Simply Norma

Since we haven’t been having much luck with the offers we’re making on houses, we have a backup house in case the Lino Lakes offer is not accepted.

The backup house is in Lake Elmo.  This house is a little closer to my husband’s work by about 15 minutes.  It also has lake access although it is not lake front.  The reason we chose the Lino Lake house instead of this one is because the other one needs very little updating and this one needs a lot more updating with the exception of the kitchen.

Tomorrow we’ll be putting in an offer on a house in Lino Lakes since our counteroffer on the Hudson, Wisconsin house was rejected.

The Lino Lakes house is on an acre of land and has a wetland/marsh in the backyard.  It has a beautiful deck where one can sit and watch the birds and it has an enclosed sun porch.

The kitchen has recently been remodeled along with the master bathroom.  Unfortunately, this house does not have a bedroom on the main floor although it has both a living and family room on the main level.

This house also has access to the nearby lake.  Canoeing anyone?

Another house we went to visit this past Sunday was in St. Paul, Minnesota. The house sits right across the street from the Mississippi River.

This is an older house.  The kitchen was slightly re-done but they would have had to remodel all of the kitchen in order to replace the smaller and older ovens as there is really not much room.

Wood paneling, similar to the one that we took out of our Seattle house, is rampant throughout this one.  Ugh!  There is a built-in 70’s type bar that pulls out in this built-in cabinet.

This is the 2nd house I’ve seen that has a very pink bathroom.  Notice the detail on the tile next to the sink.

And, lastly, a laundry chute (much smaller than the one in Seattle) and push buttons to turn on the lights.

This house is too dated for our taste.  It also sits on a very busy street.

This past Sunday we drove around and stopped at an open house in Lino Lakes, Minnesota.

The house we looked at was very nice.  It was nestled in a woodlike setting with trees.  The color of the house blends in with the colors of the trees.

It has a fenced in area for a dog run.  The background has a marshy area.  It also has access to the lake right down the road.

There are arches in the windows and in the entry from the living room to the dining room.

And the sun room, which is enclosed with windows, overlooks the trees and the marsh area.

This house has made it to our top two if the current offer we have on a house is not accepted.

We will have to compromise though as there is no bedroom on the main floor.

Overall, it’s a beautiful house and has very good internet service, a plus in our techie family.

We recently went to see a bank owned house in Lake Elmo, Minnesota.  When we arrived, there were already plenty of people there.

The inside of the house was better than what I imagined.  At 3300 square feet, everything was in pretty good shape for being banked owned.  All this house needed was new carpeting and a good cleaning.  The layout was really good also.

Across the street was a park so no new houses could be built there.

This house sat on approximately one acre.  Not too many trees but a few evergreens which made it rather scenic.

Two hours after viewing this house, an offer had already been made and accepted by the bank.  It had only been on the market for sale for 2 days.

How tragic and sad are the current events for the people of Japan and those who know and love them.  You are in my prayers Japan.

I was reading an article this morning by CNN which had this paragraph:

“At a shelter in Sendai, a shell-shocked man who fled the tsunami would not let go of his 3-week-old infant. “I have to protect my children. I have to protect my children,” he said.”

His possessions are unimportant.

A reminder to me to hang on to what’s important — the people around me.

Well, I don’t know.  Maybe we’re not supposed to live in Minnesota/Wisconsin.

We can’t seem to find a seller who is able to sell their home for the actual value.  Prices are so high and the homes that have sold in the neighborhoods are low.

Our 5th house and 5th seller has countered our offer with only $7K less than what the house is listing at.  We are currently $43K apart.  If we offer $15K more we are pretty sure they aren’t going to accept it.

Looks like we’ll have to find a 6th house and 6th seller in a couple of days. We have options for other houses so … that may be the way we have to go.

I finally purchased my airline ticket for my Chicago trip in May. It’s a solo trip as my husband has decided to accumulate more vacation time and not deal with TSA at this time.

Gobs of people to visit but the primary reason for this trip is twofold:  my “nephews” high school graduation, and checking in on an elderly friend who I have power of attorney for.

Not that everyone else isn’t important because they are but …

One week does not seem long enough though to visit so many people and I may have to set up a schedule and slot people into it.  I did that once when I took a trip to Chicago for two weeks.  I sent a schedule to all my family members and told them that if they didn’t schedule themselves for a slot, they probably wouldn’t get a visit as there were too many of them and we had little time.

My uncle, who assumed I was joking, failed to schedule himself.  When I returned, I had a call from an irate uncle.

The schedule worked though.  And it made it easy for me to see everyone.

Hmmm … Seattle folks may get a schedule.