So we’re buying a home in San Diego. Coralbrook has been outstandingly helpful with her advice on homes and her knowledge of the neighborhood. DH and I were in town the last two days to actually see our new house and talk to inspectors and electrician/plumber/HVAC guys. CB graciously gave up part of her busy day to review some issues with our new home, go to lunch, and - wait for it - give us a personally guided tour of her little gem. CB - I just googled mapped it and we will be living exactly 1.0 miles from the gem!
And let me say, beautiful as the pictures were, the home is way way more impressive in person. It seems larger and brighter, and the views are fabulous. It was so much fun to see all the details that had been been discussed so thoroughly in this thread. DH was extremely impressed with the outdoor spaces; the deck is huge. The outdoor space almost seems to double the square footage (I’m sure cb knows exactly how much it really is).
Some things that I didn’t expect to be as impressed by as I was: the size of the master bedroom, larger in person. The pendant lights in the kitchen - I didn’t like them in the pictures but they look great in person. The openness and brightness of the kitchen. Some things I did expect to be impressed by and was: the front room. The blue door. The shelf niches. The back office (cb, I remembered later in the day about how the buyer could create a doorway but you couldn’t). The great bathrooms (magazines and all).
DH and I could easily see how the couple from Chicago will be very happy with this as their vacation home.
How lovely, Marilyn. I have to admit that I’ve had some real longings for the cottage after seeing how nicely it all turned out. And I’m not surprised that coralbrook turned out to be just as amazing in person as she’s been on this thread.
I hope you enjoy your new home – are you further up the coast, or more inland?
We’re almost in the same neighborhood - sort of walking distance (although I am now reminded how steep the hills are). We may never leave our new home once we move - great landscaped back yard with pool, hot tub, waterfall, fire pit, outdoor kitchen with barbeque and fridge, and more. The inside is dated and smaller than we hoped but definitely usable. Considering the market in San Diego, we’re lucky to get the house.
You forgot to mention that while we were standing in ‘my little gem’ (I am getting very emotionally attached to it) the airplanes seemed to be taking off right overhead. For the last 3 days they have switched the flight path for some reason. Hopefully they will get back to their regular flight path soon. The buyers are coming back out in 2 weeks for a final review and that dang airport needs to get their act together before that!!! Maybe I need to call up the control tower and tell them that the planes are about to run into my house:)
Marilyn and H have been searching hard for their new home in Pt Loma. Believe it or not they put in an offer and went into contract for a house sight unseen! Very gutsy but they have an excellent agent that knew what they wanted and I was more than happy to stop by and do a walk through and report back on any potential big issues. They had made offers on three other homes and got outbid. So, you really have to move fast to get something here! I have no idea why my little gem lingered for a bit.
As I told her in my informal report back, the back yard just screams “Come outside and hang out”. In coastal San Diego you really need to get past interior square footage and focus on good design of the outdoor areas. We spend a lot of money on outdoor living areas, and all the hardscape and patio covers and stuff are expensive. One of the things that always puzzles me is “I need a huge master bedroom”. Really?? Are you spending all day in there watching TV or something? Maybe I can understand if you have lots of kids and you need to have an escape.
We have relatives who live in San Diego…and yes, the flight paths vary…sometimes right over their house. Really…like any other airport flight path, you get used to it. And there are no flights between 11 pm and 6 am…well…take offs, that is. No landings either, I don’t think.
I did promise not to mention the 250 degree take off paths! http://www.examiner.com/article/noise-flap-raises-flak-at-san-diego-airport They do let planes land after 11:30 if necessary. DH and I only hope that after we move we can find a way to be of some help to you to further thank you for your help - catalog your record collection, perhaps?
Yes, I completely forgot to reveal that I haven’t done a dang thing with the two ballerinas or the record collection. I keep trying to ‘sell’ the record collection but all the collectors reply back that they are not looking for ‘easy listening’ music. I might just sell some of the gems and have to get my butt in gear to load them all up in the truck and take them to a thrift shop or something. They are just gathering dust in my garage and probably getting ruined.
I also have a really old manual typewriter that is really cute and the original glass chandelier lying around somewhere that I need to get rid of. The buyer was asking me about the chandelier but I had to show her that the electrician broke a couple of pieces. Not sure whether she wants me to leave it there or not. Here’s something interesting, buyers specifically requested the ‘milk delivery box’ in their purchase contract. Like I’m going to haul that off somewhere and try to keep it???
Thank you for the tips. I have been struggling with what to do with these 130 record albums! All you ever hear nowadays is how the hipsters are really into the ‘vinyl’. Turns out that the collectors are looking for old rock albums and rare jazz albums. I’ve got a couple of rare jazz albums but otherwise I seem to have a pile of black vinyl (with a lot of album covers of Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington). I just hate to throw them away.
It is on topic. We are going full circle now back to the Estate Sale discussion of the glamorous life of a house flipper. Still stuck with Estate Sale items 6 months later.
Cb - my h is still interested in jazz records. I am also interested in the typewriter for D2 my writer. Send me a pm and let me know how much you want for those.
Oh just great… the buyers will not be sending their formal Request for Repairs because they have suddenly decided that they need an independent foundation inspection and an independent chimney inspection. These are scheduled on various times and days coming up. I don’t mind, it is OK for Buyers to do their due diligence.
Also, they are going to pay a separate Home Inspector (not the original guy) to come through and check all the repairs that were done. I’ve never had a separate inspection on top of the original inspection - not sure how that is going to work. My experience is when anyone walks into construction they always think the first guy did stuff wrong and they would ‘recommend’ doing it differently. In this case, we repaired certain things exactly how the first inspector said they wanted it done - but verbally. His ‘suggestions’ aren’t in the report.
Cb, it sounds like the folks are very afraid of earthquakes, so they are paying for the parade of inspectors. Of course the new guy will have to find his own “3 wrongs”!
Could you provide the structural plans to the new inspector and offer to have the engineer who did the design available to answer any questions? Does the engineer have any work papers that could also be provided to the inspector? Or could you offer to make the engineer available to the buyers?
I don’t understand how the inspector can question a design done by a licensed engineer. Is he saying that the work was not done in conformance with the plans (despite the sign off from the city)? Or is he claiming that the engineer’s plans do not meet the code? Or that conformance with the building code is not sufficient? The whole thing seems outrageous. But having the original engineer in the loop could help.
In the meantime, I hope they are proceeding with the appraisal. You don’t want to waste any more time with these bogus repair issues if the appraisal does not come in.
The independent foundation inspection is not necessarily to look at the new foundation posts. My understanding is that they are just looking for an overall expert to look at the 80 yr old stem wall (perimeter foundation). I definitely will have the plans out and will be present for that inspection. There should not be any questions on the new work - it might be issues with the old foundation. However, this house has stood rock solid and has only one 1/4" crack on the side of the house away from the street - not even the side that is on the steep slope area.
The issue is going to be that I went ahead and put two part epoxy into the 1/4" crack, per the original Home Inspector’s suggestion to the buyers. Now that dang crack is ‘hidden’ and the new guy may not be happy.
Oh, that makes a bit more sense. It sounds like the new inspection will go fine. It is just a hassle. It is better than getting some insane report from the original inspector.
It sounds like they are in agreement with you that the original inspector was a nut case.
