Here's a cool way to see our property: go to bing.com maps, put in our address: 19205 Santa Rosa Rd 92509, click on the world icon on map, choose bird's eye view, + sign to zoom in, rotate to view from different angles. VERY COOL! Thanks, Bing.
Steve
try this link http://www.bing.com/maps/explore/#/npfb3n2sqs51xs2g
Thursday, September 30, 2010
A Little History...
We've been working on getting totally out of debt (who isn't?), and ultimately decided to try to buy a fixer on acreage, hoping to buy cheaply and pay it off in just a few years. We actually found a few decent properties under 100k in southern California, most of them south of Hemet and east of Temecula. They are still listed, by the way, for those of you interested in cheaper digs. We made a few trips to Aguanga and Anza, but decided that it was just too far to commute.
Two properties with Lake Elsinore addresses caught our eye. One was a small block house with one bedroom and one bath (extra bedrooms in separate buildings) on 5 acres fairly close to the 15 freeway. They were asking 99k; we really saw some potential there. We made an offer of 85k, and NEVER got an up or down to our offer. There's a longer story there, but at the end, we had to move on.
The other Lake Elsinore property was listed for $50,900 and we had quite an adventure with Doug Newkirk, our realtor, in just finding the property. Doug absolutely loved the property (he's a bit quixotic), and so did Shelley. I liked the price and the idea of owning someplace free and clear. There's really cool rocks for climbing, too. Ok, so I'm not a kid anymore; I still like to scramble around boulders. We made an offer of 39k cash, but found there was another offer. We were instructed to make our best offer, and told the bank that this was our highest; the offer was rejected. We scrounged, and figured we could make a new offer of 44k, and the bank (REO) accepted our new offer. Elated, we made all the money transfers to our accounts to make the purchase. Weird thing though, the bank-prepared paperwork stated the price was 39k (our original offer.) Our agents called, and were told the price is correct. Hmm. (5 second pause) Woohoo! We really need the extra 5k for repairs.
We closed escrow, and now the real fun begins. Pray for us, wish us luck, and bring batteries.
Steve
Two properties with Lake Elsinore addresses caught our eye. One was a small block house with one bedroom and one bath (extra bedrooms in separate buildings) on 5 acres fairly close to the 15 freeway. They were asking 99k; we really saw some potential there. We made an offer of 85k, and NEVER got an up or down to our offer. There's a longer story there, but at the end, we had to move on.
The other Lake Elsinore property was listed for $50,900 and we had quite an adventure with Doug Newkirk, our realtor, in just finding the property. Doug absolutely loved the property (he's a bit quixotic), and so did Shelley. I liked the price and the idea of owning someplace free and clear. There's really cool rocks for climbing, too. Ok, so I'm not a kid anymore; I still like to scramble around boulders. We made an offer of 39k cash, but found there was another offer. We were instructed to make our best offer, and told the bank that this was our highest; the offer was rejected. We scrounged, and figured we could make a new offer of 44k, and the bank (REO) accepted our new offer. Elated, we made all the money transfers to our accounts to make the purchase. Weird thing though, the bank-prepared paperwork stated the price was 39k (our original offer.) Our agents called, and were told the price is correct. Hmm. (5 second pause) Woohoo! We really need the extra 5k for repairs.
We closed escrow, and now the real fun begins. Pray for us, wish us luck, and bring batteries.
Steve
Work, work, work
Here's a small update. The Riverside County guy couldn't find the Well Completion Report, and is going to email me the number of some other department in County to see if they have an older record. grrr. If I can't find it, I'll have to pay the well expert tons more to get basic well information.
Our friend from church, Lee B. took a look yesterday at our property, and is teaching our boys to remove the broken drywall, put in wiring, insulation, install and tape drywall. They also need to prune back bushes near the drive so our truck and cars don't get scratched up. Wahoo!
Steve
Our friend from church, Lee B. took a look yesterday at our property, and is teaching our boys to remove the broken drywall, put in wiring, insulation, install and tape drywall. They also need to prune back bushes near the drive so our truck and cars don't get scratched up. Wahoo!
Steve
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Steve's update 1
We closed escrow on Friday, September 24th, and I've discovered that almost nobody can find our property! That's great for avoiding annoying people, but it's really inconvenient for getting service people we actually want to find us. The biggest problem is that the street address does not show up on any maps. You can find it by Assessor's Parcel Number, and by satellite maps (if you know where to look!), but even GPS can't find it! Even the MLS to sell the property initially printed a map on the wrong side of Lake Elsinore. So.... if you want to come visit, call first.... oh wait, there's almost no cell service there. WWWT?
I really should've figured some stuff out BEFORE we closed escrow; it was just so great a deal, we let some important items just kinda slide. Pretty much, there's an endless loop of people saying "this" has to be done before "that" can happen. Septic, oh, you need water and power first. Well water, oh, you need power and a Well Completion Report. Satellite, you need power to install.
I stopped by Riverside County to get some water well information, and after walking in circles for a while, finally got to the right department to pull up a Well Completion Report order. They'll do the research and call me tomorrow (yeah, we'll see. I'm not skeptical, nah.)
Overall, though, we are really excited and still think we got a great deal on decent property. We are "free and clear" with no mortgage, and we'll pay for improvements with cash. If you want to come see our gem, our diamond in the rough, you are quite welcome to do so. Bring work gloves, maybe some tools, some bottled water... and oh yeah, an open mind.
I really should've figured some stuff out BEFORE we closed escrow; it was just so great a deal, we let some important items just kinda slide. Pretty much, there's an endless loop of people saying "this" has to be done before "that" can happen. Septic, oh, you need water and power first. Well water, oh, you need power and a Well Completion Report. Satellite, you need power to install.
I stopped by Riverside County to get some water well information, and after walking in circles for a while, finally got to the right department to pull up a Well Completion Report order. They'll do the research and call me tomorrow (yeah, we'll see. I'm not skeptical, nah.)
Overall, though, we are really excited and still think we got a great deal on decent property. We are "free and clear" with no mortgage, and we'll pay for improvements with cash. If you want to come see our gem, our diamond in the rough, you are quite welcome to do so. Bring work gloves, maybe some tools, some bottled water... and oh yeah, an open mind.
Finally the begining
We are Finally Homesteaders, Well, we have a property that will be a homestead. We never thought a big enough piece of property would be affordable in So California. So now we own 5 acres, most of it a rock hill, but enough for our horses and chickens and to start a garden and plant fruit trees. The house is off-grid, meaning no So Cal Edison or Gas comes directly to the property. We will be in learning mode and installing a generator and solar for power and trying to improve our cell phone reception. Also we will be rewiring and plumbing the house. So many decisions to make and jobs to do! This blog will be for friends and family to keep up with our progress. And for wanna be homesteaders to live vicariously through our experience and finally for experienced homesteaders to look back and give advice.
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