Lessons Learned: Lesson #1

I thought it might be fun to start a mini-series within the blog, so as we stumble across any difficult (or sometimes obvious!) challenges, I will share the lessons that we learn with you.

This was a really trying week for us budget-wise.  Right now we're working with two budgets, one for the new house and one for our wedding.  As many of you know, we are getting married on July 12, just a few weeks after we take possession of the new house on June 23.  As of June 30, I'm also moving to a new school.  I think the stress of all three of these events built up this week, and I finally cracked! But, after a good talk, we are back on track and ready to go full steam ahead!

I mentioned a few weeks ago that we had asked two electricians to come visit the new property and give us quotes on rewiring the whole house.  For insurance purposes, the 100 year old knob and tube wiring needs to be disconnected and new wiring needs to be run.  Our insurance company has given us 30 days to have this completed. Anyway, we received the first quote back very quickly.  He estimated $12-15,000.  Not bad, and right on budget.  He also said that he didn't have time to do the job, so we were really hoping the second one would come back similar.  We waited for quite a while, but finally heard back from him earlier this week.  $25-30,000. I was crushed.  That's double the amount that we had budgeted.

Lesson #1:  Get Multiple Quotes

So after a small break down along the lines of "we can't afford this house and our wedding!" we called in two more electricians and got two more quotes.  The first one came in at $8-10,000.  Wow, under budget!  The second one, who specializes in rewiring century homes, came in at $9800-14,900.  Right on target, and booked!

They always say to go with the middle quote, so that's what we have decided to do.  Thankfully, we don't need to break the bank, and we might actually be able to afford the house and the wedding after all!

Out With The Old

We spent the past week looking into bridge financing, to try and get our closing date moved up.  It looks like we will be able to move into the new house one week earlier (19 days before our wedding instead of 12!), so the new move in date will be June 23rd.  We just have to have the previous owners amend the purchase agreement, which hopefully will not be a problem.

Once we get moved in, the first item on the list will be the electrical.  We've known all along that the wiring in the house needed updating, as parts of it are still running on the original knob and tube.  Imagine, 130 year old wiring and it's still working!  Talk about a fire hazard!!

 What a Mess!

Knob and Tube Wiring - it's gotta go!

Unfortunately, our current insurance company is being pretty strict about the old wiring.  They want it removed within 30 days of our closing.  Not just disconnected, but removed from the walls.  That wouldn't be a problem with old copper or aluminium wiring which can just be pulled, but in order to get all of the knobs and tubes out, many of the walls will have to be opened up.  Needless to say, we're shopping around for another insurance company.

As our moving date gets closer, we are starting the process of packing and planning the move.  Jeremy's goal is one box a day...slow and steady.  I'm more of the speed packing at the last minute type of person.  I guess we'll see who wins out!