Boots in the Oven

Our first Flickr video!

Zipline!
Originally uploaded by Boots in the Oven

I've been cleaning laundering dusting polishing in preparation for the arrival of GQ and Mama Bear. It's the first time they've seen this condo at all, and now that we've put in a bid on it, I'm nervous that they're going to spot the seventyleven things wrong with it - they're old hands at the real estate game.

Yup, I said that we put a bid in on the condo! We had an inspector come take a look at it today, and he assured me that the three-year-old construction is unlikely to a) explode or b) crumble around our ears, so I'm feeling pretty fly. Further updates as things start to happen!

Please enjoy this really unflattering video of me having a terrific time on a zipline last month during my birthday celebration. It takes me to a happy place and time, when I wasn't worried about escrow and closing costs and down payments, and before I knew that we were possible accessories to real estate fraud.

051808, 139/366: Pace Bend

051808, 139/366: Pace Bend, originally uploaded by Boots in the Oven.

Yeah, I'm still doing the 366! Lots of foreclosure-related pictures lately.

Sometimes, you just have to get out of town with a giant Lebanese picnic and some wine so you can jump off some rocks into the Pedernales. At least, if you're Husbear you do.

We spent most of Saturday sleeping - deservedly, at least for the Mr. - and then Sunday we drove out to Pace Bend because Husbear's been wanting to go for weeks. I think he felt better afterwards.

In housing news, we've been in talks with a mortgage lender and will likely be putting in a bid on this place tomorrow. Anybody want to lend us 20 grand or so towards a down payment? C'mon, we're adorable.

The inspector comes by Thursday, at which point I'm sure he'll tell us that the place is one stiff wind away from disintegration.

In happier news, thanks to to Marianna over at the lovely Swirl and Scramble for awarding us the Arte y Pico award!  We definitely appreciate the honor - thanks for thinking of our blog!

Update from ForeclosureTown

Well, I'm not typing from atop a stack of our belongings in the middle of the parking lot, and all in all my adrenal glands are more under control than they were yesterday at 2, so basically it's a safe assumption that everything's OK.

The basic details of how this happened are pretty boring unless you're fascinated by real estate malfeasance.  Suffice it to say that there was some sort of shady underhanded deal that our Austin owner's Realtor might lose his license over.  The Austin "owner" of the condo we've been renting since October isn't on any officially filed paperwork - apparently, he was sending checks to this guy in Cali who was supposed to be using them to pay off the mortgage.

At this juncture, I think we can assume that wasn't happening.

This sleazy Realtor's reaction when he found out that our place was under foreclosure was to sputter repeatedly that the owner in California is a professional athlete.  Sure, those guys are known for their adherence to the moral high ground.

The upshot of the story is that we're seriously considering putting in a bid on this place.  There are some ducks that need to be lined up, but we're starting to feel more confident that we can make this happen.  Assuming the Austin owner and his guy don't find out about it first - the "owner" is on vacation and doesn't get back until Monday.  I sure am happy we blog fairly anonymously... you never know when you might need to hide yourself from underhanded realtors!

Oh F@$#@@#$#$@@#$'n $#@#.

A very nicely coiffed lady came to our door about an hour ago to inform us that our condo has been foreclosed on. 

#@#$#!

And that the person we've been paying rent to since October is apparently not the owner of the property, like we were told.

Double @#$#@@#$#!

I've been spending the time since then reading up on Austin tenant law and trying to track down both the guy we thought owns the place  (who has moved without giving us an address we're supposed to send our rent to) and the guy who apparently actually does, who lives somewhere out in southern Cali.

Further wrinkles just in... it seems like the sale from Cali guy to Austin guy maybe never went through, for some reason, though all parties thought it did?  Oh how FUN it is, being in the middle of this!

Regardless, worst-case we have thirty days from written notice to vacate, which we don't have yet.

Holy poot.  We've turned into a statistic!

Wink leaves us confused.

Since we're in birthday season here, a few weeks ago we visited a restaurant we'd been wanting to try for some time.  It's called Wink, and it's in a small strip mall just northwest of downtown Austin.

The experience was really good tempered with emphatically not good. 

Prosecco by Villa Sandi, for instance, good.  One thing Wink does have entirely under control is their very nicely chosen wine list.

Having to wait a half-hour past our 9:00 reservation?  Well, we didn't really care that much, but I figure it's worth mentioning for those people that get really Teutonic about the timing of their evening out.

Their wine bar looked very nice, and the bar snacks going by were intriguing, but unfortunately the place was full.  We sat with our backs to the camping display at Whole Earth Provisions and watched cars come and go.