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Thursday, 14 May 2009

I've Moved

No, this isn't the latest update to our home search. I'm talking about moving to another blogging platform. After having talked about switching, I'm finally doing it. There were only two reasons really for holding me back till now. First, there was just too much activity here on Xanga to make me want to move. Second, I was lazy. Both seemed to have addressed as 1) people aren't using Xanga as much and 2) I finally went ahead and set up another blog.
Anyway, this site will still remain active, as I can still use Xanga's photo uploads as an image server. Plus, the new site provides WAY more options for me.
Without further ado, you can proceed to follow my ramblings at:
http://yongoh.wordpress.com

Saturday, 28 March 2009

Buying a Home: Step 2 - Picking an Agent/House Hunting

Continued from Part 1 - Apply for a Loan
So the loan application part is pretty much behind us. At this moment, I'm trying to finalize between two lenders, having them bid for the lowest fees to get me as a client.
Today, Rachel and I met with our real estate agents! I don't know much about agents, but what I do know is that the best ones are those that are referred by a friend. So, without much hesitation, we're going with Mark and Gina Leeper. We had our initial meeting this morning to discuss the type of home we're looking for. Three hours later, they had a few homes to show us!
So the daunting task of finding the right home begins. Already, I'm feeling overwhelmed. We can blow our budget and get a home that has everything we want (within our approved loan amount), but that wouldn't be that responsible now, would it? So with our budget, this might take a while. I'm looking forward to next weekend, when the in-laws will have Sophie for the whole weekend, and Rachel and I can really dig into each showing.
Our house may not be sprawling with granite countertops, or oak wood flooring throughout, or have the most room, but it will be perfect.
Oh, and guess what? We saw a drughouse today! It was scary.

Friday, 20 March 2009

Buying a Home: Step 1 - Apply for a Loan
So the wife and I are finally taking active steps to owning a home. Ah, yes, the American dream...to own your own property.
It's been a slow process up to this point but now that we're finally at the cusp of the biggest purchase of our lives, I know the next couple months will feel like a blur. Getting your financial documents in order is no easy task. But thankfully, our loan application process happened to be around the same time as tax season so we had them all prepared ahead of time.
The scariest part to all this is that we're applying/purchasing during a recession. Nowadays, your credit record has to be spotless to get approved. This was worrisome because when you come this far to actually start the home purchase process (both financially and emotionally), the one thing you DON'T want to hear is that you got denied for a minor flub here or there. Any/all previous financial mistakes could be costly, so if you're reading this, get your finances straightened out now!
Well, long story short, we turned in our documents and got approved for a home loan! This was a bit of a shocker because we got approved in less than 24 hours. I thought it would have taken at least 5 days for them to review everything. But I'm not complaining. In fact, I'm pretty ecstatic to get approved in the first place.
Like any other new venture, there were lots to learn from this first step (of applying for a loan)...most of them had to do with my own finances. I realized how I could have saved myself from so much frustration over the years if someone had told me about some of these in advance...
- Having credit cards are not a bad thing. In fact, you should have credit cards to build credit! But don't rely on them for purchases. If you have to use them, make sure you have the money to pay them off within the month. (This wasn't something that I practiced in my early college days)
- There comes a time when having 0 allowances on your W4 is not enough to pay for your income tax. I always thought setting your W4 to 0 meant that you'll ALWAYS get something back on your income tax return. Wrong! Always use those worksheets to calculate your allowances and/or extra money to be withheld, especially if you get a raise or change jobs.
- Don't allow your lifestyle needs to increase with your paycheck, no matter how tempting it might be. Make it a habit early on to put away money from your paychecks for tithing, savings, retirement, life insurance, etc. Trust me, it's a lot easier to start saving when you're younger than when you're older with other financial commitments. (Oh, and if you want to talk to a financial guy to start up life insurance, IRAs, etc, let me know! I'm really pleased with mine!)
- It's never too early to start planning for retirement. Do it now before you regret about it later on in life. And yes, you will regret it later.
Next step: Picking an agent/house hunting.

Wednesday, 11 February 2009

I Don't Mean to be Angry

...but I just can't help it. There are so many things to be angry about.
Let's start with the guy who owns the peanut factory. He knowingly let tainted peanut goods into the American food system. Salmonella has led to 9 deaths and hundreds hospitalized. His company emails revealed that he told employees to "turn them loose"! Today, before a congressional panel, all he could do was waive the Fifth when asked about his actions. Man up and take responsibility guy! You're going to jail anyway!
Then there's the (California) state legislature who cares more about their own seats than the residents. Democrats refused to cut programs, Republicans refused to raise taxes, when the state needs both to get through this economy. California politics is a complete joke. I mean, we voted the Terminator as the governor for crying out loud! The state senate and assembly live in a world bloated by their own political rhetoric rather than to listen to their constituents. Anyone remember that incident a few years ago when a closed-door Democrat meeting was accidentally sent through the PA system? The Dems were heard saying they were willing to stalemate the budget process just to make the Repubs look bad. Ugh. Sure, there's the news that the state has now reached a deal for the budget, but it's too little too late in my eyes. That's why I'm so glad Prop 11 passed. It's the first step to allow me to vote my local state legislators out of office. Jenny Oropeza and Karen Bass, I'm looking at you!
And the bank bailouts! The original $700b bailout was a hard pill for me to swallow. I personally would have liked to see them all go under, but that admittedly would have been disastrous for everyone. The good news is that Obama-and-friends are putting big-time restrictions on companies that accept any new bailout money (ie $500k max executive salary, no bonuses, access to their accounting books, etc). But get this, now some banks are saying they're now looking to give BACK the money! Gee, did they actually think they were going to get a no-strings-attached reward for their screw ups?!? Their willingness to repay the bailout money further showcases their greed in that they didn't need to money to begin with.
And then there's LAUSD/UTLA. And then there's stuff at work. And that gas clerk who just stood there watching me as I tried to pump 87 octane when he knew they were all out! And the stinking ref's from tonight's Lakers game.
Thank goodness my wife and daughter are able to put a smile on my face.

Friday, 16 January 2009

Fret Not
I'm still around. I haven't left you.

A few things that are on my mind though:
- Xanga's WYSIWYG isn't compatible with Chrome, so I had to waste 4 seconds of my life to open up Firefox to write this.
- Looking to purchase a home soon, so we're looking into mortgage loans. I'm thinking about logging my experience, much like my first solo car purchasing experience. (I was going to link to my previous car-purchasing posts but I can't seem to figure out how to search on my own Xanga! Why am I still here again?)
- I'm thinking of creating more specialized blogs - one for youth ministry stuff and another for online consumer stuff - to help kickstart my writing again.
- I'm hoping my friends who recently got laid off find a job soon.
- I'm hoping my other friends don't get laid off at all.
- I'm hoping I don't get laid off either.
- I can use another galbi taco or two from Kogi right now.