Great Quotes

We do not quit playing because we grow old, we grow old because we quit playing.

-Oliver Wendell Holmes

Great Quote, Thomas Jefferson

“Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.”  Thomas Jefferson

New Brielle NJ Home

I have looked around for a house in the Manasquan / Brielle NJ area for a couple of years now. Owned a few homes in my life and it’s been my experience that you MUST always 1) figure out what you need, 2) what you can afford, 3) where the market pricing may or may not cooperate and then 4) you do your best to make a ‘sound investment’ that is within your means.

Looking around patiently helps you understand market inventory and the price for size, features and location. There’s always a degree of risk and this 1st Q 2012 Southern Monmouth County NJ marketplace is still unstable, at least to a degree; however, after negotiating the price a bunch I agreed to buy a Brielle NJ home I felt I could work with.

This post will, through an ongoing set of entries & edits, document the process of buying, fixing up and then moving into the new home .

Pre- 01/18/12 Getting a loan, even with a significant down payment, is a painstaking process in this day and age. The amount of documentation required is a 3 month-long full-time job. I have a full time job = 2 now. Outrageous, actually! Surveys, appraisals and you name what else.

10/01/11- 01/18/12 Mortgage approval process to approval!

01/26/12 I call the pending 01/27 close off due to the sellers failure to live up to an agreed upon cleaning in advance of closing. The house had odor issues due to dogs that were ill with skin conditions. The owner did produce a receipt for the supposed execution of fumigation; however based upon a walk through she clearly did nothing. So, I basically said “I’m out, good luck” which was my right.

01/27/12 The owner’s lawyer made an offer to hold some funds in escrow until the cleaning was completed to my satisfaction. My response, “if I consider something, it certainly won’t have anything to do with relying on your being accountable.” The lawyer seemed to respect my position, made a new price offer. I declined and proposed a much lower price offer. They declined saying “no way, will you accept another offer at approximately half the difference?” I said, “no, but I’ll except approx. 3/4′s or I’d rather not discuss it anymore.” Offer accepted. Close delayed until banks can re- do the paperwork.

02/10 Close. Ask Contractor I trust to produce a quote for various improvement work we went through 01/25/12.

02/12 [Sunday] Review quote with builder friend, gather various advice points and produce a series of questions. Go through them and agree to terms with Contractor.

02/13 Contractor comes in rips up flooring. In the evening fumigation clean up crew I hired comes in, a fogging process with cinnamon scenting. Works nicely.

02/14- 02/17 Decide window replacement needs to be added to scope of work; agree to windows quote; find out windows will take 3 weeks to arrive; find out new floors can’t start until windows are in; gather 3rd floor HVAC work quote; discover the need for unexpected duct work;  accept HVAC quote including unexpected duct work; post existing appliances and cabinets to Craig’s List and successfully have them taken away; have 2 kitchen designers come in to measure; get 1st kitchen design measured, mocked & quoted; get semi- approval for kitchen exhaust from contractor; re- frame attic and future bedroom no. 3; discover front porch requires a variance; I rip out 20 shrubs directly in front of house. Contractor promises to speak to Brielle Zoning Officer Tuesday morning about the porch and possible variance requirement, and to get back to me with what has to be done.

02/17 Spend 4 hours @ Home Depot designing kitchen

02/18 Show contractor basic mockup design of kitchen from HD, apparently no issues

02/21/ See other kitchen designer’s design & quote, virtually double HD not including counters.

02/22 Spend 5 hours with HD, revising kitchen and buying it. Tell contracor going HD, he says “who’s going to install it?” and something about how HD is low budget? I express confusion, I have a hard quote to install the kitchen from him with electric & plumbing work. Still haven’t heard anything on variance for porch.

02/24 Still nothing on variance, nor any explanation for mixed message.

02/27 Turns out we [contractor] spoke to town on porch variance, but they haven’t responded yet. Apparently they officially deny us, forcing us to go through the process of formally making a case for the change. Guess HD is fine, no problem on kitchen install … maybe a bad day? Lots of work getting done, revised ducts for circulation & 3rd floor, attic & kitchen frame, electric wiring and we’re waiting on new windows arrival.

02/28 Allow ducts cleaning guys in. Meet electrician to plan wiring for new lights around house. Pay HVAC & Contractor. Must go to HD to get appliances set, plumbing / electric plans for those and I need to pick out some basic lighting & fixtures.

02/29 Realize that living room and bedrooms have no ceiling based lighting- aaargghhh, this is something I can’t stand. Meet the electrician there to add lights. He says, he may do it off hours- I say, talk to my contractor.

03/01 Sheet rock company brings crane to lift it all through 3rd fl window, and roll right over neighbors yard? I have to laugh, suppose in their eyes it’s my fault for not understanding “a crane” meant rolling through neighbors front yard. On the bright side, 3rd floor sheet rocked!

03/04 Mike does me a solid and walks me though all the variance paperwork. Just need to look up a couple more things and make 18 copies of all the required forms and paperwork.

03/07 Variance paperwork all in – $410 to ask for a porch.

03/08 New windows arrive.

03/11 Just ripped 3 rose bushes out of the ground, took two hours and my hands with gloves are torn up. Former owner had a lot of crap in that backyard and I’m going to rip most of it out for a very clean landscape. Well worth the scrapes, feels like progress!

03/17 3rd fl sheet rocked and lights in. House aluminum siding off, paper up. Floors got painted with primer, dog smell is gone! New windows are installed. Floors go in this week. Cabinets arrive Friday. Appliances are all purchased and they arrive 03/28. Kitchen is prepped, sheet rocked, exhaust ready and plumbing / electric is set. Tax appeal paperwork is all in! Things are moving…

03/29 Turns out variance not all in, I have develop 31 letters with variance attached to neighbors within 200 feet. Then I have to sent them Certified Mail, Return Request… which requires another 3 steps per letter after going to the post office twice to gather what’s needed and then be sure I understand exactly how the two stickers are applied and filled in. Wooo! And I have to pay anther $200 to send them. Cabinets should be installed and appliances arrived yesterday, so maybe they’re in too. One hiccup on cabinets was the manufacturer sent no sink cabinet, only a door, forcing installer to improvise. Marius, by the way, is incredible and handled it like the pro’ he is! All of my contractors’ Subs guys & team have been incredibly skilled and diligent. Things are moving- siding begins today! Go to the board on the ‘country porch variance’ 04/10!