Note: If you wouldn't say it to someone's face, don't say it here. Comments deleted on a whim.
I'd say stick with Blogger - there isn't any easier way to make posts and archive them. The design could use some spicing up though. I don't have any specific suggestions but a logo is definitely a good idea.
I'm honored to be the first commenter of the day. First, hats off to Howard, who I didn't know was RD from Batgirl.
Second...
I'm especially interested in hearing from those of you who bought your first home when you were young and single, because like me I assume you had almost no idea what you were getting into. Hopefully you can help me avoid any mistakes you made along the way.
AG, a newer townhouse doesn't likely compare to the 1909 home I bought in Uptown, but my biggest lessons was that I should have spent the $350 (in 1993) to hire an inspector. I'll never make that mistake again. Great house, lots wrong that the former tenants failed to declare.
Damn!
Please do not change the apperance of this site, I love the simplicity. Tone of the reasons that I read this blog everyday is because it is easy to read and not cluttered or overdone. Stick with what works, if the reigning MVP needs a slushy from Punto every day at the same time to stay on a role, why would you move away from a design that has brought you so much success?
its been awhile since ive posted my two cents on your postings, but i personally believe Alessandra Ambrosio needs to be given a shot at the title of OFGofAG.com. If you don't know of who i speak of, do oblige yourself and look her up. Shes got to be Victoria's Secret's numero uno fine piece of you know what.
I agree with sticking along the same format for your website. A picture or graphic here and there wouldn't hurt. But the simplicity is very refreshing to see. It's the opposite of ESPN's website and that is a huge plus; I can navigate while actually knowing what what I'm clicking on:)
On the housing front... I would recomend, if your budget allows, getting a house of your own. I am 24 years old, bought a lot and put a house on it about a year and a half ago. Living by myself is awesome (I like to think it's by choice). You may not have the same options where you live depending on house/property values. Down here in Marshall, prices are pretty reasonable. I can play my music as loud as I want and can come and go as I please without bothering anyone. In duplexes and condos you always have to consider the noise factor of people/music/movies and it's always nice to have your privacy. Mowing the lawn once a week isn't so bad and I don't have to clear the driveway often, especially with the winters we've had. It gives me a reason to get out of the house if I don't feel like doing anything and I feel better after doing it. If you have any questions or anything drop me a line, that's all I can think of for now.
I really think Rachel McAdams deserves a shot at Official Fantasy Girl. If you've never seen "The Notebook" check it out because she is radiant. She also seems like a classy woman who wouldn't have a sex tape (Or at least a better quality one!).
Maybe you could try switching the top of the page where your name is from blue to red, just to mix it up.
I like the simplicity, easy acess and easy reading of the site as it is -if you do change it, please dont clutter it up-as always, thanks for your site- it is a GREAT one
Aaron,
As a guy who bought a townhome as a single 25 year old, I believe I have the experience you are looking for.
I will tell you that the best thing to do is to find a realtor that you trust and one that is familiar with the areas you are looking at.
Do not be afraid to talk to quite a few people before you decide on one.
Also, in my experience, you can't beat new construction as far as townhomes go. There are an abundance of them available, and I have seen a number of them being price reduced as the market has slowed recently.
As far as noise concerns...in 3 years I have heard noise from my neighbors exactly one time (kid was bouncing a basketball against the wall). Noise may be more of a concern in an older property, but new TH's are built to suppress noise from the adjacent units.
Feel free to drop me an email if you have some specific questions I might be able to help out with.
Well, since you asked, I'd stick with the colour scheme you have. Black writing on white background is easiest for me to read. I very much appreciate the lack of busy, flashing, occasionally noisy ads/links on the right hand side of the page.
If I was to change one thing, it might be the title bar "AaronGleeman.com". Just a nicer font would make it look better, and perhaps a picture or two. But again, I like the simplicity of the page.
Stick with the site design as it is. I love the simplicity.
About the house ... assuming rotoworld isn't paying you a Joe Mauer-like salary, you'll be financing. Be very careful. There are a lot of unusual finance packages available (interest only, 100% financing, reverse amortization, all kinds of adjustable rates, etc.) If you think there is a reasonable chance you will be in the house for five years, you're best bet is a fixed rate loan. More expensive the first year or so, but a much safer bet going forward. It's like locking up Mauer for several years versus going year to year with Santana; the former is a much better long term financial decision.
Likewise, if you can afford it, don't take out a second mortgage. Have enough of a down payment to pay 10% or more up front. Better yet, pay 20% down if you possibly can and avoid PMI - a federally mandated scam.
As for the site - Keep It Simple Stupid - it's great as is.
As for the house - I bought a place one month out of college, sinlge family, free standing, built in 1941 -love it. It's a taste thing, but townhomes, to me, are characterless and antiseptic. Plus, they appreciate at a much lower annual rate. It might be cheaper to buy one now, but think about what you are going to get out of it when you sell it. There is an abundance of new construction townhomes in the TC, and that market will stay soft. Put as much dough down as you can, hire an inspector, and make sure that you buy in a location that you like. As DLF says, try to get the 20% down to avoid the PMI,...it's wasted money you'll never get back out of your house.
Aaron,
I published an article recently (How to Pick the Right Condo/Townhome)link below
http://tinyurl.com/ypzyed [behindthemortgage.com]
It is a very good "primer" on our condo market.
Metro Magazine also published an above average piece on the Twin Cities condo market, though it is not online. Email me offline for a (permission released) reprint if you haven't got a copy.
You are wading into a topic where even those with very limited experience will put themselves forth as experts, so consider any advice carefully.
Case in point: Commenter "dlf" who has some good thoughts in his first paragraph, but is off track with regard to Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI), which is not by any measure a "government mandated scam." A more apt characterization of PMI might be: A sometimes (depending on credit quality) necessary evil for those of us without the luxury of a large down payment.
Best of luck.
Like others, I appreciate the simplicity of the site--I'm here for the content, not for art. Please, keep the black text on white background--it's hard to read other formats for those of us who have problems with color vision.
As for buying a house...I'm looking into the market, too, so I appreciate the advice of other commenters!
I'll wholeheartedly agree with the advice above to get a good home inspector and to go with a "traditional" 30 year fixed rate mortgage (or a shorter term if you can afford it). Don't play games with your mortgage. One of the best things about a mortgage is that you will probably be strapped the first year or two, but the payment will never go up and your salary will. Your mortgage will take up less and less of your income each year.
I bought a single-family home in the Philadelphia suburbs with my fiance (now wife) at 23, so my situation differs from yours a little bit.
I also agree that if you can afford 20% down, do it to avoid PMI. But if you do have to pay PMI (as I did) you can pay extra money towards the principal of your loan to knock it out sooner - I got rid of mine in two years. Plus, starting in 2007 payments for PMI are tax-deductible just like mortgage insurance, so the PMI is really only costing you 75% of the total when you account for Federal tax savings (I'm a tax accountant).
From a personal standpoint, I enjoy the work that comes with my home, plus I lost 15 pounds in the first 6 months and I'm skinny to begin with. But townhomes are nice too, just know you'll pay for new construction. It's a matter of taste whether to buy a new home or an existing home.
One last thing - understand the value of paying extra with each payment. There are many calculators on the Internet that will show you how easy it is to take 5, 10, or 15 years off of the life of your mortgage.
Keep the website as is. Maybe a nice logo.
The only thing that slightly bugs me is this comment popup takes forever to fully load.
Keep the look simple.
I'd like to see the Q&A again.
Home advice: Just remember what everyone's motivation is. The seller's motivation is to sell the house. The realtor's motivation is for you to buy a house (the sooner, the better). Your motivation is to buy the "right" house. Take your time. There will be plenty of "deals" so don't worry about missing out on one.
Fantasy Girl: I think you need to set up some criteria: Good looks. Appears on the internet often. Not too trashy.
forgive me for saying so, but while i am a big fan of your baseball content, this fixation on picking an official fantasy girl is a little silly. just pick somebody already. or find a real girl.
-ryan
Aaron, last time you mentioned buying a home, Moss (and others) gave some good tips. You should go back and scan those.
Briefly, Moss' points are:
1) Do NOT pay PMI -- you can always avoid it by doing what they call an 80/10/10 or an 80/15/5. That means taking a small second mortgage, that you should be able to pay off quicker. But you avoid PMI, which is usually around $100/month that is money down the drain.
2) Ask around for a mortgage where the lender pays ALL closing costs, even if it means paying a half-point higher on your rate. They won't bring this up to you -- you'll have to ask. But the interest is deductible whereas most closing costs are not. Believe Moss, you'll come out better in the long run with a higher rate and no closing costs, UNLESS you plan to never move, never refinance, and let the mortgage live for its entire term.
If there is any chance of retiring it early, DON'T pay the closing costs out-of pocket!! This also frees up additional money for the down payment or other expenses.
Stick with your current design. AG.com is a single purpose site (your blog) and tweaking things will only involve a learning curve for your readers getting used to things again.
People come here for the content, not the cosmetics. If you wanted to add some static pages (ie a profile, contact page or whatnot) I think a simple link in the sidebar would suffice.
I kinda think of AG.com as the craigslist of baseball blogs.
I now live on St Paul's West Side (or as I call it, the area of hills) and have found it very rewarding-most Sunday mornings this summer were hot even at 8am, but have noticed climbing the hills and such near the bluffs are very good for your backside and thighs as far as toning them up.
We did a rent-to-own and then switched to a CD (to assist the equity) ..It seemed ok at first, but by all means...MAKE SURE YOU GET ALL THE PAPERWORK from the seller. We didn't and ended up losing $3000 in the deal for closing costs.
Here are some mighty fine ladies for the field of 64:
Alessandra Ambrosio (I second that jackattack)
Heidi Klum
Maggie Grace
Diane Kruger
Hannah Verboom
Evangeline Lilly
Scarlett Johannson
Kate Beckinsale
Rachel McAdams
Jennifer Aniston
and avoid PMI - a federally mandated scam
While I agree that you don't want to pay PMI if you don't have to, it is not exactly a scam. People forget that your mortgage is bundled with other mortgages, backed by Fannie or Freddie, and people invest their retirements in them. The risk of default on loans with less than 20% down is much, much higher... as such, Fannie and Freddie require those loans to purchase PMI to help insure their return. Annoying sure, but not a scam.
Echo chamber: don't change the design. It is fine, simple, easy to read.
On content - the dumbest part of your blog is this AG Fantasy Girl, like we care. I bet when you finally get some dates underway, you won't be so worried about it, so check out nerve.com and set something up.
Rachel McAdams!!! The Notebook is an amazing movie... Mean Girls is a horrible movie made worth watching by Ms. McAdams... and Lacey Chabert! Wedding Crashers was obviously funny, and she was terrific. Not sure if as many people have seen The Family Stone, but that's not a bad movie either. But yeah, she's got my vote!!
I didn't mean to be anonymous above.
Also, I agree - I like the site the way it is.
And yes, there are tons of nice condos, full of character in St Paul (I live in the Crocus Hill area and love it).
You're buying at a good time - the market has slowed down a little so it's unlikely you'll overpay, you don't have your own home to sell so you're a) an attractive buyer, but b) under no pressure to buy, etc.
Closed circuit to "A"...your opinion, while valid, is dumb. To paraphrase a certain radio guy "sports, sports, sports, sports...We don't need to talk sports ALL the time...and we're not going to change"
It's bad enough he had to get rid of "Waffle C's"...now we can't live his life vicariously through AG's fantasy life?
An adendum to the above post I made...
Heidi Klum is my top...Not many times she looks bad...
Now, if I can get my wife to green light "Project Runway" on DVD, I'll have a better life LOL
Paz Vega
Penelope Cruz
Kelly Monaco
Eva Mendes
Chely Wright
Vanessa Manillo
Eva Longoria
Vanessa Marcil
Meg Ryan
Lacey Chabert
Yamilla Diaz-Rahl
Natalie Portman
Charleze Theron
Carrie Underwood
Melina Kanakaredes (from CSI: NY)
Eliza Sidhka
Sofia Milos
Jessica Biel
Marisa Miller
Mallory Snyder
Keira Knightley
Elsa Benetez
Adriana Lima
Stacey Kiebler
Ashley Judd
Maria Sharpovia
Just to name a couple :)
Let me know if you want a couple more...
forums.superiorpics.com
Check this site out for some "evidence" on the OFG...NOT Dial-Up friendly however
Apparently it's just me, but I don't find your design to be all that simple. Your links are cluttered and I think the site meter is tacky and def out of place in the upper left hand corner, the most valuable piece of real estate on your page. A new "branded" title banner would give the page a cleaner look and putting adsense inbetween posts is a sensible way to increase your revenue without detracting from reader experience. I could go on, but again that's just me.
just to show i'm not all about negativity, it appears Jason Williams too has a blog, so i guess we no longer have to have "no idea" what it is that he does:
http://2007springtraining.blogsp....com/
index.html
-ryan
I work in a city planning department, and the biggest advice I can give you when looking at buying your own home is to trust almost nothing that your realtor tells you. Verify everything yourself. Remember that their first job and priority is the sale. Don't assume that they know everything- often times they don't, and when they don't know the answer, they will a) make one up, or b) tell you what you want to hear. From covenants and homeowners associations to city zoning regulations, if you have any questions or concerns, find out the answers for yourself!
On the home front:
"1) Do NOT pay PMI -- you can always avoid it by doing what they call an 80/10/10 or an 80/15/5. That means taking a small second mortgage, that you should be able to pay off quicker. But you avoid PMI, which is usually around $100/month that is money down the drain."
This is exactly right, secondary financing is generally the way to go to avoid paying PMI. Generally, the higher interest rate you pay on a purchase money 2nd is not higher than the cost of paying PMI.
"I'll wholeheartedly agree with the advice above to get a good home inspector and to go with a "traditional" 30 year fixed rate mortgage (or a shorter term if you can afford it)."
This is wrong. Do you really have any intention of spending more than a few years in this first home? If this is the house you plan on settling down on for the rest of your life, get a 30 year fixed. But generally assuming you hope to have a family/move up in home quality/relocate a 5 or 7 year ARM is the way to go. You will get a lower fixed rate for the first 5 or 7 years of the loan and when the rate becomes adjustable you will likely already have moved on somewhere else. You are paying extra to have that rate locked in for 30 years when you have no intention of being in the home after a few years.
OK, lets nip this mortgage discussion in the bud, shall we?
These blanket statements like "NEVER pay PMI" or "NEVER pay closing costs" are just silly, borderline misleading, and ignore at least two key variables. (To use a baseball analogy - it is a little like looking at a players numbers without considering the position, ballpark, or era - it tells a story, but not the whole story.)
Whether or not it makes sense to put X amount down, pay PMI, closing costs or anything else depends on two major (and a few other minor, which I won't get into here) factors:
1. How long you will own the home/hold the mortgage.
2. How well that home appreciates during the time that you own it.
Of course, those are two items you cannot predict absolutely (but we can make some reasonable assumptions that might make the answer a little clearer.) At the end of the day, you can never know which option will be objectively the "best" (depending on how we define it)except in hindsight.
i particularly enjoyed this, from J. Williams' most recent blog post:
"Apparently, some people in the front office “misread” one of my recent stories and went to Terry and told him I called him a “failure” for only locking up one of the three players in the middle of the batting order (Mauer, Cuddyer, Morneau) to multiyear contracts this winter. That's just not true. I went back and checked the story. I have the utmost respect for Terry. He is honest, trustworthy and a man of integrity, and I know Twins fans appreciate what he’s done for the organization and community."
-ryan
I'm with those who encourage scrapping the fantasy girl junk. I have a feeling that in a few years, you are going to look back on this aspect of an otherwise quality blog and be pretty embarassed.
I've been working all morning and have a conference call coming up in about a half hour, but let me try to hit a bunch of stuff, rapid fire ...
On the housing stuff ... to clarify a little bit, since that seems to be an issue: I have enough money saved up for a good-sized down payment, I plan to stay there for quite a while, and I'm looking to buy a townhouse, not a condo. This is not a short-term home, in other words.
On the Fantasy Girl stuff ... I find the "stop doing this, no one cares and it makes you look stupid" angle to be sort of silly. First, it's obvious that plenty of people "care." I get as many e-mails about Elisha Cuthbert as I do about Joe Mauer, and as you can see from today's comments section, it's a topic lots of my readers enjoy discussing.
I realize that there's also a segment of the readership that is turned off by it--which I hinted to in today's entry--but that doesn't mean everyone else agrees with them. To act like me having a little fun with the topic a couple times a month is some kind of absurd infatuation ... well, I don't buy it.
On the site's look ... I agree that a logo would be a lot better than "AaronGleeman.com." The problem is that I have no ability to design such a logo. I do have the ability to type "AaronGleeman.com" into my template, which is why that's the current heading.
And, just generally speaking ... Thanks for all the (mostly) intelligent words of advice and suggestions. I really do appreciate it and hope it will continue throughout the day. I'll try to check back in a little later.
have you watched any espn hoops games this year? Give Erin Andrews a shot! Kate Hudson would be up on the list as well.
And Deal or No Deal Girls, cases 4, 9,10,11 or 26 are sweet. You work for the same network, work on that!
If you are not a do-it-yourselfer, Condo/Townhouse living is for you.
Went from Townhouse to single family home with addition of huge expenditures in time and money to upkeep. Loved townhouse living, and reccomend it to anyone who wants to spend less time working on their home.
As far as financing goes. You should meet with a mortgage broker who will shoot you straight. Contrary to the scare stories above, it is really not a terribly difficult or dangerous process.
On the buyer's side, you hold all of the cards. Having a real estate agent costs you nothing, (the seller pays a split commission). However, there are two things to look for in an agent - (1) Knowledge of the particular market you are looking in; (2) some one who will not try to talk you into a property or whitewash the negatives of a property. You have to remember that that the more you pay for a house, the more your agent makes - a perverse incentive system. That's a little like paying Rick Anderson more if Silva gives up more homeruns. That is why you need to trust that someone is going to go to bat for you despite their negative incentives to do so. We have rewarded agents based upon how much they save off asking price make up difference.
Inspectors are like jacks of all trades and masters of none. I suggest spending a little more to hire a plumber, roof guy, HVAC, and general contractor individually for expertise. Inspectors are generally cursory in their inspections and they miss things experts won't.
Don't buy a one-bedroom condo, even if you're pretty sure you don't need any extra space. One-bedrooms are for retired widows. A lot can happen pretty quickly (marriage, kid, etc); Not that I know from experience or anything. Also, make sure to find a mortgage person who will explain what you need explained. I talked to a few who didn't explain which programs were available and other details. I found one who explained how each program worked, and what all the bullshit fees were for.
Regarding your site, I like it. Personally, I don't like the fantasy girl-stuff, but it's not my website, it's yours. Write about whatever you want.
On the townhome:
1. Go to a bank or three, and tell them you are interested in being "pre-approved" for a home. They will do that and tell you "Mr. Gleeman, you are approved up to X". This gives you a max and it allows you to tell the seller on your offer that you are 100% serious and ready to buy.
2. Get a buyer's agent. It's free (to you), and you can pick one out on any criteria you want (leggy, single gal, hilarious guy you like to be around, etc.). They get half the commission, but they are working for you. When we bought out first house (a townhouse in Woodbury), it was in the early days of the internet, and in a hot market. We never would have had a chance w/o our fine agent. Yes, I would and will recommend him, if you wish. He also sold that townhome and handled bad news they found on the inspection with a cool and calm hand ($2K off the price? Ha!! I got a guy who'll build a new deck for $800, we'll pay half.), and made us a ton of cash.
3. This is a perfect time to be a buyer in no hurry. With the help of your agent, you can take a look for homes on the market for well over the average time frame, take a look, and make a lowball offer. You should tell your agent you intend to do this, no good agent will have a problem with it. This is especially good if you are more open to where in the Cities you want to live.
4. Go to some open houses, so you can tell your agent just what you want, for the most part. Even though all homes are online now, there is still a week or two delay from the MLS list to realtor.com and other sites.
Any questions, shoot me an e-mail.
I have one suggestion for the website. At the top, where it says AaronGleeman.com you should make that link back to the homepage. It would make it easier to navigate when looking through old entries.
Christina Aguilera Maxim photos should get an at large bid for your tournament.
There is a lot of good advice in this thread on housing, but I would just add one thing: wait.
It's always difficult to predict the way that the housing market will go, but almost all the signs point to the market not being at the bottom right now. The housing starts are way down, the existing sales prices have stagnated. All those people who took out an adjustable rate mortgage to finance a house that they couldn't really afford are starting to get into trouble. The vacancy rate for owner occupied homes (i.e. not on the rental market) is really high. I have heard this is really true for the condo market. So I would say you should wait 6 months to 1 year, keep saving money for a down payment (that will help with all the PMI, 2nd mortgage issues), and let the prices continue to come down.
Ivan
I like your site design. I like black on white, and "clean" design. A logo is a good idea, but other changes (right hand bar, etc.) would lose some of that feel.
Aaron,
I love your blog, but I too am in the "stop the fantasy girl" stuff. My roomate, and fellow gleemanite, summed it up best when he said "I don't need to know who aaron gleeman j**** off to at night."
1 week until first spring training game!!!
AJS is correct that there are a couple of assumptions. But assumptions always have to be made.
Moss is of the opinion that it is safer to assume that you either WON'T be in the house for the full term of the mortgage OR that you WILL have an opportunity to refinance sometime before the end of the term. With those assumptions, then there is no reason to pay closing costs when the lender will pay them for you (and Moss is NOT talking about having them rolled into the principal, but actually having the lender pay the costs).
Another bit of advice is DON'T spend as much as the bank will tell you that you can. It's better to spend less, pay it down quicker (or pay off the 2nd mortgage that you take to avoid PMI), and have a little cash for savings, furnishing, etc.
I agree that the title banner on the top of the page needs revision. Even sticking with "AaronGleeman.com" but written/drawn in a more stylish way would be an improvement. I also agree about the visit counter in the left corner -- move it.
I am a big fan of your in-post format: clean, simple, and full of content. I also really like how you use images: sparingly, center-justified, and with no borders.
I'm here for the content. Don't care what the site looks like, it's very easy to navigate and find what I need. It ain't broke. Don't fix it.
Good luck in your home purchase quest!
an impostor!!!
I join the "keep it simple" chorus. Content trumps clutter.
I think the Twins should send Ponson to bring back Ortiz, then hope the authorities keep Ponson.
Jim H.
If the property you're considering has a homeowner's association fee (many townhomes do) to cover costs like maintenance and yard care, make sure you can afford and are willing to tolerate increases in that fee. A couple of years ago, I looked at some townhomes that were in my price range until I found out the monthly association fee was $165. That would have been 1/4 my total mortage payment, and, unlike mortage payments, never gets paid off. You'll pay that every month until you leave or die, and it will only get more expensive over time.
Ultimately, I ended up buying a regular old house rather than a townhome, almost exclusively because of the association fees. For me, they were too high for the value I was receiving. Your mileage may vary, but make sure you look at those costs - not only the current monthly fees but the 3-5 year trend, as well, so you know how often they increase.
Good luck - buying a home is a lot of work. I wouldn't want to do it again.
Don't change the design. It's a real treat to come to a web site and find what you want right away, no BS.
As for buying a home, you can sometimes get a good deal through sherriff's sale, if you guys have those in Minnesota (I live in Pa). Basically, the previous owner didn't pay the taxes so the court seized the home and will sell it to you for the amount of the unpaid taxes.
Also, Amanda Peet might help fill out the fantasy girl field. She's the one who gets naked in the whole nine yards.
I have to disagree with Ben above. I've used both Blogger, WordPress and TypePad. In terms of reliability, ease of use and expandability, WordPress wins hands down. It offers flexible design, great back-end support and an open-source community that can help quickly with almost any problem. If you're going to switch, take a good hard look at WordPress.
Aaron,
First of all, your site is absolutely tremendous. It has become the first website I go to everyday after my gmail account. You really do provide a service for all twins fans who want worthwhile information about their favorite team.
Concerning the website, I like the simplicity of the place. If you wanted to put an ad somewhere on the website that was not blinking or produced sound, I wouldn't blame you for wanting to make money.
As far as the house hunt goes, I am only 22 and rent an apartment but I have a couple of thoughts for you that I have been following while searching for a possible house.
1. Check out Zillow.com. It is a tremendous website that provides estimations of almost every metropolitan home price in the nation. It should be viewed the same way as Wikipedia, it is a great first stop for reference but it should be independently verified. Here is a great story on the website. http://money.cnn.com/magazines/f...00262/
index.htm
2. I echo a previous readers comment and continue holding out until you find a house you are truly in love with. HSBC recently lost $10 billion dollars due to faulty home loans and a number of the ARM loans that accounted for a larger percentage of overall loans as the housing market steamed up are set to reset this year. All of this means further losses should be expected which will only flood the market with additional supply which will drive down prices. You are in a position of strength right now.
3. Get a fixed rate mortgage. The short term benefits of ARM loans are not worth the long term consequences.
OFGofAG, Two Words: Rachel Bilson.
Don't change the layout, Gleeman. It's a much-needed calm place in the clutter of the internet.
Hey Aaron,
A counterpoint to your logo thought...
Your name, basically, is your logo. Any sort of jazzed up, reflectionized, glittery, GLEEMAN!!!! -type logo isn't going to express what's already in the header.
People know and trust Aaron Gleeman because you've built your reputation on your name. Your logo IS your name. A fancy new logo isn't going to make more people love your writing. It might even have the opposite effect. And if you look at the way blogs, new media, Web2.0 whatever the F you wanna call it is going, simplicity is, in many cases, analogous to credibility.
Keep the name, concentrate on the content. That's why people are here.
=than=
And since I saw some uncertainty in previous comments, I asked my father (a real estate agent) about commissions etc... So, for what it's worth:
The commission amount (typically a % of the actual selling price) is established between the Brokerage and the Seller on the Listing Agreement.
Real estate brokers have little control over the final selling price. The Seller determines the acceptable selling price.
Brokerages in MN are regulated by the Department of Commerce. We all play be the same rules.
Townhomes are cheaper, but their prices are more volatile than single family homes. My sister bought one with an ARM and then when the bottom dropped out of the Twin Cities real estate market, she was forced to sell at a loss. 30 year fixed would have been nice. Another problem she experienced was that she bought new construction in a development with many other identical units, so that when she had to sell, prospective buyers had many vacant units to choose over hers.
I'm in the "keep the website simple" camp. A logo wounldn't be too bad.
And I love that there is a debate on the OFGofAG.com.
House/townhome wise, make sure to get an inspection, know what kind of association fees you'll be paying, and if there is a parking garage, make sure it's in good shape. (look for any leaky walls. If you see any water inside the garage (or house), do not buy it. There's plenty of inventory out there...)
I would say please keep the site simple. DEFINITELY don't make it to bright or anything. I kind of like that this blog is still simple since it's your roots. It isn't too cluttered like a couple other of the bigger Twins bloggers, and it's easy to just read the articles. I'd say keep it. Usually, a bright or poorly executed page with too much stuff is much more on an eyesore than something cut down and simple like this is.
What is this? How can fans of Aaron Gleeman possibly say that The Notebook is a great movie? There's nothing, NOTHING that is manly about the Notebook!
Nix on th' Tix.
ARM's could cause you a lot of worry and concern, far too much for me. 30 year fixed are near historical lows, get one and don't gamble. You can always refinance if rates fall. Many people who got them a while back worry about what the rate will be every single day.
Be careful buying right now. There's a good chance housing prices will be moving downward for a few years. Get a good deal to hedge against that.
http://housingpanic.blogspot.com/
Aaron,
I have no good advice on the housing, so here it is. --
When my brother & his wife got their place a couple years ago, they found a local village that had an ordinance that any first-time house or condo buys would be given a loan of X dollars ($15K?) which they would not have to pay back provided they stayed at the address for the next five years. It was done to ensure the local citizenry cared about the quality of schools & would support higher property taxes as a result.
My point - check with your real estate agent to see if any towns in the Twin Cities area have any offers for first time house/condo buyers that you can take advantage of.
Just to follow up, you may be surprised how cheap it is to hire out some design work be it logo or a whole template, esp if you're willing to give a student a chance. Send a couple emails to local design schools, throw up a craigslist ad, or even hold a contest and promote it here.
And I think the fantasy girl stuff is appropriate to a sports site (If SI does it, so can you) and even endearing as long as you're linking to pictures of girls that at least have a bikini on. That "home video" thing was a sheesh moment for me.
Minka Kelly's got to be in the field.
I'm a huge fan of Lacey Chabert. But if she dropped to the 5-12 or 6-11 game I wouldn't be too upset.
If you want to move out, then by all means, good luck getting a good deal. I would recommend buying something lower than your budget, so you have money for furniture, TV's and other accessories(refridgerator). But get something bigger than you need and rent out a room. Renters pay more than owners do, and it will greatly ease the pressure of the mortgage payment on your budget. Plus, a house is an investment, but until you make any money on it, it's a liability. If you can get 1 or 2 roomates to pay your mortgage for you, then you'll be living the high life. Plus it will allow you to save more, or put it in a 401k, which will help you retire earlier (or at least work for fun, not to pay bills). If you don't have to move out, then by all means stay. There are a lot of bills that come with a house. You are responsible for replacing the toilet if it breaks, not mom and not the landlord(if you decide to rent). Just a couple of other ideas.
And about the website, it's always been great and easy to use, but I would look into hiring someone that can design something to get more out of your advertisements. Like an earlier post said, the hit counter is in very valuable real estate on your site. Moving to the bottom wouldn't kill anyone. I don't think anyone logs on to check how many have hit your page since yesterday.
You do great work, and I'm proud to be able to say that I was here since the hit counter was under 50,000. Keep up the good work, I'm sure it'll be fine no matter which way you go.
Aaron,
One more thing on the housing stuff.
Check out the first time homebuyer programs. MHFA and FHA programs can get benefits to first time buyers.
Through FHA I got an interest rate that was a full 0.5% less than the standard rates at the time.
Good luck and take your time to find the right place!
I think it's funny that you would have to apologize in advance to anybody who just might be offended by something as tame as Aaron Gleeman's "Fantasy Girl." The PC Police must rule the world (especially when all these women mentioned are in the business of selling their sex appeal like you-know-whats lol).
Also, I think it's funny that some people mix up fame with attractiveness (Jennifer Aniston? That chick from the office?). Although it's obvious that your taste runs to blue-eyed blonde and buxom, give me Sofia Vegara any day.
The Site: Move the stat tracker down or make it smaller, something. I think you could use a new logo, something still simple but that seems to have had a little more time put into it. Maybe hold a competition for logo's, have people send them in and then we can all take a look and vote. The biggest thing I would suggest is having some sort of archiving file system, where you can label old posts to fit in a category. Then you can browse thru old material based on what you are looking for. if anything it could be what you place on the right side in a simple thin sidebar.
The Girl: There are only two, Jennifer Connelly and Monica Bellucci. Take your pick.
I can't believe you would look beyond Adriana Lima for The Girl. It's an insult to her.
Site design? I agree - keep it simple. I personally like reading text that is a tad larger, with more white space in-between lines, and a slightly off-white background, as opposed to stark white. Playing with the line-height CSS attribute can help you with the latter. (An example is Success from the Nest, though I think the text is a little too big and the line height too large for your Gleeman-length entries.)
Also, you may want to tie into one of the social networking sites. Perhaps using Technorati tags or something? I think adding numerous Digg-like badges on the bottom of a page is kind of tacky, but there has to be one or two good social networking sites that are appropriate for you to tie into.
For new folks, I think running a dynamic "top ten Gleeman postings" sidebar entry would be good. It would be based on pageviews of your posts and should be generated in real time. Similarly, I'd like to see sidebar links to your other writing work.
And I agree, move the counter down if you are going to continue displaying it at all. Replace it with a nice photo and a short bio with a link to a longer bio. Oh, and, yes, make the header clickable to aarongleeman.com - that's an expected behavior of web sites.
Housing commments: A house inspector saved me $1,000 by noticing that the fuse box was too close to the water pipes. The previous owners dropped the price for the repair.
Also, make sure that what you were told was staying in the house (fridge, washer, dryer etc..) is listed on the agreement. I've heard horror stories of people taking everything out of the house and replacing rods, curtains, fixtures, appliances with k-mapart crap after the sale. Make sure to get makes models and even serial numbers off items that are to stay in the house.
The previous owners of my house pulled the expensive thermostat out and replaced it with a $3.99 one, and shorted out the wiring by pulling on it. It caused the furnace to kick in, in July a month before I moved in! They ended up paying for the repair and a new expensive thermostat. Lucky for them the house didn't burn down.
Anyone going to the Chuck Klosterman thing at the Fitzgerald tomorrow night?
Aaron - one suggestion for addition to the site... you should keep some links in the left nav bar to your 5 most reason articles on Roto and NBCSports. Would help us lazy people keep up on the content and would drive more of your readers to those sites, which is a win-win, I'd think.
Also, I think more reader Q&A is a good idea.
Thanks!
-BigTicketFan
I really enjoyed the Q & A session you had, that was really interesting, you should do that more often!
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