City-Dweller Archives | The Amateur Everything

Complicated Goodbyes

September 18, 2018 No Comments

A window with greenery on the other side from the perspective of a light-filled living room

This wild ride…

So, we’re moving to California! It’s all happening so fast, almost too fast. But when I pause to think about it, I don’t know if I’d have it any other way. Really, the hardest part has always been the hard part of every big change — wanting to have and keep everything so as to never have to say goodbye. It becomes exponentially more difficult when it’s something you claim ownership of, whether it’s a job that you’re proud of, a place that you have cared for, or a relationship that has grown or changed.

City-Dweller, Parties

Stranger Halloween Things

November 4, 2016 1 Comment

I didn’t think I was going to dress up for Halloween this year. I had thrown around a few ideas and tried to convince J to go in on them with me, but no bite. I’ve also been feeling overwhelmed and overstretched recently, with midterms ending right before Halloween weekend, so I knew it would be tough to pull anything together. But a couple weeks before Halloween, I opened up my email to find this message:

Stranger Halloween Things | The Amateur Everything

Yaaaassssss, I whispered to myself.

City-Dweller, In/Justice

About that awful train ride

December 9, 2015 No Comments

On Friday morning there was an incident on the subway that left me really shaken. It had been a long and exhausting week at work and I was so glad to have made it to Friday. On the subway I took my backpack off and nestled it between my feet. I held onto a pole at the center of a long bench of seated passengers as the car filled with people. As usual, I opened up my NYT crossword app and started solving the mini. As the train pulled out of the station, I heard a loud and clear male voice halfway down the car telling a young woman to take her off backpack or move it or something like that. I shrugged because I knew better — seriously, take your backpacks off when you’re on a crowded train. I kept one ear trained on the ruckus because it seemed like this guy was trying to move through the packed train.

City-Dweller, Homeowner

Buying a Home in New York: Making an Offer

November 9, 2015 No Comments

Buying a Home in New York | The Amateur Everything

I had a sudden panic attack after J and I made our first offer on an apartment. We had been looking for few weeks and saw an apartment that hit all of our main criteria — two bedrooms, spacious, decent kitchen, amenities (elevator building with laundry), manageable distance from public transportation, and it was in our price range. It even had a friendly doorman and a gym! We went back again during the next week’s open house to check it out and speak some more with the realtor, who was warm, helpful, and made us feel incredibly comfortable. J and I decided to go in without negotiating and offer the asking price. An hour later our offer was accepted and that’s when I panicked.

City-Dweller, Grind

Suddenly it’s late-October: A life update

October 22, 2015 No Comments

Sorry for the silence, folks, but I guess the only thing certain in life is that I will never maintain a regular posting schedule. I promise I have more in my series on buying a house, but I’ve flown through my queued posts and now I am writing them as we go and it has been a slow progress.

I haven’t even written about the last two months.

City-Dweller, Homeowner

Buying a Home in New York: Crunching Numbers Before an Offer

September 28, 2015 No Comments

So, your team is assembled, you’ve been pre-approved by the bank, have a decent understanding of the current housing market, and have gone to a number of open houses. What happens when you stumble upon your dream apartment (or at least one that you would be pretty happy to live in for a long time)? You probably want to make an offer quickly, considering this is New York City, the rent is too damn high, and housing is always in demand.

But before you throw all of your money on the table and bare your soul to the sellers, you need to make sure you’ve hammered out the numbers.

City-Dweller, Homeowner

Buying a Home in New York: The People in Your Corner

September 21, 2015 No Comments

One thing I learned during the home buying process was that every single step involves at least two other parties. Because of this, you need to assemble a team that you can trust and like to work with. Think of this part as your Ocean’s Eleven (but not eleven, more like three). You should probably have your team assembled before you go to open houses, but if you’re like J and I and have no idea what you’re doing, then you’re probably doing everything at once — researching, submitting items for pre-approval, going to open houses, asking realtors at open houses if they would recommend getting a realtor (their answers will probably leave you more unsure), and trying to figure out how the hell you’re supposed to find a real estate attorney. Regardless, here are the folks you need to look out for:

City-Dweller, Homeowner

Going hard in the paint

September 16, 2015 No Comments

Figured I’d give you all a slight break in the posts about homebuying and write more about my home now that I’m actually a homeowner. Sorry, this is all that I talk about now. J and I have been hustling to get as much done on the home before I started grad school (at which point life is pretty much a series of wild cards) so we have quite literally been going hard in the paint (and spackle, and trips to home depot). We had about a month and a half between the time when we got the keys to the place and when I started classes (Thursday, September 3rd)… so every waking moment has pretty much been spent in the maelstrom that is this apartment.

City-Dweller, Homeowner

Buying a Home in New York: Open Houses

September 8, 2015 No Comments

By the time you’ve gotten through all the pre-research and have your commitment letter, you are probably raring to look at some candidates for your future Home Sweet Home. This is the best part of the entire process leading up to home ownership, so enjoy it! This is also probably a good time to get a realtor (if not earlier?), but J and I breezed through that step and jumped heads first into the world of open houses. Looking back, I would possibly recommend getting a real estate agent because if this is your first time, it can be quite confusing to go it alone. Realtors can assist you through the negotiating process when you want to make an offer and many have specific neighborhood knowledge that can benefit you. That said, there are a lot of agents out there so it’s good to find one who understands what you’re looking for — luxury? Pre-War? Fixer-upper? Move-in ready? Find someone in tune with your needs.

As I said, though, J and I just decided to go for it and start looking at places on our own.

City-Dweller, Homeowner

Buying a Home in New York: Pre-Approval

August 31, 2015 No Comments

There are a number of hoops that you must jump through before you can even begin looking seriously at a home. For J and I, the first obvious one was checking in with my parents and getting their thumbs up. The second and slightly less daunting one was to apply for mortgage pre-approval from a bank.