This week has been a whirlwind. To top it off, we drove down on Saturday and Sarah finally got a chance to walk through the house. She’s now filled with the same giddy excitement as me. The best part was when Kim, above, pulled the SOLD sign out of his car and firmly stapled it to the pole. We were smiling and giggling like seven year olds. We own a home.

Any misgivings we had about Ardell and Kim are history. What we originally took for oddness was simply them openly and honestly welcoming us as friends. They have been direct and professional in every step of the way. It was because of them we have this place. When the buyer’s agent “Gordo” heard we made an offer, he immediately called up a few people suggesting they make counter-offers. One did. On Ardell ’s advice, we immediately shot back with an aggressive “escalation clause” stipulating we’d match and add 2,000 dollars to any other offer up to 375,000 dollars. The other people didn’t even try to compete and completely rescinded their offer. If we had gone lower, we might of ended up in a nasty bidding war. In the end, we were able to get the house for our original offer price.

Of course now the real hassles begin. Two apartments worth of junk to box and load into a moving van. Filling out tons and tons of paperwork. Remembering all the little things like garbage cans, garbage removal subscriptions, cable and internet setup, buying a lawnmower, drapes, etc..

In the meantime we took Sunday to enjoy ourselves and google all the cool renovations we want to perform and the lovely furniture we want to buy. Hey, why not? We own a home.

We got it!!!

UPDATE: BAM!! Another offer came in. We are in “escalation clause” mode. An automatic system that states we go higher than any other offer up to a certain amount.. Sigh.. I hate this..

We really did swear that we weren’t going to look at houses until we were pre-approved. No, really. But we seem to be finding that a bit more of a challenge than we thought it would be. Seemingly perfect houses pop up and the instinct is to pounce before that dangling carrot is snatched away from you.

I’ve been gazing at this little listing for a few months now. It was listed as subject to inspection for a while, but the deal fell through. So when the house became an active listing again, I emailed it 2 or 3 different times to Steven (and once to our agents). For some reason he never really expressed any real interest in it. I was beginning to think that maybe our tastes weren’t as similar as I had thought.

But then last night he decided to drive past the house. And loved it. Driving past snowballed into viewing it, which turned into making an offer on the spot. And where am I all this time? Sitting in my office in downtown Seattle because I didn’t think there was any way for me to get there through rush hour traffic to meet with the agents in time. Now that’s what I call pouncing on that proverbial carrot. Steven did make sure that yes, I really do trust him enough to know that I’ll feel the same way about the house that he does. We may not completely agree on what color to paint the walls, but I’m looking forward to that argument/discussion.

So as of 8:00 AM (PST) this morning, the papers have been signed and faxed to the seller’s agent. I can’t help but feel excited even though I know that there’s every chance in the world that the offer could be rejected. It just feels right.

So even though we swore we weren’t going to look at houses until we were most definitely pre-approved for our home loan, we bent the rules a bit in order to go see a house that seemed cute in its photos and fell within our estimated budget.  Ardell said it had a lot of the features we were interested in but that she didn’t think it would be a good fit for us. 

And now we know why.  The first thing we noticed pulling into the cul de sac were the junked cars sitting in the neighbors’ yards.  Yes, that’s right - that’s plural.  Plural cars.  Plural neighbors.  Plural yards.  There were quite literally 7-12 junked cars, at least one flatbed trailer, and a nice little pile of old tires that I’m sure someone must have felt will eventually come in handy.  Perhaps when the Used Tire Fairy pays a visit?  Maybe she’ll leave them a nice new set of rims in return for the tires.

The inside of the house did nothing to balance out our initial disgust/disinterest.  It was clean and you could see that the owner had put some elbow grease into the place, but it still felt just like walking into a double-wide with a fresh coat of paint slapped on the walls.  Truly, the large fenced lot was its only redeeming factor.  And yet even something like this, with neighbors like that, will be gone within a couple of days.  This area has a distinct shortage of non-fixer homes in our price range so when they do come on the market, they tend to be snatched up almost immediately.  Perhaps this one will be snatched up by someone with half a dozen more junked cars to add to the cul de sac’s collection.

Well, we went and met with our buyers agents today. And indeed they were smiling and jocular. Luckily though they weren’t overly perky and I managed to survive the encounter with Sarah only recommending a nap for me afterwards.

They invited us to their home for this initial meeting, making the whole thing uncomfortably personal. Pre-teen family members walking in and out of the house while we were trying to discuss our most personal financial details only added to the oddness. I expected them at any moment to start talking about circles inside of circles and how I could supplement my current income.

But it went well enough for us to move forward with them as our buyers agents. It was about nine months ago when we first attempted to buy a house. We were completely unprepared and it turned into an amazing waste of time. So this round we decided to take a different approach and rely completely on the buyers agent. Ardell and Kim are handling all the details, including contacting the financing sources. They seem a trustworthy couple and we’re pretty confident they will be able to buffer us from the most mundane aspects of the house buying experience.

So come Monday we apply to three different loan agencies and wait for the pre-approvals before we actually hit the pavement and view the very limited selection of old, decrepit starter houses that can be found for 350 thousand dollars.

I don’t know many other people that play the piano. (Yes, my social world is somewhat limited.) But that made it fun to make this.

(note: Click on Sarah’s MacJams Page on the right to listen to all of Sarah’s lovely music. -Steven)

It’s the odd day when Sarah or myself get in the mood for a drink or a smoke. Each of us engaged in both earlier in life and have just grown past the behavior.

Well, Sarah enjoyed a glass of wine a few nights ago during Desperate Housewives and I just finished a trek to the tobacco shop.

It started lastnight with a search for cigarillos and led me to a product called Dannemann Speciale Brazil. The product copy sold me: “Creamy, spicy smoke with moist, earthy, tropical aromas - smooth yet expressive taste. Genuine Brazilian wrapper. A richly orchestrated cigarillo capable of performing the full score of a cigar.”

Yes, that sounded lovely. I even pulled out my specially engraved (Fitzwilliam Darcy) antiqued brass lighter and filled it with fuel. Unfortunately I ended up at a very poorly stocked tobacco shop near work this morning and had to settle for Macanudo ascot type cigars.

Ascot: A miniature cigar, but larger than a common cigarette. Made exactly as a full size cigar, using whole unshredded tobacco and wrapped in tobacco leaf.
Cigarillo: Similar to a common cigarette but wrapped in tobacco leaf instead of paper. May contain whole or shredded tobacco ranging from cigarette quality to cigar quality. Usually rougher in texture and wrap.

I’m not overly upset though. The Macanudo Maduro’s smell wonderful and I look forward to lighting one up on the way home from work tonight. Maybe if I’m still in the mood later, I’ll check another store for the cigarillo’s. I was looking forward to being a roguish chap with a cigarillo dangling from my mouth.

Myself and Sarah both rent in one of the wealthiest areas of Seattle. Not that it’s full of 10 million dollar houses, but that the property value itself is through the roof. The prices you see to the left are mostly for ranch-style homes ranging from 900sqft to 1500sqft.

These are the types of homes that anywhere else you might call starter homes. Lovely little one and two bedrooms with very small lawns, no driveways, no garages, and only street parking.

Even with those outrageous prices, it still feels like a small town. People wave to each other as you walk down the sidewalk. The main street has antique shops, coffee shops, and salons. You see young parents strolling with babies and every imaginable type of dog bouncing on leashes.

We found this area by accident while driving aimlessly one day. Within one month Sarah had moved here. Within the next month I had moved across the street from her. We came from what was once known as the vibrant, happening downtown Seattle community called Capitol Hill. In the short time we lived there after moving to Seattle we watched the area stagnate, the businesses move out, and the street youth turn aggressive and violent.

That’s why I was a little saddened to find this outside while taking Earnest for a midnight walk. It was sitting 20 feet from my doorstep in front of the friendly grocery store that I visit every day.

I officially declare this Incompetence Friday. And the more money you make, the more incompetent you’re allowed to be!! So please - feel free to offload all of your fabulous incompetence onto me. Because by golly by gum I’m so good at taking care of that for you. I excel at cleaning up after your errors and explaining things to you in half a dozen different ways (using small words, of course). Even better, I don’t even implode when you still don’t understand what I need you to do. And when you flat out refuse even when you do finally understand you know I’ll just grin and bear it because, hey! isn’t that what I get paid the big bucks for? So today is officially all about the million little ways you show your glaring incompetence. Be bold! Forget the lame excuses - take ownership of your short-comings! Have a blast! Be a moron! EMBRACE YOUR INCOMPETENCE! Vive le incompetence!!

Next week: Pay-Back Monday