In DC I don’t normally drive to work… I take the metro. But out here driving everyday got me thinking about my car. It’s probably nearing it’s last legs (it’s a 95 civic). So I started thinking about getting a new one. I picked a Mini Cooper Clubman S as my car of choice, and I’m seriously considering getting it when I get back in DC. It may wait until July when I get my raise though.
And then I started thinking about my living situation… I’m going to be in DC for a while (the foreseeable future)… so I’ve decided to start looking at buying a house! Wow. I’ve been toying around with my budget (I always keep it up-to-date) and I’ve figured out the mortgage payments I could afford (which tells me how much of a house I could afford) and I did a few different scenarios (some of which factored in buying my new car). Both are feasible as long as I can get a mortgage.
My ideal house:
- in VA (don’t want to have to reregister everything)
- 2-3 bedroom
- Garage (Must have, as big as possible)
- Needs parking for at least 3 cars outside (I eventually plan on building something in the garage)
- Detached house (preferable)
- within 1 mile of the metro (preferable and preferably closer)
- Yard (optional)
- Basement (very optional, would be nice)
I’d be open to having a fixer-upper, but if I get an FHA mortgage that wouldn’t really be an option.
The plan is to get a house… the best house i can afford by myself, and make up the difference by renting out the extra rooms. If I don’t find roommates, I’d still manage, but the budget would be a little tighter.
Ok, so that’s the heavy part of this post.
Last weekend @ronforbes and I went down to San Francisco to see Adam for his birthday. I also finally got to meet @mager. They both gave us tours of their respective workplaces. Adam works for a company called AKQA that does marketing-type stuff, and @mager works for CBS Interactive (and has a blog there too).
If I could change anything about working for the government it’d be the work environment. I wish we had a workplace like the web/technology companies do. Laid back, casual clothes, ping pong tables in their workspaces. Hell… xboxes and video games and free snacks, etc. The taxpayers probably wouldn’t appreciate that. And that’s the reason why we can’t.
Oh well…
Finally, I did some decent work with wifey’s website this weekend. It’s coming together nicely (I think so at least).
