House Update

[multipurposegoddess]

So, in between a wonderful brunch at maidengurl'sand DH having to run off to work to fix something on his company network, we signed a bunch of papers saying that we would be happy to give these people a bunch of money that somebody else told us they would be happy to loan us, if they will give us a house and some land. Freaky weird.

We just saw the listing and called the agent that was listed on the For Sale sign in front of the house, so our agent is the seller's agent. He thinks our offer will probably be accepted, so that's promising.

The house is bank owned after a foreclosure, and it needs a lot of things like light fixtures and doorknobs, but it appears to be structurally sound. That is how you find a 3BR house for less than $300K in California. It's about the size of the place we are renting but with a large steel framed shed out back that will at the very least hold a bunch of the stuff that is currently just in the way and may be able to serve as an actual additional office/den/whatever type room. It's got electricity already. The kitchen is smallish, but has more counters and cabinets than I've got now, and has a breakfast nook or whatever they call it these days. Freestanding fireplace in the living room. No closet in one of the bedrooms, but that's the room we would use for an office/library and being able to cover the walls in bookshelves more than compensates for the lack of closet space. Ceiling fans in every bed room, which I have grown accustomed to after New Orleans. Only two closets, but more actual closet space than we have now, I think. Oh, wait, there's a linen closet in the hallway, also. The fully fenced backyard has, in addition to the large shed, a covered patio, extra parking space (in addition to the one car garage (where the laundry hookups are)), quite a bit of plantable space (currently full of weeds and one tree), and what looks like an old rabbit hutch that we will probably want to get hauled away. The front yard has a lawn that is dried up but may come back with watering, a tree of some sort (possibly mulberry, nicely shady in any case) and a really interesting but incomplete fence. Full porch across the front of the house. The place comes with a disposal, fridge, oven, range, and built-in microwave and dishwasher. I'm pleased it doesn't come a washer and dryer, I've really missed the ones we bought in Metairie and I'm really looking forward to having my own that I pick out again.

What I really like about the place (other than the relatively cheap price) is the location. It's in Suissun City, which is approximately halfway between Sacramento and San Francisco (right next to Fairfield, for those of you know where that is), which is far out, but it has an Amtrak station on the Capital Corridor line which would actually shorten DH's work commute. It makes getting into the city a bit more of a production, but still reasonable for a day trip. And the house is two blocks from the Marina with public access to the water another couple of blocks down. So going for a walk along the water can happen any time, and once we get our canoe/kayak/whatever I can be on the water quite frequently. Big plus.

It's specifically in what they apparently call Old Town Suisun, or the Historic Waterfront District, which is pretty cool as there are a bunch of nifty restaurants and shops and a really nice looking tattoo parlor around, and there's live music in the plaza and fireworks for the Fourth of July and other Stars Hollow-esque small timey events that we will be able to walk to. There is, amazingly enough, a Conservative Synagogue that meets just a couple of miles away. We haven't been going to services since we moved to Benicia because they're all in other towns and having to decide which flavour we want to attend and how far we're willing to drive and all that is just too hard, so I'm looking forward to that obstacle being gone. And nearby Fairfield has parks and malls and a Trader Joe's and is apparently the county seat so there are probably plenty of bail bondsmen about.

That's probably all the burbling I should do until our offer gets accepted.

Comments

[tskaredoff.livejournal.com]

We can back out if there's anything we don't like on the inspection, or if we ask for repairs that the seller declines to do. No worries.

We went through it pretty thoroughly, though. Unless there's termites I'd be surprised if there's serious problems. I've lived in places in worse shape, definitely.

[thezzyzx.livejournal.com]

That's good. I've spent $20k on my in otherwise good shape house due to plumbing (surprise) and roofing (I knew about) concerns.

[tskaredoff.livejournal.com]

An extra $20k and this house would still be under budget. Part of its beauty.

[thezzyzx.livejournal.com]

Well w00t then :)

I probably couldn't afford my house if I wanted to buy it now.

(Normally at this point, I'd give you warnings about potential housing bubbles, but the price range you're giving is sane enough that I'm not scared for you)

[tskaredoff.livejournal.com]

There's a house across the street from this one, also a foreclosure, same floorplan but with the garage converted to finished living space, priced about $90k higher. I actually don't like it as much as the cheaper house as it's got vinyl siding and comes with a stacked washer and dryer, and lacks the shed and, of course, the garage. The point being, I don't think we have to worry about the value dropping precipitously when we are at the low end of the market like this.