I guess I'm house-hunting

[Deanne]

I didn't know I was in the market to move. Impulse control problems?  I own a townhouse and whine about not having a yard. A friend knows a real-estate agent and she mentioned it to him. (I must whine a lot!). The agent said I can probably get a nice place with a yard for about the same as I could sell my townhouse for. I got curious, went online and saw that it's true. One day I was talking about what to remodel in two years, after I get my kitchen loan paid off. The next day (literally), I'm calling painters, shopping for carpet and flooring to get the place ready to sell, talking to mortgage lenders, and looking through 150 listings the agent sent me and hoping to have my home on the market in early May.

[angela515]

Congrats! (I think) I know nothing about buying a house, I have horrible credit and have never even had my own apt without a co-signer, let alone a house. I hope it all goes well for you!

[Sara]

Good luck!

[Deanne]

Thanks! I'm alternating between excitement and panic. I have a lot to fix up before I can sell my townhouse and this means going even further into debt until it sells. I have 7 cats & dogs I'll need to move. The dogs will do fine, but moving cats is challenging. But to have a yard for the dogs to play in...! Maybe a little garden. No homeowner's association politics. :-)

[glitter]

hows the market up there?

[kitkatz]

I hated moving, but I loved the thrill of having a new place to live.

[Rerunsfriend]

My house has been on the market in Sacramento now for 9 months.  No one has even looked in two months.  Dead market here.  There are 5,000 forclosures here, so people are just waiting for those to hit the market. 

Best of luck.  I suggest you sell yours first so you don't have two house payments on the promise fo the agent to sell yours.

Rerun~

[goofynina]

Good Luck Deanne,  I am sure you are going to love your new place where ever it may be, especially if it has a yard, makes all the difference in the world,  the last house we had had a swimming pool in the back and cement all around, it was so depressing, i love my yard with grass and trees so much more.  Keep us posted on your findings 

[thegrammalady]

welcome to the roller coaster

[glitter]

not to be a downer....but our paper said 5600 foreclosures in our neck of the woods too....hopefully its better in your neck of the woods. I was hoping to put my house up for sale in about a year, I still will,but I am preparing for it to take a year or two to sell. I have talked to an agent recently,and they said in spite of the foreclosures,things ARE selling, if its not too intrusive into your business,maybe you could let us know how its going, and what you observe about the market up there.

[Deanne]

It's a buyer's market here (Portland, OR) so I'm a little concerned about selling my townhouse. I think it'll go fine though (forever the optimist!). Townhouses are popular here and my current location is desirable, being 5 minutes from downtown in a mature neighbhorhood -- quiet, great view out over a vally, near homes that are probably close to a million dollars, but without the million-dollar price tag. One of my neighbors had his home on the market for only 10 days with similar improvements to what I've done. This is a small development of only 20 units and the only other unit for sale is priced too high considering how badly it needs improvements. Interested people can look at both units -- one that needs an entire exterior wall replaced due to dry rot and still has the original, awful kitchen. Then they can come over here where the dry rot is fixed, the source of the dry rot is gone, the kitchen is new, and the price of the two units is about the same.

[kelliOR]

It's a buyer's market here (Portland, OR)

OMG,  Deanne, just noticed your t-shirt in your pic.  PORTLAND Marathon!   That is one great marathon to run/walk!  I would love to try it this fall (walk, that is).
Funny, I've been itching to buy a condo or something in downtown Portland. We live in Bend.   When I go to my appointments at OHSU, I always make it down to Powell's to browse for a few hours and have a latte.  If you ever want to grab a cup of joe at Powell's and talk kidney/dialysis/transplant please let me know.  PS-read your other post, and we've already got things in common--books and kidneys! 

kelli

[Deanne]

You get to live in Bend!? You're so lucky! I've only been there once or twice and fell in love with the area. I'd love to meet up with you when you're up here. Do you know when you'll be up here again? Hey, come see my soon-to-be for sale condo! :-)

The marathon is a great one to walk. A friend and I are ramping up to do it again this fall. It'll be my fourth time and her fifth.

[kelliOR]

Hi Deanne,

My one year biopsy is on March 27th at OHSU.  Perhaps we could have a latte at Powell's the afternoon before or the next morning?  We could even take a pic for IHD! 

Kelli

[Deanne]

That's great Kelli! I'll put it on my calendar. I work full-time, but as long as I get my job done, they're pretty flexible here. I can schedule an "appointment" for whichever time is better for you.

[kelliOR]

Great!  I'll post or PM you as soon as I know my schedule!

[Sluff]

I hope you find a place with a nice yard.