<p>Thanks for all the good wishes. I will let you know what the realtors say on Tuesday. in answer to the question a few posts back, we are in Arizona. and hugs to you, Veryhappy…sounds like a very stressful time.</p>
<p>Good luck, marigold.</p>
<p>As an alternative the home rental market is pretty solid in many areas that do not have massive foreclosures, etc. We upped our rent 10% and once the tree damage was fixed got a new tenant who is paying the entire year’s rent in advance. Sold her large home for a nice profit and does not want to worry about monthly payments as she runs her own business. Seems odd to me too but we’ll take it. She had good credit and income.</p>
<p>Well, our plan is to buy something for half what we’re selling our current house for, or less, put some money in the new one to make it Perfect, and invest the rest.</p>
<p>Went with the realtor today and saw four crappy houses. I mean, really bad. Yikes. This might be harder than I thought it would be.</p>
<p>VH - you may want to consider a nice condo instead of a house. If you are considering a house, look for one with very low maintenance.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t mind a condo, but DH is adamantly opposed. He wants to be an individual and thinks that if you live in a condo, you lose your individuality. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>My dad is like that. We are in our apartment. The drain wasn’t working as well as I liked, so I asked the super to take care of it. It was done when I got home tonight (no honey to do list). The super is going to replace our kitchen’s base board, install a new fan and paint our front door next week when we take D2 to college.</p>
<p>^^^ Sounds divine.</p>
<p>VH…are there any places in your neck of the woods where the condos are actually free standing houses? Up here on the “north” there are several really nice places…individual houses but you don’t own the land, or the maintenance of it. No lawn mowing, snow removal, etc. you DO own the house. I think that might be our next move. Smaller house with NO outside work to do unless we feel like planting annuals.</p>
<p>Thumper, I know what you’re talking about, but DH needs to be in something “unique.” We’ll be buying a standalone house; there’s no doubt about it.</p>
<p>
A proper inspection should take <em>at least</em> this long. The inspector that DW recommends to her clients can take 4 hours or more. He is very thorough.
This is a big problem around here. Not only is inventory low, but a lot of what is on the market is junk. So many old, worn, non-updated houses with years of deferred maintenance or terrible locations.</p>
<p>
I don’t know about “unique” but I don’t want to be sharing walls or floors/ceilings with other people. A standalone condo could be very appealing if the condo fees were reasonable.</p>
<p>notrichenough, I agree, but DH is adamant. If I want to stay married, I will go along. :o</p>
<p>There are single family residential (stand alone house) in CA that is part of the Condo HOA, AND they provide food-medical-entertainment-cleaning-maid services, So you do not have to worry even cooking, unless you WANT to cook for a meal or so. Mostly in independent living Sr. Communities. The fee for such services is high, some of them are at around $4,000/MO! Only the rich can afford.</p>
<p>I understand wanting a free standing house. I’m ready for restrictions in many things in our development but not those of a condo board et al. I need a yard I can call my own.</p>
<p>Wish the previous owner of our new (25 year old) house had done all of the cleaning and yard work I had done before moving. But she was elderly and had the house on the market 16 days while we left an unsold house with a scheduled open house following. I wouldn’t obsess over every detail- for everything you replace something else will look relatively shabby. I had to learn to not do some stuff. I didn’t do my spring window cleaning (I got to do it here). Realtor did say mulch was indicated, had done it a year before putting the house on the market but that was 3 years ago-have yet to do much of it here (at least bags of pine nuggets- the approved mulch here are light and easy to spread). Was leaving empty cupboards and drawers- the years of corner dust was obvious. Cleaned numerous wire closet shelves here after dusting solid ones there. Regular dusting of blinds meant they didn’t need compulsive cleaning there, here I turned gray to white. And ceiling fans. An outdoor grill we may never use- gross. Different market. I must admit the house was clean in general, just not the every so many years stuff.</p>
<p>Still living with old carpet- getting going on the renovations/updating (removing blush PINK!) and that’s after cabinets (not PINK!) and tile. But not after removing wallpaper (PINK!) or painting. I will risk paint splatters since I can’t choose colors now- need to have nonPINK carpet. Notice a theme in this house? But- the layout, location and views!</p>
<p>Hard to believe all that has happened in the last few months, especially when life on hold seemed it would last forever.</p>
<p>Ah, wis75, moving forward is a wonderful thing!</p>
<p>VeryHappy, since you don’t have to worry about school quality, can you find something interesting in your price range along the water in Norwalk? Or maybe in the Silvermine area?</p>
<p>Yes, yes; I’m seeing a house in the Silvermine area in a few days. But I strongly doubt there’s anything along the water in my price range. I’m trying to stay under $450K, and on the water is just that price for the lot!</p>
<p>Turns out the Silvermine house is no longer available. :mad:</p>
<p>However: I saw tonight an interesting possibility, if I’m not afraid of a challenge. Opinions, please. (Like I have to ask . . . .:p)</p>
<p>There is a house on a river, with absolutely wonderful views from three directions. It’s on an acre, and as I whispered to my realtor while we were there (as we were being shown around by the current owner), it’s a diamond in the rough.</p>
<p>Very rough.</p>
<p>Let’s put it this way: The man who lives there now is a hoarder. And the house smells.</p>
<p>Now, I have been wanting to find something that is very cheap but needs work. We’re clearing some good money from the sale of our current house and have an idea what we would like to spend – price of new house plus cost to fix it up – while still putting away a good chunk to the retirement fund. </p>
<p>I can envision the dumpster(s) pulling up to the house and someone shoveling the crap out. I can envision my architect and my builder walking through and acknowledging that everything will need to be redone. But I can also envision that, once the house is completely redone and once the landscaping is done, it would be a unique treasure.</p>
<p>I haven’t yet had a chance to talk to DH about it. (Some of you may remember he’s driving S1 to his new place in the midwest, for graduate school. Yeah, it’s a big week.) So what do you all think? Should I run from this place, or consider embracing the challenge?</p>
<p>I haven’t seen anything else yet that intrigues me.</p>
<p>Personally I would be very interested. I’m always a big fan of doing the work myself and 1) getting exactly what I want; and 2) being sure of the workmanship and materials. This house would appeal to me, so my opinion is favorable. Plus, location is 90%, and it sounds like the location is fantastic.</p>
<p>I have two caveats, however. First, if this is a serious hoarder, you may be having trouble seeing everything in the house. There may be serious defects that are covered up by the junk. </p>
<p>The smell is also something to research. If it’s must, food odors, etc., I wouldn’t be concerned. However, if it’s mold or - even worse - cat / dog urine, be careful because cat pee in particular is known for being difficult to remove.</p>
<p>How exciting for you!</p>