Homeward bound

Miss D. and I are on our way homeward.  We're overnighting in Arkansas again, breaking the 14-hour run into two halves.

We hope to hear by mid-week whether our offer has been accepted on a house in Texas.  Things are looking positive, according to our realtor, but there are still several i's to be dotted and t's to be crossed, including having some documents sent by our bank in Tennessee to one in Texas.  Paperwork, paperwork . . . oy!

If this goes through, I'm going to have a hectically busy two to three months.  I'm trying to finish the fifth volume of the Maxwell Saga in time to publish it before Christmas.  I know many of you are waiting for it - you keep e-mailing me, asking when it'll come out! - but I lost a lot of time this year thanks (or, rather, no thanks) to my problems with kidney stones.  I just can't get my creative juices flowing when I'm writhing in agony on my bed, or doped up on pain-killers.  I'm doing my best . . . but I'll have to do even better if I want to help Miss D. pack and sort our belongings in time to move.  Also, this is going to clean out our savings and then some - so if I want to be able to buy food in February, I'd better get another book out for sale before then!  I'm also working on my planned heroic fantasy novel, although that will have to go on the back burner for a while due to pressure of other events.

Some of you have asked why, when I've recommended against buying property in the current state of the market, we're buying a house now.  The reason is simple.  We're getting a three-bedroom home in very nice condition for a bargain price (the owners have reduced their asking price twice in the last thirty days, and will cover most of the closing costs as well - they really, really need to sell right away, which is very much to our advantage as buyers).  In general, housing prices in what we hope will be our new location are not only very reasonable - far below replacement value, in fact - but they can't fall much lower, because there's a natural bottom to any market.

By buying in such an area, at such an advantageous price, we're effectively insuring ourselves against the possibility of a major loss of value.  Furthermore, a lower-priced home means we can afford to pay about as much each month for our mortgage as we're currently paying in rent;  but this way we'll own our home in fifteen years, or even sooner if we increase our payments when we can afford to do so.  We'll also (hopefully) be able to save more money for a longer-term plan:  spending part of each summer in Alaska, the state where I met and courted Miss D., and which we both love.

If all goes well, we'll close on the property just after the New Year.  We'll take one small shipment of goods when we go down for the signing, but the rest will have to wait until later in January.  We'll have a friend supervise some painting and minor alterations (a new door here, some repairs there, that sort of thing), and then drive down in a rented truck with our household possessions towards the end of that month.

Thanks again to all of you who've offered prayers for our traveling safety.  So far, so good.  Please keep them coming!

Peter