At the exact moment I got on a conference call this afternoon, my wife called to tell me we got the house! No real changes to the contract, except the settlement date is a little strange. We wanted to close April 26, but for no particular reason other than to get 'er done. The sellers are an elderly couple who are buying a house from their daughter. The daughter has a new house lined up but there needs to be a weekend when they can all move. They wanted to set the closing for May 15, but I don't want to pay the taxes for 16 days in May. We haven't yet agreed on the settlement date, but we signed the contract & set it back just to get the house off the market. If we have to eat a little more interest, so be it.
Inspection is 4 PM on Monday!
Friday, March 24, 2006
house hunting
Warmed back up to the 'hood on the 2nd house, but missed the contract by less than 1 hour. We were on our way to my wife's office to sign our contract when our agent called the seller's agent. The seller's agent was recieving the signed contract at that moment.
Worked out for the best though because last night we looked at one a pitching wedge golf shot from my buddy Ed's place, which is in the exact area we wanted to be. We signed that contract last night & bumped the asking price up $6K. We hope to heard something today. I think our agent is nervous about the timing because of our trip next week. I assured him that if we need to do the inspection Monday, I'd make time at work to be there for it!
Say a little prayer for us, I've been saying several myself!
Worked out for the best though because last night we looked at one a pitching wedge golf shot from my buddy Ed's place, which is in the exact area we wanted to be. We signed that contract last night & bumped the asking price up $6K. We hope to heard something today. I think our agent is nervous about the timing because of our trip next week. I assured him that if we need to do the inspection Monday, I'd make time at work to be there for it!
Say a little prayer for us, I've been saying several myself!
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Checking in
Been a while since I posted... Since the last post, Mom & Dad visited for a long weekend, Mare broke her ankle, we started the house search, we put in a contract on a house, it was rejected, we found another, we've gotten turned off to the neighborhood, we're warming back up to the neighborhood and I was on the interview team for a forensic medical lab here in Baltimore. Whew! I'm tired & we go to Vegas next week! I hope to rest some there, but I doubt it'll happen!
Nice visit with Mom & Dad. They flew in LATE Friday night & flew back out EARLY Wednesday morning, so they stayed almost a week. They kept the kids while we met with a realtor on Saturday. We did family photos Monday evening. I had much work to do, so I worked Monday & Tuesday evenings from home. Monday, they chaperoned Mare's field trip to the Museum of Industry downtown. Tuesday, they did Munchkins for Moms at school & then took the big kids to Port Discovery & had a blast!
Hired a realtor - real nice guy named Randy, relatively new to real estate, but seems to know his stuff. We looked at several houses Tuesday night while M/D kept the kids. Didn't see much then, but saw a couple of good ones on Friday night & then fell in love with one on Sunday night, while Leslie kept the kids. Put a contract in Sunday night around 9. The seller's agent called Randy & said he was taking our contract over to the sellers that night. I got pumped because this house is beautiful. 10:20 PM Randy called & said the other offer was well above our's plus it had an escalation clause meaning their offer would automatically go up should our's have been higher. Let them have it! The asking price was $249,900 & we offered $249,000. I felt that was over-priced by $10-15,000. More on that later.
Last Thursday, a kid grabbed Mare from behind while playing Capture the Flag in gym class. They both went down, he got a demerit & Mare got a small fracture in her ankle. Went to the ER at St Joe's Thursday afternoon & they took x-rays & sent us to an orthropod Friday. He put her in a hot pink cast for 4 weeks. Good Friday we go back to see him & hopefully the cast comes off. She's a trooper, but school days are beginning to take a toll. Doc said she could put weight on it as is comfortable & I think she puts too much weight on it. Should be exciting.
Monday, I was on the interview team for a new forensic medical center here in town. It was a DGS interview, so its a crap shoot whether we won the job or not. I think we did a good job & I'm glad to have the first interview with the new firm under my belt. I think the next one will go more smoothly although the boss came by yesterday afternoon & said I did a great job in the interview.
Took a 2nd look at a different house last night. Had Randy write a contract, but we haven't signed it. Got nervous about the neighborhood. Wife went by last night at 10:00 PM & felt there was a little too much vehicular traffic for that time on Monday night. I'm going by around 9 tonight to check it out as well. Wife talked to a co-worker today who used to live in the area. He liked it & said the traffic is because there's only 1 way into & 1 way out of the 'hood. Makes sense. We found some internet articles on some apartments nearby that were less than flattering. We're slow playing this one, so we'll see.
We fly to Vegas for the CSI convention Tuesday afternoon. Part of me can't wait, but part of me is also exhausted! More on that later....
Nice visit with Mom & Dad. They flew in LATE Friday night & flew back out EARLY Wednesday morning, so they stayed almost a week. They kept the kids while we met with a realtor on Saturday. We did family photos Monday evening. I had much work to do, so I worked Monday & Tuesday evenings from home. Monday, they chaperoned Mare's field trip to the Museum of Industry downtown. Tuesday, they did Munchkins for Moms at school & then took the big kids to Port Discovery & had a blast!
Hired a realtor - real nice guy named Randy, relatively new to real estate, but seems to know his stuff. We looked at several houses Tuesday night while M/D kept the kids. Didn't see much then, but saw a couple of good ones on Friday night & then fell in love with one on Sunday night, while Leslie kept the kids. Put a contract in Sunday night around 9. The seller's agent called Randy & said he was taking our contract over to the sellers that night. I got pumped because this house is beautiful. 10:20 PM Randy called & said the other offer was well above our's plus it had an escalation clause meaning their offer would automatically go up should our's have been higher. Let them have it! The asking price was $249,900 & we offered $249,000. I felt that was over-priced by $10-15,000. More on that later.
Last Thursday, a kid grabbed Mare from behind while playing Capture the Flag in gym class. They both went down, he got a demerit & Mare got a small fracture in her ankle. Went to the ER at St Joe's Thursday afternoon & they took x-rays & sent us to an orthropod Friday. He put her in a hot pink cast for 4 weeks. Good Friday we go back to see him & hopefully the cast comes off. She's a trooper, but school days are beginning to take a toll. Doc said she could put weight on it as is comfortable & I think she puts too much weight on it. Should be exciting.
Monday, I was on the interview team for a new forensic medical center here in town. It was a DGS interview, so its a crap shoot whether we won the job or not. I think we did a good job & I'm glad to have the first interview with the new firm under my belt. I think the next one will go more smoothly although the boss came by yesterday afternoon & said I did a great job in the interview.
Took a 2nd look at a different house last night. Had Randy write a contract, but we haven't signed it. Got nervous about the neighborhood. Wife went by last night at 10:00 PM & felt there was a little too much vehicular traffic for that time on Monday night. I'm going by around 9 tonight to check it out as well. Wife talked to a co-worker today who used to live in the area. He liked it & said the traffic is because there's only 1 way into & 1 way out of the 'hood. Makes sense. We found some internet articles on some apartments nearby that were less than flattering. We're slow playing this one, so we'll see.
We fly to Vegas for the CSI convention Tuesday afternoon. Part of me can't wait, but part of me is also exhausted! More on that later....
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Review
Had my 90 day performance review at work 60 days too late. That seem to indicate to me that all is going well. I was surprised by the love-fest that ensued. At my other firm, the 2 partners had kind of an unplanned good cop bad cop routine. The one principal I think thought she had to say some negative things in order for it to be constructive. She is a negative person, so it fits. I expected similar because of the 2 personalities I'm dealing with - the principal I work closest with being the bad cop.
No such issue - he started by saying he is 110% pleased with the work I'm doing! It went up hill from there. I hope to make associate this summer when they review promotions. I also hope to make more interview teams & assist more with marketing. On Monday the 20th, we're interviewing for a job with a local university who's recently been a client of mine. That same client has another project coming out later this year, plus another client of mine has a building coming out this summer that we are positioning ourselves for. We have a building there under construction & the young architect handling CA is doing a bang up job. Combine that with my 2 buildings for that client, & we look on paper like a formidable team.
Big thing I need to keep my eye on is the soft marketing. Making sure when the student center at our WVa client comes out, we know about it 6 months ahead of time. Make contacts with my other clients & see what they have coming out, that sort of thing. Both principals agreed that I'm posititioning myself with the firm to be in line for a principalship in the future, which is exactly my goal!
No such issue - he started by saying he is 110% pleased with the work I'm doing! It went up hill from there. I hope to make associate this summer when they review promotions. I also hope to make more interview teams & assist more with marketing. On Monday the 20th, we're interviewing for a job with a local university who's recently been a client of mine. That same client has another project coming out later this year, plus another client of mine has a building coming out this summer that we are positioning ourselves for. We have a building there under construction & the young architect handling CA is doing a bang up job. Combine that with my 2 buildings for that client, & we look on paper like a formidable team.
Big thing I need to keep my eye on is the soft marketing. Making sure when the student center at our WVa client comes out, we know about it 6 months ahead of time. Make contacts with my other clients & see what they have coming out, that sort of thing. Both principals agreed that I'm posititioning myself with the firm to be in line for a principalship in the future, which is exactly my goal!
Friday, March 03, 2006
Father/Daughter Dance
Just got home from the Girl Scout's Father/Daughter Dance. This is our 4th as my daughter is in 4th grade. I marvelled this year at how young & small the 1st grade girls look compared to my big girl. She's grown up & is so beautiful its hard to imagine...
We had a blast as usual. My best friend is the DJ & his daughter is in 5th grade. We dance a little, chat a lot, generally have almost as much fun as the girls! The highlight this year is the High School Musical soundtrack. Imagine 50 girls, ages 6 to 12, all singing and dancing in unison to a movie they've all seen at least 10 times. My friends & I can't believe that not only has every single girl seen it, they all know the dance moves and words to all the songs. Incredible!
Couple of funny things happened - this a Catholic school & Ash Wednesday was this past Wednesday. Most Catholics fast from meat on Friday's during Lent. The out-of-touch moms who organized the dance served spaghetti & meatballs Friday night! I let my daughter have the meatballs & I had just spaghetti with no sauce, although I think they had a meatless sauce. I'm not big on red sauce to begin with & then if it doesn't have meat in it!
Secondly, my buddy the DJ & his ex-wife LOVE to dance. They are quite good at it as well, ball-room type dancing with lots of movement. Anyway, he was teaching his daughter to dance more than the usual round & round in circles like the rest of us were doing.
Lastly, one girl whom I've coached at basketball & is a real sweetheart told me I dance better than her dad! I felt honored because he's a professional musician & even though I played percussion in school, he may have more rythm than I.
We had a blast as usual. My best friend is the DJ & his daughter is in 5th grade. We dance a little, chat a lot, generally have almost as much fun as the girls! The highlight this year is the High School Musical soundtrack. Imagine 50 girls, ages 6 to 12, all singing and dancing in unison to a movie they've all seen at least 10 times. My friends & I can't believe that not only has every single girl seen it, they all know the dance moves and words to all the songs. Incredible!
Couple of funny things happened - this a Catholic school & Ash Wednesday was this past Wednesday. Most Catholics fast from meat on Friday's during Lent. The out-of-touch moms who organized the dance served spaghetti & meatballs Friday night! I let my daughter have the meatballs & I had just spaghetti with no sauce, although I think they had a meatless sauce. I'm not big on red sauce to begin with & then if it doesn't have meat in it!
Secondly, my buddy the DJ & his ex-wife LOVE to dance. They are quite good at it as well, ball-room type dancing with lots of movement. Anyway, he was teaching his daughter to dance more than the usual round & round in circles like the rest of us were doing.
Lastly, one girl whom I've coached at basketball & is a real sweetheart told me I dance better than her dad! I felt honored because he's a professional musician & even though I played percussion in school, he may have more rythm than I.
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