It is Thanksgiving.
The first Thanksgiving after graduation from college and getting a job related to my degree was spent going home, meaning not home.
The next year, was the first after buying our house. When we moved in, the house had a stove/double oven. The lower oven was very large and the upper was a small "bun" oven. The bun oven is all we used. It was enough to fit a small sheet pan, but not much else. The only element in it was an upper element, that was missing some support so it hung very low. Putting anything in it of any height at all was not really possible. That first year in the house, we got a fresh (not frozen) bird from a local meat market. They don't sell small fresh birds so it was a ridiculous size for two people. The day before Thanksgiving, I tried the larger lower oven for the first time. It did not work. The problem was traced to a faulty regulator. The oven was antiquated at best, and really beyond useful life, but I was able to find a used regulator at a junk shop in a nearby city - in a very bad part of town. After securing the part on a rainy evening, the oven was fixed and turkey roasted the next day. As I recall, it was excellent.
The next year there was another fresh bird. However, the "new" regulator had only been used a few times and failed "on" this time. Regulation of the heat was done manually, turning the oven on and off and paying attention to the small removable oven thermometer. I believe that was the last time the larger oven was used. Although those fresh birds were wonderful, common sense has prevailed and the foul has gotten smaller, including chickens and capons for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
That kitchen had originally been a porch at one time. It felt fitting that it had very close nap carpet when we moved in, and actually appeared to be indoor/outdoor carpeting. There were holes and stains in it, like other places in the house. Not too long after moving in, that was replaced by linoleum - an improvement, and the final home improvement before moving was its replacement again.
As that stove/oven was beyond useful life when we moved it, it was surprising how long we used it. The little bun oven worked for may years. One stove burner quit working at some point, and the appliance was replaced at the same time as the fridge (with mismatched doors that came with a dog...). The oven and fridge were unceremoniously dropped (legally) behind a big box store on the purchase of a new and basic oven and fridge. So the ovens have gotten bigger and better over the years. The birds have gotten smaller. We gladly pay more for a smaller bird, despite how good those fresh birds were. There is often nostalgia for a poor car owned early in life. It seems like there should be something similar for that appliance, but there really isn't. On this holiday (Thanksgiving after all) perhaps happiness should be derived from better things but probably not from things at all. There is only minor nostalgia for the past, or any kind of acknowledgement that the stove in this new house is really better. Which in itself is probably something to be thankful for.
As this ends, I'm ready to put a turkey in the oven. A sub-10# bird in a working oven, not significantly different from where I was 15 years ago.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Moving on
I already missed a week of writing. My intentions last week were to write about the "Occupy Wall Street" hoora going on. I couldn't. The closing on the house was on Friday (Oct 28) and it took over my brain for the weekend. Since the closing, it has slowly become real that the old house is sold.
The house went on the market in very early January. I knew the market was tough but had visions of several people coming through the house since it was new on the market. Then, the Realtor had the first open house. No one showed. My only thought was, has this been a mistake? There were no showings at all in January. A couple people did eventually come through the house and the Realtor kept persisting in putting on open houses, but the people looking at the house were very sparse. Most of the feedback on the house was pretty positive, but there was no real interest. A painful winter moved into a painful spring as winter ice changed to flooding rains (read wet basement). It became obvious at some point, that the price was optimistic (I assumed it was from the beginning). After a more significant price drop than the Realtor wanted, activity did pick up. At the same time, maintaining two houses during the busy spring was a drag. By mid summer, there was pretty real interest from three groups. This was a false hope as they dropped out due to inability to buy during a potential divorce, or inability to get financing in any form under current conditions. The most hopeful people were a husband and wife looking to buy for her daughter. However, family spats prevented that from going forward. The house was back at ground zero. The day the last group lost interest, was a low day.
Towards the end of the summer, a new couple wanted to see the house, and then came back to see it again. Eventually they put in an offer. Her parents lived down the street (across from the bar in the old Feed & Seed building). The offer may not have been as high as was ideal, but given the market, the offer was accepted. They were getting a USDA loan, which seemed like a small deal. Given that anything can come up with a 120-year old house, it was a major relief to get through the housing inspection, followed by the appraisal and then septic inspection. All was looking good. Then the deal went into a seemingly never ending series of questions and updates - many surrounding issues of the house being in a flood zone. As an aside, the regulations are clear; although the property is partially in a flood zone, the house is not and the extra burden for purchase as well as the buyers flood insurance is not needed (I'm convinced after reading reams of documents on FEMA's and USDA's web page). The final hurdle was the requirement to raise the water heater four inches (due to flood issues - hard to believe four inches can mean sale or no-sale to the USDA). The buyer helped with this. However, bank approval still dragged on several more weeks. Finally closing, which in the end went of well. It also turned out that the buyers had been anticipating things moving smoother, and were living in one room in their parent house, so they were pretty anxious as well.
After all this, I'm really glad it worked out and hope the buyers are happy. There are and were cheaper houses on the market (all foreclosures) but being in a rural area, there weren't as many as were in a busier area which was an advantage. In reality, the house was a reasonably good deal though. Long term, it could work out really well. While the math suggests lots of the improvements were probably not worth it, there are no regrets. Towards the end, it was hard to be positive as all I could see in the house were the flaws. It at times felt like the actual purchase process happened on autopilot, with neither buyer or seller really in control anymore. I didn't like being mad at the house after living there 15 years. The were many low days, but also those bright summer days when the house showed more realistically that it was a nice place, especially compared to some of the ill-treated foreclosures.
During a "final" cleanout of the house (it was only 1 month into the actual 3-month contract period), there were a lot of memory flashes to what it was like to move in there originally. It was as close to a rural setting as was possible, the huge back yard, the big imposing oil furnace and the little garage work shop... Over time, the memories of the sale will soften. I like the new house more, but the old house WAS home for 15 years. I do hope the buyer's move yields similar emotions; the excitement of a first house, any house, should not be lost.
Final thoughts may come later. For now, it feels like a mental weight has been lifted. I enjoy the new house more now than ever. Occupy Wal........ Who cares, it is sunny here at home.
The house went on the market in very early January. I knew the market was tough but had visions of several people coming through the house since it was new on the market. Then, the Realtor had the first open house. No one showed. My only thought was, has this been a mistake? There were no showings at all in January. A couple people did eventually come through the house and the Realtor kept persisting in putting on open houses, but the people looking at the house were very sparse. Most of the feedback on the house was pretty positive, but there was no real interest. A painful winter moved into a painful spring as winter ice changed to flooding rains (read wet basement). It became obvious at some point, that the price was optimistic (I assumed it was from the beginning). After a more significant price drop than the Realtor wanted, activity did pick up. At the same time, maintaining two houses during the busy spring was a drag. By mid summer, there was pretty real interest from three groups. This was a false hope as they dropped out due to inability to buy during a potential divorce, or inability to get financing in any form under current conditions. The most hopeful people were a husband and wife looking to buy for her daughter. However, family spats prevented that from going forward. The house was back at ground zero. The day the last group lost interest, was a low day.
Towards the end of the summer, a new couple wanted to see the house, and then came back to see it again. Eventually they put in an offer. Her parents lived down the street (across from the bar in the old Feed & Seed building). The offer may not have been as high as was ideal, but given the market, the offer was accepted. They were getting a USDA loan, which seemed like a small deal. Given that anything can come up with a 120-year old house, it was a major relief to get through the housing inspection, followed by the appraisal and then septic inspection. All was looking good. Then the deal went into a seemingly never ending series of questions and updates - many surrounding issues of the house being in a flood zone. As an aside, the regulations are clear; although the property is partially in a flood zone, the house is not and the extra burden for purchase as well as the buyers flood insurance is not needed (I'm convinced after reading reams of documents on FEMA's and USDA's web page). The final hurdle was the requirement to raise the water heater four inches (due to flood issues - hard to believe four inches can mean sale or no-sale to the USDA). The buyer helped with this. However, bank approval still dragged on several more weeks. Finally closing, which in the end went of well. It also turned out that the buyers had been anticipating things moving smoother, and were living in one room in their parent house, so they were pretty anxious as well.
After all this, I'm really glad it worked out and hope the buyers are happy. There are and were cheaper houses on the market (all foreclosures) but being in a rural area, there weren't as many as were in a busier area which was an advantage. In reality, the house was a reasonably good deal though. Long term, it could work out really well. While the math suggests lots of the improvements were probably not worth it, there are no regrets. Towards the end, it was hard to be positive as all I could see in the house were the flaws. It at times felt like the actual purchase process happened on autopilot, with neither buyer or seller really in control anymore. I didn't like being mad at the house after living there 15 years. The were many low days, but also those bright summer days when the house showed more realistically that it was a nice place, especially compared to some of the ill-treated foreclosures.
During a "final" cleanout of the house (it was only 1 month into the actual 3-month contract period), there were a lot of memory flashes to what it was like to move in there originally. It was as close to a rural setting as was possible, the huge back yard, the big imposing oil furnace and the little garage work shop... Over time, the memories of the sale will soften. I like the new house more, but the old house WAS home for 15 years. I do hope the buyer's move yields similar emotions; the excitement of a first house, any house, should not be lost.
Final thoughts may come later. For now, it feels like a mental weight has been lifted. I enjoy the new house more now than ever. Occupy Wal........ Who cares, it is sunny here at home.
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