Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Looked at a house today...

...Over on the other side of the valley, nestled up against the "M" mountain. The house itself is no big thing - built in 1984, no bigger than the one we have right now - but its sitting on 2/3 of an acre, with a great view towards the West, and access to the mountain right out of the back yard. It also has plenty of driveway space, so we could have our trailer on the property, and as well as the attached 2 car garage, there is a separate air-conditioned 2+ car garage in the back of the property. I'm really digging that. It's significantly pricier than what we're currently occupying, however...
So. We're giving it some thought. The market's pretty much in the toilet right now, and it looks like this property has been out there for a while (the date stamp on the photos on the realtor's website show June), so I don't think we have to jump right away... besides, we'd have to sell our current domicile, and I'm really not looking forward to all the hassle that goes with that.
We were lucky in that we bought in 1999, right before the housing market went completely insane here in the Southland, so even in these depressed times I think we can set a fairly low price and still walk away with equity, but still... still a hassle.
We'll have to see... see how much we can qualify for, see how desperate the seller is to get out (he wants to get his retirement in Havasu started already), see how much we can sell our place for, see how much BS we have to put up with to make this all work...

**Forgot to mention...
I was talking with the homeowner, who was present when we went to look at the house. He seemed like a real nice older guy, had a lot of toys (two Harleys, a Corvette, an off-road Jeep and a couple of old hot rods) and we got to talking about common interests. I was developing what I thought to be a good rapport with the guy, right up until the moment Number One Son bounced his mini football off the back of the poor dude's head. Yeah. He's gonna be real flexible on the price now... Gotta love kids, man.

3 comments:

phlegmfatale said...

Sounds like a sweet house, actually. You may really low-ball them - having been on the market that long, they may be eager to take your offer after all. Big yard and that garage all sound like they'd be great for you and the kids. Good luck!

NotClauswitz said...

Yeh, good luck!

phlegmfatale said...

Well, you never know - he's got a Corvette and dirtbikes? He probably is not one to take himself TOO seriously, and I'm sure your adorable kid did (or will) win his forgiveness. Be bold! You want to buy a house, and he wants to sell it. You have the luxury of an uncertain market in your favor.