[vpcats]

Originally Posted by faithfulFrank

Well, I just got back from teaching an EMT class, and there was a 1/4 inch of ice on my windshield......we are not in "Florida" anymore Toto.....

I didn't think anyone would be interested in pics or the boring details of our trip, but perhaps some experiences would be of help to some who are planning the same thing.

Closing went well.....we were not there for it....learned some lessons there. Up here in NY, a real estate deal takes months.....in Florida, if you are not ready and done within a month, the nice people start showing their teeth.
My advice: When the sellers are begging for any buyer to make an offer, if you think you need 4 weeks to close, tell them that closing will be in 8 weeks, but you will close sooner if possible. Leave yourself some breathing room....when it comes to banks, lawyers, appraisers, etc, things go wrong. We were up against the wall time-wise.....it made things very stressful when they should not have been. We left to go down there before the bank wired the money and got there the next day. NY may take longer to do real estate deals, but some of the bad things I experienced with the transaction in Florida would not happen up here. I will not let a less then perfect realtor/buying expreience detract from the fact that it is a great house at a good price. The deal is done, and we are happy with everything. It is like a mother who had a hard labor....she almost forgets the labor when she finally holds the baby.....I am wiser now though

DAY ONE- the "brand new" carpeting looked like it needed a cleaning, so before we bought any furniture, I rented a shampooer and cleaned all the carpeting. I've done this many times in other places I've owned, and like doing it myself. This time I rented a rug doctor, and it cleaned great. I also usually like renting the rug shampooers from Home depot, but this time I got a rug doctor.

Now, I'm not an idiot, but I had a problem. The directions show the user pouring the dirty water down the toilet. In the past, I always poured the water in my laundry sink, where I clean out paintbrushes, etc....a slopsink. My new house does not have a slopsink....it also does not have a basement like I am used to, but oh well.........

So I used the toilet to pour around 30 buckets of dirty water down the toilet, like it shows. All went well, until I was done, and started getting the unit cleaned and ready to return. well, the design of the rug doctor has a BIG flaw....the fine mesh screen to keep foam out of the unit is right above the dirty water container, and is only held in with a spring......very easy to have fall in your dirty water and not notice it. Sometime during the day that happened......

"Where did the filter and spring go??" I asked myself. Then I noticed that the toilet was not flushing that strong. Great. It is now trapped in the toilet. After trying a toilet auger and snake to get it out, I ended up having to remove the toilet, carry it outside, and blast out the orange juice can size filter and spring with a high pressure hose......then buying a new wax ring and toilet flange bolts, re-install the toilet. LESSON LEARNED- don't pour the dirty water in the toilet like it shows, or at least watch for that @#$%@! filter to make sure it never falls into the dirty water. I did not expect to do plumbing that first day. Great first impression I gave the neighbors....playing outside with a toilet.....

Well that was the first day.....more to follow if you like.....

Frank D.

hahahahahaha. Can't wait for the 2nd day!!!!!

It's a good thing you are one of those "handy" people Frank!!!!! I bet you're going to be real popular with the neighbors!

P.S. When we bought THIS house 4 yrs ago, the first time we used the toilet, my husband ended up running a hose to the roof from I don't know where to "declog" it".

[nomoresnow]

OMG, this could replace my daily viewing of the Young and the Restless. Can't wait to hear about Day 2.

[pianogal]

Frank....whew.....what a first day!!!! Hopefully things get better from here....would love to hear the rest of your story! Thanks for sharing.

Sure am glad you are handy....my DH is good at everything BUT plumbing. After a few episodes when he tried his hand at plumbing in our first home - I don't let him touch the plumbing. He's a big guy and doesn't realize how strong he is....he broke the faucet in half and tightened the toilet down so hard he cracked something. Then there was that problem in the plumbing behind the shower tile....by the time it was done, we went ahead and redid the entire bathroom - from the wallboard/tile out. I have the plumber's number on quick dial! LOL

We almost rented a rug doctor right after Christmas, but we chickened out and called Stanley Steamer - after we paid $200.00 for what was supposed to be a $90 job - we wished we had tried the rug doctor!

[faithfulFrank]

Chapter 2- THE NEXT FEW DAYS THERE.......

Things seemed to go smoother then that first day....we started buying furniture. We were told that there were good consignment shops that sold GOOD, NICE gently used furniture for good prices. They were right. We spent like lotto winners and got some great furniture. My wife was amazing.....decorating, and making lists of everything we needed. Every room filled out looking great. I was in charge of buying tools, ladders, garage stuff and of course, the TV's and remotes......and a nice leather recliner.

My wife was busy buying pots and pans and can openers, corkscrews, towels, bedding...(Jeez, bedding is costly, for the good stuff...)....vaccuum cleaner, cleaning supplies, ironng board, silverware, etc. We actually bought almost every piece of needed furniture in just a few days.

We even drove down to Orlando, to Old Time Pottery to buy fake plants and nice pots, etc. (I was told you need fake plants...."green stuff" to decorate)

Our hang up was that the first day we almost bought a nice spare bedroom set for the guest bedroom.....but passed it up. After the first few days, after we got everything, we still needed a bedroom set for the guest bedroom.........could not find the "right" one. It was the snag that almost ruined the trip. We spent DAYS driving up through "the villages", (read "traffic hell") going to 3 different shops and countless other furniture stores just to fill that last bedroom. I was real close to saying forget it, and throwing a sleeping bag in there. It was taking up DAYS I did not have. Finally, we found a set that would work. Now, every room looks perfect.

I was at last able to turn my focus to the ten dozen other things I needed to get done before going back to cold Buffalo NY.

NEXT- "How to replace three dishwashers in two days miles from home..."

Frank D.

[nomoresnow]

Now, that sounds like fun! My house came furnished. Just joking. I wouldn't have been able to spend enough time to do all that stuff down there.

THREE dishwashers??? Sounds like a story. Can't wait for installment 3.

[Judlea]

Originally Posted by nomoresnow

OMG, this could replace my daily viewing of the Young and the Restless. Can't wait to hear about Day 2.

I was reading so "intently" until all of a sudden - total "comic relief." ROFL I agree nomoresnow. Can't wait to hear about day 2, day 3, day 4...

faithfulFrank, even though I've never posted in your threads, I've been following your "adventures" all along. I even started wondering last week where you were, how you were, how did things go!!! Even considered posting a "Has anyone heard from faithfulFrank?" thread.

Okay, this "saga" can continue... I did notice you started another thread... Do we all go there next??? LOL

Judlea

[firemed]

Congratulations on the new house, Frank.

When you get to Florida check into Teaching CERT, You could help the people in your area with your expreience.

[shedav]

Congrats Frank!!! Dont know how you stand it....going back and forth...I would be totally depressed leaving FL to go back home. Keep up the posts and glad your neighbors are great.

[faithfulFrank]

Well it has been a week now that we have been back......Florida seems like a distant memory.......my walkway has ice on it, and I don't want to buy another bag of rocksalt....it is 30 degrees here, which is not bad. Was I really in shorts last week??

OK, chapter 3- "The dishwashers"

One of the reasons we bought our house is because a good friend whom I work with owns the house across the street....he also rents the house some of the year, and plans on retiring there in a few years. I met his current tenant, and told him if there is anything that needs to be done with the house, let me know since I am down here.......if I can help, i will, and if not you can go with the regular plan of calling the rental manager. Well a few days later he tells me that the dishwasher is not working right.

I checked it over, and decided that it should be replaced. I called my friend who was still up north here outside of Buffalo, and told him I was spending some of his money. He was thrilled because I could solve the problem much cheaper then the property manager could. I went and bought a new dishwasher, took the old one out, and installed the new one. No big deal. New one worked great. Everyone is happy, and it did not take long.

Now I'm thinking that the two houses were built the same year, and had the same model dishwasher.......I wonder how mine is....?

THE NEXT NIGHT.....my wife turns on the DW, and a half hour later, just before bed, we walk in the kitchen to find soap suds all over the floor and across the room. I remembered that the realtor made us buy a home warranty, so I first called them. It was covered, but they would have to send out a serviceperson to check it out. I would have to pay them $55.00, but then they would replace it or repair it. I had the guy come, but only after I let them know that I was not going to settle for less then a new DW, that even spending $55.00 was not worth it if they thought they would fix a 15 year old dishwasher. They explained that the serviceperson would very likely see it my way, and that I had the option of either having them order and install a new one, or I could do it and send them the bill.

Since we were leaving to go back to NY in a few days, I decided to do it myself and they could pay me. The serviceperson came out, agreed, and afterwards I went and bought another dishwasher and installed it. Seemed to work fine, but the next day we noticed it would not drain.

I told myself, it could only be three things.......either the drain hose is kinked, or the disposal inlet or trap is clogged, or the brand new dishwasher is bad. I pulled the new one out, checked everything, and found that the new dishwasher is defective. So out it came, back to the store, got ANOTHER one, installed that one............and that one works fine. This was all on the last day we were there.....did not need to do all that on the last day when we were supposed to be preparing to return home.

It seems to me that I spent an excessive amount of my Florida time under countertops.........but all is well. It gave the neighbors more to talk about...first I play outside with toilets, then I buy three dishwashers.....

NEXT- Northerner goes nuts with a chainsaw to the shock of his neighbors and lawncare people......

Frank D.

[faithfulFrank]

FL_TN_Nana,
Yes, Hi neighbor! my wife drove down there just the other day to go to a Target store on HWY 50 I think.....

firemed,
What is CERT....certified emergency response team?? I'm not familiar with the acronyms down there. I do see that Lake/Sumpter EMS seems very busy, and I noticed at least 4 firehouses in Lessburg.....someday I'll stop in one of them and say hello......

Frank D.