Buying/House: First, interest rates are as low as they've ever been; the housing market is as low as it's ever been, VERY affordable for us for a beautifully crafted home as opposed to the horrendous prices homes go for on the Peninsula or anywhere on the coast of CA either for rent OR for purchasing. Our niece Becca, whose husband's buying land to develop is VERY busy right now anticipating an upturn in the market next year. If that happened and we didn't buy now, we'd kick ourselves in the toosh for having passed up this opportunity. As the saying goes: BUY LOW! If we're "stuck" here, chances are we'll be stuck on the high side of the market rather than the low, and if not, hey, we have a roof over our heads forever! Second: Many people, including lender at Wells Fargo, are somewhat incredulous that we're not buying a big piece of land with a large house for the money we'll pay for the one we're buying. Property, relative to ideal places to buy in CA, is incredibly cheap here. We saw a home in the woods on 10 or so acres yesterday for $375,000 that would EASILY go for a million or two in our current neck of the woods (you all should come by/buy!). But, this little development is perfect for us. We're too old for tons of land, and, we want to be close to a town to walk to like we are now in PG. Also, Chapin is one of the finest, "committed green" architects in the country which is important to us, me especially. Third: This house, for its size of 1,400 feet, has THE biggest garage (about 500 sq. feet itself which makes the house about 1,900 sq. feet) ever for Dave to have a dream of a workshop in which to work, and will make him happy the rest of our lives—at least the rest during which he's actually able to work! End of that rationalization!
Location We've been vacationing North for years; have always loved the Pacific Northwest and Canada. I fell in love with Whidbey Island the first time I stepped foot on it, then dragged Dave here to see it, and being the sailor he is he liked it too. Additionally, Langley, the little town to which we'll be attached at the bottom of the island, is not unlike where we live now, slightly smaller, but every bit as charming and, so important, a 3/4 of a mile walk from "our" house, and a short drive (5 miles maybe?) to the ferry to get to Seattle which I also love (I think Dave could stay out of cities for the rest of his life!).
Yesterday we went to the South Island Framers Market, which, quite frankly, sold me. We have a fabulous market
in Monterey at the community college Thursdays; this one was even more fabulous (reminded me of a small version of a GD parking lot scene, El!). Sold! Talked with a knitter who moved here 18 years ago from the San Fernando Valley and never looked back; see her 3 alpacas in the photos. She and her husband love it here; she sells beautiful alpaca felted hats, and we're going to start a knitting group when we move up ;+}. We're also close (but not too close, and not weirdly so!) to the beautiful Whidbey Cemetary (http://www.langleywa.org/cemetery.html) where "green" burial, which I want, but which is available in VERY few cemeteries throughout the country, has recently been instituted
Weather: This is our biggest fear. People who love it here don't seem to be bothered much buy it. We've talked with people who have lived here all their lives, are now raising families here, and wouldn't leave for anything; they say, "don't pay any attention to the people who tell you you'll hate the rain/dark, etc." People who don't love it here don't, usually, because of the weather. People who do love it don't let the weather bother them. Our house payments will be about $500 a month less than we're paying for RENT in Pacific Grove, so, if we're miserable, that should give us enough money to make winter trips to Mexico and rent two months or so where my (our) good friend Ellen lives, or travel to San Diego, and stay there with our good
friend Julie or visit my niece and her family in New Zealand. The temperature here is about 10 degrees colder in winter, and 10 degrees hotter in summer than where we are now. We're VERY used to continual overcast in Pacific Grove (say all summer!). And, I love the rain; in fact, this little poster (above) in our house in PG, is probably my favorite, I bought it in Seattle years ago...........AND, don't forget, I'm a knitter ;+}; I MAKE clothing for warmth!
There you have it, most of the reasons we're going ahead with this. Stay tuned to see if the seller accepts our offer of about $30K lower than he's asking! If so, we'll be Washington residents in about two months! We had an appointment today with our realtor (http://www.tomwhiterealestate.com/blog/)—nice guy who was at a Crosby Stills & Nash concert yesterday (how can we NOT like him!)—and gave him our offer to negotiate............We'll see.........stay tuned..............In the meantime...................
Morning photo of entrance to house where we're staying.
Breakfast by the window that..........
overlooks what resembles a park around the house where we're staying now................
xoxo, Di & Dave.
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