"Closed" means "Open"

"Mr. Gorbachev, TEAR DOWN THIS SIGN!"

Squint at my house

For a few hours today, we thought we might not close on Friday, but I think we're back on now.

In lieu of a fancy-schmancy survey, here's the new place, as seen from space. That property line looks fine to me!

A Home for the Holidays

I've not blogged much recently, 'cause I've had so very much to do, and haven't been at much liberty to talk about it.

We're buying this:

...I thought it would be unlucky and/or uncouth to blog about it obsessively during the process, which was mega-tedious and stressful, even though I'm told ours went insanely fast. This Friday, Dec. 23rd, we should get the keys (the bank gets the deed), and be able to run around in it for a few hours before we head for the airport for Christmas in Iowa. At least we'll be able to park the cars in our own garage!

Until now, I didn't want to write about it on a public forum (even though I know my blog isn't exactly Yahoo news)... All realtors involved, and therefore the seller, have my email address and phone number, and so if they're at all internet-savvy they could google me or just go to ryan.net and find this.(which reminds me, I need to write a post about the sad state of websites for real estate salespeople.) I didn't want to annoy or offend the seller with any commentary, nor did I want to trigger a price increase by crowing about how much we LOOOOOVE the place. We're all bound up in contract, and are set to close this week, though, so I think we're good, and I've actually spoken with the seller and arranged to buy his piano so neither he nor I will have to pay to move a piano. He seems like a nice guy, and has an office here in town, although he'll be moving to a brownstone in Harlem with his son.

We looked at a lot of places, but this was the first we saw. The more we looked at others, the more we realized we really liked this house, and our current town/neighborhood/train/way-of-life.

The new house is two blocks from our current place in Hastings, and you can see the Hudson and the Palisades cliffs from the front yard and the master bedroom window. We don't have to learn a new train station (4 minute walk!), or find a new diner or anything. Part of why we love the house so much is that it's where we've loved living for the last year or so. The "test-drive-the-suburbs" thing worked! If you or anyone you know wants to try it out, our current place will be for rent again in February, until Kardyhm moves back to the states... the commute is great, and I'll be throwing many a BBQ just down the street!

We'll be back in town very shortly after Christmas, and are planning a new year's party (with about 5 guest rooms between the two houses we'll have for month).

Woooo! House!