Deep in the Woods

THE BIG DAY HAS FINALLY ARRIVED

 

We closed on our cabin last Friday - and Good Friday has become another meaning.

 

Over this cabin, I had sleepless nights, my hair became grey and we were on a roller coaster every single day.

 

How it all begun. We were thinking of buying a cabin in the mountains for a nice weekend getaway option, where we could take our two doggies with us. The beach always sounds fun but its an at least 5 hour drive and most places don't allow dogs. The Blue Ridge area is about 2 hours away from us and has so many things to offer. Hiking trails, water falls, a river and a lake a very cute downtown, lots of festivals and would be perfect for the four of us to spend quality time together.

 

 We drove up there one Saturday and with our agent looked at about 10 cabins. We were exhausted but narrowed down our search. I fell in love with the last one we've seen. It is a 20minute ride to Blue Ridge but is in the ASKA area - which is the outdoorsy Mekka for a lot of visitors. The cabin is small, but newly renovated and upgraded with a side porch, new stainless steel appliances, granite countertops and a downstairs sleeping area with two bunk beds. It has three bedrooms, a small open kitchen, dining- and living room and 2 full baths. What else could you ask for?

It sleeps 10 and the possibilities are endless. A getaway for friends, a short family vacation or just the two of us and our doggies. It sounded so perfect. Brian always said, don't set your heart on it.

By that time it was already too late.

 

 We made an offer that Monday and got a counter offer back by Wednesday. 

We countered - they accepted.

 

Then our inspection took place and there were several mostly small things that needed fixing.

The pipe on the "outdoor" shower burst and was gushing water. We weren't able to test any other locations for the water. The posts under the deck weren't deep enough in the foundation, the electrical wasn't hooked up correctly... Over all stuff that needs to be fixed, but shouldn't be that expensive.

 

We sent the report to the sellers agent and asked them to fix the major things on that list. They agreed. YAY

 

Of course its not over yet. When you buy a home it needs to be appraised by the bank you are loaning the money from. The appraisal came back and was way lower than what we had offered. That means you can go forward with the sale, but the bank only gives you money for the appraised amount, the rest comes out of your pocket. You could do that, but if you want to sell the house at some point, you will never get that money back b/c the appraised price will probably not go up.

 

We countered with the appraised price - the seller said that they need time for other offers to come in.

 

We waited three days and released the property. I was crying.

Don't set your heart on it!! 

 

2 Days later the seller came back and agreed to the appraised price "as is" without doing any repairs on the house.

 

We went back up to Blue Ridge and looked at 10 more houses.

I didn't like any of them.

We also met with a contractor to get a quote to see how much money we would need to spend to do all the repairs ourselves. He quoted about $2,500. That's pretty good if you ask me.

 

Two days later we signed the contract! Wohoo..

 

On Wednesday, two days before closing, the lawyer found that there is an unpaid water bill from the previous owners. WE don't pay for that, the seller refused to pay for that and it was mentioned that there will be a lean on the title. NOT GOOD. Closing won't be happening. On Thursday late afternoon the water bill was set to 0.00 in order for us to close. A roller coaster, let me tell you.

 

When we came home from work, we packed whatever could fit in Brian's truck and made our way to Blue Ridge at 7am.  

 

 

We weren't able to move in this car. I had two boxes in front and over my feet, two boxes of stuff on my lap. It looked ridiculous. Thank god, the drive is just two hours.

 

We had our final walk through before we went to the lawyers office and signed a gazillion sheets of paper. After 45 minutes we were finally home owners.

I made a little happy dance.

 

 

We drove straight up to the cabin, and cleaned unpacked and enjoyed our new property.

 

 

 

 

 

 

When trying to open one of the kitchen drawers, something was stuck and Brian had to crawl under and spent about an hour to get this drawer to work.

It was FUN to watch! :)

 

 

 

 

We already hung our birdhouse, which I found several months ago at a yard sale for $1.00.

 

I heard that if you have a birdhouse close, the bears will not be far. Lets see if that is true. If it is, I might need to put it a little bit further away from our house!.

 

 

This is the master bedroom. Very empty. Those two night stands came from the auction we went to a couple weeks ago. I'm not sure if I like the color. I'm thinking they need to be painted grey.

 

 

My Good Will find for $2.00. I love that (rein)deer.

 

 

When we unloaded everything it was about 3pm and I had that stupid idea "Lets drive back and bring another round of furniture up" So very stupid, if I can say so myself. I have a good husband who doesn't argue. So we sat in the car, 2 hours in light rain. We got back home at 5.30pm. Packed my craft room table, which in the past was our dining room table, 6 chairs, 2 couches, the ladder and trunk we found several weeks ago at an estate sale and lots of bedding. Two cars completely cramped. At this point it was pouring rain and pitch black when we made our final tour back to Blue Ridge.

I couldn't see, had no idea when the roads turned. It was the worst drive I have ever made. But it was MY idea, so nobody else but me to blame.

At 10.30pm we were finally in front of our cabin, unpacked the two couches which were wrapped in a tarp and thankfully didn't get wet at all.

First night in the cabin.. I could not sleep. The rain on the tin roof kept me up all night, hearing footsteps from all the murderers out there. I have a wild fantasy.. I got up at 4.30am and started cleaning and unloading my car.  Later that day we drove to town and bought a nice rug for the living room and furnished our cabin.

 

Living room

 

 

 

Dining room

 

 

Kitchen fully loaded with dishes, silverware glassware, pots and pans and ready to go.

If we would have a fridge it would make it complete. :)

 

 

And my new rooster clock which I found last week at a yard sale.

 

 

Upstairs bathroom

 

With the new (very old) ladder for the towels.

 

 

The other rooms are not picture ready yet. I can't wait till we go back up and finish. 5 more mattresses and box springs needed. Washer and Dryer and a counter depth fridge.

 

 Stay tuned for more updates on our very first cabin!