So..the big news is that it appears we are buying the Chocolate House. We are taking the plunge and BB is going into a real estate career pretty heavily.

The last post stated that we had countered the banks counter offer by increasing our 1st counter offer by $1k.

The bank accepted!

I think we had a good negotiating hand because we made the first offer a few days before Christmas, and we negotiated through until we had an accepted offer about 2 days after christmas.

We didnt plan it that way, but we knew we had a strong hand because people are not looking at properties during the holidays, so it was unlikely there were any other showings around the time we submitted our offer.

On top of that, it rained for 2 days over christmas and we were able to make sure our realtor indicated to the banks realtor that there are water marks on the ceiling from the roof. We already knew the roof needed attention and built that into our offer, but since it was raining during negotiations, we reminded the bank that there are more water marks growing by the day! (There are not really, but the bank doesnt know that.)

So it was lucky timing for us.

We close in a few weeks, whenever the bank is ready, we'll be ready. We offered a 10 day closing, but have heard the bank wont be ready in time. Works for us.

So far we have had the pest guy out there, no termite damage.

A roofer is coming out in the next 2 days to give us an estimate.

The Air/HVAC is being inspected tomorrow.

The home inspection is scheduled for Wednesday.

The electricity and water was just turned on. BB and I did a walk through to see what is needed to get it renter ready.

The place is missing a lot of ligh bulbs, faceplates and some broken windows. One floor washer/dryer needs to be replaced, and a faucet downstairs. And several rooms need to be repainted.

When everything is done, I'll post pictures!

There is a local private college in town that fills most of the city rentals. We are hoping to rent each unit to the students. I doubt many students are looking to rent in February, but I think we'll get it rented to someone pretty quickly.

In other news, the tenants moved out of the upstairs unit of our original duplex (my Heart House). I'm not sure when they moved because when I went by this morning it was vacant. They never called to say they were going.

So BB and I worked for 3 hrs today cleaning the unit. It took longer than expected, and we did an inventory of some biig expenses coming in the next few yrs. But for now, we just needed to get a new stove and kitchen light. We ordered a stove for $360 and it will be in on Saturday. I picked out a pretty brushed nickle light for $130 to replace the pretty gross flourecent light.

I listed the place on craigslist today.

I saw the downstairs tenant (2 single guys) and they have requested pretty girls for the upstairs. I told them they have a 50/50 shot!

I hope the calls come soon!