This is my first post and creation of a blog, ever! I hope any readers out there enjoy it. I travel more often than I care to think and over the past few years my friends often encourage me to start a travel blog. I will use this to not only offer up interesting tidbits of my travels, but also the next huge adventure in my ever crazy thing I call my life.
Currently, I am preparing to move not once, but twice in the next few months. One of the many benefits of being in the Army. This week I move back home to my parent's house (never an easy task in itself) and then on to California. The move to California will happen regardless of whether I find a place to live or not and at the moment trying to find a house to purchase in the Bay area is proving more difficult than finding a needle in a haystack. Actually at the moment I think finding a needle would be easier.
What really encouraged me and motivated me in even starting this blog is the one I've been reading this evening. 227 North Street is a wonderful blog of the renovation of a beautiful home in Northern California. One of the homes I am looking at is just slightly older than the house they are restoring and I thought why not? I will document here the trials and tribulations of my home search and regardless of the house I settle on, I am sure it will involve some type of renovation. (I am picky in that, I have specific wants in flooring and the kitchen) If I should purchase the 1857 home that was once a tavern, then I am sure I will face not quite the experience of the wonderful gentlemen who bought 227 North Street, but it will be close.
Please feel free to leave your comments and suggestions here as I go along. I don't know exactly what will follow on here as it will change like the seasons do.
So where to begin, first I should begin with the patience that my realtor, her partner, and my mortgage broker possess as I look for the first house I will buy on my own. The first house I ever bought was a complete renovation that I my ex-husband is still finishing. (Not to scare anyone away, the renovation is not the reason for the divorce and we are still amicable unlike some divorced couples) We bought the house from an estate and at closing there were if I remember correctly well over 7 individuals there that were required to sign the paperwork. The estate was kind enough to let us start the remodeling as soon as we had loan approval, which was a blessing, because there is no way I was moving into that house until the kitchen and the 1960s shag carpets and the 1970's quilted carpet was replaced. The lucky thing for us was the beautiful hardwood floors under those horrid carpets and we were able to get a really good deal on the cabinets since one of the hardware/lumber stores in town was going out of business.
I digress - I was thanking my realtors and mortgage broker for their patience. Now if we could just find sellers willing to accept a VA loan and not run away from the unknown oh and the crazy people in the Bay area that are bidding on homes like a crack addict needing their next fix. Never in my life have I seen people willing to pay 20% over asking and in some cases 30% over the appraised value of a home. Did they miss the news over the past few years and see how that has worked out for others? or am I the crazy one for not wanting to pay more than a house is worth, let alone blindly by not putting any contingency in the offer? If I am going to make one of if not the biggest purchase of my life, you better believe I am not going to buy the "Money Pit"! No way no how!
With the help of two of my children we have narrowed down the list of homes I am interested in even exploring to spend my hard earned money on for the next thirty years. The next few weeks while my realtor goes and views them for me and sends me emails with lots of pictures and summaries of the homes I hope to make a decision and hope someone will accept my offer. Yes, more than likely, against everything my mother has adamantly said to me, I may very well end up purchasing a home without actually seeing it before I make an offer on it. I shall let you all know how well that works for me.
In the meantime, my search continues as I examine the main possibilities and hope that I will find "the one".
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