February 18, 2008-House Hunting

Living in San Diego county provides lots of warmth and freedom this time of year. No doubt when the sun shines and the weather starts to warm up, people come out of doors to soak it all up. I tend to roam around alot once it starts to warm up, so that sparked my interest in looking for a house to purchase.

That's exactly how I spent this federal holiday. Driving around looking at homes for sale. Now mind you, my price range is not that large. In fact it's rather meager considering I live in California. My search often begins with looking online for a home that fits my search criteria. Two plus bedrooms with a one plus bath is my minimum search. Laundry room and garage would be wonderful to have as well and I'm looking forward to staying home to do laundry as opposed to spending an entire Sunday gathering, sorting, transporting and actually doing the laundry at a laundromat filled with strangers who would rather be doing something else. So laundry room and garage sits top on the list as must haves. I will even give up square footage in my bedroom for it.

Before clicking the search button on a popular real estate websearch engine, I need to designate exactly how much I'm willing to spend for the luxury that homeownership brings. Many agents have scoffed at me when I tell them this part. My price range is miniscule in comparison with most Californians. I'm looking for my 2 bedroom/1.5 bath detached house with laundry room and garage for 160-190k.



Yes, that's right. I'm asking for the world and thinking I will only have to pay pennies for it. I know that because the real estate search engine practically chokes in its search for that criteria. It usually finds a mere two or three pages of purchase candidates. After eagerly writing down the addresses and directions, my sons and I pile into the car and set off to check out the neighborhoods. Now, you're probably asking yourself right about now why I haven't allowed a real estate agent to take me around. I have. I wasn't too happy with the times that were being set up to view a house.



Usually the agent will set up a time that falls in the middle of the workday. I began to realize that there weren't a whole lot of cars in the driveways of surrounding homes, so this got me to thinking that perhaps I should try viewing neighborhoods during the weekends. I found that beginning the weekends, starting with Friday night and ending with late Sunday mornings were the perfect times to get a feel for the surrounding neighborhood of the home you're looking to buy.



Considering my price range, those are the perfect times to go have a look. As it turns out, the agents were taking me homeviewing during the middle of the day when most people are at work or busy running errands. The weekends allow you to see the neighborhood fully populated. Why bother to see the inside of the house if the neighbors are sprawled out in the yards and streets looking horribly suspicious dressed in gangland garb?



Things I look for in a good neighborhood are people exercising freely, walking their dogs, doing yardwork or even having a barbeque. Washing and waxing the car is usually a good sign, but if you have your shirt buttoned up to your neck with a bandana around your head that would give me cause for concern. I don't want to live in fear and seeing grown men without children and who are not engaged in a friendly game of tackle football frequenting a childrens park in the middle of the day or weekend makes me incredibly uneasy.



I'm not looking for a home just to invest. I'm looking for a home to live in. A home I can finish raising my sons in and a home I will feel completely if not nearly safe in. Most of the neighborhoods I look in have low priced housing, primarily duplexes. I suspect these homes are investment homes used as rentals. My uncle, a real estate investor, warns that these are not homes you want to live in. These areas are uncontrollable and not for people who wish to raise families. They are usually rented to low income families and sometimes house anywhere between one and three families in a unit meant to house only one family.



I'm getting a good look at the struggle to better my housing situation. It won't be easy and enlisting the help of a real estate agent will defininetly ease some worries and fears. Home ownership is just around the corner, I feel it in my bones. In the meantime, I continue to save my money in hopes of making a larger downpayment on a nicer home. One in which I feel comfortable and happy. Who knows, things change daily and tomorrow will bring something new I'm sure. I eagerly await to see what tomorrow brings.