(no subject)
for me, searching for a house is strikingly similar to registering for classes in college.
in the grand scheme of things, there are more than enough houses/class seats for the buyers/students.
however:
once you apply your sorting filters, like location/major, commute/schedule, price point/tuition availability, you are left with a very restricted list of options.
so are a large number of other buyers/students who want the same house/class.
it's important to note here that registering for classes was, hands down, one of the top 5 most stressful college experiences i ever had. the knowledge i was competing for something i didn't have a strong chance of getting in the first place made me incredibly anxious; no matter how smart i was, or how hard i tried, or how on top of things i stayed, there was a good chance i would not get the class i needed to graduate on time.
i feel the parallel with house searching draws itself.
some people thrive on that anxiety, and indeed, stress of any sort can be positive. some people can manage it without curling up in a corner and gibbering; danny is one such individual. he doesn't like the odds, but he can manage them and work the situation to his maximum benefit. i fall into the third, more gibbering-prone category, which is why he's in charge of spearheading the housing search.
my job now is to make myself available for house hunting, and give the best feedback i can. i am also now The Navigator, guiding us from one random house to another via iphone as we cruise neighborhoods, inspecting streets and yards and doors/windows (the more bars on windows, the less excited we get).
we have developed, organically, a way of sorting properties. we start with a long list of houses gleaned from the internet, and we approach them neighborhood by neighborhood. when we arrive, we look at the street, the house from the outside, and if possible, take a peek at the backyard and/or in the windows. the house gets one of three things:
1. crossed off the list.
2. an OK next to it.
3. an OK + next to it.
number one is self-explanatory. number two means we could see ourselves living there, but with some misgivings, and there are questions to be asked about the house's history. number three means we could see ourselves living there, and we're interested in touring it with an agent. danny and i often identify very different things as pluses or minuses, yet we always seem to arrive at the same general consensus. for this, i am supremely grateful.
there are so many houses up for sale in the SF Bay Area right now. we're talking a truly staggering amount. unfortunately, a lot of them are foreclosures, and therefore not suited to our timetable. we have to have escrow paperwork started by the end of april to get our $8,000 tax credit.
we've also opened the search up to condos. neither of us are excited about that prospect, but if there was a super nice condo in marin, it would be worth looking at - a reduced commute would save us so much time, gas, and car wear/tear.
the goal is to buy something:
1. we will be happy living in for 5-10 years.
2. we can improve over time, but move into and live in comfortably right off the bat.
3. that is centrally located, so if/when our work changes, our house won't have to.
4. that makes us feel At Home.
those aren't really in order.
i have been ready to buy'n'move for about a year now, and i am so ready for the process to be complete. at the same time, i am totally against rushing into a sale for the sake of ending said process. it's... not a dilemma, but it is a conflict. thankfully, a conflict confined to my brain.
in other news, the weather is amazingly gorgeous. warm, sunny, breezy - flowers blooming, birds singing, insects buzzing about. even i, who loves the fog dearly, can appreciate the beauty of spring. it's hard to feel frumpy when life is abounding all about you.
love kittie
in the grand scheme of things, there are more than enough houses/class seats for the buyers/students.
however:
once you apply your sorting filters, like location/major, commute/schedule, price point/tuition availability, you are left with a very restricted list of options.
so are a large number of other buyers/students who want the same house/class.
it's important to note here that registering for classes was, hands down, one of the top 5 most stressful college experiences i ever had. the knowledge i was competing for something i didn't have a strong chance of getting in the first place made me incredibly anxious; no matter how smart i was, or how hard i tried, or how on top of things i stayed, there was a good chance i would not get the class i needed to graduate on time.
i feel the parallel with house searching draws itself.
some people thrive on that anxiety, and indeed, stress of any sort can be positive. some people can manage it without curling up in a corner and gibbering; danny is one such individual. he doesn't like the odds, but he can manage them and work the situation to his maximum benefit. i fall into the third, more gibbering-prone category, which is why he's in charge of spearheading the housing search.
my job now is to make myself available for house hunting, and give the best feedback i can. i am also now The Navigator, guiding us from one random house to another via iphone as we cruise neighborhoods, inspecting streets and yards and doors/windows (the more bars on windows, the less excited we get).
we have developed, organically, a way of sorting properties. we start with a long list of houses gleaned from the internet, and we approach them neighborhood by neighborhood. when we arrive, we look at the street, the house from the outside, and if possible, take a peek at the backyard and/or in the windows. the house gets one of three things:
1. crossed off the list.
2. an OK next to it.
3. an OK + next to it.
number one is self-explanatory. number two means we could see ourselves living there, but with some misgivings, and there are questions to be asked about the house's history. number three means we could see ourselves living there, and we're interested in touring it with an agent. danny and i often identify very different things as pluses or minuses, yet we always seem to arrive at the same general consensus. for this, i am supremely grateful.
there are so many houses up for sale in the SF Bay Area right now. we're talking a truly staggering amount. unfortunately, a lot of them are foreclosures, and therefore not suited to our timetable. we have to have escrow paperwork started by the end of april to get our $8,000 tax credit.
we've also opened the search up to condos. neither of us are excited about that prospect, but if there was a super nice condo in marin, it would be worth looking at - a reduced commute would save us so much time, gas, and car wear/tear.
the goal is to buy something:
1. we will be happy living in for 5-10 years.
2. we can improve over time, but move into and live in comfortably right off the bat.
3. that is centrally located, so if/when our work changes, our house won't have to.
4. that makes us feel At Home.
those aren't really in order.
i have been ready to buy'n'move for about a year now, and i am so ready for the process to be complete. at the same time, i am totally against rushing into a sale for the sake of ending said process. it's... not a dilemma, but it is a conflict. thankfully, a conflict confined to my brain.
in other news, the weather is amazingly gorgeous. warm, sunny, breezy - flowers blooming, birds singing, insects buzzing about. even i, who loves the fog dearly, can appreciate the beauty of spring. it's hard to feel frumpy when life is abounding all about you.
love kittie