Measi's Musings

Archive for March, 2005

I’ve had requests for RSS feeds on my site, and while eventually I do want to do that, the house buying thing just isn’t going to allow me to focus on the website for a while. SO… until then, if you’d like to be notified when I’ve updated (rather than have to surf here), add your email address and I promise to send you updates!

Erich’s at work and Jason’s out with his potential girlfriend, so I have a day at home to get whatever done. So far, it’s not going well.

Gus has decided to be an asshole and keep jumping up on the bookshelf that has a ton of stuff on the top shelf. He’s managed to break two porcelain Santas that were up there already. (Thankfully clean breaks, so I can fix them with crazy glue).

We have our mortgage application meeting tomorrow morning down in metro Providence. In order to qualify for first-time buyers (since we make too much together to qualify), Erich’s name is going on the mortgage loan alone. I will be added to the title and deed with him. Just in case they’re needed, though, I’ve been pulling my information that the lender asked for. Thankfully, it wasn’t that much– tax returns for the past three years, a copy of the Purchase and Sale on the house, most recent paystub. No problem right? Well… the tax returns are giving me a little headache. We got our ’04 ones done last night. 2003? Check. 2002? Where the FUCK are you?

I have three strange gaps in my taxes. I’ve always kept them in the same spot. I may be disorganized, but I’ve made a strong effort to at least keep my taxes together. And my ’98, ’00, and ’03 returns were right where they were supposed to be. But ’99, ’01, and ’02 are missing. I’ll be searching as I clean through stuff today, but it nearly broke me into tears because I was trying to deal with Gus and find these at the same time. And I’ve never had a reason to pull them out, so I don’t know why they’d be out of the folder set that I’ve stored them in.

I’m hoping that mine aren’t needed since I’m not going on the loan. Or at least not right away. I’m going to bring the records I have anyway, just in case, and contact the IRS on Monday for duplicates.

Grrrrr… Erich, thankfully, has all of his stuff together, so hopefully we’re okay.

I need to do a serious day or two of paperwork sorting. Once Jay moves out, that’s my priority project.

The rest of the day today is going to be little projects. I promised Erich I’d do some ironing for him. We have a small amount of laundry to wash. A ton of laundry that needs to be put away. New swaps to announce on my penpalling lists. Swaps that I need to get out the door. Little things that will take some time, but that I should be able to get done fairly easily.

But this disorganization is seriously pissing me off. It’s past time for a scouring. Anyone have a flamethrower I can borrow?

ohmygodwesignedpapersonahouseholyshitwhatthehellarewedoingcan
wehandlethiseeeeeekkkkkkk

My mom calls this “Buyers Remorse.” Apparently it’s actually a real term, because so did Erich’s mom when I talked to her last night. That sheer panic and “What the FUCK did we just do?!?” is sinking in.

It’s not a bad move. We’re not regretting it. But now the responsibility and money is just looming in front of us. The down payment arrangements are our biggest priority right now. And it looks like an impassable mountain. (holy shit, 10% of the cost of the house is WHAT?!?)

Add in a good dose of my inevitable anxiety, and this gets REALLY fun, folks. Panic keeps going through my mind, tempered by the knowledge that a lot of first-time buyers go through this. It’s scary. It’s a huge life change. It’s a transition to requirements to be Responsible Adult Homeowners (eep!). In a lot of ways, it’s similiar to some of the sensations I felt as I was graduating from high school, ready to come to Boston — nearly an alien nation to me — for college. Fear of the unknown and a ton of excitement at the same time. Can I handle it? Am I ready? Yes, I am. No, no… fuck, I can’t be old enough to own a HOUSE. What the hell am I doing?!?

I know it’ll be okay. It’s just a lot of hoops to go through. And hopefully everything will go okay and in late April, we’ll close on the house.

It’s also just the weirdness factor. After work last night, I drove over to the grocery store to pick up a few things, and the world around me just seemed surreal. A week ago, the thought of buying a house wasn’t even on my mind. I knew we were planning to look at this house over the upcoming weekend to get an idea of the market. Now I’m realizing that if this goes to plan, we’re only going to be living here a mere 8-12 more weeks. And that surreal disorientation throws me back into the buyer’s remorse stuff.

Not to mention that I gave myself a forehead slap yesterday morning when I realized the whole timing issues with this. If everything goes to plan (and I realize it usually doesn’t… but humor me), the current owner would move out by the end of May. Erich had talked about moving in the first week/weekend of June.

BUT… my office moves June 3rd. And I have to go to the new office for a short day on that Saturday to make sure things are going where they’re supposed to, since I’ve been given the not-so-shiny-or-spiffy Move Coordinator badge. I can handle my entire life being surrounded by boxes for a few weeks if needed. It’s just the idea that I’d be having to move my home, but not being able to DO it because I have to work.

Erich’s not thrilled on the idea of movers due to past family history with them. But unless we’re staying through June, movers might become a real requirement on this. We have a lot of heavy stuff. Thankfully it won’t require going up a shitload of stairs– we’ve already said that other than the required furniture to go upstairs immediately (our bed, dressers, and desks), we’d either put everything in the living room or the garage to start, and then just work box by box and carry it where it needs to go. (And yes, I’m going to be trying to clean through stuff– starting this weekend– so we can pare down as much as possible pre-move.)

All of these thoughts swirl at once. But for now, I need to get my mind to focus on getting the mortgage arranged. That is our current priority. The rest can be figured out as we go.

~ Mel.

Sorry for the semi-cryptic entry last night, but both Erich and I were overwhelmed…

Said bouncing and stun-edness was caused by a little phone call last night…

They accepted our offer! We got the house!

Eee!

*thuds*

*dies happy*

*sits stunned, but really, really happy*

We made an offer on the house this morning. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Photos are here.

We would pull up the carpets. There are finished hardwood floors throughout the house where carpet has been put down. And obviously, a good portion of the wallpaper is dated. But that can be done gradually as we have time and money.

When we walked in, it immediately had that cozy, multi-generation gathering feeling. This house has been in the same family since it was built. The current owner is a woman just shy of 80. Until recently, she shared the home with her mother (who just recently passed at age 102). And it’s been well cared for.

It’s a wonderful size in a pretty neighborhood that abutts a beautiful, huge park.

I really hope we get it. Erich’s mom thinks we should write a personal letter to the owner expressing how we’re starting our life together, and just see ourselves going forward in such a wonderful home. I’m seriously considering writing it tonight.