The Art of Finding the Perfect First House
I’ve not had nearly enough practice in domesticating myself and all of a sudden we are house hunting. I made a delicious Mexican eggplant casserole and cornbread lastnight, but I need more skills than that if I am going to own a house with 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, and a big backyard…
Our house hunt officially began on Saturday, Jan. 19 when we journeyed down, unannounced, to the ReMax office that found us the apartment we currently rent. However, things didn’t really take off until yesterday when we visited four different homes in two different towns.
I’m learning that there are several factors to take into consideration when looking to buy a home.
1. Great neighborhoods are essential. You could find a great house in a less than suitable town (Ventnor would be a good example, right next to Atlantic City) but without a good town, forget the house.
2. Once you find a town you like, find a house that fits your price range.
3. Taxes are a biggy. You might be able to afford the mortgage but you can’t afford the taxes on top of the house! Taxes are very important but I don’t believe you should spend your money on resources you are not personally taking advantage of. For instance, we don’t have any children yet, so why would we want to spend 1k on taxes every month that largely go towards a school system we are not using? That day will come, but until then, low taxes are a huge plus.
4. The place might look “pretty” but what are the current owners covering up? How is the heating? Any air conditioning? Is the water heater electric? (That’ll empty your pockets!!) Propane? Gas? Plumbing? Foundation? Roof? What do the monthly bills look like? So many things you might not be told unless you ask.
5. Why is the current owner selling the house?
a. If he is selling because it was given to him in a will, then the price is seriously negotiable in the buyer’s favor.
b. If she is selling but bought in the last four or so years, then he will lose money if he doesn’t sell above the price he bought at when real estate was high. This is not in the buyer’s favor whatsoever and might make negotiating more difficult or near impossible.
c. If it’s a couple selling in a divorce settlement, they want out ASAP, so price is negotiable in the buyer’s favor.
d. If something went wrong with the house’s maintenance or the surrounding neighbors are difficult to live with, this is also good to know so that the buyer knows what s/he is getting into.
There are many more factors that we are just now getting into, like mortgage pre-approval and crunching numbers, so points 1 through 5 above are all I can share at the moment.
What went wrong for you when you bought your first house? What went right?
Questions about The Learning Record
Due Jan. 31 is a reflection of sorts on an approach to learning evaluation called The Learning Record. We are asked to read what it entails and develop five questions we have about the process.
1. Is this all electronic or are we to have a hard copy in hand? If a hard copy is necessary, do we fill it all in by hand, print out typed copies every time we need them, or is this all our own personal preference?
2. Are there going to be checkpoints throughout the semester to see that we are completing this record (completing A, B, C) or will it not be looked at in whole until May?
3. What does the professor hope to gain from this evaluation?
4. Where does our Learning Record go when it is complete? Does Rowan file it away, does the professor file it away, do we file it away? Or is it just another lost-in-the-wind exercise?
5. Isn’t this all just a little too structured for a graduate course?
Well, those are my questions. If they are answered in class, I will post the answers under each question so that you can, too, benefit.
The Art of Nurturing
I have been living on my own (aka, not with my parents) for eight months now but my focus on domestication did not get serious until the night of December 1, 2007. Earlier that morning, we adopted an orphaned kitten who was only 3 weeks old. At 3 weeks, a kitten should still be nursing every couple of hours and cannot regulate its temperature, but since there was no mama cat to feed or warm her kitten, I took over.
Every three hours I was heating up a bottle of KMR (kitten milk replacement) and struggling to keep my half-pound kitten interested until he had at least 1 oz. This meant waking up throughout the night and readjusting my schedule to keep him healthy. Our electric bill went up because we kept the apartment warmer than usual, took advantage of a space heater to fight the draft that tears through the doors and windows, and snuggled the kitty up with an electric blanket (set to low and under supervision, of course).
With this experience I learned two things:
1. I can act selflessly in order to nurture another living being.
2. My boyfriend is going to make an excellent father one day:
But that very first night, waking up to check on “the baby” really showed me that motherhood is definitely a possibility. I have learned many lessons since that first night, but for now I leave you with this.
A Post-Grad's Journey Towards Domestication 