Having a sit-down with the realtor this morning. Hoping it goes well.

Not ignoring you folks, just busy busy busy.

xoxo

We met with Contractor #1 today at the property so he could write up an estimate. Contractor #2 is scheduled for Friday morning. Contractor #3 is supposed to call us tomorrow. So far, so good.

AND as a bonus, we discovered several mulberry trees in the back yard and a veritable thicket of raspberry canes. WOOHOO! I'm thinking pies, jam, jelly, etc. Oh, man, I'm gonna be busy! YAY!

PL - at this rate, I might just take you up on the offer to move here and help out. However, maybe you better not pack boxes til we actually get the place. Yeah, yeah, crazy talk. I know.

No good deed goes unpunished.
Sheesh

lol

I...

I have no words. Love you both.

Yeah...so... I've been researching Victorian interior design and I must say, designers of the day pretty much sucked! Citrine walls with olive green accents and a peacock blue rug... or perhaps terra cotta walls with a purple carpet... or may I interest you in red walls, black and brown wainscotting and a spiffy yellow and black carpet? Didn't think so. We'll just use colors we like in with a nod to the wallpaper, chair rail, wainscot and drapery styles of the era.

The meeting went even better than hoped. Got lots of info. Now to coordinate contractors and the realtor to all meet at once to give us estimates for the work that needs done. Once we have numbers, we can look at financing options.

OMG - I think we're gonna do this!

Woohoo! I fixed the spawn's door so that it'll finally latch correctly... and lock... and wasn't thinking and gave her both keys to make sure they worked... and she kept em both...

oops

We've a meeting set with one of the big cheeses on the town council for early Friday morning. We'll be going in with a whole list of questions to which we need answers before we even bother bringing in people to give us quotes on the work that needs done. With luck, the answers will be the ones we want to hear.

Poohbare commented today that if everything moves along smoothly, we're looking at opening in six months. SIX MONTHS?!?!?! wtf man! I mean, we've been seriously looking into this possibility for... like... what?... (/quickly looks at prior blogs) three full days! I'm ready to buy paint and start hanging art on the walls ffs. Six months won't work for me. I'm impatient and ready to start demo NOW. lol

In other news, our new-to-us safe was delivered today. Got a damn good deal on it, too. Dunno how the hell we'll ever get it moved into the shop cuz it weighs over 1,000 pounds, but we'll figure something out.

*grumble grumble* he gets a safe, but do I get to buy paint and furniture? nooooooooooooo *grumble grumble*

I had some pics of the interior and exterior of the building up, but I'm not ready to share that just yet. If we get it, I'll post some before and after stuff.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, and just cuz I think it's kinda nifty, I was making ham salad over the weekend with my great grandmother's food grinder. Poohbare gets all nervous and stuff when he sees the fitting for "nut butter grinder". Dunno why.
O.o
Sorry for the blurry pics. Photobucket is being a bitch tonight and I gave up.
[IMG]http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r620/stupidstuff0102/grinder/fotoflexer_photo-1.jpg[/IMG]
The patent date is May 17, 1904

I talked to the realtor yesterday and picked up the keys so we could do a walk-through. Poohbare and I were shocked at what we found -- mahogany doors and wide trim on the doorways and baseboards, hand-carved accent pieces on the corners of the trim that match the carvings in the front doors, real high ceilings, lotsa windows and wonderful light cascading into the rooms, super-old fantastic hardwood flooring throughout, transom windows over every original door, solid staircase and sturdy banister .... *happy sigh* Heck, there's even a nice big kitchen where we can park Mom during the day!

There was a minor water leak at some point in the upstairs bathroom, but the damage is isolated to the upstairs/downstairs baths. There's some slightly spongy spots in the main floor that need to be looked at more closely, and most of the plaster will need to be removed/repaired/replaced. We weren't able to look at the basement, but I'm not a fan of basements, so I'm all good with that for now.

It would be PERFECT for the coin shop, plus my son and his girlfriend could take the upstairs apartment. The upstairs is in pretty darn good shape and just needs a bit of TLC, patching and painting.

Since we'd be ripping out a bunch (if not most) of the plaster, it would be easy enough to bring the electrical up to code and get the plumbing repaired. As a bonus, the son's girlfriend comes from a family of tradesmen. Her dad and uncle happen to be an electrician and a plumber. They know lots of other people looking for sidejobs... if that's the route we want to take. Alternatively, we could ask for discounts from contractors in return for public acknowledgement of their assistance in bringing this building back from the brink. I'm already thinking of paint colors and such. lol

This morning I got a call back from the state historicalish stuff people. The building has already been reviewed and qualifies for the national registry. All that's needed is an official application. I think if we buy it, that's the route to take cuz it'll protect the building. The other two entities which have made offers on the property both want to raze the building and make a parking lot. Not cool, man.

We've got tons of research yet to do and need to plan our financial strategy. We've pages and pages of notes and questions to sort out and find answers, but I think we can do this! Even if it doesn't come to pass with this property, we'll have a solid gameplan in place, so either way it's all good. YAY!