The Joys Of Homeownership…

So it all started when Kyle and I decided to put ourselves down as “Owner/Builder” on our building permit.

In San Francisco you can hardly pick your nose without a permit and so when our architect told us that the wall we wanted to tear down in our newly acquired condo was structural, we knew that we’d be spending some quality time downtown in the building permit office. On the building permit you have the option of putting your own name on the permit (in which case you are considered an “Owner/Builder”) or you can put down your contractor’s name. According to my architect, it didn’t REALLY matter whose name was put on the permit – especially for a job as small as ours. On the day that we got the permit we were 99.9% sure that we were going to go with a certain contractor, but, as long as it doesn’t matter whose name is on the permit… and as long as we’re not 100% sure… we figured we may as well just put our own names down.

Do you ever have moments in life that you REALLY wish you could do over?

Three days into the construction (which p.s. was only supposed to last 5 days), the building inspector came by the house to inspect the newly torn down wall. Upon inspection, he noticed that the light switch that had previously existed in the middle of the wall had been moved. (Well duh! We tore the wall down and it seems light switches aren’t especially good at hovering in empty space. They’re funny like that.) So the building inspector asks my contractor if we have an electrical permit for the moving of the light switch. And of course we didn’t, because does moving a light switch three feet to the left REALLY count as permit worthy electrical work?? (p.s. both my architect and my contractor thought no… but of course Mr. Building Inspector Man thought yes.) Great. Ok – so we need an electrical permit. How hard should that be, right?

So my contractor calls me up (this is Tuesday morning) and explains the situation to me and informs me that *I* have to get the electrical permit because it’s my name on the building permit as Owner/Builder. Ok. Fine. I can get a permit. So I go downtown to the Department of Building Inspection and I see a sign that says “All permits issued here. Please take a number.” Ok. So I take a number and I wait. And wait and wait. Typical. So then it’s my turn and I say, “Hello! I am here to get an electrical permit.” And the lady says, “Are you a contractor?” and I say, “No – but my name is on the building permit. I’m an Owner/Builder.” “Oh…. So you’re a homeowner?” “Yes!” (That has a nice ring to it, huh?) “Ohhhh… electrical permits for homeowners are issued on the third floor. We can’t help you here.” “WHAT!!?!? But it says ALL PERMITS ISSUED HERE.” “Yes, all permits except for electrical permits issued to homeowners.” (Are you freaking kidding me??? They need some better signage in this place.)

Ugh. Ok, third floor. I can do that.

So I go up to the third floor and say to the lady there, “Hi! I’m here to get an electrical permit! I’m a homeowner!” “Ok, let me just find the necessary paperwork, I’ll be right back.” And with that she disappeared for like 15 minutes. And then she came back to give me a status update that she was still searching for the necessary paperwork… it should be here somewhere… and then she disappeared for another 15 minutes.... Why the necessary paperwork is not stored on her computer for easy printing at the click of a button is BEYOND me. As far as I can tell the SOLE purpose of the office on the third floor is to issue electrical permits to homeowners. But whatever.

So then she FINALLY comes back holding two pieces of paper for me to fill out. (Really – it took you half an hour to find TWO MEASLY pieces of paper?? Ugh.) So she hands me the papers and I start filling them out and then she says, “So, it’s a single family home – right?” “Ummmm, no. It’s a condo. Does that matter?”.... “Ohhhhhh… yeah, we can only issue electrical permits to homeowners of single family homes. Or to contractors. But maybe they can help you on the first floor."

WHAT!?!?!?!?

So I go back to the first floor and talk to the information guy there. “Look, buddy, I need an electrical permit… and he starts to point me to the ALL PERMITS line… and I cut him off and tell him that I’m homeowner… and he starts to point me to the third floor… and I cut him off and tell him that I’m a homeowner of a condo… at which point he stops and thinks about it for a minute and then informs me that I cannot get an electrical permit.

WHAT?!?!

“You’ll have to send your contractor in… we can’t issue electrical permits to homeowners of condos.”

WHAT!?!?!?!?

“But I’m on the building permit as an Owner/Builder… you issued me building permit! Why can’t you issue me an electrical permit?”

“Sorry, we can only issue electrical permits to contractors.”

“So I can tear a structural wall down but I can’t move a light switch?”

“Yes”

Kill me.

So I call my contractor and tell him that *HE* has to go in. And he says, “I don’t think they’ll give me one with your name on the building permit as Owner/Builder.” So I call the city and ask “Is it ok for my contractor to get an electrical permit for me even though MY NAME is on the building permit?” And they say, “Oh sure, that’s no problem… happens all the time.”

So my contractor goes downtown and waits in line and when it’s finally his turn he asks for the electrical permit. And they look up the building permit and see my name on there and they tell him that yes, they indeed they CAN give him an electrical permit (hooray!!)… BUT not without written consent from the Owner/Builder. (WHAT!!!???? Why didn’t you say that when I called and specifically asked!!??? Besides, don’t the two hours I spent there that morning count as consent??!!)

GAGH!

Ok… so *I* can’t get the permit without my contractor. And *my contractor* can’t get the permit without me…. Hmmm. A-HA! I have a plan. We decide that we’ll BOTH go downtown together. Together we’ll be unstoppable.

So we show up at the Permit office bright and early Wednesday morning at 7:30am and go directly to the third floor to the homeowner office. And they promptly send to the first floor. Ugh. Ok. Fine. But of course, on WEDNESDAYS the first floor has their staff meeting… which lasts until 9:30. So now we have 2 hours to kill. Gaaaah!

So we leave and come back at 9:30 and we take a number and we wait. And FINALLY it’s our turn and we get to the front of the line and I say, “Hi! I’m here for an electrical permit.” And she says, “You'll need to go to the third floor...” (Ha! I knew she’d say that) So I say, “It's a condo.” “Oh, then we’re gonna need to talk to the contractor.” (Ha! I’m prepared for this too!) “THIS gentleman here is my contractor.” (What else you got, lady?) “Well according to the building permit this is an Owner/Builder job – so we’re going to need consent from the owner in the form of letter” (and I swear she was about to say written in blood, on gold paper, notarized by the Pope.) And I say, “Look, I’m the owner/builder, he’s the contractor… this is me giving you my consent to issue the permit to him. I’ll sign any piece of paper you need me to but we are not leaving here without an electrical permit!” And so she locates a consent form (Ha! They have a form for this… we need a letter my a$$!) and I sign it and we start to move forward. (Finally!)

And we get as far as her asking my contractor for his license number. Which he gives her and she types into the system and then she says…. “Ohhhhhh, it says here that he’s a GENERAL contractor.” “And?” “And…. We can’t issue a single ‘specialized’ permit to a general contractor.” “What!?!?!” “Well, if all you need to do is move a light switch, then you really ought to hire an electrician.” BUT WE’RE NOT JUST MOVING A LIGHT SWITCH WE’RE TEARING DOWN A WHOLE WALL!!!!! “Oh, I see, well... Union rules prohibit us from issuing just an electrical permit to a general contractor. Wouldn’t be fair to the electricians. If you were hiring him for multiple jobs… say re-doing your bathroom AND moving your lightswitch… then THAT would be ok. A general contractor can pull multiple permits from different disciplines, but not just a single permit.” “Doesn’t having him TEAR DOWN MY WALL in addition to moving the light switch count as multiple jobs???” “Well… it WOULD have if it was HIS name on the building permit… but since it’s an Owner/Builder permit, it doesn’t count.” GAGHAHHAGHAGHAGHAGH!!!!!!!

“Ok – so what are my options?”

“Well, you can go find an electrician to move your light switch…. Or you can have your contractor pull multiple permits… to get around the Union rules.”

“Soooo.... you want me to pull a FAKE plumbing permit?”

“Or hire an electrician.”

Kill me.

“Fine. I’d like to add a toilet to my living room… please issue my contractor a plumbing permit in addition to the electrical permit.”

“Ok. No problem. Let’s see that’ll be $160 for the electrical permit, which allows you to install up to 10 electrical outlets/light switches/etc. and includes 1 free electrical inspection. And $160 for the plumbing permit.”

And then my contractor pipes in… “Wait – we need two electrical inspections. You always need two. One to see the interior electrical work, and one to see the finished job. We have to have two inspections.”

And the lady says, “No problem. Additional inspections can be purchased for $170 each.”

WHAT!!!??? I can get the permit AND one inspection for $160… but just an inspection for $170. How does that work? And why – if we NEED two inspections do you only include ONE!?!?!?

“Well, for larger jobs we include two free inspections… but for smaller jobs it just includes one. I’m not sure why… but you’re right, it doesn’t make much sense.”

“How large is a ‘larger’ job?”

“Well… 10-20 electrical outlets, for instance, is considered a larger job and so it includes two free inspections.”

“How much does that cost?”

“$240.”

“Ok – so I can install 1 measly outlet and have to pay for the additional inspection and it’ll cost me $160+$170 = $330. *OR* I can install TWENTY outlets and get two inspections included and it’ll cost me $240.”

“That is correct.”

WHO DOES THE MATH HERE!?!?!??!?!?

“Fine. In addition to my plumbing permit, I would like a permit to install 20 electrical outlets please instead of just 1.”

“Ok. Here you go.”

And with that she handed me the two permits.

Gah - moving this stupid light switch ended up costing me $400 (!!!!) and two days sitting downtown fighting with morons. On the upside, I can now install a toilet and 20 electrical outlets in my living room if I suddenly feel the need.

We're Homeowners!!!!!!!!!!!

Another email from Cathy:

Hi All,

Congratulations, you are on record. We will mail out your final closing statements and any excess funds as soon as possible.

Thanks very much for the opportunity to handle your escrow. Please consider us again for your next transaction.

Best regards,

Cathy

We are now OFFICIALLY HOMEOWNERS!!!!! YAYAYAYYAYAY!!!!

We are also now officially poor and officially in more debt that I can even fathom... but let's not focus on that part. Let's focus on the homeowner part, 'mmk?

Homeowners!!!! American Dream!!!! I pay my taxes!!! Get off my lawn!!!!!! And all that jazz.

:)

So Close!!

Got this email from our escrow officer today:

Hi Kyle and Courtney,

I have all the signed seller’s documents, and I just heard from the insurance agent. The only item still outstanding to get your loan to fund tomorrow is a current paystub (within the last 30 days) for Kyle.

Thanks,

Cathy

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!

Now mind you, Kyle has sent the guy handling our loan (at our credit union) his most current pay stub like 5 million times. Not to mention the fact that Kyle has his pay check deposited DIRECTLY into that credit union every week - so theoretically, the loan guy should have access to EVERY paycheck that Kyle has ever received... but whatever. He's obviously not the sharpest tool in the shed. Regardless, come Friday, it looks like we'll actually have KEYS TO OUR NEW HOME!!!!!! Holy Crap.

Inching Ever Closer

Another milestone... Kyle and I signed (about eleventy-million) loan and homeowner documents at the title company today. Eeeee! Man, they make you sign for EVERYTHING. We even had to sign a piece of paper that said, in the event of a clerical error, we promise to come back in and RE-SIGN everything. Ugh. And they took fingerprints. And made photo copies of our drivers licences. It was intense and took almost a whole hour. A WHOLE HOUR of signing my name over and over and over again. And I couldn't just do my normal signature that consists of my first initial and a few letters of my last name. No, no. I had to write out Courtney A. NewLastName. 9 million times. My hand was cramping by the end of it. But we got through it!

Now all we need is for the seller to sign the 2 inch stack of papers and to find some freakin homeowners insurance (which, p.s. is turning out to be another nightmare in and of itself because in addition to finding coverage for our unit, we also have to find coverage for the entire building and the HOA. Since this place JUST became a condo there never was an HOA before so there was never an HOA to insure. They just had one policy covering the entire 3 unit building. Now we need insurance for each unit AND insurance for the building/HOA. Ugh. And of course our credit union won't even consider funding our loan until we have all the insurance policies in place. Booooo.)

Close of escrow has officially been set for July 17. Fingers crossed that we make it.

In other, less frustrating, news check out how cute we are at the escrow office signing our house papers:
(thank goodness our escrow lady was awesome enough to take our picture... I can't imagine not having this moment on film SD Memory Card.... hmmm, doesn't have quite the same ring to it, huh? Oh well)

:)

Oh, and that beard that Kyle's sporting in the picture (his "Christmas Beard" that he likes grow every December...) is now gone. Gone! I came home from work this afternoon to find a naked faced man standing in my bathroom wearing nothing but socks and boxer shorts (b/c apparently hair was getting everywhere! Oh dear! I didn't ask for too many details...) holding a razor and inspecting his neck for stragglers. It caught me quite off guard. I love Kyle with a beard, but I'll admit I've missed snuggling up to his freshly shaved cheek. I was starting to worry that he was getting an early start on next Christmas! So yeah. He's all baby faced again. I'm enjoying it immensely.

Just My Luck

The rates came down AGAIN today. Ugh. I knew they would. I am so bad at this game. Oh well.

Woo-Hoo! More House Updates

Saga with the house buying continues...

Today is day 44 of escrow. Wow. To write it out doesn't seem like that much time, but to actually live it feels like a lifetime.

We FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY got the place converted to condo. (Hallelujah!) And then stuff really started happening. Suddenly our credit union was willing to give us the time of day. As well as a list of demands before they'd give us a loan.

• Borrower to schedule an Appraisal. Check.
• Property to appraise for purchase price. Check. (Whew!!!)
• Borrower to forward copy of new preliminary title report. Check
  
• Borrowers to provide a most recent paystub for each within 30 days prior to close of escrow. Check
• Borrower to request the title company provide us with their escrow and title fees or a preliminary HUD for the loan amount. Check
  
• Borrowers to provide title vesting prior to loan documents. (This one was basically Greek to me - but the kind folks at the escrow office seem have worked everything out...) Check. (I think?)
• Borrower to provide evidence of homeowners insurance coverage for the subject property. We're working on it...
• Title company to provide a 100.00 Endorsement on the Lender's Policy to cover the Credit Union for encroachments indicated on Items 9 and 10 of the preliminary title report dated 6/18/2009. (Huh??? I have no idea what this means.... but I THINK the title company is taking care of it??
• Co-Borrower/Spouse to sign all loan documents as "COURTNEY A. KYLESLASTNAME" (Thank goodness I changed my name before going through all this - apparently if I hadn't done it, it would have been a problem, and I would have had to use my maiden name and then I would have had to to change it later and blah more paperwork!)
• Borrowers to provide Section 1 Termite Clearance based on Termite Report dated 6/9/09. Ugh.... this one was the wrench.

See - we had a termite inspection done about a month ago. Told our bank it was all done. They said cool and then never mentioned it again. Fast forward a few weeks, and suddenly it's not enough to just have the inspection done... no no... now we have to get all the stuff that the inspector found FIXED. GAH! Why didn't someone mention this earlier??? There were a few days of absolute panic while we tried to schedule the work to get done and figure out who was supposed to pay for it (technically, the Seller is supposed to pay for it - but SF is usually such a hot market that Buyers buy places "as is" - which means that the Buyer pays to fix this sort of thing. It was only $2500 worth of damage - which, in the grand scheme of things, really isn't much - but for a few days it looked like the whole deal might fall though because of it. The sellers had already agreed to credit us 1/3 of the cost (b/c it's a 3 unit building and the termite report was for the whole building) ... and we were HAPPY to apply our third to get the repairs done. So it was just a matter of the sellers coming up with the remaining 2/3. (Roughly $1600.) Unfortunately, money is super tight on their end so it was looking like Kyle and I might have to LOAN them the $1600, and then they'd pay us back after escrow closed - which would have worked, but probably would have been a huge hassle. Luckily, they were able to scrape the cash together and we were able to schedule the contractor to come out right away and we got the whole mess taken care of. But it was a very stressful week. Sheesh. Work finished up yesterday afternoon and we received a clean bill of health from the inspector this morning. Whew. Glad that's over.

So now we're just waiting to get ourselves some homeowners insurance and I THINK we'll be all set. (Fingers Crossed!!!)

Oh AND!!! the interest rate came back down today to 5.25%!!!!!!!!!!!!! No more gambling. Kyle and I paid our $250 and locked in IMMEDIATELY. It'll probably drop down to like 3% tomorrow - because that's just how my stupid luck works - but I don't even care. I have been KICKING myself everyday for not locking in last time the rate hit 5.25% so I am SO RELIEVED that I got a second chance. :) I'll gladly take my bird in the hand and forgo the two in the bush, thankyouverymuch.

So yeah - that's where we stand with the house. It looks like escrow might close Thursday or Friday of next week. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Drat

Rates are back up. :( Oh well.

This is why I don't like Vegas...

Decisions Decision

Gah - Who knew that being a homeowner involved SO MANY decisions?

When Kyle and I started house shopping we also started watching the interest rate at our credit union. Man - that thing is a roller coaster ride, if ever I saw one!

At one point the rate for a no points, 30-year fixed loan got down to 4.875%. Oh how I wish we had locked in back then...

By the time Kyle and I found our place the rate had risen to 5%... and then to 5.1%... and then 5.25%... and by the time we actually got all of our paperwork together and locked in, the rate was up to 5.375%. I was SO SAD. The difference in our monthly mortgage payment with a 5.375% loan vs. a 5% loan is like $125/month. It's a pretty big deal. I cried a lot about it (in fact I may have actually bawled in the bathroom at work, b/c I'm a bit over dramatic like that) - but eventually I accepted that there was nothing I could do about it.

In the following weeks, the interest rate continued to rise. At one point it got as high as 5.9%!!! Sheesh! Suddenly 5.375% was looking pretty good. Over the weekend, however, the rates started coming back down. On Monday they were 5.5%. And then, today, we got news that the rate dropped to 5.25%. Woah.

Our credit union has a policy that, for a fee of $250, you can do a one time "re-lock". Which means that for $250, we could lock in, today, at 5.25%. Which would save us $44/month. Not HUGE money, but you know, it would cover my monthly cell phone bill. But we can only do it once...

So the big question is: do we re-lock today and save $44/month... or do we save our one-time re-lock and wait to see if the rate drops again for potentially more savings?? Locking today means a guaranteed $44 in my pocket every month... locking tomorrow or the next day or even next week could mean $0 but it could also mean $50 or $60 or $100 per month!

What to do??? What to do???

House!!

I must admit I am hesitant to write about the house before escrow actually closes (that whole chickens before they hatch thing...) but I suppose I can throw just a bit of caution to wind as we received good news today on the paperwork front with respect the arduous escrow process. (Long story short, the unit we are buying is in the process of becoming a condo... And oh what a process it is! It is currently one third of a three unit building... which is NOT the same as being a one CONDO in a three unit building (as far as the city is concerned)... even though it has it's own front door and walls and address and gas meter and everything... it looks, and smells, and acts like a condo... but make no mistake, it is not a condo... yet. First we must jump through many many many paperwork hoops, and then must we smile really big, and ask the city REALLY REALLY nicely, and even go as far as to pay all of NEXT YEAR'S property taxes up front... and THEN, if we're lucky, the city of San Francisco will graciously bestow upon our unit the miraculous name of condo. At which point in time we can FINALLY get a mortgage loan. Ugh. And don't even get me started on the fact that, long before Kyle and I made an offer on this place, the current owners had to win a lottery just for the mere pleasure of applying and paying for the necessary permits in order to ATTEMPT to become a condo. Gahhhhh!)

Little know fact: The condo conversion process, in total, takes about 2 years... that is after you've won the condo-lottery, which can easily take 7 - 10 years... in those 2 years most people age about 15. It's true.

So anyway... we heard good news today that the Mr. Head Honcho at the title company was "issuing the Title Company Guarantee of the Condo Map today"... which is really just confusing jargon to me... but my real estate lawyer tells me it's good news and we are now mere days away from being a condo. (I think) Hooray! So escrow might actually close in my lifetime.

So anyway - that's the ugly back story. Now for the fun part. House details!!!!!

Assuming all continues to go well, Kyle and I will (eventually) be the proud owners of a 2 bedroom 1 bathroom middle floor condo in the Duboce Triangle neighborhood of San Francisco. (Eeeeee!) The building was built in 1906 - which means it's dripping with, ummm, we'll call it character. It even has the original (made in 1904 - stamped right on the bottom!) claw foot bathtub... which p.s. we will NOT be keeping, b/c I hate claw foot tubs. Sorry. (Although it does weigh 400 pounds, so I understand the previous owners' lack of enthusiasm for moving it.) The place is about 1220 sq. ft - which sounds big (to me) but really isn't once you start trying to find room for all your crap (for instance, the piano from my dad's house - ugh, where on earth am I gonna put that thing - I REALLY wish I had just played the flute as a child.) But anyway... there's a WONDERFUL yard (I think this was the biggest selling point for us) out back with some grass, and a plum tree, and a lemon tree, and a whole garden growing everything from herbs, to strawberries, to corn, to tomatoes, to peppers. I swear, Kyle is chomping at the bit to just get out there and get his hands dirty. It's so cute. :) So yeah, the yard rules and sorta makes up for the fact that the building doesn't have a garage (although it DOES have quite a bit of storage in the basement - which was a big requirement for me... because, well, have I mentioned all my CRAP??) The place also needs a new roof, which is annoying, but at least we get to split the cost between all three owners. And the unit itself desperately needs a good scrubbing and an interior paint job and we'll definitely be ripping up the hideous blue carpet that is currently covering up the original hardwood floors. (Hardwood floors - eeeee!!!)

So yeah - it'll be a bit of project house, but the projects seem manageable (I hope!) and the neighborhood is AMAZING and it was in our price range. We're pretty excited.

See the two windows in the middle here? Those will be ours. :)


And now some Q and A's, because I know you want to know.

1. How long have we been looking for a house?
Seriously looking? Since January. And by seriously looking I mean that during the past 5+ months, we've maybe missed 3 open house Sundays. We even saw places on Easter. EVERY Sunday morning we'd get up and pull together all the open house addresses we found during the week and we'd then diligently map out our route (some weekends we had as many as 10 places to see in 3 hours! Proper route planning was key.) Then we'd eat breakfast, get coffee, and be on our way for the rest of the afternoon to check the prospective places out.

2. Did we work with a real estate agent to find places we liked?
No. 99.9% of all real estate agents bug me. And between redfin.com and craigslist.com and my constant vigilance in watching for new For Sale signs in neighborhoods I liked, there really wasn't much information that a realtor could provide me that I couldn't get on my own. Plus they bug me. (Did I mention that?)

3. Is this the only offer we put in?
No. This house was the fourth place we liked enough to consider putting in an offer on. The first place was an amazing (and HUGE!!!) 2 unit building that we wanted to buy with another couple. I loved that place... but it really wasn't in our price range, and the building hadn't been split into condos yet - so financing would have been a pain in the butt. We (us and the other couple) put in an offer but we were out bid by a whopping $200,000. (Yes we were outbid by the cost of a WHOLE HOUSE in most parts of the country.) Defeat. The second place was a upper unit in a two unit building (also not yet a condo, but more reasonably priced.) The neighborhood was great but the floorplan was pretty disfunctional. We decided that we could knock down some walls and make it work and we actually had our offer accepted! Wheee!! But then we tried to get financing and the downstairs owners didn't have enough equity to convince the bank to refinance the loan (see - this is the problem when a place isn't a condo - you can't get individual loans for each unit. Instead you have to get a loan for the WHOLE building - which can sometimes be impossible.) So then we found place number three... place number three will live on forever in my heart as the one that got away. I LOVE LOVE LOVED place number three. HUGE (1600 sq ft), a CONDO!, AMAZING floorplan, garage, storage, yard, huge kitchen, beautiful hardwood floors and gorgeous wood trim throughout. I was instantly in love. Unfortunately so were 7 other people. We offered $21K ABOVE asking and were still outbid. (Probably by quite a bit.) Ugh. And then we found place number four and here we are. :)

4. Did we put offers in on places without a real estate agent???
We tried all sorts of different stuff. For place #1, we found an agent (after we found the place), and wrote an offer the old fashioned way. What's crazy is that she would have gotten the entire Buyer's agent commission for about a day and a half of work. (I am in the WRONG business!) For place #2, we decided to try using the listing agent on the condition that he kick back $5000 to us to help cover closing costs (which seemed fair since he'd be making double commision because he was acting as both the selling and listing agent.) For place #3, we used a redfin agent - which has the huge advantages of a.) the agents don't pester you by trying to find you a place to live and b.) to compensate for not pestering you, they give you HALF of their commision when the deal closes. AWESOME!!! For place #4, we decided to go it alone - I wrote the whole offer contract myself (it's NOT rocket science, in fact it's mostly just fill in the blanks!) We decided not to use an agent (not use even a redfin agent, even though we love them!) because we knew that there were other offers on the table for the place we wanted. And if we didn't have an agent, then the sellers wouldn't have to pay our agent - which meant they got to keep more money for themselves, which made our offer stronger without us having to actually offer more money. Plus, did I mention that it is NOT rocket science??

5. When will escrow close?
I have no freakin clue. Maybe 4 weeks? 6 weeks?? It all hangs on the place officially converting to a condo and then us getting financing for said condo. Booo.

Never Trust A Bug

Yesterday, as I was shutting the lights off in the bathroom, running late for work as usual, I came a across a rather large spider crawling on the wall near the light switch. Normally, in a situation such as this, I drop whatever it is I'm doing, run flailing to the kitchen, grab a cup, run flailing back to the spider (the flailing is key, mind you), scoop/will the creepy crawly into the cup, and then take him outside and gently deposit him on a bush or on the ground... and sometimes, if he's especially icky (or if it's cold out), I just just fling him as far as I can from my front door.

But yesterday, running late, I stopped, looked the spider, pointed my finger in his general direction, and said, "Hey Buddy! Normally I'd fling you but today I'm running late. You look like an upstanding spider, maybe we can work out a deal. I'll let you stay if you promise to eat those darn ants that keep infiltrating my bathroom. WHAT COULD THEY POSSIBLY WANT IN THE BATHROOM!? You're a pretty big spider, I bet you can also keep the other smaller, riff-raff spiders away. Keep it a one spider bathroom, you know? You don't bother me, I won't bother you. Each of us will let the other go about their business. But I don't want to be running into you like this on my wall next to my light switch. You stay outta sight. You hear me? Oh and I can't make any promises about the cats... if they catch you they'll eat you, and that's between you and them. But I promise that if you stay outta my way, I won't fling you, Deal?"

And he shook his creepy crawly fangs at me and I THOUGHT we had an understanding.

Boy was I wrong.

This morning... standing in the bathroom, brushing my teeth, wearing nothing but my undies, I felt a tickle on the small of my back. I assumed a hair had fallen from my head and was just sort of dancing there on its way down. But then it tickled again. I wonder what that is, I thought as I spit toothpaste into the sink and then turned to catch a glimpse of my back in the mirror.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Apparently, what *I* thought was an understanding, *Mr Spider* thought was a date! And I think he was headed for 2nd base.

In a bold move, I brushed him off me, WITH MY BARE HAND (ick!) And I continued to shriek. Kyle came in to make sure I wasn't dying, and I, still shrieking, showed him the beast that dared to set his grimy spider-feet on me. I then ran flailing off to the kitchen.

Kyle calmly called after me, "Sweetie, don't forget you're naked... and we have neighbors... and windows... and you're screaming, loudly."

EEK! I crouched down and then scuttled back to the bathroom, cup in hand.

With puppy dog eyes I asked, "Kyle, will you fling him outside for me? He broke his promise, but I'm too naked to do anything about it."

Hey Look It's My House

First of all, let me just say that I am SOOOOO not cut out for contributing a post a day every day for thirty straight days in a row. This might actually kill me. Please pardon the mess if my head explodes.

Right. Now that that's out of the way... Hey look! It's my house!

But first, some disclaimers...

1. These pics were taken at night... which didn't make for the best lighting. I'm sorry.
2. These pictures DO NOT do justice to my house - I swear. My place feels all warm and cozy when you’re in it... but these photos don't give that impression at all. It just looks so blah.
3. And cluttered! It really doesn't feel cluttered in real life. But it looks so "AGH! Look at all the clutter" in these pics... I would have removed all the clutter and re-taken the shots, but it was 11:30 last night, and I was tired, and you know there's the whole gotta post everyday thing, so I'm stuck with these. Please forgive.
4. Do I really have to do this??
5. Please realize that I am about to share with the whole internet something that some of my closest friends have never even seen - my home. It's a very personal place for me, and I sort of have issues with letting people see it. But I'm working on getting over that - this seemed like a pretty good way to start...

So let's get to it. Shall we?


Our wine rack and hallway mirror... this is basically what you see when you walk in the front door (well actually you see a plain wall and then have to immediately turn right... and THEN you see the wine rack, but the plain wall is pretty boring, so I spared you all.)

Things that eat at my soul about this picture: (1) the bottle of wine in the lower left... would it have killed me to move it prior to taking the picture? Gah. It just looks so out of place sitting on the floor all alone. (2) Also, WHY DOES THE MIRROR LOOK DIRTY - I JUST CLEANED IT!?!?!?

Ok moving right along.


Here's our spare room. We can't even call it a "guest room" because it's too small for a bed... an inflated air mattress JUST BARELY fits. Kyle and I sleep in here when the in-laws are in town, all nice and cozy, wedged between the armoire (tall thing you can barely see on the left side of the pic) and the bookcase (not shown because I'm lazy). This room is just off the hallway shown in picture 1. (In fact, scroll back you, you can almost see the door on the left side.)

Things that eat at my soul about this picture: (1) there is totally something sticking out of the bottom drawer. Just barely. I didn't even notice it until just now. But GAH! If I had photo shop I would SO edit it out. (2) My curtains - SO WRINKLED!!!!! These didn't get ironed with the rest because I figured you couldn't really tell with the dark blue color, and because no one ever goes in this room. But BOY do curtain wrinkles show up in pictures! Yikes!!! (p.s. I will totally be ironing these when I get home tonight!) (3) The picture I have yet to hang sitting tucked between the dresser and the wall beneath the window. Again, would it have KILLED me to move it for the photograph!?!? Ugh. (4) Also, the light wood frame on the hung on the wall is totally crooked!! This actually astonishes me because I use scotch tape or Velcro on the back of all picture frames to ensure that they hang straight. (Crooked pictures eat my whole soul in one bite. Chomp!) I really can't even look at this picture any more for fear that the crookedness will make my eyes start to bleed.

Moving right along.


My kitchen... mostly I love the corner...

So here's a bigger picture of it:


Isn't it cute? My violet in the corner? She's growing flowers. This makes my heart sing! And the dragonfly painting and little kitty salt and pepper shakers? Gifts from my mommy. Warm fuzzies. I like this picture. Nothing eats at my soul here. Except, scroll back up and look at big empty space above the stove, this is where I'd like to cut a hole in the wall. Or maybe hang a nice spice rack. I could go either way. But the naked wall definitely eats at my soul.


Here's our little kitchen table and part of super cluttered fridge. (Yikes, it looks terrible! Remind me to organize those magnets and stuff when I get home tonight.) During the day these windows look out onto our neighbors garden. Very pretty.

Things that eat at my soul about this picture: (1) It's a pretty boring picture. Sorry. (2) I really should have removed that cord from the plug in the wall, so ugly. (3) Look how sloppily the windows are painted!!!!! It's like whoever did them didn't even TRY to keep the paint off the glass. If I could reach these windows from the outside (where all the ugly paint is) I would be spend a whole day happily razor blading the stuff off... but alas... we're on the second floor (house is directly above the garage) and we don't have a ladder. So I just have to deal with it. Ugh. If all my hair is grey by the time I get married, you'll know why.

Here we have our kitchen shelves. Nothing special to the casual observer. But there are actually all sorts of good things going on in this picture. (1) On the left you can see our back door. It leads downstairs into our garage and our storage room and our little sliver of outdoor space where I keep all my plants. I HEART our garage and storage room and little sliver of outdoor space and could not imagine living without them. The door is ugly, but all that it represents is beautiful. (2) The red and white apron that you can almost see hanging on the right side of the shelves... my mom made this for me for Christmas last year. I cannot wear it enough. (3) The jars! Filled with pastas, and rice, and sugar, and salt and flour. I LOVE them!!! (4) Our cookbooks! I love them too, and cannot wait to try every recipe in each and every one of them. (5) Our Wok! Hung on the wall! (Because really, is there EVER enough room in your kitchen cabinets to keep a wok that you use maybe once or twice a month?) Well, there might be room your kitchen, but not in ours! So darn it, we hung it on the wall. I quite like it. (6) The shelves themselves (hey, that rhymes!) Kyle and I bought this piece unfinished at Ikea and spent a whole weekend sanding it, finishing and sealing it, and then putting it together. It's not perfect, but it was defintiely built with love. :)

Ok, moving right along.

And now, we get to my favorite room! (Which we actually skipped on the way to the kitched because I wanted to save it for last.)

Again, it really doesn't look this cluttered in real life... and it looks much homier... and the curtains match the pillows and don't look all shiny. I swear. And that lamp that's sorta stuck in the middle of no where next to the couch, um, yeah, that totally doesn't belong there. But it was awkward to move, and plugged in behind the couch, so I left it. Please pretend it is not there.

The things that I do like are the watercolor of SF hung above the couch (so pretty!), my book shelf (it's snazzier in person) and the two little festive pumpkins I bought (next to the plant, sitting on the shelf that Kyle and I may or may not have glued in place using Liquid Nails in a moment of desperation because, darn it, we just could not get the thing to hang level with screws alone! a few hours before his parents arrived.)

And here's the other side of the room:


Yes, I see the ratty scratching post in the lower right hand corner. It's ugly, I know, but it keeps my couches in one piece. This is a functional house, people, not exactly Better Homes and Gardens material.

Things of note in this pic: The red photo album and the white binder on the book shelf? Filled with wedding stuff!!!!! :) As I run of things to post about this month, I'm sure you'll be given a peak.

Anyway, so that's mostly it. Whew! I didn't take pics of the bathroom or of my bedroom because... well... because I was lazy and tired. Maybe for tomorrow.

The End.


Our kitty, Yertle, not scratching the couch. Good Kitty.

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Note: all those places in this post where I refer to it as "MY" house... please scratch those and make it "mine and Kyle's" house. I'm still getting used to this whole living together thing.

Well If ALL The Cool Kids Are Doing It...

I can't believe I've been blogging long enough to have seen 2 whole NaBloPoMos come and go. Time... It flies... Whoosh.

This year I'm REALLY REALLY gonna try to participate... so here goes. Today is November 1st. And, as November is National Blog Posting Month, (created by Fussy, YAY Fussy!!!) I will be pumping out a post a day EVERY day (including weekends!! Yikes!) for the next 30 days.

Join me. Won't you?



(Yes I realize that this is a total cheater post, but hey, it''s THIRTY posts in a row... cut me some slack, will ya?)

In other news... Kyle and I totally skipped Halloween this year. Boo. He went home sick from work and I stayed late so I could take off early on Friday to hang with his grandparents. As a result we just decided to save our AWESOME* costume idea for next year.

Speaking of Halloween, I'm considering writing a strongly worded letter to someone somewhere about my new neighborhood being shut down and transformed into a veritable trick-or-treating free for all last night. The streets were closed to cars just before dark as hundreds upon hundreds of little ghosts, and goblins, and princesses, and pirates, and creatures from every children's movie you can imagine descended upon our block. It was adorable but we were TOTALLY unprepared!! I think a little note saying, "Hello and welcome to your new home! Please be advised that you are now living in a trick-or-treat hot spot. GET SOME CANDY AND DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT DRIVING YOUR CAR DOWN YOUR OWN STREET. Thanks!" would have been nice. Don't you? I haven't lived in a real neighborhood with little kids and stuff since I left for college. So it didn't even occur to me to buy candy this year. And I certainly didn't expect to have to hide from forty-zillion disappointed children as they walked past my dark doorstep to the amazingly decorated haunted house next door. I totally looked like the mean old lady on the block with her blinds drawn and her lights off. Yikes! Oh well. Next year I'll know. (p.s. will one of you please remind me to buy candy next year, thanks!)

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*With the in-laws and the cleaning and the whatnot, Kyle and I decided to dress up using stuff we already had around the house.... well it just so happens that Kyle owns a bee hat and I own deer antlers (don't ask why)... so he was going to wear his bee hat and I was going to wear my deer antlers and his t-shirt was going to say "Yes Deer" and mine was going to say "OK Honey" ...Did I mention we've had a lot going on lately? Maybe it's for the best that we skipped the festivities this year.

Visit From The In-Laws, Take 1

A call from my mother today:
So… the in-laws? … the apartment? How did it go!? You didn’t paint did you?

No. I didn’t paint. I also didn’t buy all new furniture. Although I was *theees* close to buying a new chocolate leather ottoman to be used as a coffee table in my living room. If I had had another day, I very well might have. But I DID finally finally finally get my place in order (Courtney's house: now without cardboard boxes!). And it is LOVELY. I’ve actually never felt so proud to call a place home.

It was close though. I was definitely frantically arranging fresh flowers in my kitchen, and placing picture frames on shelves and wiping last minute crumbs off counters and lighting candles like a mad woman just seconds before Kyle walked in the front door with his parents. (I sent him to the airport without me so I could finish up the house… luckily our exit off the freeway was closed for construction on his way back, which bought me a few extra minutes… every once in a while the world is actually on my side. Amazing.)

So anyway, the ‘rents-in-law walked in and were absolutely FLOORED by how great the place looked. His mom was speechless. I kid you not! It was maybe the best feeling I’ve had all year. Except of course for the whole engagement thing, and the nephew being born thing… Ok, it was maybe the third best feeling I’ve had all year! Still, it was up there. So they oohed- and ahhhed a bit and then we all went to bed (it was almost midnight!)

Saturday morning we got up at 6am (yikes!) to drive down to the South Bay to watch Kyle and his bro compete in a soccer tournament. They kicked butt and took names. It was fun. Afterwards we took Kyle’s parents to see our reception location. They loved it! (Which, again, sent me over the moon… it makes me feel so much better to know that other people like the site we’ve chosen… hopefully now I’ll stop having nightmares that we somehow picked the wrong place… oh the nightmares… that’s a whole other post!)

So after the soccer, and the reception site seeing, we went out to lunch and then home to watch some football. Cal lost and that’s all I say about my sorry excuse for a football team, total head cases ever since the stupid quarterback forgot to throw the stupid ball like 3 whole weeks ago! Get over guys. Get your heads out of your butts. STOP LOSING! But right, we’re not talking about them.

Saturday night we went out to dinner and then Kyle and I were supposed to go to a Halloween party. But we were so full from the yummy dinner, and so tired from the getting up early, and so content to just stay home and hang out with the parents that we never made it out. To be honest, I’m not even really bummed. Oh there definitely would have been a time in the not so distant past that I would have been all sad-faced at the thought of missing a party. But not so much any more. I mean it definitely would have been nice to see all my friends, but I just didn’t have that *NEED* to be not missing out on stuff like I used to have. I guess this is that whole growing up and settling down thing that everyone keeps talking about. It’s quite nice.

So Sunday, we spent the whole day in Monterey, at the aquarium and hanging out with Kyle’s mom’s aunt and uncle (Good golly this boy has SO MUCH FAMILY!) They were a riot! AND they told Kyle that I’m a “total keeper.” So I officially love them now. Monday I went to work and Kyle stayed home to be with his parents a bit more, and then we all went out to dinner (so much eating when guests are in town!), and we drove them to the airport, and then they left.

It was definitely an amazing weekend. The house looked great. Kyle’s parents seemed to have a good time. All things were right in the world. Yay. Now, if I can just make it through NEXT weekend (p.s. his GRANDPARENTS are staying with us!!!!! GAH! And oh by the way, they’re not too keen on the whole me and Kyle living in sin thing. Lovely.) I think I might actually start to like this whole in-law thing. No promises though.

I Live With A Boy!

Well, we did it. We moved Kyle out of his old place, down the street 2 and a half whole blocks, into *my* new place. (Well, I suppose it's now *our* new place, but I'm still getting used to calling it that.)

And since it seemed petty silly to rent a big old truck for a dinky 2 and a half block move... we did like this:


The little civic that could

And like this:



What? How you *you* move a couch?

Way less silly, don't you think?
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p.s. YIKES! I live with a BOY!!!!! So weird!

Moving Day

"I no doubt believe that I deserve my enemies... but I cannot believe that I deserve my friends."

Today, while I engaged my office in a fight to the death for my soul, my unbelievably amazing friends moved my whole apartment. My WHOLE apartment! Without me even being there!! God bless Kyle for setting the entire thing up. And Lucia and Alina for randomly showing up at my house last night to help me pack. And everyone else who disassembled, and lifted, and carried, and packed, and drove, and unpacked, and refused to let a little thing like physics stop them from getting my oversized couches through my undersized doors and hallways. I cannot believe how lucky I am to have friends like this in my life. I am astonished and grateful.

Warm fuzzies.

Let There Be Light

So, I got the key to my new apartment this weekend! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Unfortunately, I also started paying rent this weekend... even though I'm not moving in till the 28th AND my landlord is STILL working on getting her crap out of *MY* new place. Mrrrrrr.

But whatever. I officially have my very own home sweet home in the city! I'm a happy girl and life is good.

Except...

Well... see... there's this wall. A wall that I really hate. A wall that I am (sort of) considering tearing (partially) down. Just a little bit of demo work. Nothing to fancy. It's not even structural. Bear with me.

See, the kitchen has two big awesome windows that get tons of natural light! And the living room has two small windows that are blocked by the neighbor's tree. Get the neighbor to cut the tree back, you say? HA! This is San Francisco, people. The neighbor's tree is totally on his own property... it just so happens that my house is like 2 feet from his property line. We're a bit cramped here in the city. Follow? So anyway, the tree stays.



If only there was a way to bring light from the kitchen into the Living Room...

Enter "Operation Hole in Wall".

See, if we were to cut away JUST A LITTLE BIT of the wall that separates the kitchen from the living room, the living room would be SO MUCH BRIGHTER/BETTER!



So I'm gonna get an estimate to see (just hypothetically speaking) how much a job like this would cost.

I haven't quite figured out HOW I'm gonna phrase the "Can I cut a hole in your house?" question to my landlord, but that's a minor detail, right?

I Need More Weekends In My Life

With 5 weddings, 3 graduations, and a baby (no, not mine! My nephew, remember?) on the calendar, the next few months promise to be busy busy busy. So this past weekend Kyle and I laid low.

Fridays have become our "Stay-In-And-Be-Anti-Social" night. We tend to cook dinner, cuddle on the couch, do homework, read magazine articles to each other, and banter back and forth with what amounts to "I love you more, no I love YOU more, No I Love YOOOOU more" dialog. It's a total gag-fest to the casual outside observer, but I have been reveling in every second of it. When did I become such a sappy homebody?

Saturday I went to a girlfriend's wedding shower where we drank wine, played silly shower games, and ooo-ed and ahhh-ed over her new Vera Wang china. So girly and fun. Saturday night, Kyle and I went to some other friends' house for a BBQ where I made the yummiest (and easiest) salad* and Kyle whipped up some AWESOME burgers. We stayed till midnight catching up with everyone, drinking beers, and stuffing our faces with strawberry shortcake. Perfection.

Sunday morning, after sleeping till way too late, we went out for brunch and then did the house hunting thing again. There are SO many houses to see in just the few neighborhoods we are considering. It is overwhelming and exhilaratingly all at once. We found the most amazing fixer-upper that I cannot stop thinking about. I want it sooooo bad. It's in the PERFECT location. And the facade is all old and Victorian and adorable, and it has a yard. And it's a two unit place so we could live in one unit and rent the other out for added income. The only problem? It's 1.36 million dollars. FOR A FIXER! And we're talking about needing to GUT the kitchens and bathrooms at a MINIMUM. We'd also like to tear down several of the interior walls AND re-level the floors. Does anyone have $1.5 million or so they'd like to lend me... indefinitely.

Anyone?

Still, I officially love the age I am currently at. Babies and weddings and house hunting - oh my! I always thought I would feel so "old" when I got here - as though I had somehow "peaked" - but everyday I discover just what an awesome stage in my life I am at. Yay. :)

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*Awesome (easy) salad recipe:
Romaine lettuce
White corn - fresh is better, but canned will do and is WAY easier
Avocado
Feta cheese
Blue corn tortilla chips (broken into smallish pieces)
Lite ranch dressing (b/c it tastes just as good as the regular stuff)
Lime juice and black pepper to taste

(Add the dressing just prior to serving or the chips will get mushy)

Enjoy!!

$628,488

Six Hundred Twenty Eight Thousand Four Hundred Eighty Eight dollars. That was the AVERAGE asking price of the eight 1-2 bedroom condos Kyle and I looked at this weekend in San Francisco.

Are you kidding me?

AND - we're talking about either semi shady neighborhoods or tiny places with no closet space and thin walls... although one place had a yard that I might actually sell my first child for.

Ugh.

Still... the thought of owning my own (tiny) slice of SF fills me with intense excitement and happiness and a general sense of fabulous grown-uped-ness (totally a word) that I must say I rather enjoy.

Eeeee!

I Am So Not The Glue

For those that don't know, I live with boys. Two boys. Two random boys that I met on the internet. Strangers. Not only to me, but to each other too. One of whom isn't even from this country! Yes, I live with strange foreign boys that I met on the internet. No, my mom is not a fan. And uh, I'd really appreciate it if no one told my dad.

It all started out with weeks of searching various roommate websites. I originally wanted to live with girls, but this is Man Jose, and, let's face it, quality women are few and far between here. I finally narrowed my selection down to Glenn and Mark. I emailed each of them individually. Glenn and I had several great email conversations. Mark and I had several great email conversations. Everything was looking good. But I was weary about introducing Glenn and Mark. Sure, they each got along fine with me, but would they get along with each other???
A week before we signed the lease... "Glenn meet Mark, Mark meet Glenn. Please be friends."

Have you ever introduced two friends from different circles to each other? Part of you really wants them to hit it off... but another part of you secretly hopes that you'll always be better friends with each of them than they ever will be with each other. That way they'll always need you. You'll be like the friendship glue.

Well, we can't always have what we want.

Not only are Glenn and Mark friends, they're GREAT friends! They hang out like every night. They have adventures... without me! In fact, at the moment, Glenn, Mark, and a bunch of their other friends are in Costa Rica. (!!!) WITHOUT ME!

The nerve! I'm so not the glue! I'm not even tape. I'm superfluous packing material at best.
:(