A New Adventure July 15, 2009

Sorry for the double entries tonight…Just had a conversation with my sister Sarah, and I don’t want to forget a point she brought up.

“But all my friends are doing it”…  I need to let that go right now.  I’m itching to be farther toward certain life goals because I see my friends moving toward those life goals faster than me.  But the life goals I care about, or feel tempted to be jealous of, are marriage and parenthood, not home ownership!  If I buy a house to satisfy that desire to move forward toward life goals, it will be unsatisfying and disappointing. 

(Wow, sidenote… this draft auto-saved at 11:11:11 p.m.  How cool is that???)  :)

Back to the topic…There are, in my mind, “logical” reasons to buy a house (financial, etc.) and “emotional” reasons to buy a house.  I think both need to be in order for me to do this, and I knew the “emotional” reasoning was not worked out yet.  If I decide to buy a house, my emotional reason to do it needs to be this:  It is a huge learning curve in a new direction; a new adventure; a source of life experience.  If I don’t want that new adventure, I have no business buying a house right now, logical or not.

Whining and More House Talk July 15, 2009

May I whine for a moment?  Okay, thanks! 

OOOWWWWW!!!!  My arm HURTS!  Stupid tetanus shot!  Surprisingly, it’s worse today It’s like someone hit me in the arm…with a baseball bat!  If I sit perfectly still it’s slightly sore, but if I move my arm and engage that muscle at all, it’s painful!  MUCH worse than the pain of actually getting the shot!

Okay, done whining.  Thanks for listening. 

So I’ve been thinking some more about this house issue…of course…and the idea of the tax credit is “selling” me just like the idea of a good sale.  I feel like I should hurry, like I should absolutely do this now!  Whether I want to or not.  Whether I’m ready or not.  Whether I can afford it or not.  It’s the same feeling as the temptation to apply for a store credit card, or buy something I don’t want or need just because there will be no interest for 12 months.  The tax credit is an excellent incentive…and I think that’s a bad thing for me right now.  I think I need to consider this issue apart from the tax credit, just to make a rational decision rather than feeling hurried into it.  If it is the right decision for me to buy a house, the tax credit will be a huge perk.  But if it’s not the right time for me to buy a house, $8000 won’t make it right.

Questions I need to answer:

-Can I use part or all of the $8000 as my down payment?

-How much should I plan for things like home inspections, closing costs, etc?

-What things can be figured into my mortgage, and what things will I need to pay for out-of-pocket as I go through the process?

-How much will it cost to break my apartment lease, if I do end up buying a house before December 1st?

 

Believe it or not, I’m leaning toward a decision of no, this is not the right time.  Two reasons: One, despite the fact that all my friends are doing this, I don’t particularly want a house.  I don’t despise the idea of having a house, but I don’t prefer a house over an apartment, owning over renting.  I’m fine with the status quo, my 800 square feet of pure joy right here.    Reason number two, at this moment, it seems as though I can buy a house, or start graduate classes, but not both at the same time.  I’m not confident that I can handle the costs of the home-buying process along with tuition, and as you know, I intend to pay for my graduate classes as I go, rather than acruing more debt for the tuition costs.  If I buy a house first, and wait to start on graduate classes until I’m settled in my new budget, it would work just fine.  On the other hand, if I wait to buy a house until I’m done with my masters, it will be two more years.  On the other hand, if I buy a house first, what if all my “extra” money is going toward house projects and I never do start classes?  On the other hand, what does it matter?  There’s no deadline for either one.  There’s no law that says I have to ever get a masters or buy a house, if it’s not the right thing for me! 

However, despite knowing all that, my gut feeling is the sooner the better on either of those courses of action.  Owning a house, I will be building equity and putting my monthly rent money toward something.  With a masters, I will be on a higher column of the pay scale.  Either way, having done the thing I decide to do will be of benefit.

If I own a house, I will be somewhat stuck in this course of action, of course.  I probably won’t be able to go teach at a Catholic school if I want to, for example.  I won’t have the freedom to change my source of income, or to quickly change my plans and move to Texas or something.  That doesn’t really sound like a big deal, though.  I like teaching in a public school, and I like living here.  I don’t want to change those things.

The discussion continues…

An Unresolved Issue July 12, 2009

The last time I was considering buying a house was almost exactly two years ago!  I can’t believe it’s been that long.  When I realized I was itching to look at houses again, I was appalled at myself just because I really believed this was a “resolved issue.”  Well…it was a resolved issue…two years ago!

When I have to renew my lease every so often, it’s never going to be a permenantly resolved issue.  Anytime I have to renew a contract of any kind, of course I’m going to consider the option of not renewing it, or changing course in some way.  For example, five years in a row I’ve signed a teaching contract with the same school district.  But just receiving the new, unsigned contract is enough for me to think about whether or not this is still the right path, no matter how definite my “yes” is.

In this post from July 2007, I explained that I asked God if I should buy a house, and He said no.  I felt a little silly about telling the world, because it sounds so simplistic.  But I can’t ignore my gut feelings about things, and I consider those feelings to be God placing thoughts in me that He wants me to be unable to ignore. 

So today, I asked God if now is the time I should buy a house.  And I felt, clear as day, the answer:  It is not time for you to know that yet.  But it is time for you to get ready.

And so, I will.  I will continue saving.  I will clarify my “must-haves,” which, if I’m going to do this alone, will be a little more strict than if I had a partner to provide a second income and a “buddy” for the challenges of home ownership.  I might just go talk to those Wells Fargo people and see just how close I am to being financially prepared.  And of course, I’m going to keep looking at houses online!  For fun, of course, but the second reason being that the market has changed drastically since July of 2007, and I want to have a good idea of what I should be able to buy when the time comes, and also a sense of how the market changes between now and then, in case the values start going back up and I want to get in before they go up too far.

But still, leave me a comment and tell me what you think! 

A Surprising Recurrance July 11, 2009

My itch to buy a house has returned…What is up with that???  What is this strange recurrance of what I thought was a resolved issue?  In the past couple of days, I have found myself looking at houses on the NP Dodge website (a real estate agency with a really good map search feature!), and driving slowly past houses when I see for sale signs, and considering issues like proximity to the interstate.

This is a resolved issue!  I don’t want to buy a house right now, and for good reasons…

Right?

Maybe I need to talk this through a little bit. 

Why I should not buy a house right now:

-I don’t need more space, more bedrooms, a garage, etc.  There is no necessity for those things in my life right now.

-I don’t have to take care of a yard.

-Heating and cooling would be more expensive.

-I’m not currently prepared to make a down payment. 

-I don’t feel particularly settled in my current life.  Lots of what-ifs…What if I get married and the guy already has a house?  What if an unforseen circumstance means I will need to move out of the area?  What if an unforseen circumstance means I won’t be able to afford it in a couple of years?

-Even though I could afford a decent amount of house, I think, that’s money that I could spend in other ways…classes towards my master’s, paying down student loan debt, saving for whatever.  Going on vacation.  Buying stuff.

-I like the non-responsibility of renting.  No hot water?  Just call the office.  Drain is clogged?  Call the office.  Water is leaking through the ceiling into my bedroom?  You get the idea.  And I don’t get a bill for it later, it’s their building, not mine.

-Even though I know I could deal with those unforseen home repair situations, I would rather not deal with them alone.  I always imagined not owning a house until I was married.  The idea of doing it by myself doesn’t sound…comforting…or fun.  I don’t want to deal with crickets, mice, snakes, bats, wasps, basements, nighttime power outages, natural disasters, furnace failures, broken windows, leaking roofs, floods, tornados, wind damage, hail damage, burglary, or mean neighbors by myself.

-Tara told me I can’t move again for awhile. 

Why I should buy a house:

-Renting is, in the long term, a huge waste of money. 

-It would be completely manageable to be prepared to make a down payment by the time this apartment lease is up.

-Wells Fargo just called me yesterday, just for being a good customer who has paid off all my debt with them, and asked if there’s anything they can do for me.    (In other words, can we charge you some more interest for something?  But still, it put the idea in my head…)

-$110,000 buys a lot more house right now than it did the last time I was looking.  Also, I feel like that’s a reason to be in a hurry about it, as though the market will go back up eventually and I’ll miss my chance to buy so much home so affordably.

-There are a few really nice things about having a house.  A garage means no ice scraping in the winter.  If there’s a fence I can just let Pal out without walking him every single time, all day long.  Windows on more than one side of my home.  A deck/patio and yard to have summertime parties.  Freedom to paint, change the flooring, whatever I want, whenever I choose.  No more hearing…private things…coming from the bedroom above me!  No more people and dogs in the hall for Pal to bark at.

-…But, all my friends are doing it!

There it is.  Off the top of my head, I know exactly four people who are in the same stage of life as me who are renting.  Friend number one, her husband is in the Navy and will be stationed somewhere else pretty soon.  Friend number two (well, sister, actually), has a fiance who has a job lined up in a different city in a year.  Friend number three tends to spend a few months in a different part of the country every year.  And friend number four, I don’t know his reasons, but he is a teacher also.  But, there are also many, many teacher friends who do own houses!  Single and married!

That’s the kicker…I’m to the age where even all the single people I know own houses!  I feel like I should.  It’s time.  Like when you’re 5, you go to kindergarten.  It’s just time.  Some high school friends had a sort of weekend reunion recently, and there were seven of us all together, and the other six of them own a house.  I can’t even figure out if I want to buy a house or not, because I just feel that I should want to buy a house at this stage!

I know, I know, I need to make this decision myself.  But still…please, please, please leave a comment and tell me what you think!!!  Thanks!

(photo credit: www.rosschapin.com)

Something New July 11, 2009

On Thursday I put some new life into my apartment.  More specifically, I planted some new life into some flowerpots that have been sitting empty on my windowsill since I moved in!

Baby Jade

 

Peperomia

 

Echeveria

 

Croton

 

Aren’t they lovely?  The question is, can I keep them lovely? 

 

I also wanted something new for my living room wall.  You remember the print that was there?

Well, it’s nice, it’s pretty, it’s fine, I’m just tired of it!  I’ve been looking at it for several years, and it was time for something completely different.

I live here! June 3, 2009

After a LOT of hard work today, I finally feel like I live here!

(Click on an image to make it larger.)

Things are put away…

Dishes are washed…

Groceries are purchased…

Things are hung on the wall…

Everything is clean.

Aaahhh…so nice…

Wood Floors!!! April 8, 2009

Bless me, for I have sinned…I covet my neighbor’s apartment!

Although, no one lives there, so it’s not technically my neighbor’s apartment at this time…

It has wood floors.  Wood floors!  I have always wanted hard floors in my home.  I’ve caught glimpses of the floors before, but mostly the people who lived there kept their blinds shut when it was dark out, of course.  Tonight while I was walking Pal, I noticed the the blinds were wide open, and from far away I could see there was no furniture or people inside, so I walked right up to the building for a closer look.  Sure enough, wood floors!  Throughout the living room, dining room, kitchen, and hallway.  Vinyl in the bathroom, and carpet in the bedroom. 

It wouldn’t hurt to just stop by the office tomorrow and ask, right? 

Blue Magic January 8, 2009

I bought myself a shiny new Downy ball!

I lost mine a few weeks ago.  It has got to be here somewhere!  But I’m giving up, accepting that it is lost, and I got a new one.  In the mean time, I’ve been trying to get downstairs at just the right time to add the fabric softener, and it’s a pain.  I don’t mind going all the way down there, but I can’t seem to get down there at the right time!  Either I’m too early and I have to sit and listen to the washer for a few minutes.  Or I’m too late and the laundry is already in the spin cycle. 

“Why don’t you just use dryer sheets?” you may ask.  Well, I don’t really use the dryer!  For towels, which don’t need fabric softener.  For sheets.  Once in awhile when I need to get all my loads washed and dried in one day.  But I have a wonderful indoor clothesline, and I tend to just hang everything to dry.  Plus, usually about 1/3 to 1/2 of each load is made up of more delicate items that I would hang to dry even if I were using the dryer, so it’s not generally worth it to pay $1.25 to dry 1/2 a load of laundry!  (It’s not really worth it ever, since all kinds of clothes dry themselves for free, and without using our energy resources, in 24 hours or less if I hang them up!)  So fabric softener must go in the washer.

When I had a washer and dryer right off my kitchen, I barely ever used my Downy ball.  When I heard the washer filling for the rinse cycle, I just went and added softener.  If I was going to be in the apartment anyway, it was much easier than filling the Downy ball.

But now, many loads of laundry will be softened at just the right time with a shiny new Downy ball!  I think they changed it a little.  It’s definitely a different shade of blue.  And maybe it has a bigger opening because it’s easier to pour the softener in, and maybe the inside is a better shape for dumping the extra water out after using it.  If your Downy ball is a few years old, you might want to look at the shiny new ones… 

Just Her October 31, 2008

Just Her

Originally uploaded by Janelle Bradshaw

This is a two-purpose post. One, did I figure out how to blog photos from flickr.com? Yes? Can you see it?

Two, look, LOOK at that beautiful bedding! I just love how it’s many colors together, and nothing looks “matchy-matchy,” but it’s beautiful! This was my vision when I started all the painting of the walls in my apartment. I had to undo the yellow wall because it was just too much, but after seeing this picture, I think I had the right idea, just on too large of a scale. If I want lots of colors in my apartment, I need to do it in little ways, like pillows and blankets and towels, not on the entire wall.

If this works, if I’ve figured out how to do this, there will be many posts about many pictures I have found on flickr! And also, I need to get my own camera so that I can share my photos so easily as well. Although I will never be as good as trained, professional photographers like Janelle, here! (By the way, are you so distracted by the bedding that you didn’t notice the baby? There’s Janelle’s newest addition in the middle of the bed!)

Peaceful Night October 22, 2008

How do you feel about your home when the lights are off?

Strange question, right?  This thought first occurred to me many months ago, when my grandparents, aunt, and cousin were visiting me.  I slept on the living room floor, and as I was laying there, ready to fall asleep, I looked around in the dark, and I had a fresh appreciation for the living space I had created for myself.

I suppose it depends what is important to you, what makes your living space feel peaceful to you.  One of the keys for me is windows.  If I could live in a place that had windows on all four sides, one over the kitchen sink, and one in the bathroom, would be ideal.  Here, I have the usual two, one in the bedroom and the door to the balcony in the living room.  But in the city, the windows let in the city lights at night and it casts a soft light around.

You notice the things that you love about your home when the lights are off.  I notice the red wall in the living room, the view overlooking Omaha out the windows, the candle on the coffee table, the plushy softness of the couch and the bed, the clean countertops in the kitchen.  And just, the feeling of it being my creation, designed to take care of me.