The Process

Well, I just signed and emailed an offer to my agent on the House in Hangtown. The asking price is 279K and I offered 230K. I was actually kinda surprised that it wasn't shot down immediately by the seller's agent, but we were told that no other offers had been made so far (it's been about a month on the market now) and to go ahead and submit and "see what happens". That, to me, is a clear sign of the general market right now, because a year or so ago people were taking offense and being insulted by offers that much lower than asking price.

So far, this has been the timeline: Friends mention selling house to us about 5 weeks ago during camping trip, the following week the Sig takes me up to look at the house (he'd already seen it while helping friends collect tools from it), the following week I think it over. Late in that week, I contact the agent that I'd decided I'd contact if I was ever looking to buy again, and he offered to write up an offer that day --- but I didn't know if I could get financing, given the current lending climate. I had two options: my friends gave me a mortgage broker's name that used to work with them, and my agent had a guy he felt was honest and trustworthy. I went with the agent's guy, David, and over the course of another 10 days faxed him my financial information and he submitted it and I was approved. I could have been approved for more, but my down payment is, indeed, paltry.
I notified my agent that I was approved, and gave him all my info and the additional stuff that David had figured up about closing costs, and he then contacted the seller's agent to see if it was worthwhile writing it up, which it evidently was. He faxed forms, I read and thought again for a day, and signed and faxed back today.

Meanwhile I've been seeking advice from anyone who will give it on how to manage a small acreage. Among things I have learned:
Goats will climb on everything, including your car, and poop.
Goats in milk need to be milked every day, which means you can't take weekend trips.
Goats are easy to take care of, and keep your property pretty clear of underbrush and weeds.
It's good to have an "outside" dog to guard your property.
Small dogs and cats can't ever be outside on their own, mostly due to hunting raptors and owls.
Wells are GOOD.
Wells are BAD.
Septic systems are complicated and can have problems if you're not careful.
Septic systems are simple and you won't have any problems if you don't put stuff in them that doesn't belong there.
Some husbands have never pulled a weed in their lives and wouldn't know what to do without a tractor.
Tractors are GOOD.
You don't need a tractor, but you do need SOMETHING to haul stuff around; an ATV with wagon attachment would work fine.
It's good to have a woodlot, and with careful management it will replenish itself. Which is very good, because firewood is expensive.
A rifle or two is mandatory. There are lions and bears. And possibly methheads.
It's OK to shoot a deer that is poaching your fruit, but you'd better know how to clean it. Do not email pictures of yourself holding any kind of recently deceased game animal to your friends with the heading, "What do I do now?"
Your friends will be there for you, with tools and advice, if you need help.

So far, the one thing that everyone agrees on is that they have enjoyed living in the foothills. One friend even opined that caring for a small acreage might actually be less difficult than caring for our current rental gardens, especially if we adopt the philosophy that the goal of successful land ownership in rural areas is to keep the land as close to natural as possible while maintaining fire safety.
Oh, and ponies are EVIL.

The Sweet Life

I guess I'm putting a toe back into the housing pool. Sig took me out to see our friend's property that is being short-sold. It's a nice size, with several usable flat areas. It's not a remarkable property, although our friend and his wife are very fond of it and obviously devastated that they have had to leave it. It frankly needs a lot of work. There are a couple cosmetic projects that need to be done to the inside of the house, and that we're probably capable of completing although they are a little more complicated than painting a wall. There are about half a dozen outdoor projects that are in very beginning stages of execution, the most ambitious of which is the construction of a small medieval stone building with attached small tower.
On the plus side, the house has several areas that would be ideal for our use. It's hard to describe this place, which looks like a typical ranch house on the outside.
The house is really built into the side of a hill, rather like our rental but even more pronounced. So, there is a main floor, then a short flight up to the bedrooms and guest bath. The main living area has a low, flat ceiling with dark wood beams crossing it. Kind of Tudor style. There is a wood burning stove in the corner, which is raised and completely encased in some kind of shale stone to absorb and radiate the heat. The bedrooms are unremarkable, other than some personal touches of creativity that our friends have designed and which are entirely cosmetic. Guest bath is very nice. Down a half-flight of stairs is a laundry room with a full bathroom and more storage, and a masonry block room that is at this point entirely under the house and surrounded by the hill, so it's like a bomb shelter. They were using it for food storage and a wine cellar, which actually works quite well, as the temperature is a constant 50 - 60 degrees. There is also a room in which the water heater lives, which is large enough that they had a chest freezer in there as well. Go down another half flight of stairs, which are painted but not carpeted like the upper stairs are, and you are in the lowest level which has an unfinished but totally usable bedroom, and two other rooms -- again, masonry block rooms. From this level you can enter the 2-car garage or you can walk out a door that leads directly off the main parking area in front of the house. There is actually a little screened off entry way, so you have an outer door, then the screened in area, then the door into the lower level. To get to the main level from the parking area, you have to walk up a half flight of steps onto a wrap-around porch. When you're standing to the rear of the house, you only see one story; this is the part built into the hill. When you're standing in the front, you see two stories.
There is a very large, circular vegetated area in front of the house which our friend referred to as the herb garden. All I could see was rosemary, growing like crazy. To the right as you face the house is a very lovely wooden archway with gate, and about 20 feet of poured concrete "stone" walkway. Our friend states this area, due to elevation and the natural fencing of manzanita which surrounds the rear property line for several feet thick, is largely deer-protected. He had intended to put flowers and perhaps container plants in this area. Across the parking area from the house is a very large outbuilding, which has it's own masonry block "cellar" under it. Again, built into the side of the hill, so that you can walk directly out from the cellar onto the hill, but the main entrance is on top of the hill. This little building has electricity and an air-conditioner that may or may not work. There is obviously an upper storage area above this building, which is built like a small barn, but our friend says he never opened it and advises throwing a few bug bombs up there if we decide to open it. The outer roof of this building is mossy and worn, but the interior is fine.
The Pros to this property: It's close to most of our friends. It is just about the perfect size of acreage. It has a large area towards the front that is free of trees and could be used for a large garden. From what we understand, there is a creek or small stream that cuts across the very front of the property between our access road and the main road, and running water is usually a good thing -- especially since it is highly unlikely this small creek would ever reach a high enough point to come close to flooding the house or outbuilding, since they are built up the hillside. There is ample room for me to make and age cheese, in the room that is very like a cave and totally under the hill. There is plenty of room for both Sig and I to set up a brewery on the lower level of the house off the garage, and I'm sure I could set up my outside propane burner/kettle rig outside nearby either in the garage or just outside the screened lower level porch. Alternately, we could also set this up in the cellar under the outbuilding, although I think that would be much better suited for use as a small livestock shelter. Sig would have plenty of room for an armory, fletching area in the outbuilding proper. We could use the lower level bedroom as a guest room area, and the other room could be an exercise room. The small upstairs bedroom could be garb and fabric storage and sewing room. The second large bedroom is already set up with DSL and outlets for computers and electronics, and was being used as a shared office space, which we would probably also do. There is also a soaking tub in the master bath, of Japanese design, which is very deep and intended to cover you up to the neck in a sitting position. I'm sure I'd love that. And the oddball space that others might find difficult to find a use for, we actually can use very well.

The Cons are that it snows, and about twice a year according to our friend, it is rather difficult to get out of the drive. He doesn't mind this, and just calls off work. It's a little more problematic for me, as if I call off work that means someone else has to pick up the slack and there is very little room for picking up the slack in my work. There are also many, many projects that should really be completed (like the retaining wall outside, and the sliding closet doors inside) and which will mean putting our hobby projects on hold or being incredibly disciplined to work on both hobbies AND house in our spare time. It is also an additional 42 miles of driving per day, and that is very worrisome. On the other hand, with as much time as we spend driving up to Placerville anyway to take part in Shire activities, it isn't as bad as one might think. Two other Shire members drive daily down into Sacramento, or even further, so it isn't out of the question but it does mean a much earlier start to my workday and additional fuel cost at a time when most sane people are trying to cut back on driving.

Then there are the mixed blessings: it will be much more labor intensive to take care of the property, but it will help us get into shape. We will need goats to keep the weeds down, but if we get dairy goats we can make cheese, and there is a darn near perfect shelter for them in the 7/8 enclosed area under the outbuilding -- cool in summer and pretty well insulated in winter, especially with a lot of straw and straw bales under there. With mucked straw, you've got a pretty good compost starter, which is handy for gardens. (Of course, you'd need to fence the garden from the goats, and deer....)
There are the intangibles, such as having the chance to try to live a more sustainable life, which was a long-ago dream. And perhaps of regaining a sense of adventure and youthfulness that I might have abandoned long before I should have. Of course, there's always the possibility that it will be too much, and that unexpected costs and emergencies will pile up, and arthritic knees and bad backs will be too much of an obstacle.
And then there are the bees, which Sig (who is allergic) is absolutely opposed to me keeping, and which I think would be a great addition to the family, as long as they are at one side of the 2 acres and he is at the other. Bees are great. I'd love to be able to add Honey to the list of foods we can provide ourselves, especially since we make Mead. I imagine there are enough bees around that a garden would be pollinated, but it would be nice to have our own, especially since bees are having problems now. We shall see, I suppose.
But for now, I guess this is the post where we start moving towards ownership. Whether this property, or some other place, it is not going to be easy. The interest rate and the fact that I have very little down payment money mean that property ownership costs for me will be higher than ideally they would have been. I may not be able to get a loan at all.
I'd like to own again, though. It may not be the very bottom of the market, and in fact I know it is not. But I want my own house, that I can do what I want with to a greater degree than I can the rental house. I'd also like to create a little world that I can pass down.

iDiots

So, my granddaughter's iPod refused to let her hook it up to her computer because she didn't have a more current Windows version. It told her to take the iPod to the nearest Apple store for assistance.

We went to Arden Fair Mall, because according to my grandkid, that was the closest Apple store. I was finding that hard to believe, since Folsom and EDH are so affluent, but we were down at the Farmer's Market in Sacramento anyway, so it wasn't that far out of our way.
I hate malls. I hadn't been to Arden for at least a couple years. I think I went to the Downtown mall the time prior to this, and that was probably a year or so ago. I only go to malls if there is no way to avoid them. For instance, I needed a pair of good walking shoes a few years ago, right away, and knew that the Arden mall had specialty walking shoe stores. Malls just irritate me and turn me into the kind of grump that dislikes everyone, and I don't like to be like that. I'd rather live in my fantasy world, where everyone spends their discretionary income on books and museums. So, I was already struggling not to be grumpy when we eventually made our way through the mall to the Apple store, only to find a line of about 30 or 40 people stretching down the promenade.
"What are y'all doing in line?", I asked a pleasant countenanced young lady.
"We're trying to get iPhones," she replied.
"All of you people in this line are here for iPhones?", I asked, a bit incredulous.
"Yes"
"What if I don't want an iPhone?"
At this point, a gentleman with an East Indian accent who appeared to be guarding the line broke in to tell me that I could enter the store if I did not want an iPhone. So, we did.
And we were met by a young Apple-shirted employee who asked us if we had an appointment.
"You need an appointment to shop here???"
"no, but it's strongly advised"
"but my grandkid's iPod told her to come to the closest store. It didn't tell her to make an appointment..."
"it's ok, I'll get someone to help you", he said, and snagged a nearby female Apple-shirted co-worker.
"Do you have an appointment?", she asked.
"NO! We have a problem with our iPod, and we were told by the iPod to come to the nearest Apple store. It didn't tell us to make an appointment!"
"Well, I can set up an appointment for tomorrow at 10 am," she said.
At this point, my grandkid, sensing that I was going to lose it, interrupted.
"Look, I just need to ask one question. I'm just having a problem downloading."
The female Apple employee reluctantly answered the question, by telling my grandkid that she needed to hook the iPod into a computer that had Windows XP, which the damn iPod could have just told her in the first place rather than have us go to the mall and be hassled by Apple employees.
We left post haste, and I proclaimed under my breath "fuggin IDIOTS".
The people waiting in line are idiots to still be lining up for the rare privilege of purchasing an over-priced and over-hyped toy. I'm guessing most of them could spend the money paying down their credit cards or buying gas or food. I'd have thought that most of them would have learned their iPhone lesson by now, after Apple basically screwed the first purchasers of the silly thing for an extra $300.
The store employees are idiots for thinking their menial jobs are so key to society that we need to schedule appointments with them.
Apple is an idiot corporation for not making enough iPhones that people don't need to stand in line for them, because some of those people (the ones who aren't idiots, really) are going to have second thoughts while waiting and they're going to decide they'd rather feed their kids for a month than buy whatever it is that an iPhone is to them. (Is it a phone? Is it a iPod? Is it a Web browser?) And Apple is so far into idiocracy that I hope every stockholder takes a good, long look at their holding if Apple thinks that consumers are going to continue making appointments to spend their money at Apple stores. You think Starbucks went a little overboard? I've got a feeling that's nothing compared to Apple.
Periodically, I get really ticked off about a certain consumer situation and I swear that I'm never darkening the doorstep of that business again. I'll overlook an occasional rude salesperson, but an entire store of them leads me to believe that this is corporate policy, for instance. I'll overlook crappy merchandise once, but two times and I'm not coming back.
It's not that the Apple store employees were rude. They were exceedingly polite. But any retail business who demands that it's customers make appointments to obtain help or spend money does not deserve customers, period. It is the most iDiotic thing I have ever seen.