Smaug

Hey all,

I've not posted in a while, but as I've reached another 'milestone' I figured I'd give my update!

Quite timeline: Met the fiancee Dec 2003, Moved from the UK to the US March 2005, Married June 2005.

Today I passed my NY state driving test. I've been driving here since I moved here, but I was still nervous. The examiner wasn't very chatty. I don't think I went faster than 20 (I'm used to doing +5mph over the speed limit, so I was really pushing my self control!) I even stopped all the way at stop signs.

At the end he gave me my temp license (just a piece of paper with some stuff printed on it that I signed). He said 'I don't really have anything to tell you, your driving is fine' (Well, 11 years experience helps...).

It took 15 mins, and I did turn-in-the-road/3 point turn and parallel parking. (Reversing around the corner is illegal here I think...)

I've still got my UK license, and intend to keep it. It was never brought up that I would have to surrender it.

In other news, my wife is expecting a boy (we need help with names!) in July. We're also expecting to close on a house next month.

Note on money transfer: I transfered almost all my savings from the UK to my father's account via the Internet. My father then wired the money to my USAA account in the US. USAA only accept dollars, but gave a good exchange rate and (I think) no fee. With the exchange rate recently favouring the pound, we managed to get an extra $1300 between me beginning the process of transfering the money, and actually receiving it.

Good luck with all those still going through the process!

Smaug

Noorah101

Hi Smaug! Congrats on all your good news!

Names? How about...Smaug Junior?

Best Wishes,
Rene

Smaug

Hehe

The wife doesn't like 'Junior's. I guess we'll name him after his father...

... as soon as I find out who that is!

ian-mstm

Congratulations on all the good news! I think a good Scottish name like, um... Ian - would fit the bill perfectly! Or, even better... spell it properly: Iain.

Ian

To Pe Ro

Smaug,

Congratulation to your child! It will change everything, you will see,
and most of it for the better, more joyful.

I was in the lucky position not to be forced to repeat my driver's
exam. Michigan checked my German license and gave me a Michigan one,
without me surrendering my German one.

Your other two "accomplishments", however, I see more critically:
- You know that we are at the peak of a housing bubble in the US, do
you? I mean if you and your wife are relatively certain to stay in one
place for more than seven years, go ahead and buy what you can afford.
Otherwise I recommend renting and saving the difference between rent
and the cost of home ownership, instead of loosing your downpayment or
going underwater on your house.
- Why would you transfer all of your savings from the pound into the
dollar? The international status of the dollar is very uncertain right
now, especially with the huge US trade deficit. Either the FED
increases interest rates further (and moves housing further down in the
process), or they don't and put the dollar into a new low. Most of
your savings, of course, should be there where you intend to stay in
the long-term, and if that's the US, some transfer is advisable, but
almost all?

Regards,

Peter

Smaug

We're currently renting and we're sick of it. We want our own home to raise our children (we've already got a 4 year old). And we're going to be staying where we are for the foreseeable future (we don't want to take the 4 yr old away from his extended family). We pretty much need most of my savings to cover the downpayment and closing of the house. We'll have enough left over of course for that 'rainy day' and to cover us in case of 'unexpected' problems.

Rete

Plus on top of that is the cost of renting here in the Big Apple and the suburbs. Often times a two or OMG three bedroom place is more than a mortgage would be.

Congratulations on all your news. And, no, I will not let you use my new grandson's name: Wyatt.

Rete

To Pe Ro

Smaug:
    > We're currently renting and we're sick of it.

One frequent reason to buy, I have heard (-:

    > We want our own home to raise our children (we've already got a 4 year old).

Raising children in a rental is good, raising them in an owned house is
also good - just as long as they know where home is. Most of my
friends and I have been raised in rentals as small children, before we
went to school.

    > We'll have enough left over of course for that 'rainy day' and to cover
    > us in case of 'unexpected' problems.

May it never be needed.

Regards,

Peter

To Pe Ro

Rete:
    > Plus on top of that is the cost of renting here in the Big Apple and the
    > suburbs. Often times a two or OMG three bedroom place is more than a
    > mortgage would be.

If rent is more than mortgage + tax + upkeep + other housing expenses,
owning is a good option. Just don't expect much of an appreciation in
the next years; depreciation is a real possibility. (Closing costs add
significantly to the equation above only, if the next move is within a
short time.)

Regards,

Peter

To Pe Ro

Smaug:
    > In other news, my wife is expecting a boy (we need help with names!) (...)

Double names are a good invention: the first is for the child not too
be embarassed, the second is for the free imagination of the parents.

Regards,

Peter

Smaug

Congrats to you too Rete!

I love in upstate NY, capital region. It feels that prices here for renting are comparable to paying a mortgage. We're moving into a nice area where the kids can play safely - and that's really important to us (and them!)

Money can't buy happiness, but we like this house and area, and it can sure help get us that

Smaug

Rete

I know that area well, Schenectady, Albany, Colonie, Lake George. Lovely area to live in (at least some of the places). Your rents aren't quite as high as here in the NYC area but for the wages earned you are up there.

One good time is that real property that you buy to live in is more than an investment. Its where your lives will be lived out for years to come. Added to that is the tax deductions you will receive when paying your income tax.

Go for it and enjoy it.

Rete

Rete

It appreciation the only reason to buy a home? Not everything is the almight dollar. By the time you have lived out your life in your home, your children grown and on to their own lives and you are ready to retire, your mortgage will be paid off, and whatever you sell the home for, be it more or less, than the initial investment and expenditures will still be less than the memories of the lives that have been lived in it.