So I finally closed on my house Thursday. The family came and helped me move on Saturday and helped me get things setup in the house. I absolutely LOVE IT!! I love living in N Buffalo....not far from anything really, and my neighborhood is very nice. The inside of the house really needs no work, all updated very recently. I do have some work cut out for me outside though...need a new roof, privacy fence along the back, and now the insurance company wants me to replace the driveway/walkway?! Screw them, that's 3rd on the list! :) Also have some work I can do myself...scraping and painting the sides of the garage, replacing gutter downspouts, repainting the trim (I don't like the color), etc. My parents bought me a washer/dryer which was a HUGE boost and picked myself up a lawnmower yesterday.
I'm finally at that point where I get just as much if not more out of spending money on something for my home as I do the latest video game :) It's weird to be grown-up!
Tiburon1724's Journal
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04/03/2008 20:29 #43888
becoming domesticatedCategory: house
03/18/2008 21:16 #43725
what happened!So this morning I'm at work, probably about 8:30 and I notice a Buffalo Police car sitting in the closest parking spot to the store. I guess I noticed because it's Amherst and not Buffalo. He was sitting there for a bit....fast forward about 10 minutes and he was joined by what had to be 20 cop cars, mostly K-9 units...Amherst Police, Buffalo Police, Lockport Police, NFTA Police, Border Patrol, Lewiston Police, you name it. The secretary said they threw a guy into the back of a car behind the building so I figured...something like this will be on the news for sure. Alas, I can't find a thing on it!! But we get news about how well the super draft dodger works on your door. Anyone know what was up?
03/16/2008 12:29 #43691
St Patty's DaySo I'm really happy to see that a big deal is made here out of St Patrick's Day. It seems Buffalonians love every holiday! In Florida you wouldn't even know the day happened...no mentions of it anywhere. We'd get in a little bit of st Pats merchandise at my store down there and barely anything would sell but up here it flew off the shelf!! I guess there aren't many Irish folks down there, but it's not just Irish people celebrating it! Again evidence of the culture and history present in this area. Wish I could check out the parade today from what I hear it's great, but now that I've broken it off with the g/f I have nobody to go with...plus I told my crazy aunt & uncle I'd meet them at some dive on grand island at 2.
tiburon1724 - 03/16/08 23:13
Thanks paul, I'd have come along but already committed to spending the day with the fam.
Thanks paul, I'd have come along but already committed to spending the day with the fam.
paul - 03/16/08 13:11
You could go with us. We are leaving from 24 Linwood by North at 1:50ish.
You could go with us. We are leaving from 24 Linwood by North at 1:50ish.
metalpeter - 03/16/08 13:07
City culture is something that I guess a lot of people don't think about that often. I was in Toronto once on St. Pats and they have a pretty big parade I have heard Boston and Chicago it is pretty big to. In on of those cities I have seen pictures where they turn the lake or something green I think it is Chicago. Hope you have a good time.
City culture is something that I guess a lot of people don't think about that often. I was in Toronto once on St. Pats and they have a pretty big parade I have heard Boston and Chicago it is pretty big to. In on of those cities I have seen pictures where they turn the lake or something green I think it is Chicago. Hope you have a good time.
03/16/2008 12:23 #43690
No Change for Now!Category: work
So I had the Bed Bath interview and the guy was very straightforward about what they were looking for. Basically I'd start 2 levels below store mgr and maybe within 3 years work my way back up. The only new store opening in the area is in Batavia later in the year but that's the reason for the job posting. When he asked me how much $$ I'd need I jacked it up an additional $5k over what I was originally thinking because honestly I wasn't too thrilled about the job at that point...BUT if they'd have offered me that salary it would have made me consider it. I wasn't too sure about having someone else write my schedule and reporting so directly to someone else after a few years of being in charge of my own store. Then the very next day I get a rejection letter. My interview was at 1pm so that means as soon as I walked out he printed it out and dropped it in the mail!! At least make it look like it took some thought :( oh well I really didn't want it anyway :)
03/15/2008 16:26 #43679
Buying a House Sucks!Category: house
So in much of the country you can close on a house within 2 weeks. Here it takes 45-60 days on average. There are so many people involved...the attorney, paralegal, both realtors, buyer & seller, processor, adjuster, and many more I'm sure I'm leaving out....so a simple thing takes dayyysss.....my parents said in Florida there are no attorneys involved so that explains that.
My target close date was Fri 3/14...yesterday. On Wednesday I get a message.."oh, we need proof of homeowners insurance" so I send that in. Then later Wednesday PM I get another.."oh we need a receipt proving you've paid the insurance for a full yr" so I send them that...
Thursday.,..."we're ready to close, HOWEVER....."
Great, however. Turns out the FHA inspector wants a little touch-up painting done and 2 downspouts repaired. arghhhh. So we end up getting the ok to setup an escrow so those repairs can be done later...i.e. in better weather. So we're ready to close then!!! Oh, wait...the realtor still needs another document from the seller, who's out of town. He has dropped it in the mail. Regular mail. Not overnight, regular. So now I have to wait probably until the end of NEXT week. I just want to move :(
So I know National Grid is the one to contact for power and I think it's National Fuel for gas, but who do I contact for water service in the city? And didn't I hear people in the city have to pay for trash pickup? Is that something I have to setup or will it just get picked up when I put it out and I later get a bill?
On the other hand, my plasma TV was delivered today and is MIND BLOWING!!!! :)
My target close date was Fri 3/14...yesterday. On Wednesday I get a message.."oh, we need proof of homeowners insurance" so I send that in. Then later Wednesday PM I get another.."oh we need a receipt proving you've paid the insurance for a full yr" so I send them that...
Thursday.,..."we're ready to close, HOWEVER....."
Great, however. Turns out the FHA inspector wants a little touch-up painting done and 2 downspouts repaired. arghhhh. So we end up getting the ok to setup an escrow so those repairs can be done later...i.e. in better weather. So we're ready to close then!!! Oh, wait...the realtor still needs another document from the seller, who's out of town. He has dropped it in the mail. Regular mail. Not overnight, regular. So now I have to wait probably until the end of NEXT week. I just want to move :(
So I know National Grid is the one to contact for power and I think it's National Fuel for gas, but who do I contact for water service in the city? And didn't I hear people in the city have to pay for trash pickup? Is that something I have to setup or will it just get picked up when I put it out and I later get a bill?
On the other hand, my plasma TV was delivered today and is MIND BLOWING!!!! :)
tiburon1724 - 03/16/08 12:31
Thanks frew, I'll give the water board a call since the form that's online is incomplete!! Paul, that's insane! I can't imagine what it's like when you're selling a house and buying a new one too that's gotta be 2x as frustrating!!
Thanks frew, I'll give the water board a call since the form that's online is incomplete!! Paul, that's insane! I can't imagine what it's like when you're selling a house and buying a new one too that's gotta be 2x as frustrating!!
paul - 03/16/08 11:09
Our closing dragged on for so long. We were supposed to close July 11th according to the contract and it didn't end up really happening until October because of one problem or another on the sellers side! It was making me insane because we had already told our landlord we were moving out. Luckily, we got to move in "early" and get an early occupancy agreement for August 8th. Unfortunately, that means we inherited two tons of their stuff and trash. This is not an exaggeration - we had to weigh the truck on the several trips to the dump to get rid of it all.
Our closing dragged on for so long. We were supposed to close July 11th according to the contract and it didn't end up really happening until October because of one problem or another on the sellers side! It was making me insane because we had already told our landlord we were moving out. Luckily, we got to move in "early" and get an early occupancy agreement for August 8th. Unfortunately, that means we inherited two tons of their stuff and trash. This is not an exaggeration - we had to weigh the truck on the several trips to the dump to get rid of it all.
drew - 03/15/08 17:10
For water, you need to send in a letter to the water board of Buffalo and tell them you've assumed responsibility for the property. You'll get a bill every three months.
With trash, you can just call. Find the number on the Buffalo website. You'll get a bill once every three months. And yes, they'll keep picking up your trash.
It took several billing cycles before they finally got our information correct. *roll eyes*
For water, you need to send in a letter to the water board of Buffalo and tell them you've assumed responsibility for the property. You'll get a bill every three months.
With trash, you can just call. Find the number on the Buffalo website. You'll get a bill once every three months. And yes, they'll keep picking up your trash.
It took several billing cycles before they finally got our information correct. *roll eyes*
Once, on a warm July Sunday, I was sitting on my porch overlooking Delaware ave. The church crowd had left the area about thirty minutes ago when all of the sudden, a knock out gorgeous women completely naked walks down the street. Cars were honking their hard on honk as they drove past.
I checked the police blotter every day for a month hoping to hear the rest of the story. Where was the media then!