House for sale Again

I finally gave my property manager her notice. $175 a month for collecting and depositing a check was a bit extravigant. I had a few grievances about the service charges I received on top of her monthly fee. I thought everything was fine with the renters. I notified the renters that they would be paying me starting in August. They responded with the fact that they didn't like the small lot or the neighbors and did this void the lease agreement so they could move.

I did some research and a dear friend sent me a link to the state law regarding property manager termination and lease agreements. The lease stands, thank goodness. Just like banks transfering ownership of mortgages, the lease just becomes our property and the property manager relinquishes interest  and liability in the lease. The tenants don't want to sign a new lease, I don't want to cancel the old one, which just started in March.

Knowing that the tenants don't want to stay. I put the house back on the market both as a rental and as a for sale by owner. We want someone in there who will want to stay long term or buy it.  We'll take what ever comes first. The tenant is willing to show the house since the sooner we get someone new in there, the sooner he can leave with agreeable terms, both of us agreeing to break the lease without penalty. I agreed to give him back the deposit as soon as I have a replacement. It was a win win for both of us. He'll show the place nicely and I wont have to drive down there each time. The nice thing is I have until next March to work this project. Hopefully, we will have it resolved before then with someone new living in the house. Luckily it is peak season for rentals and real estate.

I did tell the tenant that I had bought all that paint for them in their prefered colors.Luckily the colors are all pretty good.  They had tackled a couple of the rooms, and done a great job. Those rooms looked better than when I lived there,  but one room had been started and not finished. I asked him to finish the rooms he had started as I would have to hire some one to fix those unfinished or partial rooms. The fix costs would come out of the deposit.  He agreed to that point.

He is showing the house today. I had a call to see it for a potential rental, someone wanting to upsize from a small house, with children. I am hopeful we find someone soon for both our sakes, either to buy the house or rent it. Buying it would be dreamy. Nice thing is it behooves the tenants to have the yard and house in tip top shape to get a new person to take it off his hands quickly so he can get out from under his lease without a big penalty.

 3078 square feet, 4 bedroom 2.5 bathroom, 2 car attached garage, built in 2002

$265,000 to buy  or $1800 a month

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home from NY

Riley got home from New York last night. The plane landed early but the re was a nother plane at the gate so they didn't disembark until their regularly scheduled time of 11:58 pm. I was waiting at the end of the concourse as they don't let people go to the gates anymore. Riley was all wound up and excited about his trip. He had had an awesome time with his Aunt and cousins.

Riley had been met at the airport the first morning from his red eye flight. He was almost an hour early but my sister had arrived early just in case so no one had to wait. It was an easy pick up and he was at her appartment in time to have breakfast with his cousins. They spent a fairly relaxing day as Riley was tired after an all nighter flight.

Riley's favorite moments were that my little sister had arranged a back vault tour of the Natural Museum of  History.  She knows one of the curators. Hundreds of thousands of dinasaur bones are stored in the basement. It is the biggest collection in the world. Riley touched a fossalized skin that proves that at least velosoraptors had feathers. He held a femir bigger than he was. The cousins had an amazing experience.

He stood in an hour line for the Empire state building elevators. At the top, the winds were so strong he felt if he had a kite he would lift off the ground. Afterwards they went to a Broadway Play, Peter and the Star Catchers, off a book he has read. He was amazed at the play. Tickets were $81 each and he felt that the play was worth $100 tickets. It was a smaller theater which helped give an intimate feeling to the performances. It is the Peter Pan story on how he and Hook met and Peter got the power to fly with star dust.

He and his cousins went to the movies one night to see Brave and The Avengers. He ate Japanese food which he is very proud of, but not sushi. They went to Chinatown for "real chinese". They also did regular hanging out, in Prospect park. He climbed high into a tree, something I probably wouldn't have wanted to see had I been there.  I got a picture sent to me of Riley way up in the tree. Then a text sent when he was safely on the ground again.

They went to Trader Joes for food shopping. He found it fun to pick out food with his cousin so that they both could try each others picks. $300 later they had food for the week. My sister was surprised at how much fresh fruit Riley had chosen. He didn't pick all bad food, just a few treats. She made fresh fruit smoothies that were delicious.

Riley also had to put in an hour of homework each day on the computer to stay up on his class. Next week is the cut off to take a second course during summer school. Both he and Trevor are on target to finish their first classes.

Trevor waited up for his brother last night to hear all the details. Riley was excited to share. Riley talked about his trip all the way home in the car for an hour, and then had to repeat himself to his brother while I went to bed at 1 am. At 2 am I told the boys to go to bed as they had school the next day. I didn't want to disturb Tom's sleep. Tom can hear it all again tonight. Riley loves to talk about it all.

My sister laughed when Riley told her New York felt a bit like Portland, Oregon, the big city Riley is most familiar with. One big city with sky skrapers is a lot like another for Riley.Central park was just another park. The big climbing tree in Prospect park was pretty cool. Riley loved trying to ride the subway without holding on, it was like a roller coaster ride, he said.

 Just doing things and being busy was fun. Riley's  cousin has a bird for a pet. The parakeet would sit on Riley's shoulder while Riley worked on the computer. He thought the bird was wonderful.He did say that one day a flying cockroach made it into the apartment and my sister had to squish it. The warm humid weather had brought the bug out of hiding.

Riley had packed only one pair of pants and one pair of shorts. The weather was too warm for pants so the shorts were worn almost every day. He borrowed a pair of shorts one day with a tight belt to get by while they did laundry. Next time he needs  two pairs of shorts, which Riley swears he thought he had packed.

A grand time was had by all, but Tom is happy to have his boy home. Every day he was calling my sister or texting for an update. He wouldn't have had that kind of news from a camp. I had to laugh. My sister was a great sport sending lots of pictures via her cell phone as they were out and about having adventures.

Now it is back to school work and Fourth of July is approaching. If the boys get their work done I will take them to the fair.

        

injury prone

Acouple of weeks ago Trev called to tell me he had sprained his wrist. This week the call was for an ankle, tripped over a bag in agility training. I was in a women's golf tournament. we had aready started so it was too late to withdraw. I called a friend who was willing to go get him and take him home for me. I was distracted the whole round, waiting for the opportunity to get home.

Trevor's ankle was the size of his calf, huge. It had taken three burly boys to get him into my girlfriend's car. Luckily at home I have a set of crutches Trevor has used in the past. she found them hanging in the garage right where I said they would be and Trevor was able to get himself into the house. I told him to settle in the office and stay there. He could nap on the bed or do his work on the computer. Of course when I got home he was watching movies on neflix.

I shot a 66 with 29 puts. If I could get my puts under control I would have a potential for a real game. I had some close misses, but a miss is a miss. I carried my bag which helped keep me focused. When I first went to put the straps over my shoulder something scratched my arm. When I looked to see what the pointy item was that was poking me I found a fish hook imbedded in the shoulder strap. My arm looked like a cat had got me. It took work to remove the fish hook. I figure I picked it up in the trunk when Trevor was doing his fishing trip and his gear was back there.

One of my partners  in golf was a 59 year old woman who had just started the game this year. she played as well as I did. She was buff with the legs of an athlete. So I asked her what she did before golf and she told me she ran tri athelons. Figured, she did not have the body of a beginning golfer and she was a natural with her swing. Athletes can pick up any game quickly. My other tow partners were women well into their 80's who couldn't hit far anymore but knew how to play a consistent game. One of the women took low puts for the room with 15 putts for the round.

 It was a fun round. Except for the fact I had to keep checking my messages for Trevor. It is not good etiquete to be checking your phone all the time. Etiquete demands you put your phone away and enjoy the company you are with, but family crisis is what it is. I was able to complete the game and had some fun with new people. I didn't win any of the prizes. I felt my Karma was off. Between the fish hook, the sprained ankle, and 29 putts, the golf Gods were making me work.

Trev is improving but I had him sleep down in the guest room on the first floor the first day. I wasn't going to have him negotiate those open stairs. that is one of the reasons we like this house is the guest room on the main, convenient for invalids. By Monday I hope to have Trev limping back to weight training.

Trev has until Monday to finish his Washington state history class in order to enroll in the English class he needs to repeat. He didn't pass the end of the year English. What is it with my boys and English. You would think they were ELL (English Language Learners).

Riley got his SAT scores. His reading comprehension was really good. All his score for that matter were good for a sophomore competing against college bound seniors, which is how the test is scored. He would be accepted now into college with these scores, Room for improvement, but he could do it. Now I just need to find out what Riley "wants" to do.

 

Pics of the kitchen

These are the twin towers on my island that drove me crazy being right in the way of everything, no where to spread out and work. Now I have the butcher block installed. The molding is not on yet but close to being done. Did it all for under $100 from begining to end, parts and labor.

My sister has been sending pictures every day of Riley and his cousins. It has been a great relief to see everyone having a good time. Usually I don't get updates from camp so the pictures every day are bonuses. Tom was so stressed right before Riley left on the plane.He was so afraid Riley would not connect with Jen that my poor sister had to be a half hour early to the airport so she would definitely be waiting for Riley when he arrived. As it was the plane arrived a half hour early and no one had to wait for anyone. It was a quick pick up and Riley was at her apartment in time for breakfast with his cousins.

Survived

Tom called and said he was coming home Wednesday. I knew there was no way I could get the kitchen done in time. I had been to my girlfriend's house to cut the table. We ended up not waiting for her husband to be free to do it after work and just get it done, time being of the essence. I wanted the kitchen as presentable as possible before Tom got home.One more day would have been wonderful, but that was not going to happen. As a result I had to admit to him over the phone I had done one of my projects.

"What have you done?" He asked. " I took out the twin towers in the kitchen." I said. Not much he could do over the phone and it gave him time to think about it on the drive home. He hadn't liked the towers either. I told him I had found maple chopping block. When he saw it, I had the shiny side up. He preferred the raw wood underside of the table top. He liked the towers gone. He noticed right away the crookedly hung cabinet on the wall. He said he would fix it, after lecturing me on the quality of my work. I knew that was coming, but I survived any real anger as he liked what I had done. I am pleased to be in budget still.

I spent $30 at Habitat for the Humanities buying cabinet doors to cover the raw openings. They did not have anything in light Beech color that matched the kitchen so I went with four white doors, two for each side. I am not thrilled with the results. I think I might go down to home depot and look at sheet panels before I attach anything just to see if I could do better. Might even swing by habitat and check again to make sure I didn't miss anything. Riley was with me when Istopped there, so I was a little pressured for time.

Riley being with me was an accident. I had dropped him at summer school for his English class and told him I would pick him up at 11:30, in a little over two hours. I had the opportunity to play with my nine holers a round of golf durring that window of time. I would be done right around 11:30. Riley wanted me to pick him up earlier. He called at 10:45 to tell me he was done. I said I still had three holes to go. He said he would walk home.

Summer school is at the other high school in town. Not far, but in another neighborhood Riley is not as familiar with. As a result when leaving the school to walk home, he turned the wrong direction. When my golf round was done at 11:30, I called him to find out if he made it home. He informed me that no, he had not made it home. He was at a restaurant on the south side of town, totally on the wrong side from where we live. He had gotten himself lost.  He had turned the wrong way leaving school. I had to laugh and agreed to come get him.

 Here we were, planning to send Riley to New York City for a week to hang with my sister. He  catches the plane that night, and he can't even find his way home in his own home town. I called my sister to warn her not to lose Riley as he was very directionally challenged. It is something his drivers Ed instructor mentioned to me also, Riley doesn't have a very good sense of where he is to where he is going. He gets lost.

Since we were going right by Habitat on our way home I made Riley wait for me while I browsed, trying to find a cheap way to fix the cabinets under the counter. I know I can make something work, if only temporarily.

I am pleased Tom likes the kitchen even in this torn up phase. He is taking a couple of days  off, so he might even be able to do his expert work and make it look decent. I love the improvements. Now that he knows, I am not as rushed and can perhaps put in the corner shelves that I wasn't going to take the time to do.

Trevor arrived home from football camp. He told me he gave a Freshman a concussion during a tackle drill. The other boy had been smack talking that he was better than the older players, Trevor wanted to show him different. One coach reprimanded Trevor for being too rough on his own team mate, the other coach complimented Trevor on a great tackle. I wasn't sure how to respond. It is football, but I don't like the thought of Trev getting that mad and taking it out on another person. At least he kept it on the field.



 I dropped Trevor off at his summer school class this morning, at 7:30am. We swung by Starbucks on the way so he could buy himself a Strawberries and Creme drink with his left over camp money. He said there was no where to spend any money at this camp. The bus drive wasn't long enough to need to stop for a meal on the way. He will call me in two hours for a pick up. I am hoping there is no conflict as athletic practice is also a morning class that starts next week and runs all summer. At least Trevor will be keeping busy and these are all free services to the students.

Riley and his friend spent so much time playing the x box in the basement this week, that the wall plug they were using overheated. Riley came up from the basement to inform me they had popped a circuit breaker and would I please reset it for them as the x box and TV had gone dead. I went downstairs to check it out. I didn't see a popped circuit in the main box, so I went into their game room to see what was up. They showed me  the four way socket on the wall was hot to the touch. We are talking kitchen stove hot. You couldn't leave your hand on it.

 I said they had fried the line and that this would need their father to look at it before we could fix it and that they needed to sit there and wait until the wall cooled down before they left the room just in case there was a wall fire going on. I didn't want the house to burn down by leaving the room with a potential fire in the wall. I took the cover off the socket to see if I could see flames. I was pretty sure we were OK, but I didn't want anything smoldering in the wall. I told the boys that all that x-box usage had burned out the electric wiring, which seems to be the case. Tom will be looking at it today.

We had wondered if the original owner had done some of his own wiring and it seems to be the case. Too many things were plugged into the same line, the circuit didn't pop as it should when the line over heated, instead I think the socket fried itself. I may have to replace the old sockets with GFCIs, which should solve the problem in the future. These are individual circuit breakers right at the source. Great for kitchens and bathrooms, and boys' game rooms with too many things plugged in and going too long.

Lots going on this week. Riley arrived safely in New York and was met with out incident by my sister. Riley woke us up in the middle of the night to let us know they connected, per Tom's request.
Tom was very worried, but I had faith Riley would pay more attention in a strange city, out of his comfort zone, than he does at home.

Riley wasn't even upset at getting lost in the morning. He knew where he was, he just didn't know where the house was from the restaurant. He knew I could find him. He wanted to know if we could eat in the restaurant since we were already there. Just go with the flow, that is how we roll.

On hold

I got the corner cabinets hung. I stacked them after reinforcing the back. I found the stud and got nice long strong screws at the hardware store. I pre drilled the holes since I don't have the strength to push through a long screw without stripping it, which I did several times. Had to use the pliers to pull a couple of stripped screws out. I just remind myself that I am saving $25 to $40 an hour doing as much of this work myself.

The counter top wont be ready until tonight. Our friend is cutting the top on his table saw at his house. He wont let me use the saw myself since everyone considers me unsafe. I swear I am the safest table saw user you have ever seen with helmet, eye wear,  and ear plugs to protect my face from kick backs. Once wounded twice as careful.

Riley has a friend staying while Trevor is at football camp. I had the boys help hold the cabinet towers for me. The first cabinet ended up not being level once installed. The next cabinet went in much straighter. I hung the upper first, using an L bracket for the cabinet to sit on. The bracket will take some of the weight and help secure the cabinet to the wall. I thought it was a brilliant idea for reinforcement. It also helped hold the cabinet while I attached it to the wall. Even so, with my helpers we still managed to be cantiwampus when we were done. I was much more vigilant with the second cabinet. The boys used moving straps to help them hold the cabinet in place. I didn't want to use an L bracket as I was hoping for a tighter fit. There is a slight gap that molding will cover between the upper and lower cabinets. I put them in the sun room, which will be our future butler's pantry.

Finding the stud was difficult with the first cabinet, but luckily the angle of the shelves hide the multiple search holes. Before the  second cabinet went up, I lined the cabinet up with the stud while sitting on the ground and pre drilled the holes in the cabinet. That helped some, but the boys still struggled with holding the cabinet still and level.

I am now on cleaning mode. Tom said he would be home tomorrow, Wednesday. I want to have as much done as possible and have it look as good as possible. I wish I didn't have to wait on the store that is only open Wednesday to Sunday, but they have the best prices and most likely to have what I want without costing a mint.

I spent $10 on screws and the L brackets, and $1 on a firring strip to reinforce the back of the cabinets and give me something to drill through other than the cardboard.  That puts me at $36 so far, but I still need to block in the backs of the exposed cabinets on the island and the base footing and see about two corner posts. Still it is so nice to stand in my open kitchen. I can breath and don't feel all tight and cramped while I am standing in the kitchen.  I could even use a sheet of fake tongue and groove if I really get stuck.

The project is coming along steadily. Just need that counter top back, and the store to open. The boys are in the basement playing violent x box games that I disapprove of, but it is one of the battles I have lost in this family of men. At least they are available when I holler for heavy lifting.

Contractors

I ran out today and hit four thrift stores before I found what I was looking for, a table top that I can cut down to make the wood countertop that I want. Maple butcher block is extremely expensive. I found the table I could use.  I barely got it to fit in the trunk. It did not fit in the car, the doors wouldn't shut. I put the seats down and the table top fit snugly in the back but I couldn't close the trunk, so I drove home with the trunk open.

I got a call from a contractor that I wanted to see the job. I have had a few bids. The guy I want to work with is not available for a month. After gutting the top of the island I am in  trouble. I  had to get the island fixed and fast. Tom is out of town. If I can get it all done before he gets back he will be thrilled with the results. The job is right on the border of my being able to do it myself, but with time being so critical I thought a contractor could get it done faster.

One contractor stopped by but said he wasn't available. He gave me the name and number of someone he thought might be available. Turns out this new guy was the original cabinet maker who installed the kitchen to begin with. He liked the tall cabinets and was not happy that I had ripped out his good work. That conversation did not end well. He said he was a master cabinet maker and wanted to charge me $40 an hour including the shopping for materials. He didn't want the job. We were definitely not on the same wave length. I offended him. My Thrift store maple counter just made him mad.

Time being critical, I called my girl friend back who helped me get into this mess. Her husband is a great DIYer.  She offered up his services after he got home from work. When he arrived he rolled his eyes at what we had done to the kitchen. I have a vision. He didn't see it. But he was, out of the goodness of his heart going to take pity on me and help me out of this mess. 

He spent an hour fussing with the stove, which I didn't even notice wasn't level. He is a perfectionist.  He was checking out the way the island was put together and the options I have,  and ended up  fixing the level of the stove. After much eye rolling and commentary, he finally agreed to cut the table top down to size so it will fit. He didn't want me doing the cuts, so he said he would do them tomorrow. He left with the slab in his arms, his wife laughing at us both.

A problem is the corner gaps. The back of the now exposed cabinets is unfinished and open at points . Another problem is the cabinet base is still there,  The base that the towers sat on. It is one long unit that goes under the existing cabinet that we are leaving in place. What do I do with the corner base? How do I hide the base? How do I hide the gaps in the cabinets?  Do I make a false wall? or build shelves of less depth than the original cabinets, and have them end under the counter, not a foot above  the counter.

The kitchen feels like it can breath now with the towers gone. I don't see this fix as a long term fix, but I can go a long time now without doing the big remodel, now that the island can function as a work station. 

Everything gets recycled.The tower cabinets need to be reinforced before I can hang them up on the wall where I need to put them. I need them hung so I can put my china away again. Right now everything is on the dining room table waiting for a new home. Tomorrow I am off to the hardware store to get long wall screws and a ledger board.

The cool thing about this project is I am hoping to get it all done for much  less than $100. My first bid was some where  under $1000, for replacing the island, between $500 and $800. So far I have spent $25 on the counter top. It isn't perfect but the maple counter is pretty.

Shelves are a lot of work. My thought is to use cabinet doors or paneling and just cover the gaps for now. Cover the base with ply wood and put a pretty post that looks like a support post on the top, a  little decorative detailing.  I hope to find something really perfect at habitat for the humanities that works.  The key will be finding the right sizes in the materials I need.

I can do this. It is not the first time I have gotten into a project, but I do want it to look good when I am done.