Housing Reflection: Summing Up

I bought a tree for my husband's birthday.  It's a dogwood.  He sees it, in the woods or in a yard, and asks me its name nearly every time.  "It's a dogwood", I say.  He loves them, but can't remember the name, I think because they look different in every season.  


To celebrate him and our new house, I got him a dogwood.  It is small and spindly, but it will grow into something more beautiful with time.  I hope to get to watch it grow here.  We have arrived.  We are home.  

Where people live is a big deal, and where I live has not just been about safety and comfort, it has shaped my character.  Here are some closing thoughts on this story:

• Home is not a place.
• Peace can be found during tumult through integrity.
• Integrity requires fortitude.
• I have more fortitude than I thought I did.
• Trying harder sometimes won't make things better.
• Failure is often a doorway to a better place.
• Hope can be found in failure.

It is my wish to have passed a bit of the hope we have found, to you.  Thank you for reading my story.

Broken Appliances

Moving is a pain and a part of it is people are weird about their stuff.  I'm going to complain a bit.

Number one, when we got to our new house last night to do a few chores, we realized that the dishwasher is not hooked up.  I was lamenting during escrow that the appliances don't match (OCD) and when we arrived after escrow they did match.  Funny? They put in a different dishwasher during escrow, just to fill the hole in the kitchen, it isn't even hooked up.  Does it work?  Why would someone do that?  Arg.  Maybe they put in one that does work and the other is broken, but I don't think people work that way.

The new place

Two, the heater in our rental.  I know that I have not paid rent in a few months, which was nice of our landlords.  Our heater has been broken this whole fall, and we have told our landlord, without expecting him to fix it.  I know he wants to be done with this house.  I know he doesn't want to spend any more money on it (me too), but I'm cold.  I could pay for the furnace to be fixed, but it isn't my house, and we are moving out.   I don't want to, but I'll still gripe about it.

Yesterday a 4th person made an offer on this house.  Now our landlord wants to swing  by and see if he can fix it.  I have been cold a month.  If it was important to fix it for a buyer, it is good to fix it for me.

Fortunately we have a gas insert in the kitchen that runs and can heat most of the house (key word "most").  It is warm enough if you wear several layer and use a blanket on your bed at night.

Now the dishwasher in this rental is broken too.  All of the broken-ness around here is making it easier to pack up.  I can't use my kitchen very well anymore anyway.  I can't dress in a cold closet very well anyway.

Let's pack up and get out of here!!

All of this whining puts meaningful things in perspective.  I will be cold, and wash every dish by hand, and I will be thankful for the people in my life.  I don't care about the dishwasher or the furnace terribly much.  I want to surround myself with people who are generous and loving, and I want to be gracious towards folks who are not (and then hang out with the folks who are).

It looks like I'm getting near the end of the story.  

More Real-Estate

We are moving.  Last week we looked at rentals.  They are mostly fine.  I want something close to town, with light from outside coming in.  We found that.

We also had to fortune of finding a house that is not on the market, but needing to be sold, through a friend.  It is a good house for us, on 1.6 acres, across the street from 400 acres of state park land.  It has fruit trees, 3 bedrooms, an office and open living space.  We can afford it, so we are in escrow, closing on the 16th.

I'll be honest when I say that I am less than excited.  It meets our needs, and is easy for us, so I am very, very glad.  I've packed a lot, so it should be seamless.   As nothing is ever seamless, I am holding off on excitement, but it is a happy day.  I've found that working hard has little to do with luck.

This week I played badminton for the first time in 21 years.  That was exciting and fun, packing boxes and fixing a few problems at the new place is less than fun for me.  When we are moved, unpacked, and it feels like home, I'll be excited.  It happens for me when I can find my way to the bathroom in the middle of the night, and when I imagine myself, I see myself 'at home'.  I'll be excited to go home.  

Short Sale: Back on the Market

When we left for vacation last week, I was fine that our house was for sale and a short sale was pending.  On our way to the beach our car burned up, not literally, but there was smoke, and where there is smoke....Anyway, the car broke, and we were going to have to move when the sale was final, maybe January.  As it turns out, while on vacation, our landlord called to say they are giving us 30 days notice to move out.  They are scared that the sale won't go through and that the house will sell better empty (staged), before the new year, when they need it off or their books.

I understand that they want to sell their house, and that it has nothing to do with my housekeeping and decorating ability (it is my full-time job so it looks nice in here).  They have been generous letting us live here rent-free.  I just don't want to move during the holiday season.  Don't expect any gifts or a decorated tree from me this year.

As we left for vacation we thought we had no car.  On the way home, with our repaired car, we have no house (or at least no house in 30 days).  If you read through the annuls of my blog, you will find that "I HATE MOVING" is a theme.  I'll repeat it again, I HATE MOVING, but I will.  I don't want to push back too much with our landlords to stay longer.  We live in the same town as they do, and I don't want any problems later on.

Tonight, home from a week at the beach, I am too tired to comb Craigslist.com anymore for rentals.  G'night.

Rent Free

I've neglected this blog for a while, as nothing interesting is happening.  In the last few months, we made two offers to Bank Of America to buy the house we live in for a short-sale price.  The bank valued the house 55k over what we offered.  We felt our price was fair, and what we can afford.  The bank wanted more.

I am curious about the big picture for the bank.  55k is a ton of money for me, but I am thinking it is not much for the bank.  I think we will submit another offer that is a bit higher (just a bit) and see if they bite.  If not, we can move when the house sells or the bank owns it.  We have 60 days to be out after that time.

For now the rent is very reasonable.  The owners are not charging us rent anymore.

Hurry Up & Wait

The papers are signed, all we need to do is wait.  The bank will decide, in their time, if they will accept our offer for the house.

It has been my experience that waiting, warps my perception of time.  This time, I am hoping the bank takes a long time to get to our stack of papers.  Last time I was hoping they would take a long time to get to our stack of papers.  Last time they only took a few weeks, and we had to move in a rush.  The longer it takes, the longer I am not paying rent.  Please take your time, Bank of America!

If the bell is going to ring at your kids school and you are running behind, those few minutes seem lightning-bolt fast.   If you are stopped at a stop light, the same amount of time can drag on, and on.  If you are carrying your first baby around in your belly, each day is long.  If you are carrying your second baby around in your belly, the same amount of days are seemingly shorter.

If my perspective and perception of time is what makes waiting short or long, then I am going to try to "suffer" during this time of waiting.  Will that stretch it out?

Giving In

The timing is terrible for us to buy a house.  We are leaving for a long time to go to Eastern Europe.  This weekend we will make a short sale offer on the house we live in, for what we feel is a screaming deal!

I think we will be fine on the details of the transaction, because it will take a long time to deal with the bank. So there you have it!

I really don't like to be pushed for time on a huge decision.  I have already made some decisions about what I will do to this house if it is mine.  I've had a year to think about it!

The first thing I will do is cut down the evergreen topiaries that flank either side of our front door.  I have posted a photo, so that you can agree with me.