From: Just Leaf (cache-dtc-ac08.proxy.aol.com -205.188.116.137)
Subject: Greetings from the home shopping network!...
Date: October 21, 2006 at 4:55 pm PST
Everyday is a new adventure with this search for the perfect home!
My friend who renovates houses looked at the house by the park--the one
that needs major work. He said that he would buy it if he were me, but
it would take a bunch of money for renovations, and I'd have to have a
lot of work done to the place right away. (He said something about
coughing it up all at once like a giant hairball.) He suggested that I
wrap it into the mortgage. That was a tempting idea, so me and my
realtor checked in with my loan officer about that. It would send my
interest rates through the roof, and would make the house essentially
unaffordable. It won't work. That one is out of the running now.
That's ok.
I started to feel very strongly about the condo--the older building
with four units. Hardwood floors, high ceilings, a dining room, a
newly remodeled kitchen. Little work to be done there that I could
see. I could just move in. The downsides: no yard or garden of my
own. And the neighborhood is not great. It's on a busy street with a
variety of homes--some very nice--some not so nice. It feels more like
an apartment than a home of my own. (I remind myself that it's just a
starter home.) But, this option was looking very good to me after the
other faded. So we were talking about making an offer on it early next
week.
I am wanting to keep my options open, so I saw two other properties
today. One is a land trust. A brand new condo. Very nice "luxurious"
features in the unit--made affordable to lower income folks through
various grants. Not much equity possible, but still a pretty sweet
deal. However, talking to the listing agent, we could see that it
wouldn't be an option due to some of my financing restrictions. Oh,
well. That's ok. It felt a little institutional to me anyway.
Mo000000000000000000000ving on...
Then, I returned to a home that I had looked at a couple weeks ago when
I first started seeing stuff. It's quite adorable. One side of a
bungalow. With a bit of a yard and a one car garage out back. The
rooms are fairly small, but there's an eat in kitchen and a basement.
It's very cute. It has character. It has a yard:-) It needs a little
work. It needs some electrical upgrade and some minor plumbing work
done. The furnace could be repaired-- or replaced eventually. It
might sound like a lot, but it all looks very tame in comparison to the
house by the park. Still, it will require some cashola. It's in a
very sweet neighborhood on a quiet street. Did I mention that it has a
yard? Perhaps that green space would be compensation for the fact that
it's a little smaller than the 4-unit condo. But it's a house--or at
least half a house. I could do more with it, and there's definitely
the opportunity to build more equity there than at the condo.
Wow, all of this new terminology! I'm learning so much.
So now I'm going to take the next couple days to consider these
options. I need to determine if I can possibly handle the renovations
on the bungalow--and if it would be worth it to me to go that route.
If I realize that it's not for me, then I can just go for the condo.
And who knows what else might pop up in the meantime.
:-)
Just
