December 11, 2008
Dear Everyone:
Eleven years ago, when I was looking for a new home
in the San Ramon/Dublin area, my realtor and I looked at two places at
At that time, the
osteoarthritis that was just
beginning to develop in my right hip was a very little problem.
Every now and then, a muscle in my thigh would pull and I’d be
limping for a few minutes until the muscles warmed up.
It wasn’t until about four or five years ago that the problem
became more pronounced.
So it’s been in the back of my mind that, one day,
I would need to move out of the two-story townhouse and find a place
that is all on one level.
Not right away, but someday.
A couple of weeks ago, as I was returning from
Thanksgiving dinner at “Jeannie’s” place, I noticed a shiny, new “For
Sale” sign in front of
When I tracked down the address, I realized that
the unit for sale is in my own building.
Each set of townhouses follows one variety or another of a
pattern: A one-story end
unit, two to three two-story units of two or three bedrooms, and another
end unit on one story. It
turns out, the unit for sale is the end unit at the other end of my
building. There are two
three-bedroom townhouses between us.
It occurred to me that this just may be a golden
opportunity for me. If I can
swing it, I would borrow money to make the down payment and buy the
three bedroom one-story place.
Then I could spend some more money (borrowed, of course) to fix
it up (replace the flooring, remodel the kitchen, etc.)
before I move in.
(Remodeling is always so much easier if you’re not occupying the
place at the same time.)
Moving would be a piece of cake.
I can move all the little stuff myself.
The furniture would only require a couple of movers with dollies
for a few hours. Then I
could fix up my current two bedroom two-story place to get it into shape
to put on the market.
Selling a house is so much easier if you’re not living in it at the
time. And I’d be around to
keep an eye on the place while it’s on the market.
It’s just three doors away.
Now I know what you’re thinking.
Two mortgage payments every month, plus two homeowners’ dues,
plus paying back the money borrowed for the down payment.
Yes, it’s a lot. But,
thanks to Mother’s estate, plus my own scrupulously followed savings
plan, I have enough money in the
credit union to pay the mortgage on my
present place for over a year.
And I can get the down payment by borrowing against
my 401(k) retirement plan.
So the money I’d be paying back, I’d be paying to myself.
And I’ll get that as soon as I sell the current place.
I’ve already had one meeting with a mortgage company agent who is
certain I could qualify for a mortgage.
Also, “Jeannie” came down the Sunday after
Thanksgiving to look at the place and decided she liked the floor plan.
(She really liked the walk-in closet in the master bedroom.)
She already wants to knock out part of the wall between the
kitchen and dining/living area.
In fact, I suspect she’s already planning what colors she’ll
paint the new place. When
her friend, the plumber, gets back from
The owner and realtor are asking $349,999.00 for
the place, but I don’t think they’ll get an offer anywhere near that in
today’s market. I’m off work
tomorrow, burning through another eight hours of vacation.
So my realtor, the one who helped me find the current place, is
meeting me around noon to take another look at the three-bedroom place
and provide some council on how much to offer.
I’ll know more after that.
In the meantime, everybody please continue to pray
for rain and lots of snow in the mountains.
I heard on the news this morning that it was snowing in
Love, as always,
Pete
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