Closed! But Not In.

Well we are officially homeowners -- and letters -- the family is renting from us per diem until next month when they move into their new house.

The closing went well -- a little chaotic (do they all have 12 people there, including an 18-month-old shooting toy cars across the conference table?) -- as did the walk-through (my dad coined it the St. Patrick's Day Parade instead of the walk-through; we had 7 people plus one of the sellers and her aforementioned 18 month old son there). Since the family is still in the apartment, we get another walk-through when they're out, but the appliances worked, the heat was on, and the bedroom is still lavender. We brought the contractor to the walk-through so he could give us an estimate on getting rid of said lavender walls, and he was really positive about our color ideas and had good suggestions on sprucing up the apartment.

The sellers, while annoying at the walk-through (the woman was literally in a see-through pj top and complained about her realtor using the key to get in the building -- she was giving her son "tubby time"), were fine at the closing, giving us the scoop on the neighbors, building staff, and their favorite neighborhood haunts. And, though a half-hour late, they had at least gotten dressed since the walk-through, so that was good.

Our lawyer was an all-star -- she made us feel so confident -- and the sellers' lawyer (brother's law partner) was an idiot in a matching tie and fake pocket hankie. "I practice ALL kinds of law" he said... yeah, but none well.

So, we're now well into our 7th month at my parents'. I certainly did not think it would be this long, but it actually seems like we're in our final weeks and I certainly can't complain about my their hospitality. The NY Times had an article a few months ago - Alexander, Mom and the Very Messy Stay - an interview with the author of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, who's son and his family lived with her during their home renovation. Almost everyone I knew pointed it out to me and it does address the frustrations that inevitably arise. But at least we legally own the place now and are on our way.

Bulletin Post

After the success of yesterday's desk, I wanted to create more for the apartment, but didn't have too many supplies or ideas that could come together at 10pm on a national holiday. I had, however, previously bought this four-pack of bulletin board squares from Staples, and had read (I can't remember where) an idea to cover cork panels with fabric, staple the fabric down in the back, and make a custom tac-board. I searched my closet for items destined for the Salvation Army and got cutting:




Blank squares; covered squares:



Our new boards are below - and are ready to move with us! (We confirmed today we're closing on Friday, but the sellers will rent from us for a week while they close on their new house)




I'm really not a crafty person - or a patient one - and I work full-time, so trust me when I say that this was super easy. I would recommend cutting out as many seams, zippers, and hems as possible from your fabric (to keep it as light and flat as possible for wall-hanging). I'm a bit worried about hanging these on the wall (especially with the flimsy double-sided tape that came with the pack), but think I can always nail them in securely. Also, I'll need to buy shallow tacs because the board isn't very thick. But I'm excited - I think they're cool!

MLK Day Project

After we received news last week that, again, the sellers messed up (not being a real estate lawyer, he didn't know that he had to order certain paperwork, so the closing got pushed back another week - tentatively scheduled for this Friday now), I swore I wouldn't talk or write about the apartment until we were moved in.

D. and I completed a fantastic DIY project today, so this is not *technically* writing about the new place, just about new piece of furniture that will *hopefully* move into the new place if we ever do.

My mother inherited the base of my great-grandmother's Singer sewing machine. We don't know when/where/how my great-grandmother bought it, but Singer started producing electronic sewing machines in the late 19th Century, so I'm assuming this manual piece is at least 100 years old. My parents told us we were welcome to make something out of it, and were thrilled with the idea of us bringing it back to life.

I was at the Container Store earlier today and found some inexpensive large wood shelves that I thought might work to build a console or work table. Luckily, D. was at home and available to measure the sewing machine and so I chose a piece of "driftwood" to fit the top (it may or may not actually be driftwood, as it is the Container Store - it more likely is a polyblend of some sort).

So here is our MLK Day Project, from start to finish:

The before photo:


We washed, brushed, and sanded; then oiled with mineral oil:



Drilled in the "driftwood"



And, for a $20 shelf and $20 in supplies, have an amazing (I think) work station!
The "after" pictures:

Hurry Up and Wait!

This closing thing certainly toys with one's emotions! D. and I - after the events, or non-events, of the past week - were convinced we were never going to move. We even started looking at rental listings. And we have been alternating nights of stressful non-sleep (I slept Saturday, Sunday, and last night; he slept Friday and Monday). But I got a call this morning that sketchy sellers' attorney/brother/mafioso wants to close on Monday! Yes, three business days from now. So this is great in theory, but the lawyer/bank folks realistically need a bit more time, as they were given NO warning, so we're actually looking at Thursday the 17th. So, in the past hour, I've locked into our mortgage rate (at a lower rate than we were even offered in December, let alone November!), bought a year's worth of insurance, cancelled some work meetings for next Thursday, and left my broker a message to schedule a walk-through.

As my insurance agent just said, "Wow, talk about 'hurry up and wait!"
As my lawyer said, "Wow, this guy is obviously not a real estate attorney."
I just say, "Wow, what is going to go wrong next!"

A Bronx Tale

So, to add to the post below (D. has been asleep for hours but I am still fuming over our real estate dealings and taking my anger out on the keyboard), I did some googling of the sellers' attorneys (the seller's brother's firm). I am dying to publicly post who they are, but I want to wait until we close to share this... but they are basically the most corrupt Bronx mobsters you could ask for. Caught up in state politics, Catholic church scandals, public affairs... I can't believe I didn't google them sooner! No wonder my lawyer has been scared to go after them. Wow, we really know how to pick them. Well this adds another interesting dimension of how we're going to deal with closing.

And then I googled the sellers themselves and they are just the cheesiest sketchiest people ever... I mean, they do have a lavender bedroom...

Real (Estate) Drama

I got a call from my realtor this morning, who was supposed to hear from our sellers' broker this past Thursday to confirm closing for next week. Our realtor just heard from their broker this morning, and only to hear that 'the attorneys are handling the closing.' This would be all well and good if the sellers' attorney (a.k.a. one of the sellers and his criminal law firm) would actually return our lawyer's calls. I don't think they're moved into their new house yet and I think they're stalling. And, because they don't seem to have, or be, a legitimate real estate lawyer, it's incredibly difficult to deal with them. But our contract calls for next week and our broker told them (a lie) that our mortgage would expire and we wouldn't be able to buy the place unless they scheduled the closing for next week.

Our attorney was out sick today, but tomorrow D. and I are ready to play good cop/bad cop - I've been very nice to everyone but, if our attorney hasn't heard from them tomorrow morning, D. is going to call her and be as firm as need be to tell her to get a date, one way or another, and find out what our next steps need to be. I am going to then tell our broker to tell the sellers' (a lie) that she is going to be showing us backup apartments. I don't know what else to do, but know that the sellers need to be intimidated a bit. Legally, in the NYC area, closing is an 'on-or-about' date, but the family also has an option to rent from us for 30 days, so I don't feel like I'd be kicking them out on the street - they obviously want to stay comfortably for free in the apartment until they're ready to leave. Criminal lawyers from the Bronx or not, I'm ready to take them on... wish me luck and good advice.

Laying It Out

D. and I were at a bar over Christmas week and started trying to draw the layout of our apartment on cocktail napkins, using lottery pencils. We definitely don't agree with how the current owners have the apartment laid out, but weren't sure of how the main room should work. The foyer leads right into the main living/dining area, but we are not formal people, don't watch too much TV, and are always working on projects, so we want the space to be workable - and not just the TV/Dining table-focus that the current owners have (they have their big dining set by the bay window and the TV in the middle of the room).

When we got home that night, D. laid out a rough blueprint (above) on CAD and we labeled how we think we will lay out the general areas. We added a 'work area' to a nook in the main room, because we know the way we live, and work won't be completely relegated to the office - more likely, we will want to be social and be able to work at the same time.

We were inspired by D.'s brother and sister-in-law who have a great art table in a nook near their kitchen that they seem to use often. Hopefully we can install something similar that we'll use a ton.

I printed out a few copies of the plans and sketched out furniture and art ideas (and it was much easier than doing it on the cocktail napkins). I'm having fun playing around with the plans and looking forward to our hopefully imminent move (things are moving along, but the Christmas/New Years holidays seemed to slow down the work).