Thank goodness it's the weekend.

[mugglechump]

Good grief, it's been a long week.

It's fiscal year end for my company, so things are crazy at work right now. I'm thinking about going in for a few hours tomorrow to finish up what I didn't get done last week and get a jump on the upcoming week. Blech. Not my idea of fun.

It's review time, too. I had to turn my portion of my review in by COB yesterday. This has not been a great year for me professionally, and I'm a little concerned that I might not get a raise.

I need a raise. I'd like to save up some cash so I can take advantage of the crappy housing market sometime in the next year or so. Repo-ed houses are all over Manassas. We've had a HUGE number of illegal immigrants here that had managed to procure loans and buy houses. When the county started getting stricter and making an effort to make sure people (and companies that used unskilled labor) were following the law, and then the housing market fell - well, a lot of those folks just picked up and headed out of Dodge. What did they have to lose? They're mortgages were fraudulent anyway, right? So, we have a lot of uber-cheap houses around right now. Single family homes under $100K in some cases, and that's just unheard of around here. They aren't big houses, but I don't need big, I just need something that's mine. A lot of the time the bank is willing to pay closing costs just to get the empty houses off its books. I'm paying $1200/month in rent for a two-bedroom apartment right now and that will likely go up to $1250 in June when my lease gets renewed, so getting into a cheap house would make my budget go a lot further. But I need a down payment. I don't currently have a down payment. So, yeah. Need a raise.

I also need to take down my Christmas tree. It's past time, but there are no needles falling off my artificial tree, so the sense of urgency is just not there.

This week has been almost completely unproductive from a scening standpoint. I've got a bunch of scenes hanging out there waiting on me, but I haven't had the energy or desire to get to them. If you're one of the folks who has been forced to wait on my draggin' behind, I apologize. Hopefully I can get my mojo back this weekend and crank some stuff out. A few of my characters have big plans afoot, so I'm excited about that. I like the people in my head. They're fun. Well, they amuse me at least, and that's what counts.

My mom emailed me that my brother Chris will be back up for two weeks in February. Hopefully I'll get a chance to see him while he's here. One of these days I need to head down to Florida and visit my niece, Elizabeth (Chris' daughter who's three months older than Mer). I don't think I've seen her at all since James, Mer, and I spent the week with her and Chris in 2004. She was 14 then, and now she's nearly 19. Craziness. Mer would love to see her. They were really close when they were little buggers, but Lizzy's mom moved her down to FL when she was five and contact has been sporadic at best since then.

That's all I've got for now. Take it easy, y'all!

ETA: I completely forgot to mention the awesome thing I bought at Wegman's earlier in the week. Organic pancake batter that comes in a spray can, like whipped does. Made me giggle, and it's very convenient for someone like me who lives alone and doesn't need to make a whole batch when I'm in the mood for pancakes.

ETA2: Wegman's also has a decent stock of Republic of Tea teas. Good to know in case I run out of Good Hope Vanilla.

Comments

[dragonsangel68.livejournal.com]

Getting into the housing market is so difficult, but once you're in you're sweet :) Good luck!

You have pancake batter in a spray can? O.o

[mugglechump.livejournal.com]

Thanks! James and I have owned two homes in the past, but it's been nearly five years since we sold the last one. I'd like a place without any common walls. The apartment life is not my favorite.

We do! I laughed when I saw it. How weird, right?

[dragonsangel68.livejournal.com]

I've been lucky enough to have never lived in an apartment. I don't even like the way the brand new houses are built over here - there's no common walls, but there may as well be in some instances, because you'd be lucky to slip a sheet of paper between some of the houses.

Very weird!

[adelagia.livejournal.com]

Pancake batter in a spray can? It boggles the mind. Does it cook and taste like regular pancakes?

[mugglechump.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure yet. I'll let you know!

[goddessvicky.livejournal.com]

I hope you get a raise, doll. Even from just talking with you online, it's clear you are a HARD worker. I mean, you're thinking about going in on a Sunday to do some work. Not many people can say that. (I'm not sure if *I* could say that...)

As for the Christmas thing... you have to think about it this way: Would is better to take it down now and not have to worry about it, or NOT take it down and not have to worry about putting it up this year? It's a conundrum...

Talking people in the head is a good thing, in any way, I think. Maybe not from a psychological stand-point, but when it comes to RPing, I tend to ignore the four years of psychology that encompassed my degree. :)

A vacation to Florida? Hell yes! I suggest you do that and see the family! And hey! Bren's going to be down there soon, so double cool!

::hugs::

[mugglechump.livejournal.com]

Hee. I appreciate the vote of confidence. I'm not /that/ hard a worker, but I get along.

[spottedcat83.livejournal.com]

The Christmas tree isn't hurting a thing. Leave it up until you feel like taking it down.

I know what you mean about the housing market. I have no money to spare. Well, I work part-time, so that's no shock. But when prices go back up, I'll be stuck not being able to afford a house. Ever.

Well, I'm hoping you get your raise. If nothing else, they need to take pity on you because cost of living goes up.

[mugglechump.livejournal.com]

I hear you. It's like you can't get in that right place at the right time. I'm trying, though. It's all we can do, right?

[brendanm720.livejournal.com]

Having just gone through this, here's the skinny on Down payments and mortgages.

Conventional mortgages require that the first 5% of the down be from your own Money... i.e. you need to be able to document it with pay stubs and bank statements. The minimum is also 5%, IIRC, but if you can do 20% (via a gift or borrowing from your 401k, et cetera), it's a lot cheaper both in lack of PMI and payments.

You do need a pretty decent credit score to pull it off, though.

FHA Mortgages only require 3.5% down, and all of that can be a gift. FHA is designed for people who don't have much liquid money available, and your credit score doesn't have to be that spectacular to get one. (It does need to be decent enough, though.)

Also, you will need to have inspections done and have the water tested, et cetera...

~#~#~#~

If you're in the Tampa area when you go to Florida, let me know. :-D

[mugglechump.livejournal.com]

Thanks! It's been awhile since I've been in the market for a house. The last time I bought one I got laid off about two month post-closing and never really got back on my feet until I sold it. It killed my credit until I was able to get out from under it. I need to check and see where I am these days. It's been nearly five years, so hopefully I've climbed a good way out of the credit rating hole I dug.

My brother lives in St. Pete, so if I get down there, I'll let you know!

[brendanm720.livejournal.com]

The last time I bought one I got laid off about two month post-closing and never really got back on my feet until I sold it.

The last time I bought one, the Board of the Electric Coop sold my subsidiary to the company I work for now, and there was a rather tense time when we all thought we were going to walk out...

REM was on heavy rotation those two weeks.

The two options that I mentioned are by no means the only options out there, but they are, IMO, the most sensible "Low Capital" loans available. (I've always thought that ARMs and Baloons and 80/20s were stupid if you're going to live in the house and not flip it. You may think otherwise.)

I need to check and see where I am these days. It's been nearly five years, so hopefully I've climbed a good way out of the credit rating hole I dug.

I used FreeCreditReport.com. It gives you the experian one for free (seeing as experian owns it), but does give you the option to buy a 3 agency report.

My brother lives in St. Pete, so if I get down there, I'll let you know!

Hmmm... I think it's doable. :-) Are you friendly with empressvesica? She's living in the area as well.