All Forum Posts by: Deanna O.

There are many places in this lovely earth where the tax man will never come knocking on your door. They tend not to have running water, electricity, schools, paved roads. You may not be able to make a living, & criminal gangs tend fill in where police aren't, but if tax-free is the only criteria no one is stopping any of the "taxation is wrong" crowd from moving.

Brent.  When you call 911 you expect an answer. 

pps - maybe you can get a new best friend out of the deal ; )

Oh, and best of luck. It's really, really hard, but you'll be in a much better position to negotiate if you can put emotion completely on hold until the sale is over. If the inspection turns up major defects you may need to either negotiate a tough price or walk away from a bad deal, which is a lot easier if you aren't already identifying it as "home".

Ps for blinds I did better buying them online rather than at a big box store. White was the better look for the house so I did the heavy faux wood rather than the $3.88 Walmart cheapos. Mine were an odd size --19"x 57" if I remember right, which was very pricey to have custom cut (@$80-100 each x 5 just for the bay window area). The selection was much better online, and since I didn't have my heart set on EXACTLY one particular thing I was able to find some that were on sale that were a great deal (maybe $80 for all). They were good quality & have stood up to renters with pets & kids for 7 years now. Did need to be self-installed though.

sorry - my computer keeps posting without me. 

I was trying to say that personally I didn't see Danny's answer as sarcastic. People tend not to realize how negotiable Real Estate can be, as long as both parties agree.

While Danny might have been joking about the car or the coffee maker, those aren't as outlandish as they might seem. I can easily imagine a probate sale with a 10-12 year old low-mileage car in the garage (my favorite kind of car, BTW). I would ABSOLUTELY consider trying to get it thrown in to the bargain if we were dickering on sales price of the house & I was interested in the car.  Sellers are always free to say no, or counter-offer. You can't take the process personally.  Like your Realtor said, it's not the War of the Roses.

(BTW, I didn't read Danny's answer as sarcasm, but as humor. People tend not to realize how little in Real E

People get weirdly attached to all things housing. Maybe have a $ amount pre-decided and put it to the addendum ("seller to leave blinds, or add $2k in concessions to replace"). If seller just spent $2k to get blinds in to show the house, they may figure they can take them to their new house (and maybe they will fit) rather than "wasting" all that $.  There are many other buyers who would toss the blinds & replace to their own tastes, so not entirely whacko logic. 

"that isn't 25 miles out in the middle of nowhere"

....25 miles out in the middle of nowhere. It is the only open site in San Diego with public transit (trolley), but NO reasonable housing nearby. Gang & drug-infested areas run $1,500/2 bed apartment. $3k for similar in Mission Valley. Compare that to new entertainment-ready McMansions in Texas with 4 car garages, & I could fly to somewhere with good surf. 

I did have to laugh about and earlier posters comment about $100k as being "high wage jobs".  In San Diego $36k year rent, $25k in Fed income taxes, another $5k in state income tax...throw in food & clothing, health insurance & a car (can't get around without a car here) & raising a family would be a very modest, frugal affair on $100k. Doable, but not exactly the lifestyle you think of when you say "high income". The same salary in any of the other of the other contending regions would go a whole lot further (even just outside DC).

Stadium site would be touchy politically, though it is about the ONLY avail site that