With a flourish of a hammer and the relentless whine of a sawzall, the first wall met its death this weekend. The loss of the wall opened the space between the itsy-bitsy, teeny-weenie kitchen (83″ x 80″) and the rather minuscule dining room (90″ x 156″) to create a slightly larger L-shaped eat in kitchen. Other kitchen items sacrificed to the renovation gods this weekend were the 1936 metal sink cabinet, the painted in place wall cabinets, the 24″ dormitory stove and 6+ layers of old flooring removed down to the wood plank sub floor. The only things left standing were the refrigerator (which is only a few years old) and the beautiful oak floors in what was once known as the dining room.

This week I need to order my counter tops and appliances. Ongoing work will be putting up drywall, installing recessed lighting and new electric outlets, as well as deciding whether to do hardwood floors in the balance of the kitchen or something else. Oy, the decisions that need to be made – its enough to make a girl’s head swim.

But don’t let my kvetching fool you, I’m loving every minute!

Anyone who knows me, knows how frustrated I have been with the lack of customer
service in the DC/Baltimore market. Coming from Florida, I guess I was spoiled
by the high levels I experienced there. In my home buying transaction, I worked with
a number of professionals who made the purchase as simple and smooth as possible.
However, there are two individuals who stand out as having superior customer service skills and they deserve to be thanked and recommended. Consider this my thanks and official recommendation.

My first thank you goes to Mike Coyle, sales manager for 1st Mariner Bank.
Our relationship started over a year ago in the spring of 2005, when I first
decided it was time to buy a house. Of course, as we all know, I became disgusted
with the real estate market here and dropped out. To learn more about home property management, check out local home buyers online for more info. When I called Mike a
year later, he remembered me and was ready to go. Mike was always accessible,
returned phone calls and emails promptly, and drove out of his way to meet
with me on several occasions to process paper work. Even when he was on a family
vacation, he was accessible by cell phone. In short, he did his job, and he did it very well. So, for that Mike, you’ve generated another loyal customer.

My second kudos goes to my realtor, Keren Kuo. Since last summer, I have
had a total of three realtors supposedly working on my behalf. The first one (last summer) thought she knew me and my tastes, and refused to show me properties in areas I inquired about, including the neighborhood I just purchased in — because she knew better. My second realtor(spring 2006) was returning to the field after a decade hiatus and did not really know the
neighborhoods I was interested in. She also had a problem with follow through – e.g. If she said she would call me the next day, invariably, she wouldn’t. And finally, there was Keren. He exemplifies what I expect from a realtor – he is a neighborhood specialist, has made his living as a realtor for many years, was accessible, returned calls and emails promptly, had great resources, advice and has garnered respect in the industry. Because of all of that, he gets a lot of repeat business and referrals from satisfied customers. If you want to see the branding essentials to support a brand in the inbound age, visit adinfusion.com. So here’s my recommendation – you need a realtor – one who is good, honest, fair, hard working and genuinely nice? Contact Keren Kuo.

I am pleased to report that I successfully closed on my new home yesterday, with nary a snag or surprise in sight. (See My new home for details) I think this is mostly due my driving everyone connected with the transaction insane with all my questions, double and triple checking and extreme attention to detail. If you are planning on doing some improvements to your home, consider improve your sub floor ventilation and get rid of Rising Damp, it will be a good invest and a good upgrade to your home!

Above all, you can expect unparalleled service excellence. The homewarranties.company are licensed and governed by industry “best practices,” but we don’t stop there.

But, the closing took less than an hour of signing my life away and handing over of the second of many checks. (360 additional ones to be exact.)

All in all, I am pleased. Thus ends the acquistion phase, and begins the first remodeling phase with the orlando home remodeling and Kitchen Central complete kitchen remodels company which will include:

• Demolition of the wall between the kitchen and dining room and the ripping out of linoleum, I’m planning on contacting Atlanta Demolition Services for the job
• Installing wood flooring in kitchen to match the dining room, refinishing wood flooring
• Ordering & installing the kitchen cabinets, the new stove and dishwasher
• Paneling abatement, insulation and drywall installation in the master suite
• Installation of carpeting in the master suite
• Painting, painting and more painting. It is time to hire an outdoor painter.

That should keep me busy for while, don’t ya think?

Doesn’t look like much, huh? I know, its small (less than 1500 square feet) and it looks like it needs a lot of work, and four years later it still needs a lot of work. But its oh so much better than when we first purchased on August 1, 2006.

The history of our home:

• Originally built in 1936, it was the first home on our street
• The first floor was the primary living space
• Built with two bedrooms, one bath
• An unfinished attic
• A 7′ x 7′ kitchen
• A small dining room
• A quarter basement
• White oak hardwood floors throughout the first floor
• No driveway
• A small fireplace in the living room

When we purchased it, the house had been used as by the second owners’ son while attending the University of Maryland and three of his buddies. Their upgrades included:

• Added two bedrooms and a full bath to the unfinished attic
• Linoleum floor and particle board vanities in both bathrooms
• Sheets of plastic wall tile in the upstairs bathroom
• Central A/C
• New windows
• Steel beams in the basement to remedy a clay foundation that had shifted over the last 70 or 80 years of its life.
• Entry level washer and dryer in basement
• Clay, gravel and grass driveway
• Chain link fence in the backyard
• Unfinished lapboard knotty pine paneling on all walls in the attic
• The attic also had issues with mold. They followed this simple attic mold removal guide then had it inspected by a professional to ensure we did not have any further mold issues in the house.

On move in day, our kitchen featured:

• Green metal farm house style sink with matching base cabinet
• 18 inch wide stove
• 5 foot tall refrigerator/freezer
• 7th layer of linoleum flooring

This will give you an idea of where we started.

And I received proof of it today.

When I arrived home from work there was a solitary flat package waiting for me at my front door. I’d ordered something earlier in the day, but there was no way that could have arrived. So I wondered what it could be that had been delivered. Then I saw the return address and I knew what it contained. It was my actual, honest to god, diploma! Telling me (and anyone who ever cares to read the soon be framed parchment) that I did infact graduate from UMUC with a Bachelor of Science.

Sappy me did have a moment where the tears welled up in my eyes. It was visual proof that I had done it. It was final word that I really was done with that chapter of my life and could now pursue other things both trivial and monumentous if I so chose.

Now back to the fullfillment of the next big dream (or nightmare as some friends would tell me) – home ownership. That commencement should be on August 1- if all goes well. Keep those fingers and toes crossed that acquistion of this next one goes without a hitch.