As some of you know, a little over a year ago I bought a house here in Austin.
It did not dawn on me until the evening of the one year anniversary that it had been an entire year since I bought it.
It’s been crazy.
A few things that were done:
Carpet removed
Minor kitchen remodel
Inside was entirely repainted (with many thanks to my friends who helped me)
Hardwood floor installed (again, with many thanks to those that helped)
A deck was added to the back (thanks dad and others)
Vent added to master bath (part of the roof replacement (don’t ask (bad storm (3” hail))))
New kitchen counters, ordered last week. (3” granite with tile backsplash)
I have a few small things to finish - railings on the deck, and transition strips for all the flooring. Oh, and paint sills and casings white. And then I’m done… at least for a while.
It’s been a trip, a lot of blood, sweat and tears - but as I sit here and listen to my roommate’s music, in the end it’s been worth it.
I’m vaguely entertaining the idea of getting a new desk as part of moving to my new house.
Through some random occurrence on the internet, I came across these guys, who have manual and electrically-adjustable desks, in heights from about 25” to 50-some”.
Having just contacted Rockford (the local distributor) today to get price information, I came across this link in my RSS reader, not 30 minutes later….
Even though I don’t shoot film, it looks pretty sweet.
You take half day off, sleep in, are well rested, get ready and head to the title company.
There you meet up with your Realtor and the representative from your mortgage lender.
Then you meet with the representative for the title company, sign all your paperwork, sign away your firstborn AND second-born.
It wasn’t actually THAT bad. In the whole process, it was rather anti-climactic. I signed a bunch of paper, initialed a few pages, and we told lots of stories (and discussed good restaurants).
And then it hit me. I now own a house. Well, mostly.
After lunch, and after I got to work, the phone started ringing incessantly.
The title company called, we missed a signature on one of the million pages.
The mortgage lender called, they had an error in underwriting, and needed some extra paperwork to explain my mother’s gift of money to me (to help with funding the house).
The insurance guy called, and during the conversation we found out he hadn’t sent me the paperwork to sign yet.
This was followed by the most expensive next 30 minutes of cellphone time. 2 calls to Norway, several calls to the bank, lender, title company, etc.
I think it’s all good, and as far as I know, I’m still the owner of a new (to me) house.
I am sorry, dear readers, for having neglected you as I have for the last few weeks.
Life has been rather busy and eventful - so it’s been difficult to find ways to express everything in a concise manner, without taking to run-on sentences, excessive blather, et cetera.
(Blah, blah, stop avoiding the subject, Dom)
Fine, fine.
Here goes:
I am getting closer on the house purchase. Against all odds, the government and the banks decided to approve my financing. After 10am tomorrow (Tuesday) I’ll have a house. My very own house.)
I spent an evening a few weeks ago with some fellow photographers making images. Surprisingly enough, the image I like the most, didn’t get popular. Another one did instead. Strange.
I was coerced to attend a wedding for Memorial Weekend (under duress.) Nah, it wasn’t really that bad, just hot, humid and sweaty. All ingredients in a Texas summer wedding. I happened to take some photographs while there, carefully avoiding upsetting the photographer they had hired. I think I did well— we ended up exchanging business cards and lighting/equipment tips at the end of the day.
In my own infinite wisdom, I spent Memorial Day outside in the heat sweating while looking for small hidden containers. This is also known as geocaching, and apparently a dangerous summer sport in Texas. (I spent the evening recovering from dehydration and heat exhaustion. (Despite having drank water - apparently not enough.)
Did I mention I’m closing on my house tomorrow?
(Yes, you did.)
I spent this last Saturday floating down the Guadalupe river in an inner tube. Being a very common Texas recreational activity, it was much fun. On the downside, I did lose my sunglasses— on the bright side, they weren’t my expensive prescription ones.
I did bring a camera on this trip, but it wasn’t without it’s own problems. The LCD on the back was broken (effectively shooting blind), and we briefly lost the camera + photos toward the end of the trip. I’ll let y’all know when those photos are up.
I’ve lived in my current apartment for over 8 years. Prior to that, I lived in the complex “next door” for 18 months, and before that, I lived in a complex off Duval and Mopac (different part of town but nearby.)
It struck me on my way home tonight, that I am going to miss this part of town. In many ways, 78759 and it’s surroundings, has been my “stomping grounds” while in Austin. I’ve always lived in that zip code, but now that’s going to change.
It’s a bit sad to think about. 10 years in the same part of town—and whereas I’m not moving far way, it’s far enough to where the “local grocery store” is a different one.
I won’t be able to walk to Amy’s Ice cream, or Barnes & Noble, or Thundercloud… I don’t know. In many ways this part of town as been my “universe” for so long, it’s hard to think of any other place being “it.” (Of course I know this is wrong—in due time I’ll be used to living at the new house, and things will subtly change.)
Having said all that, it’ll still be a sad day when I no longer drive down Jollyville, take the turn onto Great Hills Trail and hope for the lights to be green until I U-turn for my apartment entrance….
Friday the Inspector and termite guy went to do the inspection on the house.
It passed - nothing major was wrong.
A few small things were sent to the seller to ask that they take care of - we’ll see if they agree or not. Most of the list is things that aren’t up to code, et cetera.
Okay, so up until this moment, the whole concept of buying a house was somewhat nebulous and abstract.
You’ve spoken with Realtors, you’ve spoken with mortgage brokers, you might even be pre-qualified for a certain amount.
You’re going out with your realtor, looking at houses. This one might be good… that one’s bad… the next one’s o-kay. Your brain is in visual and informational overload, you can’t put which kitchen with what address, and which house was it that had the big garden tub again?
At this point, things are still somewhat fluffy… Sure, you’re actually looking at houses, and there’s something tangible…
That all changes when you’re sitting in your realtor’s office signing the bid offer paperwork. You’re actually writing checks, spending money, and putting ink on paper.
Now take a moment to FREAK OUT.
Yep - that’s what I did. It’s a big thing, you’re spending “adult money,” you’re making decisions that might affect you for several years.
So yeah, we’ll see how things go. It’s a nice house, a huge yard (as houses in the city go) and I imagine it’ll attract quite some interest.
(Update: It did. My Realtor just called to tell me that several bids have been placed on the house. I’m not going to up my bid. If I’m supposed to have the house, I’ll get it. If not, there’s always another one.)
