In the beginning...
6/ 24/2000      We married after knowing one another only 3 months.  Sometimes you just know when it's right but we don't recommend what we did to everyone.
3/2002      We begin traveling to every historic area we can find and marvel at the diversity of Victorian homes wherever we come upon them.  It becomes an obsession.
8/2003      After seeing thousands of these marvels we decide to make the big move.  We search www.realtor.com every morning in the hope of finding one in the Northeast, preferably near Washington DC so we can find decent jobs but not too close.  We want our Victorian to be in a 'Mayberry' setting.
10/2003      We find several in Martinsburg, West Virginia and begin working with a realtor.  He is a good guy but lacks the savvy we need to get information we need to get the job done.  We consider releasing his services almost on a daily basis.
11/2003      We tell our realtor we will be driving up to see the Victorians we have selected.  He has a month to get his end of things together.
12/25/2003      We drive 1,108 miles.
12/27/2003      We are to meet with our realtor today.  We sit in our hotel room all day awaiting his call but it never comes.  We check our messages at home and he had called to tell us he lost our cell phone number.  He also neglected to leave us a number where we could reach him.  The day is shot.
12/28/2003      We drive to Martinsburg only to find that the homes are located in a nasty little area, filthy and riddled with stripper bars.  There is garbage all over and a vacant factory just a few lots up the street.  We will fire our realtor when we get home.
12/31/2004      We stop at a restaurant to get our final meal before we sleep and start back to Florida.  We are depressed and have resigned ourselves that the entire trip is a waste of time.  Chuck spots a local real estate magazine and sees a couple of homes he likes.  He leaves messages for the listing agents.
1/1/2004      The homes are all priced around $300,000, a figure we can't hope to touch.  We pack the car up and an agent calls to tell us she has a duplex listed in Brunswick, Maryland.  It needs $80,000 is work and is listed for $96,000 but is a great investment.  It isn't what we want but might some day get us the leverage to see our dreams come true.  On our way out of town we stop and see it.
     We write an offer of $90,000 that afternoon.  The husband-owner verbally accepts it but needs to speak to his wife.
1/4/2004      2:00 pm- The agent says she will meet with the owners at Noon and call us right afterward. We  have not heard from her and we are a bit nervous.
     5:00 pm- Okay, she finally called and said the owners want $94,000.  They feel this is fair because it takes them half way from their listing price to our offer.  I feel it's unfair because if we'd offered $80,000 like we wanted to then $90,000 would be more than half way.
     We're thinking about it tonight.
1/5/2004      8:45 am- Couldn't sleep at all last night.  Why did we say we'd think about it?  Anyway, $92,000 seems very fair to me since it needs $80,000 in work.  I tried to call to make the offer but Beth has the number or has placed it somewhere where only she and God know.  Beth's filing system works for her but is sometimes  unusable to others because it's based on how she thinks and not things like the alphanumeric system.
     11:05 am- I left an email for her at work saying I was completely frustrated and that she has to make the call.  I'm confident we lose this house at this point.  Someone will no doubt buy it while we are waiting for Beth to locate the number.  This is our luck and how it almost always seems to run.
     $80,000 in renovations!  Are we insane?
     12:00 NOON- It's been brought to our attention that we might want to consider putting down 50% instead of paying the entire thing up front.  This would create a $340 a month mortgage but would leave us with $45,000 in the bank to spend on materials for the Overlook. Have I mentioned I nicknamed her that? It'll pass, I'm sure.  I'm waiting on a call from a financial guy who will let me know what he feels on the subject.  I can't wait to hear what he has to say when I tell him, "We're buying an old house that needs $80,000 in renovations.  Want to loan us $45,000?  We don't have jobs."
      Anyway, he called and left a brief message while I was out making a delinquent credit card payment at the bank where I tripped over their sprinkler system and broke it creating a huge geyser of recycled waste water to spray the front of the building.  It smelled really bad.  Oops.
     5:45 pm - Beth comes home from work and hands me the work order for renovations that was done for the previous buyer (who didn't buy after all).  Our Maryland agent had a copy and gave it to us for free.  I started going over it and was at first pleased to see that it wasn't $80,000 in work but only $67,000.  And the great part was that as I broke it down I realized the guy was jacking the prices up through the roof!  My new estimate is about $20,000.
     $735 to fix a sliding glass door?  Give me a break!
1/6/2004      1:15 pm- Okay, so we decided to offer $94,000.  Of course, if we are turned down we'll just pay the entire $96,000 for the old thing but it might be to the owner's advantage to let us have her for what we wish to pay.  Home Improvement guys like me are hard to find and I (Chuck) decide who I'll work for off of character and not cash.  If he does us right I'll consider him to be a good man and put him on my list of 'Okay Joe's'.
    2:45 pm -What is with these people?!  Call!
    3:50 pm -It's getting late.  Call, call CALL!
    5:30 pm -Okay, no confirmation today.  I'm buying a bottle of rum.
1/7/2004      9:30 am -Somebody better call soon.
     10:00 pm -Now Bill Brown, our Florida agent isn't calling, either.  I'm not very happy at the moment.
     12:30 pm -I've called several insurance agencies and no one wants to insure us because it's a renovation project.  Great.  Just great!  Now I have to start 'forgetting' to mention to mention that and just tell them we'll be living there.  Debra (our Maryland agent) warned us that it will be a high insurance premium. This sucks.
    2:30 pm -Still no word on our counter offer and still no Bill Brown.
    3:15 pm -Finally!  Debra called and they accepted our offer!  Fantastic!  I called Beth and told her to turn in her notice at Tech Data and she screamed, "Woo hoo!"  Deborah also gave me the name of an insurance company that already had committed to working with someone who almost bought the house so she thinks they'll work with us, too.  I asked her if she thought the insurance was going to be in the 7-figures range and she said no.  Thank goodness!  If we can keep it under $10,000 we should be able to tread water until the important stuff is done.
     3:50 pm -Talked to Larry the Loan Guy.  He said it is indeed high and said he estimated it will be about $800 a year.  Huh?  We pay 2.5 times that right here for our tiny home in Florida!  Yahoooo!  The news keeps getting better!
     On top of all that he told me that the electric was already updated and that project was the worst of my concerns.  Now, if my half-brother Tom would only call I'll have the plumbing problems covered.  It works but may need updating and Tom is a licensed plumber.
    5:30 pm -And still no Bill Brown.  I like Bill but he's really bugging me right now.
1/8/2004     10:25 am -It's interesting to not all the things going on in the background of a change like this.  People who stumble across this website may get the idea that all we're doing is sitting around and counting the days so our frustration levels must be pretty low.  Not true.
     Beth is getting her first root canal right now and then has to go to work to attend a two hour meeting.  Our realtor still hasn't called.  I'm busily shampooing a pile of antique area rugs I found in a pile of garbage and doing repairs on the house.  I'm also waiting on some kid to show up to buy a car I have listed on Ebay.  I already know he plans to haggle the price down from $2,000 but what he doesn't know is that the Ebay listing just shot up to just short of $1,700.  He wants to pay cash and his Madre already tried to bargain me down over the phone this morning.  I hate that.  I told her it's $2,000 firm and she just kept going on about how he doesn't have that kind of money.  Fine.   Then he doesn't have a car.
      Real estate agents, root canals, & haggling Madre's.  What next?
1/9/2004      2:15 pm -Okay, so Bill The Realtor should be here at 3:00 and Larry the Loan Guy's info packet finally arrived in the mail.  I called but Larry was on another line so that'll wait until later.
     Manuel, the kid who came to see the car didn't have enough cash but is trying to scrape up the last $200 he needs.  That'll be a load off my mind if he shows up.
     The house is a wreck and not suitable for taking pictures but we'll clean it up this weekend for sure and Bill the Realtor will be able to put them on the Internet later on.
1/10/2004      11:00 pm -Bill showed up today and I signed the contract with him.  Beth later did the same with almost no hesitation other than once again bringing up a friend of ours who is also a realtor.  We had strongly considered enlisting her services but the final decision was mine to make since I have final say in any financial decisions we make.  My only hesitation to use her was based on her statement that her company will only list at a set percentage rate.  Bill is listing us at a better rate that will save us $5,670.
     I explained to Beth that while I think our friend is an absolutely wonderful person (and  is most likely a dynamic real estate agent), she herself had stressed out in trying to keep business and pleasure separate when they had worked together at Tech Data.  That said, I had to look at the nuts and bolts of the situation.  $5,670 is a lot of cash to just ignore.  I couldn't justify the loss and made my decision.
      Bill is a great realtor.  I have every confidence I made the right decision in calling him.
     I'm only mentioning this because it's all just another part of what we're taking on.  I'm betting there are a lot of people out there who take on projects like this and say, "Gee!  Let's buy a Victorian and paint it pretty colors!"  That part of the fun hasn't even started yet and we've already encountered a world of problems.  Stress adds up.
1/11/2004      8:27 am - We drove 75 miles to Orlando today to visit Home Depot's Expo store to look at kitchens.  Since I'll be constructing the cabinetry, Beth wanted to show me what she likes.  Our tastes differ but that's all right.  This room is Beth's from top to bottom.  It isn't as though Beth does all the cooking or even that she loves to cook.  The point is that my bride has always dreamed of having a massive kitchen with an island in the middle because she simply likes them and that's good enough for me.  I'll help her realize that dream and make it a place Better Homes & Gardens will envy.
      I'll have my own rooms to dominate.  Maybe the den.   I don't care about that, really.  I just want to have a strong say in the actual design of the woodwork and I'll be fine.
1/13/2004      11:42 am -Yet another break!  U Haul quoted us $1,400 plus mileage for  a single 25' truck.  After insurance, blankets and the other things we'd need  we were close to what it costs to hire professionals (minus all the damages and things they'd have stolen en route).  We hit the Internet and Penske is giving us two new trucks for six days with unlimited mileage, insurance, and 85 pads for under $1,000!!!!!  That'll save us at least $2,600 after all is said and done.  And Penske's prices fluctuate all the time so if we check their website and see the trucks at a lower rate we get it!  I love Penske.

     11:38 pm   -I've discovered something interesting about the way we live.  Our home seems to have a tilt to it that ends in the guest room.  Not having an attic, the guest room is where everything we rarely use seems to have ended up.  I have packed up 14 boxes of things we rarely use and marked almost all of them 'ATTIC'.  I have no idea why we have all this stuff.  There seemed to be hundreds of  VHS videos from when Beth's kids were little.  And box after box of things I had to mark 'MIXED STUFF: OPEN SOME DAY'.
     It will be good to have an attic so our home isn't so cluttered.
1/20/2004      7:44 am  -We spent $5,687.42 last night at Sears.  Beth bought all new appliances for the kitchen including an oven/range, a new refrigerator, a microwave, and a dishwasher..  Each of these have stainless steel facings so that they match.  This matching cost us an extra $200 per appliance but will no doubt look nice in the new house.  I promised Beth that she would have free reign in designing the kitchen and so she has.
     $5,687.42.  Man, what have I gotten myself into?
     Of course, the real fun will come when I have to build all our cabinetry around the new stuff but it'll be worth it in the end.  New appliances, new cabinets, some silk plants, and we'll be ready for Better Homes and Gardens.
     I've been tentatively offered a job working for a home improvement contractor.  He mainly needs me because he can't find any honest workers who know how to swing a hammer so I'll be meeting with him when we go up to Maryland to settle on the house.  I hope he doesn't turn out to be a Florida-type employer who talks a good tune and then the money turns out to be terrible.  I'm keeping an open mind, though.
     Our home in Florida has shown four times with no offers yet.  Just have to be patient on that one.
     And I dropped an email to our Maryland realtor yesterday and told her that if she can't pick up a phone and call me to please assign us to another realtor who can.  She has promised to call us with details we need for the closing and we haven't heard from her in a week's time.  This is ridiculous!
1/23/2004      9:10 am  -We have been turned down for home owner's insurance by State Farm.  'Like a good neighbor', huh?  This 'good neighbor' has been sucking up our money for 8 years on our homes and vehicles and has now turned us away after a brief inspection of the new house.  Apparently they only like to insure things where there's almost zero chance of having to pay out on a claim such as new houses, new cars, and people with perfect lives.  This bit of bad news was presented to me after some dork took a quick stroll around our Victorian and decided it wasn't worth the risk.  The house is built like a fortress!  I'd stack it up against any new homes being built as far as structural integrity goes.
     They suck.
     Now I'm dealing with a new company that underwrites homes others won't touch.  We'll probably have to pay out an extra $600 a year but you know what?  I'd rather do that than give State Farm another dime.  If I sound bitter it's because I am.  I hope this website becomes nationally recognized and State Farm receives a slew of emails from people reading, "You guys have no integrity!  I'd never do business with you!"
     Yeah, I feel bitterness right now.  You bet.  I feel betrayed.
1/25/2004      8:49 am  -Our actual move will cost us just under $1,000.  I worked very hard to secure that price.  It took me over 16 hours of phone calls, Internet searches and negotiating to get the price below $1,000.  It's now an integral part of our budget.
     Our friend who is an agent is now upset with us because we didn't list our Florida home with her.  To do so would have cost us an extra $2,000 because she works at a strict 7%.  That basically tells me that my time is worthless and her time carries her friendship as an added bonus.  Worse, it tells me her affections are associated to a price tag.
     I'm a businessman.  If I can't find common grounds to do business with a person I just wish them well and move on.  I don't throw myself on the ground and kick my feet like a child.
      Some people's value systems absolutely disgust me.

     9:22 am  -Well, we've once again been turned down for insurance.  Great!
1/26/2004      10:58 am -I spent over 5 hours on the telephone today researching possible insurance companies.  Beth was home with a virus so she at least got to see what I go through every day and if she has ever wondered why nothing apparently gets done around here she'll wonder no more.
     We are now in a position where we can only be insured if the electric is okayed, the roof is replaced, the plumbing is replaced, and the sliding glass door out back is removed.  We can't do that until we buy the house and we can't buy the house unless we're insured.  Chicken and the egg.
     Maryland law has no stipulations about our being insured if the house is completely paid for so that may be the direction we're headed for.  I hope not because that would wipe out our resources leaving us to work on the house one board at a time.  I have a few more options which I'll check into tomorrow.  A 3 month construction policy may satisfy everyone at this point but they're expensive and difficult to obtain.
     The good news is that a young couple looked at our home today and seemed to love what they saw.  We think they may go for it and make an offer.  We hope so, anyway.  At this point we're afraid to get hopeful about anything.
1/30/2004 8:13 am  -We now know the family who looked at our house definitely wants it but is still working on financing.  Affording it is another thing all together.  The house is indeed expensive but that's today's market in Florida, like it or not.
      We're still being shot down by insurance companies right and left. At last count it was 15 different companies. 
      Our latest is a firm that 'insures the uninsurable'.  It'll most likely cost us an arm and a leg until we get the upgrades done but that's life.  Even if they refuse us a regular policy we'll be guaranteed fire insurance and that may be just enough to get us past the closing table.  Maybe.
     On top of all of that I am laying a ceramic tile floor for a friend in Tampa and I have to meet someone at the airport who bought a car we sold on E Bay. I have no time left to do anything.
    So you see, it's not just the regular headaches that go with buying a house.  It's all the little things that turn a simple project into a roaring nightmare.
2/2/2004 9:09 am  -Beth has 4 & 1/2 days left at Tech Data and I'm looking forward to having her here at home.  There's so much to do and some of it is getting away from me.  I need her help with certain things on this end.
2/3/2004 4:58 pm    -I guess this portion of the web page is coming to an end.  I went through 17 insurance companies until I finally found one that will insure us.  It's a strange little company that I believe only insures ghetto properties for the most part.  Anyway, I sent out the check and the application today and it's a done deal.  As soon as they receive it and process the paperwork we'll get our copy of the policy, send it to Larry the Loan Guy, and that will be that.  Done.
     I'm so tired.  I really am.
2/6/2004 1:48pm     - I (Beth) am officially retired now.  It hit me, the finality of leaving a company after 17.5 years, after I said my last good bye on my way to Human Resources for the exit interview.   For weeks I was grinning non stop, then on the final minutes of being an employee my eye liner gets tested.  I guess it was inevitable, after all it has been most of my adult life. 
2/8/2004 10:15 pm   -Tonight is a heck of a turning point for us.  Friday's stock market report did well by us and paid for our kitchen so we're bailing and liquefying all of our assets.  It's time.  Greed will only get us in trouble and so the proverb about the bird in the hand is the wisest choice.
     We should also find out if our insurance went through by tomorrow.  Hope so, anyway.  We really need to have this happen.
      We are living in a sea of boxes.
      We both just want this phase to pass, to have a few moments when we know exactly where we stand, and to move on with some sort of deftness in out footholds on life.
     Some day we'll hopefully look back on this time and laugh about it but for now we're not laughing at all.  We can only see vague images of what our lives really could look like with all the luck of the world on our side but the hope we need to feel seems distant and slipping away by the minute.
       We're fighters.  We'll force this thing to happen if we have to.  I'm going to bed!
2/10/2004 10:21 pm   -I'm so tired.  We're both being exhausted by this entire ordeal and the hardest part is yet to come.  I just want the move to be over and done with.  I'm so sick of paperwork, transferring stocks around, contracts, and dealing with idiots that I feel like I just want to scream, pass out, and then sleep for a million years.
     Want to buy a fixer-upper?  Go ahead.  I dare you.  I double dare you.  I double dog dare you!
2/12/2004 8:25 am   -JIA, the insurance company that insures the uninsurable has officially turned us down.  That's right, the people who insure the worst ghettos in Baltimore and DC have informed us that out monster is just to ugly to risk.
     Not to be beaten by this tragic news, I fought on!
     There were three items they didn't care for and I offered to fly up this coming weekend to repair them but only if I would be guaranteed a policy.  
     No.
     I offered a $40,000 escrow guaranteeing the items would be fixed within a week after we got up there. 
     No.
     I attacked from every angle I could think of.  The final result was getting a basic fire policy.  Their underwriters agreed that we were okay for one of those.  All that means is that if the house burnt down they'd rebuild the house.  The next step was contacting my loan officer and asking if we could get past the closing table with only a fire policy.  He in turn ran this past his underwriter who said it would be okay if the policy adheres to Fanny Mae guidelines.
     So, I called back JIA and asked them to fax a copy of the policy over to Larry.  Unfortunately, they write the policy up along with the application so there isn't yet an existing document to fax.
     The next step was to give Vicky the Insurance Woman's telephone number to Larry the Loan Guy so that they could have a chat.  The hope is that each of them will hand the phone over to their respective underwriters and they can discuss if this will work.  If Larry the Loan Guy's underwriter agrees that Vicky the Insurance Woman's underwriter is writing a policy that will cover their needs we'll be In Like Flint.
     I respect underwriters because they control the flow of policies on the market and make sure agents aren't just recklessly writing them up to people who have lengthy track records of owning homes that 'mysteriously' burn down and other such scenarios.  They serve a decent purpose.
    But at this point in time my mind's eye sees them more or less as huge god-like creatures that resemble Jaba the Hut.  Instead of offices, they live in massive caverns lit by the flames that flare up from bubbling pools of lava.  When an agent risks approaching one of them he must keep his head bowed in humility and reverence and offer up the application with a trembling hand at which point Jaba will bless the document or just laugh in such a way that the entire cavern shakes causing stalactites to rain down, splashing lava all over the place and forcing the terrified agent to run for his life.  It all depends on what sort of mood Jaba happens to be in that particular day.
     Okay, I think this whole deal has driven me to the point where I need therapy.
     I'm going to go out into my living room with a cup of coffee, close my eyes, and listen to Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's 'Our House'.  I need to regain my sanity and perspectives.
2/13/2004 9:00 pm   -We've received our first offer on the house we own in Florida.  It was $12,500 under what we had already lowered it to plus they wanted all sorts of warrantees and guarantees plus our new dryer.  We countered it in favor of taking only $500 off the price, paying for the Home Warranty, and not offering the dryer.  We'll know by noon tomorrow.  If it's acceptable, we will have one more item crossed off of our list.
2/14/2004       12:15 pm    -Bill called and said our potential buyer counter-offered:
Now they are within $2,000.
They don't want our dryer.
They want us responsible for up to $500 should termite damage be found (It won't be.)
They want us to pay up to $1,000 if the home inspection finds problems other than aesthetic. (It won't)
Any damages must be found within 10 days of closing.
 
I countered with agreeing to everything but the price and bumped it up another $1,000.  I also said this was a deal-breaker and this was my final offer.
     3:00 pm   -Offer accepted.  Time to move on.
     5:00 pm  -Seller's agent failed to drop off paperwork to us on time.
     7:30 pm  -Seller's agent finally arrives with paperwork.
2/15/2004      7:35 pm  -Contract is signed, sealed and delivered!
2/16/2004      10:19am - What a load off of our minds this past weekend has been.  The Florida house is under contract and we sold it for a high-end market price.  It was within reason but just barely and Bill did a tremendous job finding a way to force the price up to a barely acceptable level.  He also fought tooth-and-nail for us during negotiating phase and worked some pretty incredible hours to get the job done. 
     I can't recommend him highly enough if someone in the Clearwater region needs an agent and as he left our home last night with the finished contract in hand I looked at Beth and said, "Now do you see why I wanted Bill on this?"  She wholeheartedly agreed with my decision.
    Bill is not only experienced and makes much of his living off repeat business and recommendations from satisfied customers, he's honest.  He has an  integrity that can't be skewed by greed and his loyalty to his family and community is a direct reflection of the ethics that make up his character.  He takes a personal interest in every client's experience and applies his professionalism to see that every possible need they have is fulfilled.
     Bill is also a shark and can play the real estate game with the best of them.  That's important.  You need a shark when dealing with hundreds of thousands of dollars.
2/17/2004      9:33am   -Just a good hint for when you move: don't put your books in big boxes.  Go to the liquor store and find out which days they take deliveries.  Liquor boxes are tough and they're small.  I loaded up about 25 boxes of books yesterday and although they are small they still weigh a ton.
     I feel sort of bad about one thing.  I was in high gear for weeks on end as I tried to fill nail holes, paint, repair things and do anything I could to make the house sellable.  Now that it's under contract I just don't care about it anymore.  The pool's turning green, the patch holes in the walls are still unpainted and, frankly, I don't care.  Maybe I'll be a sport and buy a gallon or two of chlorine.
2/18/2004     7:10am   -We had our first day of boredom yesterday.  We accomplished a few things but it was boring all the same.  Today we should hear from both JIA Insurance in regard to our fire policy application and they in turn will fax it to our lender.  Larry should then be giving us a call and wrapping things up on  his end of things which leaves us with nothing left to do but attend the closings and then move.
     Well, that's kind of a broad statement.  Moving still entails packing up more boxes, buying locks for the new home, putting together what we need for our stay there after we close, buying plane tickets to get home, and about a million other little details.  Still, it's nice knowing we'll be wrapping up this part of the web site pretty soon and moving on to the next section.  We need closure at this point in the game.
2/19/2004      3:00pm   -With only 7 days left until we close, we are still waiting to get a thumbs-up on our insurance situation.
2/20/2004      Noon  -Okay, we're insured.  I spoke with Larry the Loan Guy and he assured me that we're now 100% ready to go.  Beth and I spent the morning racing around to take care of the finances for the closing and we're about to go into overdrive to get this thing done.
     There is a party being thrown for Beth at a club this evening.  It's supposed to be for both of us but it's mainly for Beth and I like that.  After 18 years my wife deserves a party and her best friends really came through for her.
2/23/2004   9:31am   -Tomorrow will be a busy day.  We have to travel to Maryland to close on the Victorian and then take care of a few things while we're up there like getting the thing cleaned up and getting Christina registered in her new school.
2/24/2004    8:43am   -the rest of this section will have to be filled in retroactively when we return from Maryland.  By that time the Victorian will officially be our Victorian.  That entry will be the last one for this section of the diaries and we'll start filling in the next one called 'Moving in and losing our minds'.  There's little doubt that it will be an appropriate title.
    For now?  We have a long drive ahead of us, contractors to deal with, papers to sign and what seems like a thousand details to take care of.  It feels like we're about to finish readying the long preface to a book and Chapter One is just two weeks away.
This part of the diary is finished.  The next section is here.