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Metalcore. From the Atonement album, released in 2019. More info from Wikipedia.
Looks like it's been a little while since my last post. Let's remedy that!
Shortly before authoring my last post, I managed to secure a contract to buy a property that I felt was the answer to all of my prayers. This property was the right size that I was looking for (three bedrooms, less than 1,500 square feet), was in a fairly (dare I say competitively) priced range, and most importantly, was in an ideal location (five minutes away from Kayla and the kids on the other side of town).
I had thrown an offer out to the seller that I felt was more than fair without being insulting, given the current state of the real estate market. To my relief, the seller accepted the offer, and I got to work on everything that needed to be done as part of my due diligence period and to ensure that everything was in order to close on the mortgage.
Today, I'm happy to report that as of yesterday at approximately 11:30 AM, I'm the new owner of the subject property. A 1,168 square-foot, three bedroom, one-and-a-half bathroom brick home situated on 0.71 acres that lies five minutes north of my kids is now in my sole possession. To say that I'm happy is an understatement.
Of course, this isn't the first time I've purchased a piece of real estate (cycle back a few updates and you'll find mention of when Kayla and I bought our house in 2015), and though I still wish the current circumstances didn't drive me to this point, I'm quite content with the overall outcome. I've been distant from my kids (and Kayla too) for the last year and a half, and it's silently been bugging the ever-living piss out of me. Having a place of my own near everyone will allow some semblance of normalcy to return to my everyday living, a feeling I haven't had since mid April of last year.
Because closing occurred yesterday, it inevitably resulted in a far busier day than my usual fare. The closing date was originally scheduled to occur today (November 10, coincidentally the same date as my beloved Corps' birthday: happy 248th birthday, Marines!), but I was informed last week that the closing attorneys would be unavailable today and requested to move closing a day forward to the 9th. Since I had my ducks in a row at the time this was mentioned, I had no objections.
The previous owner was a very late age lady who has owned the home since the late 80s, despite there not being any form of official record as to the true age of the home — my best efforts at researching the home based on public records has narrowed the range down to 1982-1986, and with assistance from the county offices, I feel fairly confident that the home was built in 1983. The late 80s period also stems from my research: the most recent deed on the property was dated in 1987. Isn't public record fun?
Part of this home buying process was supported by the fact that, unlike when Kayla and I bought our home eight years ago, I had an active and engaged real estate agent with me throughout the entire process. While I did have an agent last time, he wasn't very involved and didn't do much to help us stay on top of the things we needed to. This was a real pain in the ass, because at the time, Kayla and I were first-time home buyers and had no real idea what to do or even expect. This go around, despite knowing what I was getting into and what needed to be done (and what was expected of me as a buyer), my agent this go around stayed engaged throughout the entire process to ensure everything was being done when it needed to be done.
On the note of my agent, I want to elaborate a little on my experience with her and a noteworthy event from yesterday. This wonderful woman has been working with me since mid-February on finding me the home I have been searching for. For months, she has given up her time to show prospective homes to me and get some contracts in place for a couple serious contenders (I was under contract for a home back in June that I ended up backing out of — I think I elaborated a bit on this in a previous update).
Prior to closing yesterday, I made a personal commitment to get a thank-you card for her and included $100 in cash so she could treat herself and her husband (who gave some of his own time to look at some houses with me and give his input as an appraiser) to a dinner at my expense, as my way of showing appreciation for all the work that the both of them have put forth in getting me to where I was. In my present state, I knew that the money I was voluntarily giving as a thank-you gift could really be applied to other items, like buying furnishings and appliances for the home so I could live in it. However, I felt compelled to give because I wanted to show my appreciation to two good people that helped me in a time where I felt I needed it the most.
As fate would have it, just prior to leaving the closing appointment, my agent gave me an envelope that I knew was also a thank-you note (clearly, my agent had the same idea as I did). I didn't waste any time to return the gesture by giving her the card I procured (that contained a computer-typed note and the cash). When I had an opportunity to actually open the envelope, the onion ninjas made their way to my face: included with the hand-written note from my agent was a gift card in the amount of $100 to Lowes, clearly to help offset the costs of inevitable purchases for the home. The note not only said thanks for allowing her to serve me and my needs, but gave me a confidence boost that the home I bought would be a good place to be the dad to my kids that she knew I could and wanted to be. The best part? It wasn't on business stationery. It was written on personal stationery, complete with her personal address on the back of the envelope. Yeah, she gets a Christmas card from me next month.
The pièce de résistance — the summation of everything that transpired yesterday — was when I stopped by the old house to spend time with the kids. As usual when I stop by during the week, I helped Liam with his homework (in a shocking turn of events, Mia wanted to sit in my lap and watch; naturally, I used that opportunity to have my lovely daughter sit in my lap and bond with me), and proceeded to have fun and play with my kids for a while. What really capped everything off was the fact that some of Kayla's first words to me were inquiries about the house: if everything went okay, if I was able to complete the sale, and the like. What's more is that she actually asked me how I was doing and was likewise rewarded with a brief summary about her.
What may seem like a minor sequence of events to most was truthfully a major step forward to me. This was the first time that Kayla partially opened up to me and actually appeared to care about how I was doing. When she asked how I've been, my response was (as it has been), "I'm okay, all things considered." However, the events of yesterday had a different feeling, and a swarm of emotion overcame me; the desire to tell her more was present, yet restrained. A quote I saw sometime last year resonated deeply with me, something to the tune of, "you don't truly realize how much you miss someone until the one person you want to tell everything to isn't there.
Because I've been rambling for who knows how long, I'm going to cut things abruptly short, primarily because I don't want to adjust the date references in this update to account for an additional day, as midnight approaches in less than five minutes.
More to come, of that I have no doubt.