Since my last post way back in April ’08, we’ve gone through a number of changes.
After crunching the budget numbers (what can we really afford), we decided that the timing was good to take on the house hunt in earnest.
Over the winter we looked seriously at rentals but became frustrated with the rental agreement terms…ask for a copy to read at your leisure BEFORE SIGNING ANYTHING…and what we considered high rental rates. So, we turned to houses for sale. The houses were beginning to pile onto the market place and the prices were dropping.
Unfortunately for us, the prices were still too high for the size and location that we wanted. Then it appeared! It was the house that had all that we had asked for in a house and things we hadn’t dreamed would be feasible. And the price? A little high still, but within range.
We approached with caution. The house had been on the market for a year already. We could take our time with this one. The owner, however, had already moved into his retimement home-at-the-beach and was ready to get sell off his properties.
Yes, properties. He was a landlord and the house that was tugging our heart had different tennants in each room, with a couple of pit bulls to lounge in the yard. The house was UGLY!
Yup, it was the polar opposite to curb appeal!
With two engineers and an architect in the family, we could turn this place around! But how would we pay for the remodeling? We had only a little cash to put toward a down payment. The offer price would have to be discounted to offset the cost of remodeling. What were our options?
Stay tuned!
