Post of Substance
May. 25th, 2006 01:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
geminigirlQuite a few things going on...
I've been meeting with a local ASO (AIDS Service Oranization) for a few weeks, and may or may not have a paid position coming with them-whether it exists or not is largely dependent on their funding. At the same time, there's a lot with this particular organization that I'm very unhappy with, and it might be better to keep my distance, before I become too frustrated. I don't know about the entire agency, but their education department seems to be run by a woman who doesn't have a clue what she's doing, both in terms of providing prevention services, and in terms of simple management skills. There's just so much that makes me unhappy about the place that I wonder if it's a good idea to work with them. I'll give it a fair chance, and try to work with the person who seems to be driven less towards disaster. And, if it doesn't work, it doesn't work.
I'm feeling incredibly rushed into the housebuying process. I don't feel like I educated myself enough about what to look for, how to look, what questions to ask, and all that information. We're both wholeheartedly disappointed by the public schools around here...there's always private school or homeschooling as an option, and it's not an immediate worry anyway. What we've decided is that we're buying a "for now" house, which is okay. We'll buy a house to grow out of, rather than one to grow into, which around here, seems to be the norm. People buy a house, stay five or six years, and then move on, and that's totally different from the experience that Cayne and I both had growing up, where people would often buy a house and stay in it for many years. My parents are still in the house I grew up in, Cayne's parents sold the house he grew up in at some point after his younger sister graduated high school...but it was not only the house he grew up in, but the house his mother grew up in.
We went and looked at some new houses over the weekend, about twenty miles away. And they were very nice houses...I'm sure if one of them had been closer to where we are now, we'd have jumped on it-it was wonderful. But it felt too far away from friends around here, and it was pushing the outer limits of a reasonable commute right now, which means if the area continues to grow, it may fall outside reasonable commute.
It seems that the house buying culture here is intent on buying and turning over, which is fine, though neither Cayne nor I are in love with that-it seems to indicate pushing the limits of budgets. We'd like to by and upgrade and be able to stay in the vicinity of where we are...if we have children in school, for example, we'd like to disrupt that as little as possible.
The realtor sent us six listings yesterday...two were very interesting (one single family house, one townhouse, though we've got a strong preference for single family) one townhouse that might be interesting, but doesn't jump out, two that we rejected outright, and one that didn't have enough information to make a decision about. If anyone is actually interested in what we're looking at, I'll make a separate post with the urls. I hope he'll send a few more today or tomorrow so we can go look this weekend. Fortunately for us, Bonus Time at EA is coinciding with this process, so we might have a better downpayment than we expected and/or an easier time with closing costs. I'm waiting for a call back from one of the mortgage guys now, about downpayment stuff.
Okay, off the phone with mortgage guy.
There's one house, not one the realtor found, one my Mom actually found, which is listed just outside our price range. It's possible, depending on things, that it might be something where we can negotiate it into our price range, or that we can come up with a way to make up the difference. We'll see. Knowing vaguely where it is indicates that we ought to go take a ride over to where it is, and make sure that it's in a truly okay area, not a gem in the middle of a bad neighborhood, or too close to the University, and the off campus student housing.
It's an interesting experience to be househunting, though I can't say I enjoy it yet.
And last, but not least, I have a follow up with the midwife and the ob/gyn practice soon, so we'll see what she says about getting ready to try again, and the results of my recent bloodwork. As much as I'm anxious and ready, I'm also wondering how to not be too scared to try again, and I'm working on that part. I know that what I'm feeling is normal, but that doesn't make it go away, it just means that there are people who know what I'm talking about and don't look at me like I have two heads when I bring it up.
I've been meeting with a local ASO (AIDS Service Oranization) for a few weeks, and may or may not have a paid position coming with them-whether it exists or not is largely dependent on their funding. At the same time, there's a lot with this particular organization that I'm very unhappy with, and it might be better to keep my distance, before I become too frustrated. I don't know about the entire agency, but their education department seems to be run by a woman who doesn't have a clue what she's doing, both in terms of providing prevention services, and in terms of simple management skills. There's just so much that makes me unhappy about the place that I wonder if it's a good idea to work with them. I'll give it a fair chance, and try to work with the person who seems to be driven less towards disaster. And, if it doesn't work, it doesn't work.
I'm feeling incredibly rushed into the housebuying process. I don't feel like I educated myself enough about what to look for, how to look, what questions to ask, and all that information. We're both wholeheartedly disappointed by the public schools around here...there's always private school or homeschooling as an option, and it's not an immediate worry anyway. What we've decided is that we're buying a "for now" house, which is okay. We'll buy a house to grow out of, rather than one to grow into, which around here, seems to be the norm. People buy a house, stay five or six years, and then move on, and that's totally different from the experience that Cayne and I both had growing up, where people would often buy a house and stay in it for many years. My parents are still in the house I grew up in, Cayne's parents sold the house he grew up in at some point after his younger sister graduated high school...but it was not only the house he grew up in, but the house his mother grew up in.
We went and looked at some new houses over the weekend, about twenty miles away. And they were very nice houses...I'm sure if one of them had been closer to where we are now, we'd have jumped on it-it was wonderful. But it felt too far away from friends around here, and it was pushing the outer limits of a reasonable commute right now, which means if the area continues to grow, it may fall outside reasonable commute.
It seems that the house buying culture here is intent on buying and turning over, which is fine, though neither Cayne nor I are in love with that-it seems to indicate pushing the limits of budgets. We'd like to by and upgrade and be able to stay in the vicinity of where we are...if we have children in school, for example, we'd like to disrupt that as little as possible.
The realtor sent us six listings yesterday...two were very interesting (one single family house, one townhouse, though we've got a strong preference for single family) one townhouse that might be interesting, but doesn't jump out, two that we rejected outright, and one that didn't have enough information to make a decision about. If anyone is actually interested in what we're looking at, I'll make a separate post with the urls. I hope he'll send a few more today or tomorrow so we can go look this weekend. Fortunately for us, Bonus Time at EA is coinciding with this process, so we might have a better downpayment than we expected and/or an easier time with closing costs. I'm waiting for a call back from one of the mortgage guys now, about downpayment stuff.
Okay, off the phone with mortgage guy.
There's one house, not one the realtor found, one my Mom actually found, which is listed just outside our price range. It's possible, depending on things, that it might be something where we can negotiate it into our price range, or that we can come up with a way to make up the difference. We'll see. Knowing vaguely where it is indicates that we ought to go take a ride over to where it is, and make sure that it's in a truly okay area, not a gem in the middle of a bad neighborhood, or too close to the University, and the off campus student housing.
It's an interesting experience to be househunting, though I can't say I enjoy it yet.
And last, but not least, I have a follow up with the midwife and the ob/gyn practice soon, so we'll see what she says about getting ready to try again, and the results of my recent bloodwork. As much as I'm anxious and ready, I'm also wondering how to not be too scared to try again, and I'm working on that part. I know that what I'm feeling is normal, but that doesn't make it go away, it just means that there are people who know what I'm talking about and don't look at me like I have two heads when I bring it up.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-05-25 09:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-25 10:31 pm (UTC)I love looking at houses though. I picked out the houses that my friend Julie looked at and eventually bought.
Our first house was in the price range you appear to be looking at. We thought we were going to be able to stay in it a long time. We were there from 1999 to 2005. We outgrew it because we have my mom here and Tatiana and 4 dogs and 2 cats. We also moved away from a difficult neighbor and closer to our activities. We are much happier in this house. With Chris working from home and us homeschooling and my mom retired we needed more space.
The way interest rates are fluxing I would want to hurry before they get higher. However, you need to know what you want. What questions are you concerned with. One thing to be sure to know is how old heating/AC units are and roofs. A home insopection will catch a lot of the problems if you have a good inspector. A major issue is Flood Plane and flood insurance. be sure to find out about that up front.
I can give you some more advice if you want or want to bounce things off me. I am willing to help if I can.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-26 01:28 am (UTC)Good luck with everything on the kid front. Just from what I read, I think you would make amazing parents.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-26 03:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-26 04:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-26 09:18 am (UTC)Mortgage companies will approve you for much more than you really want to spend. Your realtor also has little incentive to keep you at your desired level, because they make more when you spend more. Location, location location. Ask 4 million questions, its okay to feel unsure. But two things are invaluable -- a good real estate lawyer and a great home inspector. Both will be able to get you out of any deal, should you change your mind at any point.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-29 10:11 pm (UTC)