There's no place like home!

I bet you thought I'd forgotten to post about the house-hunt. Well, no, I hadn't forgotten. I just wanted to be sure things were settled before I posted. Both sides of the transaction are complete, and I can now officially say we've sold our home and purchased another. Moving day will be August 8th, and I have no idea how long I may be "off the air" during the transition - what with packing stuff up, unpacking, and getting cable modem service installed at the new place... I'm already having nightmares.

The house we ended up buying is in "move-in" condition for people who don't mind older places. I am a bit of a snob in this regard. To me, move in condition is a hotel. A place with clean linens, furniture already in the room, a clean floor and fresh paint... So, before this home will be in "move in" condition, it needs some upgrades.

Here are some of the things I'd like to be able to do before moving in:

• Rip out all carpeting and floor covering, and replace it with new carpet and tile


• Upgrade the house to 100 amp service


• Install cable TV and internet service


• Install electrical outlets in the kitchen to accommodate our electrical appliances (the current residents have gas appliances)


• Convert the family room to a bedroom (that means adding a partial wall, with a door)


• Install a through-the-wall dog door, so the canine members of the family feel right at home


• Fix the holes in the deck, and extend the deck to allow the dogs access to their dog door


• Extend the fenced area of the yard to give the dogs more running room


• Add a small extension to the fence to prevent dogs from getting to the pool without supervision


• Install central air conditioning (after removing the current wall-mounted A/C units and patching the holes)

Realistically, not everything on that list will get done before the move. And it's even questionable whether all of them will get done until I have found work. Because we're living in a much bigger and newer house now than the one we're moving to, we've built up considerable equity. That will give us some cash to pay for these upgrades. But, I'm also in "cash-conservation" mode at the moment, so I don't want to go overboard.