Several exciting things have happened since our last post:
1. Matt accepted a job as a drafter/designer at Seat King, LLC in Hutchinson, Kansas, and he began working there last Monday, July 18. The company designs custom lawnmower seats, and Matt is really enjoying his new colleagues and the work. Seat King even provides a company van, so the 9-10 Wichita employees can meet in Maize (very early!) in the morning to drive/ride to Hutch together—about a 45 minute drive. Pretty cool perk! And in August, they are sending Matt to LA for a week for training on software. Woohoo!
2. In our last post, we shared that we listed our South House so we could take advantage of the summertime market. Well, if you go to our listing, you’ll see that it’s no longer on the market. Why? Did we decide to rent it out? No, thank you. After 15 days on the market, we got a full price, cash offer from a woman who has family in our neighborhood and who was overjoyed to purchase an all-brick, one-story home. And we are overjoyed too! Our home inspection is this Monday, July 25, and we are scheduled to close on that sale on August 11.
3. And last bit of exciting news … our builder is confident that the house will be finished in time for the city inspection and appraisal update this Monday. To be honest, there is a LOT left to be done in the next four days … septic system, AC/heat, plumbing, electric, BUT!!! We are putting our faith in our builder that he will come through for us. We have already extended the limit on our permanent financing to the max, and we’ve extended the construction loan by an additional month, so we are just trusting that this will all come together. Go, builder, go!
And, now for a much delayed update … the following pictures are actually from July 2, but we will post updated photos as soon as we get them downloaded.
On the first weekend of July, we spent all day Saturday prepping the floors for laminate. It was hot and tedious work:
At the end of the day, we realized that the flooring we purchased was too unwieldy (read: cheap) for us to manage on our own and in the time frame provided by our builder (1 week). So we called our builder, and he graciously assured us that he would take care of the installation.
A week and half later (last Thursday), our builder informed us that the flooring we purchased was too crappy even for his crew to install, and he generously did several things to help us:
1. He took all of our cheap flooring back to Menards (with our receipt) and demanded a refund. Apparently, Menards took back ALL of the flooring—even the cut pieces.
2. Then he found laminate flooring that has a similar look but is more durable and easier to install—and we will pay the difference between the two items.
3. He began installing the new flooring last Friday.
Matt was just at the house this evening, and he confirmed that the entire main floor is finished – and the exterior paint is done too!
Even though we didn’t install the laminate, we (mostly Matt) did install all three bathroom floors. Katie assisted with some measuring and cutting, but Matt really did the bulk of the work. He is so good at house projects, and he loves using his creativity to find the best solution to any house problem.
We also got to park the truck in the garage for the first time during a ferocious thunderstorm:
(There are some low spots in the backyard that we will have to fill ... it doesn't normally look like this, but that was some rainstorm! No leaks in the house though -- another blessing of all the rain we've had. That house is tight as a ship!)
Katie’s big task, in the meantime, has been keeping up with all the paperwork for both closings and wrapping up some complaints with our original mortgage broker. Those things also take time, energy, and ingenuity, and we’re glad that we can both contribute our strengths to the tasks of building and purchasing a house, while selling another.
We will post an update soon – because things are happening fast. We can’t wait to see the finished house, and we can’t wait to share it with you!
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