Posts Tagged ‘first time homebuyer’

Unpacking and Riding a Wave

Posted: July 5, 2022 in Living and Life, Reflections
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
4
Jonesy, my skeleton roommate, chills while the rest of us move my boxes in. Honestly, if he weren’t already dead, I might kill him for being so lazy.

In a previous post, I mentioned how stressful and anxiety-inducing packing up for my move had been. Now, I’m unpacking in my new home, trying to make it livable and taking note of what needs to be worked on. And boy, is that a wave of emotions!

As many of you know, I bought my first home recently, a nice condo perfect for a guy living on his own like myself. On the one hand, I’m glad to have finally stopped renting, as now is not a good time to rent and I’m tired of living where I was. I have a quiet place and I can do with it what I want (on the inside and according to cost, at least). But at the same time, my new home is still a mess of boxes, I have so much left to do, I’m already encountering things that need to be worked on, and I’m getting ready to pay the various bills associated with owning a home.

It’s a lot, and every day I feel like I’m on roiling sea of emotions. Happiness, hope, excitement, worry, regret, anxiety, annoyance (mostly because my internet provider screwed up and I won’t have internet till next week), and exhaustion. Mostly exhaustion. Kid you not, I’ve gone to bed every night feeling like I’ve run a marathon from all that I’ve done!

Still, I’m trying to remain positive. Moving out and getting a new home is what I wanted. And of the five homes I bid on, four were in the area I moved to, including the one I got. I can’t help but feel this is fate. And every time I break down a box, I feel like I’ve lightened my load a little bit. And I’m doing everything I can to make sure my mental health doesn’t take a toll. It’s good that I have a strong support network around me, to boot.

And talking about this here on my blog helps.

Also, and this may or may not be related, but I’ve been feeling a strong urge to get back to writing. Not editing, which I’m already doing plenty of, Hannah-related and otherwise, but something new. Perhaps a novel. Perhaps Crawler, the mummy novel I was going to start last year before Hannah was accepted (also, that title is a working title). Perhaps with a new change of home, I want to channel that new energy and all these roiling emotions into some new creative work?

Well, I’ll keep you all informed on any big developments. The next time I write about my new life as a homeowner, I hope I’ll have plenty to share with you, and most of it good news. Not only that, but there are a couple of book anniversaries coming up, so I’ll be sure to post about those somehow. And I’m always hopeful of another advance in my writing career.

In the meantime, I hope you’ll continue to support me by checking out my already published books. Some of them, like Snake and The Pure World Comes, have been getting all sorts of new reviews, and the readers seem to enjoy them, calling them quite scary and engrossing. And the latter has an audio book on the way, which is super exciting. Why not check read the reviews and check them out? I’ll include links below.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’m off to finish up one DIY project and unpack my bedroom and office. Until next time, good night, pleasant nightmares, and don’t set off commercial grade fireworks in residential areas. It can be quite an issue for your neighbors, to say the least.

The Pure World Comes: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, Goodreads

Rose: Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada, Audible, B&N

Snake: Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Smashwords, and Kobo

The Quiet Game: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Smashwords, and Kobo.

Packing Up a Life

Posted: June 26, 2022 in Living and Life, Reflections
Tags: , , , , ,
10

So, I’ve started the process of packing things up. Today I started by packing my many, many books and DVDs/Blu-Rays, followed by packing up the stuff I use when I’m working my day job from home. Tomorrow, I hope to do my more delicate stuff, like my doll and figurine collection, possibly my plates and kitchen stuff, and a few other things I have around here.

I gotta tell you, packing for this move has been a lot more stressful and scary than I expected. It’s a lot of work, I need to figure out what to pack when, get the packing done before moving, somehow figure out what to do with my food (thankfully, I only have so much in my fridge right now), and a few other things. Honestly, in only one day, it’s affected my appetite so I don’t feel that hungry.

The heat from bringing in the many boxes probably contributed to the appetite. Packing during summer, people!

The thing that’s been scaring me, though, is the idea of packing up my entire life. I’ve lived in this apartment complex over six years now, five in a one-bedroom and eighteen months or so in a two-bedroom. When I first moved here, I was starting my day job and only had so much stuff. Packing up then took only a little while, as did moving all my stuff in. When I moved into the two-bedroom, it was more of a simple transfer, so I packed knowing most of my stuff would just be spread out in a little more space. I didn’t even have to do too much with the stuff with my fridge and freezer. It wasn’t a big change.

But I’m going to a condo I bought now, and that requires a lot more considerations. Not to mention seeing just how much I’ve settled into this complex, only for all of it to be picked up. It’s kind of like my apartment has been an extension of myself, and I’m packing myself away. Or maybe even ripping parts of myself off the walls.

And before you mention me making a story out of that idea, the movie Monster House kind of already did that. Though I do hope to use my experiences of moving into a story someday.

Anyway, I’m taking some time to do some writing work, which is both a source of stress and a way for me to relax. When I get back to the packing, I’ll do it with the goal of conquering my fears. I assume it gets easier the more stuff gets put into boxes and I get further along in the packing process. I’m mostly just blogging to unload and get my thoughts and anxieties out. That worked for the pandemic, so why not for packing for my move?

Wow, that last paragraph went in a rambling direction. Anyway, I look forward to letting you know about how the move goes and everything what happens afterwards. Or possibly in-between. Anyway, until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares!

I Bought My Own Home

Posted: June 18, 2022 in Living and Life
Tags: , , , , , , ,
11

So I did a thing yesterday.

As you can tell from the the above photo and from the title of this post, I’m now a homeowner. I bought my own home yesterday. I met with the previous owners and our respective realtors yesterday at a title agency office, we all signed a ton of forms, and now I have my own place.

Specifically, I bought a condo which is a short drive from my day job. It’s got plenty of room for a creepy bachelor such as myself, including a second bedroom I can use as a home office, as well as plenty of closet room and a laundry space. It’s in a very nice area, and the monthly payments will be much more affordable than if I had stayed renting.

Honestly, it was not an easy process to find this place. I decided to move around late December, early January, but originally was only looking for apartments. My dad convinced me to at least look at buying in case something good was available. I reached out to a realtor I knew, and we started looking. This led to several emails of listings in my price range, about seven or eight home visits, and five bids on different places, only the last one being successful. The real estate market right now is really tough, especially if you’re a millennial like me.

But I’ll leave that for another post (and believe me, I will write that post). For now, I’m going to start on the process of moving. I have to call the local HOA rep and introduce myself, ensure my utilities, accounts and subscriptions are switched to the new place, and, of course, hire a moving company and get my things packed up. It’s going to be a lot of work.

Still, I’m looking forward to the change in residence and having my own place that I not only live in, but I can modify as I please (to some extent). I feel like it’ll be a good place for me as a person and as a writer.

And I’ll be sure to let you know all about my new place and how it’s coming along in due time. With certain limitations, of course. I’m not going to announce my address or give anything else away that might show stalkers, robbers or weirdoes where I live.

Anyway, thank you to my realtor and my lender for being such wonderful people and for helping me find this place. And thanks to the previous owners for keeping the place in such wonderful condition (and for expressing interest in my writing. I hope they end up reading some of my work like they said they would). And to everyone else who made this possible, thank you. I can’t wait to show you all my new home and update you on my adventures in homeowning.

Also, if it’s haunted, I hope the new home has a friendly spirit in it. Getting rid of evil spirits is such a pain in the ass!

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I have stuff to do if I want to do a late-night editing session tonight. Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares.