789 Vernon Road

After looking, finding and then having to look again M and I agreed to terms on a new house in south Bexley. We looked at three homes last weekend (the 2nd showing for two homes) and decided that the one in south Bexley was the home for us. The negotiations were relatively easy (even though it took 4 contracts to finally agree) and assuming our inspection on Monday goes well then we close on August 17th. This has been a much longer and more difficult road than we imagined, but I really think that this is going to work out well for us. The home that we are purchasing has a lot of what we were looking for and should end up being a great next step in our lives.
789 Vernon Road

If I run that home through the criteria that I wanted in a home it actually checks out pretty well:

• 4 bedrooms - There are only 3, but the basement could be used as a guest bedroom if we add a bathroom downstairs. That doesn't need to be an immediate fix since we already have two more bedrooms than what we will be using.
• 2.5 bathrooms - There are only two bathrooms, but both are full and the 3rd one again can be added to the basement.
• Finished basement - Check. This was rare to find in Bexley and something I had pretty much given up on. This was definitely a big difference maker for me.
• Backyard - Decent size for Bexley. It certainly is big enough to have a cookout, BBQ or throw a football around.
• Good school district - Check. Also, it is only 0.2 miles away from the lower school.
• Character home (as opposed to a McMansion) - I love the 1950 Cape Cod home feel. It looks like a South Minneapolis home and is something that has great curb appeal. Also, even though it is a character home the home has had a lot of updates inside. One thing that I looked for when walking through homes was whether or not it was move-in ready. For this home I can move in and not have to change anything. 
• Driveway for a basketball goal - This was part of the compromise. The home only has a 1 car garage in alley and doesn't seem to have a place for a basketball goal. The good news is that there is a gym that is only a 2 minute drive away and an outdoor basketball playground only a 5 minute walk away.
• Family Room - The main floor has a living room/family room combo, which is fine with me especially considering there is the extra space in the basement. Also, for the family room we negotiated with the sellers to leave the tv and tv mount, so that there would be one less thing for us to work on when we moved in.
• Good walk score - 78 - very walkable. We will only be a block and a half from Main Street, which was a huge bonus. It might not be quite as high as the 83 walk score at our old place, but it is much better than most of the homes (including the one we were under contract on) we looked at.
• 15 year mortgage - This was another big bonus for us. From the start I loved the idea of having a 15 year mortgage and paying off a home early. Since we bought a home under budget then we will be able to do that and start paying off this debt quickly. I don't like debt and while that might be a simple way of viewing personal finance it is part of my philosophy.

Anyway, M and I are both ecstatic for this home. I'm looking forward to meeting the neighbors (I heard people in south Bexley are very close) and beginning to establish myself in Columbus.

New homes

For those of you that are tired of blog posts about the never-ending story (our home search) then feel free to skip this post. However, I know a few people are interested, so here is a quick update with pictures.

Since we became free agents (end of June) two of the three homes we liked are now under contract. We also ruled out the 3rd one out, so as of our San Francisco trip we were starting over again. The big change we decided to make was to consider 3 bedroom homes instead of the 4 bedrooms that we used to consider non-negotiable. We looked at a fresh batch of homes on Sunday (literally right after we were picked up from the airport). Out of that group yesterday and a few others we saw tonight there are two homes that we both are really considering. Both are 3 bedroom places and are reasonable prices. They also both felt right (for whatever that is worth).

Option 1: 789 Vernon Road, South Bexley

Pros - Move-in ready home. They recently redid the bathrooms and kitchen. Also, the basement is finished and provides a great multi-purpose room. I could see watching tv, hosting super bowl parities, and when need be use as a guest bedroom space. It would need a bathroom down there, but that is something we could hire someone to do later on. The home has a great walk-score (very close to Main Street) and looks to be in a really nice, friendly neighborhood. I think the home kind of has a South Minneapolis feel to it, and I love the curb appeal.

Cons - The main one is that there is only a 1 car garage. And also there is no place to put a basketball goal. Also, the master bedroom is on the 2nd level, while the other two bedrooms are on the 1st floor. This was a concern for two of our friends in Minnesota. Other than that the home is pretty much perfect for us.

Option 2: 245 N Cassingham, North Bexley

Pros - This home has a lot of charm and a lot of great functional space. The owners have lived there for 40 years and they look to have taken great care of their home. The first floor has a nice hardwood floors and the second floor has a recently updated carpet. The first floor has a nice living room, kitchen, porch, and dining room. The second floor has three bedrooms of decent (not great) size), but the key is that there are two bathrooms upstairs. Also, the master bedroom has great closet space. Finally, there is a two car garage (hurray) and a place to play basketball (another hurray). This home might not have a lot of the wow factor that other homes had, but it felt like such a great home for us.

Cons - The main bathroom needs to be remodeled. There is great space, but it just needs to be updated a little bit. Also, the walk score isn't the best since there isn't as much near North Bexley as there is in South or Central Bexley. The final con is that the home isn't actually on the market. These people are very close to purchasing another home and are looking at putting it on the market. However, looking isn't the same as actually being on the market, so it might not work out. And since it isn't on the market, I can't link to it. I did take some pictures below if you were interested:

Entering the front door into the living room. You can also see the porch through the windows in the top right.

It is kind of hard to see the home with the trees in the way. I could probably have taken a better picture.

I loved the way the home looks when you enter through the front door. The exposed wood on the ceiling is a nice touch.

Future basketball court?

Family room with built-ins

Kitchen

Dining room

Master bedroom

2nd bedroom

3rd bedroom

San Francisco (pictures)

There will be time later to go over my thoughts on San Francisco, but in the interest of time here are some *pictures from the trip:

*These are just from my cell phone and haven't been edited, so there should be better pictures later.


Breakfast at a place with a really long line (and really good food)

M and the Painted Ladies

The Giants celebrating a win

Alcatraz

 Lombard Street

The Golden Gate bridge (if you didn't know)

Outside AT&T Park (I realized there were no pictures of me, so I thought I need to include this one at the end.)

San Francisco (Day 1)

Greetings from San Francisco. M and I arrived late on Friday night and have a full week to enjoy both SF and Napa. Yesterday we had a "local's day" with our friends Nancy and Nicholas. And apparently the first thing the locals do is walk to a hipster breakfast place and wait an hour in line to be seated. The good news is that the food at the place (Zazie) was excellent. I had an eggs benedict with crab and avocado that lived up to the $18 price tag. We then walked around Buena Vista Park and the Haight-Ashbury area. Both Nicholas and I picked up retro minor league t-shirts of the New Orleans Pelicans and the Rochester Red Wings and tried to avoid getting a contact high from the air in the area.

Later in the afternoon after watching all 8 Full House theme songs (with video) consecutively before going to visit the Painted Ladies (or also known as the Full House houses). Below is a picture Nancy took of Mary enjoying the view:

Last night we got Japanese food and I was overruled on going out, so instead we stayed in and watched a movie.

Today is a big day in that we have tickets to go see the Giants play the Reds in downtown San Francisco. Now I might get the Sunday NY Times and try my best to assimilate into the culture.

2012 Draft Preview

Tomorrow is normally one of the most exciting nights of the year. It is a time when I think of my favorite teams in my favorite sport getting that impact player that will lead deep into the playoffs. The NBA draft is about blind optimism, but this year's edition is a little bit different than previous years. This year neither of the two teams I've followed (my favorite team the Jazz and my former local team the Twolves) have a 1st round pick. Before I get into that though below are my previous years draft previews.

• 2008 - Draft Kevin Love over OJ Mayo.
• 2009 - Good on Lawson, Curry and Danny Green, but a big miss on Thabeet and Harden.
• 2010 - Stay away from Gordan Hayward doesn't look to great now. Neither does draft Luke Babbitt. I will stick by my predicions for Xavier Henry, Aminu and on a positive side Cousins.
• 2011 - Very high on Irving (which wasn't a big reach) and also Jonas Valanciunas (which I haven't seen play, but still would prefer over Enes Kanter). I would say after a year this isn't half bad. The idea of drafting Jonas, so that they Jazz would be bad enough to keep their pick certainly could have helped. Enes Kanter added 1.7 wins to the Jazz this year, which was just enough to get them into the playoffs. If they hadn't made the playoffs they would have kept their 1st round pick. Also, Jonas would have been the projected 2nd pick in this draft, so again I will stick with my Jonas > Enes prediction.

Anyway, it is a little tough getting excited about a draft when the Jazz don't draft till the 47th pick and the Twolves don't draft untit pick 58. Jazz fans were only a few games away from the Jazz having two lottery picks, but Golden State completed the incredible choke job and kept their top 7 protected pick with of course the 7th overall pick. Also, the Jazz lost their pick because they made the playoffs (congrats on getting swept by the Spurs). For the Jazz and the draft it is wait till next year, which is exactly the position the Twolves find themselves in thanks to a couple trades.

Still there are possibilites. The Jazz could trade Golden State's future pick and/or any of their many post players (in order of likehood to get traded: Jefferson, Millsap, Kanter and Favors). The Twolves are always a wild card, so who knows with them. Also, maybe I should pay more attention to the Cavs, since they are the most local team from Columbus.

In anticpation of the draft, I won't give any advice for the Jazz or Twolves and also I'm not going to try and predict any crazy trades. It is hard to say trading Jefferson for the 5th pick makes sense, when I don't have a clue if that is even realistic. I will however provide my thoughts on the 6 players I've seen play plenty of times. As a Duke fan I feel qualified in writing about Austin Rivers, Miles Plumlee, John Henson, Tyler Zeller, Kendall Marshall and Harrison Barnes. I feel especially confident after rating the 2009 UNC players as Lawson, Green and then a distant 3rd Hansbrough.

Here are my thoughts on those 6 players in terms of ranking:

1) Tyler Zeller - He is old and doesn't rate well in John Hollinger's Draft Rader, but I actually think he will be a solid pro. Would I draft him ahead of Harrison Barnes? It might depend on the team, but yes I think I would. He is a smart player and a very good shooter. Also, he is a legit 7 feet tall, which doesn't really hurt. I would have concerns about his strength and that he probably won't get the call where he leans into the defender and tricks the refs into a foul. However, I could see him being an effective pick and pop post player. I would draft him and immediately put him in the weight room.

2) Kendall Marshall - I really want to rate Kendall Marshall over Zeller, but a 7 foot post player who can shoot is hard to pass up. However, I do rate Marshall over other players partly because I believe he will be a better shooter than he has been so far. And if he can even be an average NBA shooter then the rest of his offensive game will be pretty amazing. He has a great feel for the game and knows exactly when and where to pass the ball to his teammates. It had to have been amazing to be a UNC fan and watch the transition from Larry Drew II to Marshall. Of all the players on UNC, I was most happy to see him leave early. He will be a good (maybe not great, but certainly a better chance of that anyone else on this list) NBA player.

3) Harrison Barnes - As much as I like Marshall, I can't stand Barnes. He is a much better athlete, shooter and has a higher ceiling than anyone on this list, but that doesn't make me want to draft him ahead of either Marshall or Zeller.  He seems like a jump shooter, who isn't even elite in that category. I don't know what the best way to desribe Barnes is, but I think he will be a bust. Of course I think more highly of the NBA potential of Barnes over the next player on the list....

4) Austin Rivers - It probably isn't a good endorsement of you as a player, when a fan is indifferent about you leaving their favorite team. That was how I felt with Austin Rivers, and even though Mason Plumlee drives me crazy sometimes, I was so much happier he decided to come back to Duke than Rivers. The reason is that don't really like Austin Rivers. I don't like his attitude, the way he plays the game and how somebody who is supposed to be so good could go 5-14 with more turnovers (2) than assists (1) against Lehigh. He is a shooting guard who can't really *shoot.

*Every single Duke regular that didn't have the last name Plumlee (5 players) shot better than Rivers from the free throw line. Rivers shot worse than team average from 3 (36.5% compared to 37.1%) and the field (43.3% to 45.6%).

He has an unbelievable ability to get to the rim, and he will never have to buy a drink in my presence because of this shot. However, I don't think he will be a good NBA player.

5) John Henson - Henson either becomes Andrei Kirilenko or he doesn't make in the NBA. My prediction is that he won't make it in the NBA. He is tall, but unfortunatly weak and he can't shoot. Every single time he took an outside shot against Duke, I think I audibly cheered. He has a unique game that translates to a few years as the 10th man on some NBA team before going overseas. Unless he completely transforms his game, I predict John Henson to be the biggest bust out of the 5 players listed so far.

6) Miles Plumlee - Easy pick for the last spot. I've seen some mock drafts with him as a possible late first round pick. That would be a wasted pick. I enjoyed my 4 years of Miles Plumlee and agree that he is a great athlete, but he just isn't a very good basketball player.

We will see how the draft goes and in a few years how my predictions line up with what ends up happening. When Barnes is a 3 time All-Star and Henson is the league's defensive player of the year then feel free to point this post out to me.

Missed Opportunities

I'm glad this blog is written online and not for a newspaper, because a lot of ink would have been wasted on homes that ended up not working out. The summary - we are now 0-4 in homes that we have offered contracts on. It is supposed to be a "buyer's market" and it isn't like we have any contigencies (financing is good, no homes to sell) that should hold things up, but for whatever the reason we are 7 months into living in Columbus and are no closer to owning a home.

I've been reviewing my notes and calculations on the homes we've liked and feel pretty comfortable with the concept that we should get something that fits what we need in our price range. The homes that we've missed out on have been because of an average difference of $15k per home. While $15k is a large amount of money, it seems strange to me that we haven't been able to make up that difference on at least one of the four homes that we've put contracts on.

Anyway, in case you looked at my last post you can take 25 Bullitt Park off the list. That was the 4th home offered a contract on and again it didn't work out. We were outbid (by how much I can only estimate) and were not given a chance to counter.

I think we are going to need to take a break from a little bit of home searching. Of course I write that knowing I just reviewed the list of homes we looked at last night, and was upset to find out that this one home I liked (not in Bexley) just move from "active" to "under contract." Still we need to find out what we want and hope for the best.

Next up on the blog list needs to be reviews of Yankee Stadium, Comerica Park and AT&T Park. It's been a good year in terms of visiting stadiums.

House Update - Closing

Do you know that house I kept writing about? Like on June 7th or May 31st or April 30th or all the way back on February 26th. That house was supposed to be the "forever home" that M and I had always wanted. We spent more than a little amount of time making decisions on paint colors, fixtures and other things that were going to be part of the home. There had been plenty of frustration throughout the remodel project, but we kept telling ourselves that it would work out and it would all be worth it.

It didn't work out.

The inspector pointed out a problem with the roof and this past week we had a roofer come by and give his assessment. It wasn't good. The number was high enough to make us start to question whether or not we wanted to live in that home. It was already a pretty expensive home, and a new roof just added to that. We asked the contractor if he would be willing to pay for some of the roof costs and he was unwilling to contribute anything.

At that point we had to make the decision if we wanted to buy the home and take on the burden of putting on a new roof ourselves. I could understand the logic of being "pot committed" on this home, but really we were still at the point where we could back out without much of financial hit. It was tough that we had spent so much time with the home, but I think that this is a lesson in sunk costs. The amount of time and effort we spent on the home didn't change the fact that we were going to be paying a ton of money for a home that we didn't think was worth it. The home no longer felt right, and I am happy that both M and I came to that same conclusion.

So....we were supposed to close on Friday, but instead we were back house hunting yesterday. We are moving on and the good news is that out of the 5 homes we saw yesterday we really liked 3 of them. Below are the links if you want to check them out:

25 Bullitt Park Place
Pros - Feels like our type of home. Nice backyard, quiet street, great kitchen and updated bathrooms. I loved they layout of this home and how every space seems to be usable. They list 5 bedrooms, but really one of the bedrooms is the finished attic upstairs, which seems to be a perfect place for a movie/play room. And one big pro for this house that we didn't have with the 134 S Cassingham home is that we have our own driveway instead of a shared driveway.

Cons - Low walk score because it isn't that close to Main Street or the school. The house also doesn't have a formal living room, which doesn't really bother me that much right now. There really isn't much else besides a few cosmetic things like the walls needing a fresh coat of paint.

212 N Remington Rd
Pros - Really incredible family room and Florida room. Also, the master bedroom had plenty of closet space. This was a really nice home that had pretty much everything we could need or want.

Cons - Its in North Bexley, which isn't considered to be as desirable as Central Bexley. There is a shared driveway, but we did meet the neighbors and they seemed to be really nice. The main issue with the houses (and there really isn't that much) is that there isn't a backyard where any kids could play. The owners of this house seemed to customize it exactly what they were looking for, and I give them credit for creating a wonderful looking home.

345 N Ardmore Rd
Pros - This home was very unique and seemed to have the look and feel of a vacation home. The backyard was incredible. The kitchen and family room were open and looked to be in pretty good condition. Also, a big pro is that the lower level was finished.

Cons - There are only 3 bedrooms right now and one of the bedrooms is downstairs. It is set up, so that you could pretty easily create a 4th bedroom on the 2nd floor, but I am little hesitant on doing any work on any home. Finally, the basketball goal is on the garage in the alley, and actually playing basketball would be tough because the garage is on an incline.

All three of the homes are places I could see us living in, and considering what we saw in December they are big improvements over that crop. I would rate the homes in the order that I listed them, which conviently enough is how they are ranked in price. We will see what works out, and if need be we can attend some open houses again. However, one home is having an open house today that we won't be visiting - 134 S Cassingham.