1) Huge back yard, colonial house with three bedrooms, partially finished basement and 2.5 baths. The back yard had a pool and a 1/2 court basketball court on it. We both loved it. Until we drove around the corner and saw that it backed up to railroad tracks. The whistle blew as the train passed the house. *sigh* oh well.

2) we just saw a brand new home - 4 beds, 2.5 baths, huge back yard and a great layout indoors. The backyard was enclosed by a huge 6 foot fence. Very private. We loved the house and were trying to figure out where we would dig the pool, when we noticed a lot of power cables behind the back yard. Hrm .. We walked around the corner to a dead end block and found The Holbrook Superconductor Project. There’s a video on it here. This was LITERALLY right over the back yard fence. To its credit, its very quiet, but I don’t think I want to live that close to an experimental energy source. Along the ground just over the fence are the natural gas lines to/from the SuperConductor project. NEXT!

The search continues. We’ve seen TONS of homes on Long Island, but most of my complaints are: a) to small or b) shoddy workmanship

The next two semesters should be fairly easy though. The Pace University graduate program has a requirement of two semesters of Java Programming. I’ve done a fair bit of Java development so I’m thinking I may be able to take it easy for these courses. Normally these would be umong the first courses you would take when entering a program, but since I go nights, they weren’t offered on nights I’d be able to go. *shrug*

1) handy man’s special — That means, this place is a hovel

2) charming — That means “tiny”

3) needs work — That means “needs bulldozer”

4) requires some updating — That means it has the same shag carpets it had in the 70’s and it smells like “old lady”

5) 3/4 bedrooms — That means there are three bedrooms and a big closet they are trying to pass off as a bedroom to raise the price

6) located in an upcoming neighborhood  — That means there aren’t gunshots outside EVERY night like their used to be

1) the asking price is not the sale price. lowball as much as you can. they will always make a counter offer.

2) if you work with a real estate agent, the agent will show you EVERYTHING that hasn’t moved in quite a while. Meaning, either the asking price is to high or the home isn’t someplace where most people would want to live. You really have to look on-line on your own and send the MLS numbers of what you want to see to the agent that works for you. Other then getting appointments to see the houses, the agent is kind of useless.

3) You wouldn’t believe what some people show (open houses). Some people are completely insane. We’ve seen some dirty houses. And in terms of household repairs .. we can tell the difference between fixing something on the cheap and doing it right. If you’re going to take shortcuts on stuff I can see, I don’t even WANT to know about the wiring or plumbing. Forget it, it’s probably going to be a money pit.

4) unrealistic expectations. Yeah, I know its your home and you want to make as much as you can from it. That being said, I see the sign in sheet on open houses. It’s me and like, one other name on the list. Your house has been listed for MONTHS on-line. Sure the real estate agents say other people are looking at it, but the truth is in THIS market you’re probably not getting a lot of offers. I can’t speak for 6 months ago, but right now there aren’t a lot of people out there buying. SO .. come to your senses and price the home according to the market.

5) forclosures. if anyone can figure this out, let me know. Your real estate agent can help you with this, but if its something you want to persue on your own, good luck. When I’ve heard about homes in forclosure, I’ve called the banks that have leanes on the house, yet nobody seems able to tell me who/what/when/where to get the house in question

6) mortgages - Everyone’s rate is the same. I have whats considered a “very high” credit score. Rosie has the second highest one that one loan officer has ever seen. It doesn’t help get us a lower rate. It’s a freekin’ sham. I went to a number of banks and I went to www.lendingtree.com, and everyones rates were about the same. Nobody is doing me any favors. I reckon if you stick to a Chase, Citi Mortgage, or a trusted broker, you’ll do fine.

So .. here are some valuable links to help in your home search:
MLS LI
Mortgage Calculator (don’t forget to figure in taxes)
Listing Book
LI School Information

The misfits.

The rebels.

The troublemakers.

The round pegs in the square holes.

The ones who see things differently.

They’re not fond of rules.

And they have no respect for the status quo.

You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them,

disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.

About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.

Because they change things.

They invent. They imagine. They heal.

They explore. They create. They inspire.

They push the human race forward.

Maybe they have to be crazy.

How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?
Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written?
Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?

We make tools for these kinds of people.

While some see them as the crazy ones,
we see genius.

Because the people who are crazy enough to think
they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Think Different

I’m going to miss this place. It’s been probably the greatest co-op on earth. It’s in Glen Oaks Village NY. There was an express bus on the corner that took me to work each morning. It dropped me off one block from my job. Everything (shopping, stores, dining) was very close to here, and my neighbors have been fantastic. It was also cheap to live here. It kind of afforded me a really great lifestyle. I could stay out after work a few nights a week, never worry about my spending, and take a cab home. Weekends were spent traveling all over the place, dining out, bar hopping, seeing shows etc.

We got rid of it because it was getting a little small for us. It was time to upgrade to a house. Nevertheless, I’ll miss it.

Welp, I gotta jump in the shower. Rosie and I have a lot of open houses to get to today. I’ll keep you all updated on my housing search. I hope something turns up or we’ll be living outside

This is a great article on the software behind the Mars Phoenix Lander

Ok, enough trash talking. Boston’s ok and we had a wonderful time there. We stayed at the Fairmont Copley Plaza which is Boston’s answer to the Waldorf Astoria here in NYC. We got dressed up for dinner and hit the local pub scene. The bars in Boston close at 1:45am, which in this case I suppose I lucked out. Any later and it would probably have led to trouble.