Lovely day in the East Bay

Today really was a lovely day in the East Bay we had plans to mill around the house and do a lot of nothing. Jakob of course would try and cram as much TV in as possible while I’d be on the laptop trying to figure out my website projects. Instead Jakob and I headed out to Novato to show a client a few condos. It’s astouding what you can get for just under $200K in Marin County! Had I had a few bucks to spare I would have picked up one of the 3 properties we looked at.  My client decided on a 2bd/1ba end corner unit that was surrounded by Redwoods, it had a fireplace and a small enclosed deck and was close to everything. Nice secluded location. List is $201K! We’ll go in under and ask for 3% back in closing costs.  HOA fees were only $240/mo incl pool plus hot tub.

So who was my client? A young woman in her late 20’s, professional with an MBA. She, like many of my clients/investors, see the benefit of not just buying in a down market but getting a quality home in the process. She’s using an FHA loan AND getting credits for closing. It’s move in quality and if over the years she updates the kitchen, bathroom and replaces the windows she will have a nice little investment on her hands.

The trip was quick. In and out in approximately an hour and off we went back to the East Bay singing to the new CD I bought called Lifehouse. Everytime I go to Marin County I wonder when I’ll be living there. It’s lovely. It’s sunny. It has good school systems and I already have friends in place in Mill Valley and San Rafael. I’ll need to investigate it a bit more.

We ended up going to Alameda after Novato.  Alameda was having its Annual Webster Street Festival. Music, booths, food, non-profit organizations. We watched some great bands, ate the best kettle corn popcorn ever and headed on home and then quickly snagged the dogs, Foxy Brown and Lily White, and off we went to Leona Lodge.

Right behind the lodge is this fantastic hidden trail with bridges and a flowing stream beneath. I’ve never made it to the top and today wasn’t the day either. I was feeling lazy and tired so I sat on on one of the bridges and threw the ball while Jakob and the dogs ran around.

All three were filthy when we got back in the car. After that I gardened a little bit…HATE IT!!  Remember this home was a rental and we are only going to be here for a year or so until we regroup and move onward…anyhow, the backyard use to be beautiful and now it looks like a peice of shit. As a matter of fact there was shit everywhere when we moved back in. I had to hire this young kid to clean it out. There were so many piles and overgrown shrubbery that I’d walk out my back door and turn right back around. The plan is to bring it back to life so when we do move out it will be back to its original conditiononly better.  I think that’s the worst part of homeownership if you own a single family home that has substantial property…the upkeep! I am so not a gardener.