Sat down last night, the night before the house inspection, and figured out what all of our expenses would be - mortgage, taxes, insurances, utility bills, food, etc etc etc - it left us VERY tight at the end of the month. We would therefore have no money for savings, emergencies, travel....and what about when we wanna have kids? There would also be practically no cushion as far as money in the bank. So.........you have probably guessed it......we cancelled the inspection and bailed out on the house.
This decision was made at approximately 2am this morning. Neither of us were able to sleep - we were both completely stressed about the whole situation. Once the decision was made, I slept like a baby. I feel like a huge weight is lifted off my shoulders - we were definitely jumping into the home-owner role too early.
The current plan: We will leisurely look around for a nice 2 bedroom place to rent for a while. We will continue to save a chunk of cash per month, for at least a year or two. That way we will have plenty in the bank....and we will move wherever we want, will have plenty to put down on a house, and thus have much less of a mortgage to pay. That will give us plenty of time to do things properly, no rushing, all good things.
Makes me feel MUCH better.
:)
-B
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Sunday, April 24, 2005
Home Sweet Home
So, Angela and I got the big idea in our heads to buy a house. Sounds like a good idea, right? We have a bit of money stashed away, we could buy a place, get away from having a landlord, even sell the house in a few years and make some money on our investment. Piece of cake.
We have been looking around online for AGES at all the houses available around here. They were mostly 3 bedroom 1.5 bathroom, $400,000 pieces of SHIT. Not encouraging.
Then we found "the one" - a nice little 2 bedroom 1 bathroom cape with a massive finished basement, new kitchen, nice little yard and the potential to easily add 2 more bedrooms and another half bathroom. The place is move-in condition, owned and maintained by an architect. The asking price, a mere $389,000.
A bit much for a 2 bed/1bath house, but still....
We received a call that an offer had been put on the house, and they wanted to know if we were still interested (they would listen to all offers).
So, we put in an offer of $370,000.
Declined. Counter-offer = $385,000.
$385,000?? That insulted me. I promptly cut off negotiations.
Recieved a phone call 3 days later that the initial offer fell through, and that they would accept $375,000. We agreed to those terms.
YAY! Or so we thought...
We then asked a mortgage guy about closing costs. We were told $13,500. WHAT!??!?!
"We can't afford that," we said. "We will have to call the deal off."
I called the real estate guy to tell him so.
Not so fast.
There is a way to work the closing costs into the mortgage, said Mr. Real Estate Man.
So, that brings us to now. All the questions continue to swirl, can we really afford this?? Is this the right time? Should we wait a year til we have some more money under our belts??
I am told that this is a common thing, to question everything about buying a house. There is no "right time." You just gotta take the plunge.
We continue to ponder our financial future in terms of affording this. We have begun a list of positives vs. negatives. Positives : everything other than $$. Negatives : $$$$$$$$$.
I'll keep you posted as to what we decide. In the meantime...any thoughts/advice??
-B
We have been looking around online for AGES at all the houses available around here. They were mostly 3 bedroom 1.5 bathroom, $400,000 pieces of SHIT. Not encouraging.
Then we found "the one" - a nice little 2 bedroom 1 bathroom cape with a massive finished basement, new kitchen, nice little yard and the potential to easily add 2 more bedrooms and another half bathroom. The place is move-in condition, owned and maintained by an architect. The asking price, a mere $389,000.
A bit much for a 2 bed/1bath house, but still....
We received a call that an offer had been put on the house, and they wanted to know if we were still interested (they would listen to all offers).
So, we put in an offer of $370,000.
Declined. Counter-offer = $385,000.
$385,000?? That insulted me. I promptly cut off negotiations.
Recieved a phone call 3 days later that the initial offer fell through, and that they would accept $375,000. We agreed to those terms.
YAY! Or so we thought...
We then asked a mortgage guy about closing costs. We were told $13,500. WHAT!??!?!
"We can't afford that," we said. "We will have to call the deal off."
I called the real estate guy to tell him so.
Not so fast.
There is a way to work the closing costs into the mortgage, said Mr. Real Estate Man.
So, that brings us to now. All the questions continue to swirl, can we really afford this?? Is this the right time? Should we wait a year til we have some more money under our belts??
I am told that this is a common thing, to question everything about buying a house. There is no "right time." You just gotta take the plunge.
We continue to ponder our financial future in terms of affording this. We have begun a list of positives vs. negatives. Positives : everything other than $$. Negatives : $$$$$$$$$.
I'll keep you posted as to what we decide. In the meantime...any thoughts/advice??
-B
Friday, April 15, 2005
"What's Your Opinion?"
Ahhhhhhhhh the perks of being a vet!! Just this past Monday, our boss hands us a pair of tickets to see Jackie Mason on Broadway for Wednesday night! A bit last minute, but what the heck, right?? A nice night in the city never hurt anyone!
So, we get dressed all nicely and hop on the LIRR into the city to meet my sister (who lives there) for an early dinner before the show. To make a long story short, there was a malfunctioning Amtrak train at Penn Station that was creating "a smoke problem," thus shutting down Penn Station. Where was I? Sitting on a train waiting to get IN to Penn. I was extremely glad at that moment that I wasn't one of those people commuting to and from NYC everyday, as my sister called me from outside the station saying that there were about 10 million people trying to get their trains home. Yes, this was during rush hour (it was around 5:30pm). Ouch. Needless to say, I told my sis to go home as I was sure it would be a while til I got off the train. We eventually got off at 7ish (delayed over an hour), grabbed a quick bite at a deli before our 8pm show.
The show was great, Jackie Mason is one funny-ass Jew. His one-liners frequently began with "Have you read about this?" and ended with "Nazi Bastards" or "Son of a Bitches" or...."What's Your Opinion?" For instance...."I am a very good looking and famous man, have you read about this?" and "The FCC has some noyve (nerve) with how they treat Howard Stoyne (Stern). They fine him 5 million bucks every time a doytee (dirty) woyd (word) is muttered, but I see more filthy disgustin' stuff on the television every day that I never hoyd (heard) on his show. Last night I was sitting in front of my television set with my dish of soup, getting ready to eat my tasty meal, when all of a sudden what comes on the TV? Some schmuck says 'Hello! Do you have constipation??' Who the fuck wants to hear about that when I am eating my dinner?!? Nazi bastards!! Son of a bitches!!" Very entertaining stuff, and the best part...it was free!!
After the show, we headed back to Penn Station to catch the train home. The return journey was on time and much less eventful that our outgoing trip. However, there was some old scraggly bastard on our train coughing as if he had tuberculosis, it hurt to hear this guy hacking and spluttering. The fucker didn't even cover his mouth!!! I would have smacked him one if I weren't afraid of my hand becoming infected and rotting off....in retrospect, I suppose I should be very thankful that that dirty infective asshole wasn't on our train on the way into the city...!
Have you read about this?
-B
So, we get dressed all nicely and hop on the LIRR into the city to meet my sister (who lives there) for an early dinner before the show. To make a long story short, there was a malfunctioning Amtrak train at Penn Station that was creating "a smoke problem," thus shutting down Penn Station. Where was I? Sitting on a train waiting to get IN to Penn. I was extremely glad at that moment that I wasn't one of those people commuting to and from NYC everyday, as my sister called me from outside the station saying that there were about 10 million people trying to get their trains home. Yes, this was during rush hour (it was around 5:30pm). Ouch. Needless to say, I told my sis to go home as I was sure it would be a while til I got off the train. We eventually got off at 7ish (delayed over an hour), grabbed a quick bite at a deli before our 8pm show.
The show was great, Jackie Mason is one funny-ass Jew. His one-liners frequently began with "Have you read about this?" and ended with "Nazi Bastards" or "Son of a Bitches" or...."What's Your Opinion?" For instance...."I am a very good looking and famous man, have you read about this?" and "The FCC has some noyve (nerve) with how they treat Howard Stoyne (Stern). They fine him 5 million bucks every time a doytee (dirty) woyd (word) is muttered, but I see more filthy disgustin' stuff on the television every day that I never hoyd (heard) on his show. Last night I was sitting in front of my television set with my dish of soup, getting ready to eat my tasty meal, when all of a sudden what comes on the TV? Some schmuck says 'Hello! Do you have constipation??' Who the fuck wants to hear about that when I am eating my dinner?!? Nazi bastards!! Son of a bitches!!" Very entertaining stuff, and the best part...it was free!!
After the show, we headed back to Penn Station to catch the train home. The return journey was on time and much less eventful that our outgoing trip. However, there was some old scraggly bastard on our train coughing as if he had tuberculosis, it hurt to hear this guy hacking and spluttering. The fucker didn't even cover his mouth!!! I would have smacked him one if I weren't afraid of my hand becoming infected and rotting off....in retrospect, I suppose I should be very thankful that that dirty infective asshole wasn't on our train on the way into the city...!
Have you read about this?
-B
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
INDIAN
Last night there was nothing on TV, so as I was flipping through the channels, I came across a movie called "Bend it Like Beckham." I had heard about the film, but hadn't ever seen it. Like I said, nothing else was on, and I was feeling UK-reminiscent, so I decided to give it a chance. I'm actually glad I did. For those who haven't seen it, it stars that indian chick ("Neelah") from ER and Keira Knightly, looking as boyish as ever. These girls basically play for a football (sorry, soccer) club in London. The indian girl's family forbids her from playing, but she rebels and plays behind their backs. Both girls get a full footie scholarship to an American college at the end of the film, and while at the airport saying goodbye, who do they see??? The man himself - David Beckham - and his wife Posh Spice, walking thru the airport. They took it as a sign of things to come. I took it as Beckham having to show his face to earn his paycheck. Oh, another cool part is that an actor from Eastenders, my favorite UK soap, is in the film as a gay indian. You don't get many gay indians, now do you?
This stuff was all well and good, but the best part, for me, as an inductee into the RVC Indian Club, was all of the scenes at an Indian wedding and the parties leading up to the wedding. I am, of course, being sarcastic, because I said to Angela as I was watching , "If I were at one of these weddings/parties, I would kill myself." There were like 4000 people crammed into a small room, dancing around to Punjabi MC and god knows what else. Perhaps if I were on ecstacy I would enjoy it, who knows. They showed scenes of all these old indian cronies jibbering away in hindi (?) and folding some sort of food into little triangles. There were turbans and gaudy jewelry and beards and sarees and curry everywhere. Hey, I like curry as much as the next guy, but so much of it in one room is a bit much even for Kashula (that's my given indian name, long live el presidante!).
All in all, not a bad way to spend 2 hours. I enjoyed the film and the british setting. Of course, gotta love the INDIAN-ness of it too. It made me wanna hop on a plane back to the UK for a Chili Raj Tikka Masala. It gave me a new-found respect for "Neelah" as she did a decent job, and it also further enforced my feelings of ZERO attraction to Keira Knightly - quit doing so many ab crunches, eat a fucking cheeseburger, then maybe you'll look like a GIRL.
I felt like putting on "Love Actually" but it was midnight, and I was sleepy.
With that, I shall now go outside and see if I, too, can bend it like Beckham. Whatever that means.
Peaceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee,
-B
This stuff was all well and good, but the best part, for me, as an inductee into the RVC Indian Club, was all of the scenes at an Indian wedding and the parties leading up to the wedding. I am, of course, being sarcastic, because I said to Angela as I was watching , "If I were at one of these weddings/parties, I would kill myself." There were like 4000 people crammed into a small room, dancing around to Punjabi MC and god knows what else. Perhaps if I were on ecstacy I would enjoy it, who knows. They showed scenes of all these old indian cronies jibbering away in hindi (?) and folding some sort of food into little triangles. There were turbans and gaudy jewelry and beards and sarees and curry everywhere. Hey, I like curry as much as the next guy, but so much of it in one room is a bit much even for Kashula (that's my given indian name, long live el presidante!).
All in all, not a bad way to spend 2 hours. I enjoyed the film and the british setting. Of course, gotta love the INDIAN-ness of it too. It made me wanna hop on a plane back to the UK for a Chili Raj Tikka Masala. It gave me a new-found respect for "Neelah" as she did a decent job, and it also further enforced my feelings of ZERO attraction to Keira Knightly - quit doing so many ab crunches, eat a fucking cheeseburger, then maybe you'll look like a GIRL.
I felt like putting on "Love Actually" but it was midnight, and I was sleepy.
With that, I shall now go outside and see if I, too, can bend it like Beckham. Whatever that means.
Peaceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee,
-B
Saturday, April 09, 2005
Back...!
Made it back safe and sound from sunny FLA. While down there, we went shopping a couple of times (bought nothing, but pretended to), saw my friends from vet school, went out to eat with the grandparents and chilled out. We also looked around at some houses, just for the hell of it. It is unreal what $350,000 will get you down there. While here, in hell - sorry, I mean Long Island - $350g can maybe get you a 2 bedroom 1 bathroom fixer-upper in a not nice area, in most parts of FLA (and probably most parts of the world), you can get a gorgeous new 3 bed 2 bath home with a pimped out BBQ and an 8 person jacuzzi. Go figure. Too bad I despise the heat, or else I would consider moving.
Just back from my weekly Texas Hold 'Em slaughter, got my ass handed to me again. At least this time I was the 3rd one eliminated rather than 1st. You'd think I would learn from my mistakes, wouldn't you? Guess not. Perhaps I am retarded.
Anyway, its bedtime now, not much else exciting to say....so, until next time America (and whoever else might be reading this)...take care of yourselves and each other. God Bless Jerry Springer.
Amen,
-B
Just back from my weekly Texas Hold 'Em slaughter, got my ass handed to me again. At least this time I was the 3rd one eliminated rather than 1st. You'd think I would learn from my mistakes, wouldn't you? Guess not. Perhaps I am retarded.
Anyway, its bedtime now, not much else exciting to say....so, until next time America (and whoever else might be reading this)...take care of yourselves and each other. God Bless Jerry Springer.
Amen,
-B
Saturday, April 02, 2005
R.I.P. JP2
Today felt like UK weather here in NY - was raining and miserable ALL day. Worked til 2:30pm, headed to the gym, then home to de-funk and off to Long Beach for dinner with mom, Marty and sister (Melissa) for Mel's birthday. Had scallops and cod, YUM.
When I was on the treadmill at the gym, I was watching the extensive coverage of the Pope's last hours. This was just before his death was announced by the Vatican...some guy was talking about the Pope's life, etc, when he was cut off and they flashed the graphic on the screen that JP2 had died. At that EXACT moment when they announced his death, my IPod started playing "Like a Prayer" by Madonna. I swear to god! Then, the next song to follow that was "Enter Sandman" by Metallica ("Exit light, enter night, take my hand, it's off to Never Never Land") and after that "I Want to Get High" by Cypress Hill. I am not exaggerating this AT ALL. Coincidence? Perhaps...
Now, I just have to pack as we are heading to Florida tomorrow for a few days in the sun with my grandparents and will also meet up with a couple of vet school friends. So, you won't hear from me til we return on wednesday....until then, when you think of me, just remember the good ol' Sesame Street theme song: "Sunny days, keeping the clouds away...on my way to where the air is sweet...can you tell me how to get, how to get to [Delray Beach, FLA]..."
Even though I am a Jew...R.I.P. JP2.
-B
When I was on the treadmill at the gym, I was watching the extensive coverage of the Pope's last hours. This was just before his death was announced by the Vatican...some guy was talking about the Pope's life, etc, when he was cut off and they flashed the graphic on the screen that JP2 had died. At that EXACT moment when they announced his death, my IPod started playing "Like a Prayer" by Madonna. I swear to god! Then, the next song to follow that was "Enter Sandman" by Metallica ("Exit light, enter night, take my hand, it's off to Never Never Land") and after that "I Want to Get High" by Cypress Hill. I am not exaggerating this AT ALL. Coincidence? Perhaps...
Now, I just have to pack as we are heading to Florida tomorrow for a few days in the sun with my grandparents and will also meet up with a couple of vet school friends. So, you won't hear from me til we return on wednesday....until then, when you think of me, just remember the good ol' Sesame Street theme song: "Sunny days, keeping the clouds away...on my way to where the air is sweet...can you tell me how to get, how to get to [Delray Beach, FLA]..."
Even though I am a Jew...R.I.P. JP2.
-B
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