House Hunting - Part 1

A few months ago Justin and I decided to start looking for a house to buy. On the recommendation of Justin's mother, we contacted John Chrisney, who had helped her buy all three of the houses she has purchased in the metro area. Apparently, he used to be the unofficial Realtor for everyone at the Guthrie, so he's very understanding of our nutty rehearsal schedules. I went to Wells Fargo and got preapproved for an FHA loan and then we met with John to tell him what we were interested in.

The initial meeting was good, though it became clear that we were going to be pushing John outside of his comfort zone, given both the price we were working with and the locations we were interested in. He seemed excited about it, though, especially when he realized that we were serious about staying as close to the urban core as possible. We left the meeting feeling pretty confident that he understood our situation and would show us what was out there. Justin and I had already been doing searches online, and had come up with a list of houses we wanted to see. John said he would start vetting houses and make arrangments to show us the ones that would work with our budget and would pass an FHA inspection.

One of the houses Justin was particular interested in was a Victorian in the Powderhorn neighborhood. I wasn't thrilled with the two exterior pictures on the website, but the price was good and the size of the house was huge. It was the second house we saw, and Justin was almost immediately in love. It took me a little longer, but we both were really interested in it. We saw a few more houses, and then asked John to take us back to the Victorian for a second look. It needed some repairs, but we thought that with a renovation loan, we'd be able to purchase the house and get the repairs done, at least to the point of making the house livable. It was the kind of house that we could see ourselves in for a very long time, so even if it took awhile to get the entire house up to the condition we wanted it in, that would be okay.

(to be continued...)

So much happening...

Let me explain...no, let me sum up.

Justin (my fiancé- hee!) and I have been working on buying a house for awhile now. We had found a really lovely Victorian-era home that needed some rehabbing, which we were prepared to do, until we had the inspection done and found out just how much work it needed. So back to the house hunting. We found a new house that we love, coincidentally just half a block away from the Victorian, that is just wonderful. It's got enough space for us, and lovely hardwood floors, and it's in great condition. We have an offer in and we're just waiting to hear back on it. Keeping our fingers crossed that the seller and their bank (it's a short sale) will respond quickly and we'll be able to start the process and get it closed in August.

Justin and I have been engaged for two weeks as of today. I'll have a separate post to recount the propsal story later, because it's lovely. Suffice to say we're very happy and anxious to get the house situation figured out so we can focus on things like setting a date. I've been having trouble focusing on anything lately, my thoughts just keep bouncing from flowers to paint color to invitations to carpet.

I've also been focused on the play I'm currently working on. I'm stage managing for American Sexy, presented by the New Theatre Group for the Minnesota Fringe Festival. I've known Brian Balcom, the director and founder of the NTG since high school, and designed props for a show for him last fall. This is my first time stage managing for him, though, and I've really had a wonderful time of it. It's been very enjoyable to watch and assist in Brian's process, and I'm very excited for everyone to see this play.

So there's that. And moving. And work. And all the other things that take up my time, from the mundane things that never seem to end (ugh, dishes) and the fun things I never seem to have enough time for (mopeding and watching Project Runway).

I totally have time to blog, right? I guess we'll see.

Getting started...

I have so many things going on lately, and in an effort to help keep track of them all, and to record the process, I am starting this blog. There will be lots of posts regarding the process of buying and owning a house, planning a wedding, my attempts to establish myself as a quality stage manager in the Minneapolis theatre community and my efforts to keep sane during it all.

It's going to be a crazy ride, but I wouldn't have it any other way.