Getting a home inspection is one of the most important steps you can take to protect your home investment. In spite of the value, lining up my first home inspection felt more like an examination of my patience than an inspection of my home.

The research I’d done on home buying covered the home search and loan process extensively, but when it came to instructions on what to do after you’ve made an offer all my books seemed to be on an informational diet. Even Home Buying for Dummies, my relatively comprehensive bible to the home buying process, offered little more than interview questions in the section on inspections. Luckily for me I only wasted about a few hours aimlessly calling inspection companies in the phone book when I decided to stop shooting in the dark, and relied on family recommendations to locate a quality inspector. I wound up hiring Dale Butler of Pro Home Inspection Service to inspect my potential home.

Fortunately, Dale turned out to be a better inspector than I could have asked for. He was licensed, insured, thorough, and very personable and reassuring. He also came equipped with his own recommendations for contractors who could help me make the necessary repairs for my home. Unfortunately, preparing the home for inspection was not a Read the rest of this entry »

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Part 1 multi-series on Lifestyle Redesign

‘Oohhh, if I didn’t need this job I would be outta’ here right now.’ I have caught myself thinking, mumbling, yelling that phrase one too many times in my life. Although, when I said it the other day, a voice answered, “Would you?” Dumbfounded. I was stopped in my tracks by this one simple question and had no definitive come back. Luckily an alert that I had a new message in my email inbox gave me a relief, or so I thought.

When I opened the email the subject read, “Live Life Fully.”

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The feeling is overwhelming, the concept is nothing new, but regardless of how cliché it is I constantly struggle with the feeling that there are just not enough hours in the day to accomplish all that I want to do.

In an attempt to satisfy my cravings in life I have over committed myself and started to loose control of my time. Somewhere along the line I’ve started to sidetrack the things that are most important to me- spending time with my family, boyfriend, and friends, writing, feeding my spirituality, building my business, and enjoying new experiences life, to take on roles that add value to my life but invaluably consume vast amounts of time in the process.

Right now, my biggest time consumer is my 8-4 job working at a small private University.

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In a little over a week my search for a home raced from slow motion to fast forward. I intended to approach the process methodically and thoroughly research each step. Contrary to my plan however, the opportunity to buy presented itself and I was not going to deny it in favor of process. My fast forward started when I elected to trust my instinct and make an offer on the two bedroom, lender owned townhouse I’d discovered in Aurora.

I resolved to offer the seller $11,000 below listing price to make up for the cosmetic work needed on the home.

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Who knew that determining what you want out of your living situation was such a daunting task? For the past week I’ve allotted time everyday to sit down and reflect on what my dream home would include. When I started this exercise my biggest difficulty was eliminating the limitations and obstacles from my head. Although reflection time was intended to brainstorm any and everything I wanted out of my living situation, I often hindered myself by saying ‘that would be nice but’… I am too young, I don’t have enough money, or Black people in Colorado don’t live like that. After several days of criticizing my own ideas I decided to take a different approach. I would start with the more practical and work from there. Although I still haven’t completely let go of my pragmatic brainstorming, I’ve started to create a list that will give me something to look forward to over the years. Here is dream list so far:

What I need out of my living situation to be productive:
• Personal space and privacy
• Enough space to keep my things neat and organized
• Multiple rooms that offer a change of environment
• Clean and safe
• Comfortable bed where I can get a good night’s rest
• A desk where I can write and create
• Lots of natural lighting
• Space to store my books and brainstorm my ideas

Living that would make me happy:
• Bay window where I can sit and read in the sun
• Patio or deck to observe the outdoors
• Within walking distance of cultural activities and grocery stores
• Friendly, creative and outgoing neighbors
• Comfortable yet trendy urban living
• Eco friendly
• Close to beautiful parks and green spaces
• Beautiful views
• A home that compliments my YS life style
• Creative space to display and work on my photography
• Friends nearby
• Close to light rail or other rapid public transportation
• Community activities like block parties, and neighborhood gatherings

The ultimate dream:
• A floating luxury vacation home
• Unique design and architecture
• A water wall
• A large tropical aquarium in my living room
• Decorative outdoor spaces for entertaining
• Cutting edge neighborhood
• Contemporary interior design
• Heated floors
• Integrated sound system and technology
• Game room with wet bar
• Hot tub
• Home office with private entrance

What living features top your dream list?

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