The joys and frustrations of home buying...

[Chris]

Yeah Matt, CONGRATS! You'll have to have me out sometime!

[dustrho]

Party at Matt's house!!!!  

[JediMAC]

Matt, CONGRATULATIONS on finding your new home!

Thanks Chris(s)!    Yeah, I've been meaning to poke my head back into this thread and drop an update in here now that I actually have some positive news for a change!

Scored the new pad officially on Sunday (while I was out in Vegas, so unfortunately Patty and I couldn't celebrate together).  It's a bit further out of town than I had wanted, and tucked in among some hills so there's not a lot of hustle and bustle of people, malls, "stuff" right nearby - which is exactly what the Mrs. was looking for.  I, on the other hand, was a little more interested in being right in the "middle of the action", but I guess I'll live.  Most of the exciting stuff is about 3-5 miles away, but we got more bang for the buck, so she's ecstatic, and I'm pretty happy...  But one of those things nearby is the Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park, so you can bet your butt that we'll be getting some annual passes for that place!  

But I don't want to get too excited just yet, until we've had the official inspection, appraisal, etc.  Basically, I feel like I'm in the first few months of a pregnancy, but don't want to announce anything 'til I'm further along, and things are looking a lot more solid.  When I finally get the keys in my hand, then I'll start celebrating.  Until then, I'll probably just remain as pessimistic as always that something will inevitably fall apart during escrow, and the search will have to continue...  

But anyways, escrow officially ends July 31st, but we gave the sellers the option of staying another 3 weeks due to some questions on when their new house will be finished and ready to move into.  So move in for us will either be on my birthday, or anytime within the following 3 weeks...

But I love some of the ammenities included in the neighborhood that come with our homeowner's association, including a 9-hole golf course, tennis courts, basketball courts, gym, pool, jacuzzi, clubhouse with ping-pong and a pool table, etc...  So at least I can finally get my fat ass in shape!  The house itself is pretty cool, and is in the city of Santa Clarita.  It's not quite as big as I'd like and is missing the extra room I was shooting for for the SW collection, but it's a real nice starter home for us.  I don't think we're planning on staying there for more than 3-5 years anyways.

The only crappy thing about the new place, is that the 1 mile (3 minute) commute that I've had to my office for the past 5 years (and enjoyed immensely), is now going to become 21 miles, and God knows how long in duration on the insane L.A. freeways...    Ugh.

I'll give another holler when I've got the keys in my hand finally, but in the meantime, I now have to deal with packing up the entire current abode.  Not going to be fun.  At all.  

[dustrho]

That is so awesome Matt!  Lets hope the inspection and everything else goes well for you.  I know how stressful it is with buying a house.  It took my wife and I about 6 months to find the right place for us, and we had settled on a townhouse.  Next year we're going to start looking for a house, and one of the most important things for me is that I get a very big basement for my collection.  My wife already told me the basement will be all mine.

But, congratulations again to you and your wife!  Post some pictures when it's all officially yours, OK?  

[Morgbug]

All Right!!!!  Congrats Matt, that's super news.  I'm very happy for you and Patty.  LMK when you have a new address and I'll send you that money I owe you

[DSJ™]

Very Happy for you & Patty.

I'll need your new addy too for the bucks IOU.  

[Scott]

I already told you congrats once but now that I find out you have a private 9-hole golf course, tennis courts, basketball courts, gym, pool, jacuzzi, clubhouse with ping-pong and a pool table and live near Magic Mountain...

OCB said Californee is the place they ought to be
So they loaded up the truck and moved in with Patty and Bulky Blockeeeeeeeeeeee

[Chris]

Classic

[JediMAC]

Well, I am currently boxing up my loose collection in anticipation of closing on our first house next Wednesday....  Finally.

Your turn, Matt.  

So, are you in yet John?  How does it feel?  What do I have to look forward to?  Do share!  

[jadesfire]

You live near Magic Mountain??!!

So... Matt, just how big IS your place?

BTW, congrats!!

[JediMAC]

Guess I'm about due for an update on this thread here, since we've officially been "homeowners" for almost two weeks now...    Hasn't really quite hit us yet though, since the current owner isn't due to leave the premises until next Monday though.  But we're getting close to the big move-in day finally!  I've gotta tell ya' though, closing escrow and signing ten billion papers was one giant and freaky pain in the butt!  Thank God that all went smoothly though...

So tomorrow I officially start a two week vacation off from work to start up with ALL the packing and preparation (like picking & buying interior paint, some different light and bathroom fixtures, new locks, furniture, curtains, etc., etc., etc...).  It's close to crunch time now, and since we've totally procrastinated on everything so far, I've got a very busy week ahead of me!  The Star Wars collectibles packing is going to be a nightmare!  

We've got my family and some friends coming into town in a couple weekends to give us a hand with the serious stuff, but fortunately my mom splurged for some professional piano movers for the piano, along with a few of the other heavier items, so that's a pleasant relief!

Totally stressing over picking our interior paint colors though, as we'll likely be painting the entire place the second we get in the doors.  Considering how out of shape I currently am, this is going to be one all-around PAINFUL process.  Much Advil I'll be downing along the way, I'm sure!

I'm a little nervous that once we get over to the new place though, that we're going to blow off our more important responsibilities in favor of delving into some tennis, golf and basketball there.  Now THAT part's going to be fun...    I'll have to exercise some serious self control with respect to the fun stuff, and try to stay focused on the matter at hand, lest I'll be paying another month's rent at the guest house we're still in!  We've got it lined up through the end of August so the move won't have to be such a rush, which will also be a nice relief...  Alright - enough babbling!

So John, you all settled in now?  How'd the collection do in transit?  I think we had a few other JD'ers here moving along in the house buying process as well - any new home news from any of the rest of the gang?!  

[Membraneman]

I thought I'd jump in here as well. Here's a pic of my new house. Not finished yet but we move in around
Oct 1st.

[JediMAC]

I thought I'd jump in here as well. Here's a pic of my new house. Not finished yet but we move in around Oct 1st.

Congratulations Bob!  Looks great!  Take it from me, I'd start packing up sooner than later...    So what's the SW collection room(s) situation looking like at the new pad?

[DSJ™]

Yes, Congratulations Bob!    Thats about the size of a house I'm looking for. Do you know if that house to the left is sold? Would be interesting if I bought it & we built a tunnel to each others houses!    We could drive the better halfs crazy!  

So like to you need a hand moving your collection when the time comes?  

Hopefully next year I will have a new home.  

[MisterPL]

So tomorrow I officially start a two week vacation off from work to start up with ALL the packing and preparation (like picking & buying interior paint, some different light and bathroom fixtures, new locks, furniture, curtains, etc., etc., etc...).  

Two weeks will NOT be enough. Although you don't have a two-year-old to "help," if your collection is as big as mine, I hope you don't have a long transit to the new home. Packing a collection is TEDIOUS. The good news is that my boxed and carded stuff was cake to pack, but required a LOT more boxes than the loose stuph. On the other hand the loose stuph took MUCH more time to baggie (figures, accessories, stands, etc.) but fit into far fewer boxes. Classic example of "six of one, half dozen of the other." You can't win.

If you don't have an inventory of your current collection, now might be a good time to do so. I bought U-Haul boxes in a common size for easy loading. I numbered the boxes in a common spot so I could easily read them when stacked up against a wall. I kept track of what was in each box by making a corresponding list. It can be as detailed or as vague as you need. Mine went something like this:

Box 01:
2x POTF2 Power FX X-wing
1x POTJ TIE Bomber
24 x Saga figures

...and so on. I did this to have a rough catalogue of my Star Wars collection. Everything else - Batman, LOTR, Star Trek - I didn't bother with (someday). I've also read horror stories from collectors moving great distances who made the mistake of labelling their boxes "Star Wars Toys," only to find their storage unit ransacked or a few boxes missing from the moving truck. Just give it a number and a room. Keep the list of contents seperate just in case.

So John, you all settled in now?  How'd the collection do in transit?

My collection made in through just fine... I think. I haven't really gotten a chance to unpack it since it's not a necessity (like toilet paper or clothes). In fact most of it might remain boxed since I've decided my collection room will be going to my son. He needs a place for all the cool Lego sets his Dad gets him. I figured this was my second childhood but his first. He should get the space while he's still at home. (But once he's off to college, ZING! Daddy's room!)

I'll unpack the figures for my shadow box displays, and I should probably go through the rest just to make sure nothing was damaged in transit. But since I moved it myself a total distance of 5 blocks, it's not a huge concern. Had this been a cross-country move, I'd have triple-checked everything by now.

Other than that, prepare to be sore. As a flabby 36-year-old, I lost 12 pounds doing the most exercise I have in years. Moving FROM a 3-story home TO another 3-story home is like Stairmaster™ HELL. If your legs need a workout, I can recommend this one.