For sale by owner

It's crazy how stressful house buying can be. And I'm not even seriously looking yet. We met with a loan officer yesterday who threw out all of these really high expenses associated with buying a house - insane down payments, insane closing costs, etc. So then we went and looked a a really really nice house in old Greenbelt. Houses in old Greenbelt aren't all that big, but this one had an addition and a beautiful yard. It was really nice, and just slightly out of our price range. If we stopped eating, we could probably swing it. When I bought my house five years ago, it was amazing how cheap it was. That same house has appreciated in value for three times what we paid for it. If I could only get James to sell it and get the profits from it, it would be great!

But, back to buying a house...I just don't know how real people afford houses these days. A house that would have gone for about $90K five years ago is now selling for $250K, which means that those that were selling for $250K are up to like $450K! And as a social worker, I just can't afford to live in something much more than $250K (truth be told, I don't know if I can afford to live in something that is $250K). So, in spite of telling myself not to stress and not to worry yet about finding a house, because we have time, I'm getting stressed that I'm never going to find anywhere to live! We keep saying we don't want a condo because we want a yard so we can get a dog, but I may need to reevaluate that and may have to get a condo for a little while. Even those are going for crazy prices!

Anyway, maybe I'll get off the house issue for a little while and try to think about something good...hmm... I watched The Notebook on Friday. Can I just say that I fell in love with that movie! My mom didn't really like it so much. But I just loved it. It sort of felt like my life (although I'm not at the Alzheimer's stage yet, thank goodness!). But, I did really like it.

I really want Memorial Day weekend to get here. For one, with it comes a day off. Two, the pool will open and if I can stand it, I'm going to go and lay in the sun while lots of little hoodlums-in-training try to drown each other in the pool. I really need a tan, plus I have a new bathing suit that is waiting to be worn :)