House

I haven't laid this out - for myself - in writing for a while. Concerning my home and whether to stay in it or walk.

What I have been watching, over an extended period of time now, is the value of my home. More specifically, the dramatic decrease in the value of it and the fact that I am in an under-water mortgage situation.

Right now, according to valuation data, my home is about 63k underwater. Amazingly, if you do your homework and search a little, you can get a very nice home in these parts for 63k. In fact, you can score REALLY nice properties for even less than that.

The home values in the Phoenix metropolitan area continue to take a dive. There are so many vacant homes right now that it's unlikely that this situation is going to reverse itself anytime soon and worse, my home's valuation is going to continue to take a nose-dive. At some point, I am telling myself, I am going to have to take a deep breath and do the short-sale route. The deep breath part is because it would mean a dramatic change in lifestyle at home unless I could, somehow, find something, somewhere, that would accomodate for some of the things going on such as have Great Danes.

What I am starting to do now is get my mindset to change about all of this. Staying in this home seems a futile waste. I will be living in a home, at some point in time that is probably not too far off, that is worth less than half the money I owe on it.

I guess I'm not really interested into going into the things that I have been reading - some of it for some time now - that may show that the economy is going to go much further south than anything we've seen yet, I am going to sit back and wait and see what happens. It won't be long, if these predictions are true.

I am also struggling with having to rent rooms to stay in this place. After these last 2 slobs moved out and left their - my - rooms in a complete and total disaster, I ask myself why I should even consider continuing on with this. I contacted the guy today that wanted to move in - he is moving in Thursday, at least that's what he says, I'll find that out for sure after Thursday comes and goes and whether he's here or not. Good people are nice to have around, the rest of them?

The reason I write this now is to force myself to face a potential situation: having to rent a property somewhere. Living under someone else's "authority". I have spent considerable time in mulling over the stay-or-go thought and up until recently had convinced myself that staying was the better alternative. But looking at the economy and continuing, falling home values, I am not quite so convinced anymore. When, if ever, will the price of my home actually rise to the amount, at the very least, that I owe on it?

I was prepared to stay in this home for a maximum of 5 years and then sell it and move on. It's been 3-1/2. I'm not going to be calling my lender tomorrow and tell them to start whatever process it is for short-sale'ing the home. They DO have such a process because I have asked them about it. My next question to them is going to be why they are so willing to short sale a home and take a loss on it rather than doing whatever to keep the homeowner in the home. They are on just as perilous an edge, looking down a cliff, as everyone else is from my perspective. But, maybe there are government guarantees or the mortgage insurance pays them back? I don't really know. I don't get straight answers about this stuff when I ask, they decidedly dodge the question and give a nothing answer, as evidence by the "answer" they recently sent to me concerning questions I had for them.

They did not answer the questions, excepting for one and that answer was a nothing answer, in reality. It's a slippery slope and not telling where solid footing might land. This is far from anything even remotely associated with a dream home and frankly, the thought of getting out of it becomes more and more viable on a daily basis. The 2 thoughts to contend with: 1. credit rating disaster and 2: renting.

I'm starting to think about it now as a real alternative, is all. Not long ago I wouldn't even give it a second thought: stay in the house regardless.

DOT Medical

Concentra Urgent Care centers is the facility my company chooses to use to get the 2 year DOT medical done for it's drivers. Before Concentra got into the urgent care business, it used to be pretty good, too. Commercial drivers were a lot of their business in getting the physical and also getting drug tested. If there were people waiting to do anything else, drivers got priority.

Not anymore. Now, you are just another patient to them. I went into the one I usually go to for my renewal and found the entire waiting area FILLED with people waiting. There was at least 30 people in there. I went to the front desk and was told it would be at least an hour until I got in. That meant to me up to 2 hours, in reality, to get a doc to see me and administer this testing. I said no thanks and left.

I went to another Concentra which is also on way home from work. It, too, was filled with people. I was told 2-1/2 to 3 hours before I would be out of there. 3 hours for a 10 minute re-certification. I asked if there were any times that were better. She wouldn't answer the question, only stated that it's an urgent care center and that wait times vary. Great. I left that one, too.

Meanwhile, the urgent care I was using when I had the infections has little wait time. They do DOT re-certs and I am going to ask my company if I can use them, instead. I have no idea if it will, but I am going to try. That or just start calling all of them in the Phoenix area. If, by the end of the week, I haven't gotten it done, I will just have to bite the bullet and play the ridiculous waiting game. Concentras are ALWAYS too full of people compared to other urgent care centers. That's because many companies still use them for the DOT and drug testing, while at the same time, you have people filing in for urgent care issues.

The ex-tenant/Army reservist left her room in a shambles as bad as that other guy that just recently left. 4 large - large as in those giant leaf bags for outdoor use - filled with nothing but TRASH. Some kind of black substance all over the queen mattress. I think it might be eyelash junk, whatever it's called. Oh, eyeliner, that's it. I just tried to friend her on Facebook - she doesn't even accept messages from strangers. If that doesn't work, I know where her family lives and I will be calling them. The idea that she could leave a room like that and think it's acceptable is totally messed up. Mark - trailer tenant - spent however much time cleaning up in there today and is now, currently vacuuming the floor. Umm, anyway, that room should be finished tomorrow and hopefully the guy that said he wanted to move in - will.

That guy had an older SUV, but it was clean and in good condition. He was dressed up in nice clothing when he came over to look. So, just hoping that if he does move in, he is what he looks like he is and is - clean or at least some semblance to it.

Heat. I have been having to water the plants every day now. That is - I unfortunately have been having to water the plants every day. Water bills are excessive, but they wouldn't be so freakin' bad if the City of Phoenix didn't keep voting to raise the water rates by 5% whenever they decide to - give their employees a pay raise. This union stuff - all around the nation - is REALLY starting to get to me. Talk about a sense of entitlement. All these unions complaining because their employees are asking them to pay SOMETHING towards their own health coverage!

Anyway, my ads on Craigslist are running dry for renting the other room. No real replies in a couple of days, at least. I do not want to lower the price, so I am going to continue running that ad at the same price and hope someone gets interested.

That's it, for now.

ben

Tuesday 8/23/2011

Tuesday

Running the AC on the trailer all day long - in the worst heat of the day - raised the electric use about $3.00. Not terribly bad, not that I'm eating that much of it anyway. It was about 85 in there according to a thermometer but it felt cooler than that in there.

It isn't really normal that it's getting as hot as it is in August. They are talking as high as 116 tomorrow.

Well, anyway, I read yesterday that Qadaffi's son stated that they let the rebels into Tripoli on purpose so that they could trap them in an - kill all of them I guess. I wonder what they're waiting for.

I don't have much this morning. I'm still trying to get that room rented and now I am going to have the trailer tenants go in there today and start cleaning up the other tenant's mess for the guy to move in - if he doesn't change his mind for whatever reason - sometime this week actually.

We'll see is all I can say about that.

G'day.

ben