<p>Another great thing about military renters is that we get a housing allowance the usually pays most if not all of the rental costs and we know how much the allowance is when we move to a new area.</p>
<p>There are plenty of horror stories out there about renting to people in the military, if you google around. </p>
<p>They are people just like everyone else. Most will be good, some will not.</p>
<p>VH…how is the house selling and buying going? Do you have a contract on that purchase…and a closing date? Is everything all set with the sale of your current house? </p>
<p>How many different plans does your husband have for that outdoor relaxation area?? And how many do you already have in your mind for that kitchen? </p>
<p>So exciting. Hope it’s all going well.</p>
<p>Thanks, Thumper. </p>
<p>The sale of our current house seems to be going OK. We do have a contract. Everything should be OK as long as the buyer can get their mortgage. The bank’s appraiser came today and hopefully all is well.</p>
<p>We don’t yet have a contract on our new house. The inspection is scheduled for next Wednesday.</p>
<p>The moving company is coming Monday afternoon to assess. We plan to pack everything ourselves. That’s a lotta packing . . . .</p>
<p>Looked at more houses today. My new favorite is a large tudor that you can get lost in. Unfortunately of the seven bathrooms at least six of them have vanities that are way too short. </p>
<p>Does anyone know how much it would cost to replace vanities? Am I far off in thinking a master bathroom remodel, without moving plumbing, can be done well for $20K or less?</p>
<p>7 bathrooms? Wow.</p>
<p>A vanity cabinet is usually not that expensive, and if the sinks can be reused it would not be all that expensive. Assuming of course that any tile work was not custom-fit around the current sink and vanity, in that case it could get pretty expense.</p>
<p>As for a master bath remodel, I think you could certainly stick within a $20K budget if you want to. It all depends on how crazy you go.</p>
<p>I recently completely gutted my bathroom, moved all the plumbing, replaced a window, removed a closet, moved a wall in my bedroom and had 13 feet of built in shelves and two new closets built. The construction costs were about $39,000. My additional cost for buying fixtures, was about $13000, but it could easily have been half that amount. It included a bubble massage tub, shower doors (an easy savings), toilet, a fairly pricey 4’ vanity, surprisingly inexpensive sink, very pricey Robern medicine cabinet, with lights (turns out I didn’t really need them the bathroom has so much light), floor and wall tiles, a manufactured stone counter and a towel bar and TP holder.</p>
<p>Anyway, I’d guess if you are leaving things in place and not moving any walls, you’d spend much, much less. If you want a higher vanity the wall tile work may well work the way it is.</p>
<p>You know whenever you do a remodel, always say one price, but budget for more.</p>
<p>We did a masterbathroom remodel a few years ago, and had a $20,000 budget. We actually paid $30,000 for the entire remodel, poor but happy that we got exactly what we wanted.</p>
<p>Always good to have a few thousand in reserve in case you need it, and you will! ;)</p>
<p>We plan to replace our 6 foot long master bath vanity and sinks. We’ll also replace the mirror above the vanity…and paint the room. Everything else in the room is fine. We are budgeting under $5000 for the works. Bathroom is pretty big. We are replacing only the two vanity sinks. Tub and separate shower, toilet, floors and even the towel bars and TP holders are perfectly fine…and we like them. We just want a taller vanity.</p>
<p>I should add…the vanity we have chosen is about $700 and the sinks about $300. The rest is plumbing change (sinks are higher) and painting.</p>
<p>The inspection on the house we’re buying is today. We’re not expecting anything significant, but – hey, you never know. That’s why we do these inspections!</p>
<p>The house we’re buying is in great shape and I was still nervous the day of the inspection. Sending good vibes your way!</p>
<p>I am pretty sure we are on week 3 now waiting to hear if our appraisal has even been scheduled. Bank was able to confirm it was ordered but told us that all the appraisal companies are backlogged “due to the market” and that it will happen when it happens. Sellers are getting antsy and I am going to start developing an ulcer before too much longer. Our close date was supposed to be Oct 2 and I can’t imagine anybody really thought we’d have it done that fast… it’s certainly not looking like it at the moment! I am just hoping to be in by Halloween… I was looking forward to trick or treaters. :</p>
<p>Good luck, VH. Congrats, Ema! I know your search was frustrating, and somehow missed that you had finally found a place.</p>
<p>I missed it too! Congrats, ema! Hope its all you dreamed of, doesnt need a huge abount of work, and has a lovely yard, not up on the corner of the main street!!</p>
<p>Thank you. 
We found a nice 1700sqft 3br,2ba move-in ready ranch on a half acre, within our budget. It’s a dead end street, and our lot is toward the back away from the main road. Nice heated attached garage, and an all season sun room in the back with a fireplace and a beautiful patio and garden. It has a nice deep backyard with plenty of room for the pool we wanted, and there’s no HOA so I can have as much privacy fencing as I want. It’s right in the neighborhood I wanted with great schools. I am very pleased that one of the extra bedrooms is SUPER long and can easily be split into two separate rooms to make a 4br home if we need it once we get our family started. There’s even a large master suite with a jetted tub and a walk in closet. The only compromise I really had to make was that it doesn’t have a basement, but I think that will be a small price to pay. There is an unbelievable amount of built in storage all over the house, and the main floor laundry alone is enough to make me forget all about how determined I was to have a basement.</p>
<p>Once we get settled in and no longer have any huge moving related expenses looming, it will be time to start planning the wedding. Things are going well here. That is, if my freaking appraisal ever gets scheduled!!!</p>
<p>mathmom, your description of your bath remodel is very encouraging. We are contemplating such a project tho not so extensive as yours – plumbing will remain in place – and your price doesn’t sound as scary as I was braced for.</p>
<p>Is travertine tile still big? Current bathroom has twenty year old beige marble that I hate.</p>
<p>I still see a fair amount of it. I did my bathroom in white tile with a seaglass boarder that had little chrome squares. But if I do another bath or kitchen I want to use a couple of these tiles: [Fossil</a> Fish Countertops Tiles Backsplashes by Green River Stone Company](<a href=“Green River Stone Redirect”>http://www.greenriverstone.com/) Which would require something like travertine to go with it.</p>
<p>Congrats Emaheevu! Basement seems like a simple enough thing to give up. Since around here they are often subject to flooding, I’m not sure you aren’t better off without one!</p>
<p>mathmom, those are lovely tiles.</p>
<p>The inspection showed a few interesting things:</p>
<p>The furnace hasn’t been serviced in four years. The inspector turned it on and it started smoking. :eek: So we don’t know if it works.
The dishwasher is draining with a hose into the back yard. :eek:
The garbage disposal doesn’t work. :eek:
And then there are a few minor things – some window trim rotting, etc. Not too bad for a 50-year-old house.</p>
<p>But we’ll be requesting that the current owner make these things right. :)</p>
<p>Sounds like minor details, VH.
I think it is a done deal.</p>
<p>Wow, “interesting” is definitely the word to go with! The dishwasher is bizarre… I wonder what rationale led to THAT decision.</p>
<p>It sounds like overall it went pretty well, though! I’m glad. :)</p>
<p>The dishwasher thing is really odd.</p>
<p>Yep…that furnace needs to be serviced with a clean bill of health.</p>
<p>Sounds pretty good overall…good bones…as they say.</p>