Post from 8/2009
It has been some months since my last entry....
Life has had its ups and downs, but lately things have been on the upside. In May, I found out that my foreclosed house was sold in March for 4K. Initially I was aghast that after HUD paid ! *%$!#! Mortgage Company off for my house, when the owed amount went from 65K to being sold for 4K. But I was so glad that I did claim bankruptcy, although it was done so reluctantly. If I had known during last year how things worked with HUD, I could have saved my money and been able to get my house back this year.
But since the last two years had been rough for me there, I realized that I loved the house but disliked the neighborhood, so I was able to mentally and totally let go then. After I met the young man that was blessed to have the money saved up to buy the house, I was very happy for him. It is his first home. I had met him when I had came to get some of the remaining rose bushes and plants that I had put in. He graciously allowed me to get them. I answered his questions about the house and the neighborhood. The guy was lucky that the house did not get stripped as some others have in the past, like the one next door to it. It is still vacant. The only things that were missing out of my former home were the hot water heater and the shower fixtures.
Three weeks after I had met the new owner of my old house, I was able to get another house. I thank God because I prayed on that house! It is definitely a fixer upper, but it is brick with a fireplace which I had already told myself that my next house would be. However it does needs a lot. But as an acquaintance reminded me, she will need to update her house and it is almost paid off. My house will need a total update before I move in, but it will be well worth it. It needs a furnace, hot water heater, plumbing, electrical update and new windows. I am going to learn how to do some of those things so I will know how to fix them when they need repair or break down. During the summer, friends and family helped me clean it out. I rented a dumpster and we were able to remove rotten and wet clothing and items from the basement. Although I still have not found a full time job yet, I still do some free lance work and teaching. After reading in a June's Sunday newspaper edition that some mortgages companies are making loans under 30k, I was excited for a minute. Realizing it was for those with decent credit and first time home buyers, I knew that I was out of that category immediately. But I will keep searching for grants and opportunities to help me fix up the house.
Life has had its ups and downs, but lately things have been on the upside. In May, I found out that my foreclosed house was sold in March for 4K. Initially I was aghast that after HUD paid ! *%$!#! Mortgage Company off for my house, when the owed amount went from 65K to being sold for 4K. But I was so glad that I did claim bankruptcy, although it was done so reluctantly. If I had known during last year how things worked with HUD, I could have saved my money and been able to get my house back this year.
But since the last two years had been rough for me there, I realized that I loved the house but disliked the neighborhood, so I was able to mentally and totally let go then. After I met the young man that was blessed to have the money saved up to buy the house, I was very happy for him. It is his first home. I had met him when I had came to get some of the remaining rose bushes and plants that I had put in. He graciously allowed me to get them. I answered his questions about the house and the neighborhood. The guy was lucky that the house did not get stripped as some others have in the past, like the one next door to it. It is still vacant. The only things that were missing out of my former home were the hot water heater and the shower fixtures.
Three weeks after I had met the new owner of my old house, I was able to get another house. I thank God because I prayed on that house! It is definitely a fixer upper, but it is brick with a fireplace which I had already told myself that my next house would be. However it does needs a lot. But as an acquaintance reminded me, she will need to update her house and it is almost paid off. My house will need a total update before I move in, but it will be well worth it. It needs a furnace, hot water heater, plumbing, electrical update and new windows. I am going to learn how to do some of those things so I will know how to fix them when they need repair or break down. During the summer, friends and family helped me clean it out. I rented a dumpster and we were able to remove rotten and wet clothing and items from the basement. Although I still have not found a full time job yet, I still do some free lance work and teaching. After reading in a June's Sunday newspaper edition that some mortgages companies are making loans under 30k, I was excited for a minute. Realizing it was for those with decent credit and first time home buyers, I knew that I was out of that category immediately. But I will keep searching for grants and opportunities to help me fix up the house.
I am feeling very optimistic and excited about the house even as I struggle to work on it. I had to get rid of a lot of brush growing on both sides of the house. However there are some major landscaping issues with some trees in the back yard. Both trees are on the opposite edges of my backyard and have grown intertwined. I doubt that they are on my property line, but their branches primarily hang over my property. If there was not a sewer problem, like most of these older homes have in this area, those branches would be a nice spot for a hammock or some swings. I had thought of having someone climb up there and cut those intertwined branches down, but as a friend pointed out to me, those limbs are of a major size. So I will have to get a professional to cut them down when I get the sewer replaced. I also need to search for standing water in the backyard or nearby in the alley. The mosquitoes are so prevalent back there right now that I have to wear a jacket, hoodie and sweats to avoid them, or else I can expect at least six or more bites.
Also there is a monster grape vine growing on the northern rear side of the house that I could tell has been there for years. Although it is primarily on my side of the fence, I saw that it originated from the other side of fence which is my neighbor's side. The canes and roots are numerous and remind me of a many armed octopus. I have cut and dug up a lot, but I know that I will have to break down and succumb to using chemicals to kill them. As I looked at the tree on the other side, the vines that have grown on the neighbor's tree are now trying to extend themselves to the leaves at the top of the tree on the other side of my yard!! It was so surreal as I looked at it. I got to cut that vine at the roots because I have seen how invasive it can be. I talked to the next door neighbor about the vine, and he told me that he had been fighting with it for years. He told me that it has damaged the blade of his lawn mower several times. But I could tell from his back yard that he does not do much landscaping besides cutting the grass. And that vine has not been trimmed in years because it is way too much overgrown. The base of it is almost wider than my arm. But with the help of God, this girl is going to get a “You Can Do It” attitude, restore this house and try to get the land in shape. It won't be an easy task, but I definitely feel that I will be able to pull it off.
Labels: house rehabbing
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