Unsuccessful...

CC and I have been in Florida for the past 5 days. CC had an interview and a site visit and we were going to spend some serious time looking for a house. We arrived on Monday afternoon and drove straight over to Cooter's. They were having all you can eat crab legs so we thought we would dive straight into our vacation. We moved from there to the beach for a couple of hours before heading to the hotel. CC had an interview the next morning followed by a full afternoon of looking at houses. Dad drove over Tuesday and met us at the first house. We traveled around all afternoon without finding anything that suited our needs. Dad wasn't feeling well so he checked into the hotel. We decided to go out to eat. CC received an email from Texas de Brazil. I had never been there before and so we went. The special on the e-mail included a bottle of wine and dessert with our meal. It was SO GOOD! The gauchos walk around with different types of meat that has been roasted on a spit. Beef ribs, sausages, Fillet Mignon, flank steak, roasted lamb, lamb chops, chicken, etc. The list goes on and on. It was a fabulous dinner.

The next day we were back at it again. CC went to a site visit at a hospital that had already offered him a position and we were all off again. We looked and looked and looked. Again, nothing that "spoke" to us. We were very disappointed but what can you do? We had dinner at Cooter's and Dad left to go back home to Orlando that evening.

Thursday was to be our last full day in Tampa so we decided to go out and do something. We decided on the zoo. We arrived late morning and were overwhelmed by the number of buses and school children running around. I decided maybe the zoo wasn't such a great idea. (At least not at that time of day) and we decided to drive around looking at homes in areas we knew we liked. We saw some homes in Hyde Park that were extremely expensive. We were priced out of that area pretty quick. Most of Ybor is condos and apartments. We hit up Old Clearwater Beach and found a couple fixer uppers that could potentially work....


Then we saw it! We found this house in the Largo area.

This house absolutely rocks! It is a foreclosure and we were able to look in all of the windows. It has high ceilings, all tiled floor, granite counters, stainless steel appliances and an outdoor kitchen. This particular piece of property also sits on a lake and is only 3 miles from the hospital that interviewed CC.

We were very taken with this house. Finally! Something we like that is in our price range. I know I was wanting to downsize (this house is 3,000 sq ft. same as my current house), but wow! Can you say Wow? It was something we decided we had to have. I called my father. We were going to put a bid on this house without even going in. We figured that anything major will be found on the inspection and we would be able to really decide at that time. Daylight is burning and my current home is pending so sooner rather than later right? Wrong....

Dad called back not long after my original call to tell me this home was built with Chinese drywall... What? Chinese drywall? Really?

Apparently at one time there was a shortage of drywall (between 2001-2007) and drywall was
imported from China. This drywall, come to find out has something in it that when it comes into contact with humidity or moisture (Florida is just chock full of that), it releases a gas and liquid. Sulfuric acid! It eats all the copper and silver in the house. It requires remediation in order to properly fix the issue. So... That means drywall, molding, carpet, tiles, vinyl, appliances, mirrors, wiring, copper plumbing, any electronics that were in the house, etc. Basically stripping out the entire inside of the house to studs and rebuilding. This is a bank owned property. They said they got an estimate for remediation on this house and the figure they were given is 130k... 130k!!! Holy cow! CC and I have gone over all of the numbers, what we can offer on the house in order to have the money to fix it. It is practically haunting us. We just can't make the math work so we are passing on this house. Damn... I really hope the third time is the charm.

A Hunting We Will Go......

CC and I will be on our way to Florida bright and early Monday morning. We have identified several houses we want to check out. They are grouped in three areas... One is Tampa proper, one is Clearwater/Largo, and the last is Brandon/Valrico.

CC's last day at the job from hell was Friday. He doesn't have a job to go to yet but I told him to quit. That job sucked the life out of him. I can't stand seeing him so miserable. He has been applying at hospitals in Florida and has been offered a job over in the Brandon area. That is really not the area we want to be in. He has another interview or two this week so hopefully it is in a more desirable part of the Bay area.

The Son is staying home. He now has a job and will be working through his spring break. I think it will be good for him. He will be going down with us when we close on a place and can move some of our things. He seems to like the responsibility of a job which is good. I hope he can be trusted with the house while we are gone.

I received another offer on the house. Everyone is wanting it for free. I am not going to give it away. I will be losing money which I knew I would but I don't think I should make poor financial decisions just because I want to sell. It hasn't been on the market that long. There is still plenty of time.

Time Flies When You are with the Right Person...

It's a bit hard to believe but CC and I have been back together as a couple for a whole year. It seems like this year has just flown by. Of course, my Dad says we act like a couple married for 10 years. CC's response is, "it should be 20". Of course then I chime in, "Yes, it's my fault". :)

Seriously though, I know that this has been a hard thing for CC to get used to, all of the teenager stuff and what not that goes on around here. I am so thankful he has stuck it out this long. Lord knows I would have left a long time ago were it not for the fact Child Protective Services would have something to say about it. LOL!

I just know this is where I was always meant to be and I am so glad we are an us.

I love you CC! Happy Anniversary!

Really?

Ok, on the whole, the past week has been pretty nice around here since the Son got his driver's license. He has been in and out, going through fuel likes it's free, but hey, he has only had the license for less than a week so I am trying to cut him some slack. But this morning, he really stepped it out there.

He has this idea that I should let his girlfriend stay the night over here. Now... I know they have had sex, hell, I have busted them in the act. I do not have to condone nor encourage that behavior. He says that she will sleep in the guest room and he will take her to school in the morning. Blah, blah, blah.....

Really? How stupid do I look? Really? I sleep like a log. There is no way in hell I will have that. It would be different if the roads were bad, there was a blizzard, we were on vacation and we were going to have to separate everyone but really? I don't know in whose book this is okay. Of course, according to him, Elliot's GF stays the night and he stays over there. Well, his GF was pregnant at one time but lost the baby. Of course, all of this is probably not true. But, there are parents who buy alcohol for their kids on spring break. When I was young, the parents did not go with on spring break and we figured out how to get our own alcohol. I cannot even imagine asking my mother. Anyway, if it's so OK with the GF's mother like he says it is, stay over there. Of course, he has NEVER asked to stay over there so there is the answer. A bunch of lying going on.

He told me it was "gay" that I wouldn't let her stay. etc. so on, and so forth. Whatever. I am not here to win a popularity contest, I am a parent. I cannot WAIT to sell this house. It is way too big and I am sure that he would not be so eager if he thought I could hear everything going on. What in the hell is this world coming to when teens feel this behavior is okay?

The Search Continues....

Well, CC isn't moving this month. The appraisal on the house came back almost 40k less than the contract price. The comps just weren't there. The listing agent tried to appeal by sending in additional comps but even my untrained eye knew they weren't true comparables. The search continues. The owner of the home has a mortgage on it and can't take such a hit. We would be insane to continue moving forward when we would have the mortgage paid off before the value of the house bounced back 40k.

We are going to go to Florida this month but mainly just to keep looking at properties. We won't be taking the Son and the GF as there is no need. We will be flying. The Son can watch the house and work... (he is still trying to find a job). I told him today and he is disappointed but I have told him all along this might happen so this should not be surprising to him.

CC was sooooo looking forward to quitting his awful job and moving this month. I hate it that this fell through. Everything happens for a reason and I am hoping there is a damn good one for this. We will continue to look and will do all of the due diligence up front. This whole deal has cost almost 1k and we are starting over. It is what it is I suppose. Still.... Damn.

Licensed to Drive

Well, the day finally came. The Son chilled out over the past two weeks and today is the day that he was able to take his driving exam. The Son is now a licensed driver. God save us all!

It is 7:00 and he is still out running since school let out. He sounds happy. Tomorrow he can spend all afternoon looking for a job. I've given him two weeks. If you aren't employed, you have no need for a car. We shall see....

Still no new news on the house. The listing agent is attempting to find alternate comps to send to the appraiser. As CC said on his site, the waiting is the hardest part...