finally sold it. I won't go into any details, but I'll mention that everyone involved in selling their house should follow these guidelines:
- Don't take ANYTHING personally.
- Remember that it WILL eventually sell.
- Refill your prescription of "happy drugs" as often as possible, or borrow some.
Remember, this is a business transaction. Logic and emotions don't mix well during this time.
- Building the new house
We put our earnest money down at the end of February. We were told that we would "easily" be in our house by the end of June. Since this was the first time we had actually built a house, we believed them (Hey, it's not like they were a used car salesman, right?).
They actually broke ground in late March, and we had our foundation poured by the end of April. Two months to build a house, sounds about right to me. The picture to the right (Clint running towards the foundation) was taken on April 23, 1999.
Our plan was fool proof. At the end of school (Early May), Paula would venture down to Alabama, move in with her mom and dad, and I would bunk up with a friend here at work. We could easily save money, as our expenses would be minimal. We would travel to see each other as often as possible, taking into account money, time, and work load. The picture to the right was taken on May 1, 1999. Here, they've completed the first floor of the house.
The second story was only a few days behind. The picture to the right was taken on May 3, 1999. This, by the way, was our 14Th. wedding anniversary. This picture was taken only two days after the one above it. As I mentioned, the framing process goes rather quickly.
To prove my point even more, the picture to the right was taken only 4 days after the one above. As you can see, the house is pretty much framed and roofed. And, look, we've got GRASS!!!
Add a few more days, and you've got roofing, and some siding. Also notice the "Carolina Blue" sky. This scene reminds me of the movie Money Pit, with Tom Hanks and Shelly Long.
Here's what the house looked like the first day in June. As you can see, the house is getting bricked, and the insulation guy is putting in the attic insulation. It's not complete on the outside, but it's getting closer.
Anyway, delays began to hit the construction process. It wasn't just our house. The entire nation seemed to be experiencing construction delays. Labor shortages, brick shortages, and sheet rock shortages. All were excuses why our house would not be ready until August 4, 1999.
- The payoff
We finally closed on our new house on August 3, 1999. The movers moved everything into the garage, and we finally are allowed to enjoy our new house. New furniture will be here shortly (That's another story - no comment).
It was a very tough summer for us. Paula and the kids were in Fairhope. I was here in Charlotte, working about 60-70 hours a week on a very important project for work (You know, that Y2K thing).
We are truly blessed to have this house. We're now fully moved into our new house, and we love it. We continue to work on it (Shelves installed in garage only a few weeks ago), but we're comfortable and settled.
Click here for a video clip of our completed house. (Requires Microsoft Media Player. Click here for details).
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