Registered: Feb 2003
Location: Vista, CA
Posts: 5516

Tal Tales
Changes can be stressful

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Registered: Apr 2005
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Posts: 13630

That's the thing about life. Enjoy how bad it is now because it can always get worse.

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Registered: Feb 2003
Location: Vista, CA
Posts: 5516

Oh, I'm under no illusion that my life is bad. I mean, I had a breakdown, and I'm lucky enough to have the resources that I could be in another car within a week or so. Life is fantastic, no question. It's just the weeks of stress (mostly self-inflicted, honestly) which are difficult.

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Registered: Mar 2004
Location: USA
Posts: 34928

You murdered the guy who sold you the car, didn't you?

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Registered: Sep 2003
Location: Rancho CucAmonga, CA
Posts: 475

Housewarming party at Tals!

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Registered: Apr 2004
Location: Hadal
Posts: 18531

Dude. That story could be the screenplay for the next Die Hard movie.

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Registered: Feb 2003
Location: Vista, CA
Posts: 5516

I've never claimed to lead a riveting, action-packed life.

That house we liked ended up being sold to someone else, but there are many, many others around here, and more popping up every day. We're meeting with a loan officer on Friday to get pre-approved. Then we start shopping in earnest.

It's a scary notion, to be honest, but between relatives with expertise in electrical and carpentry trades and co-workers who know a lot about inspecting and modifying houses, I suspect we can avoid buying a lemon.

The minivan has been...well, interesting. We had an oil leak behind the timing belt cover repaired (the only thing which was really wrong with it, according to the inspection). The belt then slipped two teeth within a week. Took it back to the folks who did the repair, and they made it right for free (as is appropriate, given that the slip was due to a mistake they made). Then an injector on the other side of the engine started failing intermittently.

The mechanic replaced that, but asked us not to pay him yet. He wants us to drive the van for a few weeks and make sure that the problem is actually fixed. If so, *then* we pay him. If not, we bring it back and he figures it out.

I like this mechanic. And it does seem that his injector replacement did the job.

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Registered: Dec 2002
Location:
Posts: 21876

St. Talarohk passes another miracle.

It is good that they be chronicled as they occur - it will make the beatification go so much more smoothly.

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Registered: Feb 2003
Location: Vista, CA
Posts: 5516

We have a bid in on a house.
I didn't know about short sales, and they're interesting. Just in case anyone else doen't know (and because I am pedantic by nature), here's what I've found out.

A short sale is when a person who owes more on a house than it is worth tries to sell it for whatever they can and convince the lienholders to forgive the rest of the debt. Apparently, they've generally been pretty uncommon (logically enough, as banks are not happy to forgive debt). However, with the current real estate market, they're becoming more common.

Apparently it is difficult and expensive for a bank to foreclose on a property. They have to pay tens of thousands in various fees, the owners can make it very difficult, and then they have to sell the property at auction, where they may not get much for it. Given all that, there are apparently circumstances when the bank decides it would be better to take the best offer they can get, get the house off their hands, and deal with the loss separately.

Around here, there are so many foreclosures (San Diego saw a HUGE housing boom, prices went nuts, and there were an awful lot of subprime loans made) that lienholding banks are ready to deal. Given that prices are still dropping fast, banks already have many foreclosed properties in their inventories, and few people are buying, the time is right for a short sale.

We've put in a bid on just such a sale. I guess what typically happens is that the bank sits on it for a few weeks to a month to see if any better offers come in, and if not, they decide whether it's worth it to them. Hopefully, we'll hear back in a few weeks--if not, there are plenty of other properties in the area, and we're not utterly attached to this one.

Good time to be a homebuyer. I never thought we'd be able to afford it around here.

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Registered: Mar 2004
Location: USA
Posts: 34928

Patience pays.

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Registered: Feb 2003
Location: Vista, CA
Posts: 5516

That's what we're hoping. The only urgency we feel is on two accounts: One, we have locked a very good rate for a mortgage right now, and we'd like to be able to use it before it expires and we have to get a new rate (which will probably be higher), and Two, we want to get into this market before investors start coming in (as they have cash, and we can't compete with a cash offer).

Other than that, we're in no huge hurry.

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