So close!

Yesterday Aaron and I signed our lives away - I mean, we signed all the loan documents and (hopefully) all of the rest of the documents necessary to complete the purchase of our first home! According to the escrow people, and our mortgage broker, all we need to do is sit back and wait for the keys - which should hopefully be delivered to us by Friday.

For those of you who have never purchased a home before - or for those of you who haven't done it in a long time, here is what we went through yesterday: We had to drive to Pasadena to be there by 4:30 (i.e. in rush hour traffic) to sign the documents. We got to the building where the escrow company was and had to sit in the lobby/hallway whilst we waited for the notary to come get us. The notary finally came and got us and proceeded to show us to "Signing Room #1." Signing Room #1 was empty except for some documents. It was just us and the notary inside this room signing a big huge packet of papers that we had never seen before. Here is my issue - I really wish they had emailed me the documents for my review over the weekend. That way, we could have had our questions answered before going in to sign. Instead, whenever we had questions, we had to call our escrow agent - who was downstairs doing other work - or our mortgage broker, who fortunately is a friend of ours, so we had her cell phone number to call after 5pm. I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who will just sign and not think twice about what they are signing . . . I am not one of those people.

This morning we had to go to the bank to wire transfer the remaining deposit/down payment and our portion of the closing costs. I looked at our copy of the documents to verify the amount we had to transfer and I could not find the correct number anywhere. The stack of papers we were given to take home with us did not have the same numbers as the stack of papers we signed yesterday. I have now requested copies of everything that we actually signed yesterday. Fortunately, the correct number was less than what was listed in the papers that we took home. But, I was livid - who does that? I used to work in a law office where I had people signing documents all the time. You ALWAYS give them the exact same paperwork as that which they are signing! It would have been best to just copy it after we signed it. But I understood that we were coming late in the day, so it wasn't necessarily practical to wait for them to make copies. Now I wish I had insisted on it!

I'm really hoping this is all over and done with by Friday. I just want to have the keys so that we can really get started on all the fixing up that needs to get done before we move in. Before you get too excited/concerned, really the only necessary things are: painting, re-carpeting the bedrooms, cleaning and re-keying the place. I think Aaron is also going to try to get the place wired for internet and other things prior to moving all our stuff in as well.

We seem to have lucked out on many of the items that we were going to have to purchase. A family friend is giving us a washer and dryer, and another friend of ours is letting us use his fridge on a "long term loan" basis - i.e. his current apartment does not have the space for it, so we will keep it for him and get to use it in the meantime. So the only appliance that we have to purchase is the stove - somehow I don't think anyone is just going to give us a stove. But this means that we may be able to get a better quality stove than we would otherwise have purchased.

Ok, I'm off to examine those documents with a fine tooth comb - at least they didn't try to charge me an "email fee" like some of our other friends who just bought a house experienced.

House Update

1 month later and here's where we are at:

We had the inspection and appraisal. All went fairly well. The biggest issue was that the heating and ac were not turning on. However, the inspector said the systems were pretty good systems and fairly new, so he thought it might just be a breaker issue. You should see how big the final inspection report was! It's basically an entire book in and of itself.

The appraisal was fine - in fact, our appraiser had been out to the same house a couple years ago and appraised it at $600,000! hahahahaha . . . oh the bubble days. *sigh* But the final appraisal did come in about $30K more than what we are paying for it. So I guess that's good . . . on paper. It still makes no difference in what our monthly payments will be or how much it will be worth when we sell it. But at least we can feel like we're getting a good deal out of it.

We have been told that our loan has been approved - even though they seem to want more documentation each day. They even had to call our employers to get a verbal verification of employment. Then someone else from the bank will call back later to verify that it was verified - this is after giving them essentially 6 months worth of paystubs and getting letters regarding our employment. I'm surprised we haven't had to give a DNA sample yet!

Then there's the escrow company and the 50 pages we had to sign for them. We had to initial that we initialed documents - I guess to show that we saw them . . . again?

Oh, and we've finally found a homeowner's insurance company. Initially we contacted the company that does our car insurance. But they basically told us that they would be too expensive for us since we're buying in "an area like Van Nuys." They suggested we go to another company at least until we get the place fixed up.

Last week, Aaron had an electrician come out and look at the wiring. He got the ac and heat to work, so that's good. In addition, the electricity in the garage now works. Aaron verifided that the dishwasher was working - so that's one less appliance we have to purchase. :)

I think that's it. As of right now, we are set to close July 30. I have a feeling it may get delayed a little, but it should definitely be in August sometime. Then we just have to change the carpet, paint, and do a little gardening before we can have a housewarming party!

Home buying

Aaron and I made an offer on a house last Saturday night. They countered our offer on Monday, and we countered their counter on Tuesday. They accepted Tuesday afternoon. Wednesday we had to sign a new purchase agreement reflecting the new terms. Yesterday we had our inspection. Escrow is set to close on or before July 30 (apparently foreclosures require a longer escrow period). Once we receive the inspection report and officially secure our financing, our contingencies will be met and then we just wait until the seller (i.e. the bank) gets everything sorted.

Here are the details: It's a 3 bed, 2 bath house, 1,900 square feet.

It's in the Lake Balboa part of Van Nuys (which is the nicer part). It's on a cute little street with lots of cute little houses (very little "manionising" in the area). Our house is on the corner of a pretty busy street, which gave us (mostly me) some pause, but I think with landscaping we can minimize the noise. The house itself is pretty quiet, but you can definitely hear the street noise in the backyard.

On Monday night when we were considering the counter offer, we drove out there and walked around the neighborhood. So we know it's safe to walk around at night. We also met a couple of the neighbors. One of whom was outside working on some new windows for his house. He said he'd been there 7 years and absolutely loved it. Apparently the neighbors next door to our potential house have been there since the 1950's and there are plenty of other residents who have been there for a long time as well. It was really nice talking to the neighbors that clinched it for us. I know I want to be in a neighborhood where neighbors talk to each other, and you get that community feel. And you can tell just by walking around that the neighbors really care for their houses (there is the occasional exception, but it's pretty rare).

Because it's a foreclosure, we definitely have a lot of work ahead of us to fix it up and make it nice. But it's not nearly as bad as some of the other houses we saw (there was one condo we went in where I had to pull my shirt over my nose because the stench was so bad). This one is relatively clean and definitely liveable while we are fixing it - and most of the fixes are just cosmetic repairs. I think the biggest thing we'll need to work on is the yard. The front yard has working sprinklers, so it could be that we'll just need to water and the grass will grow back. The back yard has sprinklers, but they don't work - and I don't think anyone has used them in a very long while. Aaron's mom loves landscaping and decorating, though, so we'll definitely be calling on her to help us make our place amazing. :)

Election and stuff

I’ve been meaning to write a new blog for a while now. I keep thinking of topics while sitting in my car on my long commute each day (ok, it’s only a 10 minute commute, but that’s still plenty of time to come up with some good ideas). The problem is that there are so many good topics that I could write about – but most are ones that I want to go incredibly in depth with – i.e. the election – why I think Obama is a MUCH better choice than McCain, or why Prop 8 is the most bigoted narrow-minded piece of . . . well, let’s just say that I’m definitely voting NO on 8. Or I could write about health care and how our system is so completely backwards – which relates to the election, but is not necessarily one and the same. Or I could just give a life update, but that’s pretty short: Aaron is still working nights. I’m still at Extreme. Our cat may be the most adorable creature to ever cross my path.

With the election coming up so soon, I think maybe that will be my topic for tonight - though I won't go nearly as in depth as I would like - mostly just my opinion. It is hard to understate the importance of this election. This is one of those elections that, regardless of outcome, is going to make a huge impact on America, the World, and more importantly each individual’s life. For the first time in my life, I am holding my breath in anticipation of Tuesday. This is the first time ever that I have felt so invested in an election. It is really exciting – and scary all at the same time. It’s refreshing to have so many people my age and younger talking about politics and actually caring about it. These are some of the same people that, I’m sure, back in high school when everything on the world stage was hunky-dory, didn’t care one bit about politics. I remember as a kid going downtown with my parents to watch election results – some of my friends in school thought that was weird. To me, Election Day has always been kind of a family holiday – even though I didn’t feel nearly as personally invested as I do now.

Everything in the world has become so difficult that it has everyone looking at this election as a single ray of hope for something to change. America’s reputation on the world stage has deteriorated to nearly a joke. Even though our economy is tanking, America is still such a dominating power the entire world is looking to us. They want to see which direction America will take. Will it still turn a blind eye and pretend like the rest of the world doesn’t exist? Or we will start acknowledging that there is life outside the US, and maybe, just maybe, other countries might have some ideas that are better than ours? The current administration’s belief that the US is the best country in the world to the point of ignoring all other policies and social structures drives me crazy!

By saying that, it doesn’t make me un-American or un-patriotic. I still love the US and, for the most part, I am proud to be an American. However, I do not like the direction our country has gone in the past 8 years. I was living in England during the first year of the Bush presidency. I saw what an impact an inane president could have on a country’s reputation – and this was before 9/11, Afghanistan, Iraq, the horrendous economy.

One of my friends from Pepperdine posted a thing on facebook saying, “I know high schoolers who understand economics better than Obama.” At first, I was hurt and a little offended. My gut reaction was a quick retort of “oh yeah, because the Republican economic policies have been working SO well for the past 8 years.” But then, I stopped myself, and realized that what makes this country so great is that we can have different opinions. I didn’t bother responding to my friend’s message because, obviously, I am not going to change her mind.

However, I have several reasons why the Republican “top heavy”/“trickle down” (whatever you want to call it) does not work. McCain says he doesn’t want to take “Joe the Plumber’s” money and give it to other people. (I take issue with the Republicans labeling Obama’s economic policy as a Robin Hood-type concept in this manner, but that topic is for another day) McCain says he wants Joe the Plumber to do give away his money on his own. Now tell me, how many “Joes” do you think are really going to give away their own money? If they don’t want to give their money to taxes, they certainly don’t want to give it to you or me. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying that Republicans never give to charity. I have this theory that people are innately greedy. Rich people get rich by not spending money. All those jobs that the Republicans say rich people are going to create – where are they? Oh wait, I know! The jobs have been eliminated because the rich people decided that there was more profit to be made by eliminating people’s jobs and replacing them with machines or cheap overseas workers. That tax deduction for charity donations is pretty nice, too.

Before you jump and call me a cynic – I also believe that people are innately good (again a topic for another day). But I don’t think that supersedes the fact that people are greedy and want to hold on to what they earn. I understand – you work hard for your money and don’t want to give it up. However, there are certain aspects of a civilized society that I feel should be rights, and not privileges for the few who can afford it – i.e. healthcare, education, etc.

I also think people think they earn more than they actually do. I think that people hear that $250,000 mark and think “Oh my goodness, that could be me in a couple years!” I have news for those people - $250K is a LOT of money. You can almost buy a house in Southern California for that amount of money! I’m a lawyer and that amount is still way out of my reach. I would love to earn that kind of money – and honestly, if I ever do, I would be willing to shell out a little bit more. Of course I’ll gripe about it, but at least if I know that my money is going towards healthcare and education and anything else where I can see my tax dollars at work, it will be worth it. Maybe Obama should be touting is as a “quarter of a million dollars” instead – I think phrased that way, most people wouldn’t think they earn that amount.

Ok, I’m tired now. Prop 8 will have to wait for tomorrow. I just have this to say – I saw a sign today that said “Prop 8 = Religious Freedom.” I couldn’t help but think, “No, Prop 8 = Religious Oppression, which is exactly what this country was founded against.”

Digital Distribution Royalty Rate

From the LA Times today:

Royalties for digital song downloads unchanged

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-techblog3-2008oct03,0,1330228.story

This doesn't affect me or my job directly because Extreme doesn't sell its music commercially, but I thought it was interesting. I also think the Copyright Royalty Board was wise in not granting either party exactly what they wanted (the music publishers wanted a higher royalty and the digital distribution companies wanted a lower royalty). Regardless, I don't think this is the last we will hear of this issue.

Update regarding Pepperdine and Prop 8

I just received the following email from Pepperdine's administration regarding the Prop 8 commercial starring Professor Peterson:

From the Department of Public Relations

Dear Pepperdine Alumnus:

Many members of the Pepperdine community have voiced opinions over a TV ad regarding Proposition 8. The ad features a Pepperdine professor and currently includes reference to his affiliation with the University.

We’d like to stress that the professor does not represent a Pepperdine University-endorsed position, as the University does not advocate for/against political candidates or ballot propositions.

The professor in the ad was not advocating a Pepperdine position, but his own personal position.
We have received confirmation that our request to have the reference to Pepperdine University deleted from the ad will be honored. We have been assured that the ad will be revised, perhaps by today.

Jerry DerloshonExecutive DirectorPublic RelationsPepperdine University

Pepperdine UniversityLeading Lives of Purpose, Service, and Leadership24255 Pacific Coast HighwayMalibu, CA 90263Phone: (310) 506-4000E-mail: pr@pepperdine.edu

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I'm glad to see that the administration has done something about that ridiculous ad! Maybe Chemerinsky will come out with an ad giving counter-arguments to Prof Peterson's scare-tactic type statements.

Love Poem

So far, I like this better than ANY ad I've seen on tv regarding Prop 8.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q2R7O-0WRo

Take a look - open your heart.