Tonight's picture was taken in March of 2003. Mattie was 11 months old and it was his first trip to Los Angeles! I had to attend a conference, so it was a family affair. That day we took Mattie to the Huntington Gardens in Pasadena. Clearly he loved the bamboo! I think this was a classic photo because it showed Mattie on Peter's back, which was his favorite mode of transportation and it showed his curiosity with the world around him.
Quote of the day: Today's coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins.
- Number of people diagnosed with the virus: 32,389,652
- Number of people who died from the virus: 576,719
For the past several weeks, I have been looking at houses twice or three times a week. Not for an hour at a time. Try 5-6 hours a day. Not to mention commuting around town to figure out where we wanted to live. Buying a house is stressful for anyone, but when you take into account that we are going through a housing shortage, with more buyers than sellers, the competition and stress are worse than ever. Literally on Friday I saw a house with our realtor that I wanted Peter to see today! Do you know by the time we took Peter to the appointment today, the house was under contract! It's that competitive. If a house is in good shape and in a good school district, it will sell within 7 days.
This is my first time ever buying a house. I think I had some sort of romantic idea about how glorious the process would be! I thought I would instantaneously know when I saw the house that I loved, and that I would get joy out of the whole adventure. I have received no joy and I have also concluded that what I am looking for doesn't exist. After seeing around 40 houses, I can speak with some confidence, and therefore have concluded that I have to be more rational in my decision. Our situation is complex because I am not looking for a house that would accommodate a traditional family of parents and children. Instead I need to find a house that works for my parents needs as well as our own. Not to mention that I want a yard for Sunny. Given some of my dad's needs, I have been looking for a house that has two half baths on the first floor, a staircase where I can attach a stair lift or a house with a first floor master bedroom! I have other must haves, but the bathrooms and accessibility demands have been problematic.
Last week we put in an offer on a house in Oakton, VA. That was a nightmare of an experience! Not very pleasant as a first time buyer. I wrote the owner a beautiful letter about her house and we offered her $50k over her asking price. Do you know she sold the house to someone who offered her less than us? Why? She was being passive aggressive. She wanted us to give her $100k over her asking price. When we said no (because the house needed work), she sold it to the family who made a lower offer. A real peach!
Today we went looking at houses from 11am to 5pm. We took Peter back to a house in Great Falls, VA that I saw yesterday. To me the house could work for all of us and it has potential. Again, it too needs work! There are things about the house I don't love, but then there are things that are quite nice. Long story short as I am typing this, we are putting in an offer on this house. I wrote NO LETTER this time to the owner. So we shall see!
No comments:
Post a Comment