Existing Plan

Here is the existing floor plan of the house we bought. It is not to scale but gives a fairly accurate idea of the layout. The service room is upstairs over the bathroom area. I have also added a few pictures taken from the roof to the ones I have on Flickr.

The old owners are having trouble letting go. On Monday, I will have the door keys changed, but until then we are letting them come and go in hopes they will get rid of the trash. They even have trouble tossing out stacks of old newspapers. On Wednesday, the sister from L.A. will be returning home, and that should put an end to things. Alberto and his family and inlaws still live in the neighborhood, and we don’t want to get them too crosswise.

On Tuesday, we meet our architect, Miguel, who took measurements a few weeks ago and has entered them into his computer. From other of his clients we hear that he will give us a 3-D walk-through of what he has in mind with little figures representing C and me. Once we come to agreement on what to do, we can get started.

House Update

We finally closed on the house in Queretaro. The seller went with me this morning to get the cashier's checks for the closing, and wanted two checks, one for his sister and one for him. No problem. He also wanted a big bunch of cash. Don't know why and didn't ask. When I got three large packets of bills from the cashier the seller wanted to count it all (300+ bills) right in front of the entire bank. I objected, and the bank officer gave us a room where we confirmed the correct total. Later at the closing, he counted the bills again. I guess he thought I might have stolen a few in the meantime. He is really a nice guy, but is clueless. He had two weeks to get his stuff (i.e. junk) out of the house, but had done nothing while we were gone. I have given him until Monday, when I will change the locks and call a trash hauling company.

The sale of the house in Atlanta is moving again. Turns out that the buyers had not made any moves to get a loan. When we threatened to get our earnest money, and then to sue them for the contracted sales price based on their not following their contract obligations, things began to move. Turns out they are rap music producers who want to move to Atlanta where the action is. They are just spacey artists, I guess (besides being damned Yankees!!!). Anyway, we should be able to close in the next few weeks.

Whew!!

Didn't Sell One, Not Sure About the Other

We drove three days to Atlanta, packed up the last of our stuff from the apartment over the garage, and then got the news that the buyers had not provided the lender the proper information, and that closing was put off at least a week. Since we may close this week in Mexico on the house we want to buy here, we had to come back (three more days of driving), and left Mamita with a power of attorney to sign papers for us. We are, to say the least, upset. I guess you really can't trust Yankees (the "buyers" are from New York).

Things appear to be progressing here, but you never know.

Selling One and Buying Another

Finally, we have sold our house in Atlanta (closing on October 20), and have finally got the owners of the house we really wanted to actually sign a contract to sell us the house in Querétaro (closing around October 25). The Atlanta house has been on the market since May, and we have wanted to buy the one in Querétaro since late June. My patience was running thin. The stories are too long and boring to recount here, but needless to say we are immensely relieved. We expect to be back in Atlanta around the 15th, pack up our last remaining items, close on the 20th and head back to Mexico on the 21st for the other closing.

For an idea of what we have bought, visit this site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomwheaton/sets/72157594198157604/ It will require about 6 months of work, around $50,000, and a good architect who really loves old Querétano houses (Miguel) to bring it back to life and make it livable. We hope to have a patio and a garden at the back with a fountain. And we should be ready for our first guests in the new house sometime toward the end of the dry season (spring). Can't wait. In the meantime we still have room for visitors in our current abode.

And last, but not least, Mamita passed her orals at Emory and just needs to get her disseration done to graduate.