Damn, long weekend is over
Sep. 6th, 2004 10:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shipperxAh well, darn. The long weekend is over. I've got to get up and fight traffic to get to work tomorrow.
The long weekend has been nice. Went to the inspection of the house my sister was (is?) going to buy. Turns out that the historic house has such outdated wiring that they will be unable to get insurance on the house. Last I heard, they were trying to get out of the deal.
Saturday was the first football game of the season. We beat the shit out of Utah State (48 to 17). Of course if we hadn't beaten the shit out of Utah State the coach's job would have been in trouble. If it's a non-SEC game and the opponent isn't some "name" school, then it's really difficult for any coach to lose the game and not be pummeled for it.
Sunday... well, my sister's campaign has been that since she is selling her house and moving that she wants me to sell my house and move as well. She'd like us to live closer together (because, ya know 20 minutes is sooooo damn "far") and because with my new job I now have a less than fun commute in the morning (40 minutes in 280 traffic. To clarify what that means, in a non-rush hour time, it take 10 minutes to go from my house to my office. During rush hour... 40. So the problem is traffic not distance). The only problem is my sister has always (and will continue to have) this inate desire to live in the most expensive part of town. Yeah she wants to move from Mountain Brook (which is the most expensive part of town) into unincorporated B'ham... but the very specific DISTRICT of unincorporated Birmingham is the one with all the old mansions. Even in the fringe of that area, the little houses are over priced. In fact, that's really the problem with my moving any closer to the city than where I am now. To move into the Forest Park, Highland Park, Crestline, Homewood, Mountain Brook areas means moving into areas where real estate is nuts. Little tiny 1950s cottages in those areas sell from 300,000 to half a mil. Uh... sorry. Other than sinking myself hopelessly into debt I simply CANNOT afford that. Sure there's such a thing as investing in real estate, but there's also putting yourself in an almost scary financial position.
Okay, I'm really conservative with my money. The truth is I hate having to pay attention to money. I don't like having to do budgets and stuff. I like to get what I want when I want it... which is helped immeasurably by the fact that my set expenses are a tad BELOW my means. What's more, despite the commute I LIKE my house. Sure the old stone house my sister found and that she's wanting me to buy is incredibly cool, but honestly, the problems with the foundations may me wary. Then there's the fact that it's a really old house makes me wonder if utility bills would be astonomical. And then there's the fact that I would be paying a morgage on the place that would make me far more paranoid about my finances. As it is, I live morgage free in a nice little house near all sorts of amenities... it just happens to be on the edge of town. Now, I'm aware what with proposed expansion of both 280 and 119 it's in my interest to move in the next few years, but the fact is, I haven't found anything in the price range I'm comfortable with that's anywhere near as nice as I have now without moving yet FURTHER from the city. Anything closer is MORE expensive not less so.
. . .although I had considered the newly developing Loft District all the way downtown. A loft would be cool. But then I start thinking about the much higher crime rate in that area and the fact that there wouldn't be things like a garage (I LIKE my garage). It's worth touring the places, I suppose, but I really am more than a bit ambivalent about the concept of moving. The fact is I LIKE my house.
Speaking of, out of all this the only decision I did come to is that today I ordered hard wood flooring for most of my house. When I bought my house it was a spec house and the carpet that was going into it really wasn't that great to begin with. I've lived in the house going on 7 years and in the high traffic areas it's gotten kinda ugly. (Yeah, carpet companies give lifetime warrenties, but as anyone in the industry knows, carpet "uglies out" long before it technically wears out. And the stuff in my main traffic path is kinda yuck). I was able to order manufactured hardword for $1.98 a sq.ft. Figuring on installing it myself. The way I look at it, it's what I've WANTED for a while now, and it gets rid of the ratty carpet (the carpet in my bedroom and the guest bedroom which has virtually no sign of anything like wear and tear will stay. Besides I like carpet in my bedroom). At any rate, I figure having hardwood will up the amenities in my house when I do decide to sell.
And spent the rest of the day pretty much watching the "What Not to Wear" marathon on TLC.
The long weekend has been nice. Went to the inspection of the house my sister was (is?) going to buy. Turns out that the historic house has such outdated wiring that they will be unable to get insurance on the house. Last I heard, they were trying to get out of the deal.
Saturday was the first football game of the season. We beat the shit out of Utah State (48 to 17). Of course if we hadn't beaten the shit out of Utah State the coach's job would have been in trouble. If it's a non-SEC game and the opponent isn't some "name" school, then it's really difficult for any coach to lose the game and not be pummeled for it.
Sunday... well, my sister's campaign has been that since she is selling her house and moving that she wants me to sell my house and move as well. She'd like us to live closer together (because, ya know 20 minutes is sooooo damn "far") and because with my new job I now have a less than fun commute in the morning (40 minutes in 280 traffic. To clarify what that means, in a non-rush hour time, it take 10 minutes to go from my house to my office. During rush hour... 40. So the problem is traffic not distance). The only problem is my sister has always (and will continue to have) this inate desire to live in the most expensive part of town. Yeah she wants to move from Mountain Brook (which is the most expensive part of town) into unincorporated B'ham... but the very specific DISTRICT of unincorporated Birmingham is the one with all the old mansions. Even in the fringe of that area, the little houses are over priced. In fact, that's really the problem with my moving any closer to the city than where I am now. To move into the Forest Park, Highland Park, Crestline, Homewood, Mountain Brook areas means moving into areas where real estate is nuts. Little tiny 1950s cottages in those areas sell from 300,000 to half a mil. Uh... sorry. Other than sinking myself hopelessly into debt I simply CANNOT afford that. Sure there's such a thing as investing in real estate, but there's also putting yourself in an almost scary financial position.
Okay, I'm really conservative with my money. The truth is I hate having to pay attention to money. I don't like having to do budgets and stuff. I like to get what I want when I want it... which is helped immeasurably by the fact that my set expenses are a tad BELOW my means. What's more, despite the commute I LIKE my house. Sure the old stone house my sister found and that she's wanting me to buy is incredibly cool, but honestly, the problems with the foundations may me wary. Then there's the fact that it's a really old house makes me wonder if utility bills would be astonomical. And then there's the fact that I would be paying a morgage on the place that would make me far more paranoid about my finances. As it is, I live morgage free in a nice little house near all sorts of amenities... it just happens to be on the edge of town. Now, I'm aware what with proposed expansion of both 280 and 119 it's in my interest to move in the next few years, but the fact is, I haven't found anything in the price range I'm comfortable with that's anywhere near as nice as I have now without moving yet FURTHER from the city. Anything closer is MORE expensive not less so.
. . .although I had considered the newly developing Loft District all the way downtown. A loft would be cool. But then I start thinking about the much higher crime rate in that area and the fact that there wouldn't be things like a garage (I LIKE my garage). It's worth touring the places, I suppose, but I really am more than a bit ambivalent about the concept of moving. The fact is I LIKE my house.
Speaking of, out of all this the only decision I did come to is that today I ordered hard wood flooring for most of my house. When I bought my house it was a spec house and the carpet that was going into it really wasn't that great to begin with. I've lived in the house going on 7 years and in the high traffic areas it's gotten kinda ugly. (Yeah, carpet companies give lifetime warrenties, but as anyone in the industry knows, carpet "uglies out" long before it technically wears out. And the stuff in my main traffic path is kinda yuck). I was able to order manufactured hardword for $1.98 a sq.ft. Figuring on installing it myself. The way I look at it, it's what I've WANTED for a while now, and it gets rid of the ratty carpet (the carpet in my bedroom and the guest bedroom which has virtually no sign of anything like wear and tear will stay. Besides I like carpet in my bedroom). At any rate, I figure having hardwood will up the amenities in my house when I do decide to sell.
And spent the rest of the day pretty much watching the "What Not to Wear" marathon on TLC.
