We didn't get the house after all.
I'm sad, and a little angry. Mostly at the world at large, and mostly because we missed the boat when it comes to housing. Even two years ago we could have bought a great house with land in our little rural town for less than $100,000. Now we're going end up paying significantly more, and we can't even afford the land at all.
I'm also a little relieved, because deep down I think we were getting in over our heads. I love that house. Really love it. But a $1300 month house payment would have been a struggle.
We looked at a different house on Friday. It has almost zero land (5000 square feet), but the house itself is perfect for us. It's also two doors down from our towns community garden. We can get a 10X12 plot, and if we go for this house I'm going to ask my parents to get one too and let me plant on it. 20 X 24 can house a ton of veggies. This little garden is new, and I've noticed that some people have planted fruit trees near their plots.
There is also a city corrals about two miles away. For $50 a year I can lease a corral for chickens, goats, whatever. The trick is that they're all leased already, and improved upon. You have to buy the improvements from someone who is ready to sell their corral. And at only $50 a year maintance, people hold on to them with the idea that they might want to get a horse or something someday. There are some empty ones though, so I'm thinking maybe a newspaper ad once we know where we're going to land.
What really gets to me is that even fixer uppers are priced so freaking high. The owners want to get the price for the potential of the house, without getting it up to that potential. That sucks.
On a more positive note: I got an email from a publisher today about a short story I submitted--it's being passed on to the second level of aquisition. Woo!
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Gas Worries
Over at www.casaubonsbook.blogspot.com, there's a lot of discussion about cutting back on consumption by 90 percent. I'm too tired tonight to write about the rules and the whys, but if you go look at her blog, you'll find it.
I've thought a lot about participating. I'm gone through every excuse from "my husband won't like it" to "my kids will hate it" to "but I live 100 miles from the nearest Wal-Mart, I can't only use 50 gallons of a gas a YEAR!" But in the end, I've realized that I can't let my life be ruled by excuses.
I don't know if I'll be perfect. I don't know if I'll even come close to succeeding. But I want to be able to relax when I'm an old woman, knowing that I didn't add to the problem of how my grandchildren will eat and breathe. And that I did what I could to make it better.
I'm too tired, like I said, to go into my plans right now. Tomorrow.
I do know that according to the rules, we get 50 gallons of gas per person per year...or 250 gallons for my family of five. That's 20 gallons, or roughly one monthly tank in our minivan or one and a half in our Saturn that we can't all fit in.
Our mini-van gets about 20 miles to the gallon, and can go about 400 miles before running out of gas (don't ask how I know that!) My job requires me to drive 11 miles one way twice a week during the summer, and everyday during the school year. Twenty gallons of gas a month means that we'll be cutting it super close. Driving 22 miles a day, five days a week is 110 miles a week--or forty over our total monthly allowance, even without going to the grocery store or anything else.
Kevin can walk to work, once we move. The kids walk to school. No buses or other forms of public transportation. The grocery store is two miles away, walkable--although the two miles are on Highway 6, fifty miles per hour and no shoulder.
I don't go to school for two weeks in December, one week in the spring, all federal holidays (I'm pretty sure there are eight) and all summer. I have 180 days of school, I think...so that's 3960 miles just going back and forth to work. Or 198 of our 250.
I'm afraid that the answer is to try to get transfered to a school near my house, instead of driving 22 miles a day to work at the school that I love. And to give up the three hour drives every month to the bigger city with it's plentiful shopping.
My brain hurts now! I'll think about this some more tomorrow.
I've thought a lot about participating. I'm gone through every excuse from "my husband won't like it" to "my kids will hate it" to "but I live 100 miles from the nearest Wal-Mart, I can't only use 50 gallons of a gas a YEAR!" But in the end, I've realized that I can't let my life be ruled by excuses.
I don't know if I'll be perfect. I don't know if I'll even come close to succeeding. But I want to be able to relax when I'm an old woman, knowing that I didn't add to the problem of how my grandchildren will eat and breathe. And that I did what I could to make it better.
I'm too tired, like I said, to go into my plans right now. Tomorrow.
I do know that according to the rules, we get 50 gallons of gas per person per year...or 250 gallons for my family of five. That's 20 gallons, or roughly one monthly tank in our minivan or one and a half in our Saturn that we can't all fit in.
Our mini-van gets about 20 miles to the gallon, and can go about 400 miles before running out of gas (don't ask how I know that!) My job requires me to drive 11 miles one way twice a week during the summer, and everyday during the school year. Twenty gallons of gas a month means that we'll be cutting it super close. Driving 22 miles a day, five days a week is 110 miles a week--or forty over our total monthly allowance, even without going to the grocery store or anything else.
Kevin can walk to work, once we move. The kids walk to school. No buses or other forms of public transportation. The grocery store is two miles away, walkable--although the two miles are on Highway 6, fifty miles per hour and no shoulder.
I don't go to school for two weeks in December, one week in the spring, all federal holidays (I'm pretty sure there are eight) and all summer. I have 180 days of school, I think...so that's 3960 miles just going back and forth to work. Or 198 of our 250.
I'm afraid that the answer is to try to get transfered to a school near my house, instead of driving 22 miles a day to work at the school that I love. And to give up the three hour drives every month to the bigger city with it's plentiful shopping.
My brain hurts now! I'll think about this some more tomorrow.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Night Drive
It was about 85 degrees last night, and probably ten degrees hotter and STUFFY in our tiny apartment. So after dinner, Kevin and Ruby and I (the big kids are in Vegas with their dad this week) went on a drive.
There is a scenic loop here that goes through the Humbolt National forest. We'd never been on it before, so it seemed like a good idea. And it was. Absolutely stunning. There is a big stand of White Pines that you drive through, and I swear it's like a fairy tale. Huge, tall white trunks. Some of you are probably from a place that has more than sagebrush as the local vegetation, but seeing big tall trees is rare for us out here.
At one point we came around a corner and saw a SUV parked at the start of a sideroad leading up to a campground. Next to it, maybe two feet away from it, was the most perfect, huge buck. Seriously, like Bambi's daddy. It was just standing there and for a minute I thought it must be a statue marking the entrance to the campground. Then it moved a few feet from us, and just stopped and stared. It had gigantic antlers and I am sick that I didn't bring my camera. Just sick.
We also saw a baby deer and some rabbits and chipmunks. I saw a hawk, too. And many, many cows. Right on the side of the road, like a cow-country safari. Two baby cows ran along side us for a little bit.
I really do love living in Nevada. I was born a California girl, but I love the mountains and the wide sky. I love the fresh air and the cool breeze as soon as the sun goes down. I love that there are unadulterated places here. I imagined last night what it would be like to be a pioneer coming over a pass and finding those mountains and valleys. The road we drove was a dirt road with grooves, like a wagon train might make. Amazing.
There is a scenic loop here that goes through the Humbolt National forest. We'd never been on it before, so it seemed like a good idea. And it was. Absolutely stunning. There is a big stand of White Pines that you drive through, and I swear it's like a fairy tale. Huge, tall white trunks. Some of you are probably from a place that has more than sagebrush as the local vegetation, but seeing big tall trees is rare for us out here.
At one point we came around a corner and saw a SUV parked at the start of a sideroad leading up to a campground. Next to it, maybe two feet away from it, was the most perfect, huge buck. Seriously, like Bambi's daddy. It was just standing there and for a minute I thought it must be a statue marking the entrance to the campground. Then it moved a few feet from us, and just stopped and stared. It had gigantic antlers and I am sick that I didn't bring my camera. Just sick.
We also saw a baby deer and some rabbits and chipmunks. I saw a hawk, too. And many, many cows. Right on the side of the road, like a cow-country safari. Two baby cows ran along side us for a little bit.
I really do love living in Nevada. I was born a California girl, but I love the mountains and the wide sky. I love the fresh air and the cool breeze as soon as the sun goes down. I love that there are unadulterated places here. I imagined last night what it would be like to be a pioneer coming over a pass and finding those mountains and valleys. The road we drove was a dirt road with grooves, like a wagon train might make. Amazing.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Wait...wait...wait some more
We were finally able to get our credit score where it needed to be to finalize our loan. We should be able to move in to the house in a couple of weeks.
I guess the sellers are balking about going past the June 15th closing date. No chance our loan will close by then. If they back out, I'm not going to cry. I'm going to move on. We already have the loan in place, it'll just be a matter of choosing a different house.
I found this single-wide mobile home on five acres for less than half what we offered on our house. It's totally unimproved land--five acres of sage brush, except for the trailer and the area immediately around it. The payment would be so low, however, that we could easily afford to manage the land.
If the sellers won't sign off on letting us have more time, we are going to look at that mobile home. It's tiny--really too small, although it does have three bedrooms. And is twice the size of our current apartment. The one thing that's holding me back from backing out the house myself and moving forward on the other property is how far it is from town. It'll be about a ten mile drive for Kevin to get to work, rather than a half mile walk. The kids will have to be bussed to school. On the other hand, it's much closer to my job, maybe two miles instead of twelve.
When PO hits, I don't want to be in the middle of nowhere. That's why I wanted the house we're buying--it's walking distance to everything but my job (and my job is transferable to a school within walking distance.) And it has enough land for a decent garden. The land is already fertile.
The waiting game is killing me!
I guess the sellers are balking about going past the June 15th closing date. No chance our loan will close by then. If they back out, I'm not going to cry. I'm going to move on. We already have the loan in place, it'll just be a matter of choosing a different house.
I found this single-wide mobile home on five acres for less than half what we offered on our house. It's totally unimproved land--five acres of sage brush, except for the trailer and the area immediately around it. The payment would be so low, however, that we could easily afford to manage the land.
If the sellers won't sign off on letting us have more time, we are going to look at that mobile home. It's tiny--really too small, although it does have three bedrooms. And is twice the size of our current apartment. The one thing that's holding me back from backing out the house myself and moving forward on the other property is how far it is from town. It'll be about a ten mile drive for Kevin to get to work, rather than a half mile walk. The kids will have to be bussed to school. On the other hand, it's much closer to my job, maybe two miles instead of twelve.
When PO hits, I don't want to be in the middle of nowhere. That's why I wanted the house we're buying--it's walking distance to everything but my job (and my job is transferable to a school within walking distance.) And it has enough land for a decent garden. The land is already fertile.
The waiting game is killing me!
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Stuck
Our loan is stalled for a couple of weeks. I've decided I'm not going to be upset. If the loan doesn't happen, we'll get our ernest money back, and we'll just--wait. I have to trust that things happen for a reason.
If it does happen, then we'll move in and I'll be happy. I can't let myself get too caught up in what the housing market is doing. We aren't buying our house as an investment. We plan to live in it for a long time. It's scary to think about being stuck upside down in a mortgage, but at least it is a manageable mortgage that we can easily afford.
We both have jobs that should last when TSHTF. The house is large enough to rent part of it out if we have to.
I feel like I'm trying to talk myself into something. I hate feeling so up in the air and unsettled.
I'm working on a short story for an e-publisher. Keep your fingers crossed for me, eh? Every penny we can bring in to pay off our debts and work on building some equity in our house will be a blessing. If I can help with those goals by writing, that would be amazing.
If it does happen, then we'll move in and I'll be happy. I can't let myself get too caught up in what the housing market is doing. We aren't buying our house as an investment. We plan to live in it for a long time. It's scary to think about being stuck upside down in a mortgage, but at least it is a manageable mortgage that we can easily afford.
We both have jobs that should last when TSHTF. The house is large enough to rent part of it out if we have to.
I feel like I'm trying to talk myself into something. I hate feeling so up in the air and unsettled.
I'm working on a short story for an e-publisher. Keep your fingers crossed for me, eh? Every penny we can bring in to pay off our debts and work on building some equity in our house will be a blessing. If I can help with those goals by writing, that would be amazing.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
House update--and CHICKENS!
I'm sorry it's been so long since I've posted. I sort of feel like if I post about our house, it will jinx it. Silly, right?
We had the house inspected. It's in very good shape, the $1,000 we have to play with from the seller for repairs will fix the worst of the problems (new water heaters.) The foundation, roof, wiring, plumbing and furnace are all in good working order.
So we made our offer, which was a little more than I would have liked to pay, but considerably less than they wanted to get. It was accepted! Now it's a waiting game for the loan. We should be able to move in about a month.
I can hardly wait to get my garden in the ground. It'll be a little late, especially considering we only have a 90 day growing season. But I should be able to plant some starts from the nursery, and some herbs and radishes that grow quickly. I'm growing something this summer, damnit!
The kids and I were exploring and found the Ely County Corrals. Turns out that, until not many years ago, people could keep farm animals in town. When the ordinances changed, the city built the corrals for the people who were keeping pigs and horses in their city-lot backyards.
Oh My Gosh--I want a corral BAD! It's like a huge community garden, only for farm animals instead of tomatoes. About sixty nice-sized corrals all connected, each with a different assortment of animals. There are horses, of course. But also chickens, turkeys, pigs, lots of goats and sheep, and a couple of pigs. We even saw peacocks.
I asked around and found out that people lease the land from the city for $200 a year, and the improvements are sold. So we'd have to find someone who was selling their corral's barn/coop/whatever, buy those, then lease the land. A guy feeding his horse told me that the corrals sell from $200 to $10,000 depending on what's on the lot.
I am going to own one! I keep driving by them, looking at the chickens and goats (I don't want sheep--I hate to eat lamb, and the animals are really stinky.) I'm not eating goat meat. I'll use them for their ability to turn scraps into high-quality manure for my garden.
Want to know how excited Kevin is about me planning to haul chicken and goat poop (oooh! Maybe rabbits, too!) in our minivan? HAHA!
We had the house inspected. It's in very good shape, the $1,000 we have to play with from the seller for repairs will fix the worst of the problems (new water heaters.) The foundation, roof, wiring, plumbing and furnace are all in good working order.
So we made our offer, which was a little more than I would have liked to pay, but considerably less than they wanted to get. It was accepted! Now it's a waiting game for the loan. We should be able to move in about a month.
I can hardly wait to get my garden in the ground. It'll be a little late, especially considering we only have a 90 day growing season. But I should be able to plant some starts from the nursery, and some herbs and radishes that grow quickly. I'm growing something this summer, damnit!
The kids and I were exploring and found the Ely County Corrals. Turns out that, until not many years ago, people could keep farm animals in town. When the ordinances changed, the city built the corrals for the people who were keeping pigs and horses in their city-lot backyards.
Oh My Gosh--I want a corral BAD! It's like a huge community garden, only for farm animals instead of tomatoes. About sixty nice-sized corrals all connected, each with a different assortment of animals. There are horses, of course. But also chickens, turkeys, pigs, lots of goats and sheep, and a couple of pigs. We even saw peacocks.
I asked around and found out that people lease the land from the city for $200 a year, and the improvements are sold. So we'd have to find someone who was selling their corral's barn/coop/whatever, buy those, then lease the land. A guy feeding his horse told me that the corrals sell from $200 to $10,000 depending on what's on the lot.
I am going to own one! I keep driving by them, looking at the chickens and goats (I don't want sheep--I hate to eat lamb, and the animals are really stinky.) I'm not eating goat meat. I'll use them for their ability to turn scraps into high-quality manure for my garden.
Want to know how excited Kevin is about me planning to haul chicken and goat poop (oooh! Maybe rabbits, too!) in our minivan? HAHA!
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Moved, finally---and pros and cons
After two years of planning, the kids and I have moved to Ely. Kevin is still in Vegas, working, and will move the end of June when his job here starts. God, I miss him. He's visiting next weekend and I can hardly wait!
Over the holiday weekend I called the owner of the house that we made an offer on. We'd found another house and were on the verge of making an offer on that one--and couldn't do it without making sure we couldn't have the house we really love.
I'd asked my realtor to ask the owners if they'd agree to sell for the appraised value, should the appraisal come in under the asking price. She said she was sure they wouldn't. I decided to ask myself, and found the owners completely pleasant and easy to deal with.
Turns out that they are willing to sell for the appraised value. Not only that, but the wiring (which our realtor had told us had to be replaced) is fine and the furnace is also in good working order (although it is an oil furnace and we will probably replace it with a more efficient one.) Our realtor had also told us that the windows across the front of the house made the house hard to heat--turns out that is wrong as well. The windows face the west (nearly the entire front of the house is glass) and the back of the house is built into the mountain, so the house is heated by solar power and very well insulated. I was in it on Thursday and the house was warm, even though the owners have the furnace set to 50 degrees, and it was overcast and snowing outside.
Of course, I'm still going back and forth about what to do--whether to buy right now. Here's my pro and con list:
PROS:
The house is big enough--the only rental we've been able to find in six months of looking is a 500 square foot apartment.
With half an acre of land, we can grow a significant portion of our own food. The backyard already has a ton of berries and currants growing in it. The soil is rich, spongy loam and should be fertile (judging by the growth already there.)
The backyard is completely private--we're on a hill and the neighbors to either side can't see into our yard. Also, there is no way of telling from looking at the house that we have such a large plot in the back. Should TSHTF, the privacy back there should be an added level of protection.
Because of the size and privacy of our yard, we could easily have a few hens, or even a couple of goats, without our neighbors being aware or complaining.
Going by the old three times your annual income rule of thumb, the house is affordable. It should actually be about 2.5 times our annual income.
Our mortgage will only be about twenty-five percent of our bring home income.
We plan on living in this house long-term. We aren't buying as an investment.
We have secured a loan with a low interest rate (5.75 percent, 30-year fixed.) Our payment will be considerably less than what we were paying to rent in Las Vegas.
We would be able to rent our house out for the price of the mortgage if we had to.
The house is walking distance to the middle school, both mine and Kevin's work, my parents' house and downtown. It's within two miles of the grocery store.
CONS:
If we wait another year or two, we might be able to buy the house or another one like it for much less.
This is a very small town. If one of us (especially Kevin. He earns much more than me, and he is a casino dealer. I'm a special education teacher's aide, a job with more security in hard times.) is laid off of work there aren't as many other opportunities as there were in Las Vegas (on the other hand, there is much less competition for each job.)
We still have about $8000 in consumer debt, which we would rather be done with before buying a house.
Over the holiday weekend I called the owner of the house that we made an offer on. We'd found another house and were on the verge of making an offer on that one--and couldn't do it without making sure we couldn't have the house we really love.
I'd asked my realtor to ask the owners if they'd agree to sell for the appraised value, should the appraisal come in under the asking price. She said she was sure they wouldn't. I decided to ask myself, and found the owners completely pleasant and easy to deal with.
Turns out that they are willing to sell for the appraised value. Not only that, but the wiring (which our realtor had told us had to be replaced) is fine and the furnace is also in good working order (although it is an oil furnace and we will probably replace it with a more efficient one.) Our realtor had also told us that the windows across the front of the house made the house hard to heat--turns out that is wrong as well. The windows face the west (nearly the entire front of the house is glass) and the back of the house is built into the mountain, so the house is heated by solar power and very well insulated. I was in it on Thursday and the house was warm, even though the owners have the furnace set to 50 degrees, and it was overcast and snowing outside.
Of course, I'm still going back and forth about what to do--whether to buy right now. Here's my pro and con list:
PROS:
The house is big enough--the only rental we've been able to find in six months of looking is a 500 square foot apartment.
With half an acre of land, we can grow a significant portion of our own food. The backyard already has a ton of berries and currants growing in it. The soil is rich, spongy loam and should be fertile (judging by the growth already there.)
The backyard is completely private--we're on a hill and the neighbors to either side can't see into our yard. Also, there is no way of telling from looking at the house that we have such a large plot in the back. Should TSHTF, the privacy back there should be an added level of protection.
Because of the size and privacy of our yard, we could easily have a few hens, or even a couple of goats, without our neighbors being aware or complaining.
Going by the old three times your annual income rule of thumb, the house is affordable. It should actually be about 2.5 times our annual income.
Our mortgage will only be about twenty-five percent of our bring home income.
We plan on living in this house long-term. We aren't buying as an investment.
We have secured a loan with a low interest rate (5.75 percent, 30-year fixed.) Our payment will be considerably less than what we were paying to rent in Las Vegas.
We would be able to rent our house out for the price of the mortgage if we had to.
The house is walking distance to the middle school, both mine and Kevin's work, my parents' house and downtown. It's within two miles of the grocery store.
CONS:
If we wait another year or two, we might be able to buy the house or another one like it for much less.
This is a very small town. If one of us (especially Kevin. He earns much more than me, and he is a casino dealer. I'm a special education teacher's aide, a job with more security in hard times.) is laid off of work there aren't as many other opportunities as there were in Las Vegas (on the other hand, there is much less competition for each job.)
We still have about $8000 in consumer debt, which we would rather be done with before buying a house.
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