My garden this spring

Early spring

A little bit later spring

 Rainbows!

 May is amazing in the front

 The back is pretty, but you might be able to tell I'm a bit overwhelmed with two gardens to weed

 It's June and I still haven't done a true weeding, but the back sure looks pretty, no?

Big news!

I bought a house! Crazy isn't it?
It is tiny and cute. Here is my new living room.

The side entrance to the kitchen

My new claw foot tub! I need to fix the pain in there though, ugh. I'm struggling with color though. It sort of looks like with the tile accents that red or rose works best. I won't have a pink bathroom (!) so it might have to be red. But that sort of seems overwhelming. Oh well, save that paint job for last.

The back yard has potential. All in all, it is a very cute place. I got the keys this afternoon (though these are actually pics from when I got the inspection, lazy me). I am slowly moving stuff over, one carload at a time. I am going to start painting tomorrow, the kitchen first. Weeeeeee

Miracle of miracles

I put in an offer on this place, not expecting anything since that has been the trend, but the accepted my offer yesterday!!! It took a little negotiating, and it is going to be an expensive one for me, but it is actually really nice! Too many exclamation points, sorry. Anyways, it is still up in the air obviously. There are inspections, appraisals, and money to gather. But, it is a very cute little house, and maybe, just maybe, it could be mine.

and it goes on

Well, I fell in love with the place on Mollala avenue, the Victorian. It was adorable. Unfortunately, due to zoning issues, a FHA loan wont fly so I'm back at it again. It was pretty sad.

But I did find another cute house today. It is also pretty adorable, but expensive (for me). It's at the top of my budget. I don't have any pictures since I forgot my camera, but you can look at the link for the listing pictures.

This one was super nice inside. And the garden is sad, but obviously set up by someone who cared. There are some pretty cool plants. Not a reason to buy a house obviously, but the place really was nice. Amusingly, it is right next to my real estate agent's house.

The search goes on

Interesting possibilities

So I'm back looking. I have found a few cute looking options, though not nearly as good of a deal as the Hazel place was. And I haven't been to them yet to see how bad they actually are. Its amazing what sins a picture can cover. Go ahead and click on the links, it should take you to a listing with more pictures.

This one seems adorable, but it is on Molalla Avenue in Oregon City. Its a very busy street which I really don't like. But its a short sale, cheap, and has a huge yard.

This house is small and cute looking, but right next to 205 and on the edge of felony flats. maybe even in the middle, I need to find that out.

These two houses seem adorable, if they aren't falling apart. But they are both in that region east of 205 that seems sort of depressing. I haven't been there in ages though so maybe its not so bad?

This one is on Harold Street
And this on Boise Street This one is interesting. It is actually a condo. 1/4 of a big old Victorian house in Goose Hollow. Super nice inside (based on pictures). Even affordable, except for one thing. The HOA fees are almost equal to the mortgage! It would be kind of fun though.So I am going to look at these hopefully soon. I will let you know how disappointing they are. Ha!

Disappointment

Well, I put an offer in on the Hazel pl house. I got beat out by someone else though. While real estate is moving slowly overall right now, at my price range it is moving very fast. If it is livable at least. I mean, come on, a livable house going for $100,000? Of course it went quick. Oh well

My new adventure

I'm starting on my next big adventure. For all that it is the supposedly normal thing to do, it feels like the craziest thing possible. Next to this, going to Africa solo, or completing my PhD field work on a minuscule budget (sometimes solo as well), well, they are nothin.

I think I'm going to try to buy a house.

Since the market is so low right now, and it is comparable to rent vs buy, it sort of makes sense. Plus, I really want my own place where my garden cant be ripped up according to a landlord's whim.

So, I met with a loan officer (who is really cool by the way) and found out it is actually possible. Then I started looking. Since I'm at the borderline of the borderline of possibility, it is pretty dismal. Seriously dismal. Even vile in some cases. But, I have seen a few possibilities.

This house was adorable. But it is at the top of my price range. It has a tiny second bedroom - and I need the insurance of being able to get a roommate to make this happen. It is also on a very busy street, and while it is cute, it is falling apart. And, they have linoleum over hardwood in the bedrooms! Obviously fixable, but I would have no money.

This house is kind of cute on the outside, but we walked in, and immediately turned and walked back out again. Can you say stinky?
This one seemed perfect. Way cuter inside than I expected, with an added bonus of a little cottage in the back. I could rent that out, and not have to share my living space! But, the cottage was a little sketch, and probably not legal - they city could object any time. And the house itself had issues that would have to be fixed by the owner before the FHA loan would go through. But, it is bank owned, so no go.

The cottage

The house itself

Now this one I liked.
It was a funky old house that had been remodeled.

The kitchen was great (finally)
But, it only has one bedroom. The whole roommate insurance thing again. It is frustratingly close, but since my summer employment is not guaranteed, I'm not comfy with the idea of having even an $850 a month mortgage without that extra income. sigh...

Now these next houses were all duds. And I didn't even take pictures of most of the duds

This one was cute, if you had tons of money to fix it up

The floor bounced when you walked on it Ever heard of taking the dogs outside to pee? The most bizarre remodel ummmm, sketch. that's about all I can say Then I found this house It's not the cutest thing ever, but it actually isn't that bad in person.

The floors are funThe kitchen has an interesting start, but needs some finishes. And some appliances. And a floor. But that's not impossible...
Even the yard has potential, not great, but it is fenced in and I could work on it.
The best thing though is that it is a foreclosure and therefore super super cheap
I will admit, this one is tempting.
We shall see