Monday, January 16, 2017

We bought a house, and a menu plan

Because really, what would Monday be without a menu plan? :-) And yes, it happened!!! We went very uncomfortably above our asking price, and our offer was accepted! Now we're in the phase of, oh my goodness, this is actually happening. . . . It's not uncommon in our area to bid on 20+ houses, so we were skeptical until we received the final notice that our offer was accepted. We actually found out when we received an automated MLS query update, marking our house as "pending". Technology. ;-)

In other news, we haven't sold our stock market investments yet for our down payment. . . see above note about needing to bid on 20+ houses to get an approved offer. We know many people who looked for over a year, so it doesn't make sense to have a liquid portfolio for that period of time. And, fingers crossed that the market holds steady next week during the inauguration? We also had to agree to a 25 day closing, so things are moving VERY quickly. I spent today gathering paperwork, getting homeowners insurance, and getting the earnest money sorted out on a bank holiday. Of course it's a bank holiday in the US! :-) Wouldn't be a challenge if it was easy.

The market we are buying in is like nothing I've ever seen, and this is my 5th home purchase. . . Speaking of which, we are working to get out of our lease on our rental property & our landlord is fabulous. We're hopeful that we will only need to cover an additional month's rent. Given the inventory of the housing market & general competitiveness on housing, it's near impossible to predict when you will actually buy. So, being out an extra month's rent, while not ideal, is probably best case scenario.

I also think we will sell our Seattle house when our tenant's lease expires at the end of the school year. It's a great investment, and we'd love to hang onto it. But, things will be uncomfortably tight if we do. Lots of financial analysis ahead on that front. I did sell $45 worth of Facebook items, so just right on track for that deposit. ;-)

So, chaos. There you have it. :-) I'll have a bigger update on the financial chaos, our new budget, our mad scramble for a downpayment, etc. But, we're about to become homeowners again, and knowing the path forward (at least in the housing sense) is a huge, huge relief for all of us. The kids are thrilled to be able to stay in the same school district.

Yesterday was another super early soccer tournament, in the 32 degree weather. I got up at 5:00, and we were out of the house by 5:40. The game was much colder than anyone expected (including the weather forecasters). Sam was like a popsicle afterward. He's subbing for the premier league (one up from the league he plays in - top 30 teams in the state, so ridiculously intense), & was on the bench for half of the game. He typically doesn't sub out at his own level, and stays warm by playing for the full hour. I ended up needing to stop at Target for an undershirt for the second game. Didn't get above 40, and was crazy foggy all day. His team lost both games, and will be in sudden death next weekend. Mixed feelings on my side for what happens next. So done with the tournament season! :-) I did pack lunches, brought my Panera gift card, and kept things pretty in check yesterday, minus the unexpected clothes/gloves. Also, my Starbucks app failed a few times while I was in line & I didn't have my gift card on hand, so I ended up having to pay $7 cash for my hot tea & hot cocoa for Sam.

And, a glimpse at the fields at 7:30 am (and, 30 degrees). . . the boys couldn't see if anyone was further up the field to pass to. It was a classic. There was a lot of shouting & asking.


  • Friday - spaghetti & meatballs (tomato sauce is homemade, meatballs are from Costco)
  • Saturday - at a friend's house for dinner. I brought dessert - fresh lemon cake. It was fantastic.
  • Sunday  - M made kebabs & rice
  • Monday - I made a super delicious chicken & potato chowder, and served it with goat cheese crostini. 
  • Tuesday - leftover spaghetti & meatballs
  • Wednesday - leftovers kebabs & rice
  • Thursday - Leftover soup
  • Friday - Tacos or taco salad. TBD. 

And with that, what were you up to this weekend? How is the housing market where you are at? Is it a buyers market, or a sellers market? Our market is now over $1000/sq foot, which is just sheer madness. 

28 comments:

  1. Congrats on the house! That is an insane amount of money per square foot. This week will be great for the stock market. Since Trump was elected, the stock market has done so awesome! It is totally a sellers market here. A lot of people sell their own houses on Facebook because of the high demand.

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    1. It is a crazy housing market - I can't believe it. The lack of inventory is what makes it so crazy, especially at the "lower end".

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  2. Congratulations on the new home! I am assuming all difficult decisions were made!
    You post made me curious so I looked up what the average per sq ft. price is in my little burb. It is about 155 per square, which explains why everyone who is transferred here from some areas of the west coast buy McMansions. Have to to keep from paying capital gains taxes I imagine.

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    1. The variance is so wild between locations. The house we bought is slightly bigger than we'd wanted, but given the inventory (read: zero other houses), we settled on slightly bigger. ;-)

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  3. BIG congratulations! Less than a month of paperwork/money craziness though and you'll be through it. I hope you'll do a "house tour" for us one of these days.

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    1. Thanks!! And, will definitely do a house tour once we're moved in.

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  4. Congratulations! I'm happy your decision making is done on the home front. I know you have other decisions forthcoming for work so good luck there.

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    1. It feels really, really good to know where we're going to live. As soon as we close & can get through the paperwork, it will feel even better!

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  5. Yay for the new house! You must be relieved to have that accomplished...and will be more relieved once it is all settled! Cannot wait to see pictures and read about all your new plans! =)

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    1. Most definitely - it feels great to know the location, and once we close.. . it will be glorious!

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  6. When you said you were making an offer I about had a stroke thinking you'd now have three mortgages to pay...Egads! So glad you are selling one of your houses. It should make life a lot easier. Congrats! 8-)

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    1. I thought of you when I posted. Should have had a Sluggy disclaimer. ;-) Yes, we will sell the other house, but there will be a lot of required frugality until that happens. Will give me a chance to really hone my frugal skills. Nothing wrong with that!

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  7. Oh congratulations on making the decision and winning the house bid! Now you all can start moving forward. One month is not too bad; we had to do that when we sold and bought as well. Tight for one month, then all was well. Cannot wait to hear more about it.

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    1. Thanks! It is crazy during these days, but will be over soon. :-)

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  8. Congratulations on the new home. I hope everything goes smoothly. I can't imagine having to move in 25 days. Yikes!

    $1000. a sq. ft. is sheer madness.

    Your menu looks yummy too. That potato and chicken chowder sounds so good. I will have to look up a recipe for it.

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    1. There's a link to the soup in my post, actually. It was great, so I definitely recommend.

      Oh, the housing situation is just absolute craziness.

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  9. Yeah, I;m happy it worked out for you. Im sure the kids are happy too to stay in their schools.

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    1. Thank you! And yes, the kids are so very excited to stay in their schools.

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  10. Congratulations!!!!! Both scary and wonderful at the same time but now both of you can start making firm life plans instead of "what ifs" which I am sure was starting to drive you both batty. And money spent on an undershirt to keep a kid warm and tea and cocoa on a hot day is smart money in my books :)

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    1. Absolutely - getting rid of the unknown has been a huge relief. In the short term, I've traded it for other problems (financial juggling & paperwork & moving), but great in the long term.

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  11. PS you should complain to starbucks about the app...they might do something about it

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  12. Yeah! Here's to many happy years of California sunshine and copious quantities of natural Vitamin D! Sounds pretty heavenly (cost aside) from my vantage point in the Arctic tundra!!! :)

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    1. California definitely has its upside. Cost excluded, of course. ;-)

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  13. Congratulations on both the house, and a new sure-to-increase-in-value asset. The Bay area is in a clasd totally unto it's self. We owned a home there in the 80's, and when we sold it received multiple above-asking offers within days. That was the most fun we ever had with a home transaction, so now that you're 'in' it should be all good. ☺

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    1. It's just crazy. I find it so hard to even understand the logic of the pricing, but it is what it is. If people are willing to pay the asking price (or higher), that's the free market value.

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  14. Oh wow! Congratulations. The year of big decisions and big changes started off right away :)

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    1. Ha! So true. We saw this house before the holidays & agreed to think about it while we were on vacation. It has one element we don't love (a low roof line, which was common in the bay area to keep the house cool without air conditioning), but we opted to go for the lot & overall house, which is great.

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  15. HUGE congratulations! Is it weird that I'm utterly pleased that you're able to settle in now, so you're going to be a long term blog "neighbor"? It's just nice knowing that there are decent people in our area1

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