Monday, September 26, 2005

So, we have revamped out home buying strategy (we think). Ethan suggested (and I think it may be a good idea), that we just go ahead and plan to pack up all our stuff in, say, May or June, put it into storage (or convince Papa to let us stuff it in his shop), then take a minimal amount of stuff, along with our cats, and get an apartment for maybe 2 months max, rip out the carpet here, repaint the walls, add nice trim, etc, fix the place up. We figure that would take maybe 2 weeks, if we don't take time off to do it. (less time if we took actual time off). There is not too terribly much that we want to do, and not living here at the time will speed things up a ton. So, we move to a small crappy apartment, fix this place, then put it on the marked and hope for a $100k gain (over what we owe on the mortgage--not a stretch at all) Having that money in hand will dramatically help us in our house search. We are expanding where we are looking--for the same price, a house in Burien or Renton or even Federal Way is remarkably nicer than something in the city. Ethan refuses to have a kid in the Seattle School district, so moving outside makes that easier, less hoops to jump through. The smaller districts are much better in this area. So, we have been looking through Windermere.com, and have seen some amazing houses. If we have $100K to put down, we can bump up the amount we can afford to spend on a house. And, with park and rides and bus service, and us eventually getting another vehicle, our commute wouldn't be too terribly much longer. So there. Look at these houses!! These of course will be off the market by the time we are ready, but look at them!!!! So exciting.......

Hopefully these links will work.......


http://www.windermere.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Listing.PropertyFlyer&ListingID=6261235

http://www.windermere.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Listing.PropertyFlyer&ListingID=6208033

http://www.windermere.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Listing.PropertyFlyer&ListingID=6247060

http://www.windermere.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Listing.PropertyFlyer&ListingID=6230232

http://www.windermere.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Listing.PropertyFlyer&ListingID=6196781

http://www.windermere.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Listing.PropertyFlyer&ListingID=6244141

http://www.windermere.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Listing.PropertyFlyer&ListingID=6198033

http://www.windermere.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Listing.PropertyFlyer&ListingID=5969079

http://www.windermere.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Listing.PropertyFlyer&ListingID=6222180

http://www.windermere.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Listing.PropertyFlyer&ListingID=6226017

2 comments:

Sabrina said...

This is the site address for Washington MLS listings.. Windermere.com, you only see windermere listings. When you check the mls, you get EVERY listing for EVERY house available on the MLS. -- www.nwrealestate.com

Sabrina said...

One more thing to think about... If you sell your property, then find and buy a new one, you will have to deal with Capital Gains taxes... which can be pretty hefty. If you close on the sale of your property at the same time that you close on your new home, you can arrange for a 1041 exchange with the Escrow company, which saves you all the money from the sale of your condo, as a 1041 is not subject to Capital Gains tax.