Well I just finished the closing. I am feeling a bit sick to my stomach. The process was not bad but damn, everyone gets their hands in the pie when it comes to real estate. Things I learned about buying a house:

1. Get a real estate agent who knows the area you want to buy in. I was undecided about a couple of areas and went with a recommendation. She was not bad but I wish she had known the area I bought in a bit better.
2. If you get the seller to pay closing costs then be conservative in your estimates or you are just giving money to the seller. My seller made an extra $300+ because my agent overestimated. Take 10% off what your agent estimates closing costs will be and be prepared to cover that on closing.

If you try and do it own your own good luck. I have no idea how you would buy or sell on your own when it comes to getting the forms, how to file, etc. If someone out there has done it on there own, please leave a comment on your experiences.

Via

Buying vs Renting - Now that I am about to close on a house I am reading all sorts of articles about how buying is not necessarily better than renting. WTF? Anyway the title link is a great tool to find your break even point.

Shelfari - I joined up. Web 2.0 meets book lovers. Kind of a fun little site.

I’ll mention any post I can that has Muscle Shoals in the title, especially when it comes from one of my favorite MP3 blogs. Muscle Shoals Style

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Presidential Candidate Selector - Find the candidates who closest match your views. Via. Here are my results:

1. Theoretical Ideal Candidate (100%)
2. Dennis Kucinich (77%)
3. Barack Obama (73%)
4. Alan Augustson (68%)
5. Joseph Biden (67%)
6. Al Gore (66%)
7. Wesley Clark (66%)
8. Christopher Dodd (65%)
9. John Edwards (65%)
10. Hillary Clinton (64%)
11. Michael Bloomberg (60%)
12. Bill Richardson (56%)
13. Mike Gravel (54%)
14. Ron Paul (46%)
15. Elaine Brown (38%)
16. Kent McManigal (37%)
17. Rudolph Giuliani (30%)
18. John McCain (28%)
19. Mike Huckabee (26%)
20. Mitt Romney (25%)
21. Tommy Thompson (21%)
22. Chuck Hagel (17%)
23. Tom Tancredo (16%)
24. Fred Thompson (13%)
25. Newt Gingrich (13%)
26. Jim Gilmore (11%)
27. Sam Brownback (10%)
28. Duncan Hunter (7%)