update
So I don't really use this thing too much, and who knows if anyone follows LJ anymore ;)
Anyhow, general update. We are all moved into our new place. It's awesome, and the yard is amazing (with a lot of learning experiences required to properly care for). We found some strawberries in one of the garden patches, which with our total lack of garden-tending so far is kinda nifty. Next year we'll be better, so far we are just trying to come to grips with things like mowing and composting and weeding (I weeded something weeks ago that turned into beautiful plants recently, sad, so I'm going to step back from over-zealous weeding for now).
We've been borrowing a manual push mower from a friend. It works great and doesn't take very long for such a big space with lots of garden paddies to weave between (30-40 mins). Only problem is long flower/weeds/thingies that I let grow out before getting the mower - they just bend over instead of being cut. We bought an electric weed-whacker for these things and the edges but haven't used it yet. While looking for a 'funny' place to put my old sword in the basement I found a sickle (which was in a funny place that the sword is in now). Even tho it's not a great sickle it cuts fine, and I fiddled with using it to cut some of the long thingies - kinda fun, good work out. But for edging around the house and the fence the weed whacker is gonna be easier. (a real scythe wold probably work better than the sickle, but not as communistic - really is tempting to hang it with a hammer).
We have tons of really beautiful flowers blooming all over the place. They are staged out, so each week we find more pretty flowers. Continued surprises.
Our condo hasn't sold yet, it's a crappy condo market. Something like 77 units on the market in Northampton, and like three people looking for condos. The conventional loan requirement of 20% down (because of fuckers in Arizona and Florida screwing the condo market for everyone) is a real screw too. (Did I mention we had to pay an extra finance fee because we were buying a multi-family home since in this 'economy' it is now 'high risk' - despite being able to afford NOT to have tennants?). jossel of course is a rock star and got our condo association FHA approved so you can get an FHA loan with 3% down without a spot loan. But education on this front is the real problem - someone considering buying a condo has to talk to the right person or do the right research to find out about FHA stuff and not get scared off by the 20% down requirement.
Anyhow, speaking of renting, we are renting out our downstairs unit (in the new house) starting this Thursday. We are renting to a couple doing house renovations and want a place free of lead dust for their kid to live during the renovation. So this will just be until the end of summer, a good test run. At this point we are also thinking of renting our condo out. The market is just that sucky and with Northampton rents we should be able to cover costs. (I'd really like closure though and sell the darn place). We'll probably start looking to do this in August, closer to the rental cycle start. Until then we have the downstairs tenant situation to off-set our costs.
Lastly, we have a 2.5 override vote coming up in Northampton. I ran into someone I know at a coffee shop and was selling her on a 'yes' vote for it (last time it came up it was turned down by 7 votes). It was amusing - she's a parent with one kid in elementary school and another on the way, and she rents. We don't have kids, own two properties, and don't even use the local library (sorry libraries! I'm a bad librarian's son), and we are voting yes. Well, I'm pretty sure I convinced her to vote yes too - just not a lot of good communication and explanation of what 2.5 overrides are all about, and what taxes go where.
(We of course do take advantage of public services like the police and fire department, so it isn't entirely selfless ;)
Anyhow, general update. We are all moved into our new place. It's awesome, and the yard is amazing (with a lot of learning experiences required to properly care for). We found some strawberries in one of the garden patches, which with our total lack of garden-tending so far is kinda nifty. Next year we'll be better, so far we are just trying to come to grips with things like mowing and composting and weeding (I weeded something weeks ago that turned into beautiful plants recently, sad, so I'm going to step back from over-zealous weeding for now).
We've been borrowing a manual push mower from a friend. It works great and doesn't take very long for such a big space with lots of garden paddies to weave between (30-40 mins). Only problem is long flower/weeds/thingies that I let grow out before getting the mower - they just bend over instead of being cut. We bought an electric weed-whacker for these things and the edges but haven't used it yet. While looking for a 'funny' place to put my old sword in the basement I found a sickle (which was in a funny place that the sword is in now). Even tho it's not a great sickle it cuts fine, and I fiddled with using it to cut some of the long thingies - kinda fun, good work out. But for edging around the house and the fence the weed whacker is gonna be easier. (a real scythe wold probably work better than the sickle, but not as communistic - really is tempting to hang it with a hammer).
We have tons of really beautiful flowers blooming all over the place. They are staged out, so each week we find more pretty flowers. Continued surprises.
Our condo hasn't sold yet, it's a crappy condo market. Something like 77 units on the market in Northampton, and like three people looking for condos. The conventional loan requirement of 20% down (because of fuckers in Arizona and Florida screwing the condo market for everyone) is a real screw too. (Did I mention we had to pay an extra finance fee because we were buying a multi-family home since in this 'economy' it is now 'high risk' - despite being able to afford NOT to have tennants?). jossel of course is a rock star and got our condo association FHA approved so you can get an FHA loan with 3% down without a spot loan. But education on this front is the real problem - someone considering buying a condo has to talk to the right person or do the right research to find out about FHA stuff and not get scared off by the 20% down requirement.
Anyhow, speaking of renting, we are renting out our downstairs unit (in the new house) starting this Thursday. We are renting to a couple doing house renovations and want a place free of lead dust for their kid to live during the renovation. So this will just be until the end of summer, a good test run. At this point we are also thinking of renting our condo out. The market is just that sucky and with Northampton rents we should be able to cover costs. (I'd really like closure though and sell the darn place). We'll probably start looking to do this in August, closer to the rental cycle start. Until then we have the downstairs tenant situation to off-set our costs.
Lastly, we have a 2.5 override vote coming up in Northampton. I ran into someone I know at a coffee shop and was selling her on a 'yes' vote for it (last time it came up it was turned down by 7 votes). It was amusing - she's a parent with one kid in elementary school and another on the way, and she rents. We don't have kids, own two properties, and don't even use the local library (sorry libraries! I'm a bad librarian's son), and we are voting yes. Well, I'm pretty sure I convinced her to vote yes too - just not a lot of good communication and explanation of what 2.5 overrides are all about, and what taxes go where.
(We of course do take advantage of public services like the police and fire department, so it isn't entirely selfless ;)