(no subject)
Dec. 3rd, 2008 05:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
catsittingstillIt's my birthday :-) It has already started out well; Kip made me breakfast (waffles with Real Maple Syrup).
Later (theoretically) I will get with our real estate agent to look at a comparative market analysis of the house we want to make an offer on. For those who haven't been in the house-buying game, a comparative market analysis is when the agent collects information on similar houses--same size, same neighborhood, same "degree-of-niceness" etc that sold in the last six months, and how much they sold for. This information is used to estimate the fair market value of the house. As you can imagine from the vagueness of the technical terms like "degree-of-niceness" this is to some extent a judgement call, but this is as close as we get to knowing what the market thinks the house is worth. In this area it is complicated by the fact that nice neighborhoods lie cheek by jowl with um, less affluent neighborhoods, so that a "neighborhood" that is two blocks by two blocks is pretty good sized. So I suspect she's going to have to go with "similar neighborhoods" rather than the same neighborhood. I'm curious to see what the results will be, in any case. This was supposed (on Saturday) to take place today, but I haven't heard from her yet about exactly when.
If the timing works out, we may also make an offer on the house today.
And if we end up getting this house, we can have DSL. It will be so good to have broadband access. I'm so tired of sucking down the internet over a straw!
But that is way off--first we make an offer. Then the sellers decide if they like it. If they don't, they make a counter offer. If we think we can work with them, we make a counter-counter-offer. At some point we settle on a price. Then we sign it (a "ratified offer") We make sure it's contingent on Kip actually *getting* tenure, as well as us approving the structural inspection report and the termite inspection report, and being able to get the loan we would need on terms we could meet. Then I arrange the structural inspection (the inspector I have lined up says in 15 years of inspecting houses full time I'm only the 2nd woman who has been willing to go down into the crawl space with him, but I want to see *every part* of this house we may be spending so much money on with my own eyes, and I'm not afraid of dirt. Spiders, yes, but I will try to be a grownup about it). If the structural inspection turns up problems, we arrange with the seller to get them fixed. If the termite inspection turns up termites, the seller has to have them exterminated and the damage evaluated and repaired. It's a brick house, but they still have some wood in them. Then we see if I can arrange a loan on the terms we need (I think my chances are good, but we'll see), and chew our nails until Kip's tenure committee meets (his boss says he'd have to shoot a student to be denied, but sometimes the college cuts, um, eccentric things in hard economic times.) And *then* if everything goes right, we buy the house.
At some point (possibly today) we will go to Red Lobster for my birthday dinner. I will probably have (what else?) lobster. :-) I am going to make my own cake this year rather than having us spend the money for an icecream cake. It will probably be brownies because I like brownies. I'm not sure whether to get some whipping cream and make chocolate whipped cream to go with it, or whether to get some toffee bits to sprinkle on the top instead. Or I may do both :-)
Kip and I splurged and got a new laptop to be our birthday present to each other and our Christmas present to each other. (Plus most of it came out of our computer account, which we use to save up for new computers.) Now we have two Eve-capable computers in the house and can theoretically play Eve as a team. Unfortunately Odin (the other Eve-capable computer) has been in the shop since the day after we got Ariadne, so we've only done it once, but it is a theoretical possiblity.
Later (theoretically) I will get with our real estate agent to look at a comparative market analysis of the house we want to make an offer on. For those who haven't been in the house-buying game, a comparative market analysis is when the agent collects information on similar houses--same size, same neighborhood, same "degree-of-niceness" etc that sold in the last six months, and how much they sold for. This information is used to estimate the fair market value of the house. As you can imagine from the vagueness of the technical terms like "degree-of-niceness" this is to some extent a judgement call, but this is as close as we get to knowing what the market thinks the house is worth. In this area it is complicated by the fact that nice neighborhoods lie cheek by jowl with um, less affluent neighborhoods, so that a "neighborhood" that is two blocks by two blocks is pretty good sized. So I suspect she's going to have to go with "similar neighborhoods" rather than the same neighborhood. I'm curious to see what the results will be, in any case. This was supposed (on Saturday) to take place today, but I haven't heard from her yet about exactly when.
If the timing works out, we may also make an offer on the house today.
And if we end up getting this house, we can have DSL. It will be so good to have broadband access. I'm so tired of sucking down the internet over a straw!
But that is way off--first we make an offer. Then the sellers decide if they like it. If they don't, they make a counter offer. If we think we can work with them, we make a counter-counter-offer. At some point we settle on a price. Then we sign it (a "ratified offer") We make sure it's contingent on Kip actually *getting* tenure, as well as us approving the structural inspection report and the termite inspection report, and being able to get the loan we would need on terms we could meet. Then I arrange the structural inspection (the inspector I have lined up says in 15 years of inspecting houses full time I'm only the 2nd woman who has been willing to go down into the crawl space with him, but I want to see *every part* of this house we may be spending so much money on with my own eyes, and I'm not afraid of dirt. Spiders, yes, but I will try to be a grownup about it). If the structural inspection turns up problems, we arrange with the seller to get them fixed. If the termite inspection turns up termites, the seller has to have them exterminated and the damage evaluated and repaired. It's a brick house, but they still have some wood in them. Then we see if I can arrange a loan on the terms we need (I think my chances are good, but we'll see), and chew our nails until Kip's tenure committee meets (his boss says he'd have to shoot a student to be denied, but sometimes the college cuts, um, eccentric things in hard economic times.) And *then* if everything goes right, we buy the house.
At some point (possibly today) we will go to Red Lobster for my birthday dinner. I will probably have (what else?) lobster. :-) I am going to make my own cake this year rather than having us spend the money for an icecream cake. It will probably be brownies because I like brownies. I'm not sure whether to get some whipping cream and make chocolate whipped cream to go with it, or whether to get some toffee bits to sprinkle on the top instead. Or I may do both :-)
Kip and I splurged and got a new laptop to be our birthday present to each other and our Christmas present to each other. (Plus most of it came out of our computer account, which we use to save up for new computers.) Now we have two Eve-capable computers in the house and can theoretically play Eve as a team. Unfortunately Odin (the other Eve-capable computer) has been in the shop since the day after we got Ariadne, so we've only done it once, but it is a theoretical possiblity.
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no subject
Date: 2008-12-03 11:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-03 11:54 am (UTC)Eve is Eve Online; a MMORPG that Kip dragged me into. You can find out more about it here: Eve Online (http://www.eve-online.com/)
If you decide you want to try it, I can send you a buddy code that gets you a 2 week free trial. (Full Disclosure:) If you decide you want to join, I get a free month of the game if you join through my buddy code.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-03 12:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-03 01:26 pm (UTC)A congratulatory note on the completion of an integral number of solar orbits
Date: 2008-12-03 11:47 am (UTC)Re: A congratulatory note on the completion of an integral number of solar orbits
Date: 2008-12-03 11:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-03 12:02 pm (UTC)2) have you tried looking at your prospect through Zillow.com? I use it to keep tabs on the values of our house. You can also customize your lookup. it's very handy for a ballpark estimate on things. it's 6 months "behind" in terms of sales but is very good at tracking property value trends.
I know you are on dial up, but it might be worth a trip to the library for the high speed to check it out.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-03 01:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-03 12:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-03 01:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-03 12:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-03 01:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-03 02:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-03 08:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-03 02:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-04 02:07 am (UTC)We ended up examining the CMA and settling on the offer to be made, but haven't met with the seller yet to make it. Our agent will do that tomorrow, probably.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-03 05:00 pm (UTC)Good luck on the house!
no subject
Date: 2008-12-04 02:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-03 06:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-04 02:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-03 08:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-04 02:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-03 10:02 pm (UTC)And <crosses both sets of fingers> hoping all goes well with Kip's tenure review.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-04 02:09 am (UTC)Have I mentioned that I really like that icon?
no subject
Date: 2008-12-04 02:52 am (UTC)I like this picture because it shows me signing the way I'd like to think I look - kindof pretty - instead of looking like I'm in the middle of "Rhinoteleximania," which most signing shots do to me!
no subject
Date: 2008-12-03 11:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-04 02:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-04 01:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-04 02:10 am (UTC)Much of the birthday stuff is postponed to the weekend, but that's fine. And in the meantime I had a lovely sunny day and got a fair amount done.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-04 02:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-04 02:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-04 04:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-04 05:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-06 07:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-07 03:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-11 05:35 pm (UTC)