Homesteading

Yesterday, Lisa and I went to sign the stack of papers to finance our new house. Well, Lisa did the signing. The line of credit is in her name.

Funny story...well, not funny but, rather, annoying. Now that we have the settlement, we have assets on hand to buy the house outright. But I chose not to do that because a) we can use the mortgage interest tax break and 2) interest rates on a 15-year mortgage are only about 5.7% right now, so I figure I can invest that money and make more than 5.7% a year with it, thereby coming out ahead in the long run.

Problem was my credit rating. Before the calamity, my credit was immaculate, after having climbed out of debt after my first marriage. Unfortunately, after the calamity, we had many health care vendors knocking on our door asking "Uh. You owe us $250,000. Where's our money? Or are we gonna hafta muss ya up?" All I could tell them was that my injuries were the result of an auto accident, that the case was in litigation, and I'd give them the dough soon as I could. (This being America, everyone was familiar with auto accident injuries, on account o' they is ubiquitous. But that's another screed and I digress). I thought I'd contacted everyone, but apparently, a few of the bills were sent to collection without my being told.

The upshot of this blather is that my credit didn't allow us to get the low mortgage rate. However, LISA's credit rating is sparkling. But as a part-time employee, her income is not very high. So the nice mortgage lady ("props and a shout out" to Liana Gulzow at Washington Mutual) suggested we get a line of credit in Lisa's name, which is contingent on her credit rating (excellent) and assets (plenty, with settlement in hand). Then we use that to purchase the home and lock in the low rate. So we had to do some dinkin' around be we ended up getting what we wanted.

So, as of the county's receipt of the papers today, Lisa and I are officially home owners!

Yikes!

After the signing, Lisa and I had a lovely late lunch at the Reinlander German restaurant here in PDX, and discussed how we're going to fit all the stuff in the yard that we want -- solarium structure, deck/patio, Asian garden, regular garden, cat coop/dog run. I think it'll work because of the way the lot is set up: the house doesn't really have a back yard. Rather, it's surrounded by a strip of land about 15 feet wide -- not usable as a traditional back yard, i.e., a volleyball area, but perfect if you want to put in a lot of small installations. Plus, no mowing in back!

Next up: moving day, probably this Monday!