It's really official now!!

Oh my gosh - it has been a couple of crazy days waiting to hear for sure that the owner signed on the dotted line to make the land sale official.  The lawyer first said it was going to be Monday, then said "in a couple of days."  Then he emailed on Tuesday evening and said he was supposed to take the papers to her attorney on Wednesday for signature.  So we waited all day and then all day on Thursday and heard nothing!  I was really getting nervous and was afraid she was going to back out.  Jim kept trying to keep me positive but after all the other disappointments, it was hard.  But, finally today the title lawyer called Jim and said that he had received the paperwork yesterday afternoon!  So besides the fact that I'm upset that our own attorney didn't contact us after the owner signed, we are SO excited!  It's now official - we own 17.6 acres of gorgeous land!

Closing frustration continues...

Just heard from the lawyer that he's still waiting to hear from the owner's lawyer when she is able to come in and sign the deed over to us.  She knew about the August 1st closing date for about 6 weeks - why the delay?  Makes me very nervous.  Jim sent a response back to the lawyer asking his opinion into the delay, but when it boils down to it, I guess she's holding the cards at this point.

Leaving...

Back here at the lot before we leave for home. We've spent so much time here that it's really hard to leave, especially since we don't know for sure when we'll be back. It's good motivation to get everything done at home to get the house sold and our loan paid off.   We did take this opportunity to put up some No Trespassing and Private Property signs up.

Closing day!!

The day is finally here - August 1st, closing day. It's not til 4:00 but we're up at the land this afternoon until then. Another beautiful day here - it's been perfect weather.


We spent some time walking around the lot and then we walked down to the street to find one of the corner pins from the electric co. We met 2 of our neighbors! Joe lives across the street and Lorraine lives next door - both were incredibly nice and offered whatever assistance we need. I like it here already!

YAY!!!!! Just got done with closing although Jim said the lawyer took years off his life. Couldn't explain anything to us. But it's done - well, sort of because the owners weren't there. So still slightly nervous - the atty is supposed to do the deed exchange Monday.

We celebrated with some champagne at the lot still not quite believing it all!

Tonight we had dinner with Susan the realtor and her husband. It was interesting conversation. Her husband builds houses (although he doesn't do all of the work!) so he might be a good resource for Jim.

We're pretty wiped - kind of an emotional day!!  But something very cool...tonight was a full moon - just like it was on the night we got married.  I think it's a great sign!

Day 2 Adventures

Day 2 started early - Gus the well driller wanted to meet at 9:30. Since we are staying in Albany, with traffic it can take close to an hour to get there. But it was a great meeting...we really liked this guy. Besides knowing his stuff, he was very personable and we chatted for close to 2 hours! Jim has very happy about all the info he gave us - prices were reasonable, he said Jim can do the work, he had good ideas about continuous pressure pumps, talked to us about tank sizes and constraints.

Then at 1:00 the lady from NationalGrid came. Again, things were great. They have to put a new pole on the street to bring service in and then we will have to trench a line back to where we want them to put the transformer. You have to pay by the foot of line and since we have to go back 700 feet, it's very pricey. But we talked to her about going down the hill through the woods - it would be half the distance. Sounds like it may be feasible - she's supposed to check with her supervisor and get back to us. She also said we can have 2 separate feeds and meters - one for the carriage house and then later add another for the house. That's exactly what Jim wanted so he's thrilled.

Of course all of that will lead to the purchase of the mini-excavator Jim wants so he can do all of this work. So when we get back home, serious looking for that and the box truck will begin.

We even found a nearby Bobcat dealer that both sells and rents attachments. That will be a good source.

The lawyer has taken his time on all of the work he's needed to do for closing, which is the only disappointing part of our dealings so far. We finally heard from him about 4:00 - apparently title work isn't done (he's only had 6 weeks!). We're supposed to go in at 4:00 tomorrow and we may have to sign power of attorney for him to sign off on title paperwork. Crazy. But like Jim says - we just need to get it done at this point.

We are going to try and go workout and then reward ourselves with a cold beer to toast an exciting second day!!

We're here!!!

Just got to the Angel lot - it's gorgeous!! The smell of the pine trees is amazing! Can't believe in 2 days it will be ours! Our first appt with the septic guy is at 3:00. Before he gets here we're going to put some stakes out to mark possible locations for house and carriage house.

This wasn't our first meal here (had some lunches here when we were scouting the area) but it feels like ours now so it's different!

Susan the realtor stopped by to offer any assistance that we might need. She's been so helpful.


We staked off some real basic locations. Jim has an eye for that; me, not so much. Fun to talk about what we'd see from different points in the house.

Septic engineer just left. Jim is very encouraged because once this person designs the system, Jim will be able to do the work himself. They talked through system specs and what we need for the two living spaces. All good info!!

Off to New York!

We're getting ready to drive to New York - closing for the land is set for August 1st! After our past disappointments, it still feels a little surreal and we keep hoping that there won't be any last minute issues. We've set up some appointments to talk to some utility people - electric company, septic company and hopefully a well person. That way we'll have a jump start on what our utilities will look like. Unfortunately, not many homes in this area heat with natural gas so we'll probably have to explore propane. So after a pecan pancake breakfast in the morning, we'll be off!