We got this weird letter in the mail today from someone we don't know who said they wanted to buy our house. Now we haven't even put it up on the market yet. So I called our realtor and asked him to call the number. I'm glad I did, because I guess it was some real estate company looking to buy out houses in our area for cheap cash and then resell them for their fair value.
I just want to know where they got our first names.....they must have access to some type of mortgage database. Our first names are not listed in the phone book. Weird....
The disappointing part is that it's not legit. It would have been GREAT to sell our house before we ever put it on the market! I'm still holding out for a quick sale though.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Friday, January 26, 2007
I Hope These Pictures Cheer Anne Up
So my conversation with my boss was lame. He didn't place any blame on me in the situation, thank god, but he is still annoying. I've documented what he said in the meeting and that's all that matters for now.
Ahhh, so vicious!
Let's all focus on something MUCH better....my cute dogs. Here they are in their sweaters!
And here's how Maggie really feels about hers....
Ahhh, so vicious!Thursday, January 25, 2007
Irritating Afternoon
So, we got this new girl from the other middle school in town. She was giving them holy hell and we have a unit in our building that is kind of a "last chance" for misbehavers. It's supposed to be a "service" that we provide to these kids.
I got the unfortunate luck of getting this kid for two periods back to back in the afternoon. This means that neither of the teachers that is supposed to provide assistance is able to be in my classroom. Which SUCKS, because that's their job. They're over-extended. I get that. But this girl is new to our building and has already built herself a reputation in another building. In addition to not having assistance, I also get the end of this girl's day, which means she's already tired of playing nice.
She's only been in my class for 4 days and I've already kicked her out. She was totally rude to me today for no reason. She refused to do the work I asked her to do. She lasted FIVE minutes before she started being a total bi-atch (sp?). And the best part? I think my boss is going to blame it on me tomorrow morning. He popped his head in my room at the end of the day to say he wanted to talk.
I may get suspended from my job tomorrow. If he tries to peg her rude behavior on me, I'm going to throw a total fit. AND I'm going to go to the union president about it. I don't think it's right that they stick her in my room totally unsupervised, when all of her morning teachers get help. This program is designed to monitor her, and she's NOT being monitored. I'm not trained to deal with her. I'm trained to educate the other 15 kids in the room who are there to learn and do what I ask them to do.
Whatever. Craptacular afternoon to me!
I got the unfortunate luck of getting this kid for two periods back to back in the afternoon. This means that neither of the teachers that is supposed to provide assistance is able to be in my classroom. Which SUCKS, because that's their job. They're over-extended. I get that. But this girl is new to our building and has already built herself a reputation in another building. In addition to not having assistance, I also get the end of this girl's day, which means she's already tired of playing nice.
She's only been in my class for 4 days and I've already kicked her out. She was totally rude to me today for no reason. She refused to do the work I asked her to do. She lasted FIVE minutes before she started being a total bi-atch (sp?). And the best part? I think my boss is going to blame it on me tomorrow morning. He popped his head in my room at the end of the day to say he wanted to talk.
I may get suspended from my job tomorrow. If he tries to peg her rude behavior on me, I'm going to throw a total fit. AND I'm going to go to the union president about it. I don't think it's right that they stick her in my room totally unsupervised, when all of her morning teachers get help. This program is designed to monitor her, and she's NOT being monitored. I'm not trained to deal with her. I'm trained to educate the other 15 kids in the room who are there to learn and do what I ask them to do.
Whatever. Craptacular afternoon to me!
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Several Unrelated Items
First, and most importantly....
Missing Blogger Report: Anne!!! Write in your LiveJournal!
I know that none of you read Anne's journal, but she comments in my blog on occassion. You have to have an invite to read hers through LiveJournal or I'd post a link to it for anyone interested. She writes about her job sometimes, and she's a teacher too, and she's a little more cautious than I am about the possibility of an administrator or parent reading it. I've contemplated doing the same thing, but I like Blogger format better.
Anyways...
Second Unrelated Item...
I was emailing back and forth with Jessica during work today, and mentioned that I've been really tired and not sleeping well. She suggested that it was stress related. After taking a second to think about it, she's right. I have way too much on my mind lately. Last night I dreamed there was a giant rat running around our living room. Not only am I stressed about selling our house, I'm stressed that there are still mice living in it. We haven't seen one in ages, not even any new droppings, but I just know they're here.....I can't wait to move!!!!!!
Third...
After reading about Lindsay's excitement about closing, it made me think of our first home purchase. It was a very exiciting moment closing on our house. And getting those keys in our hands was such a great feeling. I also remember how the realtor from the prvious owner kept making such a big deal about how much money we were "signing our lives away" towards. And I remember rolling my eyes and telling her to look at our credit report and the 160K we have in student loans. Ugh. It's almost time to start paying that back....
Fourth...
I am SO happy that my TV shows are back on! Is anyone else thrilled to have prime time TV back? Or am I the only addict out there?
Monday, January 22, 2007
Our Final Decision
So we're definitely going to put the house on the market.
After talking with multiple people, including those who were nice enought to comment in my blog, we've decided against doing some of the updates. Esp. the counters and carpet. We're going to steam clean it as best we can and make sure everything looks as clean and nice as possible. We're going to paint the molding, caulk the bathtub, and install new railings outside because we have to for FHA loans to pass inspection.
We're also going to advertise a $2000 allowance for updates.
We spent Sunday afternoon at open houses in the Troy area. Of the 4 we visited, I can't say we were really impressed by many of them. We saw two with basements, one was a really nice house on bad property, the other was real great property, horrible house. My biggest complaint was that its master bedroom was the same size as the one in our current home. There's no way a king size bed would fit at the same time as a dresser. Kendall said it smelled like ass. I suggested that they might have lit an ass scented candle...sorry, it was funnier in the moment... The other two were nice houses, the one had a HUGE master suite. Probably as big as our entire first floor! Unfortunately, both of them were on crawlspaces. We really want a basement. We're confident more houses will come on the market in the spring.
Tomorrow I want to write about the Basics of Selling a Home book that I read. It was funny. And after going to the open houses, it's obvious that many people do not follow the rules. The whole ass candle comment came straight from the booklet...Okay, enough.
After talking with multiple people, including those who were nice enought to comment in my blog, we've decided against doing some of the updates. Esp. the counters and carpet. We're going to steam clean it as best we can and make sure everything looks as clean and nice as possible. We're going to paint the molding, caulk the bathtub, and install new railings outside because we have to for FHA loans to pass inspection.
We're also going to advertise a $2000 allowance for updates.
We spent Sunday afternoon at open houses in the Troy area. Of the 4 we visited, I can't say we were really impressed by many of them. We saw two with basements, one was a really nice house on bad property, the other was real great property, horrible house. My biggest complaint was that its master bedroom was the same size as the one in our current home. There's no way a king size bed would fit at the same time as a dresser. Kendall said it smelled like ass. I suggested that they might have lit an ass scented candle...sorry, it was funnier in the moment... The other two were nice houses, the one had a HUGE master suite. Probably as big as our entire first floor! Unfortunately, both of them were on crawlspaces. We really want a basement. We're confident more houses will come on the market in the spring.
Tomorrow I want to write about the Basics of Selling a Home book that I read. It was funny. And after going to the open houses, it's obvious that many people do not follow the rules. The whole ass candle comment came straight from the booklet...Okay, enough.
Friday, January 19, 2007
By the Time He Left...I Was Crying...
I know that Karen is talking a lot about building a home, and I'm afraid that my blog is going to become one about selling one. I hope that doesn't bother people too much, and I'm sure we'll have interesting stories to tell...so just bear with me....
The realtor came over today. We really like this guy. We respect him. He knows what he's doing. We wanted him to come over today and tell us what needed to be done to the house before we put it on the market. We also wanted to talk about whether he even thought it was a good idea for us to sell right now.
After I told him about the deal the hospital was offering if we moved in the next 11 months, David (our realtor) told us we'd be crazy not to take the offer. He told us that even if we waited a year to sell, we wouldn't make more than and extra $1000 over what we'd make selling this year. We talked about the housing market right now, which SUCKS for sellers, and he told me it would take at least 6 months to probably sell this house. The market is just saturated with houses. And esp. in our neighborhood. That didn't suprise me too much. He told us to put it on the market March 1st. He also said that we have to look at the benefit of moving as a buyer as well. Because it's also a great time for us to buy a house in Troy, we could probably get a 300k house for 270k.
That leaves us 40 days to fix or change the following items:
1. New carpet- We knew this was coming
2. New kitchen counter top- not expected
3. Recaulking, slight replumbing of our shower
4. Glass block for the basement
5. Front porch painted
6. All of our molding needs painted
7. Decrapping of the house- we have to basically clear out our entire basement and half of our office. He says it's way too crapped up. (My words, not his)
8. Mulch all beds- even though it's freaking cold out and there probably isn't any mulch to be sold, we have to find some....
There are other things I'm sure I've forgetting, but needless to say, I was pretty overwhelmed when we were finished. The carpet and countertops alone will cost us several thousand dollars that we'll probably never get back in the sale. I was in tears as I said goodbye to David. He felt bad, but he reassured me that our house isn't that bad. He's just looking at the fine details that would help it sell faster. His direct quote was, "Your house isn't a 10, but it's also not a 5. It just needs a little work to make it look its best." I know our house is old. It's never going to be a 10 unless you gut it. It made me feel a little better.
The worst part was that he told us for an asking price, we should go no higher than what we paid for it three years ago. Now that sucks, because there is a lot of new money in this house. A roof, gutters, central air, landscaping, and a patio. By only asking that price, we'll barely break even after paying the realtors! *sigh*
Saturday Reflection: Having had time to read my draft from yesterday and having had time to actually price things and talk with Kendall, we probably won't do all of the things on the list. We're actually contemplating only doing the carpet and painting and cleaning. I just don't think it's worth putting that much money into the house on top of what has already been done. If someone bites and wants something extra, maybe we'll fork over some cash at closing. And I think we're going to ask a few thousand higher than what we paid for it. I don't know....honestly, it's not a huge deal if it sits on the market once July rolls around because we'll have triple the money and will be able to afford both mortgages. We'll still be able to move. And we don't know how long it will take to sell. We could sell in the first 30 days! It's anyones guess. We live on a nice block with great neighbors. We think our house is cute. Our friends all say they think it's cute. Who wouldn't think it's cute?
Please spread the word about our little "gem". We'd love to just sell it by word of mouth instead of waiting on someone else to find us.....ah, dreams!
The realtor came over today. We really like this guy. We respect him. He knows what he's doing. We wanted him to come over today and tell us what needed to be done to the house before we put it on the market. We also wanted to talk about whether he even thought it was a good idea for us to sell right now.
After I told him about the deal the hospital was offering if we moved in the next 11 months, David (our realtor) told us we'd be crazy not to take the offer. He told us that even if we waited a year to sell, we wouldn't make more than and extra $1000 over what we'd make selling this year. We talked about the housing market right now, which SUCKS for sellers, and he told me it would take at least 6 months to probably sell this house. The market is just saturated with houses. And esp. in our neighborhood. That didn't suprise me too much. He told us to put it on the market March 1st. He also said that we have to look at the benefit of moving as a buyer as well. Because it's also a great time for us to buy a house in Troy, we could probably get a 300k house for 270k.
That leaves us 40 days to fix or change the following items:
1. New carpet- We knew this was coming
2. New kitchen counter top- not expected
3. Recaulking, slight replumbing of our shower
4. Glass block for the basement
5. Front porch painted
6. All of our molding needs painted
7. Decrapping of the house- we have to basically clear out our entire basement and half of our office. He says it's way too crapped up. (My words, not his)
8. Mulch all beds- even though it's freaking cold out and there probably isn't any mulch to be sold, we have to find some....
There are other things I'm sure I've forgetting, but needless to say, I was pretty overwhelmed when we were finished. The carpet and countertops alone will cost us several thousand dollars that we'll probably never get back in the sale. I was in tears as I said goodbye to David. He felt bad, but he reassured me that our house isn't that bad. He's just looking at the fine details that would help it sell faster. His direct quote was, "Your house isn't a 10, but it's also not a 5. It just needs a little work to make it look its best." I know our house is old. It's never going to be a 10 unless you gut it. It made me feel a little better.
The worst part was that he told us for an asking price, we should go no higher than what we paid for it three years ago. Now that sucks, because there is a lot of new money in this house. A roof, gutters, central air, landscaping, and a patio. By only asking that price, we'll barely break even after paying the realtors! *sigh*
Saturday Reflection: Having had time to read my draft from yesterday and having had time to actually price things and talk with Kendall, we probably won't do all of the things on the list. We're actually contemplating only doing the carpet and painting and cleaning. I just don't think it's worth putting that much money into the house on top of what has already been done. If someone bites and wants something extra, maybe we'll fork over some cash at closing. And I think we're going to ask a few thousand higher than what we paid for it. I don't know....honestly, it's not a huge deal if it sits on the market once July rolls around because we'll have triple the money and will be able to afford both mortgages. We'll still be able to move. And we don't know how long it will take to sell. We could sell in the first 30 days! It's anyones guess. We live on a nice block with great neighbors. We think our house is cute. Our friends all say they think it's cute. Who wouldn't think it's cute?
Please spread the word about our little "gem". We'd love to just sell it by word of mouth instead of waiting on someone else to find us.....ah, dreams!
Thursday, January 18, 2007
My Life is Crazy
No, seriously.
Newest development on the job front....
Kendall got a call last night from the recruiter at the hospital. She tells him that if we are willing to move before the end of 2007 they'll offer us $20 K more in signing bonus and moving expenses than if we wait to move after that. We were on the phone last night with a bunch of different family members talking about whether it was feasible and what people thought we should do.
We're about 90% sure that we're going to do it. Hey, we're young and stupid and have nothing stopping us, so we figure we might as well go for it. It does put some of our other long term financial plans on hold, but we're going to take the chance.
So, anyone in the market to buy house? =)
Newest development on the job front....
Kendall got a call last night from the recruiter at the hospital. She tells him that if we are willing to move before the end of 2007 they'll offer us $20 K more in signing bonus and moving expenses than if we wait to move after that. We were on the phone last night with a bunch of different family members talking about whether it was feasible and what people thought we should do.
We're about 90% sure that we're going to do it. Hey, we're young and stupid and have nothing stopping us, so we figure we might as well go for it. It does put some of our other long term financial plans on hold, but we're going to take the chance.
So, anyone in the market to buy house? =)
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