Real Estate Nightmares
And so we bought us a townhouse in Union, New Jersey, just 15 miles away from New York. I've got a relatively easy commute and we've got a nice little house of our own.
The road to homeownerhsip was not easy. After we finally won on the bid of this house, we went through the long and boring process of attorney review, the house inspection, paying earnest money, and most tedious of all: finding the perfect mortgage company. And then with all that photo-finishing on the deadline, which is Oct. 31, we had to be able to move out of the old apartment before Nov. 1 came around because we didn't want to pay rent for the next month.
The stress of getting the seller to agree to let us move on the 30th, getting movers on short notice, and having to take the day off for it was harrowing enough. The shitload of stress came from the fact that the movers we first commissioned simply didn't show up. We go back up on Craig's list and lo and behold, a BAD review was left about them YESTERDAY, two days after we decided to use them. The reviewer said Wonder Movers didn't show up until 5 hours later. They didn't call to say they were going to be late and they wouldn't have come at all if the client didn't insist they make an appearance.
So hubby and I decided at hour through waiting that we'd hire another set of movers. I set them at 2 pm. They arrived at 4 pm. They cost $500. So they start to move things. Load the truck. Hubby and I take separate cars because he wanted to lead us there. I follow. 30 minutes later, Hubby said he couldn't take the exit he knew about because it didn't allow trucks. We exit somewhere else. Hubby and I confer: He had to go back home for his classes. It's his midterms. I tell him to go to his midterm, for God's sake. I'll take the movers to our new house. I'll just have to find Route 22 even if I had no fucking idea where I was. I told the truck driver, who was Chinese, that he will be following me. He nodded. I totally thought we understood each other.
So Hubby left in his car. I get into mine and GUESS WHAT. The DAMN MOVERS begin to follow HIM.
LORD ALMIGHTY I had to get into my car in a hurry and try to flag them down in a 2-way street. It was hell. I kept on honking, and then I was swearing like a sailor. Finally, I got hubby on the cell phone and I told him the Merlin-damned movers were following him. So he pulled over, the truck pulled over, and I pulled over. Christ, the U-turning I had to do... and then finally the truck and I were in synch and Hubby went to school. I sought out Route 22. The signs were far in between and I was getting terribly insecure. Finally I get to Route 22 West and I had to find a far U-turn. Found the U-turn and my eyes chose to get difficult with me. I've got bad eyesight, I'll have you know. It's so much worse at night because I've got blind spots in my vision. It was so hard to cut across the highway with all those speeding cars. I had no choice but to drive like an old lady: slow and scared.
I finally get to our new house's community. It's quiet and relaxing. The guard is so pleasant she's a balm to my rattled nerves. The moving in commences.
After I'm all moved in, my movers ask for a tip. I am once again in a panic because I have no extra cash. I tell him so. I told him to come back for the tip. I'd have cash then. He said he accepts checks. Considering I've made these guys run circles around Jersey, and it was late and we had a ton of things... well, I did think they deserved a tip. I started with $50. He said there were four of them, it was late, and that $50 was too little. I asked him how much was enough. He said $100. I asked if $80 was alright. He said it wasn't. I totally suck at bargaining. So I gave into the $100. It's not so bad, anyway. $600 for a quick, worry-free (relatively, at least), move. Other companies charge $1,200.
Anyway, at the end of it all, I go home. Hubby goes home telling me his midterms were awful.
Talk about being tested...
The road to homeownerhsip was not easy. After we finally won on the bid of this house, we went through the long and boring process of attorney review, the house inspection, paying earnest money, and most tedious of all: finding the perfect mortgage company. And then with all that photo-finishing on the deadline, which is Oct. 31, we had to be able to move out of the old apartment before Nov. 1 came around because we didn't want to pay rent for the next month.
The stress of getting the seller to agree to let us move on the 30th, getting movers on short notice, and having to take the day off for it was harrowing enough. The shitload of stress came from the fact that the movers we first commissioned simply didn't show up. We go back up on Craig's list and lo and behold, a BAD review was left about them YESTERDAY, two days after we decided to use them. The reviewer said Wonder Movers didn't show up until 5 hours later. They didn't call to say they were going to be late and they wouldn't have come at all if the client didn't insist they make an appearance.
So hubby and I decided at hour through waiting that we'd hire another set of movers. I set them at 2 pm. They arrived at 4 pm. They cost $500. So they start to move things. Load the truck. Hubby and I take separate cars because he wanted to lead us there. I follow. 30 minutes later, Hubby said he couldn't take the exit he knew about because it didn't allow trucks. We exit somewhere else. Hubby and I confer: He had to go back home for his classes. It's his midterms. I tell him to go to his midterm, for God's sake. I'll take the movers to our new house. I'll just have to find Route 22 even if I had no fucking idea where I was. I told the truck driver, who was Chinese, that he will be following me. He nodded. I totally thought we understood each other.
So Hubby left in his car. I get into mine and GUESS WHAT. The DAMN MOVERS begin to follow HIM.
LORD ALMIGHTY I had to get into my car in a hurry and try to flag them down in a 2-way street. It was hell. I kept on honking, and then I was swearing like a sailor. Finally, I got hubby on the cell phone and I told him the Merlin-damned movers were following him. So he pulled over, the truck pulled over, and I pulled over. Christ, the U-turning I had to do... and then finally the truck and I were in synch and Hubby went to school. I sought out Route 22. The signs were far in between and I was getting terribly insecure. Finally I get to Route 22 West and I had to find a far U-turn. Found the U-turn and my eyes chose to get difficult with me. I've got bad eyesight, I'll have you know. It's so much worse at night because I've got blind spots in my vision. It was so hard to cut across the highway with all those speeding cars. I had no choice but to drive like an old lady: slow and scared.
I finally get to our new house's community. It's quiet and relaxing. The guard is so pleasant she's a balm to my rattled nerves. The moving in commences.
After I'm all moved in, my movers ask for a tip. I am once again in a panic because I have no extra cash. I tell him so. I told him to come back for the tip. I'd have cash then. He said he accepts checks. Considering I've made these guys run circles around Jersey, and it was late and we had a ton of things... well, I did think they deserved a tip. I started with $50. He said there were four of them, it was late, and that $50 was too little. I asked him how much was enough. He said $100. I asked if $80 was alright. He said it wasn't. I totally suck at bargaining. So I gave into the $100. It's not so bad, anyway. $600 for a quick, worry-free (relatively, at least), move. Other companies charge $1,200.
Anyway, at the end of it all, I go home. Hubby goes home telling me his midterms were awful.
Talk about being tested...