Recently in the house Category

"While you pack I shall taunt you from above!"

In less then 4 hours the House of Love III will no longer be mine.

In less than 6 hours the House of Love IV will be mine and I'll take possession.

Funny how things work like that. And... all in less than a month!

This'll probably be the last post on any blog for day or so. The broadband will get shut off and transfered later today but there's entirely too much to do in the next 48 hours to both with trying to get the wireless router and all operational.

Plus, I'll be losing the use of my desktop PC, until I get the new N-Router and make this PC wireless for the new house. All the real work gets done on the desktop while all the low quality aimless blogging occurs on my laptop while I'm laying in bed or some shit.

Anyway, the house is a disaster.

Total chaos in pretty much every room with no room totally empty.

I don't know if I have to thank Set, Boreas, Rudra, or even that asshole Thor but the damn rain has finally stopped. It seems to have rained sometime last night too!

The truck barely looks packed even. As soon as I'm done with this post it'll be back to work until closing time.

It is finally hitting me that I am leaving the house that I've sank so much of my effort into.

It isn't a bad feeling since I know that the new neighborhood will hopefully eliminate all of my problems (vandalism, noise, trash, OSU game day, noise, retarded 20-somethings, roving bands of aimless vermin teens, trash, noise, etc.) but there is something very melancholy about it all.

No matter how much things change, this will have been my first house. And I'll never forget it.

I'll never forget the year of work on the basement, the dinners, the Labor Day cookouts, and pierogi day here. And hopefully 3 out of 4 of those will continue at the HOL4.

But you know what I think I'll miss most of all?

Something that greets me everytime I go and let the Hoont outside.

Yup! The tree limb that looks like a huge flaccid dong hanging high above my yard!

I think it is a cosmic marker that a total dick lives below!

Or maybe I'm just reading into that.

At this very moment, if a large dumpster were placed under on of the windows of the Attic, I'm fairly certain you'd see hundreds and hundreds of toys go flying into the trash.

My god this shit takes up entirely too much space in my life!

Ack!

Miserable.

I've got nothing to say right now other than trying to pack a moving truck in a f'n rainstorm is one of the most miserable things I've ever done in my life.

I fear things will only get worse before they get better.

I'm trying to bring everything I shoved back into the attic closets out and throw stuff out and pack the rest.

When I started binning up all the robot crackage I kind of just threw everything into the closets and then Giga made those cheap sheets curtains to hide it all.

Thankfully the toys are all packed. That'd be drama I wouldn't want to add to everything else.

Giga's done an immense job packing up the kitchen and all the glass shit. We have boxes upon boxes of it stacked in the dining room.

Thankfully most of the basement, with the exception of the tools, is more or less packed up

I'm just going to flip my cheap ass crate wall that I use in the attic and move those as-is too.

The more I pack, the more I realize I'm going to miss this house.

I'm pretty sure The Hoont knows somethings afoot other than his bad-ass self. There's so much shit everywhere packed up in this or that corner.

So it was a rough day again but I'm in contract on the House of Love IV!!!

And yes, it is definitely a House of Love as opposed to the other one.

There was definitely a reason why I couldn't give it that name, or any other, and when it comes down to it everything about the house was just wrong and would have cost so much money to have fixed yet never have been worth it.

Now I did have to up my offer even more. But I'm just not in a position right now to lose out on this one.

Sure something may come up in the inspection but quite frankly, this one feels good.

It feels solid.

It makes me happy inside.

And even though it will take a few years and some decent scratch to redo the bathrooms and the kitchen, I know that every day when I walk out onto my deck, and down onto my brick patio under the 3 magnolias, and out to my car parked in my garage, and down my street of nicely maintained homes, every dollar spent now will have been worth it.

And believe me, I'm not kidding myself that this is worth it. I'm going to totally feel it in the pocket book for a good 2-3 years at least.

But there really isn't anything that can give one piece of mind like this anymore.

It was so long in coming.

Here's hoping that all goes well with the final aspects of the sale of the House of Love III tomorrow and the purchase and acquisition of the House of Love IV over the next 2 weeks!

So the original house has issues. Major issues.

Of course, if you've ever owned a house or went out looking you know that initial appearances can be quite off.

Suffice to say that the inspection is the best money you can spend to help you make your decision about a property.

The house would need major money put into it to bring it to even remotely the price that they were asking, and then it probably still would not be satisfactory.

Now this morning I put an offer in on another place (pic above) that totally meets our needs and has a solid garage and from all appearances a solid new roof.

It is sans 1 bedroom but the other 3 are also larger.

I've had to make the same offer on this one that I did on the other since that's pretty much my maximum.

I'm so hoping they accept.

Tomorrow's the appraisal at the House of Love and we have to find a place that meets our needs.

I definitely think the new one will.

And then some!

I've decided that the problems with the house are just too great to deal with.

Collapsing garage, roof problems, structural problems, the list truly goes on and on.

And while it looks ok on the outside, it lacks any sense of soul or charm and has nothing remotely quirky about it.

The cost to repair the work is just too great and not worth it.

So that's the good news.

Want the gooder news???

Well the house inspection turned up some major issues that I want the seller to fix.

I don't know if they will or not, but if I walk away they'll legally have to declare the basement wall structural issues as well as that the roof leaks and has broken rafters and that the garage should be totally written off. (The garage might survive a few years still but the walls are severely bowing and have pulled away from the foundation in some places.) Are they willing to lose a potential sale over a matter of $2500?

Honestly, if I'd offered full price in the first place I'd probably be asking for a whole lot more!

We'll see what happens over the next few days.

Oh. And I got an email today.

Number 2000 is on the way!!!

What's funny is that with the new house I'll immediately need to reduce that to around 500 or less.

There won't be a 3000 anytime in the future. That's a definite!

So.

It was a nice evening actually.

There was me, Giga, the buyer, her Hungarian fiance, a minister/something guy, and our two realtors.

I was the photographer, but I didn't use my camera so I don't have any people photos to show you.

Plus, it wouldn't really have been appropriate.

There was champagne, and I even pulled out my grandmother's wedding crystal for the bride and groom to use.

I learned a bit about the buyers.

She's a teacher that recently got a permanent position at the University. They met in Hungary. This is her first house. They looked at houses all summer and found nothing they liked until they opened the front door of the House of Love and immediately fell in love with it.

They love the stairwell. They loving the dining room. They love the living room. They love the kitchen. They love the way the bedrooms come together at the center of the stairs. They love the Attic of Love. They especially love the Hoont.

I didn't bother to ask if they liked the *cough* lovely *cough* bathroom.

The irony of it all is that it somewhat mirrors my own experience in finding the house after looking at 49 places in 2003 and then only going on the last run with my realtor to tell her I was totally over looking at houses. They had been looking for months and this was pretty much the last one before they were going to throw in the towel.

But all in all, it was nice, and it was special for them in a city where they don't really know anyone at all and are buying their first house together.

So somehow, in the back of my currently house drama-filled unstable mind, I decided to upgrade my Movable Type installation for naladahc.com, mother blog of The Crack, to the new version and totally hosed the site.

This is such a drastic departure from version 3.35 that it may take me a while to figure out what's wrong.

I think my anti-spam measures are to blame.

What'll suck is that if the one that works really well, the one that makes this site 100% spam free, doesn't work in the new version.

They've incorporated a lot of content asset management into this new version, and with the quantity of photos I have in play, it may be wise to really learn the benefits of the upgrade to the blogs and rebuild my designs from scratch with the new code.

But damn, why did I just rush out and redo it, and the accompanying SQL upgrade.

That's something I'd have done in my 20s. I'm too old to be doing stupid off the cuff shit like this.

Oh well. In the end, all 5 blogs will benefit.

Am I getting punk'd?

This just in...

I just got a call from my realtor with what may be the most bizarre request I could have ever imagined coming.

No where in my mind could I have ever thought this would come up from the buyers.

Ever.

For the second time tonight I was startled out of bed by the phone ringing.

Obviously, in the realms of real estate transactions nothing is set in stone until the loans are closed, the names are signed, and the deeds and titles are fully passed over, but the final call was that the owner finally returned to town and had agreed to my offer.

My realtor suspects there will be a counter-offer of some kind, and tomorrow the appropriate paperwork will have to be signed and the earnest money paid. Of course, it always involves the money in some shape, way, or form.

Ok.

I'm going to go try and sleep now.

Maybe... just maybe... I can finally get a good night's sleep.

And maybe my zits can clear up.

You know what my favorite part of this house drama bullshit is?

The stress that has caused my A-list model looks to break out in zits!

Zits!

Like I'm 13 again!

Grrrr!

(I hope this isn't a revisit of those f'n shingles from February!)

Sorta-maybe-kinda good news on my new house front.

My realtor talked to the other and I've upped my offer substantially to $4K less than asking. I'm going to throw part of my savings into the house too to bring the mortgage down to where it will be more manageable. I didn't want to, but this house will not only be my home but will truly be an investment in terms of the neighborhood it is in. I have to look at dropping into the savings as a positive thing here.

Regardless of what comes out of this, the one thing I can honestly say is the TF geekage not only has to be cut down to only things I deem worthy enough to buy, it also means I will have to get rid of things to help pay for some of the remodeling and work on the new house.

So.

That great crack purge I've come so close to doing for a long time?

It may happen sooner than I ever thought!

So what's new in the Nalaworld?

Well... the buyer's had their house inspection and there were a few minor things (hopefully affordable) that they want me to remedy. Fortunately, several of them, other than the plumbing and chimney, I can do myself.

Still no word on Blenheim. Which sucks.

I really really really want that property. Well, I want the neighborhood most of all really.

My mortgage approval screamed through in literally 10 minutes. I was shocked to see I can easily be approved for more home than I could ever pay a monthly payment on!

Funny.

13 years ago, during what I call The Dark Ages of my life after I dropped out of grad school, I was $16,000 in credit card debt, evicted from an apartment, taken to court over back rent and my wages garnished, and creditors at my heels on a weekly basis.

I managed to work my ass off and pay off my debts and now have a credit score in the 800s and am considered the perfect ideal person for loans.

The shit one can dig themselves into in their 20s can be fixed by their 30s. I'm living proof of that. There's was just a lot of hard work to do it.

Anyway, 8 more houses to look at this morning.

The House of Love III really isn't mine anymore is it? I mean, I'm still on the title but let's face it, the sale is gonna happen and I still don't have the House of Love IV.

And Teresa, I'll try to get that Ratchet out to you as soon as I can. I'm sorry it has taken me a week!

Remember when this blog used to be about Transformers?

I wish I had something geek-related to talk about.

Alas, real life intruded upon geek life.

And 12:50pm my offer for Blenheim was faxed to the other realtor.

I upped my offer by $5K and agreed to $1K earnest money down if they accept.

I said we didn't want anything in the house. I think the black (ugh) refrigerator is included but I could be mistaken.

So.

Now onto finding an approved mortgage.

This is always the insanely nervous part for me.

More houses looked at.

More houses looked at with bad basements and in need of $80,000 of work.

But over dinner, we decided that one of them is worth it even with the work we'll have to do on it.

So maybe... just maybe... this will be the new House of Love IV in 5-6 weeks.

Four bedrooms, a 2 car garage, and a shitload of purple and lavender carpet to remove before we move in!

That is if all goes well.

I'm kind of making an initial low offer based on what I'm making off of the House of Love III sale but I'm inclined to make a slightly higher offer if need be.

This house is in the ideal neighborhood for me, and is a brisk walk to High Street, the Whetstone Park of Roses, and a library where we can have crappy VHS copies of Doctor Who episodes sent to.

There houses are maintained. There are no abandoned cars in yards and the lawns are cut.

I think it'll work out in the long run.

The best part is that every dollar put in this house will eventually come out of this house.

The HOL III is at its max.

So...

Once more unto the breach dear geeks...

Well I accepted the potential buyer's offer, with the counter-offer that I have to have 7 days to find a new house and that they can take possession at 8pm the day after closing.

It appears they've signed the counter offer.

So.

Their building inspection needs to be scheduled, and then all the oh-so-fun-and-exciting remediation phase, and then the closing. All of that going on while the true bad craziness of finding the House of Love IV begins!

I looked at 5 houses today with another 5 tomorrow afternoon.

So far, out of the 10 I've looked at since last week, only the 1 today really had the potential to be a great home.

It needs work, and some "undoing" of a very 80s kitchen and a horrible built-in table, the removal of awful carpeting in every room and the return to hardwood floors, as well repainting of every room and new electric.

The garage is iffy but will last for a few more years.

The thing is, it is on the perfect street in the perfect neighborhood.

I am also fairly certain that every dollar put into the place will make it all the more valuable should I choose to sell it.

It really has massive potential.

Now it doesn't have the real charm that made me immediately fall in love with the current, and soon to not be House of Love III.

The moment I walked in the door here in 2003 I fell in love with it.

This house doesn't quite have that but I can see, after a year or two of work, and some substantial kitchen work, a home that I will love to have people over at and a place that really will make me feel happy to be a homeowner again.

That just can't happen here in the campus ghetto.

I'll see what tomorrow brings but I'm going to keep thinking about this place.

Well.

The first people to look at my house made an offer.

And for the most part, I couldn't refuse.

The only issue is that they want to move in by the end of the month which means I need to find a place, get a new mortgage, and close all within the same time frame!

They want the refrigerator, the Craigslist washer & dryer, and the window treaments, of which most of the high quality blinds were with the house when I bought it, the others are the cheapest Lowe's blinds, or curtains Giga made from cheap sheets.

I'm having my realtor write back that I accept with the conditions of finding the House of Love IV within a few days.

I didn't think it would be this crazy! I really didn't!

The 4th Annual Nala & Giga Labor Day Cookout turned out very well. Had tons of people over from noon to practically midnight!

There was so much food and people brought stuff that we never even cracked open. I think there were like 2 potato salads and cous-cous and some other dishes that never left their bags.

Many people wanted to see the toys and alas, I had to explain that they are all packed away.

Oh. My house was shown for the first time today to a potential buyer. They were only supposed to be here between 1 and 2 so we took The Hoont up to a park to walk.

Would you believe that they stayed in the house for 2 hours!!!

Oy koledy!

Apparently, they really really liked it and they are exactly the kinds of peoples I would want to sell to.

I hope they make an offer. I can't budge much on my asking price.

OK. I've got to get the south part of the Attic of Love Disaster cleaned up today.

The last large size G1 guys need to be packed up, all of my computer area needs to be cleaned and wiped down, all old bills and shit need to be sorted and pitched, and the weird shelf I bought from Juice's sister needs to be taken out to the trash for disposal.

I don't care if my back is killing me.

I'm not going to get messed up on painkillers to do this.

I'm going to become one with the pain.

I'm going to pwn the pain!

And when the pain has passed, only I, and a clean attic, will remain!

So I got almost 4 hours in on the attic today. It is looking better than it did on July 6.

I've given up on trying to throw shit out since all that's doing is slowing me down.

I've just decided to just pack everything up in boxes and that'll be the way it has to be, future buys be damned!

Theoretically, since the attic has no main heating or cooling it can't be considered a livable room in the house.

I've always made due with electric heaters and a window AC unit but the fact it can't count towards livable space may actually be a rationale why "there's boxes stored up here".

And of course, in those boxes, hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of transforming robots!

Ok. Gotsta go shower. It was just hot enough up here today and I was moving enough shit to end up smelling like sweaty balls. And nobody... except maybe your own personal ball washer... wants to smell like sweaty balls!