Of houses and homes, Part II

When we purchased our San Simeon house, I vaguely remembered the often-cited statistic regarding homeowners moving on the average every 5-7 years and owning 12 homes over their lifetimes. It just seemed difficult to absorb and even a little far-fetched to me, considering my natural propensity toward inertia and new excitement over our first residence, but it has proved true in my case, as statistics don't lie, only people use it to mislead sometimes. After moving into our second home (the Pieper Lane house), I thought we were destined to stay put at least until our kids flew the nest, just as I believed when I got married that marriage was forever, only to find out that "Life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans."

Becoming a renter again at middle age, this time with 4 kids in tow, proved to be a trying experience. We put most of our possessions in storage and crammed ourselves into one master bedroom at our old standby – the San Simeon house, after getting hammered with rent hikes every few months at the apartment complex where we were temporarily staying.  I waited out my time until I had the means and focus to buy again. My main impetus this time was to give each of my children his/her own bedroom while it still mattered to them, to make up for that stretch of time when their lives were upended because of adult decisions for which they’d been in no way responsible.  I began looking off and on during the summer of 2008, and by fall had felt comfortable enough to make an offer on a house located in the city of Irvine with a curious street name, “Honey Locust.”  Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be, as I ended up changing my mind, which didn't happen very often, and later found out with regret and a bit of guilt that the property I’d backed out on eventually went into foreclosure. We had just opened escrow when I got a call from my cousin urging me to take a look at a new community near the Tustin hangar that she was considering. When I made my first visit there a few days later, my cousin had already signed a contract to purchase her home thanks to a sweet buyer incentive that involved the builder shelling out an ungodly amount of money on points to lower the interest rate in order to make their homes more affordable for a quick sale.  Another cousin already resided in the neighborhood, so it looked like our family was going to have good company. After a quick tour of the recommended models, I became convinced I was capable of making one-minute real estate decisions and promptly canceled my pending transaction. By Thanksgiving 2008, the kids and I had successfully settled into our new home, which I now call the Columbus Square house, but not without encountering a few unexpected speed bumps along the way.

If I knew then what I know now about the homebuying process in a new climate of credit tightening, I would prep my finances carefully for a look-back period of 2-3 months before  getting preapproved for a loan or submitting an offer. But I didn't, so I went on merrily charging our monthly expenses on numerous credit cards with liberal limits in order to maximize my cash backs, knowing I would pay off my entire balances each month as I always have.  I also had diamond credit, which I thought would count for something, and a stable, good-paying job, so it just didn’t occur to me any lenders would have to worry about my ability to faithfully make mortgage payments. Imagine my shock when Lennar’s in-house lender demanded that I pay off my car loan in full as a required condition for approving my mortgage, as they were uncomfortable with my revolving debt ratio which hovered on the high end even though I technically had the perfect borrower's profile. Being caught off guard with all my disposable assets tied up in the down payment, I was forced to cash out one of my life insurance policies to accomplish this and seal the deal at the 11^th hour.

The Columbus Square house became my interior design project for a whole year as I happily pondered my purchases to fill its rooms with the things I loved. I promised my kids I would allow them to furnish their own space with minimal interference as long as they stayed within budget. Because we all had wildly different aesthetics and wish lists, things didn't come together as seamlessly as I'd hoped, but it was a good experience for us as we each learned a thing or two along the way.

For months and months after we moved into our new home, I still couldn’t believe how well things had eventually worked out for me even at this late juncture in my life.  It was good to regain a bit of the feeling that all is right with the world again, and part of it was due to my being able to make a house a home for me and my kids.

Dad in front of my home, June 2011