I slept about 3 hours total last night. First I stayed up reading until almost midnight, then it took me over an hour to fall asleep, then I proceeded to wake up approximately 17 times over the course of the night. Now I'm exhausted but MY NEW LAPTOP CAME TODAY!!! and I can't seem to put it down to go to bed. Also, The City is on on 16 minutes. Just as soon as Bromance is over.
I wish I were kidding about that last part.
Anyway. Updates!
My Contact Lens Drama is over. As it turns out, I'm 99% sure that I developed an allergy to my contact lens SOLUTION and not my contact lenses themselves. Fortunately I didn't make this revelation until AFTER I had purchased a few boxes of the new contacts. This is fortunate because the new contact lenses are $40 cheaper for each 3 month supply! All in all, this whole process scored me a pair of glasses (thanks Mom), a ton of free contact solution (thanks eye doctor!), and new, less expensive contact lenses (thanks to me, for tearing my sample lens and being forced to prematurely buy replacement lenses). Not bad all in all, flipped eyelid trauma notwithstanding.
I am no closer to welcoming a new kitten into my home. Nick appears to be standing firm on this one, for the moment anyway. I'm 99% sure I will NOT be receiving a fluffy little furball for my birthday later this month.
This weekend Nick and I were out running some errands and we saw an open house in the neighborhood we've always said we'd like to eventually buy a house in. On a whim, we toured the house... and we absolutely loved it. It has a sunporch that would be the perfect place for a comfy chair and some overstuffed bookshelves. It also has a decent-sized yard, perfect for a new puppy. And in spite of the fantastic neighborhood, it might actually be in our price range if we pay a little less than they've listed it for.
Today we met with a realtor to discuss the possibility of placing our condo back on the market and making the move to a house. There are a lot of things to consider in making this decision, and some of them are pretty major. It definitely doesn't fit with the game plan we had agreed upon for the next several months, that's for sure. Upgrading to a house wasn't the next step in our plan. And I'm not at all sure if I'm ok with changing that. I want to be sure that if we do buy a house, it's a decision I can be really happy and excited about all the way.
Although the amount the realtor thinks we can list our place is more than we purchased it for, if we factor in the upgrades we've done since we've been here, none of which are actually paid off yet, technically we'd be taking a loss on selling the place after paying all the seller's fees. However, we did put 10% down when we bought this place, so if we sold it we would probably get enough cash out of it for a 5% down payment on the new house.
I'm also not sure that we'd even get approved for a loan for this house, given the mortgage we already have and the debt we still have between the two of us. Debt that we had planned on reducing before upgrading to a house, to slowly start freeing up some money for a bigger mortgage, and for some other big things we will need to start saving for. Part of me thinks we should stick to our original plan, be patient and pay some damn credit cards off before upgrading to a house. Maybe buy something in the fall. In the meantime, save a little cash too, so when we do buy a house we can cover all of the unexpected costs that are sure to crop up.
On the other hand, the real estate market is bad and getting worse. When I spoke briefly with my broker about the possibility of a loan, he told me it's his personal opinion that the market will continue to decline for at least a year. And the same declining market that will likely get us a better deal on a house in the fall will also probably mean a decline in the value of our current place... which is where our down payment for a house would come from. Sure, if we sold now we might take a slight loss on this place, but the payoff for that sacrifice would be that we would then own a house... a house we both loved as soon as we saw it, in the EXACT neighborhood that we've dreamed of moving to.
It's a lot to think about, that's for sure. Every time I think I have an idea of what I want to do I start to second guess myself. There are a lot of major factors at play here and I really don't want to regret this decision.
If I haven't mentioned it yet my new computer is really, really wonderful. And so damn cute it hurts. Excellent Christmas gift.
years ago when i wore contacts, I was allergic to the solutions that had thimerasol in them. I had to get plain old saline solution that had no preservatives in it. After that, I had no problems at all.
Posted by: Karen | January 17, 2009 at 12:07 AM
My eye doctor kept pushing a particular brand of solution on me, even though I told him time and again that it irritated my eyes. It wasn't as hardcore as the irritation you dealt with, but just enough to be annoying. So that, plus the fact that the solution I prefer costs less, makes it a no-brainer for me to continue w/ my current solution. I hate irritated eyes. Glad yours are cleared up, although they did provide some entertaining stories.
Posted by: joshlos | January 14, 2009 at 12:20 AM
My vote would be for the house if you could swing it. A house always seems to hold its value more than condos/townhouses and this might be a rare opportunity because mortgage rates are still low and it's a buyer's market.
Location is key and the fact that you both like this neighborhood... see if it might work?
My dad has always said that sometimes if you're faced with an overwhelming decision, think about what you'll wish you'd done in a year (or further down the road). Maybe you'll wish you were celebrating Christmas in the new house come this time next year?
Whatever you decide, best of luck!
Oh and don't fret about losing money on the condo. If you were renting, ALL your monthly living expenses would be lost, no tax benefit and probably not even as nice of a place to live.
Posted by: spleeness | January 13, 2009 at 04:26 PM
We are facing the exact same dilemna as you guys are except we're quite certain our condo is valued at less than what we paid for it, even with all of the upgrades we've done! We were going to wait until the spring to put it on the market, but with the extrememly low interest rates, we would rather take a loss on it now and get a good deal on a house. I'll cross my fingers for both of us that we'll be able to sell our condos! :)
Posted by: Katie | January 13, 2009 at 08:08 AM
I also only got about three hours of sleep! Boo!
House hunting is very exciting, even if you don't plan to buy for awhile. :) Good luck!
And maybe Nick will surprise you with a kitten...he seems like the type to do cute stuff like that!
Posted by: hautepocket | January 12, 2009 at 11:51 PM