What will the neighbors think?!

[zoom-zoom]

Pretty house, Zoom! Good luck and happy birthday!

Is your area prone to flooding and/or wet basements? If yes, then I might wait on the basement drywalling until you know for sure whether you're going to have any issues with this basement. If nothing else, specify that they are to use a mold or moisture resistant drywall. I'd suggest use that type of product regardless of whether you anticipate any problem with a basement. Regular drywall is just not the best product to use in basements IMO.

Nope, very high and dry. West MI is essentially a giant sand dune. We have the opposite of water issues in these parts--our trouble is maintaining grass and plants around here. About a decade ago we had a really dry Summer that killed a birch tree in our yard. We simply couldn't water it enough. Even when we do get heavy rains it drains through the sandy soil really fast. The only people who have flooding issues are the ones who live near rivers when we have Winter/Spring ice dam issues (that's what people get for building/buying close to flood plains, IMO).

[indysteel]

Lucky! Basements here in Indiana are often wet. Our clay soil doesn't allow for good drainage.

[zoom-zoom]

Lucky! Basements here in Indiana are often wet. Our clay soil doesn't allow for good drainage.

We have an area maybe 10 miles from where we currently live that is clay...just a small little area. It's a very weird anomaly. My ILs used to have a home in an area with clay soil and they had constant basement issues.

The bad thing here is that high winds frequently uproot massive trees, since they can't put down stable and deep root systems. They spread the roots very horizontally to absorb more water, so it takes little for them to be completely yanked from the ground.

[emily_in_nc]

It's a beautiful house, Kirsten. Crossing fingers for you!

[zoom-zoom]

Thanks, ladies...I hope all this good mojo works!!

[GLC1968]

I know where you can get a giraffe like that for about $50. We bought one for my mom for her birthday last year and had it shipped to her. :-)

And I should have known you were an Aquarius...another thing we have in common. I turned 45 yesterday.

Great house! Keeping my fingers crossed for you! (we just bought a model home ourselves)

[Owlie]

Fingers crossed!

[zoom-zoom]

I know where you can get a giraffe like that for about $50. We bought one for my mom for her birthday last year and had it shipped to her. :-)

And I should have known you were an Aquarius...another thing we have in common. I turned 45 yesterday.

Great house! Keeping my fingers crossed for you! (we just bought a model home ourselves)

No way!!! Happy belated birthday!

OK, where did you get the giraffe? I want to surprise my DH with that!

Offer is in. Seller has 2 days to counter/accept. Biting. my. damned. nails!!!

[GLC1968]

Ugh! I thought for sure the store would have a website since they have multiple locations in my area but I cannot find one. This is the branch I shopped at:
http://www.villageatsunriver.com/sho...nature-imports

and apparently there is one in downtown Portland, and two at the coast. I'm certain you'd be able to email them, send them the photo showing the giraffe and they'd match it and give you a price to ship it to you. They are super helpful that way (particularly the store in Sunriver that I went to), but I'm not sure you'd want to go through that much trouble.

[zoom-zoom]

If not a giraffe, we'll at least get one of these for the yard...

[Irulan]

Have you seen seen the gnome that is giving the finger?

[zoom-zoom]

Ooh, we could collect parody gnomes!

[zoom-zoom]

We've got it! Snagging our dream house for $5k under original asking price PLUS >$6k worth of improvements (drywall and electrical in basement, washer/dryer, garage door opener, laminate in entire main level).

[Becky]

Woohoo! Congratulations!

[IBrakeforPastry]

From another Aquarius/February TE'er: Congratulations! Home is where the giraffes and gnomes are There is a "gnome reserve" in southeast England I went to a few years ago. It was a walk through the woods, with gnomes everywhere! They were set up in scenes. No zombies, though. I must have taken a whole roll of film, and I wish I could post photos, but, well, they're on film. Good luck and have fun setting up the new home!