Boxes and clutter be gone!

I can finally report, with great enthusiasm, the boxes are all emptied and it finally looks like we live here, and not like we just moved in.  Now comes the fun part, decorating-  woohoo!  With 2 blogs running, trying to write a book and knitting my soon to be born niece's baby blanket, please tell me where does this leave time to do this?  Never even mind the whole gym thing..... can someone lend me a few extra hours a day.

Things

Now that the majority of the boxes have been emptied and the purging continues, one thought comes to mind- why?  Why do we spend so much time and energy (and money) on things. Buying things, returning things, gifting things, re-gifting things, donating things, discarding things.  It's all about things, but why?  We buy things to make us feel good, as a reward when we've attained a certain goal, to make up for something that we've done badly to someone else.  We do it when we get new jobs, new houses, new spouses, new babies, new pets, hell...some do it when they get new body parts.

I've gone through this process of moving 6 times in the past 10 years, so I have been down this road enough to be better at this. But yet, not so much. I have discarded, donated and abandoned more "things" than some people accumulate in a lifetime.  So why is it that I have anything at all? 

Could I conceivably live with nothing, or less things, knowing that of course we will move...again?.  And go through this process...again?

With me...anyTHING is possible...

Unpacking ....I have the urge to purge

So its now 2 months since we moved in and we are still not unpacked...yep..boxes are not my best friend.  I, by nature, am not a messy person; I am quite the opposite actually.  While I am not Felix Unger (if you are reading this and don't know who that is, go ahead and google it...I'll wait... 

Good, now that you know what I mean , maybe you can feel my plight.  So I have boxes, and piles and bags on my floors.  Boxes in the garage, baskets galore on the floor.  Nary a day goes by that I don't have a thought of calling the show "Hoarders".  Of course its not quite that bad, it often feels like it. We keep throwing out things and giving away things- I'm pretty sure that the folks at Goodwill know us by name now. No matter how much we eliminate, it seems that there is twice as much behind it. Must be some cosmic joke.

When we moved back in, we figured it would take about a month to get the house back in order; one month turned to two..and now the seasons are starting to change. I'm being optimistic because I am sooo ready for summer to be over with but thats a whole other story.  Anywho, 2 months later and we still have a bunch to do.

With the house unfinished, it also makes it lets say..uninspiring... to decorate.  What's kinda the point to hang things on the wall if you're tripping over boxes.   Tomorrow is another day and another opportunity to get some work done.  As for tonight, a little Family Guy and then to sleep.
For now I won't be counting sheep, I will count moving boxes.

Everything that's old is new again...or is that everything that's new is old again.

Moving day, I have one word....yikes
Although we weren't packing up an entire residence, it sure felt that way.  We were confined to essentially one room for one year, so everything short of perishables was in this room. Needless to say, there was still a significant amount to pack and not a whole bunch of time to do it.  Due to the fact that we have moved so much, I could practically do this with my eyes closed, I had the foresight to start moving stuff over at night the week of the big move, as to cut down on the actually moving process (HATE IT!!). 
I do soooo love when people volunteer to help you move, and then when the time comes, there is always an excuse. OMG- I totally forgot or I had to work or my dog at my homework (well, you get the point).  So we pick up the U-Haul and start the process..again, and with no help.  Except for a handy man that my m-i-l uses....this was going to be a long day.

One of the benefits of moving in to where you used to live, you know where things go...where things fit.
Our furniture is different (for the most part) this go around, so we weren't completely sure of how things were going to fit.

For the most part..piece of cake..The couch- in the door, the loveseat- in the door, the futon - in the door, and our new kingsize bed - in the door...shew.  Not so fast...

We have a townhouse, so it's an up/down kinda thing with an alcove/loft area at the top of the stairs...Thank goodness for alcoves.  The bed was very cooperative getting IN the door....not so cooperative getting UP the stairs.  The boxsprings went easily because they are 2 pieces but the mattress not so much.  The stairs bend and so does the mattress, actually it folded more than bended. Okay, so now what do we do about the mattress?  Can't push it, can't pull it....I know, how about hoisting it up through the alcove?

If only we had a video camera.  Tying up a mattress and trying to lift it while someone stands under it trying to push it up.  Fortunately, one of our friends showed up at that point to help, because apparently 8 hands was the magic number in this incalculable equation.  The handy man on the main floor boosting up this tremendous mattress while me, the dh and this friend are at the top....and chanting "Pull,pull,pull" as we go.
Yep- you can't make this stuff up.

The mattress finally makes its way over and to its final destination and we all practically passed out.
When it comes time for us to move from here, the leaving will be way easier for the mattress....Look out below......

Next step- unpack {sigh}

Everything comes full circle

Okay so we decided on door #3, our old development...right off the bat, that's weird.  When we left here 3 years ago, we didn't look back..now we're looking right back at it.  So, we go to the rental office to inquire about when units will be available. They ask when do we want to move in. Based on the (then) current status of things, if we could have moved in at that moment, it would have been just fine with me.  Ultimately we decide on a 6 week lead time for a move-in as it is the middle of the month, and although we have hardly anything unpacked, we still need to repack some stuff.
Then comes the all important question...sigh....do we want a 2 or 3 bedroom?  Based on the amount of "stuff" that we have, we figure that we will take the 3 bedroom( the last time we lived here we had a 2 bedroom).  So we sign the application, give our preferences to the rental agent...and then it happens.

We were talking about the location of the available units, as we wanted to drive by them and see if we like the location.  The rental agent realizes that my husband looks familiar, so we said "oh yes, we moved out of here 3 years ago", and one of the maintenance men said..."ohhh...which unit"?  So we tell him, and then the fateful words were uttered..."That unit is available"..

We look at each other and laugh- how funny is that?  How weird is that?
How strange would that be to live in our old unit?


Flash forward 3 whole days, we talk, talk, and talk some more about moving and about how weird its going to be to live in the same development again, but this time in a different apartment.  Yet, we keep going back to how weird would it be to live in the same exact apartment again.  The apartment that I spent endless hours studying for school, the apartment that we entertained friends numerous times in, the apartment that we got engaged in.
So something that 2 days ago was totally foreign and out of the question, suddenly has become quite comfortable and doable.  We call the rental agent the next morning to see if we could switch our choice and take our old unit- they were fine with it.

In 32 days we were about to embark on yet another move..this one was almost like a step backwards, moving to our old apartment- almost 3 years to the day that we left.

Tutto viene cerchio completo....Everything comes full circle

Bags of emotional goodness (if only they tasted like chocolate)

Rentals on Long Island...yep good luck.  If you are trying to stay within certain areas, you obviously are going to severely limit your choices.  The town that we live in only has a few "rental communities" and the rest fall under the category of house rentals or illegal apts. Fortunately, since we have lived in this area before, we know where to look and where not to. We have alot of stuff and a 1 bedroom just ain't gonna cut it, besides a little breathing room is healthy. With this in mind, we narrow it down to 1 of 3 possibilities; the brand spankin new a la carte development that is ubercool (and uberexpensive), its slightly scaled down sister community OR the development that we lived in before we moved out of NY.

I'll take door number 3 Monty....

To Rent or Not to Rent...Part Deux

At the time of my last blog, we stood at the precipice of buying a piece of property.  And there we stood, looking over the edge of what seemed like was going to be a long 20 years, and we stood and stood.  Then we circled, took a few steps back, re-assessed the insanity and took the plunge- but not the plunge that you may think. You see, I like to analyze things but my dh REALLY likes to analyze things..not that this is bad, especially in this case.
So, we discussed and discussed, and made lists, and discussed some more and after the engineer's report and the appraisal didn't come back with what we were hoping for, we pulled the offer on the property and decided to rejoin the land of the renters...sigh.
You see, we wanted to move into our own property so badly, that we were almost willing to take something that we weren't really happy with with.  All in the name of privacy...  It starts back with to when we moved back to NY, and moved back in with his mother and sister for what should have been a short stay...1 year later, we were moving.... That story is definitely worthy of its own blog.
Anyway, since that was not the optimal condition to live long term, we figured that we better move, or we might have headed for divorce court (or the insane asylum).

So for the sake of our own anything we almost bought a condo that we knew we were settling for, but fortunately we had an epiphany before it was too late. We drove our poor realtor and mortgage guy crazy, but they must be used to it; we told them we were no longer in the market and all they wanted to do was talk us out of it. Hmmm....ulterior motive or our best interest at heart....you make the call.

So now we decide on a rental, that opens a whole other bag of emotional goodness...stay tuned...

Home Inspections or "One Flew over Someone Else's Cuckoo Nest"

If you are even considering buying a house, you HAVE TO get at inspection...or better yet, hire an engineer.
They go into the dark, stinky basements to check the wiring, plumbing, foundation.  They go into the attic to check for venting and insulation...and usually find the one obligatory dead something or other.  They are your eyes and ears.  After all, I'm not about to drag my butt into the attic and look around if I don't have to.

You get a fancy report with all the flaws of the property....and this becomes your bargaining point.  And if there is enough wrong with it, you get to run away and fast.. So.. if you offer to sell a box of apples to me for $15, I offer to buy it for $12, the engineer's report comes back and says 3 of the apples are smaller than the rest, 2 are slightly bruised and 1 has an odd smell.  I am still interested in the apples, after all you can always make applesauce...but I digress...I am still interested, so I offer to buy the apples for $8 rather than having the sale go nowhere.  The seesaw begins...who will give and who will bend...who will ultimately get their way.
It becomes a test of wills and endurance....the one that goes insane first...loses.  Maybe that extra room can have padding put on the wall....someone's sure gonna need it.

Appraise her....I hardly know her

Ever have an appraisal done on a piece of real estate? Well that's a real treat....sigh.  This is when the bank decides how much your new acquisition is going to be worth. This is not to be confused with the appraisal that the realtors assign it when it goes on the market.  The appraisers take the comps in the area, rate those against yours and then the "magic number" is assigned to the property.  This is usually the case of comparing apples to apples. But.....if you are the only apple in an orchard full of oranges, what the hell do you do?  I believe they take out a dartboard with all of the attributes on it and just random threw until they get the best 2 out of 3 for a price.

The obvious importance of the appraisal is that it determines the at the moment value of the property.  This of course will impact the final price for which it is purchased at. So when your (possible) new property comes in for less than you thought, what goes through your head....( re-read blogs 1-5.. if you need to be reminded). 

Real Estate Agents.... What's up with that??

Real estate agents are sort of a necessary evil when it comes to house hunting; they do much of the grunt work for you and they are the ones that get you in to see that oh so elusive "fabulous" property.  Honestly, without them the only way you can get to see a house is if it's an open house or it's an fsbo (for sale by owner - for those not in the know). They take an inventory of your likes and dislikes, of your requirements and your nice to haves.  But do they really listen to you...do they have your best interest at heart?  Sometime I think that real estate agents are one step about used car salesmen (again, no disrespect meant if you are one, I'm just saying is all). 

Oh sure- that house is lovely, it only needs 10-20K worth of work, or whats a few termites between friends?  So what if you can't close the bathroom door...think of the bright side, that nice $8,000 tax credit you're going to get.  The smell of dog pee...pish tosh- throw a fan or two in and it will be gone in a year or two. 
At what point can you say, okay I'm done listening to your nonsense?  How many tens of dozens of horror shows do you view before throwing in the towel?  I wish I could figure it out.

I know that legally real estate agents aren't allowed to say things about the community, or neighborhood or the state of the house, but how about a little common decency.  Say to me," you know- I don't like how this is", something to let me know that you are paying attention.  I know that we can't go into a house and scream when we see something hideous, but at least pick up a cue once in a while.  I feel like that Edvard Munsch picture "The Scream".  If you don't recognize the name of it, google it- when you see it, you'll know instantly what I mean.

All I can say is...for right now...thank goodness for M&M's ...

Another day...another dilemna

This is all very exhausting, looking at the real estate section, looking for open houses, driving through perspective neighborhoods. Do we do north shore or south shore? Each has it's own drawbacks and considerations.  I'm sorry I don't ask for much, but I just can't be more than 20 minutes from a Trader Joe's or a good supermarket with yummy organic and natural foods.  I guess based on this condition, south shore is out.  Okay maybe it's more reasonably priced but our travel times to work would be increased markedly and none of the aforementioned conditions exist over there, not to mention how prone the south shore is to flooding. 
Somebody send me a sign.....
Knowing me the sign would be something like " road flooded" :/

The north shore, considered by most to be of the more desirable side to be on (sorry if you live on the south shore, no insult meant or intended). But desirability comes with a price, usually payable in currency of unrealistic housing.  So what's a girl to do....Where is my magic 8 ball when I need it?

To rent or not to rent.....that is the question

I figured to put this as a separate post even though it was related to the last one, but this is something that deserves its singular due.  To rent or not to rent...blah blah blah....the eternal question.  Does it pay to rent, does it pay to "throw" away hundreds of thousands of dollars on rent and not worry about fixing up a place that may not be to your standards. Or...do you plunk down a whole bunch of money on a place that you like now, but aren't sure if you'll like in 6 months.  And moreover, if you'll be able to sell it in 3-5 years when you want to move on. 
You see, in case you didn't know, living on LI ain't cheap.  Good luck trying to find a decent rental for under $2k a month...yes that is what I wrote.  It is the equivalent of a mortgage for a middle of the road house; nothing elaborate, just middle of the road.  No oversized tubs, no pools, no sprawling kitchens or backyards, just middle of the road.
Any ideas, any solutions?  Move out of NY you say? Move to a state with a cheaper economy you say?  Well, we tried that; 3 years ago we figure we would move off of LI in search of a "better life", a slower pace.  So we packed up all of our belongings, said our sad good-byes to friends and family and we headed south...to NC. This lasted 2 years, almost to the day.  The dh liked it at first, and I wasn't sure but once I got my bearings, I loved it....and he hated it.  First a little, then a lot; the disdain grew and it then became all about moving back.  We rented an apartment (actually 2-we moved 8 months after we got down there); figured we would rent while we were looking for our "dream house"- or at least our starter dream house. Sure, we almost bought a house down there that by LI standards would have been 2-3 times more expensive here, but no sale.  But that's a whole other story, for a whole other blog....maybe another time.  So again...we packed up everything we had and headed back up to LI.  And then the questions began....do we rent or do we buy??? The dance just keeps going and going.  And this is where we stand..

Things that make you go ...hmmm.

Ok.. it's been a few weeks since the first blog and so much has happened. The amount of absolute junk on the real estate market is completely mind-boggling.  How people can live in these houses/condos in the conditions that they are in is beyond me. And then they have the absolute nerve to try to sell these houses for the amount that they are trying.  I mean really...We saw one "condo" that had the nerve to call itself a 3 bathroom house, when actually it had two bathrooms together....really?? Really...  And then this one place, said it had "new appliances", yeah they were new..if we were currently in 1985. 
Mold, rotting floor boards, structural damage, dog and cat pee...my favorites, just some of the highlights of our search. 

People always tell you that house hunting is time consuming and difficult and draining, but they rarely talk about what effect it has on your personal life.  It is not only physically draining but the emotional aspect is quite pervasive.  It has taken quite a bit out of us while not giving much in return.

First Post- Adventures of a first time home buyer

I've always thought that I would write a book; where this isn't quite a book, it is still writing. Blogging...an interesting concept- heck they made a movie about it (Julie and Julia).  With all that we have seen, I knew that this had to somehow be chronicled.  The story begins..

  The dh and I have been house hunting pretty consistently for about 6 weeks now and we haven't seen a whole lot that grab us.  It really amazes me how people do (or don't actually) take care of their homes.  You would think that if you truly wanted to sell your house, you would make an effort to have things be presentably.  We have seen places with dishes and food laying around the kitchen, and underwear on the floor to showing up for "open houses" and having no one home.  Now tell me, if you're having an open house, doesn't that mean that your house actually needs to be open.

We are very diligent with our search; despite our busy schedules, we spend alot of time looking a house listings, driving through neighborhoods, researching comps and the like.  Yet, we've barely seen anything we can "see ourselves living in".  Granted, we are not looking at a 7 figure mortgage capability, but we're not low end of the totem pole either.  I don't think it's too much to ask for to find a moderately priced house that we are comfortable in. 

So we usually look on the weekends but we are kickin it up a notch and are going to start looking during the week as well.   Keep an eye out for the next post..