Remember when LiveJournal was the "it" thing?
Now it is blogs I suppose.
Diaries are usually private, but nowadays, Facebook and other social networking encourage once private thoughts to be publicized. And why not, everyone needs an outlet.
When looking through my archives of letters, LiveJournal posts and other attempted diaries and blogs, I am reminded of why it is important to document those moments. They can be so monumental at the time, and they lose their clarity in recollection... It is nice to be able to relive important moments in their entirety, rather than as a passing shadow. Hence the start of this blog.
As 2011 winds to a close, I can positively say that it has been an earth shaking year. It has taken 11 months and 11 days to get here, but I am in a much better place in the end.
Much of this blog will revolve around the mundane and to me, the exciting.
My big news: Brian and I are buying a house.
I am super excited.
The advent of this however, is a big task to undertake.
I have gone back to Subway and am consequently working between 40-50 hours nannying and 20-40 at Subway. I keep telling myself it will be worth it when we have that house.
We have looked at a couple of houses and have had some great help from friend and real estate agent Katie Tucker. Of the three we looked at, we clearly found a gem that is few and far between.
Instead of looking at houses first and getting pre-qualified and whatnot, Brian and I set a price cap of $50,000 and then looked at listings. We are looking at this as an investment and hope to pay it off in 5 years or less.
About the houses we saw:
House #1:
It was near campus and was a 3 bedroom 1 bathroom house.
The bedrooms were small and the house was built in 1951.... Ergo, it had no central heat and individual gas heaters in all of the rooms. There were original hardwood floors, but there was definite termite damage in the flooring. The kitchen would have had to be gutted and there was some water damage to the ceiling. The backyard was clearly the gem of the property. This house was a little over our heads for what we are wanting to do.
House #2
This was a 2/2.5 Townhome.
It was like a ray of hope, illuminating the path to investing. The house itself was pretty perfect. It had a big kitchen, porch and utility room, and a backyard. It needs cosmetic work like new flooring, paint, new screening on the porch, and an updated kitchen, but it is screaming of potential. It is a short sale, so it is owned by the bank and listed for about 1/2 of its current market value.
House #3
This was a 4/4 Townhome.
We had only to open the door to understand this home's $41,500 price tag.
It was literally as though the people had trashed the house in the worst way possible when the bank took it. There was no flooring, upstairs or down, the walls were filled with holes from the taking of copper wire, the windows were broken and the place was pretty utterly uninhabitable.
Now, on to WHY we are buying a house.
I honestly think that it is a smart financial plan. Currently I am throwing away rent that I will never see a return on. Putting money into a mortgage brings a return on equity. Not only that, but at the price range in which we are looking at, it provides a short term monetary obligation. All of the houses we chose to look at were being sold for well under market value and had been sold for much more in the past. The surrounding properties in the area were likewise, being sold for much more than the bank listed properties. We still have a lot of research to do before we know whether or not we will rent or sell after we own the property.
As of now, we are waiting for my boss's accountant to provide my employment verification so that we can put an offer on house #2. From there, because it is a short sale, we will have to wait 60-90 days to even know if our offer has been accepted. After that, it is 30-45 days to close on the house.
It will be highly disappointing if we do not get the house after such a long process. On the plus side, we will have more money in the bank for the next property we decide to try for, and every attempt is more experience in the hazards of real estate investment. I hope that this first property, whichever it ends up being, is just the first of many in that we invest into.
Now onto the mundane.
Life is very comfortable for me right now. Brian, David and I all work as a wonderfully cohesive little family. I feel more at home in Tallahassee than I ever have, although I don't know if that is a good thing.
Even though we live together, I do not get a ton of time with Brian, we both work so much, and opposite schedules. Our time together ends up being couponing and garage saling. It is a good way to spend time together and we both enjoy it..
Speaking of couponing. I try to coupon like a fiend. Every weekend. I save at least $200 a month. I also have an excessive stockpile of toilet paper, toothpaste, shaving cream, shampoo and conditioner and razors. Things like this make me excited. I am probably a little weird for that.
Back to entrepreneurial enterprises:
In July, I opened an Etsy shop (KGCustomcrochet). I have sold two blankets and just received an order for a third. I am excited about getting my work out there and actually making some money on it. It is very satisfying to feel appreciated.
One more important nugget in my life.
I started talking to my biological father in September. His name is Ron. It has been a rewarding, if somewhat awkward journey so far. He really wants to build a relationship with me. One day at a time, but I thankful for the opportunity.
Until next time, during work and all day every day, I will be in quest of not some beach, but this one.
