Apartment Hunting Sucks/Apartment Hunting Rocks

Coming Soon

2009-05-18T11:40:00.002-04:00

They say that if you don't force yourself to put yourself out there than sometimes things never happen.

So it is with that that I announce I am in the process of writing "Apartment Hunting Rocks / Apartment Hunting Sucks" The musical.

OK, i'm not writing a musical, but I am turning our adventures in home buying into a real book to share with the world.

No more information than that...but I've put it out there.

Stay tuned...

Sure the recession bites, but...

2008-12-29T16:04:00.003-05:00

But that doesn't mean we can't enjoy something sweet.

Some clever guys I know over at FRESHTHRILLS LLC (and this isn't a plug just because I happen to do a lot of work with them and may have been involved in the project), came up with a fun way to find some cheer during this time where it's lacking.

And since the project is getting some props in some cool design blogs, I'd be rather amiss not to hype it up in my own.

So please, take a moment and check it out.

And who knows...maybe you can pick up some of your own in the very near future...

http://blog.freshthrills.com/

Mortgage Rates going down!

2008-12-29T14:16:00.002-05:00

It's been a while, and not much exciting stuff to report.

But got an interesting and exciting call from my mortgage broker on Friday.

Looks like interest rates on mortgages are going down for people with good credit, so if you have a mortgage and are paying a higher rate, it might be worthwhile to talk to your guy (or girl) and see about getting a lower amount. We might be able to lower ours by over a point which can result in savings of over $4,000 a year!

Our first sleepover

2008-11-18T20:49:00.003-05:00

Jackie and John stayed over last weekend, our first guests ever (staying over, not actually in the apartment).

They wanted to practice their salsa dancing, so we videotaped it.

your welcome.

A bunch for Brunch

2008-09-28T21:50:00.005-04:00

Amanda pointed out that just because we have finally moved in, doesn't mean the blog has to stop.
So with that, wanted to just post that we are getting settled in to the apartment, and it's slowly but surely coming together. As I've already said, we're completely out of our boxes, and now we're in the process of hanging up our artwork. Well, to clarify, we are waiting on Ronnie (our designer) to come and tell us where he thinks the artwork should go. (This basically means that once again I have no say in much).

However, my aeron chair came today so I'm a happy pappy.

We had friends over today, our first guests for Brunch. The Barishes brought Max, and the Gedans brought Ari, and we had bagels, lox, quinoa muffins, cake, coffee and enough stuff to make your stomach stuffed for a long time.

Later in the afternoon Amanda's brother came over with Gabey the baby and the rest of the family.

Here are some pics

All moved in!

2008-09-21T22:52:00.008-04:00

So...

After a year of planning, executing, renovating, fighting with the neighbors and god knows what else...I'm happy to report that Amanda and I are FINALLY all moved in.

It's pretty friggin wild.

And we don't really wait to get everything done. We're basically done. Seriously.
Here are about twenty pics of the apartment as it stands. Basically we have to throw out the broken down boxes and then hang up our artwork.

So check it out, and enjoy...there's still more to come. It's really really weird to be in new place.

Oh yeah, the move wasn't completely 'hitch-less.' they couldn't fit our box spring and headboard up the stairs, so we are currently sleeping on our mattress on the floor. It's cozy in a college dorm-room kind of way.

Luckily, we are taking tomorrow off so we can relax and recover, which is good b/c Amma has gotten a bit of a cold from all the dust. Oh...and we mustn't fortget that there is now photograph proof that I am capable of doing a few handy things, as evidenced by my putting a desk together, installing shelves into the cainets, and installing a garbage rack into the sink cabinet door. I know you are saying 'big deal, a 10 year old can do that Matt,' to which i have to say, 'eat it.'

Countdown to Move day

2008-09-20T08:53:00.003-04:00

So Quick update.

Amanda and I are getting all our furniture today and are currently awaiting the electrician to come and fix one final problem. Hopefully we'll be good after that.
Yesterday we unpacked a lot of stuff, got the cable set up, went to Fairway, (and spent a fortune) before heading back to the city broken down and battered.

Thought we'd share a picture of our 'picnic' lunch and a video of the apartment.

Pictures!

2008-09-16T08:07:00.007-04:00

As promised, the latest pictures from the home.

Final Kitchen images. You can now the final new wood panels with hardware, plus the newly installed wine fridge. (Nice!)

This is the 'chandelier' in the dining room plus shelving in the living room.

The fancy chandelier in the closet room and the french doors.

Our kick ass bathroom (a little different than how it used to look)

older bathroom:

Moving out (Redux)

2008-09-15T15:32:00.001-04:00

Woke up this morning with extraordinarily sore muscles. The result of a weekend long full of moving stuff out of our current home (Amanda’s parents) and up three flights of stairs to our new one. Of course that’s three flights of stairs times 20, so it can tire a person out.

Luckily for us, we had some help on Saturday as our movers who were going to lend us a van (but the van had some faulty brakes so he wouldn’t let us drive it) offered to come down and help out, so luckily they did most of the heavy lifting. This is good, considering that just carrying up the 15 or so boxes from an SUV was exhausting enough and I can’t fathom what it would have been like to carry the 8 wardrobe boxes and other assorted things. The good news is that we didn’t break anything (and I’m referring to both any of our china dishes or body parts).

It’s been kind of weird to realize that we are just 5 days from moving for real and that it’s all-final. We’ve been working on this for months, and it’s actually been about a year since we went into contract. Amazing how long this process takes.

Sunday we had our first co-op meeting and I have to say it wasn’t that bad. All the bad blood with our neighbor has partially evaporated as we are now I think just all trying to ‘get along,’ and although I have no doubt the tension is still there and under the surface, we’re doing our best to just move forward and have a positive experience there. That and the man who’s a nightmare is sick, and it’s probably bad karma to fight with someone who is not healthy. Either way, I think we’re trying to put that chapter behind us and start to focus on the future. I will say though that I had no idea about how complicated being a homeowner really is.

Tonight I’ll post some more pictures of the final apartment (pre-furniture) and then next week we’ll post some pictures of the move and where we are at.

Until then…

Finally! A pot to...

2008-09-12T16:28:00.002-04:00

Poor Amanda left our apartment at 6:45 am to meet the cleaning crew who was there to clean up in the wake of the cessation of construction work yesterday. But the good news is that our humble abode is clean, beautiful, and complete! (99% at least).

While there have been some minor dust ups with our plumber, I'm proud to say that as of 3:34 pm, we officially have a working bathroom, complete with running water, and a toilet you can poop in!

More pics of the final place to come, but here's a quick shot from her iPhone of the new toilet and sink.

Awesome.

15 days to go! (not that anyone's counting)

2008-09-05T08:56:00.002-04:00

So a few more pictures to share from last night. Might be hard to see how much progress has been made in the bathroom but it's 95% done!

Also, the mirrored doors in the closet room went up.

These are the last pictures to see before the sink, toilet and shower head have been installed.
Enjoy. Amanda and I off to Boston for the weekend.

19 days and counting!

2008-09-01T14:18:00.000-04:00

So the final countdown is on! It's September 1st and we are officially moving in on September 20th. As you can see from the pictures above, the bathroom is almost done, and we are officially getting ready to move.

it's labor day, which makes sense since Amanda and I have spent most of the day cleaning out all our stuff that is at her parents. It's amazing how much stuff accumulates over 7 months. (Yes, you read that correctly, it's been 7 months!).

well there hasn't really been too much to tell, luckily it has been quiet and things have calmed down with our neighbors. We actually have our first board meeting next weekend so that should be interesting to say the least.

That's all for now...we're going back on Thursday to meet with the contractor and go over everything and then Friday the plumber's coming to hook everything up. We're having a professional cleaning crew next Friday and then Sat the 20th it's on!

New pics from the homefront

2008-08-16T21:17:00.006-04:00

Amanda is away in the berkshires, so I went to visit the pad. Long day, tired, took Chester Copperpot out for a spin and now just want to go watch tv. so here are some pics of the apartment. THe kitchen looks like it is almost done (wood coverings are in place...just need the hardware so we can actually open the door!).

The closets were installed in the closet room which was pretty awesome, and the bathroom is slowly but surely progresing. Hopefuly be end of next week the tiling will be done.

Look and enjoy. And stay safe.

BTW...to help you see how far the kitchen has come, i've included what the kitchen looked like before we started.

Move-in date suckers!

2008-08-14T22:33:00.002-04:00

Hey all,

No new pics just yet, and no new dramatic stories, but we've got a move in date of September 20th! (No, no party scheduled just yet, but that will come soon!).

Basically, we think the apartment will be done in a week and a half, and then we get the bathroom stuff fully connected and then boom it's golden. (Of course we need to have it cleaned, change some filters on some A/Cs, have a voodoo priestess come in and get rid of evil spirits).

So that's the latest...

For lack of having any new video or pics..here's Amanda skydiving

Bathroom in progress

2008-08-10T12:59:00.002-04:00

Amanda and I finally picked up our new bikes which her folks got us for our anniversary, and went for a ride in prospect park. Amanda named her bike Andy and mine is named Chester Copperpot.

We also stopped by the apartment to see the progress on the place. The bathroom is coming together, as they are building the wall and even put up the first layer of the subway tile. Hopefully by next week's end, that will be done!

Enjoy the pics!

Almost there! (lots and lots of pics)

2008-08-06T09:52:00.009-04:00

Well, Great news! Amanda and I went to visit the apartment last night and we can say that it is looking really really amazing. Every time we go by there it feels more and more like a home and last night just really hit home. (no bad pun intended). Even with all the nonsense and crazy neighbors, it hasn't mattered, and we really just can't wait to get in there and be over with. (We even ran into crazy neighbor last night and it was very cordial).

It's really amazing to see everything come together, from the tv being mounted (yes, dorks i know), to the finished paint job, the new closets (you would never know they were never there), the new radiators (who would've thought you could get excited about those?) and fans, it's all really coming together. After this week, the only big thing left will be the bathroom, but at least that has a floor!

So enjoy the new pics, plus a video of our new track lighting.

More Pics and the latest

2008-07-28T11:08:00.003-04:00

Ok

Some pics from last Friday at the apartment.

As you can see, the place is really starting to come along. (Or maybe you can't see...sometimes the pictures don't show much).

We had some real slow downs with our plumber. Our first plumber failed to get back to us, and then this new plumber who was awesome, took a few days to get started. But now he's come in and gotten the ball rolling, so I'm hoping that this week (week of July 28th), we can FINALLY start the bathroom.

Much of the rest of the apartment is coming along nicely. The apartment has been painted and the closets in the + room and second bedroom are almost complete. You can see the doors on the + room below. We've also had closet people come in and give us a quote and hopefully that will start soon.

One really cool thing was we had the old giant radiators removed from the two bedrooms. they were humongous contraptions that took up most of the room and made it virtually impossible to put anything near them. We've now removed them and put new ones into the walls. They were a little expensive, but it was one of those things that i think was worth it.

Not sure what else to report here...Amanda and I are just really looking forward for this coming to a close. Oh yeah, we also moved the washer and dryer from the linen closet into the coat closet in the hallway, so that's kind of neat too.

We're just excited to see this all come to a close soon, and Amanda is looking forward to saging (if i have that term correctly, using sage to rid the apartment of bad energy and what not) and putting in good energy, which we'll need considering who are neighbor is. The good news is that we have had minor contact with them since the trespassing issue, and my Agata or anxiety that I feel when i come home has become less and less. That will take some time, but I think we are realizing that this is our apartment and our building, regardless of who else lives there.

until next time.

More Pics!

2008-07-16T22:18:00.004-04:00

Sorry we have been devoid of stories lately. There is actually some new drama, mostly revolving around one of our neighbors trespassing, but I do realize that we've kept the bulk of that drama for the book! in the meantime, here are photos from Monday, and more to come today!

As you'll see, the electricians have come in and gotten us new circuit breakers, the walls are being painted, the bathroom still has a looong way to go, and we're still living with our in-laws.

Pictures!

2008-07-01T20:42:00.004-04:00

Latest Pictures from the homefront!

Moved the fridge, and built shelf to go above. rebuilding

Though you can not see the context of location...this is the spot demarcated for our television.

paint swatches...we are going with 'etiqutte.' (yeah, exactly).

The new closet in the plus room.

Side view of new closet in second bedroom. Kid tested...

Matt Approved!

Happy Trash day...I mean Anniversary

2008-06-24T08:12:00.006-04:00

So a little diversion from the normal drama of our apartment renovations and a humorous story to share.

If you can believe it, yesterday marked our one year anniversary. Seems like just yesterday we had all our friends and family together in the Berkshires and were partying away like it was 2007. Here we are, a year later, and to celebrate Amanda and I went to dinner at an Italian restaurant in the east villi age, a real Sicilian place similar to some that we found on our trip.

We ate an amazing meal, I started with prosciutto and fresh mozzarella, Amanda had the portabello mushroom, and for dinner she had salmon and I had Penne with eggplant and fresh mozzarella , just like they make in Sicily. We passed on dessert because we knew we had our wedding cake waiting for us.

This is the good part.

So it's a normal tradition to save a piece of the cake, freeze it and eat it on your one year anniversary. After the wedding, special care was taken to properly wrap and freeze the cake, and it has laid dormant in the Berkshires for the past 362 days. This weekend, Amanda's parents went up to the Berkshires, and brought the cake home for us. Sunday night, we put the cake into the fridge, to let it begin its process of thawing, and we figured that on Monday if we left it out, by the evening it would be ready to eat.

Then it dawned on us, to perhaps have the housekeeper take it out mid-day (since she'll be there anyway), so it's not sitting out the entire day. Amanda left a note saying, "please take the cake out of the fridge before you leave."

When we get home, we look in the fridge, and we see no cake. We look around the kitchen. No cake. Look in the freezer. No cake. The only thing we do see is a bag of trash that wasn't thrown out that is sitting on top of the counter.

"Did she throw our cake out?" we ask ourselves. Maybe she misunderstood us saying, "please take the cake out of the fridge before you leave." for "please take the cake out of the fridge and throw it away in the garbage before you leave."

So Amanda looks in the garbage bag, and sure enough, in a smaller Duane Reade garbage cake, is our butchered cake. We go through a series of emotions in the span of five minutes: Confusion, Anger, Denial, Pleading, and of course acceptance, followed by heaping doses of laughter.

But the story goes on...

So we eat the cake. (Remember now, that I have yet to even TRY the cake at the wedding, as Amanda and my Sister-in-law Rebbecca stole my piece). And for wedding cake it's not bad. For wedding cake that's been sitting in the garbage for a few hours it's not bad at all. I had asked for a peanut butter layer and i did get it.

Finally...we decide to throw out the cake. As we're cleaning up, Amanda finds a note that says, "Amanda, thanks for the cake." Turns out she mistook "please take the cake out of the fridge before you leave." for "Please take the cake out of the fridge before you leave, take some home for yourself, and then throw the rest out in the trash."

Home "On No You Didn't" Depot

2008-06-19T10:46:00.002-04:00

It's time for Amma's first rant. Home Depot. Why, oh why, do you employ people who have NO idea what customer service is. Why do you have your staff wear bright orange aprons, trying to look like you can be found, when in reality, I can never find someone to help me in the store. Home Depot, why do your employees ALL not care about their job, making it VERY difficult for me to get anywhere with anyone. When I call your main number, why can't I press the extension I want from the very beginning-you make me wait until I hear the whole dang recorded message before I'm allowed to press my extension.

And where, oh where, is my beautiful white glass chandelier that you tried to deliver, but didn't, and then restocked it without calling me and now it's out of stock and you don't know when it will be in stock, and the manager is out today. WHY????????

Now, as my yoga teacher said last night in class, to surrender to the little annoyances and not let them ruin your day. So that's exactly what I'm doing. I know I'll get the chandelier somehow. I'm putting that out into the universe!

Renovations week 1.2

2008-06-19T07:07:00.006-04:00

Some new pics from renovations.

The hallway already looks bigger!

At least now we have a pot to piss in. But where do we wash our hands?

New wall in the second bedroom.

Radiators will end up under window, opening up the room.

Demolition Pics

2008-06-16T13:42:00.006-04:00

Sledgehammer

2008-06-09T12:10:00.002-04:00

So much has happened in the past week it’s hard to know where to begin, so I guess I’ll just start where I can. This is not a very vivid or beautiful rendition of what really transpired, but I guess it’s better than nothing.

We closed on our apartment in the first week of May, and since then have been working hard to get started on our renovations. Amanda had gone away for two weeks for work and play and we got a little stalled while we were waiting. I went with our contractor to meet with two members from the board to show what we were planning on doing, and it was agreed that I needed to get copies of the contractor’s insurance, plus that of the plumber, and electrician as well.

We had run into a bit of a hold-up as our building had wanted our contractor to have Workman’s Comp, which he didn’t, although he did have liability insurance and has each of his employees sign an indemnification waiver in case anyone gets hurt on the job. There was some contention as to whether this was enough to adequately protect the building and it started to cause some hold up.

IN the meantime, we were trying to firm up our date to start construction, and were in a holding pattern as the building’s attorney and one of the tenants worked out the details. Valuable days were lost as our lawyer failed to contact the one tenant who has been a little bit of a pain. He’s a nice man but very anal and overly-protective, and on more than one occasion our contractor was not too happy.

We ran into problems b/c it was not clearly laid out before us what the rules of renovations were. In the beginning we were basically listed five bullet points, with no details and no information stating that we needed board approval on the work done. Amanda and I have always operated on a trust first theory, especially in something like this where we went through such a serious vetting process to get approved by our building, they basically know everything about us and our life situation. So it was frustrating that it appeared they didn’t trust us, and that we had to hold things up to get approval on work that was mainly cosmetic in nature. Now in retrospect I realize we could’ve been more organized, and I think I might have even dropped the ball on a few things that I promised, but none-the-less, the whole process almost got derailed last week.

I have to commend my neighbors for coming together to work with us to get approvals on our plans and accommodate us in a way that everyone felt comfortable and there were no hard feelings. After all, we do have to live with this people, right?

Wednesday night was our breaking point when we still didn’t know if we had approval or what they exactly needed from us, and the contractor is sitting there wondering what the hell was going on. We still needed to provide our board with the licenses from our electrician and plumber, and although we got the electricians, we couldn’t find the plumber, which just made us look shady. (Luckily we found out the next day he had just had dental work done and couldn’t get to the phone). Our board was getting uncomfortable and our pesky neighbor began to get offended by our insinuations that his obstinacy was the problem at hand. I had a nice chat with him on Wednesday night, settled everything, and agreed to come up with a plan to move forward.

By Friday everything was in good shape and we all agreed that if all the proper documents were signed we’d be great.

As of today, our contractor will be moving in his tools and equipment and tomorrow we begin demolition.

There is a much better story here to be told, but that comes when my book is written, as right now it’s a bit too painful to relive the past week.

Sure, A picture is worth a thousand words...

2008-06-05T11:16:00.003-04:00

But a video is worth a million.

More to come, but let's just say that dealing with a co-op board is stressful.

The latest.

2008-06-02T18:08:00.002-04:00

So we’ve been dealing with getting things in order for what we hope is our start date of next week, but we ran into some minor issues with one of our neighbors being a real stickler. Basically, he feels the need to be involved in EVERYTHING, which is annoying b/c he’s not even the president of the board.

I guess for me it’s an education b/c I’m definitely too nice and probably let myself get pushed around, and I’m discovering the difference b/w trying to be placating and also someone else crossing the line. There’s a difference b/w what is mandated by our board and what is mandated by this guy’s ‘comfortability’ level. It appears this guy has an opinion for everything. Our contractor calls him “Star Trek” because he appears to be on another planet.

That being said, we’re excited to get this project up and running. For our sakes, for humanity’s sake…let it begin now…

Construction begins!!! (Soon)

2008-05-28T15:15:00.001-04:00

Yikes.

It’s been a while since we’ve had a posting but mostly because there hasn’t been much to tell. (Our apologies to Mrs. Flaum who’s voiced her protest at the delay between postings)

Since the closing, we’ve just been getting our ducks in a row and figuring out all the building rules for construction (plus dealing with some over-zealous neighbors) and lining things up with our contractor.

Amanda’s excited to design our dream home and personally I’m excited to not have to do as much…although I did have the unfortunate experience of having to talk design in Amanda’s place while she was away for two weeks. My go-to line at this point is ‘whatever Amanda says.” It’s just like in my previous life, when all else failed I would say, ‘I’m just happy to be here!’

Not much else yet…we are hoping to break ground next week although I’m still waiting on one last piece of information from someone on our board. Ideally we wanted to move in by our anniversary, but now if we move in by god’s anniversary that will work too. (I’m not sure when God’s anniversary actually is…is that the new year…and what anniversary is it we’d be celebrating…anyway, I digress).

I’m not complaining about having to spend what I think will be an extra two months with my in-laws…it’s just that I’m complaining about having to spend an extra two-months with my in-laws.

Until next time.

Updated from the home front

2008-05-06T13:36:00.000-04:00

So the latest from the trenches is that we closed on Friday, to a mostly uneventful meet and greet. Actually completely uneventful. Closings are one of the more boring, things, and an attempt is made by so many people to make small talk when half the parties don’t want to be there.

I can honestly see why I’d make a terrible lawyer. (No offense to my love Abbey). The attention to detail and fine print involved is so important and the amount of things to sign and keep track of so vast, that it blows the mind.

The day started in Brooklyn, where Amanda and I met with our broker and the sellers and did our walkthrough. It was also non eventful, and kind of weird to see the place with the no furniture, but also awesome how much bigger the place really looked. Interestingly enough, we brought the camera to take pictures but decided against it…one of these odd choices in life, and I’m not sure.

Scratch that…my wife apparently took ‘some’ pictures of light fixtures and what not, but we didn’t get that many so I’ll leave it at that. We went through, tested the lights, the water, basically everything they tell you to test and it all seemed fine. I’m sure something will be off once we get there but that comes with the territory.

Then we had some time to kill with our broker so we got some coffee in Brooklyn and suddenly realized that everyone in the world has a baby carriage. Not that it should come as a shock the sheer amount of families and mothers here in Park slope, but I think this was the first time we were able to sit and relax and think about the area and see it for what it was. During the 45 minutes we had coffee, there were 10 different strollers coming in and out (which is tough when you find yourself always maneuvering and canoodling yourself out of the way) and at least 3 in the coffee shop kibitzing with friends.

Anyhow, the closing was uneventful…the seller was late which was fine since we were a little hesitant in meeting him since the whole ‘livid’ debacle. (We explained finally in detail to our broker what had happened and he said that if he had known then he would have conveyed better to them, but oh well). But he was actually very nice, cordial and quiet. The funniest part was that his lawyer didn’t come but sent an associate in his place, and the lawyer thought he was from a bank and didn’t let him set next to her at first b/c she was saving it for ‘her client.’ That was awesome.

So we signed a million papers, including some Talmudic law that said that since we were getting our mortgage from a Jewish firm, we weren’t allowed to be charged interest, so we weren’t actually getting a mortgage but actually going into a partnership for one day or something like that…a way of circumventing the rules of the bible. (I had forgotten to mention that our mortgage brokerage firm was very very Jewish…there were mezuzahs on the filing cabinets!). So it was very funny to say the least. Basically I think we were partners and paid them a $1 or something. Very odd.

And so the day went, rather uneventfully…Amanda and I had a lunch with our broker and then hopped on a plane to North Carolina for the weekend.

Thus, Part 1 of our adventure officially officially (intentionally repeated word) ends, and part 2 begins. This weekend we are going with our contractor and designer to pick out our sinks, toilets and other fun stuff, and hopefully we will begin renovations next week!

"I'm So Impressed!"

2008-05-01T15:37:00.003-04:00

This is a surprise post for Chew (I am making a rare guest blog appearance!)

The 2 people that read this blog (super YAY for Abbey for commenting on almost every post-lots of love for ya) should really know how super amazing and wonderful MattChew has been from the moment we put our bid down until now. I can't claim that I had much to do with the details of acquiring of the apartment, because I didn't really.

From the very beginning, Chew was on a mission to understand EVERYTHING involving apartment hunting-how and why it rocks, and of course, how/why it sucks. And then he sought to educate others! (the other being Abbey, who knows all this stuff anyway).

SO-I want to give a MAJOR shout out and props to my hubby CHEW-who is so friggin awesome for taking care of everything. You should feel very proud of yourself for this major accomplishment.

Now it's my turn with the renos!

PS. That is a picture of my adorable husband from our Honeymoon. It is also the face he will be making all day after our closing. (Babe, I almost chose the bathing cap one, but decided to be nice ;-)

It’s closing…it’s closing time!

2008-05-01T15:33:00.001-04:00

Ok…tomorrow it finally will happen.

The papers will be signed. The keys handed over. The deeds (shares) will be ours.

Hopefully as of this time tomorrow, Amma and I will officially be homeowners. And officially have bough the single most expensive thing in our entire lives. Luckily, this is one that has a great return and keeps its value!

This is short and sweet, but we are psyched, and barring our 915am walk through tomorrow morning being relatively uneventful, then all will be well.

Then we begin part 2 of our adventure, which will chronicle the renovations!

Crawling to the finish line

2008-04-29T17:25:00.002-04:00

It’s in site.

Friday at noon. Walk through Friday morning, then sign with these a-holes and call it a day.

It’s funny…we were patient with these people, waited months while rates went up, we had to move out of our apartment and in with her parents, and then they got upset b/c we postponed 4 days. Our lawyer told theirs that they ‘had a lot of nerve’ to get upset or up in arms about this. You can here that angry Jewish man yelling!

Best part is, well we hear that the seller’s are what some people call ‘excitable.’ Our lawyer said their lawyer can’t stand them and just wants to ‘get rid of them.’

A-holes.

Anyhow…celebration time begins!

Of course, then so do renovations.

Shaving off a few days

2008-04-28T15:32:00.001-04:00

In solidarity to no one but myself, I’ve decided to stop shaving until we close this friggin apartment. Granted, this will probably happen on Thursday or Friday so it’s not that as big of a gesture as maybe going on a hunger strike or giving up meat for 40 days, but it’s something I can tell myself to keep my sanity while we wait for the final pieces to fall.
Ok, perhaps it’s also the fact that I’m being incredibly lazy and don’t feel like shaving.

(I made this pact to myself this morning…so I really only have about three days of growth).

F-in A, dude

2008-04-24T14:29:00.004-04:00

So the drama of our mortgage is yet to subside.

We were all planned for a closing on Monday but due to some unforeseen changes in market rates, we had to adjust and move some things around.

This has caused some last minute, round the clock work on our end to try and bring the closing to an end still on time.

Unfortunately, it looks like we might have to postpone our closing by about 24 or 48 hours. Or at least that’s what we wanted.

Instead, the seller’s attorney wanted to do on the 7th, and frankly, that leaves the seller’s ‘livid.’ I got a call from our real estate broker who kindly vented to me the seller’s frustration at the last minute change in the situation. I tried to reinforce back that we have been more than patient with the sellers in the fact that we delayed the closing by months so they can finish their renovations. Hell, we moved in with Amanda’s parents! I subjected myself to her grandmother in her bathrobe and endless 3 hour conversations.

I can see it from the seller’s point of view. They have two kids and its hard to move things around, but this is just the nature of the beast. We didn’t say anything how that when we put the bid down market rates were down and as we couldn’t lock in a rate since we couldn’t settle on a date the rates went up, which is part of the reason this whole rigmarole began in the first place. Part of me just wants to say “Eat it” because we’ve had to upend our own lives as well. We bid in October, and were accommodating enough to make it work. Hell, we’re being accommodating by pushing the walkthrough to the day of the closing…b/c they needed extra time to pack. Imagine if we found the place was messed up on that day? What a nightmare that would be!

If they don’t want to wait until the 7th, then perhaps they should have their lawyer find a partner to cover for them on the 30th. And they technically don’t even have to be there, since it’s really just about giving them their checks. I guess it’s just frustrating because our broker relayed to us that there is now some “hostility” b/w them and us, as if this was something we planned. It’s an usual situation, but due to the outrageous unpredictability of the market and banks, we needed to change the structure of things.

If they want to be upset, that is fine. Truth be told, this will be done soon and we’ll have our apartment.

But now I feel better at having vented. Shheeeat.

To make myself feel better, I've included a clip that make me laugh.

Stressed!

2008-04-22T12:45:00.001-04:00

So we are approaching the end of the closing process and I am approaching the end of my ropes.

I know it’s the little final details that bring this all together so I’m trying to keep my head as I wait for the storm to pass.

It’s just the frustration of all the little things that need to get done!

Monday can’t come soon enough.

I put this little ditty online that makes me laugh. It’s from the place where our wedding was, but not from our wedding.

I don't know if we're going to have enough time...

2008-04-17T17:47:00.002-04:00

It’s been a while since I’ve written anything and so I will do my best to encapsulate everything that has been going on.

When we last left off we were still living on a prayer, I mean living in an office, with our stuff scattered everywhere. This was due of course to Amanda’s grandparents coming to stay with us. It was nice to have them there, but we weren’t exactly devastated when it was time for things to get back to ‘normal.’ It’s funny in retrospect now what my concept of normal is…right now ‘normal’ is just living in the same apartment with your in-laws vs. real normal which is having your own place.

I will say that this experience has taught me a lot, and I think it will make me value and appreciate our new apartment when and if we finally get there.

I say “IF” of course, because a lot has happened in the past week.

On Saturday we went with our contractor to look at the apartment and scope out the renovations we would like to do. It’s a lot. New bathroom (including an expansion into the second bedroom), painting the whole place, new lighting fixtures, building closets in the “+” room, and a whole lot more. I could list it out, but it’s too much right now. We are now waiting to see his bid, and hoping that he comes in for our “number.” Ideally, we want to use this guy as he has done work for Amanda before, and since he is a tenant of my father-in-law’s building, we know where to find him and don’t have to worry about him running off. But…if the numbers come in too high and we aren’t happy, then we’re going to have one or two more contractors come in and bid as well. On the same note, we are in the process of figuring out the minatue of what our co-op does and doesn’t allow for renovations. One of their stipulations is that they expect a homeowner to be present during renovations, which is of course unrealistic. Well at least if they want us to be able to afford our mortgage.

At the same time we are putting the final touches on our mortgage and getting everything ready for the closing on the 28th. This has involved my taking up a lot of time talking to lawyers, brokers, and basically taking care of all the little details including getting home owners insurance, life insurance, securing our final 10% down payment and god knows what else.

This weekend Amanda and I are going tile shopping, thus officially turning me into Frank the tank from Old school. “It should be a nice day, some tiling, some lunch, maybe look at paints, but I’m not sure if we’re going to have enough tiiime.”

Pain in the neck.

2008-04-10T16:31:00.003-04:00

Note to self:

To fully express what the past week has been like for Amanda and I requires a camera, and quite frankly I keep forgetting to take a picture of our current domicile. This partially could be due to not having had a good night sleep since Sunday.

I admit that Monday night I was able to get the bed part of the day bed on, but when I awoke on Tuesday to find Amanda gone (having slept on the couch in the living room) the Jewish guilt was enough to make me sleep on the cot since then. Of course, my reward for being so chivalrous is to wake up every night half naked with no covers. Ah, such is love.

Of course there are the mornings, the crink in the neck, and the dog jumping on your bed and licking your face. Grandma and Grandpa coming out of their side of the apartment in various states of undress and adding to the the overall social experiment of 3 generations living under the roof. (‘find out what happens when people stop being polite’).

Of course there's also the daily ego bruising of Amanda's grandmother looking at my daily wardrobe and saying, "this is what a gentleman wears to the office?"

I guess it’s a good thing that I’m working so much these days as there basically is no place for Amanda and I to hang out. We haven’t had access to our TV which houses all our shows and my poor PS3 is suffering from wanton neglect and begging for me to come play with it. It’s the type of situation where I long for the days of simply dreading the thought of living with my in-laws.

Of course, as a writer, my goal is to make EVERYTHING sound more dramatic than it really is. It’s not really that bad, and it’s wonderful to have everyone together. This week has brought forth great news, with the birth of our nephew, ‘untitled.’ Amanda and I are bummed that we won’t be able to go to ‘untitled’s bris, but we will be there in spirit.

That’s all for now…I need rest. Saturday we are going with contractor to look at apartment and then get our estimate.

Woot woot !

Test Trials

2008-04-07T12:53:00.002-04:00

Today marks the beginning of an interesting, scary and difficult test for Amanda and I in what I am now calling our “Journey towards freedom.”

For the past 6 weeks we have been adjusting and becoming used to living with her parents, which I will admit is not nearly as bad as I thought it could’ve been. They are very generous, easy people to get along with, and so long as we follow their rules, things are great.

There’s also that little thing where we are separated by a lot of square footage that makes it especially tolerable.

This is of course bound to change today as Amanda’s grandparents come to visit for the week, thus kicking us out of our bedroom and into the spare bedroom that is also known as Roberta’s office, located directly NEXT to Amanda’s parents room.

Needless to say we are psyched. First we had to clean out the room of any semblance of our existence in there, thus adding to that wonderful feeling of displacement. We were able to keep some things in the closet, but this means that we have to come in the night before and take out our clothing and have the foresight to know what you might want to wear the next day. This also means getting home early enough for the grandparents to still be awake so you even have access to the room.

Not that I’m complaining, or meaning to sound ungrateful. Amanda has tried to posit this to me as “an opportunity to spend time with my grandparents in an environment that is unique and intimate.” That’s a euphemism for: “Look it’s not ideal, but let’s make the best of if.” And it’s just for a week.

Besides the obvious awkwardness of sleeping so close to her parents, there’s the other issue that the bed we will now inhabit for the next week is what is referred to as a “day bed.” It’s not quite a bed, in the sense that it’s an odd size, but it does have the semblance of something that you can lie on. It also has a second bed that you can pull out from underneath it, but the bed below is more of a cot. Raised up and placed together, they do not form a double mattress.

Seeing how I am the larger and bigger of the two of us, it will only undoubtedly make sense that I will be sleeping on the Cot. Or…Amanda will find a way to take up both the bed and the cot, and I will be sleeping on the floor.

On a second note, we are not exactly 3 weeks away from closing on our apartment. It almost seems like it’s never going to happen, but the wheels are in motion. We are currently in the process of finding out from our board what the rules are for renovations, and what things we need to provide ahead of time.

This does bring up an interesting thing to take note of which is to find out as soon as possible what the rules for renovations are within your building or co-op. Some buildings have tight restrictions for what you can and can’t do and also have rules for times you can do construction, noise, etc. It’s a slippery slope since it’s not something you want to bring up during the interview but you want to know how it all works as soon as possible. The only concern we currently have is that we might need to get any ‘structural changes’ approved by the board, and we are not 100% sure what structural actually means.

We will see after we go with our contractor on Saturday and get our estimate and proposal.

Long entry…stay tuned.

Headache.

2008-04-03T10:58:00.002-04:00

So last night around 4 am, I woke up for whatever reason. Perhaps I needed to go to the bathroom or perhaps was contemplating the theory of relativity or Archimedes treatise on global expansion, but for whatever reason, I raised my head up, and then decided to put it back down, except that where my body was in relation to my pillow was not where it normally should have been. For some reason, my head was directly over my night table, allowing me the pleasure of slamming my head into it at full speed. I heard a loud bang and then me saying, ‘Ow!” in a way that was almost as if I hadn’t even said it.

Perhaps I can chock this up to my disorientation of not being in my own apartment, or perhaps I woke up, sat up, and didn’t realize I was sitting up with my feet on the ground, putting in me prime position to think my stand was a pillow. Who knows.

Because it was 4 A.M., I didn’t feel compelled to get up and go to the bathroom or check to see if I was bleeding profusely or if I had a concussion (something Amanda said that naturally I would assume the worst, which of course meant that if I did have a concussion I was screwed because I did end up going back to sleep), but instead corrected my body and laid myself down on the bed.

I woke up this morning, with a vague pounding in my head and a quiet recollection of something happening the night before.

I connected the dots when Amanda told me she dreamed of hearing a loud noise, thinking nothing of it and then going back to sleep.

Perhaps this is a sign that we need to move. And soon.

Oh, that and her grandparents are coming next week to stay at the apartment which means we are now being relegated to her mom’s apartment office, which coincidentally is right next to her parent’s bedroom.

Closing engagement

2008-03-31T12:25:00.002-04:00

So we heard from our lawyer on Friday that we have our closing date, April 28th. (It’s a Monday…what a great way to start the week, right?)

This is good news. This means the end is nigh, well at least part 1. Who is to say when we enter phase 2, otherwise known as construction, how long that will actually take? Hopefully, June won’t run into July.

We’re going down on the 12th with our contractor to see the apartment one more time, and get a clearer idea of what we are actually going to do. From here, I think we’ll get an estimate of how much it might all cost, and then I’ll have to talk with the board to find out the process of getting approval from them to do the renovations. I’m sure that’s a headache in itself as well, but one thing at a time.

in lieu of any news

2008-03-27T12:04:00.001-04:00

we are waiting to find out our closing date and final mortgage rate but in the meantime...

here's one way to build the house of your dreams...

Approved!

2008-03-17T14:15:00.001-04:00

Short and sweet.

We're in.

Today's Meet and Greet

2008-03-16T17:05:00.002-04:00

So after what felt like months of waiting, Amanda and I finally had our board meeting today. Like most experiences, it was kind of surreal, since 90% of your day to day is routine and doesn’t have as much impact as a meeting like this does.

We had to be in Brooklyn at 9:30 in the morning and wanted to be sure there were no hiccups, so we woke up pretty early. Like 6:45…on a Sunday. Luckily, we had taken it easy the night before, both falling asleep around 11pm. Ok, that’s not entirely true. We tried to go to sleep early but I could barely sleep.

I had spent a little bit of time talking with my broker about what and what not to say during the interview. We knew that we shouldn’t ask too much about things being fixed or our renovation ideas and just make sure we knew our financial information through and through. So we were feeling fairly confident going into the meeting, and I was very calm, up until about ten minutes before we go there, when I gave my broker a call. Just like before a big presentation, my head went blank, and I feared that most of my logical thought out responses were being sent to the back of my brain. That and I had just had a large cup of coffee.

The meeting was at our apartment building, which we hadn’t seen since we went with our contractor to check it out a few months ago. Luckily, not much had changed. We buzzed in and were greeted by the owners of the apartment 2, who were very nice and welcoming. They had bought into the building this past August and were relatively new; a young couple who appeared to be in their thirties. We also met the other neighbors: a couple (presumably in their 50’s) who lived on the top floor, and a woman who lived on the bottom floor. Everyone seemed affable and welcoming.

They had gotten coffee and bagels, but of course Amanda and I had already eaten so we got to talking. They first asked us how we ended up at the apartment. I said something that I don’t know if it made sense, but Amanda jumped in and told this beautiful story of looking around at different apartments, and searching until we finally settled on Brooklyn. When they asked how we knew we wanted to live in this building I told them the truth: It was kismet. From the moment we walked in to the apartment we could see ourselves living there. It was just a very powerful, visceral experience, and something that everyone else smiled and understood. We felt pretty good.

The meeting went really well. They asked us a few questions about being prepared “God forbid one of you gets hit by a bus” and if we are planning to get homeowners insurance. This was a fair question when you have a building with only 4 units. “Yes,” we answered, “we want to be prepared.”

We talked about our interests, our love of animals (I was this close to saying I hated cats, but caught myself thankfully), and our enthusiasm for moving to Brooklyn. They didn’t ask us about any plans for renovations, and were very forthcoming about the way the building operates. The interesting thing is that the building is very self-managed…they try to do things in-house as much as possible rather than have someone come in and fix things. This means they built their own deck on the roof, they sand doors and polish and stuff. They asked if we were handy (which we’re not), but we told them the truth, and that we were willing to learn. And willing to help. I feel that it could potentially be a good experience for the future when we buy our own house down the line.

We finished up the meeting after about 50 minutes, saying goodbye, and not having once to delve into our giant 15-pound bound notebook that contained all our financial files. Luckily, they had been very proactive in asking all the questions ahead of time so it really was a meet and greet.

Despite the informal nature of the interview, we realize it was in fact, still an interview, so despite everyone else wearing jeans and t-shirts, we’re glad we came dressed nicely.

This was a long entry, but hopefully tells the story well.

We should be hearing back very soon with the board’s decision.

Tips for your co-op interview

2008-03-13T17:18:00.004-04:00

Thanks to Abbey, our guest poster for today!

List of things not to do during your interview:
1. Burp
2. Fart
3. Curse
4. Ask to keep their pen
5. smell your underarms
6. Take off your shoes
7. Put your feet up on the table
8. smoke
9. pick your nose
10. reach for something in your ear
11. bite your nails
12. punch each other
13. talk about how cool your surround sound stereo is
14. eat
15. search for belly button lint

Closing in.

2008-03-10T20:46:00.002-04:00

Well what seemed like was never going to happen, is finally going to happen: Our broker e-mailed us yesterday and informed us that the board met on Saturday and is ready to meet us for our interview. Huzzah!

While there appear to be a few outstanding issues, overall the board was happy with our application and barring any unfortunate surprises, we should get our approval hopefully early next week. It would be shocking not to get approved at this point. That and the fact that we no longer have our own apartment could really gum things up…

Jesus…an interview? They (and I mean the proverbial ‘they,’ this is a list culled quickly by typing in co-op interview into google) say to treat the co-op interview like a job interview: be professional, dress appropriately, don’t be too informal, and don’t make jokes. They say to not elaborate on questions. Don't ask THEM questions. Don’t talk about any construction you are going to do. Keep it brief. Don’t ask if they are going to redo the lobby (because for all you know they just completed the lobby) and if you're a couple, know who is going to answer what.

It’s pretty wild, awe-inspiring, and I guess a little scary. But I think we will be fine.
Before we even get there, I have to craft a letter addressing a few questions they had, and then we’ll have a chat with our broker prior to our meeting to get our story straight and find out the best way to handle it.

A little while back we found out the co-op had asked us if had life insurance or were planning on getting it. Realizing it would be a smart move; Amanda and I have begun the process of getting insured. It’s a bit weird to think about dying, but it also is comforting to know you will leave behind something for your loved one. The oddest part is it all begins with a telephone interview, where they ask you a million questions ranging from your family health history, to how many drinks you have a week (say none, say none!) to whether you’ve ever smoked a cigarette or marijuana (never of course!) to even how often you go to the gym. Then comes the medical interview, where they test your blood and all that good stuff. That comes soon.

The other thing on our agenda is to go down with our contractor to the apartment and figuring out a plan of attack for when we move in. Knowing we are going to redo the bathroom and maybe move the laundry machines will most likely require permits, and that being the case we want to get them prior to starting work. We’d hate to get delayed b/c we didn’t think things through. But I guess if there’s one thing this anal couple does, is think things through.

Thankfully, for the male counterpart of this couple, this part of the journey is almost at a close. Soon we will get approval, leaving me just with procuring home owners insurance, finalizing life insurance, and getting our mortgage over with, and then it’s Amanda’s turn. Not that I’m opposed to decorating and design…it’s just better for…well the world if I don’t.

Not to be confused with...

2008-03-06T14:12:00.003-05:00

So while we still wait to hear about our co-op interview date we found out from our mortgage broker that the federal government is going to be changing the conforming limits of mortgage loans.

Your probably asking yourself what a conforming loan is and why this is important to know.

I’ll try and prevent this one from making your head explode.

Basically, there are two types of home loans: Conforming, and Jumbo. They are defined by the amount for which your loan is for. A loan is ‘conforming’ when it conforms to national standards and guidelines. They are secured by government sponsored entities such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. (I don’t know if Fannie is related to Sallie Mae, who gave me my student loans).

Conforming loans are much simpler, and typically come with a lower interest rate. As of 2006, the limit within the continental United States for a conforming loan was $417,000.

Of course anyone living in New York knows that if you want an apartment bigger than a closet, then you’ll probably be paying more than $417,000. Which means you’d probably have a jumbo mortgage.

A jumbo mortgage is a mortgage with a loan above the national standard and are not funded by government sponsored entities. Because of this, they carry more risk, and usually incur a higher interest rate and additional underwriting requirements.

For most New Yorkers, (and in the current situation, us) this is just one of those things you’ll have to eat, unless you have extra money to put down a larger down payment to lower the overall amount of your mortgage. That or you’re willing to move to an area with lower property values.

But now that might change. . In February, Bush signed an economic stimulus package that temporarily increases the conforming limit to $729,750 until at least December 31 of this year. Next week congress will meet to make this an official law. This is huge and great news for us as (while I’m not telling you our loan amount), we should now most certainly fall under the new limits and have ourselves a beautiful conforming loan. This could mean a savings of hundreds of dollars each month.

Floor Plan

2008-03-04T14:51:00.002-05:00

While there's nothing new to report just yet...check out the CAD drawing of our floor plan. It's not labeled, but te top part is the living room facing out to the street.

The real victims

2008-03-03T11:28:00.003-05:00

(not my bedspread or actual box)

Amanda went away skiing this weekend, leaving me alone with her mom. Now while that might be cause for therapy in and of itself, that experience was not that bad. I am proud to say that I have a great relationship with both of my in-laws, and I quickly learned the rule of the jungle which is that ‘so long as you do all the little things that keep your in-laws happy,” existence isn’t that bad.

That being said, I can safely say that I am definitely doing the little things: keeping the toilet seat down, putting dishes into the dishwasher, keeping everything off the floor in my room.

But now let’s talk about the real victim in this move: my play station 3.

I know what you’re saying, poor Matt, he can’t hook up his playstation 3. But here’s the thing, it’s very lonely and feeling neglected. When we were getting ready to move, I sold all my playstation 2 video game accessories to game stop, and got a nice credit of about $300. I thought I would get cash, but they sucker you in and give you only store credit their so I HAD to buy something…and I ended up with a PS3. I told myself that not only was I getting a new video game system that I don’t need, but I’m getting a blu-ray DVD player that I don’t need too! Well I got to play and have fun and enjoy it in my last apartment.

But thus far, it has not been so. While Amanda was away, I can say that I have dedicated roughly 3-4 hours to trying to find a way to set this puppy up on her dad’s HDTV. Normally it wouldn’t be a problem…I’d plug it in with what we call an HDMI cord. The only problem is that he already uses it in a DVD player, and to get it into mine, I’d have to unplug it and place it precariously on a drawer, which means this $400 piece of equipment would be hanging at an odd angle, ready to plummet to its death at any moment. The horror. That and I don’t think her father would appreciate coming home to see my frankensteining of his beloved TV system.

So I tried everything: tried to get it to work through the cable system, the vcr, the sound system, nothing worked. I even moved the TV back and tried to plug in through the old tried and true audio/visual cables. Nothing.

You are probably wondering why I was so intent on getting this to work. Well first off, I am a big dork. Secondly, I had bought the Lost video game (you read that correctly) and was excited that I would have lots of time to play since I would be on own. (Let’s be honest, when you’re married you don’t have the free time like you used to). So it was a bit disappointing not to be able to play.

Oh well, boo hoo!

But fret not, I did find a solution, a way to get two HDMI inputs so I can have my ps3 set up. I think. Time will tell when the aforementioned solution arrives in the mail. And all I can hope for is that my solution doesn’t upset the general order of the things in the household.

New Beginnings

2008-02-26T12:54:00.003-05:00

Last Friday night Amanda spent and I spent out last night together in the house. We cooked (ordered) dinner and drank wine while we did our last boxes. The truth is that we had basically packed everything up so there wasn’t much to do.

We watched the Wire (now on season 2) and then Amanda went to bed and I watched Bill Maher as I took apart my DVD player. I would’ve documented everything only that I couldn’t find the camera charger. (I found it Saturday morning).

We woke up early sat morning and did the final packing. At about 730, the guy who is moving our apartment came in and finally checked out our pad. We were busy and simply wanted him to tell us if he was interested in our air conditioners or not but instead he launched onto a dissertation on how he might decorate the apartment. Here’s the thing, we just don’t care. We don’t care what you are going to do and how you are going to do it. Just that you give us money for the air conditioners and get out.

Then the movers came. And they were quick, and before we knew it our apartment was empty. It was just odd. And it felt odd to see it become naked and bare so quickly (You can see the video from before). I guess it shows you that home is really created from what you put into it and…well stop me before I get cheesy.

Moving in with your in-laws is just an odd experience. There’s no other way to put it. You can have the nicest, most understanding in-laws in the world, (as I believe I do) and it still feels un-natural. Imagine having lived essentially on your own for 12 years and suddenly you are under someone else’s roof. Their rules. Their stuff. You no longer have things your way or in your set up.

You get into your room and you have less closet space. Less fridge space. The TV in your room is broken! (The horror!)

It’s actually not that bad, but just feels odd and I think we both feel uprooted. But then again it’s only been a few days so I can’t fully comment. They’ve been great and have only asked a few common sense of things of us which I think we can handle.

This of course brings us to an update on the apartment.
We delivered our co-op package plus a check for their auditors a little under a month ago. This big abacus was created for 3 other apartments to verify and a month later, we don’t know what is going on. At the same time, we are trying to work with the other couple to determine a possible closing date. Right now we are aiming for the 23rd of April, although we can’t actually choose a closing date until we meet/get approved by the board.

It just places us in a bit of frustrating limbo.

I spoke with our attorney who is speaking with the seller’s attorney to find out just what the heck is going on.

This is why buying an apartment sucks…

And we're out...(of apt #1)

2008-02-25T07:21:00.005-05:00

And into temporary housing #1

Tales of the move coming up...

T-minus 18 hours...

2008-02-22T16:05:00.001-05:00

Christ. 1 day to go and still a whole lot of packing to do.

Luckily, we’ve gotten A LOT done, but there’s that feeling that there’s always more to pack. On Wednesday night we went back and forth between Amanda’s parents and our apartment with suitcases and wardrobe boxes (I think our door men think we’re mental) but we got a lot out of the way.

Still feels weird that we’ll be living with our in-laws soon. I’ll be reporting extensively about that one.

Still trying to sell our air conditioners and tables. There’s this guy who’s supposed to be taking over our apartment, and he already lives in the building. He told our doormen he was interested in our stuff, but we haven’t even spoken to him or gotten any kind of commitment. So I told the doormen to tell him he needs to speak to us TONIGHT or we are taking everything with us. Just odd that this guy would wait until the last moment. Actually, more annoying than anything.

Short report, will be back to tell more later.

Pack-a-roo

2008-02-19T14:06:00.004-05:00

The countdown is officially down to 4 days, which normally would make one freak that they weren’t fully packed, but luckily for us this past weekend was a long one (for me at least, not Amanda), so we were able to get a LOT of packing done.

We got our boxes from our man Gonzo (yes, real name), and began the process of putting things together.

At first, it was a little overwhelming, as we didn’t know where to begin or what was the best strategy. So after a few false starts, we each broke off to a different section of the apartment (Amanda did linens, I tackled the books) and started our boxes.

The tricky part is that we are essentially putting our stuff into two different places: stuff that is going to her parents, and stuff that is going into storage. So we have to be careful what goes where so we can tell our movers where to deliver stuff.

The other tricky part is packing up stuff we can live without for a week (computer speakers, tv in bedroom) vs. things we simply can’t live without (HDTV player, microwave). It’s a little trickier than you think as you have to pack things and leave some boxes open so that they can be filled in on Friday night when we do our final pass and closing of our stuff.

There is also the issue of wardrobe: We brought over a few suitcases of stuff to her parents house, but even though they have made a lot of room for us, it clearly is a lot less room than we are accustomed to. So that, coupled with the fear that renovations will take twice as long as we hope gives me just a small sense of claustrophobia.

Saturday night brought a respite in our final apartment, dubbed ‘The Flight of the Concords.’ We had a great showing from friends, and there are no photos since our camera battery had died and I only found it on Sunday where it was stashed in one of our suitcases (I’m just hoping now that my sunglasses will turn up the same way!). Thanks to our friends who could make it and hopefully it was a fun little gig for the road.

It is still pretty wild this is all going down and odd that we’ll be saying goodbye to this place. We’re still hoping to sell off our Air Conditioners before the week is through, hopefully to the guy who is taking over our lease, so we are waiting to hear from him. Our doorman told him about it, and it’s kind of a steal, plus he wouldn’t have to pay to have them installed so it would behoove this guy…we will see.

That’s all for now…more to come as the week progresses.

Boxing is for cool people

2008-02-15T12:19:00.002-05:00

Not much to report here today...got the boxes and we (read: I) spent the night taping them up while watching the biggest loser. I guess that makes us losers too, ...of the biggest kind...get it, losers? anyway...

here's Me in all my coolness puttting these god forsaken boxes together.

Closer to Fine(ding when the hell we’re moving in)

2008-02-14T16:07:00.003-05:00

It’s been a little while since a post, mostly because there’s not been much to report. We had sent in the co-op package but there were a few missing items although now it is officially in the hands of the board. It seems as though we’ll probably hear from them over the next few weeks and hope to be approved by Mid March.

There’s a growing sense of excitement/unease, as the due date with which we move out draws nearer. We have about 9 days left in our apartment, which is pretty scary, coupled with the fact that we are leaving here to move in with my in-laws.

Here’s a recent email that shook me to my core:

From Amanda

To Steve, Roberta, matt

Re: BRUNCH with our NEW ROOMIES?

I hope that doesn't make you shudder!

As you know, Matt and I will be spending our first night in your apartment on next Saturday, Feb 23rd.

Matt and I would love to take you to brunch next Sunday to inaugurate this momentous occasion. And plus, that's just what roommates do on Sunday afternoon.

Please let us know if you are free Sunday the 24th.

Don’t misunderstand me, I’m psyched, it’s just scary as hell that this is real. It’s also a little scary that we will be leaving the place that we have lived for the past three years. I guess it’s the feeling that you live somewhere for a long time and you almost forget what it was like to live anywhere else, even though you’ve lived other places long periods of time. I can’t remember what it was like to live in the house I grew up in and that was for 18 years.

Tonight our boxes are coming in so we are fully going into packing mode. This weekend, despite one last soiree’ at our pad, we are mostly packing and putting things away. And throwing out crap.

Another sense of frustration/anticipation is the issue of our closing date. When we initially put in the bid, we told he sellers we were flexible with the dates since they needed time to renovate their new place and we had a place to stay rent-free. But as time has gone on and we have tried to get an idea (any idea, some idea please!) of when they wanted to move, we received no response. It’s not an insane question, since we just want to start planning things with our renovations plans, and making sure our contractor is available for the times we want to start working.

To the looks of it, it seems as though we are hoping for a closing date of April 15th, and a goal of moving in by June. Amanda says she wants to be in our apartment for our 1-year anniversary. To me that makes sense, especially since we won’t have any money to go anywhere for the ‘paper anniversary.’ But if she still wants paper, we can always pick up some 40’s and drink them out of a paper bag.

Life insurance? (You kidding me?)

2008-02-06T15:15:00.000-05:00

Got a call last night from our broker. Interesting talk. After busting our behinds to get our co-op package in, and thinking we had everything we need, we find out the co-op board asked if we had life-insurance policies.

Yup. In case one of us dies, they want to make sure we are able to still pay our bills.

I can see the usefulness of needing this and it is a practical question to make sure that a couple can still make good on their financial obligations, but to me it just felt like a tactless (and morbid) way to do it. Besides the fact that we would be fine despite not having policies at the moment (on our to-do list, AFTER we finish the apartment), if this was some sort of concern, I’m surprised they didn’t bring it up in the extraordinarily long list of things they asked us for when we were putting our application together. If this is a genuine concern this seems a little late in the process to bring anything up. I don’t foresee this as any type of issue, but apparently this board is asking for more than any board typically does.

This goes to show you that not only does the co-op want to know everything about your life, they also want to know everything about your death, too.

18 and life

2008-02-04T12:04:00.001-05:00

Remember the old Skid Row song? Well we don’t have 18 and life to go, but we do have 18 days until we officially move out. How else to put it but holy shit. I think we are partially in denial even though we’ve already had some people come and look at the apartment who want it next. We’re just trying to see if they want to buy our air conditioners. (Any takers?)

I truly think that moving won’t be that bad, especially since we are moving a block over with Amanda’s parents, but even so, the fact that we completely cleaned out our closet and got rid of basically things we won’t need will be really helpful. I have a feeling that we will do this a second time when we finally move in to the place in Brooklyn, but for now I think it’s good stuff.

As we have yet to start the boxing process (or received boxes) I can’t comment just yet on the pain it is or isn’t to pack. I will say that right now finding out ways to get rid of the few things that are left in the apartment that we certainly don’t want is a little trickier. We have an old Dell computer that is a dinosaur at this point although it works fine. I’m trying to sell it (even if for a few hundred bucks) or donate it to a school. Amanda’s computer guy from our company might purchase it and if not, he’ll tell us how to get rid of it. I also still have to get the three garbage bags of old books to the public library since it’s a nightmare to get the library’s to agree to come pick them up. Amanda is just frustrated with me b/c I think she wants to enjoy her last three weeks of the giant closet being able to get inside if it.

Finally we have our television which unfortunately doesn’t really work with the layout of our new place. I hate to see it go, but then again I think I’ll be ok once we get a new TV that we get to hang on the wall!

In addition, I think our interior designer friend has finally inputted the layout of the apartment into CAD, so once I have those schematics, I’ll upload so everyone can see the virtual layout.

Ok, that’s all for now. More info later.

Lien on me

2008-01-31T13:24:00.000-05:00

Today our attorney is doing a ‘lien search.’

Lien Search
It’s a search to make sure there are no liens filed against the stock so when you take title there aren’t any judgments unpaid which would transfer to you.

Basically, you don’t do this, then you could find out later you have to pay someone else’s debts. My thinking is that no mortgage company will give you a loan without one being conducted, and no lawyer worth his salt would let a deal go down without one, but it’s still good to know what the hell it is (I certainly didn’t).

and we're off! (we hope)

2008-01-28T22:22:00.000-05:00

Last night we put the finishing touches on our co-op application package. (See pictures). You can get an idea of all the crap that goes into. I’I've been incredibly anal in trying to keep organized (probably making the broker’s life a lot easier than necessary).

It’s kind of an odd feeling to see your entire financial life put into two giant binders. But I also have learned the value of being organized and just keeping stuff in binders as they come in. Although, now I think we are going to be digital with everything, and only print when necessary. It’ll save physical space and be good for the environment. That is unless of course Tyler Durton does one of those things where he takes out everyone’s credit histories and all the banks, in which case it won’t really matter anyway, since we’ll have this abominably huge book of our financial life.

Now we pass this thing off to our broker and he gets to have fun and go through it all to make sure we have everything. Then he shows it to the seller’s broker, and if they agree everything is there, they go ahead and make 5 copies for the board. Then they submit that plus $1,000 of our hard earned money (which we hear we might get back) and soon we’ll have our co-op interview.

Because I’m a dork, here’s a video.

Wha???

2008-01-24T17:49:00.000-05:00

So the phone rings today and it’s a 718 number. I think maybe it’s my broker, or perhaps even someone from the new co-op. I get excited. But it’s actually a different broker. The one who we were working with the time we almost bought the condo. The one I’m convinced tried to play us against the other buyers to drive up the price. I decided not to use her again because I felt she was dishonest, but that’s not the point of this post.

She called to follow up and see if we were still looking and I thanked her and told her we had found a place. She asked me the address and I told her and she laughed and said that it was her building. I asked if she meant she sold a property there, she said no, she actually had lived there in the first apartment for 10 years. I was like, wha….

So close...

2008-01-22T14:00:00.000-05:00

So Amanda and I are making significant gains on reaching everything for our closing. Maybe this part is boring, but words can’t express the pain in the ass it is to get all your shit together. I can’t say it again: Save all your bank statements and put them in a banner. Or better yet, go paperless. Most banks will reward you by letting you keep up to 7 years worth of statements on online so when the time comes you can print them and have them.

We are currently missing about 6 months of statements on about 6 accounts and the bank normally charges about $6 per statement (wait a sec, 6-6-6…buying an apartment is the work of the devil!), so when we went in yesterday to ask for those statements we tried to get them to either reduce the charge or waive it altogether. The verdict is out on that.

In the meantime, we got our W2s in order, figured out our assets/liabilities sheet, and even got our mortgage commitment letter. It’s a good time to buy an apartment in terms of mortgages, b/c with drop from 7.25 to 6.50; we are looking at savings of about $400-500 a month. Not bad at all.

Once we get the rest of the bank statements and I finish my OCD need to put everything in laminated bindered pages, we can meet with our broker and send things out. Then we will schedule the board meeting and arrange for a closing date.

As the date draws nearer for our exit from our current pad, the reality of moving starts to settle in more and more. It will definitely be weird to leave the place we’ve spent the past 3 years of our lives. We moved in, ‘in sin’ and then as an engaged couple and now married for the past 7 months (to the day). Lots has transpired here, so it’ll be bittersweet to leave. It’s odd that we’re now thinking about piece mealing our apartment, selling our blinds to one friend, trying to sell our TV to another. Amanda informed me the other day that certain paintings or pictures wouldn’t be making it to the new apartment, so in an attempt to bring Mr. T in pearls and Napoleon Dynamite to a new home, I’ve taken them to my office. It works anyhow, since the walls in my office are bare.

That is all for the moment. We’ve been wanting to venture down to Brooklyn more and stroll around but the subzero temperatures are keeping us indoors. Once it warms up, we’ll hit it up again.

Until then.

Closing when?

2008-01-18T15:05:00.000-05:00

Despite all our efforts to get things in order as soona s possible, there have been tons of questions that we have not had answered regarding the co-op application. They’ve asked us for statements going back two years and what not for 401K, bank accounts, etc. and we keep needing clarification on things. It’s not that we can’t get them, it’s just that we need to know.

For us to get two year bank statements (how many twenty-somethings save their receipts?) we will have to order them from the bank. Guess how much they are per statement? $6. That adds up. Luckily we can get the past year on line, but still it gets to be much.

So we were a bit confused to get this email from our broker saying:

“Also, it may be that the ______ may be able to close earlier in the month of March so the sooner we get the Board package completed, the better.”

Huh? If we are looking to expedite this why is it taking so long to get answers from the sellers broker? I would think they’d respond asap to any questions we have.

I just find that funny. But not as funny as this.

Happy weekend everyone.

ARMed (Mortgage types Explained)

2008-01-17T21:24:00.001-05:00

We are getting down to the nitty gritty, getting everything in order to get everything in order to get this damn thing done.

One of the things still outstanding is the mortgage commitment letter. As I've stated before, getting this together is a project in itself, and we almost have everything except for one small detail, that being Amanda and I forgot to sign Page 1. that will happen tonight.

Last night as I read over the document I had noticed we were getting a 7 year ARM mortgage, which I was confused because I thought we'd go for a fixed. So i e-mailed my guy and asked him if he could explain the difference and why we would want over the other.

So i present to you what he told me, and in case you're wondering what type of loan you might want to get, here is what you need to consider going in:

1)How long you think you might live in your place (is it big enough that you would stay over 10 years and raise a family)?
2) Even if you don't think you'll live there for more than 5-7 years, do you think you might keep the property as an investment?

And here we go...

There are generally two types of loans. Fixed Rate, and an Adjustable Rate Mortgage, or (ARM), hence the title of this post.

1. A Fixed Rate Mortgage (FRM) has a rate and payment that will not change over the life (30 years) of the loan.

2. An Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) has a fixed rate for a given period (3,5,7,or 10 years) and then adjusts within limits annually up or down based on Treasury Bill rates for the remainder of the term totaling 30 years.

3. The rate associated with a FRM is typically 0.5-0.75% higher than an ARM because the bank is guaranteeing the rate for a longer period and therefore assuming more risk and charges for that risk. (Imagine rates going astronomical and the bank is screwed because they can't adjust the rate).

The rule of thumb in deciding which way to go is to think about how long you will own the property. Assuming you will only live there between 5-10 years, you would be paying more over the life of your ownership with a FRM because you would really not be taking advantage of the benefit of the extended rate guarantee. If you expect to stay there more than 10 years then you should probably take the FRM.

Taking an FRM if you are going to stay less than 10 years, is sort of like buying more than you need, (and never using it). If you decide later that you want to stay longer, you can always refinance without penalty. Sometimes if the rate gets to a place that the banks are happy with, they may offer you a fixed rate later down the road.

For our purposes, we are going with the 7 year ARM. Basically, we spoke today and we realize that while we do want to have our children there and have them go to the school in the park slope school system, I can't imagine having w kids around the ages of 9 and say 6-7 all in our apartment. At some point in that time frame, we will probably look to move. (Look forward to www.buyingyoursecondapartmentsuckstoobecausefirstyouneedtosellyourapartment.com)

The next question is whether or not to opt for an Interest Only option. This is a variation on the ARM that permits you to pay only the interest with an option to make principal contributions whenever you wish.

The upside: you control your cash flow better on a month to month basis and when you make any principal contribution, the loan will recast so that the interest charged in ensuing months will be calculated on the outstanding balance.

The downside: the rate is about 0.25% higher than a fully amortizing(Principal plus interest) loan, but the savings in interest based on the recast feature usually negates that.

A hugely positive thing about interest only loans: Your required monthly payments are lower and younger borrowers who are upwardly mobile (love that term) usually like the freedom of structuring their cash flow at the beginning of the loan and then make principal contributions as they acquire more liquidity. Win win.

OK, so what does it mean that we have a 7 year ARM?

It means that rate we lock in now is actually fixed for 7 years, and in the 8th year it adjusts annually based on the market differential from the initial rate. This way, if you don't plan on staying in your pad for more than 7 years, you most likely won't have to deal with this issue.

We asked our broker if he thought we should go for a 10 year ARM, and he told he didn't recommend because there isn't enough of a rate difference between that and the 30 yr fixed to be meaningful. If you're thinking about the 10 yr ARM then take the 30 yr fixed.

Finally, if you're wondering to yourself, 'well what if i stick around for more than 7 years, and my rate does change, how high or low can it go? The legal cap is 2% per year limited to a lifetime cap of 5% from the initial rate. So theoretically, if you start at a rate of 6% on a 7-year ARM, by year 10, it could go as high as 11%. But...you can also factor in the amount you'll save during those first years against the increase. I know, it's kind of enough to make your head spin, but hopefully some of this makes sense.

Well...now that that is done...all we gots to do is sign a piece of paper to get our mortgage commitment letter, then put the finishing touches on our application (still waiting on credit reports and some straggling W-2s, oh yeah plus we need to get them copies of ALL our bank statements from the PAST 2 YEARS, plus 6 months of 401Ks, this shit is ridiculous) and then we'll have a home soon.

FYI the average person in NYC lives in their initial home for about 5 years before upgrading or moving out of the city

New Look!

2008-01-15T23:43:00.000-05:00

Figured it was time to change it up a bit. But don't worry. Mittfarbs ain't gone hollywood just yet.

Procrastination

2008-01-15T11:36:00.000-05:00

No, not procrastinating what needs to get done for the co-op application, but actually just the real job I have. The one that pays me for a living.

Things are moving along well, although we’ve been having problems hearing from our broker the exact format in which we need to prepare our package for the board. I’ve gotten very organized and anal, purchasing a binder, and dividers and clear plastic folders to put everything in. this is great when you have all the different documents like your past lease, your pay stubs (which I scanned and printed so they look better and more organized and also are in a standard 8 ½ X 11 format) and tax returns.

Of course, one of the things we need for the co-op application is our mortgage commitment letter, and to get that, we need to provide our mortgage guy with most of the things that the co-op board needs too. This is good in a sense because if we get together most of the stuff we need for the mortgage, we can just keep it organized and have for the co-op application. It’s just annoying b/c we have to get everything together quickly.

The interesting and wonderful thing about the digital age is that we were able to get copies of almost everything we needed from our mortgage broker electronically. This includes a signed copy of the contract, 2 pay stubs (scanned), 2 years tax returns (sent electronically from accountants, although my accountant is retarded and despite telling me they have sent to me twice, still have yet to receive), and all our bank statements. This would be a logistical nightmare to get and have mailed to you, but thanks to the power of the Internet and the ability to make files into PDF format, it’s much easier.

As of now, I’m just waiting for my accountant to send my returns over, and then we can submit to get our loan commitment letter. The other good news is that rates are going down so we can hope to lock in a good rate soon.

Once we have the commitment letter, we can finish up our application package. Of course, we are still waiting on our credit reports. Funny quick story…they tell you that you will receive your credit report in a non-descript envelope and that you are not to rip it. I forgot and opened mine. Luckily, it was a note saying that I had already received my free report and would have to pay if I wanted to order ($10.20 in NY State). I then realized Amanda probably had the same thing too, so I ordered those. Would have been a bad surprise to send to board and then find out we didn’t have the report there.

That’s all for now.

Mo money to the man

2008-01-11T22:48:00.001-05:00

This image is probably not appropriate since putting money into your home is never money down the drain (unless you make one of those toilet seats made out of coins and dollar bills in which case its not money down the drain so much as sitting on money or something) but I liked the image and thought it was good.

Today we wrote a check for the second 5% of our initial down payment. As we said before, because the sellers asked to delay the closing until April, our lawyer worked it out that we gave 5% at the initial signing and 5% now so that we could keep our money in the bank just a little bit longer. Smart guy. So the second big check went out today and well, it's for a good cause, but DAMN that's a lot of dough.

We're getting closer to moving out, realizing day by day (by day) that soon we will have to say goodbye to this place which stinks because we really do love it. It's going to be different living in a new building with new people (first there will be the move to Amanda's parents building, where all the old people eye you suspiciously...I once got in trouble for daring to use the gym there) and new doormen, and I may even be forced to tell one particular guy that my name is not in fact "Ed."

This is not a sob story because certainly I'm willing to give up the doorman and the short commute for a great neighborhood and a new beginning. I just have a feeling that I don't realize how different it will be when I have to pick up my own dry cleaning, and have to be around when packages get delivered. Just different I guess.

On another note, one of the things for the co-op package we had to get was a credit report, and the big thing was that you weren't supposed to open it since the board might think you had altered it in photoshop. So of course i accidentally opened mine, and freaked, and of course didn't even look, only to notice that what i had opened was a letter telling me that I had already gotten my free annual credit report and if i wanted to get another one I'd have to pay. So we ordered one for each of us.

By the way, if you want to get a free credit report, check out www.annualcreditreport.com. It lets you see your score based on the top 3 credit agencies, experian, equifax, and transunion.

That's all for now.

P.S. If anyone other than my dear friend Abby Saryanne is reading this thang, please feel free to throw out some shout outs in the comments so that I know I have more than a fan of one (not that i'm complaining!)

Reality Bites

2008-01-07T11:57:00.000-05:00

So while we are busy getting all our things together for the co-op package, a startling realization hits me over the weekend: We have less than 7 weeks left in our apartment before the big move to the in-laws.

For the past few months we had been going back and forth with them about whether it was a good idea or not for us to move in with them. It’s one of those things that sound perfect in theory, until you actually start to think about the day to day. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, and at the end of the day when I think about how much money Amanda and I will be saving it’s absolutely worth it, it’s just daunting to think that I will be living with too people my parents age and I’m curious to see what the dynamic will be.

When I think about it, I haven’t lived with “adults” for almost ten years. Before getting an apartment with Amanda I’ve lived with other roommates; messy, slobs, just as careless and uncleanly as I was at that time of my life. I remember the bathroom always being dirty, the need to wear flip-flops in the shower, and an argument over whose responsibility it was to take the garbage out.

I remember living with my parents, and the biggest gripe we used to have was that I always left clothing everywhere (making it impossible for my mother to tell if the clothing was clean or dirty), I left drawers on and every light in the house (a problem which my father solved by adding dimmers to every room, which was a great idea, except for when you were trying to read and he would lower the light so that you could barely see the page). Interestingly enough, those quirks that my parents would get upset about me about, are the things that I now get annoyed when someone else perpetrates (namely Amanda) against me.

Over the weekend Amanda and I were walking through our lobby, and for the first time, I started to visualize what things would be like. I thought about the fact that in about 6 weeks I’m going to have to pack up the majority of my belongings and put them into storage. Say goodbye to my surround sound system, Nintendo Wii. My Panini Maker. (This by far, probably my favorite wedding present of all). While I won’t fall into the mindset that we are putting our lives ‘on hold,’ there is the very real notion that the majority of our stuff will be inaccessible and we will only be bringing a certain amount of items to Amanda’s parents apartment.

Before I go crazy and pretend that we are moving into a cramped apartment where we will be on top of each other, her parents fortunately have an ample sized apartment where we won’t be in each other’s way. There is a side that essentially would be demarcated as theirs and ours. For me, I plan on living as clean and neat as possible so that it seems as if I’m never there. I will definitely miss my HDTV though.

One of the interesting transitions or changes to consider is that Amanda and I love to cook (or Amanda loves to cook and I love to pretend I’m going to help, only to inevitably clean the dishes), and her Mom admits that she hasn’t used the kitchen to cook a meal since they bought the apartment so many years ago. It will be interesting to see how the dynamic works. The other will be clothing, to see how much we can realistically bring.

While we are away in California over the holidays, we told Amanda’s parents that we would love to have a meeting with them to go over ground rules for the apartment. Rather than disappoint or annoy them with what we may or may not be doing that’s to their liking, we’d love to find out going in what they would like us to do so as to avoid any confusion or frustration.

I have a feeling that during this time we won’t be staying in as much as we do normally…so I only hope (and plead, or beg) that our friends invite us over with open arms.

Application process: This SH*T is crazy right here

2008-01-02T11:24:00.001-05:00

Last post was regarding the cathartic cleansing (and cleaning) of our apartment, to get rid of all our excess crap that we don’t want to take with us into the next life. If you want to hear more about that, read one post previous. But the thing we didn’t get to was that upon returning home from our trip to California to visit Amanda’s brother and wife (who is five month’s pregnant), we received our letter from the co-op board regarding our application. Or more precisely, regarding the process for completing our application process. (Quick note on missed opportunity: Amanda’s brother also recently bought a home and we saw it for the first time…we should’ve taken pictures to show the world for a before and after…as we work towards our spin off of Apartment hunting sucks/rocks, L.A.)

Amanda and I know we are not the first people to ever buy a co-op and certainly not the first ones to ever have to deal with submitting an application, but I must admit that seeing the sheer number of things they want from you is enough to send your head into a tail spin. Of course, they also want 5 copies of everything, which only adds to the confusion.

Now I know that most people who have owned an apartment say this process isn’t that bad (or actually it is…as it seems they want to know everything about you including DNA and past sexual partners), but for anyone doing this for the first time, it can feel like a nightmare.

Come to think of it, this will be the first time Amanda or I have ever been forced to take stock of all of life: I don’t think either of us have been on top of keeping order of our tax returns, past leases, and more. In the future, I think, as you get older perhaps one gets a bit more organized…but I know this will be a first.

Anyhow, this is what we have to get together just to get the application submitted (please note, commentary added):

5 (count 'em 1-2-3-4-5) copies of:

1. The previous five years of your tenancy history including:
a. Address and unit number of each lease held
b. Starting and ending dates of each lease held
c. Name and phone number of each landlord
d. Name and phone number of each managing agent
e. Copies of each lease held. (I get the feeling this one will be a nightmare. Updated: already called my former management companies and they have already put all the leases into archive).

2. The previous five years employment history including:
a. Starting and ending dates of each job held
b. Name, address and phone number of each place of employment
c. Name of supervisor at each place of employment
d. Statement of whether employment was full or part time
e. Reasons for leaving each place of employment
f. Detailed description of any times when not employed.

3. Tax returns for the latest 3 years, including copies of w-2 federal wage statements.
4. Complete list of all current assets (including bank accounts, trading accounts, IRAs, 401ks, etc) with account statements going back at least 2 years. (did this already when submitting bid for apartment)
5. Complete list of all current liabilities (including rent/mortgage, maintenance, home insurance, outstanding loans, car payments, auto insurance, and credit card bills for the past six months) with most recent account statements (ditto to above)
6. Copy of mortgage applications, commitment letter and loan approval package pertinent to this acquisition. (ditto)
7. Three months of most recent pay stubs.
8. Define the source of any deposit already committed, as well as the projected down payment for the property.
9. Credit report from experian (only one copy needed). Please note that this report must be presented in the original, unopened envelope as mailed to you. As a warning, this report will be sent to you in a non-descript envelope with simply a PO Box as a return address. (interestingly enough, we already had our credit report checked when we applied for mortgage guarantee, but it's a formality. interesting though that they want it unopened, as if we were going to photoshop it to make it better...then again i do work in advertising).
10. Please identify any guarantor or co-signator acting on your behalf in regards to your mortgage commitment. If such person is identified, please submit the complete shareholder application financial package regarding him/her.

That enough to make your head go wheeeeee? Well, the good news is that we aren’t the first people to have to do this and we certainly won’t be the last. And I think the thing we have realized during this process is that we really want this blog to not only provide entertaining commentary for our friends, but also to be a guiding post for those of you who are thinking about buying your first apartment. It’s definitely an overwhelming and truly ‘adult’ experience, but it’s something that most people will have to do in their lifetime, and both Amanda and I believe it’s easier to get some guidance from someone who has experienced what you are going through before, or at least share their experiences. Not sure the point of this diatribe, other than to say that if you are thinking about buying, don’t let this posting scare you. Our game plan for tackling this sucker is to break it down into the sum of its parts. I think if you look at the number of things that have to get done as one giant monster, it’ll never happen, but if you do it instead, brick by brick, you’ll see yourself make progress pretty quickly. It also probably doesn’t hurt if you have your shit in order.

The fun begins.

Cathartic (Apartment) Cleansing

2007-12-30T22:27:00.000-05:00

What you are gazing upon above is a "before and after" snapshot (click on images to see closer shots) of two days spent cleaning out our apartment. It's Christmas break (feels like we are back in college) and we decided to take advantage of it by beginning the process of cleaning out our closets (both literally and figuratively) of everything that we will and won't be taking with us to the new apartment. (Never mind you that we will be staying with her parents for a few months as we decided to pass on renewing our lease and instead opt for living with the 'rents' in order to save some dough).

The blessing and curse of our current apartment is the unbelievable amount of closet space it afforded us. Of course, it also afforded us the opportunity to save everything and just throw stuff everywhere (as you can see by the before picture of our master closet). As our new apartment doesn't have nearly as much space and knowing that we have tons of crap we don't really need, we used this exorcising exercise as an opportunity to be brutal and get rid of EVERYTHING we don't need. Amanda found herself saying goodbye to old purses, outfits, shoes, makeup, cards, and more. I was tasked with going through our book collection and discovering just how much crap we had that 1)we never read and 2)read and would not only never read again, but would be embarrassed as to have part of our permanent collection. So with that, i went through the books, organizing and creating piles, and found a nice selection of about fifty that we can soon donate to a local salvation army or library (whoever does pickups gets the books!) In organizing everything (especially the books, we even created a section of the closet that is dedicated to books that have yet to be read, we both agreed that we wouldn't buy any new books until we've read all the ones that we own...for me that's about 20, for her it's about 3), we discovered that moving and packing will be much easier, as everything is organized and just needs to be boxed.

There is something cathartic in cleaning your apartment, forcing yourself to say goodbye to things that you think you want, but realize you don't. It also gives you a chance to go through all your old things: pictures, love letters, short stories, childhood memorabilia, that you only look at when you are moving and won't look at again until the next time you do. Sometimes, you find the unexpected, like my grandfather's old porno collection from the 1960's that look like a laugh-in factory photo shoot as done by Hugh Hefner's camera lens.

But despite the dust you inhale and the inevitable allergic reactions (if one is so prone), it is a truly wild experience where you are forced to ask yourself: what do i really need? Is this really important? Am I EVER going to use this, look at this, read this, wear this, think of this again? For the majority of what we did, the answer was actually no.

Before this weekend I was a little freaked out about the actual move (I'm still freaked out about the whole construction and co-op application thing), i now feel like it will pretty seamless as we know that everything we are taking are things that we actually want to take.

And for the record, we each did keep a little box of random things that we don't know what to do with, but we're keeping anyway.

Tailor Made

2007-12-16T19:50:00.000-05:00

Jeez, I hope no one else got my vague I love New York 2 (electric bugaloo?) reference. It's just so sad that this is what my life has been reduced to. It's not even my fault, I go to the gym to work out and it's just ALWAYS on TV.

Amanda and I paid a visit to our new pad this weekend to do some measurements and what not. Since I'm about as handy with any type of tool as a border collie, Amanda's dad did most of the measuring and I did most of the 'holding' of the other side of the measurement.

We also brought our resident in-house designer, Ron, who works with Amanda and has an incredible eye, to take a first look at the apaartment. He and Amanda started to plot the layout of the furniture, and debate the placement of a new, large flatscreen TV. I'm still praying for my recliner/lazy-boy. (Which might possibly happen-ok, it probably wont).

After we did all the measurements, our potential contractor stopped by to take a look at the apartment. We showed him the bathroom that is going to be gut renovated, and the plus room which will be made into our dressing room. We discovered we might actually be able to expand the bathroom into the closet of the second bedroom, which although would cost more money, would certainly make the apartment more valuable in the long run. And who does't want a bigger bathroom?? We also discovered more places that we could do some fixing up, such as the kitchen, and my head started to spin as the dollar signs added up in my head. More info on that to come later.

The good news about our contractor is that he is actually a tenant in the building that Amanda's company owns, so should he not do a good job, rent might suddenly go up, u hurr?

anyhow, that was our weekend. we came back to the city, checked out the crafts fair at Bryant park (pic above), and then saw Into the wild on Saturday night, and I am legend on Sunday. Into the wild was great, although we knew how it was going to end, and I am Legend was a little disappointing, but an intriguing movie none the same.

Visiting Park Slope early on a Saturday morning was fantastic. We couldn't believe how quiet it was, how peaceful. We loved Ozzie's on 5th ave, an independent coffee house, complete with yummy baked goods, wanted/for sale leaflets, and condoms (yes, they had condoms near the condiments...ha!) The vibe was just perfect, and as we walked up the street to our apartment, we knew that no matter what cosmetic changes we made to our apartment, we would love life in BKLYN no matter what.

Seacrest out......

A picasso or a garfunkel...

2007-12-10T20:48:00.000-05:00

So while there isn't much to report just yet, (after Amma's friend does the CAD sketch next week we'll upload for you all to see), this weekend, while fighting through a sinus and ear infection (plus the possibility of strep throat, I'll find out tmw for sure) we went to this crafts/christmas fair down in union square, while on our way to see Juno (awesome movie btw, trailer below), and found this awesome art work that we bought for our apartment! It's a hybrid of photography and graphic design, which is really really cool. We bought 4 pictures, one of which is posted at the top of this posting, which as you can see is a day time photo of a city skyline with stars superimposed below. (Be sure to take note, as your kids will one day ask you what it was like to see the stars from the sky). I fell in love with this instantly.

The other three photos, which we bought as a set to be displayed as three consecutive images, are of trees, that instead of leaves, have been altered to look like a kaleidoscope of pinwheels. They are very very cool, and the only reason they aren't posted is that when i tried to take a photo of them, they came out poor, and since we won't frame them until we move, i did not feel like removing them from the plastic. (If you REALLY want to imagine what they look like, imagine yourself in Amsterdam, having ingested some foreign substance, and then talk a walk among the trees. How's that? ) Either way, they are awesome, and we are both really excited. The designer/photographer, unfortunately did not give us a card, and of course we have both forgotten his name...so for the moment if you want to see their work, you'll have to come to our house...in April.

Not much else to report right now...the contracts are signed and the down payment made. As of now, it looks like we probably won't move in until may or even June, as we have decided that we will have to redo the bathroom since it is stuck in the 70's and takes us back to our visits to Forest Hills and the land of the Golden Girls. We will keep you all posted as that moves along too.

That's all for now...enjoy the Juno trailer and definitely go and see.
Seacrest out!

Not much to report but still...

2007-12-06T13:06:00.000-05:00

well we are in a holding pattern for now. The contracts are signed an the deposit has been made. So now we are going to begin getting things in order for the co-op board, which brings us to a funny article that we found in new york magazine this week. You can find the original link here, http://nymag.com/realestate/realestatecolumn/41526/

But we’ve also cut and paste below. Enjoy!

Getting the offer accepted is, strange as it sounds, often the easy part. It’s passing muster with the co-op board that’s tough. Assembling a killer package is key, of course (stellar references, wad of cash in the bank). Then comes the interview—and by this point, it’s your game to lose. “Ninety-five percent of the work has been done. The 5 percent is up to you, and that’s a very important 5 percent,” says Prudential Douglas Elliman broker Jacky Teplitzky. Most rules are standard—arrive early, dress conservatively—but brokers say some strategies appear counterintuitive. Take name-dropping. Though it may seem advantageous to mention friends in the building, agent Alison Rogers, author of Diary of a Real Estate Rookie, says skip it, unless you’re certain they’re adored by their neighbors. “You may score points with some, but annoy others who may not like them,” she says. In fact, steer clear of talking about anything specific about the building in general (the new fitness room or the chatty doorman). Those are what Corcoran’s Deanna Kory calls “hot points.” The gym could have come at a massive and controversial hike in maintenance; that doorman may be on his way out. “Somebody on the board may hate [them],” she explains—and your innocent enthusiasm will leave a bad taste in their mouths. Samantha Kleier Forbes of Gumley Haft Kleier once had a buyer, hoping to look interested in the future of the co-op, ask if the lobby was scheduled to be renovated. Unfortunately for him, the lobby had just been done over. “The board meeting is never the time to ask these questions,” she says.

Served on the board of your old building? Resist touting your accomplishments. “That’s a big N-O!” says Teplitzky. No one likes a braggart, for starters, and you may unnerve board members who like things the way they are. And though it may seem smart to dress to the hilt to gain entry to a chic co-op, Bellmarc’s Cayle White recommends leaving the diamonds and Birkin bag at home. “You don’t want to look like you’re trying to look rich. It’s very ostentatious and gauche,” she says. “Your financial information speaks for itself.” And, says Kleier Forbes, “you don’t want to look like someone who’ll steal someone else’s husband. No one’s ever been turned down for looking boring.”

Life...

2007-11-29T11:53:00.000-05:00

So…

We got our inspector’s report back, although frustratingly it took a little while longer than expected. This caused a minor panic on the part of our sellers who were worried that something was wrong. This irregardless of the fact that the inspector we used was one recommended to us by both brokers (ours and theirs). I guess there were other buyers in the wings whose offers were on the table until Friday…regardless, the contracts were signed this morning, and our down payment check is processed on its way (bye bye moolah!)

So needless to say this is real. This baby is happening whether we want it to or not. (just quoting Paul Rudd in knocked up).

We are excited, and once this is taken care of, most of the work is done..it’s all legally binding so we now have an apartment!!

Next steps will be to do some measurements and start planning (that’s all Amma). We also have to figure out if we are extending our lease or crashing with the mitt man rents or what not!

That’s all for now!

PS...long day yesterday so my image searching skills are a little off their game

I pity the inspector

2007-11-27T12:54:00.000-05:00

We are still waiting for our inspector's report...so in the meantime, here's something funny...just b/c years ago matt wrote commercials with this fool!

Pictures Pictures Pictures!

2007-11-20T20:50:00.000-05:00

As Amma and I watch Biggest Loser (Kaye looks pretty hot), I have been delegated the task of uploading and commenting on the pics listed below. Some you have seen (living room, kitchen), some are small things that I thought were cool (can you say key box!), and some were purposefully hidden on the corcoran website (um, bathroom?).

Also wanted to show the view from the roof and the garden which is pretty amazing. I realize now that we didn't get too many pictures of the "+" room, but that is OK...it has officially been demarcated as Amanda's dressing room...

Anyhow...next steps are continuing on with the lawyer process...although we found out that a friend of ours as a house-warming gift is going to come and measure the apt and enter it into CAD, which is a program that will show us a virtual layout. Since we have months to go, this will give Amanda and the design kids a chance to come up with a kick ass layout...(I'm still hoping for a recliner (a.k.a. lazy boy).

Until next time...

PS: For higher-rez versions of the pictures, just click on them individually.

Please don't take our chandelier!

2007-11-20T16:24:00.000-05:00

Well we went to the inspection today and let me say it is quite a process. It's interesting to go and meet with a guy who points out the good and bad about your apartment. Our guy was a little pot-bellied man with grey hair who took a lot of time to make sure everything was great. The good news is that our apartment on the whole is in great shape. There are a few concerns (minor asbestos in the basement, new safety gate for second bedroom, and awful sink and color scheme of bathroom!) but for the whole we are really in great shape.

I just sent a long list of the things to our broker so I guess next steps are talking with the sellers and negotiating the deal.

Funny note: Most of the stuff is staying in the apartment but the one thing the seller is planning to take is an old family heirloom, a chandelier. We kind of smiled to ourselves as that would be the first thing we'd get rid of (enclosed pic on top).

We took more pictures today than you will want to see, and they'll get posted a little later. IN the meantime, here's a short video a took of the shelves which proves that 1)This apartment is really cool and 2)I'm a big dork.

Where's Penny?

2007-11-18T21:15:00.000-05:00

Ok, over the weekend you probably stayed up late on Saturday night wondering, "what are Amanda and Matt's next steps?"

Well, since you asked...i'll tell you...on Tuesday Matt is going with dad-in-law to meet with the inspector. If he approves, then we move on to the next of 300 steps.

anyway...till then...

HOT DATE!

2007-11-16T13:02:00.001-05:00

As Matt just posted, we've been dealing with a lot lately. This is our first foray into being adults, and we're scared, anxious, nervous, naive, and PUMPED!
However, we havent really celebrated yet, so tonight, my hubby and I are having a delicious dinner at Riingo (http://www.riingo.com/).
I'm wearing a hot outfit, getting my hair did, and all will be perfect. Cheers!

And now the fun begins...

2007-11-16T12:12:00.000-05:00

So while searching for an apartment is fun and exhausting, and frustrating and exhilarating (hence the name of this blog), nothing quite compares with hearing that you got the apartment of your dreams. Needless to say we’re psyched.

Amazingly, almost immediately though, the not-so-fun part begins.

I’ll recap the past 24 hours for you.

10am: Receive the call from broker we got the apartment.
10:15-relay info to Amma.
10:15-1030: post win celebraton.

1045-11. Talk to Broker
Call Mortgage Broker
Contact Lawyer
Contact Inspector
Recontact broker regarding mortgage broker, lawyer and inspector.

The list goes on and on.

But, we have good people working with us, family friends which means we feel safe. After all, we know where they live!

That’s all for now…

This clip could very well be what meeting the co-op board will be like…

What a difference a day makes

2007-11-15T17:07:00.000-05:00

Ok, nothing new to write since earlier...but now this is what we had to say to all the other bidders...

America...F**K Yeah!

2007-11-15T11:39:00.000-05:00

Well, as you can tell by the barrage of beautiful imagery (beaver with guns…Freudian?) we have great news.

The call came in this morning around 10: 30 that we have officially gotten the apartment! We beat out 2 other fools and it’s ours baby…

Busy morning so more details later…

Going Once, Going Twice....

2007-11-14T09:52:00.000-05:00

No, it's not sold yet!

We put a second offer on the apartment...we went way higher than the first bid, and
came up with what we think was a smart price, as was advised by our broker. (our broker, not the seller's broker, b/c that would be dumb for us to listen to her). We're waiting to see if the other couple is going to counter, and we'll probably hear back tmw. We also found out that our financials are better than the other couple's (um, BOO YAH!) so perhaps that will contribute to the decision.

We also found out that the couple would want to move in a few months, around May. That actually would work better for us, as we could save some major moolah by crashing with my parents for a few months until we would move.

So, basically...we're just waiting. And really trying to keep ourselves busy in the meantime!

Poop

2007-11-13T17:27:00.001-05:00

Ok, this isn't meant to be misleading. We got the other bid in and we are going to counter. But we just feel like saying b/c this other couple made a bid, regardless of who they are, they are in fact, a poop head.

Waiting sucks

2007-11-13T13:10:00.000-05:00

Amma and I are wiating to hear back from this other bidder.

So in the meantime, I wrote a little Hauiku

We are waiting.
Waiting sucks.
It sucks big time.

Anyone know a publisher? ( i Do not care if it matches the write number of syllables and what not!)

There's a reason why...

2007-11-12T21:48:00.000-05:00

this blog is called apartment hunting sucks, apartment hunting rocks.

It rocks when you find an apartment you love, and you think you're only the bidder only to dsicover that there's another mother F**ker in the mix.

Love!Valor!Pain!Compassion!Misery!

Anyway, this was how I felt when I got a call from our broker saying there's another bidder in the mix.(Really just the first moment when you know who shows up...but the rest of the clip is comedy).

The Bid is on (updated)

2007-11-12T13:36:00.000-05:00

(Update: I found the song/video i was referring to earlier. Enjoy!)

Ok, I don’t know if this is the song I’m thinking of, I’m thinking of the one from Beverly hills cop 2. Anyway, we have put in a bid for a second property that is actually much better than the one we didn’t get. Karma on our side…we will see.

It will be interesting to see what happens on this, as the owners are anxious to sell, and already have a new apartment they bought. I think they might be double dipping so it’s curious to see how much they will take below asking price. I’m sure they wont take our first offer, but that’s where the games begin…

Here are some pics in case you are wondering what this place looks like.

New apartment Part 2

2007-11-10T22:43:00.000-05:00

So just a quick update.

Went today to take a second look at the apartment in the daytime, (although it was 415pm and not really 'daytime'). Think the apartment is a keeper.

Amanda's mom checked it out and gave it the thumbs up. Of course, i thought she didn't like it, and i probably overcompensated by saying (in front of the seller, faux pas i learned...yoni forgive me) what we could do with it. when the seller walked away, she politely told me that i can't get too excited or the seller will tell the owners that we are dying to have it, etc etc, so in other words she told me, 'shut the F up' it was a good lesson, that like with job interviews and everything else, it's all a poker game.

anyhow...A and I were talking and we think we are going to put a bid on the place. It will definitely need some work, but it's a great find. We also think that if we got a bid accepted, by the time everything went through, it would be only a few weeks (month at most) before our lease ends so we would hopefully have no overlap.

We also are taking some comfort that although we are not getting the condo, at least we wouldn't have to sink another $20-40 grand on top of the deposit down due to transfer taxes.

OK...off to the races. Tmw I'm going to go check out a few open houses just to see what else is out there. these are supposedly comparable to what we have in our sights so hopefully this will only confirm the feeling that this is the right place to go. Amma is out of town this weekend on business so I'm out and about.

BTW, for all 3 of you who read this thing, if and when we do get our apartment, fret not...the blogging will continue as we deal with bidding, contracts, meeting the board, renovations, and more...giving us a chance to write more inane yet mildly amusing anecdotes for you to read.

Daylight Savings Time

2007-11-09T13:41:00.000-05:00

So you’re probably asking why I have a photo of Spy vs. Spy here, and perhaps how does it correlate to the subject header. It’s quite simple if you haven’t figured it out…ok, maybe not that simple.

The photo merely represents a mirror image, and I couldn’t find a photo (or was just to lazy to look) of the same location taken during the day and at night. My point in all this is merely to say that this weekend we’re taking another look at the apartment in the daytime, to see how it looks with natural light. However, it is closer to 415, and my only concern is that it might start to get dark and we won’t get the real impression of it as it might be at noon or 1pm (get the title reference now…daylight savings time screws up everything huh?), but at least we can get a picture of how the apartment looks when it’s not under the soft hum of a neon glow.

If all goes well, Amma will come back next week after a business trip with her dad, and we may very well put a bid on this sucka.

In talks

2007-11-08T13:47:00.000-05:00

Negotiations are under way for the new apartment that was visited last night by Matt and Amma. By negotiations, i simply mean we saw something we dug, and now are figuring out the practicalities and numbers.

OK, Matt, that doesn't really help us. It's actually quite boring. OK, 'third person who doesn't exist but is actually Matt talking to himself with air quotes (Aside: loser), here's the details.

This was our first time going to Park slope during the week, and especially after work. We wanted to get an idea of what the commute would be like and see what Park slope feels like after a work day. Now, of course we left work at 4pm, so maybe it wasn't completely accurate, but we got the general idea. The commute itself wasn't bad, I came from west 50 and 9, and Amanda from 59 and 3. Coincidentally, we both met up on the N express, getting there around the same time. There seems to be a million ways down there, so it's not bad at all. We were both able to sit and read, but I'm curious if that is possible during rush hours (feel free to jump in you brooklynites).

It was a cold brisk night. And thanks to daylight savings time, we got there just as the light was getting dark. We got to the apartment, and our broker was there, but didn't go up with us because he was allergic to the cats. (We are too, but figured if we were going to buy an apartment, perhaps we should look even despite). Our broker seems to be allergic to many things, like gluten and god knows what else. anyway.

A quick note: we were bummed we didn't get the last apartment, but we now realize it as a blessing in disguise. this apt is a true brownstone.

we saw the third floor (although the stairs were short) 2 bedroom apartment. It was great. It had a huge living room that fit a grand piano, plus a separate room for a dining table. The recently redone kitchen was open, and had a nice feng shui about it. The place had all the original molding, and the windows in the living room actually still had the original fold out shutters which was a nice touch. There was a washer and dryer, one bathroom (one of the things i wasn't crazy about), and nice closet space. the master bedroom was really great, with a faux fireplace (oh yes, one in the living room too, can u say digital flat screen mounted above?) Attached to it was a "+" room which can't be called a third bedroom but essentially is. it is connected to the master room via french doors and is currently being used by the owners as a room for their second child. Amanda saw it and proclaimed that at long last she found her dressing room. That's actually important as their are no closets in the master bedroom. this might be the deal breaker for her.

The second bathroom is a standard second room, small for sure, but great for an office, and eventually a baby's room. it also has a tin roof ceiling in that room which Amanda totally digs. It's also neat b/c of all the original molding and what not, and each room has a glass panelling at the top of the door which is really unique.

Overall, it's about 1100 sq feet and much bigger and inhabitable then previously mentioned apartment. Interestingly enough, it's been on the market a while and previous open houses has brought about no offers, and we know these guys are motivated to leave as they have another place in the works. So next steps are for us to bring the folks to take a look at, and then who knows...might be time for bid #2.

I also forgot to mention that for dinner we went to a new vegan restaurant (I don’t know how I get convinced to go to these places) and it was just awful. I ate the “meat lasagna” which was honestly just nasty and heavy. We were going to go to what was called the holy grail of Park slope…but instead got to enjoy this delightful attempt to create a place that both vegans and non-vegans can co-exist, by giving non-vegans the illusion that they are eating real food. Unfortunately, for me (and my gastric system, it just didn’t work out).

New Apartment

2007-11-07T12:16:00.001-05:00

Tonight we are going to Park Slope to take a look at another apartment. We realize that the last apartment we found wasn't for us, so the search starts again. There hasn't been much to see lately, but this apartment has great potential.
Unfortunately, no funny, witty stuff from me today, as my head is one big ball of mucous, which is cutting off circulation to the brain.
I'm sure Matt will write something totally killer in the next post.
Wish us luck!

PS..Just heard from a friend that Whole Foods will be moving to 3rd st and 4th ave in Park Slope. Another reason to move there..it's been my dream to live near a Whole Foods. Some people spend their $ on shoes. I spend mine on ridiculously high priced healthy food.

onwards...

2007-11-01T12:03:00.000-04:00

So…

We have officially passed on the second floor apartment, and the seller actually offered us the third floor apartment at the asking price we offered on the second. The catch (and there always is one) was that they wanted to know by today so that they wouldn’t have to do open house this weekend. Frankly, unless we saw the apt again we would not bid on it and we won’t be able to do that until at least next week. But also, all things considering, the difference b/w the asking price and the final price that the apartment we wanted sold for was not so dramatic that we would jump at an apartment that is a longer hike up the stairs. If we did put an offer on it, it would be for dramatically less.

(deep breath)

A and I have found these past few days exasperating to say the least. I think we learned a lot about ourselves and the game. First thing is t hat you really have to know exactly what you can afford and what the costs are. We had zero idea that a condo would incur roughly $35,000 in transfer taxes and what not, which is a HUGE chunk of change from a young couple’s savings account. We also didn’t factor in the tax ramifications, which was a good thing in that with the tax breaks you’re take home goes up so you can afford more per month. Either way, it is super super confusing.

I have realized that I have to open myself up beyond the brownstone thing…it is still what I want, but if we find a great building that isn’t brownstone, than we shouldn’t limit ourselves.

I also now see the value of a broker who Is working specifically for you. Yes, it is sometimes better to deal directly with the listing agent, but they are working for the seller, and you don’t know if you are getting a good deal, what the real value is or what not…if you find the broker who gives you the confidence and comfort level to know what you are doing…you’ll find what you are looking for.

The other realization is that we shouldn’t force fit ourselves into taking an apartment that isn’t completely right. I think it’s easy to think that this is the last apartment you’ll find and it’s a dumb way to look at it when you are investing so much money. We are in a good place right now and there is no rush to get something unless it is perfect.

Moving on…

This has nothing to do with real estate, but it's fun.

A gripe (updated)

2007-10-31T13:45:00.000-04:00

So we haven’t officially turned down the offer yet, but we did find out an interesting tidbit: that it is actually illegal for a condo to be sold for above asking price. So if you bid asking price, legally you’re supposed to get it, and someone technically can’t outbid you.

(While I don’t know if this is definitely true or not, we heard this from a broker who was not involved with us in this actual bid since they did not allow co-broking). I write this b/c we put in at listing price and were out-bid so I don’t know if what they did was technically illegal

But this is a game of charlatans and snake oil salesmen, so what can you do?

Down and out??

2007-10-30T14:51:00.000-04:00

I know we keep making veiled references to boxing, but honestly, it seems like that is the best way to sum up the experience of bidding and counter bidding and what not.

It’s like a round comes up and you think you got your shots on and have the upper hand, and then BOOM, next round the opponent comes in with a quick shot to the mid-section and you’re pissing blood. (Ok, not necessarily the case)

Unfortunately, it looks like we may have been outbid on this property. We love it…it has everything we want, but the bastards seem to have put a bid in that matches what our cap was. And while we could afford to go higher, I think any higher and we would be paying more than the apt was worth.

The interesting thing we are considering is that there is the EXACT same apt just one flight up. Of course, we wouldn’t offer nearly as much as we are for this one, but it’s something we are considering, although I don’t know if we want to deal with going up the extra flight of stairs. I know what you’re saying, ‘poor me, one extra flight of stairs,’ but hell, when you’re carrying lots of goods and even a kid or two, it adds up.

That and I don’t know if I want to look in the eyes of the F**ker who outbid me.

This is how I feel:

(PS: We had two pictures planned for if we got the apartment…the one above is our ‘losing pic’ the one below would have been our ‘winning.’)

Round 3: blood sport

2007-10-29T23:41:00.001-04:00

It's round 3. By now, a couple of good hits have been landed, a few body shots to the budget, an illegal kick to the groin, but we're still up and ahead of the game. Still in our price range although higher than we had hoped.

Tonight we put in our counter offer. As of now, we know there is at least one other player in the game. We knew from the moment we heard their bid we could counter it, but we waited...like sugar ray Leonard or Muhammad Ali (they call me cassius...watch me drop this beat...for all your LL fans), for the moment to strike, not to act too eager or too willing.

We will wait and see what tmw brings...

(PS..i used this photo not b/c of the gratuitous shot of a young woman's behind (although nice), but more b/c it was the best image I could find that said round 3. Honest. )

Round 2

2007-10-29T16:00:00.000-04:00

Wow, this is fast.

So apparently there was another bid out there, and for more than us. (No we're not cheap bastards!). The paranoid side of me thinks the broker is making it up, but who knows...anyhow, now we have to think and counter punch and decide what to do next...

btw...we discovered that with a condo come all kinds of crazy taxes...which makes it a bit more expensive than a co-op...part of the cost of having much more freedom...

It's on

2007-10-29T14:52:00.000-04:00

Ok,

quick news.

It's on. The Bid is in. The mental warfare begins.

We’re totally freaking. But in a good way. Yes, I’m freaking, but I’m also kind of calm about it. Just can’t believe it’s real and we did it. A and I are officially adults. Well, planning on being adults!

We’ll keep you guys posted on the next steps!

We have a winner??! (or Holy crap!)

2007-10-29T10:49:00.000-04:00

Ok...

What a long day....great but long!
We started the day early, leaving Manhattan at 1030 for an 11am appointment. As stated earlier, we had spoken with the listing agent and although the open house wasn’t till 230, we got to go early. A’s parents came for the visit with us again which was great, as they ask the tough questions and make sure no shenanigans go on.

We got to Brooklyn a few minutes early (Broker was running late) so we made a pit stop to the Cocoa Bar, an awesome local coffee shop. Besides all kinds of crazy coffee drinks (Banana Cocoa Latte anyone?) They also have tons of chocolates and desserts (Peanut Butter Explosion…I would’ve but it was 11am people!)

The apartment is great. It’s a 1,019 square feet, 2 + bedroom. 2 bathroom (the + being an extra room that can be an office) on the second floor of a renovated brownstone. Every ting inside is new and beautiful…new bathrooms, new kitchen, re-stained floors.

I think this has everything we are looking for, from the location (6th ave b/w 5th and 6th street), to the school system (PS 39…yes we need to keep that in mind) to the fact that it is a condo. There’s only 4 units in the building, and the seller is on the first floor, which I hope means he put some care into making sure this place is in tip top shape as he will be leaving there as well!

We did of course visit 6 other proprieties, but at this point, none of them really held a candle to what we saw. Maybe they had no chance since from the first apartment of the day it was essentially over. We spent the rest of the day figuring out any other questions or concerns (believe it or not, having a storage place for a baby stroller was a big one).

After visiting more places in the slope we decided to entertain checking out Brooklyn Heights. In a nutshell, the heights are gorgeous but just way out of our price range. Plus, it lacks that Park Slope edge we really dig. It does have an amazing view as you can see her and it’s REALLY close to the city.

(THIS WAS A COOL APT BUILDING WE SAW, BUT NOT THE ONE WE LOVED...JUST THOUGHT IT WAS COOL HOW THEY SPELLED BROOKLYN IN GERMAN)

We went home yesterday, really overwhelmed and in that “holy shit” mode. We’ve been talking about buying for a while, but now we’ve found a place we love and realize this could be it. So we decided to sleep on it and see how we feel, and then take it from there.

And today we decided we still love it, and are going to put a bid in.

Stay tuned for more…

Crooklyn Part 13.2 : The long ride home

2007-10-26T12:17:00.000-04:00

Hey all,

So another weekend, another weekend of open houses (No, not a typo). This weekend we have 6 open houses to visit, with one potential closer. On paper seems great...condo, 1100 sq feet, second floor newly renovated brownstone. They are selling two identical properties, one on the 2nd floor, one on the third, for the same price...so of course we want the second floor if it is the place want. Mr. Mitt, using all his masculine wiles and charms, got us into a preview showing Sunday morning before the open house. Personally, i think the broker is just trying to undercut his own team-mate, but who knows.

We are also going to recheck out an old apt we saw last week that I wasn't crazy about b/c it was too close to the park, or for that matter, felt less like Brooklyn and more like Central Park West, but we will check.

I will be the first to admit that looking for apartments feels a lot like running a marathon. Or maybe a non-stop decathlon. There's all these events...doing the research, training and asking all the right questions, keeping track of things, getting the mortgage pre-approved, and then staying on top of things. This weekend A and I told ourselves that we were going to take it easy and not go down, but then an awesome place jumped out and we realized we can't stop b/c something great that we want could be taken out from under us, like the proverbial rug taken out below the feet of Aladdin as he flew thru the air to princess jasmine (don't ask...been a long week of nothingness and my brain somehow regressed to old Disney cartoons). But in all honesty, you just have to keep going, and then when you find it, and you have your home...well then you can rest. And truth be told, when you see a great apartment, and you think to yourself, 'wow, this might be my next home,' it's pretty exhilarating.

It's funny how A and I said after the wedding we were going to lay low and do a whole lot of nothing for a few months, but i realize it's just not in our nature.

An interesting question that has come up of late was how do condos get managed. With co-ops, there is a board and usually a management company, but for condos it can be different. I found this article on browns toner.

http://www.brownstoner.com/forum/archives/2007/10/who_manages_a_c.php

Stay tuned for our report on Sunday.

FYE: The Money Pit Ice-Cube edition

2007-10-25T14:19:00.000-04:00

Still nothing new to report...this weekend brings on more open houses and more adventures.

in the meantime, see a trailer for Hollywood's regurgitation of the money pit, now starring ice cube.

wasn't this the same guy who used to be gangster?

Maybe Brooklyn will turn me hard core.

FYE: The Money Pit

2007-10-24T17:05:00.000-04:00

nothing new to report....so in the meantime...enjoy! (and pray for the love of god this we don't end up like this!

)

Pre-approved!

2007-10-23T13:08:00.000-04:00

Good news!

While we have yet to find the home of our dreams, we have been approved for future home of our dreams, if and when we find it in the next 90 days.

For those of you who don't know what that means, pre-approval states that a mortgage company promises to give you a loan of a certain amount at a certain rate if you find a home to buy within a 90 day time period. this makes you attractive to prospective sellers who know that if you put a bid in for their property that you can not only afford the down payment, but that you are guaranteed to get a mortage .

When we started this whole process, we started looking at places and had seen a few places we liked, and then we realized…’well what if we loved this place?’ it turns out that if someone else was pre-approved and we weren’t and we put in similar bids, we could lose the apartment.

So anyway, this is good, and our future home (if we find in 90 days as stated earlier) will be backed.

(PS-I'm fully aware that the man in the picture giving the thumbs up is missing his two front teeth. This was how i felt on Sunday when i found out the apt we loved didn't allow pets).

Visitaton Rights: Brooklyn (The Second Coming) or "Arf Arf"

2007-10-21T20:39:00.000-04:00

As promised, this week would be a quick write up and posting of our second visit to Brooklyn in two weeks. Last week, after venturing through Ft. Greene, Clinton or Cobble Hill, or COCO or something, we came up on Park Slope and fell in love. So it was with that that we decided to focus this week's attention solely on the area b/w President and 12th street, and 5-7 avenue. 8 open houses, 1 heart-breaker, and a few close calls. The hunt is still on.

A and I started our venture early. For her bridal shower she had received a gift certificate at an Israeli brunch place called Miriam's so off we went leaving Manhattan at 10am trying to beat the morning rush to eat. We walked up to 59th street, hopped on the 5 down. (We actually had to stop and switch to the 4 but my geriatric mind can't recall what stop we had). Either way, we made it in time. Amanda enjoyed two poached eggs in tomato and pepper sauce and I enjoyed two eggs with borek, tahini and yogurt. (Sorry, no photos...when we get hungry that overtakes everything else).

The night before we had planned our day out meticulously, plotting a course that would take us around the various open houses in the allotted time frame. Our first stop was Union Street and we got there a few minutes early. What's a guy to do with time to kill? Get dragged to a store to go shopping. But luckily, it was Brooklyn Industries, which is kind of like Urban Outfitters only with less crap and only 2/3 of the price tags depending on the t-shirt.

Amanda found a blazer an sweatshirt, but since it was getting warm and we didn't want to drag around (Read:I didn't want to drag around), we left it with store and went off to visit the apartment.

The first few apartments weren't really worth writing about. Well that's not entirely true. Part of what this process is us learning more what we DON'T want as what we DO want. The first apartment was a 1,200 sq foot, 3 bedroom apt on the 3rd floor of a brownstone. The apartment was huge, but unfortunately, very very dark. We could afford it, but we'd have spent all our savings just to buy the place, which would leave us with not much money to fix it up, which clearly this place would need. We thanked the broker and went on our way.

Our second stop was at a quaint little place on 5th avenue, a couple selling a 2 bedroom apt on their own. Once again, this apartment was nice, but on 5th which to us Westchester folk felt a little like central avenue, plus for my tastes it was a little dark. I would put up pictures, but the people didn't let us take photographs. (I didn't ask to, but figure they would've said no).

When you live in Manhattan and have a rental, you don't really think about things like Feng Shui or flow. You don't think about the set-up or how the rooms look. When you're buying and you start to visualize how you might actually live, it changes things up. Specially when you think how you might feel in 5 years when you actually grow up (My god, I'll be 35). And it is with that that we begin to tell the story of the heartbreak apartment, the one that got away.

First, a quick side note. Last weekend, A's parents came with us to Brooklyn. It was great because they asked tons of questions, things we didn't even think of, like whether the super was on site, who cleaned the common areas, outside storage space. One apartment we saw last weekend was beautiful, but in essence the tenants acted as supers, and everyone was expected to empty the garbage for everyone else once a week. It was a little odd. One question it is important to ask is whether a building is pet friendly. This is important if you are an animal lover or hater. Hate pets? Go to a place that hates them too. Love them? Make sure the place likes having them around, specially before you go looking around.

Amanda and I showed up at a GORGEOUS 1,000 sq. ft apartment on 8th street b/w 6 and 7th. A gorgeous 3rd floor brownstone on the block we dreamed. A darling woman and her father-in-law greeted us at the door with fresh baked chocolate chip cookies (I had two, Amanda none). The apartment was fabulous. A perfect, open kitchen with lots of room and beautiful floors. A huge living room with space for a table and bookshelves and storage. Two big rooms, 1.5 bathrooms, lots of light, washer and dryer. Even better? In our price range. SOOOOOO In our price range.

So...not a condo. That's OK. Pet friendly? Yes. If you're pet is a cat. Or a bird. Or a hamster. We didn't ask about ferrets, but no, they don't like dogs.

What? Yup. The board is older and we are younger and they've yet to catch up with the times. So the rationalization began....'we don't really want a dog, right?' We could be happy without a dog for the next....7-10 years. We could get one at our next place. And with the notion that it wasn't going to happen...we had to say goodbye. (Tear).

We saw a few more places...one on prospect park west that was beautiful. The problem is and was that despite also being in our price range and also having the right price tag...despite being right next to the park (and i mean LITERALLY right next to the park) was that it lacked the Brooklyn feel. it lacked that special quality that makes Brooklyn Brooklyn. It kind of felt like being on Central Park West. Now while in about twenty years the future Mittfarbs might find that appealing...right now we want the authentic Brooklyn feel. And we're not ready to settle. We want our Brownstone, damnit! (And our little dog too!)

The most important thing is we left Park Slope feeling more sure than ever that this is the place we want to end up. And b/c we can extend our lease as needed, we don't have to settle for anything less than exactly what we want. Huzzah!

After a long day, we went home and drowned our sorrows in a healthy turkey meat loaf (Of course A made her own dinner of pumpkin soup, quinoa, millet, and tofu). If you're asking yourself why it looks like a giant overcooked brownie with tomato sauce and cheese on top, well that's b/c I've never cooked it before. But it was good.