The Home Inspection

The housing inspection definitely caused both Jonathan and I some major anxiety. Not having much experience or knowledge of all the features/construction of a house or building structure I was shocked at how many things the inspector wrote up as having problems in the house. Although it is their job to find everything that has issues, it was quite overwhelming to read and then attempt to make a decision upon whether to move forward with the house or not. Keeping in mind that the house is 90 years old, built in 1920, there was a long list of problems.

The old heating system and asbestos in the basement were a major concern as well as some water damage found upstairs along the sides of the roof, suggesting a new roof would be needed within a few years. The fireplace had never been used by the previous owners and the inspector did aware us that there was no lining. The front room appeared to be on a slight slant which suggested that there was some “sinking” as the house settled. Additionally, cracks on some of the walls and ceilings were also the result of the house settling. There were a few minor electrical and plumbing issues as well. Externally, the back deck was very unstable and would need to be ripped down and rebuilt. Cosmetically, the house needed a major paint job as the white trim was peeling in several spots. The in ground pool in the back was covered for the winter and we were unable open and inspect due to the weather conditions so that feature was a complete gamble on our part (will update you on the status come spring)! What a nightmare to see this list and then try to make a decision whether to move forward with the major purchase or not. We had to seriously question if we could afford some of the more immediate repairs (heating system and roof) as well as some of the cosmetic fixes that we also found important (painting of the exterior and rebuilding of the deck). Thanks to the house tax credit we came to the conclusion that we should be able to afford some of the more major repairs this year as we continue to save our money for the other repairs. The hardest thing in the process is overcoming the immediate desire to fix everything immediately when realistically it just cant be done. It will take us years to fix and renovate everything to how we want it but at the end of the day, that’s really the fun of it all!

Deciding Where to Live- What Town?

After growing up on the North Shore, living in Boston, then moving to New York, I wasn’t sure on what area I would want to live in when moving back to Massachusetts. A few important features to consider were location, neighborhoods, proximity to stores/shopping centers and public transportation. Jonathan is from South of Boston and knew the south shore well having grown up just outside of the city. I definitely knew I was interested in living in a more urban area as convenience is important to me, particularly after previously living in New York City where everything I could possibly need was no more than a few blocks away. In addition, prior to living in New York City I had lived in downtown Boston while I attended Northeastern for my undergraduate degree.
Jonathan had been living in a town called Quincy which is 8 miles outside of Boston. When compared to the area where I grew up, Quincy has smaller yards due to closer proximity of other houses, older style houses and a more city like atmosphere vs. my suburban upbringing. However, I liked that it was near the ocean, close enough to Boston to have access to the T and that it was considered a smaller “city.” Ultimately, I decided that at this stage of my life (late 20’s, full time professional) that Quincy is a convenient location that fits my current lifestyle.
As I started familiarizing myself with the different neighborhoods in Quincy I quickly was able to narrow down the areas that I could see myself living in. Near the ocean was my preference; however the housing costs were much higher near the water. I also liked the area near the boarding town of Milton called Wollaston. I knew I didn’t want to live on a main road and that I would like to be close to public transportation.
Reflecting back on my decision to live in Quincy, I am happy with it. Although it’s a bit far from my family and Bentley, I love the closeness to Boston and to the ocean. I love all the parks and hiking areas such as Blue Hills. I feel as though I am centrally located to many of my favorite stores and shopping centers and that I can enjoy a downsized version of city life without the craziness of it all.

The Home Buying Process

Taking a step back from the current ongoings of the house, I thought I should give you all some background on my road to home ownership. Jonathan and I started looking for houses at the beginning of December of 2009. Our criteria was a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom home with a fenced in yard for the dog. Some of other features we were interested in were a garage, a front porch and a yard. Lucky Jonathan had a friend who was a Realtor who helped us out with the whole process. He gave us advice on several issues on what to look for in the house and what to avoid. In addition he helped us find the local bank to get our mortgage through and insurance company.
Most of the homes we saw in Quincy, which was our #1 town of choice, were very old and we soon found out that within our price range a lot of repairs would need to be done internally and externally. However we were ok with this as long as the price was right as we wanted to make the house our own. After seeing about 8-10 houses we found two that we were very interested in. One house, the second that we viewed, we fell in love with which I will call the Green House. It had many unique features such as two window seats and an open floor plan with a newly renovated kitchen. In addition it had an in ground pool. However, the heating system was very old, there were several cracks in the walls/ceilings due to sinking and some water stains. The other house was about 40k more than the green house but it was a block from the beach and would need no work with all rooms newly renovated and in good shape. However it was at a fork in the road and it had little to no yard. It was a tough decision for both of us but before we were able to put a bid in on either house, the beach house accepted another offer. We found out the news 2 days before Christmas and decided to take a few days off to think over our options. We decided to put in a bid on the green house which needed more work then the beach house but was less money and negotiated the price with the owner soon coming to an agreement.
We originally had thought that when going into this process we would have the negotiating power due to the poor economy and sluggish house market but we certainly felt the heat as we saw many offers being put on the houses we were interested in even during the holidays. Overall we didn't get the bargain we had thought we would but we both felt really good about the house. The owners of the green house agreed to a quick closing as they had already purchased another home but we were waiting on the bank to approve us for a loan. This was quite a stressful waiting process. We had some issues getting approved for PMI which is required for new home owners who are putting down less than 15%. At the end the bank decided to up our interest rate and go without the PMI which we were fine to as we were eager to complete the whole process. The actual closing was stressful and overwhelming with the amount of paperwork that we had to sign. But we were DONE and it felt great :)

First week in house

It has been a full week in the house and we are almost unpacked. We closed last Thursday January 28th at 10pm. We were so excited to move into our house on Pine St in the Wollaston section of Quincy. Being from the north shore, I am still new to the south shore area but am super excited about exploring the area and being closer to Boston.
Jonathan and I started moving some small stuff in on Friday and slept here over night on the new areobed (thx rob & mb) our first night in the house. Despite all the excitement we ran into our first home owning issue, the heating system stopped working our first day in the house. It was the coldest weekend of the year so far in 2010 and we tried to make do with space heaters but it wasn't doing enough. Afraid of the pipes freezing and the creation of a huge problem our first night in the house we had a friend of the family's who works on heating systems come by and help us out. Thankfully it was fixed by the afternoon and didn't tap into our dwindling bank accounts after the closing. We knew that the heating system was old from the home inspection (dating back approximately 30+ years) but we decided to take a chance on it knowing that it would have to be replaced within the next few years.
Saturday was the big move in which both Jon and I moved all our belongings from our houses with the help from lots of friends. We ran into a few slight issues e.g the couch we purchased not fitting through the front door, and the refrigerator delivery guy dropping the fridge on his finger and screaming in pain (eek!) but other than that, we made out ok.
Over the past week we have been adjusting well to the house. We are almost unpacked and are now picking out paint colors for the living room and dining room. We also have a lot of staining to do since the woodwork needs quite a bitof TLC. And finally there is a lot of decorating to do which i plan to use the help of twitter (HGTV, home depot) and online browsing to give me some good ideas! Wish me luck!