Things we see and things we don't see

Thanks for everyone's previous posts on what to do. It was really fun to see people voting on what they suggest for us to change, thanks again for the feedback. I will keep the poll open for another few weeks. While I begin developing a plan. 

Here is our update, we are in escrow with our house and the inspection was done this week. We had forgotten what the house looked like on the inside. We weren't necessary excited about the house's outside appearance but what I had kept telling myself is that the inside didn't need much work. I know we can fix the outside but I just hadn't been prepared for all the work the inside needed as well. 

Read the sign above the realtor's sign

So when we saw the property again, there were some surprises. On the day of the showing of this home, the first time we saw it, we had seen 9 other properties. So some of the details of the various houses blended together and others details were forgotten. As we walked through the home during the inspection we became reacquainted with it.

We are closing on the home in about a month so in the meantime we are busy collecting pricing for things to fix that were found in the inspection and for our own desired upgrades. 

Plastic window fire wall, is a bad idea. 

One of the items was replacing and filling the plastic window in the photo above for safety purposes. Most fires start in the garage and since more flammable liquids (gas, paints, ect...) are stored there that fire can grow quickly. You want to make sure your home has a properly sealed fire barrier between you and your garage. These means solid wood or metal doors, no exposed wood in the framed wall; which you essentially want is a gypsum board (sheetrock) wall that is continuous from the floor to the ceiling. It could easily save your life by buying you extra time to get out of your home safely.

The inspection report had a lot of the typical items, but also had more critical items. These items are safety issues: fire walls, haphazard and exposed wiring, and ill-conceived projects and of course the plastic window as noted above. 

What do we do we really see the TV or fireplace?

What I have been realizing is we don't often see everything that is there. When we saw the home we have an offer in on it was filled with the home owner's possessions and the home owner was home. These two components can be awkward because you are trying to truly see the home around all the stuff and not relay to the home owner your interpretation of the their home's aesthetics. Because let's face it home's are personal; they are a personal reflection of how we live, what is important to us, and where we spend our energy. In the photo above, my husband was appalled by this home owner's taste in the location of the TV, while to me it just made me smile.

This is a really cool item for a TV, the glass is transparent when not in use and simply goes away. This is designed by Michael Friebe which combines LCD with TOLED display.