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This may actually be working!

June 14th, 2014 at 07:17 am

Today was the inspection and the meeting with contractor #2. Both went really well; the inspection raised some concerns with the house but nothing too expensive and no deal-breakers. Some may be fixed by the sellers or we may be able to wrangle a couple thousand off purchase price; if not we'll probably just deal with them ourselves as money comes available.

The contractor's quote was breathtakingly reasonable. He has to add a few things to it that we discussed and didn't get added, plus one more task we decided we couldn't do ourselves (installing closet doors in the bedroom). But seeing his rates for the other tasks I'm not worried. He definitely has an eye toward doing a good job so we'll hire him for more work in the new place, which seems good.

I took a run through the budget for the rest of the year, and it looks like we can fully fund the downsized renovations by early November. We need to do it all in the next couple months, so that means we'll need to float some of the work on credit. This contractor doesn't take credit cards, so we'll charge other things and defer paying them off until we have enough money to do so. I'm not sure when it would be OK to apply for a new 0% credit card, so I'll probably ask the broker his opinion.

It'll be a bit complicated, but no more so than the credit card churn or a lot of other budget things I've done. And, even if we're advised not to get another card and have to use our interest-bearing ones, we won't be carrying balances for very long. Even if there are necessary renos to the new place before December, it won't stretch it out too much longer.

It looks doable, and there's even some room for error. I'll still be glad when we're on a more routine budget, but I'm feeling pretty confident. I can't believe how quickly things have happened! So much has changed in the past month. Now that there's less uncertainty with financing, inspection and cost of renovations, I'm allowing myself to get more excited about the new home.

4 Responses to “This may actually be working!”

  1. snafu Says:
    1402735456

    Well done, you've cleared hurdles at an amazing rate. We're all wishing you well and cheering every step forward. The next while will be incredibly busy and demand so many decisions, I suggest adding a package of page protectors to a binder for contracts, receipts, lists, projects, their required order & who is primary, colour swatches, flooring samples/options, lighting, hardware, etc. to keep everything corralled in one place.

    The combination of repairing, updating, changing-out, painting etc. staging to sell and moving is OMG stressful. I think moving was #5 on the list of life's largest stressors and you've a refurbish overlay. It really helps to be a list person as so many projects rely on things done in order so that expensive trades aren't standing around waiting for materials or equipment or the electrician can finish so the plumber can complete his tasks. Experience taught me to measure twice and even have someone re-check my figures as it's expensive and annoying to buy too much or too little product.

    I wondered if it was possible to pre-pack and removed all un needed belongings to make it easier to carry out plans. It would be wonderful if you could park boxed items in the basement of your new house. Alternatively, more work and cost to rent a storage unit for the stuff that will need to go for staging.

    ...just random thoughts

  2. creditcardfree Says:
    1402752507

    So glad it seems to be working!

  3. laura Says:
    1402764597


    Enjoy!

  4. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1402776307

    I hope things continue to go smoothly!

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