Our New Home Pics

Here are just a few of the many BEFORE THE AUSTINS pictures I took today of our new home come late October (sign in to see all of them).  We already have big plans for the home - including a closet in the laundry room and drop zone in the big garage and I see plantation shutters on order in our near future! We will make it our own.

Here is the sales description:
New Home, 2-Story, 4 Bedrm/4 Bath, Craftsman Style-stone & Stucco Front, 4 Car Gar W/Opener, Covered Patio, Beautiful Gourmet Kitchen W/Upgraded Appliances. Master Suite W/Sitting Room And Huge Closet. Master Bath Has Large Ceramic Tile Shower And Whirlpool, & Ceramic Tile Floor. Finished Basement Approx 900 Sqft. Huge Rec Room, 1/2 Bath, Possible 5th Bedrm. All Sits On A High Sightly Corner Lot.

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Nobody is Perfect

Nobody is perfect, not even us. So, let me take a moment to point our a few of our many flaws because I do not want people to get the wrong impression (either that we think we are perfect or that we actually are God for bid!).

Alivia: Okay, Alivia is perfect...at least most of the time! :) She can be, however, a big Deva at times.
Addison: She is too much like her mommy, and that is her only flaw. So sorry, Addison, your Mommy missed the perfect gene.
Asher: Oh Asher. Asher, hum, he is a little tougher to call out on. Oh, he likes to pull Addison's hair, wear the girls' headbands - but he wears them like head gear - even into public places! He has also been known to carry a purse and push a baby stroller carrying his cars and rocks.
Chris: He is pretty close to perfect too. :) He is not the best at picking up after himself but I think he married me for that reason. He also is not the best at voicing his needs & people sometime take advantage of his generousity, but again - I fill in there sometimes, too.
Me: Well, how much time do you have? I am a perfectionist, workaholic, typically a ball of nerves, I rarely give myself time to relax, I eat very little and what I eat is not always good for me, I hate messes (and do not know how I will live until we are fully settled),  I do not tolerate people walking on me or my family, I have no tolerance for gossipers, I value family and am not found of those who do not, I yell to get my needs heard (but usually nobody can hear me then, either), I rarely sleep, I speak up too much when sometimes it would just be better to not speak at all, I stop talking to people (family included) who lack values that our family shares (like honesty, respect, unselfishness, Christian beliefs, etc), etc, etc. Seriously, I could go on and on and on.

So, just to clear the air - The Austin Family is not perfect or do we think we are. Sorry to disappoint y'all.

Enough said.

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Stressed Out

Can we say STRESSED OUT! And just think....I don't do anything! Imagine if I did...what would I be like then? (Just since Monday my Mom and I have packed up probably 60% of the house and hauled it to the garage, all this during a radon test where you are not supposed to open doors and/or windows!).

Anyway, today was our walk through for the inspection of what is to be our new home. There were some minor things that will need to be addressed, all under the builder's one year warranty. Mind you, this was Chris' pick. Although I liked it when we walked through it, I was not really going down the check list because I thought the gray house was so much better and that is the one we would bid on. Oh, guess what? There is not even a coat closet!! I am floored! Who builds a home at this price point without even a place to hang your hat??!! I am seriously beside myself! So, before we even move in, I have it on my list tomorrow to call this guy to build us a coat closet in the laundry room and a drop zone in the 4 car garage. Seriously, I am not very impressed so far.

If I have said it once, I will say it a million times again - don't move unless you absolutely have to! Not worth the stress! At this point, I would give anything to just stay put! If we had to do it all over again, I would throw the poop back at the neighbors and grill up the hotdogs, stick them on a bun, and deliver them to there door! Why is it that only my hindsight is 20/20?

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The Beginning of the End

Today, after the homeowners of the home we bought in Shadow Lake seemed to be dragging their feet, Chris and I went to the Open House on the Gray home in Lakewood Villlages that we still had a contract on hold with just to be sure (Mind you, there was nothing in writing yet with the corner lot yet). After looking at the home, we drove by what would be the school. I initially thought the kids would be attending the new Bellevue Elementary up the street from the home. However, it was actually a Papillion Elementary school 5 miles from the home! Yep...nope! That house was not it! Being 5 miles away from school was not convenient AT ALL! And, the school...well, it just was not nice. I would go 10 miles for a nice school...but this was not even a comparison.

All things considered, I liked the Lakewood home itself better because of what it offered. However, it was a close toss up between the 2 homes (obviously) and the one we selected for Location and schools, among other things. So, all papers are signed, and we are all completely happy with the decision. Now, back to packing...

Our New Home in Shadow Lake

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The Austin House Buying Drama

Oh, nobody would believe what our lives have been like the last couple of days. Nobody buys houses like Chris and I...we bought 2 in 2 days! Oh, please, allow me to explain.

Thursday evening the offer went in for the gray house that had everything (in my mind) except the finished basement. Chris was not happy when we put in the offer because he just was not ready to make the commitment. Time was ticking and I felt we should move forward. So, without saying this to either me or our agent Michael, Chris signed the offer on the gray house thinking it would never go through because it was for $12000 under her asking price.

Well, low and behold, it was accepted! We put the offer in and told the agent/owner that this was THE only offer Chris was willing to give her...which was true. So, she was left with no choice if she wanted to sell but to accept our first offer. After it was accepted, Chris was not happy. Our offer, however, expired at 12 noon on Friday, and she emailed our agent with acceptance at 12:15, so the offer had expired. So, we were not legally bound to the contract. So, the agent agreed to hold off on the paperwork so Chris could hash out his feelings and decide. She was completely understanding.

So, today at 12 noon, Chris finally decided to put an offer in on the corner lot home in Shadow Lake for nearly $14000 under their asking price. Keep in mind, these people closed on this home July 2 and then were relocated and have to sell. Their asking price was already 10 grand under what we thought they paid for the home on July 2. They, of course, counter offed for $5000 under their asking price. Chris then said I will offer one more time, $12000 under their asking price - but this is my final offer. If they decline this offer, we will accept the offer on the gray home and move forward. The people accepted! In the end, the people paid more than we thought for this home on July 2, making our purchase price $25,000 less than their new construction price on July 2! Seriously!!!

So, we signed a release from the gray home that I will have to get over and will approve the counter offer tomorrow on this corner lot!

All in all, Chris and I are excited. Chris' parents liked the corner lot (although Chris' Mom has only seen pictures), and my parents really liked the gray house. So, you can see, they were both nice homes making it a really difficult decision to make. In the end, we would have been happy in either home because both homes and both are nice. This home is, unlike the gray home, move in ready. The basement is finished, we got the refridgerator in our offer, and it has a rock'n 4 1/2 car garage! The flat lot is better than the forest lot of the gray home in that the kids can go right out and play and I can see them while I make and clean up dinner (you can not see kids in walk out lots as well - and they could not go out without us to the forest, at least initially). We liked the Shadow Lake area better for the close shopping and walking trails. Nobody can say I can not compromise, either. I really wanted a more convenient laundry room (on the 2nd floor would have been so nice!), I really thought the kids would really love their own bath access, I really wanted the drop zone, and I really wanted the view. But, in the end, Chris really wanted this house more than I wanted the gray house.

We are so excited to FINALLY have a home to move into on October 23...and the bargain price of $25000 off is just icing on the cake!

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Offer #1 is In...

Last night we put in our first offer on our next home, maybe.

Here it is...

We were in a even race between this one and another one. Chris really liked the other one because it featured a 4 car garage, nice kitchen appliances and huge black island, finished basement, and it had a HUGE corner lot in the neighborhood he preferred. With that said, I really liked this home (even though it did not have the OH LA LA factor we were looking for on the home front - we can change that somewhat) bc it featured higher quality throughout the home including double ovens in the kitchen, a drop zone, granite through the house in the 4 bathrooms - including a jack in jill bath between the girls rooms and a bath in Ashers room with a shower and a huge master bath with double shower heads and tile all over. There was no expensed barred here. The backyard, although smaller than the corner lot, backed to a private forest in which we would own part of. We could clear it out a bit to put in a firepit, install the swingset, and really make it look cool. It also had the walk out basement with deck that we initially set out to get, too, but the basement was not finished. This was a huge problem for Chris. I agree...it will be a HUGE pain to finish. However, we will finish it asap making this home 4000 finished sq feet (vs 3500 in the other home). It will not be as big of a pain to finish because it is a walk out and I will insist that the workers come through the basement.

With all of this said, they may not accept our offer. The home is owned by the listing real estate agent. She was an invester with the builder of this home who went bankrupt. So, she bought the home, finishing it up. She is quite personally invested in the home and probably will not take our offer - and we know that. I just thought I would be upset if we did not try because this home had everything, more of less, that we set out looking for. I could check everything off the list but a 4 car garage and finished basement. Can not make it into a 4 car garage but can finish the basement.

We will see. She has until noon!

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Losing My Mind

I believe I am losing my mind or at least on the verge.

Yesterday was our big home shopping day. Although it was kinda fun to look at what was available to us, the closure to the day brought the stress of making the right decision on one of them. After narrowing the field to 3 or 4 homes, Chris quickly narrowed it to the one he thought we should first try to move forward with. We think we are going to put in an offer today. In the mean time, I have been thinking and rethinking about the narrowed list and am just hoping we are making the right choice. Out of our list of 3 (the fourth home was in Whitehawk in Southwest Omaha and Chris quickly eliminated it based upon the distance from work. If that home was in Papillion, we would totally put an offer in on that one!), I don't really think we can go wrong. The homes are relatively the same price, give or take a couple grand here or there (which is just a drop in the bucket when you get to this point!). I want to move forward so we have time to move onto other homes if the first home does not work out. This is so stressful! But, it is not near as stressful as selling, let me tell you. It is just we all have that running list of what we want in a home - and that home simply does not exist for us unless we build. In today's market and perhaps moving forward, builders insist that you sell your home first and then take out a construction loan for your home you are building. Although we all think our home will sell and sell within the 6-8 month building process, that is just not happening in today's market. Some homes we looked at were on the market 320+ days and were quite nice! We were amazed they were not selling.

The process is putting a toll on our kids, too. Addison and Asher have been more clingy than usual. Last night, both of them awoke during the night insisting on sleeping with us. So, I got up at 4 AM because I could not sleep on the sliver of the bed that was left for me. Ugh! Alivia has been taking it all in stride, but she is not liking the idea of going to a new school. We hope to get her over to the new school on Monday since she has the day off.

Now, with just slits for eyes because I am so tired, I have begun the scary process of packing out home. My mom has agreed to help a bit with the packing since this job will more of less be solely mine. I would like to get it all packed up so we are ready to go moving week and for moving day, October 23rd (if all goes well).

So, stay tuned. Hopefully in 3 days or less, we will know which home we will be living in. In the meantime, I will struggle to hang on to whatever little sanity I have left.

 

 

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Shopping Time!

Particular Chris

Today is the day...the day we get to go house shopping! I love shopping, especially for a new house! I am so excited to see what is available for us to put an offer in on.

We have 9 houses on the list, four of which we have seen before (and one of those we have seen twice already - I love it, Chris does not). We also have one for sale by owner that is working with agents. We have 3 in Southwest Omaha, one in Rockbrook (I know...very out of the box for us...but worth a shot!) and the rest are in the Papillion area. Chris has agreed to expand the search to get what we want, but we still, if we had our way, prefer to live in Papillion. We are not leaving building out of the question. With that said, it will be a last resort! To build, we have to move into an apartment until our home is finished next summer, putting all of our stuff into storage. We would get the house we want on the land we want...yes. But building a house is like buying a new car - you pay A LOT more for new. One home we are looking at is a relocation and they just closed on the home this last July...so it is only a couple months old! They started out priced 10 grand below what they paid to build (it is amazing what you can find out on the county websites!). We have ruled out the near foreclosures or foreclosures for a couple reasons. One of the homes was in Copperfields in Elkhorn and had taxes just until $12000 a year! That is $1000 a month in taxes! And, that does not change! Additionally, these homes take a while to go through - and we do not have time on our side. Lastly, they are typically as is and need work. They are priced below the market because you need to put thousands of dollars into them to fix them back up to par. No thanks!

I am so excited I could not sleep last night! Our plan is to narrow down the field to one-two homes, ponder and call the bank tomorrow, offer late tomorrow or early Friday. OMG - I am so excited!!

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Shopping Time!

Today is the day...the day we get to go house shopping! I love shopping, especially for a new house! I am so excited to see what is available for us to put an offer in on.

We have 9 houses on the list, four of which we have seen before (and one of those we have seen twice already - I love it, Chris does not). We also have one for sale by owner that is working with agents. We have 3 in Southwest Omaha, one in Rockbrook (I know...very out of the box for us...but worth a shot!) and the rest are in the Papillion area. Chris has agreed to expand the search to get what we want, but we still, if we had our way, prefer to live in Papillion. We are not leaving building out of the question. With that said, it will be a last resort! To build, we have to move into an apartment until our home is finished next summer, putting all of our stuff into storage. We would get the house we want on the land we want...yes. But building a house is like buying a new car - you pay A LOT more for new. One home we are looking at is a relocation and they just closed on the home this last July...so it is only a couple months old! They started out priced 10 grand below what they paid to build (it is amazing what you can find out on the county websites!). We have ruled out the near foreclosures or foreclosures for a couple reasons. One of the homes was in Copperfields in Elkhorn and had taxes just until $12000 a year! That is $1000 a month in taxes! And, that does not change! Additionally, these homes take a while to go through - and we do not have time on our side. Lastly, they are typically as is and need work. They are priced below the market because you need to put thousands of dollars into them to fix them back up to par. No thanks!

I am so excited I could not sleep last night! Our plan is to narrow down the field to one-two homes, ponder and call the bank tomorrow, offer late tomorrow or early Friday. OMG - I am so excited!!

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Got Boxes?

The box Motherload!

I have amazed myself  and the kids this morning (in what I can get done, that is). But first, let me explain.

Last night, I called Walmart to see if they could hold back boxes for us. I was told they do not hold boxes, it is first come first serve. If I wanted boxes, I would need to be there by 7. Seriously? How will I manage that?

Well, with help from Asher! Today he woke up at 6:20 for some reason yelling, "Mommy! Mommy!" This yelling woke up Addison and Alivia. So, we got up, dressed, did our hair, etc, made the beds, and arrived at Walmart at 6:50 and raced to where the boxes were to be.

The person who helped me said the boxes had already been broken down and sent back. What? Seriously? I got all the kiddos ready for NOTHING? She ended up coming up with 3 whole boxes. Whoa...

I then went to pick up some donuts for the kids to make it worth the trip for them at this early hour. On the way, I saw the potato chip man delivering chips in many boxes! He had hundreds laying on the floor. So, I asked if I could have any, and he said we could take as many as we wanted! We hit the box jackpot!! Yeah! We were at home and eating donuts by 7:20...just in time to see the end of Curious George.

Now, let the packing fun begin!

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It's Sold!!

That's right! Our home of just over 9 years sold today! We accepted a contract for just under our asking price of $215,000 just after lunch time today. The buyers were easy to work with and did not ask for any closing costs (which people many times do in this buyers market). They initially asked for the playset, even though it clearly stated in the house ad that it was not included, but were okay when we countered without the playset.

So, the weekend of October 23 (yes, in 4 short weeks!), Chris and I are busy...busy moving! Now, the question is...to where?

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Taking a Safari!

Day at Safari

Today was one crazy day! I arrived home from work just in time to say good-bye to the kiddos and Chris as they went to visit Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Bob, playing at the park and more! Chris even golfed a little. I woke up from my brief nap to someone at the door wanting to see our home an hour early. What? I'm sleeping! Chris came and picked me up and we were off to the Simmons' Wildlife Safari (during another afternoon open house).

This was Chris' first Nebraska Safari. It is so cool seeing American Elk, Buffalo, deer, cranes, American Eagles and more from the car window right up close and personal. We love it there! It is so pretty, too. The kids loved it, too. We saw the bear up close, but missed the wolves. Chris thought for the money you pay (it is rather expensive for the 4 mile stretch), he thought you would get to walk up to bears! You go for it Daddy...we will watch from behind the fence.  It was a wild ride today, but memories we won't soon forget.

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Nearly Skunked

It is nearly autumn. With that, by the time we put the kids to bed and I get out to run, it is dark. It is dark and scary. For the last few days, we have had a nice scent of skunk in the mornings, and I have smelled skunk at night when I run. That brings me to last night. we put the kids to bed and it took a little longer than usual. Then, I was out for my run. Of course, just when I get to the furthest point away from our house, I spot what I thought was a black and white cat ahead, crossing the road in front of me. As I got closer, like within a few feet, I realized - THAT IS NOT A CAT!!! THAT IS A SKUNK!!!! I had an episode of Curious George where he got skunked multiple times and had to have multiple tomato juice baths running through my mind. Now, the problem was, I was on a street that was only half complete with many homes still under construction. With no where to go, I backed away. I watched as the skunk when into one of the homes under construction. I, of course, sprinted by and all the way home. Whew!

Next is to ask Chris if I can run before dinner or something when he gets home from work. I just do not want to run in the dark, all scared, where I can get skunked!

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Just to make you laugh

As you all know, I love Walmart. Okay, it is not Target. But, Walmart has the best prices, price matches ads of competition, and we are stockholders! (I shop so much there I figured I may as well!). Anyway, Chris emailed me this site. Oh, check it out. Made me pay more attention to those shoppers around me as much as I pay attention to the prices. Also, I try to look nicer than I used to so I do not get on this site!

THE PEOPLE OF WALMART

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Choo Choo at the Zoo

September Visit to the Zoo

This morning we decided to make the best out of the last days of summer and visit the zoo. We visited the aquarium, the petting zoo, and many of the outdoor animals (avoiding the busy indoor places at all costs!). We topped off our visit using our free train passes from members day and a nice little picnic in the garden (avoid picnics in the garden if you do not like sharing your picnic with many bees). We had  a fun, but exhausting morning.

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