Jason's Blog

Ok, this is a combination “Link of the Day”/commentary on a MAJOR issue going through my head right now. First, let me start of with some background before I talk about what’s going on in my head directly. I’ve lived in Columbia, MO for over 14 years now. I went to Mizzou starting in 1997, and graduated in 2003. I’ve worked at my current job full-time for almost 7 years now. For those who have known me, I have been thinking about moving to St. Louis for a while. This is due to a lot of friends being over there, more things to do, and overall a more “active” environment.

As of right now, the plans to leave Columbia have pretty well come to an end. I’m looking now at settling down into Columbia, at least for the foreseeable future. It’s possible I could leave at some point in the future (who knows where life will take me, and Laura and I are definite considerations there), but at least for the next period of time, I plan on staying here. With that said, I’ve started to look at buying a house, and that is a MAJOR step, in many ways for me. A house is a big commitment, a substantial debt, as well as a major phase in life.

SO, that’s the big announcement and consideration right now. What house to buy? Where at? Am I really sure I’m not going nuts on this? It’s kinda scary to not have the flexibility to pick up and leave should I have ever wanted to do so. With all of that said, I have been looking for a while now, for a house. I’m going for a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house, with some sort of yard and garage. Thankfully, I’ve been using Realtor.com with great success. I’m now in the process of applying for (well, not sure applying is the best word, perhaps estimating?) loans, to see what monthly payments will be, as well as how much I can afford. Right now, I’d really like to find a place for under $120,000. That’s a LOT of money, and more than I’d prefer to spend, but I don’t think I’ll be able to find much in Columbia for less than that.

SO, that’s the big thing going on in my life right now. And, it’s a VERY big thing for me. And, VERY scary. But, hopefully it will be VERY good too