Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Pictures of my Chalet
Prior to purchasing, these are the pictures that I took. (previous owner's furniture)
The Purchase -- how it all started
I have always wanted to have an A frame in the mountains. It is such a departure from the architecture of my suburban MD home. I wanted a place to run to, to hide, to escape, to wind down, to simply be.
Over the summer, I was interested in buying a log home in Smithburg, MD. It was quite perfect. Just an hour from my home, 15 acres with a stream running through it. But the town said that the cistern and septic were not installed correctly. More hassle that I could deal with, I walked away from the opportunity. However, the "I-want-a-home-in-the-mountains" bug caught again at the end of December 2012.
I spent most of the week between Christmas and New Years looking at houses online. Thank God for Trulia and realtor.com! I settled on a region in West Virginia, which involved a commute that I could still handle -- about 1 1/2 hours from home.
I looked at three houses, and one in particular was perfect inside. I put an offer on the house that day, which was 1/2/13.
Then the drama started .....
I was told that the folks involved with the FHA loan didn't like the fact that the foundation wasn't cement. Well, it is a wood home built on a mountain. I somehow jumped to the conclusion that the wood was also not pressure treated wood. I got scared, and withdrew my offer.
Two weeks later, I went back up to WV and looked at a house with a cement foundation, a gorgeous kitchen, but no A/C (I figured I could always buy a window unit). But the location of the house was way too close to the road, and the wall of windows that made up the back-facing "A" frame of the house looked right at someone else's house. Seeing some limited options, I went back to the house without the cement foundation. This time I went inside the crawl space. And lo and behold....it DID have pressure treated wood! And the crawl space was dry and had no mold smell. This was starting to look perfect.
I went upstairs to the house, and fell in love with it again when I walked it. I put in my offer on 1/13/13, and it was accepted the next day!!
Over the summer, I was interested in buying a log home in Smithburg, MD. It was quite perfect. Just an hour from my home, 15 acres with a stream running through it. But the town said that the cistern and septic were not installed correctly. More hassle that I could deal with, I walked away from the opportunity. However, the "I-want-a-home-in-the-mountains" bug caught again at the end of December 2012.
I spent most of the week between Christmas and New Years looking at houses online. Thank God for Trulia and realtor.com! I settled on a region in West Virginia, which involved a commute that I could still handle -- about 1 1/2 hours from home.
I looked at three houses, and one in particular was perfect inside. I put an offer on the house that day, which was 1/2/13.
Then the drama started .....
I was told that the folks involved with the FHA loan didn't like the fact that the foundation wasn't cement. Well, it is a wood home built on a mountain. I somehow jumped to the conclusion that the wood was also not pressure treated wood. I got scared, and withdrew my offer.
Two weeks later, I went back up to WV and looked at a house with a cement foundation, a gorgeous kitchen, but no A/C (I figured I could always buy a window unit). But the location of the house was way too close to the road, and the wall of windows that made up the back-facing "A" frame of the house looked right at someone else's house. Seeing some limited options, I went back to the house without the cement foundation. This time I went inside the crawl space. And lo and behold....it DID have pressure treated wood! And the crawl space was dry and had no mold smell. This was starting to look perfect.
I went upstairs to the house, and fell in love with it again when I walked it. I put in my offer on 1/13/13, and it was accepted the next day!!
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