The Biggest Decision of My Life

The time has come. Since my last entry I got the approval from the seller's bank for the short sale. They wanted $20,000 more than my offer and we negotiated to $15,000 more. It's still a great deal for the location and amenities. It's actually a steal since another unit in the building sold in April for $35,000 more than what I am going to pay. Tomorrow is the day I have to send back all of the signed loan documents to start the process. The closing costs are way more than anticipated (about $2000 additional). I am not sure what I want to do given the fact that I still don't have a job in San Diego.

I am in a very difficult situation right now since I received some awful news about the 8 month contract job I was hoping to get. I got the call from the recruiter that I was not selected and I was totally devastated. I interviewed for this job on Monday down in San Diego (I took the day off). I thought it went really well. They even had more than one position open, so my chances of getting the position were very good. It just wasn't meant to be. It's not a good feeling to have such high hopes and then in an instant, have them shot down. It would have been a perfect situation. I could have started the job after getting the approval on the condo.

The only other hope I have left is the other 10 month contract position in Carlsbad. I interviewed over the phone last Thursday (1 week ago). The recruitment firm still hasn't received any feedback. That's not a good sign. I should know tomorrow if they have selected me. I was told there were multiple positions open, but I can't be sure. The recruitment firm doesn't seem to know what's going on. Although the pay wouldn't be as much, it's relatively competitive with what I earn now. I could at least afford to live.

Tomorrow I have a pretty big decision to make. Option 1: I sign the loan documents, send them over and open escrow. Once the condo closes in 3 weeks or so, I can give my notice and leave my job. It's a huge risk to take but I know I will be able to find work a lot easier if I actually had time to search. I simply cannot do the job searching I want to do with the limited time I have in the evenings. I had done that for the last 4 months. It's exhausting. It's very limiting. I don't have the freedom to talk with recruiters and go on interviews. I will have to find a roommate in San Diego. It will be easier to find one if I am down there. With this option I will have to pay my entire mortgage plus health insurance, food, gas, etc, etc. I can afford to do this for some time. It won't be ideal but I could consider it an investment in myself.

Option 2: I just pull out of the condo and give my 2 weeks notice and be done with Orange County completely and this agonizing job. I can rent a room from my friend Justin or Linda temporarily until I figure out a plan. I can intensely search for new job opportunities without the pressure of a full-time job and mortgage payment. I'll be able to move down to San Diego by the end of the month and basically be free.  I won't have to shell out the 20 percent down payment and all the closing costs. This seems to be the most logical and financially responsible decision. If all I have to worry about is paying health insurance, minimal rent and food and gas. This doesn't seem so bad. I could live off savings for quite a while. The drawbacks would be that I don't take advantage of an incredible real estate investment. It's such an historic time for real estate. The price for this place is well below market value and I can stand to make a lot of money on this property in the long term. 6-7 years down the line I could very well sell it for $100,000 more than it's current value.

Option 3 (not my favorite): I stay at my job. I send in the loan documents. I continue to search for jobs. I rent the part-time room from that woman in Irvine for an additional $300 on top of the $1330 I will pay for my mortgage. I can try to find a roommate in San Diego so at least part of my mortgage is paid. This doesn't sound appealing at all, even temporarily.

I'm not sure what I will end up doing. I am going to sleep on it, see if I hear anything about that Carlsbad job in the morning and then decide by noon what I should do. Stay tuned.

Almost There

Changes are coming very soon. I just have to hold on and holding on is the hardest part. As of May 31 my lease ends in Orange County. I am not renewing for obvious reasons. My other 2 roommates are also moving one. Luckily when I came down to San Diego this weekend, I talked to my good friend Justin and I will be able to temporarily rent out the loft area in his place. I am so relieved I have a place to live in San Diego before my condo closes. As for the condo itself, I talked with the woman at the escrow company who has been working with the negotiators from the seller's banks. In a short sale the typical process is my real estate agency will have a rep from the escrow company get my offer approved from the negotiators who work for the banks. When I talked to the escrow agent she said they are very close to getting the final approval from the banks. Since the seller has two loans, we already have the approval from the second loan. There is an approval pending from the first loan. They just are waiting on that final approval and some paperwork. So it will happen soon. I hope.

I've been traveling a lot for work these past 3 weeks. I was in Boca Raton in the middle of April (3 nights). Then the following Sunday I went to Cleveland for another trade show (4 nights). Then last week I was in Houston (4 nights). While I was in Houston I had a phone interview for a position at a company in San Diego. I was kind of nervous and I had to do this interview in the exhibit hall lobby. I just told the sales guys that I needed to take a call. It's so difficult to hide. That's the one drawback of looking for a job while employed since I have to lie and sneak around all the time.

This phone interview did not go well unfortunately. The woman I spoke to was this cut throat, I-don't-have-the-time-of-day type of woman. I simply don't mesh well with that type of person. I knew going into the interview that she was this big wig media buying "veteran". The position was for an online media buyer for a life insurance broker. I knew that my marketing background in business-to-business (B2B) technology wasn't a  great match for this position, but I honestly thought that I had a chance due to my experience managing email marketing campaigns. That was essentially the job, just buying placements for their email campaigns and reporting on that data. She seemed to be hung up on the fact that I didn't have enough experience in the high volume business-to-consumer (B2C) market. Making matters worse, she didn't even have my resume in front of her. She never got a clear picture of who I was and with only 20 minutes to explain my entire career and experience, it simply was not enough time. That put me at an extreme disadvantage from the beginning. The HR person apparently didn't forward the resume to her so I ended up paying the price. I can't believe that she would even take my interview without having any information about me other than the application I faxed it.

After I explained my qualifications and past experience, she cut me off during the 2 minutes time period I had left to ask questions. I was caught off guard and just never recovered. I was trying to clarify something listed on the job description. I explained that to her after she rambled on. It seems that since this is a newly created position, they really don't know what they want for the person in this position. So in the end, this position is not a match. I haven't been rejected yet but I am assuming this is the case since I have not heard from the recruiter.

The good news is that I have 2 phone interviews lined up this week for contract assignments in San Diego. One is 8 months long (but pays A LOT more than what I get paid now). The other one is a little lower than what I get paid now. Both positions would be good opportunities just to make some money as I transition back to San Diego. I realize that they are not exactly what I want to do, but the main source of my unhappiness is living in OC. So with that out of the picture I know I will feel better.

I can't wait to walk into my boss's office and just tell him I am resigning. I will finally feel free. I almost did it last week. I wanted to so bad.  I just have to have patience right now and hold on. That is something I have very little of these days. Everything is so up in the air. I just want some stability. It will come. I just have to wait. Good things come to those who wait.