The sellers took a look at our counter-offer, probably laughed themselves silly, and then met us somewhere in the middle between our inital offer and the second one. We were pleased, because it allows us some room in the loan request to include some of the more pressing repairs to be done.

I was looking for a quote that said something about in a good compromise both parties feel cheated but I can't find it, so maybe I dreamed it. We certainly don't feel cheated. 

We've been collecting things for The House (yes, we say it in all caps) for several months now and it will be strange to start moving pieces out of this one to that one. Thinking about maintaining two large, older homes is giving me anxiety. Anyone want to recommend a cleaning service? 
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We've also started to recruit staff in earnest. One stylist that I've had my eye on since forever ago gave me an indication the other day that she was interested. Yesterday, we were out running errands and ran into another stylist who I respect and admire, so I gave her my card, told her we were interested in working with her, and caught her up on the progress since she and I last spoke. These two woman are so talented, so dynamic, energetic and intelligent, it would be such a coup to snag them both.  
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We have an older home, built in 1928, so we knew that there would be some issues with my building. 

Weeelllll... we are now negotiating with the sellers over the issues we didn't anticipate. And the holidays are really affecting the availablity of some of the professionals we need, so please excuse my Grumpy McGrinch-ness. 

Some things may be grandfathered in, and some things have to be addressed immediately to meet code, or insurance standards, and some things can wait. The hard part is when reality interrupts the fantasy; i.e., yes, that hardwood floor above us is beautiful, too bad it has to be shored up from here in the basement and, wow, would you look at the light shining in from the gap between the floor and the baseboards? One complete working restroom, one partial restroom, and one partial restroom that can't actually be used at all because of the plumbing?!  Ouch! She's going to take A LOT of work. 

On the positive side, the lovely staff at Sun Touch has extended the same courtesies to me as they did to Brian and made room for me, made me feel right at home, and decided to put my newly-minted esthetician license to use. Starting next week, I'll be doing ear candling there. We are working out the details of the other esthetic services I'll be offering while I'm spending time up there. I'm also excited about school starting in January, too. Massage therapy will be very complimentary to my skin care therapy skills. The thought of having a dual license, being certified in Reflexology, plus gaining more experience with essential oils and some of the other fields of knowledge makes me very happy. The energy at that center is so calming, so grounding. 
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Finally, whatever your holidays are this season, we wish you happy, merry, cheerful, healthy, kind, generous, and bright ones! 

The termite inspection was great, no current signs of any pests and no treatments recommended. That's one down. We had the home inspection this afternoon, and based on his report, we will order the appraisal. If you find yourself in need of an inspector, we recommend Chris. Here's some link-love:
www.townandcountrypropertyinspections.com/
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Brian has been shopping/not-shopping for the house's furnishings and findings. We have visited a couple places here in an effort to buy and support local. There is no more room in our home for extra things, so our vendor friends need to stop having such good deals and sales. Mercy. 

I passed my esthetics tests yesterday, written and practical, and paid for my license this morning. 

We have signed paperwork for EIN and other forms today to get the retail part going. One of our vendors has granted permission for us to open an online store, so that's another interesting development. Look for the online store to open soon, with something for sale other than gift certificates. 

This morning we had our final walk-through of the house, and then we made an offer on her.
At 12:30-ish, we signed paperwork with our offer on it.
At 1:55 we got a text from our Realtor saying they'd accepted our offer with some tiny conditions. 
At 2:30-ish, we signed the contract.
​Inspections and appraisal are the next steps. 

My letter from the Kentucky Board of Hairdressers and Cosmetologists came, and know we know the test day for the Esthetician's license. As if there aren't enough things going on, I picked up my application for Massage Therapy. A new class begins in January. I'm so excited.

Speaking of massage therapy, Brian should know something about his licensure any day! His business cards came in, and he's been placing orders to research which products he (and clients) will like best. 

We got very good news from the nicest banker in town so that means we'll conduct some "due diligence" on the physical property (anticipated location) that we've been eyeing since... May? It really didn't take us long to decide what we wanted to buy once we started looking. For us, due diligence means that we have to find out if the estimates for repairs are honest and accurate and if they are correctly represented in the budget section of our business plan, because there is a magic formula banks look for that's a combination of income, credit history, and the appraisal. If the building won't appraise for enough money, we'll have to start looking for another location. 

We also found out that our favorite roofing company is still in business. Yay! 

We have spoken with the real estate agent again to make an appointment for a final walk-through where we'll take (more) pictures, measurements and where our favorite roofer will check the roof. We'll also need to speak with Code Enforcement to find out which of the repairs are suggested and which are mandatory. 

The thing is, she's lovely but she needs a considerable amount of attention. 
​Happy December!