(no subject)

[electricland]

Cousin J. and I put in an offer on a house this weekend. Scary stuff. Nice house -- good location, good size, already a duplex plus basement apartment, could use a little cosmetic improvement but basically decent. However, we put in an offer at the asking price and there were two other people interested, one of which was at least 15k over what we offered, so... meh.

Basically, I'm thinking of it as a learning experience. I was signing and initialling all the forms that said if the owners went for our offer we would owe the bank a substantial fraction of One. Million. Dollars, and getting increasingly freaked out, and half hoping we wouldn't get it. But good to have gone through all that -- at least we'll know what to expect next time. We'd have been happy if we got it, but we're not devastated that we didn't.

In other weekend news: my parents came over Saturday and helped me put the rest of my desk together (well, my dad did and my mum washed my dishes, because I am a slatternly housekeeper -- the neat or embarrassing thing is, though, she blames herself for this and gives me hardly any guilt), and I bought a coffee table, so my living room is once again full of furniture and boxes. This week will be mostly unpacking and organizing. Oh, and my dad poked at my amplifier and discovered it was fine, so I've hooked it and my speakers up and mostly sorted out the insanity that is the connections between my TV, my DVD player, my (30-odd-year-old) amp, my 45-year-old speakers, and my half-working tape player. Basically I can use either my TV speakers or my stereo speakers, but not both. Which I guess I can live with. Mostly I'm happy not to have to turn on my TV to play CDs any more.

Next step: sort out the damn extension cords.

Also went over to monkeycommando and S's for a last party before the sprog consumes their every waking moment. Am happy to report that my new drugs kicked the ass of Bender, the walking allergen. Teensy bit of chest tightness but that was really it. Considering I usually end up wheezing like I'm about to expire, I consider this a huge step forward.

Watched the Oscars last night while putting the coffee table together. I wasn't really invested in any of the nominees (I'd barely seen any of the movies) so it wasn't that dramatic for me. Yay, however, for Cate Blanchett, and Jamie Foxx, and the shout-out to the NFB, and Best Song. (Note to Oscar producers: just because Beyoncé has an accent in her name DOES NOT MEAN SHE CAN SING IN FRENCH. Don't ever do that again, ever. I mean it.)

That's about it. I think I need more coffee.

Comments

[lietya.livejournal.com]

Good luck with the house-hunting! It does get less scary as you go on (by the end, you're just exhausted and ready for this to be over).

You're lucky with your mother. Mine definitely blames me for the fact that I'm not up to her entire-house-bleached-daily standards.

[raithen.livejournal.com]

I think my mother feels stymied by my sister and I -- we CAN clean very effectively. She made sure we both know HOW. But much to her chagrin, neither of us actually put those skills to use NEARLY often enough for her tastes :D. However, this failure is ENTIRELY our fault. ;) Which is not to say that she hasn't cleaned for us on more than one occasion -- because my Mom is pretty awesome :D. And also can't stand the gunge at times....

[lietya.livejournal.com]

Actually, that's a good point - I bet that's exactly what bugs my mother, too. She knows we have the skills, but we don't have the dedication. Ah, well, she's going to have to live with it. :)

[electricland.livejournal.com]

My mother is awesome. And she completely understands that feeling of "I don't wanna clean today! I'm in the middle of this great book!" (Which is where I got that gene...)

[stilldeepwater.livejournal.com]

Too bad about the house. Then again, you weren't wild about it, so no worries. Something better will come up eventually.

[electricland.livejournal.com]

Exactly! Thank you for succouring us, and sorry we weren't better company...

coffee

[raithen.livejournal.com]

and also: me, loopless. You and me need to get caught up soon, and YOU need to do the talking. I am noticing this trend with my friends. I need to hear how you are all doing. But mostly, I admit I am a self-absorbed broad :D.

But OFFER! Yay!

Re: coffee

[electricland.livejournal.com]

But OFFER! EEeeeeeeek!

Re: coffee

[raithen.livejournal.com]

ya, I was telling Mom, and she said you guys might be surprised -- your offer MAY yet be accepted, because technically the offers must be considered in the order they are made -- so if the higher offer was submitted after yours, then technically the sellers should not know there is a higher offer until AFTER they have accepted or rejected yours. Of course, this may not be how things play out in reality!

I'll be home tonight if you feel like calling and hyperventilating/describing the place, btw. :D.

Re: coffee

[electricland.livejournal.com]

Interesting -- I'm not sure that's how it worked in our case. They said they'd consider offers Sunday night, so the three agents presented offers at 6:15, 6:30 and 6:45. I assume they were considering all three at once. Sometimes they do hold off on accepting offers, to build interest or whatever.

Anyway, our offer expired at 8 p.m. Sunday, so I don't think we got it!

[jenlev.livejournal.com]

best to you with the house hunting. that can be an incredible process....just going into other people's homes who are trying to sell and seeing the face they present to the world. fascinating.

and good luck with the extension cords....they can drive anyone over the edge. ;)

[electricland.livejournal.com]

just going into other people's homes who are trying to sell and seeing the face they present to the world. fascinating.

YES! In some cases the houses are incredible -- you think "Holy crap, I hope they got a house fluffer in, otherwise I am so not in this league." In some cases... not so much, but the personalities thus revealed are more interesting, I think. Mostly I keep wishing I had a digital camera so I could steal some of the decorating ideas. ;)

[jenlev.livejournal.com]

oh, yes a camera. although i wonder if the real estate person would let you take pictures inside? not sure....but how people prepare to sell their home makes for interesting reading. *veg*

[bryghtboy.livejournal.com]

If you are still on the market for a somewhat mid-sized beaches house in 2-3 months it would be hugely strange if the two of you went through my house on one of the probable open house days. Would be even stranger if you the two of you decided you wanted to put an offer in for my "ancestoral" home... but somehow much less strange than somebody else doing the same :P

Your desk looks damn nice BTW, well worth visiting yesterday. Between the wooden floors and your growing collection of very nice wood furniture you have a muchly soothing living room :)

[electricland.livejournal.com]

hee! well, it will be soothing once the cardboard's gone.

Thank you for coming over. and yes, if we found ourselves at your open house that would be BIZARRE.

(do you think your house is duplexable? is the basement finished? inquiring minds want to know!)

Well, umm...

[bryghtboy.livejournal.com]

The basement used to be quite a horror story about 2 years ago and it has been steadily getting better but as for duplexable... err, probably not easily. The ceiling is a little bit low and unfinished but there is a rough in for a bathroom down there so it is possible to have a separate living space down there. Though you would need either midgets (read under 5'8) or something to inhabit it :P