So, Aberdeen Maryland? (1 Viewer)

[FreyTheater]

Welcome to the area, Sam! I haven't been down to the Aberdeen area for probably 6 years or more.. as I stated in my previous post, I'm about an hour north of you in Lancaster County...

 

[Sam Posten]

I'm not sure if this is an indictment of how boring or dangerous this places is:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/harford/bs-md-video-game-robbers-20101107,0,5201573.story

 

[Jay H]

Since they could sell it before the release date I'm sure they could get a pretty penny selling it on the black market... Said the theft happened over the weekend so they did have a few days to sell the stuff somewhere...

Maybe it's a sample of both!

Jay

 

[Sam Posten]

Yeah, I guess which makes ME crazy cause... well I wasn't expecting it but I found a house I actually like down here and now I'm scrambling to get my place up in Jersey sold.

It even has a semi finished basement with an area that would be perfect as a home theater.

 

[Sam Posten]

Mini update, my place in Jersey is now on the market so if you know anyone who wants a great little house in Navesink send em here:
http://mls.momls.com/MonmouthReports/ListitLib/show_report.aspx?ID=6752508189

The house I want down here is still for sale, hoping I can get an offer and make one on it. Until then eating $55 a night at a decent but not great hotel, which is better than having to get a lease for an apartment since I'm only down here 4 nights a week, but that also means I gotta pay gast too and from Jersey for the weekends...

 

[Jay H]

Hey Sam, got any snow down in MD? You should kayak too and from Maryland, just go down and around the Chesapeake bay and up the coast, round Sandy Hook and get to the Navesink...

Jay

 

[Sam Posten]

Ha now THAT would be a commute. Just enough snow here to be a PITA. =) How's your move worked out?

 

[Jay H]

move has worked out, I mean I am here, I like the berkshires and lenox, althought my landlord's wife is threatening to make me take Argentinian Tango lessons. I'm told it's one of the harder dances to learn... but what do I know.. I'm a software geek. Work is very busy, but fun...

Jay

 

[Sam Posten]

Got an offer on my house! Will get the specifics later today I hope, it's a bit low but will probably go with it.

Been commuting down every monday at 4:30 AM and back on friday afternoons, so looking forward to stabilizing my life a bit. Have been checking out houses over the last few months, pretty sure I'm going to buy in Abingdon, it seems to be the best match for me.

The logistics of the move are gonna be a mess tho. My house is all boxed up so all I need to do is move it to either a relative's basement or a temp storage place, but that leaves my kitty homeless until I buy whatever new place. I cheaped out and have been staying in hotels down here at a really great nightly rate, but that means I don't have a stable apartment to keep her in during the big switch. Gonna have to figure that part of it out fast I guess!

 

[DaveF]

Sam, that's great news! Cats aren't usually keen on instability, so hopefully you can find a place with a friend or relative in the interim.

I'm surprised that a hotel is cheaper than an apartment. I always through hotels came out to pretty steep for an entire month.

 

[Jay H]

My cats dont like the move itself but they really seemed to love exploring new surroundings and were busy exploring every closet, every open window and every inch of my new apartment... My sister knows of a cat boarder place around the Navasink River area if you want me to ask her what the name is. I think I remember you telling me you're not far from my sister in NJ... Finding pet friendly apartments is harder and its even worse if you have a dog it seems..

Jay

 

[Sam Posten]

I think I know the place you are talking about, Dogs on the Farm (cats too!). I'd leave mine with family but not boarding. Thanks tho!

Dave, it's $55 a night for a 'special rate' we negotiated, which is $30 less than the normal Per Diem rate and $45 cheaper than the advertised price. Works out to about $900 a month for the 16 nights a month I've been averaging down here. Could I get an apartment for $750 or so? Yes, but would have to have a 6+ month lease, 2 months up front, pay for a background check, etc. Was worth it to not go through the hassle.

 

[Sam Posten]

Accepted the offer on my house. Next!

 

[DaveF]

Awesome!

 

[Sam Posten]

Yeah that offer fell through but another came in. Through inspection and on to closing next friday.

Against my better judgement I put in a contingency offer on a house I've been dying to get but held off because I didn't want to go contingency. They dropped the price considerably today and I had to jump. Fingers crossed! Havre De Grace, dry side of the highway, next to Bulle Rock.

 

[Sam Posten]

Contingency failed, someone put a real offer in, oh well.

 

[Jay H]

Bummer Sam, I have a cash offer on my house so I'm closing on the 24th and I'm here in NJ busy cleaning house.. literally.. I hope all things work out and who knows, the market might not have seen bottom...

Jay

 

[Sam Posten]

Wild that we both have the same closing day, grats!

 

[Sam Posten]

So after 13 months of not finding what I want on the used market I gave in and have put a deposit down on a new, yet to be built house with my exacting custom specifications. I literally chose every option that suited my fancy, tho I stopped short on a few things like the tray ceilings and double ovens.
There's only two problems.
-I blew my budget by about 30k (oops)
-I had to actually buy in the town/city of Aberdeen.
The good news is that while for tax purposes I live in Aberdeen (bad juju) the house is VERY close to Churchville, which is rustic and rural. So in my mind it's a downside but it's actually not too bad cause it's out in the sticks like Churchville is but I still get all the services of Aberdeen including City Water, City Sewer, Natural Gas etc. and I will have FIOS on the day I move in.
I will say that doing this is going to let me build an epic Home Theater in the finished basement. =) I'm having the basement finished pre-construction and it'll have a full bath down there plus a walk up stairs, so it's techically able to call it a bedroom I guess. The other possible downside is that it is a Ryan home, and if you google "Ryan Homes sucks" there's definitely some unhappy campers out there, and I have taken that into consideration, but found the positives outweigh the negatives. I have 4 coworkers who bought Ryan homes in Cecil and Harford and they have nothing bad to say at all.
If you care to see what mine will kinda look like, you can see a virtual tour of the model here:
http://www.motion-vr.net/ryan/ryan_tours.aspx?tn=806
I'd never be able to afford this house up in NJ (Hell I'd never be able to afford it if it was 10 miles over in Bel Aire) so I'm pretty jazzed to get it. Just waiting on mortgage finalization now and then I'm stuck in hotels still till Mid March at least, but the end of the tunnel is in sight.

 

[DaveF]

Nice! Building is exciting!