Touch the Puppet Head
I’m looking around at houses which it turns out I can’t buy unless I have a W2 job. That’s one thing I wish I’d known before I moved to California. Sorry freelance life. Till we meet again.
But I still need a house so that I can have chickens. And I need chickens so I can feel like my life has meaning. You can see where this is going. I was chatting with Matt Cope the other day about house hunting and he told me:
Houses are like marriage. Don’t settle. The commitment is long, the price can be high. But if you love it (him) you will love every minute of it. And if you don’t the opposite happens.
Funny comparison to give to a girl who said goodbye to her twenties and is still single. I’m kind of the queen of not settling. I’m quite good at not committing; my problem is rarely that I don’t look before I leap. It’s that I look too long.
The beauty part about the internet is it makes it even easier to look. I can search a real estate site and quickly get the MLS or address of a property. Plug it into google, zoom in on the satellite map view, and a house that looked interesting is often removed from the list in the time it takes to see the actual size of the backyard.
Same story with my hunt for a W2 job.
Dear “fast growing retail company”:
You may be looking for an “energetic, proactive Web and Marketing Director who can make a positive impact,” but I just googled you and you don’t even have a website, and your average customer rating on city search is one star. I’m not going to pretend that anything I’d do for your marketing could save you from your lousy fulfillment and customer service. Good luck with that.
I appreciate being able to avoid rat holes by not committing to the “wrong” one, but I wonder if my reluctance to leap is getting me any farther. In my current frame of mind, I can see passing on life in its entirety: “The idea of choices and experience sounds good, but I looked into it and I’m not convinced it’s for me. I’m going to search for something that won’t involve dental work, msn adcenter, or Rod Stewart.”
There’s a lot of goodness in life and experiences that are missed if we insist on turning everything into a Dealbreakers Game, which I often do. And I realize that in the choices I’m trying to make right now, the stakes may be too high, but I wonder if it’s time to do the dumb things I gotta do. Touch the puppet head. And run with the consequences.
August 26th, 2009 at 7:04 pm
Amy, there is a way to qualify for loans as an independent consultant, contractor or freelancer. If you operate through a Portable Employer of Record, you remain independent with all the perks that come with that — business expenses, keeping your profits, setting your own rates — but your income is reported on a normal W-2 paystub.
My company (MBO Partners) is one option (compare and find out what works for you) and we often hear that once people come on board, they can qualify for refi or a new mortgage like magic. As a 1099 sometimes you have to show 2 years of income statements to qualify, but it seems the instant you have a W-2 paystub you can get approved (assuming your income level is appropriate for the loan).
As an aside, there are also group benefit programs like medical and dental that may help you out also — these are always optional, a la carte.
I wish you the best and couldn’t help mentioning this for you and your readers!
Good luck,
Liz Greene
September 13th, 2009 at 9:52 am
i loved this post. you are such a great writer. and yes, sometimes i think you just have to touch the puppet head. good luck with that.