Tell him the gaucho sent ya.

and did the negotiating so we didn't have to.

Oh yeah Gam, don't like your wife talk to the seller.

"Some guy on a internet forum founded on the hatred for a spare NFL mascot told me you're da guy."

And when it's time to look at houses, I'll come along with you if you like. I won't be much help and will probably get in the way, but I like looking at houses.

I never met the seller of my first house. Is talking to them normal? But yeah, wifey input in that part of the process will be signing and initialing after I've finalized the deal. She will be limited to choosing stains for the hardwood floor.

I'd like to tag along as well. I know a great little Greek place in Hurst we could break for lunch and compare notes from the showings.

No

hating them is normal. So is hating the buyer when you sell.

These are people you are willing to screw out of several thousand dollars if you can. Minimal contact only. Oh, and they'll hate you because you'll request they fix things, but that's also your right.

Whoops. At least I didn't link to the porn I was watching.

I'm getting a real bad vibe off this Tim Beary pic.

He's a wolf in sheep's clothing, Craig. I just know it.

damnit. Let, not like. Let.

I know your feels

We accidently met the seller of our house. They had retired and moved to East Texas when they put the house on the market, so it was mostly vacant except for a couch in the living room and a bed in the master bedroom. We closed on a day when there was a huge winter storm. Schools were closed for a few days. After we left the title office, our realtor asked if we wanted to go walk through the house one more time. When we walked through the front door, the lady that sold the house was camped out on a pallet in the living room with a damn dog running around the house. (The carpet had already been professionally cleaned on the seller's dime.) We were 2 days past the sellers date to be out and she quickly used the excuse that the snow was keeping her from being able to drive home after she signed at the closing. Our realtor was furious. She went back to the title company and the seller's realtor and negotiated a 2nd carpet cleaning (the dog had pissed on the carpet) and compensation for a day's rent.

And that is the end of storytime with your old pal, bigboy.

I don't know. He looks like a beary nice guy. Actually, he looks like someone I could listen to. Listen to talk about sports. Like, every morning.

He does look like jub.

Diello's new avatar gives me smile mouf.

I don't just help you find a new home. I'll help you find peace of mind.

I was reminded of another thing, Craig (and this also goes for anyone else who needs it): My father-in-law does home inspections. So when you pick a house and need to get it inspected, call meh. I'll hook you up.

I know this guy named Frankie that can do odds and ends if you buy a fixer upper.

He's a cunt. And no real descriptions about what people do around their house.

Oh wow, that's huge! Thanks, pal!

I'm not saying go through them for the purchase, but IMO Ebby's website search thingy is very helpful and gives lots of good deets. (especially the map thingy)

I'll probably be in a holding pattern for a couple of months while I wait for my CS to increase. In the meantime my dream house is now under contract. I didn't expect it to be available by the time I was actually ready to buy but I still felt a little died when I saw the status update. :/

In the meantime, you can think of fun things to do when looking at houses, like getting your wife to distract the realtor while you leave an upper decker in the master bath toilet.

Or put a dead fish in the chimney

We looked at some homes yesterday in Dallas after enjoying a delicious lunch at one of our old favorite restaurants. The homes are in Little Forest Hills over in E. Dallas. Not sure if it was a mistake or not, but the wife definitely has the fever. Last night she filled out a pre approval app with Rodney and emailed a neighborhood realtor about our home. This morning she nagged me about my closet. Signs pointing to imminent move.

Goucho on the good side of the metroplex = awesome

LFH is a sweet little neighborhood. I used to live a few blocks from there and having White Rock in walking distance was awesome. This place will quickly become your local hangout:

http://goodfrienddallas.com/

This might be ghey but I like the Arboretum.

that one fell through. It was a new construction and after another viewing it again it seemed really low end with a high end tag. At any rate, our house went on the market last Thursday around noon and we got a contract on it Friday. Thank goodness b/c show ready cleaning is a total ass beating and being on call for showings is such a time bomb. Anywho, the oh shitness of the situation really set in on Saturday. We looked at more houses on Sunday. There was one in big boy Forest Hills but it was close to top o the budget and needed total renovations. Shame. Gorgeous over there. I liked one over in Casa Linda a lot but it was over 3k square ft which is way more house than we need. We put an offer on a pretty cool house in Lake Highlands (NW hwy and Audelia area) and are on pins and needles waiting on their insulted shoot down and counter.

Right now there is a home inspector, the buyer, and the buyer's realtor all rooting around my house. I didn't even get word the inspection was scheduled for this morning until yesterday evening. This is one of my most hated parts of the selling process. I know they'll find shit, I'll get pissed and not want to make repairs, but I'll still do it, like a bitch. I went to depot last night to buy a bunch of all the fix it stuff i could think up off the top of my head and stayed up late caulking shit like a sumbitch. This morning, I re-loaded all the fire alarms with fresh 9v Energizer batteries. The steam from the wife's shower set one off this morning. I remember why I removed all of them now. Here's a cool story brothers: one time at our last house when Hank was a pup and had fleas, I set off smoke bombs throughout the house before leaving for work. On the walk to my car I noticed my azaleas needed watering so I began watering them and noticed fire engine sirens that were getting really loud. As the boys from The DFD rolled up I realized my error. I was rattled and was trying to explain what was up, but i was also gesticulating with the hand that held the water hose and was slinging water on myself. the lead fire dude started to dress me down, but suddenly stopped and just gave me a disgusted look before leaving. What's your favorite color of azaleas? I like purple. My wife likes the hot pink ones.

I think it's pretty much a forum consensus that we all like hot pink ones... Just sayin'

Just got off the phone with Mr. Beary, a beary pleasant fellow indeed. He is sending me information for a local lender. I am officially house hunting. My timeframe is aggressive, I want to be moving by April 1. Let's make this happen, people!

Good luck. We're all counting on you.

Well that didn't last long. Turns out when you default on a student loan you are automatically disqualified for a mortgage for 12 mos from when you start repayment. This means I can't buy anything until October at the earliest. For an impulsive buyer like me this is not good news. Looks like we won't be locking this thread for awhile. :/

you got to get your credit good before even thinking about a house. You need a score of at least 650 or you will need to bend over on interest rate.

So much for the forum being Tim Beary's private cache of Glengarry leads.

This new place was recently renovated so when we moved in I had to get all new window coverings. Blinds are a beating when you have to shorten the length, but I've done enough of them and knew what to expect. What I wasn't ready for was the complete ass whip of drapes for these big ass windows in the front of the house. Fuck a bunch of curtains. Fuckers are expensive too, I thought they'd be cheap. I ordered some wrong stuff so we're still living in a fish bowl. The haughty service people at American Restoration can all eat a bag of dicks too.

Saturday morning I'll be signing a lease on a rent house. Not too big, a little older, but it's got a big treeless backyard perfect for star gazing from. My telescope and I will be very happy there.