We just met with our new realtor, and I actually feel excited to look for a new house with her. She's young, hip, and a friend of a friend... so I really feel like we're on the same page and that she's looking out for our best interests. Of course, only time will tell... but we all had dinner tonight, and I had such a good time. Plus, she thought that our expectations were realistic, and we have a good chance of finding just what we want (which made me feel better).

I definitely have a good feeling. Here's hoping!

We looked at this house today after work... Its only been on the market for 3 days and they are reviewing all offers tomorrow.... I really wish that we had everything ready to make an offer, because we both agreed that this house is just what we are looking for...

So, today is the day we are supposed to be moving into our new apartment (the temporary apartment we stay at while we are looking for a house). Big surprise... its raining today.

As someone who designs new homes, remodels, and additions for other people as a living, I've always thought that a fixer-upper would be a fun and exciting adventure. The problem of course, is that in Seattle, everyone else thinks the same thing. The really disturbing thing is that these fixer-uppers go for what most people around the country spend for their McMansions.

Our second try looking at a house, found us just around the corner from the first... This house had also been on the market for awhile, but we thought that it might be due to overpricing rather than any inherent problems with the actual building. Wishful thinking I guess.

Talking with the agent, he seemed to agree...While touring, we discovered that the house was pretty adorable (and larger than you or I would think looking at the photo). The kitchen had recently been redone and had all new appliances. Even though the house had a peculiar layout (we weren't even sure where to put the tv), we were pretty much ready to make an offer. Basically, we really only had two concerns. So, we decided that once we alleviated them, we would put an offer in...

The next day (which happened to be Monday) I visited the Seattle DPD to check out the plot plan. When we toured the property we checked out the alley out back. As I mentioned before, parking is very important to us. Because the house is on a very narrow lot, we knew that the only access would through the alley.... and we just wanted to make sure that this was acceptable before we went through with the purchase. We already knew after looking on Seattle's Parcel Viewer that the alley wasn't deeded, and technically wasn't a part of this property. Still, I was holding out hope that there was an easement that permitted the alley to cross over the 5-6 properties through which it was running. I mean... the last thing that we would want, would be to purchase a property and then lose our alley access when somebody decided to put up a fence.

Sure enough, not only was the alley not deeded, but there are no recorded easements on the adjacent properties. While in theory we could probably use the alley indefinately and claim (in land use court, if need be) that the alley was a prescriptive easement due to its historic use... that just isn't a risk we are willing to take.

By the time we figured all of this out, it really didn't matter that the roof probably needs replacing (our other concern). We'd already made our decision to pass on the property.

I guess we just need to realize that there is a reason some properties are on the market for so long....