life from a new city...

It has been a week since my last post. I apologize in advance though if this is not quite my A game. I just thought I would give everyone an update.

I got the job up here in the Tacoma area. I start Tuesday. So I am staying in what counts as a hotel room to some people, but to me it is just four walls with a restroom and showers down the hall. There is also a slight odor that sort of went away when I brought in some yakisoba for dinner last night.

Friday I went in to meet my real estate agent. For those of you who don't know, I had a condo in Lakewood before when I was on active duty. After several weeks of researching the MLS on my own I finally contacted a few agents to start looking at places and one of them referred me to this guy. I liked him a lot more than I liked the other agents I met and ultimately that is the point. Do they listen to you? Do they act like they have better things to do than help you find a home? I wasn't very happy with either of the other agents I had talked to so I was happy to find this one.

Now after buying and selling the condo with he and his wife I am back in the area and looking (hopefully) to buy something right away. I am cautiously optimistic of course. So now they are co-owners of a real estate firm of their own. I guess I am not the only one who agrees that they are good at what they do.

So we met Friday night, talked over a few things and hit the road to find some listings to look at. First we went to an old building downtown that was recently converted for Condo's. There are two units there and they are the most expensive thing I had on my list. They were both very nice and about the same square footage so it was a toss up between their different floor plans and the less desirable floor plan had a private patio. The one beneath it did not have a patio, but was much friendlier in terms of layout.

Anyway, the building is old and in spite of its recent overhaul, it has the odor of a building of its age, but not so much in the units themselves. Also with the coffee shop downstairs and all of the charm of downtown Tacoma at its doorstep it is a definite contender.

Next we looked at several places but either they were too small, too weird, or the neighborhood wasn't as desirable. Finally I came to the conclusion that this IS what I want, now it is time to find out if I can afford it.

Being a loan officer I essentially know how I can finance it and what I would need to do to get the best payments, but I still come up with a payment about 500-700 more than I can afford (which I am figuring conservatively in case I am not as successful as I want to be doing loans on the side from up here).

It is a 2 br/2 ba condo so if I can find someone who would pay that much for a room in downtown Tacoma then I'm golden, otherwise I need to wait.

Also, if I suddenly find out that this agent or his associates are interested in referring clients to me for financing or my internet ads start to yield more inquiries, then maybe I would be more inclined to step out on a limb and expect it to support me.

Either way I need to wait a few weeks so I can close a loan I have been working on a while and work on my other leads while starting this new job. The beginning will be awkward because they will probably want to do my training on day shift and my pending loans will require my attention during the day as well. I am nervous that the two may conflict somewhat.

Otherwise, I am very optimistic about the possibility of having two income sources for a while and seeing what happens. I may ultimately decide to rent something cheap and plan for something else in the future.

From what my agent has been telling me there are a lot of condos coming into the downtown area in the next two years, so much so that he is afraid the influx in inventory during a period when the market is soft may result in falling prices. Of course that may be the perfect opportunity for me to get my dream home at a more reasonable price while saving my money in the mean time.

The other thing I was working on this past week is what I call "up-certifying" in my other career field. I wasn't that happy with the starting wage so I looked into why my application for certification at the next level has not been answered. They told me they were waiting for verification of my clinical experience from my last employer and it seemed to have gotten lost. So I called them and got them to fax in a letter and I expect to be taking that test very soon. The difference could be as much as nine thousand per year and several hundred dollars a month. Obviously it may behoove me to wait before buying.

So the only thing is that I am not thrilled about the idea of staying in a hotel room while I am working up here for the next month, much less longer. Obviously what I need to figure out, and very soon, is how long I will need to wait before I can buy and if it will be more than a couple months I should just get an apartment on a short lease even though I don't like that idea (was hoping my next move would be my last for a while).

Well I promise my next post will be more exciting. Just thought I would fill in all inquiring minds on what has been going on during this boring, yet eventful week of silence.

Enjoy "One Big Holiday" by My Morning Jacket. This version is live from the Bonnaroo music festival this past summer and comes from the blogger at captainsdead.com. If it loads too slowly I apologize, I assumed it was just me because my connection here is unpredictable.

Peace,

Brian