Pheatured Photo
Fairpoint officially purchased Verizon this past week. If any of you live in ME-NH-VT: do you know how we can pay for our phone service?? We haven’t received a bill, and the only reason I know that we’re officially not Verizon customers anymore is that I tried to sign on to the Verizon website and was not allowed.
Apparently Fairpoint is under fire because they promised to maintain an online bill pay option and didn’t. For this reason alone - never mind that we heard on NHPR this morning that people have already been having problems with their phones (we’re on day 5 of Fairpoint ownership) - we will be switching to cable VoIP and internet. But in the meantime, I’m assuming we need to pay some kind of Fairpoint bill… and I haven’t seen one… and I don’t want to get cited for a late payment on my credit report!
Somebody please tell me how to pay my phone bill! Or even get my phone bill! Please!
Written by Angela at 9:02 pm - Filed under Our Little World - 1 Comment
Written by Angela at 5:15 pm - Filed under Our Little World - No Comments
The bank’s appraiser missed the twenty-five thousand dollars hiding under the couch.
….. Yeah. So. We received the appraisal of our finished project today. The appraiser came in at 25k under what we’ve seen “similar” homes selling for around here. I could pick apart all the things I’m finding wrong with this, such as the fact that she used sales dating back to a year ago (correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the reasonable limit for comparability supposed to be six months?), and that comparable #2 was a foreclosure purchased by a rehab company (um, yeah, that’s the best way to determine fair market value)….
But I think this is the most telling aspect of the report. Comparables 1, 2 and 3 are listed, right across the top, at $140.63, $133.63, and $149.65 per square foot, respectively. On the next page, our “Cost approach to value” starts with a value per square foot of $110.52. Hm… wait, there’s the missing twenty thousand dollars! I guess it wasn’t under the couch after all.
So why are we worth $30 per square foot less despite the 100% brand new vinyl siding, the 30-year brand-new roof, and the… wait for it… brand new EVERYTHING ELSE?? Our loan officer is out of the office this week, but her fill-in will certainly be answering to us tomorrow.
Again, I’m assuming this is some kind of ridiculous mistake. It’s not possible that this is a deal-breaker. I’m a little stunned, but I’m not crying yet.
*****Two hours and a dozen more accounting-brain stretches later, and I realize that she deducted out the value of the land from her derived price, then divided the remainder by the finished square footage. So this might actually be the end of the line, as ludicrous as it is. Well, why would I be so foolish as to imagine for a moment, much less months, that ANYTHING good would actually happen anyplace other than in my imagination??? (If it’s worth less, why not just give something up you ask? I can answer that because I’ve already done the math: the only item we could give up to drop enough of the cost would be the garage, and taking that off the list would push the value low enough that we then could not do anything. !@#$%)
Don’t worry. Jeremy will make me take out the fake swear later. For now you can live with it.
This past weekend we had the pleasure of visiting with some “old” friends and some “new” ones, relatively speaking, of course.
For Saturday, we had scheduled Peter and Becky for a visit at our place. It had been months since we had a solid visit, and the last time I had seen Peter was a meetup for lunch in Concord. We had a great time this visit, sharing a delicious meal of cumin-lime chicken and caesar salad, catching up on the goings-on in our lives, and being thoroughly entertained by their beautiful little girl Catherine. They are both doing a fantastic job raising her, and it was fun to have their growing family with us. Peter of course brought his camera and his growing knowledge of photography, and helped us with the final picture we needed for the TrueTech website, on the consulting page. THANK YOU PETER! He also offered to do some couples shots for us, which are sorely lacking in our own gallery, so we’ll be taking him up on that, hopefully during our next visit. Thank you Peter, Becky, and Catherine!
On Sunday, we had yet another family over - Dave and Pam and their two daughters Allison and Anna. I met Dave at Staples, and our common interest in technology and similar personalities resulted in an invite from Dave and Pam to have dinner at their house last summer. We had a great time then, and have been looking forward ever since toward returning the favor. We were able to share a meal of cider-brined chicken and cornbread with maple syrup, and again catch up with how things were going all around. Dave and I spent some time talking technology, which is always fun, the two lovely girls kept everything lively and entertaining as well. They are wonderful people to know, and we were thrilled at our second visit with them. Thank you to Dave, Pam, Allison and Anna!
Sunday afternoon, we were also pleasantly surprised with quick “hello” from John and Laurel, who were out for a walk with their two boys Parker and Tucker. We knew it was them at the door, because they are the only ones who ring the funky little doorbell contraption we have at the backdoor. It had been a few weeks since we had seen them, and it was a nice refresh, even if it was brief. Thanks to John, Laurel, Parker and Tucker for dropping by!
All in all, a very packed weekend it was, and full of friendly fun. We are looking forward to many more visits like these when our house additions are complete. Time with friends is always refreshing. Thanks again to all of you!
Now we are going to nap for a week.
Written by Jeremy at 12:45 pm - Filed under Friends and Family - No Comments
We just spent a few hours putting the final touches on the text for the website, which was the last stop on the way to its launch! It is finally finished, and you can reach it at the address below! Constructive criticism (and praise) are welcome, and you can leave them in the comments for this blog. Enjoy, and wish us luck!
Written by Jeremy at 5:52 pm - Filed under WebWork - 2 Comments
Jeremy and I want to take a random day off together, but we don’t want it to be just any day off. I mean, we don’t want to wake up that morning asking each other, “So what are we going to do today?” and end up wasting it all because we can’t think of anything to do. But…. we can’t think of anything to do!
So I proffer this challenge to our readers, in the hopes that we can construct an awesome day:
What should we do on our day off?
The person who comes up with the idea we use will score a dinner invitation for any date beyond the completion of our house project. I’ll make anything you want, as long as I know how or can figure it out - and can get my hands on the ingredients. Alternatively, if you are a long-distance reader and don’t want to make the trip, I will overnight you a batch of our favorite cookies. (Why not your favorite cookies? Because these will be your favorites as soon as you try them. Believe me. This is true. I wish to high heaven I could take credit for the recipe.)
There are a few limits on the ideas we can consider seriously:
So please give us some awesome ideas, and good luck!
Written by Angela at 5:52 pm - Filed under Our Little World - 5 Comments
I am frequently astounded at the differences that education can make, specifically, the difference between an education that imparts what to think and an education that imparts how to think. A child who is drilled in dogma or a similarly narrow point of view, who is informed about the world by being presented lists of facts, who is taught to read without questioning, becomes an adult without the ability to think, to challenge himself or others, to grow. On the other hand, a child exposed to differences (if only, at first, the difference between what is said and what is done), who is informed about the world by absorbing it, who is taught to read with a critical eye, becomes an adult able to think for himself, to challenge himself and others, to grow.
How much of this is a difference in education or environment, and how much a difference in the fundamental makeup of a child? Independent of environment, a dull or complacent child who is presented a list of facts will try to memorize them. A bright child will compare them. Once you introduce environment, the distinctions become less clear. An anguished, intelligent child might consume a book like fire. A happy, intelligent child might let that book do no more than touch the surface of his mind, and so grasp it only at the level of a less intelligent child.
Anyway, whether it is a function of nature or nurture, a child who is taught or learns what to think rather than how becomes an excessively dull adult.
Written by Angela at 7:36 am - Filed under Musings - No Comments
This thing with the closing costs must be some kind of mistake, or as Rebecca said, a misunderstanding.
One of the things I’ve found that I’m good at as an accountant is figuring out how somebody else reached a number. I’m sure this isn’t a special or unusual talent, but it is very useful. What we received from the bank yesterday was a whole mess of documents, two of which look contradictory and very scary. After a good night’s sleep, I sat down this morning and broke out both of these documents line by line. According to one of the documents, the closing costs are twice what we were given as an estimate (then there are some extra bits on top of that, but they are added to the monthly payment during construction - so it really isn’t 2.5 times the estimate to be paid at closing). This document makes it look like these extra-high closing costs are all due to be paid at closing, but the other makes it look like half of them are rolled into the loan or paid later on (such as the fee for the inspection after each portion of the project is completed). When you add what looks like the actual cash-at-closing number on that second document to the loan application fee, you get a number that is spot-on with the estimate given us by our loan officer.
That would be ok. We should have that number by the end of this month actually. (Which works out very well, because next month we’ll be paying a lot for my prescriptions. Drat that HSA.)
We’ll find out on Monday. In the meantime, it just doesn’t seem possible to me that we could be dead in the water. We met with another heating contractor today, who said that yes, those first estimates sounded unbelievable. He’ll be coming back with some numbers next week, so maybe we will have central heat. One of us - we can’t remember who, it must have been synergy! - also remembered that the hardware store up the street carries propane stoves, so we made a visit. It turns out they carry three different lines, and provide installation! Joe helped us out hugely, answered all our questions off the top of his head, and sent us home with three different brochures. It wasn’t hard to pick a favorite, and when we called back to get a price, we learned that not only is this option completely doable, it also brings us in under budget for heat. How could that possibly happen if we aren’t meant to go forward with this?
Not only that, but our builders stopped by today to show us the plans. We can fit the washer and dryer upstairs! We can have two sinks in the master bath! We can have a small linen closet! AND, the price they quoted us on the garage DOES INCLUDE VINYL SIDING!! We’ve been thinking for the past month that we’d have T-111 there and put vinyl on when it needed to be repainted. They ALSO described to us the perimeter drain system/gutter system that is included in their plans to take care of the water streaming down the sloped lot toward our house. That’s a bonus.
Bottom line, not only does the addition fix all kinds of little problems that would be horrible to take care of individually, but it’s all coming together so nicely. We’d have such a cozy, welcoming place. We could eat a table every night instead of TV trays in the damp basement. We could have people over. We could play the Wii without hitting each other. We could host Jeremy’s 30th birthday party at our own house instead of renting a hall. We could have house guests. I just can’t see this not happening. In fact, that’s why I was crying so hard last night. I can’t see a future with this house as it is, it’s just black in my head when I try.
So, I’ve decided it must be a misunderstanding. We must be okay.
We got a “good faith” - HA! - estimate and explanation of loan from the bank today. The closing costs are 2.5 TIMES higher than estimated by our loan officer (read: completely out of reach). The interest rate was set, not four days before loan closing as indicated by our loan officer, but six weeks before loan closing; not at the current rate as indicated by our loan officer, but higher. We do not have the option of foregoing escrow, as indicated by our loan officer, but are required to escrow. I had earlier provided our credit card information to pay a fee that covered appraisal and credit check (I do have a copy of the document, which says this in writing) - we are now told that fee covered only the appraisal, and the credit check is an additional charge. We are responsible for a flood certification charge, although we do not live in a flood zone. (We will be by the time I’m done crying over this though.) We are required to pay mortgage insurance, even though nobody knows yet if we’ll owe more than 80% of the house when we’re done.
I can’t live in this house anymore. I can’t. We’re not poor, and I can’t live like it anymore. This house was fine as a step on our way to something else. But we can’t make it better, and we sure can’t sell it as-is with the market where it is, so now it’s not a stop on the way to somewhere else anymore, and it’s not okay anymore.
IT IS NOT OKAY ANYMORE.
Jeremy says these numbers may be a mistake, but I am not signing any mistake put in writing by a bank. I am just plain not signing these documents. In any case, we won’t know anything until Monday. Happy Friday!
Written by Angela at 5:52 pm - Filed under HomeWork - 2 Comments
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