On the 31st Day

This is a picture I took back in April and a quick blog I wrote but never posted.

The grass has come in, although it isn't exactly what I'd hoped for.

The picture is a decent indication.  The brown areas do have grass, but it's much more sparse.  Various weeds have popped up too, which I then pulled but that killed some grass too.  Mint plants that were part of the garden from the past fall also started to sprout.  I probably should have done a better job of sifting through the old dirt to remove old plants.  I continue to water the newly planted areas twice a day and hope for better results in the near future. 

That was April.  Today, that grass is full and lush.  In fact, I've come to learn that once temperatures rise, the sun comes out, and we get some rain, the darn grass won't stop growing!  I mow every weekend but I still feel that isn't enough.

I may post later on lawn care tips, but new rule #1 when planting new grass:
Wait until it is decently warm (above 70) with plenty of sunshine.  Newly planted grass will take root and start growing with little effort in no time.  If you do like I did and plant when it is still cool, you'll be out there watering twice a day for weeks, only seeing minimal results and probably second-guessing yourself the whole way.

Packed

Packing is the worst!

When you move into your first apartment, you might own a bed and a foreman grill.  You guilt your friends with pizza, but you leave out that you have an 8 floor walk-up.

Today, we packed and loaded up a U-Haul truck.  We paid for movers to help us load the truck and it only took 2 hours thanks to them, otherwise, Pamela and I would still be packing. There is something to be said for the quote "The things you own begin to own you" (Fight Club).

The apartment looks spacious without any of our stuff in it!

Here is everything we own, packed into a 14' U-Haul truck.

The Plant We Own Has Begun to Own Us

Update on the Drama
The good news is that the seller has agreed to give us a $750 credit for the dryer, which is the amount we had asked for.

The other news is either a non-event or completely borks the deal.

One of the things we love about our potential new neighborhood is the people.  We actually know several families and they have all told us how it's a neighborhood out of the '50s - everyone knows each other, is friendly, "howdy neighbor" and all that.

Early this morning we got an e-mail from one of the neighbors we know.  He pointed out to us that the drainage pipe in the house's back yard flows into a nearby stream after it crosses another persons back yard.  He said that we'd better make sure we have an easement in the deed and that this wasn't just some verbal agreement to allow us to drain water that way.

I asked my lawyer to check into this - nope, nothing in the deed.  Without this drainage system, we know the backyard would turn into a mud pit and we could imagine the basement would be much more susceptible to flooding.

The complicating factor is that the neighbor whose yard the pipe crosses has sold their house to a developer.  So, if an easement isn't in place, we'd have to negotiate with the developer who may or may not be willing to do so.

The seller works for our local municipality, and our lawyer says he could have filed with the city to allow this drainage connection, which would obviate the need for anything in the deed.  We are hoping this is the case.

If we show up to closing tomorrow and it turns out there was only a verbal agreement, we can't close.  And if we can't get the neighbor or the developer to agree to legally grant us access, we can't close - period.

So the chance of this deal entirely falling apart went from 1% to 25% very quickly.  Again, the seller works for the city and I think it is unlikely that he just built a pipe and never filed for permission with the city.

Lessons Learned

We knew of the drainage system and spoke with the seller about it extensively.  We did not ask him if the pipe was illegal.  We also failed to let our lawyer know about this drainage system.  He would have otherwise known to look for this in the deed.  It was a failure on our part and our agent's part to not connect the dots. 

Tomorrow
We are scheduled for our final walk-through tomorrow at 2pm, then closing at 3pm.  If all goes well, we'll be done signing paperwork at 5:30pm and moving in soon after.  If things don't go well, Pamela, Akina and I are spending at least one more night in a hotel and leaving all our belongings in the U-Haul for another day.