Have you ever seen them all in the same place? Please let me know.

The dispute on the low appraisal went through, adding about $6000, which mean it was still $7500 short of the agreed upon price. The seller had already knocked about $2000 of the list price I saw (which was over $10k under what he originally listed at 6 months earlier) for me, and was paying all of my closing costs.

So, the seller had to decide if he was willing to take that big of a hit. His realtor said he would rescind his commission to make the sale. It helped that the realtor was the seller’s cousin. However, I had to bring $1500 more to the closing. But I was getting $7500 off our agreed upon price.

I agreed.

Now I’m a homeowner.

I met a neighbor later on closing day. He seemed to think that I was renting. He must have thought the seller gave up. I accidentally said that the process had been a roller coaster but stopped myself short of explaining the details. I’m sure he doesn’t want to hear that he may be under water.

I can’t help but look to the day, probably less than 10 years from now, when I’ll sell the place. Will I make a profit because I got such a deal? Will the neighborhood go sour? Will I have stuck thousands of dollars into it?

So far the only money I’ve stuck into the house itself is a programmable thermostat that I’ve yet to install. I’m not even going to paint (yet, anyway). I’m still acquiring adult things at 32 — I’m not married or have a kid, so I’ve lived off used & crappy kitchen supplies, free couches, and cheap sheets for long enough. That’s where my money will be going for now — the stuff I can take with me to the next place.

The last 10 years in computer technology, especially software, have brought on several innovations that help users deal with computers. This is due to the amazing User Experiences revolution taking place in tech companies around the world. Companies like Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft are keen on user testing and feedback, but it all comes back to design.

Is the financial industry, or more to the point, the real estate industry, really much different from software? Wouldn’t the real estate industry benefit from a user experience consultancy?

I offer a resounding yes.

I’ve been in the process of purchasing my first home for about a month now, and I’ve been burned. After signing sheets and sheets of paper multiple times, after copies of all my finances have been strewn around tables, after quibbling over an offer — now it may fall through because the lender’s (Edina Realty / Wells Fargo, I believe, though it’s hard to tell) appraiser that I paid for has given it a low appraisal. About $16,000 lower than my loan amount. This means the seller would have to agree to sell at this super low price. Obviously he’s hesitant to do this.

This snag has come up after the following events have already occurred:

• loan formalization: I’m making up that phrase, but I don’t know what else to call that meeting with my loan officer where I sign even more papers about the terms of the loan. He tells me about the appraisal that I have to pay for (~$400) and takes my credit card, because that is the preferred method.
• home inspection: I paid $240 to have my (potential) future home inspected to ensure that no major issues would impede the closing and final sale. None were found. My realtor said that the inspection must be done 3 days after the accepted offer.
• assigned a closer: Much to my surprise at the time, my realtor has little to do with the closing. I was appointed a closer, who sent me a bunch of cryptic papers about title insurance and home insurance, and a form I needed to fill out inquiring any past sins. Why is my closer asking me, after the offer is accepted, after my loan is approved, about whether I’m a criminal? I was told this form is crucial to fill out and send in before the closing. There are methods in which to look this stuff up. Easy methods.
• title business: This includes signing up for insurance and trying to find out if the seller has title insurance. I went around in circles with my closer and realtor about who finds out for me whether the seller has title insurance (he didn’t, which means I have to pay more now). And WTF is the point of title insurance anyway, especially if your title is held by the lending agency? Total rip-off.

On top of this, I am an organized person and thusly have completed several tasks. I scheduled a mover ($50 deposit gone if I have to cancel), I bought cleaning supplies and random stuff for the new place ($50), I have my insurance agent drawing up a new policy for me, and worst of all, I included my new address and the story of my new home in my Christmas letter. I will be so ashamed to send out an additional note explaining that I didn’t get the house.

The appraisal was filed on December 23rd and my offer was accepted about 20 days earlier. I was notified by my realtor (who forwarded me my mortgage guy’s email with the PDF) and the printed file in the mail on December 30th. My realtor said a week is normal for the distribution of the appraisal. Yet, the inspection had to be done within three days. Why the disparate timing?

The appraisal in question was done by someone apparently known for low appraisals. His opinion is now attached to that property for the next six months. I have conflicting information on whether we can do another appraisal. Winning a dispute is rare. Appraisals are totally subjective things, yet one person’s opinion tarnishes a property for six months. Why would the lender (the appraiser’s employer) want to do this to themselves?

Why doesn’t the real estate and mortgage industry realize that if things like this can happen (and my realtor said it’s become fairly common in this market), something is dreadfully wrong with the process. If this deal falls through, think of all the wasted hours Edina Realty has put into this. Three people did a bunch of work for nothing, not to mention me, my insurance agent, and movers.

This could have been prevented with a more streamlined, smarter process. I realize that they just want to make money, but putting the goodies (like the actual offer and loan acceptance) ahead of the finer details that are out of the buyer’s control creates unnecessary work for all. Also, appraisals should be an average, not one person’s opinion, or they should be connected to the assessed value of the home.

Get it together, mortgage and real estate industries, or suffer another failure as catastrophic as the one you are recovering from now. You need a User Experience Designer to help with your processes and forms. I am open for business.

I’ve always been an album kind of gal. But, as times change so must I. It even seems like artists, including “indie” ones, aren’t bothering with the album as an art form any longer. The exceptions may be The Flaming Lips’s Embryonic and Julian Casablancas’s Phrazes for the Young, both of which contain strict rules on sound and instrumentation. That’s good and bad. Albums can be consistent in more than just sound…there’s many ways for an album to mesh together into a coherent piece of work. Just look at two more great albums this year, Dark Was the Night and Dark Night of the Soul (no they aren’t the same thing or even connected). These collections of various artists all sound like they belong together, even though they don’t sound the same. They just feel the same.

So, with that said, I welcome you to my favorite tracks of 2009, in some kind of order. (Most links will open the Google audio player in a new tab.)

1. Another John Doe – thenewno2: Actually this came out in 2008 or something on MySpace or in France or something, but it wasn’t officially released until this year.
2. Home – Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes: Duets rule.
3. Say Please – Monsters of Folk: How do you write a perfect poprock song? This is the answer.
4. You Never Know – Wilco: Channeling George Harrison never sounded better.
5. The Strangers – St. Vincent: Annie Clark is aware of the porn under the mattress trick.
6. Convinced of the Hex – Flaming Lips: I love all the details here. Listen for the ding that appears at just the right time. Gives me chills.
7. Two Weeks – Grizzly Bear: Enough to make Brian Wilson either sink into another deep depression, or write his next Pet Sounds.
8. Train Song – Ben Gibbard & Feist: I don’t really care for either of these people normally, but this song stuck with me. It sounds so old, I wish it had static for texture.
9. I’ll Fight – Wilco: Dying for someone you love sure is catchy.
10. Just War – Gruff Rhys: I’ve no idea who this guy is, but it’s from that Dangermouse/Sparklehorse/David Lynch project. I love that mid-60s Brit pop sound.
11. Sabali – Amadou & Mariam: Blind African pop never sounded so good.
12. Shrangi-La – M. Ward: One of the simpler tunes on Hold Time, but it enters my mind at the weirdest times.
13. Left and Right in the Dark – Julian Casablancas: Wake up wake up wake up wake up wake UP!!!
14. Dear God – Monsters of Folk: What a surprising opening from a folk band.
15. The Whole Damn Thing – Those Darlins: I wish I’d written that.
16. Here to Fall – Yo la Tengo: YLT does a string quartet!
17. Revenge – Flaming Lips: Well said, Wayne.
18. Wild One – Those Darlins: Channeling Wanda Jackson never sounded so…possible.
19. 11th Dimension – Julian Casablancas: Lost Bee Gees song, or leading single from the former Strokes lead singer?
20. Wishes and Stars – Harper Simon: This kid’s got talent. Where on earth did he get it?

Kristin Wiig

Why not take a ride in my…hot air balloon?

There Will Be Blood

All of Radiohead’s output

Buying stuff

I spent way too much money this decade, which tied in nicely to making money for the first time in my life. However, I over spent, got into deepish credit card debt, but paid it all off within two years of making that goal. Now I’m buying a house, and I’m pretty damn proud of myself.

Wii

For some reason, the CSS on this WordPress Theme gets screwed up if I embed any more videos, so I’ll just list my faves.

• Grand Slam Tennis
• Beatles Rock Band (duh)
• Guitar Hero World Tour
• Wii Fit
• EA Active
• Mario Kart

iMac

Lots of great shows

The Guthrie

Friends

I’ve gained many, and they are irreplaceable. Thank you for making this decade my favorite so far!

1. Sufjan Stevens – Illinois: I have never listened to this album and not gotten the chills at some point. In fact, I regularly cry during any given song during the first half. Despite its quiet nature, this album became a driving companion on many trips to Wisconsin, bringing this Minnesota girl just a little closer to Illinois. Check out Jacksonville, a song forever on my mix CDs for friends. That banjo!!
2. Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot: I wasted probably a year not liking this album. I must have somehow missed Kamera.
3. The White Stripes – White Blood Cells: Absolutely perfect album from the 1960s or 1970s that somehow landed in the 2000s. Jack White’s songwriting could not be better here. The simple, arresting power of these songs thrills me every time I listen. And what was the best homage to Citizen Kane this decade? The Union Forever.
4. The Strokes – Is This It: This is the album I grew up to. Sitting alone in my studio apartment in St. Paul, a country girl in the big city chatting on MSN all night, trying to play Someday on my acoustic guitar. I had downloaded all the tracks individually through Napster or something, and they’re mostly different from the American album. Don’t worry Julian, Fab, etc. – I did eventually buy the real version.
5. Badly Drawn Boy – Hour of Bewilderbeast: Let the world not forget this incredible debut album! He never came close to replicating this masterpiece, but Damon Gough will always have a place near and dear to my heart. Camping Next to Water helped me transition from college to real life.
6. The Shins – Chutes Too Narrow: I don’t know if the songs on this album were simply overplayed, or if they don’t stand the test of time, but this is not an album I still listen to. Yet, it was one of those rare albums I heard once and gasped at its cleverness. I couldn’t get enough. I couldn’t wait for particular bits of songs, like the swirling organ on Mine’s Not a High Horse. It sounded different every time I heard it, and I love that.
7. Midlake – The Trials of Van Occupanther: I submitted this album to a music club I was in, and it was a huge smash. It started my fascination with what I’ve dubbed “pastoral rock”…not necessarily folk rock, but songs with an earthy feel, almost always played by men with beards. My term never seemed to take off, and some simply call it beard rock, but I think my description is more accurate, especially based on the video for Roscoe which I swear I haven’t seen until this posting.
8. Radiohead – Kid A: Even though In Rainbows is fresher in my mind, I had to go with Kid A here just for the memories. I wasn’t happier in college until I couldn’t get the drone of Idioteque out of my head while I walked home from working at the library at 4:00 am one night a week.
9. The National – Boxer: Matt Berninger, the baritone of The National, is a fucking fantastic songwriter. He is like a bastard son of Paul Simon and Kurt Cobain. He writes of personal but ordinary things like Simon, while still speaking for a generation like Kurt. Slow Show came at the right time as I entered 30th year.
10. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes: I don’t think I can add any more praise than what I’ve already written.
11. Brian Wilson – SMiLE: I’ve been interested in rock music history for as long as I can remember. I’ve always wanted to know how we got to where we are today. Despite having started this album in 1967, occasionally scraping a few songs from the pile for various Beach Boys albums, Brian Wilson finally got to the point of releasing SMiLE. Its weird, arresting tracks sprint through American history while making it. Listen to the old west, mad musical and lyrical genius style: Cabin Essence.
12. Jenny Lewis – Rabbit Fur Coat: I’ve never been a New Pornographers fan, but for some reason, probably thanks to Bob Boilen’s great taste, I became totally obsessed with this album. Jenny’s voice with the Watson Twins is nothing short of angelic, while maintaining that true country & western nastiness. Her lyrics really grabbed me: And it’s a surefire bet I’m gonna die / So I’m taking up praying on Sunday nights /And it’s not that I believe in your almight / But I might as well as insurance or bail. This album also opened my ears to female singers, who I had avoided since Mariah Carey’s sophomore album.
13. M. Ward – Post-War: What I find interesting about Matt Ward is that he verges on the lame. His lyrics are always teetering on uninteresting comments on love or God, yet somehow it always works. Maybe it’s his outstanding guitar skills or raspy voice that make up for it. I can’t help but love a man who loves recordings from before he was born, and it’s nice to see his work display that love so consistently. Every song from Post-War is now a classic in my fakebook, but nothing is more epically classic than To Go Home.

Check back in the coming weeks for my favorites of 2009, and probably some other random lists. Because that’s what I do well…I make lists.

• Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot: The story of how this album was released puts this on any Historically Important album list.
• Sigur Ros – Agaetis Byrjun: Who would have ever predicted that music like this would sell out theaters across the US?
• Sufjan Stevens – Illinois: This and Michigan highlight the folk/old timey trend in the best music of the 21st century so far.
• White Stripes – White Blood Cells: Showed the world the brilliant talent of Jack White.
• The Arcade Fire – Funeral: One of the first big blog buzz bands, making it historically important.
• The Strokes – Is This It: Remember when rock was fresh and new again at the turn of the century? This album led the way.
• Brian Wilson – Smile: At last!
• OutKast – Speakerboxxx/The Love Below: I know I’m supposed to pick the other one, but that one didn’t have “Hey Ya”.