Housing Hunt Update

As you may recall from this post, I got my real estate broker's license back in February, mainly so that we could save on the commission when we buy a place. The house buying/selling season began in earnest in mid March or so, with very few listings during the winter months. Since then, we've been actively looking for a place to purchase. However, while we've usually seen a couple of new listings each week that merit a look, there have been very few places that we've seriously considered putting offers on, and no places that we've really loved. Despite that, we have actually put my broker's license to use and written a couple of offers.

First, in early April, we saw this single family home.



We really liked the fact it had a sun/family room that would have been perfect for Ruby as a playroom. There was also a fairly large yard (by SF standards) with a hot tub. In addition, the kitchen was nicely renovated a few years back. On the downside, the bedrooms and bathrooms were on the smaller side. We knew that it would likely sell quickly and for at least as much as the asking price of 1.399M. While we weren't willing (or able) to bid anywhere close to asking, we decided to put in offer anyways and see what happened. Well, what happened was that they received a total of 9 offers (!!!), and of course, ours (at 1.3M) was by far the lowest. In fact, the "winner" of the house paid significantly over the asking (almost 12%). We knew by the level of interest at the open houses that this place would be popular, but final result definitely surprised us from a quantitative prospective. I guess there's few enough properties in the city in decent neighborhoods, especially single family homes, that someone is always willing to (over)pay.

The second purchase offer we wrote was just in the last week. We first looked at this 3bd/2ba condo more than a month ago.



We thought it was a bit small and definitely overpriced, but really liked the modern layout, amazing kitchen with views, and ample closet space. There was also a shared yard and patio which had been recently renovated by the sellers, which would have worked well for BBQs and for Ruby to run around and play in (however, she's not even close to standing on the own yet, much less running). We decided at that time that we would more seriously consider smaller places like this once we get closer to the end of the season, as we really need to move this year. A month, and many open houses later, we still hadn't found any other places we seriously liked so we decided to look at this condo one more time and see if the sellers were willing to negotiate. This time, at the open house, the listing agent was there by himself, with not another soul in sight, and he made it clear that the sellers were ready to deal.

Shuyi and I debated a little bit about if and how much we should offer. Finally, we ended up offering only 1M for the place, which is significantly under the asking of 1.149M, but a very fair price for a condo of that size (~640/sqft), as well as when considering what the seller paid in 2007, at pretty much the peak of the market in the city (the national peak was about a year earlier). While we would have been okay with paying a little bit more, our main concern was that since we are only about a third of the way into the season, we'd have a pretty good chance of finding a place that would be better if we wait. The only way prevent buyer's remorse would be to get a very good deal. We didn't think there was much chance the seller would take our offer. However, since they weren't getting any other interested buyers, we figured they would definitely counteroffer; the only question was the number in the counteroffer. The sellers ended up only offering 49k off list, at the high end of the range for reasonable counteroffers. The listing agent suggested we counter the counter, but based on the amount, there was no way we could have arrived at a workable number for both parties. Therefore, we ended negotiations right then and there, and the sellers ended up dropping the list price immediately to 1.099 ($1000 under their counteroffer to us!).

So, while our housing search has been mostly frustrating so far, my brokers license may end up proving its usefulness in a more unexpected way. My parents recently decided that they'd like to eventually retire in the bay area, to be close to us and more importantly, Ruby and other future grandkids. Since prices have leveled out and interest rates are very low, they want to buy a house now (and rent it out in the interim) rather than wait until they are actually ready to retire and move. Places in SF or any close suburb are still out of their price range, but the exurbs have gotten much cheaper. Houses in places like Vallejo, where they have decided to buy, have dropped some 65-70% from the peak. Almost every single sale is either a REO (bank-owned foreclosure), or short-sale. Just yesterday, I helped them put in an offer on a 4bd/3ba bank-owned house that's about 2800sf on a 7500sf lot, listed for only $359,900. Why can't places in the city be that cheap! If it goes through, my broker's license will end up making me (or rather, saving my parents) over $11k in commission, for only a few hours of my time. Hmm, perhaps I'm in the wrong business.

Ruby's first ear lowering

As Ruby is fast approaching her first birthday (!!!) we decided that it was time for her to get her little hairs cut. Ruby was born with a good amount of hair.



However, it was always a bit sparse in parts and gave her the appearance of male-pattern baldness. This lended itself to a limited number of hairstyles in the first few months, including the mohawk



and the comb-over.



In the past few months, Ruby's little hairs have gotten quite long, and they were often getting into her eyes and tickling her ears.



We decided it was time to give them a trim. Ruby was none too pleased.



Nooo ... not my hairs!!!

Fortunately, the salon had a little TV that provided the necessary distraction.



Can't ... resist ... cartoons ...

The stylist trimmed Ruby's hairs in a jiffy.



And before we knew it, she was all done!



Now that Ruby's all well-groomed, she's ready to go out and find a job.

Mother's Day

Last Sunday was Shuyi's first Mother's Day as a mommy. While a major cause for celebration, it's difficult to make any grandiose plans with an 11-month-old in tow, so we kept it fairly low key. We first had a leisurely brunch at Home, a restaurant in the Castro. We then went to an open house in Noe Valley (the place wasn't very nice, although it was priced pretty low for the size). Finally, I cooked(!) pan-seared Halibut over asparagus for dinner, helped put Ruby to bed. We watched some Sunday night TV programming before heading to bed pretty early ourselves. So all in all, it was a fairly typical weekend day for us, except for the part about me cooking of course :)

I also made this video to commemorate Shuyi as a mother. I really look forwards to the years ahead, when Ruby can be involved in showing her love and admiration for her most wonderful mommy and making Mother's day even more special.

First words

On Wednesday May 12th at 7:45pm, Ruby said "I love you!" Ruby and I were engaging in our usual nighttime banter of me saying, "I loooove YOU" and Ruby responding in jibber jabber, but this time she mumbled back, "I wuv you." Of course there were no other witnesses and I haven't been able to get her to say it again, but this isn't science. Just because it's not reproducible doesn't mean it isn't true!

Ped Onc

Ever since Ruby's surgery, she has been going in for follow-up visits with both her surgeon as well as a pediatric oncologist at UCSF. As much as we would have liked to not ever think about it again once her incision healed, the pathology report on the teratoma that was resected indicated that there was a "micro-focus" of immature cells. Basically a teratoma is a type of tumor that contains cells, tissues, or sometimes organs that are normally developed but are often quite different from the surrounding tissue. For example, Ruby's teratoma was located on the base of her tailbone, but it contained cells normally found in the brain such as neurons and glial cells. If all of the cells within the teratoma are mature, or normally differentiated, then the teratoma is classified as benign, and no follow-up is needed. In Ruby's case, a small cluster of cells on one of the tissue sections appeared immature. Although Ruby's surgeon was confident that the entire tumor was resected, and the region of immature cells was extremely small, the recommendation was that we receive follow-up care to ensure there was no regrowth.

As part of her follow-up care, Ruby paid monthly visits to a pediatric oncologist at UCSF. The main purpose of these visits was to run labs checking for alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels in her blood. AFP levels are highest in fetuses, and they should decrease over time after birth. Elevated AFP levels after birth could be indicative of tumor growth, so the tests were meant to ensure that Ruby's AFP levels were on a downward trend after the surgery.

The results of the first blood test following surgery showed a dramatic reduction in AFP, from ~800 ng/mL to ~200 ng/mL. However, the following month, the numbers went up slightly to ~280. Ruby's doctor assured us that this could be caused by stochastic fluctuations in protein production, and as long as we once again saw a decrease the following month, there was nothing to worry about. At the time of her third blood test, Ruby was about 5 months old. A couple days after the test, I received a call from her doctor while I was at work. I was well aware at that point that any special attention from attending doctors was bad news. He told me that Ruby's AFP levels had increased again, this time to ~390, and that he recommended that she undergo another MRI.

At the time of Ruby's first MRI, I had assured myself that we would not have to go through the experience again. Since the procedure is done under general anesthesia, we couldn't give her any milk for at least 8 hours before the procedure. This was not a problem when she was 2 weeks old as she was still so sleepy that she never woke up on her own anyways, but I could not imagine denying a 5 month old food for 8 hours. Another thought that I had denied the possibility of was that she might actually need another surgery. I could also not imagine going through another recovery period, especially with her being much more alert and aware as a 5 month old than as a 1 month old.

After taking a moment to fight off the initial wave of nausea, I asked the doctor if it would be possible to first do an ultrasound and another blood test, as these were far less invasive, before going ahead with the MRI. He agreed, but said that if her AFP levels did not decrease on the next blood test, that they would definitely need to perform the MRI.

I think I stumbled through the following week in a daze, not really hearing what people were saying to me and not being able to hold any other thoughts in my head. In an unhappy coincidence, this also happened to be the same period of time that I was under a huge deadline at lab for my paper resubmission. (I ended up giving up on resubmitting by the deadline. Fortunately, the science gods took pity on me, and the paper was accepted anyways.)

The ultrasound was performed to look for signs of tumor regrowth and also to check for abnormalities of the liver (another possible cause of increased AFP). We waited at the doctor's office for over two hours for the results. After harrassing multiple nurses and receptionists, we were told that the ultrasound was negative.

As this was during the week of Thanksgiving, the results from the blood test would not be available until the following Monday. Even though we were on vacation in Hawaii by then, I compulsively checked my cell phone that entire day. This time nobody called when they said they would. It turns out neglect from medical professionals is always good sign, and when we finally tracked down the Pediatric Oncology nurse, she told us that Ruby's AFP had gone down.

Since that time, our follow-up visits at Ped. Onc. have been spaced out a bit more. Each time, Ruby's AFP levels continued to fall. At this most recent visit just last week, her AFP was down to 20 ng/mL.

This time last year, the last place I thought that I would be spending my time is in the waiting room of the Pediatric Oncology clinic. I used to think of the families with children in these clinics as Those Families, as if there was some intangible divide that separated Them from those of Us who have healthy children. Sitting in the Ped. Onc. waiting room, I realized that there is no divide. We are all the same, all hoping for the best and trying to protect our kids from the worst. That one child receives a more favorable test result than another does not make one family less fortunate than the other. Our good fortune is that we get to know and be parents to our kids in the first place.

If you're happy and you know it