inspections and radon and stolen glasses oh my!

Some days are better than others..........some however are just generally crappy. This morning Tia came in shortly after leaving for work to tell me that someone broke into our car. It isn't clear if it was just unlocked, or if it was if that was a benefit since it meant no broken windows. Bizarrely, they managed to not see my Kindle under the car seat (which I accidentally left in the car), but did steal about $2 worth of change, the car manual (?), and my prescription sunglasses and glasses (??). My only guess is that there is a hefty retail market in second hand store brand glasses or tweakers are dumb.

Shifting topics, we had our house inspection last week. It went spectacularly well. All the work that was done in 2007 and since was evidently done very well. The only thing that came up was a broken light in the basement, the a/c and furnace need servicing, and the outlet on the back of the house doesn't work. However, Tia also insisted upon a Radon test (which is a good thing, but something that I just never really considers). The EPA states that, ideally, you would want your radon levels to be below 2 pCi/l. Most indoor spaces are about 1.3 pCi/l. The level that starts to be problematic is 4pCi/l where the EPA states you should 'fix it'. The results we got today were 4.1. So, we are asking for that and the other problems be fixed. The other fixes are likely less than $400. The Radon however, is closer to $1800. So the game of home buying continues, seeing how much we can get before we get push back from the seller and so we don't have any further outlay of cash. I guess we'll know by Friday. Hopefully before.

4 more days til vacation. I actually have a second person at work this week to boot. It almost like a vacation in itself! More to come as events warrant.

poor people love botulism

Tia and I volunteered at the food bank today sorting out cans of food for the less fortunate. Only, we actually worked helping to sort out pet food, baby food, and what they called pig food. Which, after minimal investigations turns out to be exactly what you think................food that is fed to actual pigs. Now, what may qualify something for pig food you might wonder. It was surprising, well some of it was anyway.

Some things became pig food because they were recently expired, which could be a possible oversight or a genuine (and generally correct) assumption that it is still okay to eat. However, a majority of it fell somewhere between a feeling that, no matter what it was, poor people would rather have it than nothing or a chance to expunge some things from the pantry that, for reasons unknown, they kept around for many years following their expiration, through significant dents and nicks, through water damage that caused rusting, and possibly bulging to twice its original size due to botulism. Amongst them were half eaten boxes of pasta, partially filled bags of flour, a half box of Splenda packets, and a jar of unopened mayonnaise that expired a FULL DECADE ago. Hope it doesn't kill any pigs.

Also, we decided to buy the house. We looked at a few more today and it solidified how nice the one we offered on. Now is when the plug gets pulled and all the money starts to run out. House inspections, earnest money, and all the associated fees that come with loans. But, hopefully it all ends well. More to come as always...........unless I eat some of the donated mayo.

Wishy Washy

What to do what to do? Hem and haw perhaps.

We got our counter offer yesterday. Took our offer and tacked on 5K and called it a good compromise. Only, sometime that same evening our feet started to chill. Then downright freeze they were so cold. What if its a bad deal? What if the price is too dear? Colder and colder our feet grew. By the time the sun peaked out over the horizon we had all but moved on.

But then, after we contacted our agent who played the telephone game by contacting their agent who contacted the seller and informed them of us moving on from the deal, they countered again. This time acquiescing to our initial offer entirely. hmmmm.

So now we feel a bit mixed up. On one hand, the house is 'complete' in ways no other we have seen is (at least in anywhere near what counts as our price range). On the other hand, the location is one thing you can never change. But the location isn't bad per se, just not exactly where we want to be. It is not a bullseye, but it is at least on the board. What thing trumps the other?

I think I need to see it again. And hem and haw in the meantime.

the science of buying things

Today at some point in the AM, offer #2 goes out. This place is further outside of our original 'boundary' of sorts. The dream was to (is to?) find something that allows us both to get to work without driving, or at least not HAVING to do so. The reality is that those houses fall into two distinct categories: too expensive or excessively shitty. The latter varies between slight disrepair and decrepit/abandoned with a lingering smell best described as 'did someone die in here?' The former are often in Irvington or Sabin and would limit us to a diet of ramen and cat food and burning our neighbors recycling for heat. So, we expanded our search.

As Portland is a land of neighborhoods, we are now looking in places like Piedmont. Saying you live in Portland without at least stating your quadrant or, more preferably your neighborhood, is such a vague generality it would be like saying 'meet me in Powell's by the books' without even hinting at genre. Regardless, I am still pretty shocked at the prices, but they are at least in the realm of possibility. It is interesting because even if those neighborhoods, you generally are looking at lackluster schools, the occasional derelict home (it is just a rarer phenomenon, not an absent one), and middling crime rates.

I can only compare this to Florida where the houses around an area pretty much dictate the quality of the school and neighborhood associations dictate that you will keep your house up. The 'neighborhoods' there are usually just tracks of homes with names that often call up memories of what was there before the homes went in like 'Cypress Manor' or 'River of Grass' or what have you. All homes are of a similar age, general size, and general price. It was not common to buy a million dollar home next to a $200K one. Here, it isn't common either, but it is a distinct possibility. Also, that million dollar home could be just a few blocks off a busy intersection or a downright dangerous neighborhood. Its just hard to assimilate here vs. there for me sometimes.

I would write more, but work beckons. Hopefully today I dont have to spend 5 minutes wiping blood off my shoe with clorhexadine like yesterday. Sometimes my job is just like that though (and all the stranger for it).

house no

A full 3 days after our offer (and 2 days after our request/demand of a response for said offer by the next evening around 8ish) we finally heard back from the sellers. Well, the potential sellers I guess would be more accurate, as they won't be selling anything to us. They essentially countered with 'did you see the price we listed it for, that's what we want and intend to get' and 'oh by the way, if you are good with that, we would also like to close early and rent the place back from you at our arbitrarily agreed upon daily rate until such time as we find something to buy ourselves.' To me, they are overplaying their hand. However, I understand that 'charm' has a certain price in this town and they are firmly of the belief that the price they have settled on is it. Not for us however. Will be interesting to see how they fare.

So, the search starts again. We looked at another home just this evening. The pictures were promising, but the reality of it didn't deliver. This was a newer very old house (1906 vs. 1889) that looked like they tried to keep some of the period pieces intact. But, the overall impression was of half done projects abandoned long before completion. I worry when things like a full complement of screws to hold in the front door handle are overlooked. It makes me wonder how much else, less visible, was as well.

We looked for about a year before our last purchase, though we hope it will be less than that this time. More and more crop up every week and we are bound to find one that we love along the way. More posts as events warrant.

house maybe

We have looked at a lot of houses over the past 3 weeks or so. A few really nice ones, but mostly a bunch of misses. Even the nice ones have Achilles Heels like higher than normal taxes or smaller than normal bedrooms. The only one we loved so far had the high taxes and multiple offers. Suffice to say, we moved on.

Today while out on a walk to look at a rather run down place nearby (our hope to find a diamond in the rough that is fixable) we ran into a couple looking at the same who happened to also be selling their home (see picture above). We arranged, thanks to our ever flexible agent Joleen, to see it that day. It misses some targets, no garage and only one bath, but hits most of them, most prominently low taxes, good interior space, the necessary updates (like electrical) and a manageable yard. So, we put in an offer.

The offering game is always an interesting one. Did they tag it with a higher price than they hoped to actually get? If so, how much higher? Are they in a hurry to sell, or will they wait it out a bit? If they counter, what number are we okay with? Much like a game of cards, you have to know when you are in too deep and fold. The biggest problem is the emotional one, and all the time and energy spent looking. Plus, even when you come to an agreement, you always have to wonder if you got a good deal or a bad one. Is there another house just about to come on the market that would be a better fit?

Harder still is trying to find a point of comparison in this area. In King City, there were a lot of similarly aged homes of close enough dimensions to gauge what seemed like a fair number. Here, it is seemingly impossible. First off, because EVERYONE lists basements as square footage, finished or not. Secondly, because block by block you have huge variances in the quality of the neighborhood. Thirdly, because the houses are such disparate ages. How does one compare a house built in 1889 with one built in 1979 or in 2010? Are granite counters and SS appliances and large abundant rooms a good trade off for a neighborhood that is still in the infancy of getting better? And what of the neighbor's house with the derelict car parts strewn about the yard and house paint flaking like so much dandruff? There are no apples to apples here.

Ultimately, we will find out tomorrow late whether they counter, accept, or outright reject our offer. My gut says they don't accept it, but probably don't reject it outright either. We shall see and, of course, I shall post as events warrant. For now, I am tired of signing my name to documents and tired in general as well.