The Utter Frustration of the House Buying Process
There is nothing like hunting for a house to buy, especially in a market like we have in Santa Cruz right now where there are more buyers than sellers and houses are being snapped up almost as soon as they become available. Or there's an issue with the place that can't be fixed easily without the application of 5 figure repairs. The problem is making an emotional investment in a place before its been secured.

There was a property in Seabright (our current and my all time favorite neighborhood) that looked in poor shape but had a great space and lots and lots of potential. But it had no listing price and we couldn't find out how much it was going for until after it had already been scooped up by a fat jerk who thought we were looting his property. P was upset after we heard about that loss.

The last house we wanted was denied because of its age which is sensible on the one hand but a pain in the ass on the other. It was a beautiful place in Aptos, California, on a stream and in a quiet and cool little neighborhood surrounded by redwoods. It had some issues but it also had a gorgeous open floor plan layout with a brand new kitchen, hardwood floors, a great big deck and a two car garage with a workshop built in already.
But its too old, is in an unstable location (i.e. it could get wiped by a mudslide which is unlikely but still possible) and is just too much money at this point..

So we move on to Crush #2 (yes, Kat, that one was just for you). Number 2 is a sweet looking house up in Scotts Valley with some land around it, decks and its young enough and close enough to the highway to be accessible by anyone needing to get to the Valley (Silicon) or down into Santa Cruz or even Watsonville (which'll be P's commute if we get the house). A walk through is scheduled for later on today so keep your fingers crossed. I will be shooting pics and if it works out then rest assured that they will be posted here for web-centric oohing and ahhing.

There's so much to the house buying process. There are some damned sleazy realtors out there who will say anything to try and get your business. There are rules, regulations, frenzied gyrations and all manner of people poking through your financials. That's the least comfortable part of the whole thing and I really dislike knowing that every aspect of my financial life is being scrutinized by people that I don't know and have no sense of. It reminds me of that stupid new show on MTV, I think its called Room Raiders or something like that, where the kids go looking through each other's rooms for clues as to what they're like and then they get out the stupid flouroscope to see if they jack off or pissed on their floor or whatever the stupid thing tells them. Then they decide which of the three people they want to go out on a date with and then the three get to ransack the chooser's room too. Yawn. Whatever.

Anyway, keep your fingers crossed for the ever retreating finish line to finally stop running away from us and we can settle in and buy this house!
And hey, while we're at it, why not keep your fingers crossed that P's morning sickness that seems to last all day will go away soon and let her feel normal for a while.