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Found a house!

It looks like we will indeed be homeowners again. After about eight weeks of looking, the conclusion of the search happened remarkably quickly. Yesterday morning we got the usual daily email from our agent, showing properties newly on the market. He had only one house, and my initial inclination was to skip it because it was near an area we'd ruled out the day before.

But the listing looked good, and so we went over to see it, not expecting much. The house and the neighborhood surprised us -- in a good way -- and a few hours later we were writing up the offer ...

Apparently we encountered that most rare and magical type of seller: a motivated one. This afternoon, they accepted our offer, even though it was below the asking price and the house had undergone two price reductions already.

So now it's real. We are about to become homeowners again. It's not an amazing house by any stretch, but it's perfect for us. The kitchens, baths, and floors are all pretty dated (think 1970's), but structurally and functionally it's all in good shape. The neighborhood is surprisingly nice, dotted with palm trees and neat little ranches from 1967-1972. The house is nice and cool with burnt adobe block walls and a reflective roof, and it has a lovely view of the Santa Catalinas from the back yard.

Tucson house RV port.jpg

It also has something I never dared dream of. The previous owner owned an RV and so the house comes with a carport sized for tall vehicles like Airstreams. No silly HOA restrictions here. The carport also has sewer & water connections. By merely adding a 30-amp plug, we'll have a covered full hookup in our carport! Too cool.

Now I know a few of you are thinking, "Hey, I'd like to come to Tucson next winter with my Airstream." Well, as it turns out, we are most likely going to rent the house out for a while, so there won't be courtesy parking for a while -- and when there is, we may be using it ourselves!

See, we've decided we don't actually want to stop traveling for a while yet. Emma is on a waiting list for her school. While we are waiting we will keep home schooling and getting some more travel in. Soon enough she'll be locked into a school schedule, but until then we don't want to pass up any more opportunities. When the school calls, we'll come back here and live in the Airstream until the tenants' lease is up.

Having done this, we've stepped back into the world of traditional real estate. There will be many calls to make this week, paperwork, and decisions. Having lived in the Airstream all this time, it seems like far too much trouble to have a wheel-less house.

But ironically, having completed this task of finding a house means we will soon be free again. Once our pre-paid month at the campground is up and we've gotten all the inspections of the house done, we plan to hit the road for three weeks. We'll return for the closing and to get the house set up for rental, and then take off again, not to return until next fall at the earliest. It's nice to have a start on a home base, but we're not going to let it take over just yet.

Comments

Congrats! Sounds good - you did the research, invested your time, stayed patient, and a little luck came your way! (Whaddaya mean, no courtesy parking!? We'll just see about that... how wide is the street there?)

H'mm... so your pie d'terre de Arizona is square (actually a good thing if you seek balance in more of your life ;-) and is made of brick, not metal, but you can keep at least one theme going by putting a big decal on the front of you new house with the words "VISIT TUCSON" or some such thing.
Actually, all those earth-tone boxy houses (insiders use the abbreviation "ETBH") lined up neatly in row after row can start to look alike unless you add a bit of decoration.....

Congratulations on your housing find! It seems Providential that you will have a place to store your Airstream under protective cover. From the photo you posted, it appears that the landscape is zero landscaping, which should be water-wise as well as easy to maintain in your absence. Be sure to check the condition of the roof (or have it checked professionally). Flat roofs in hot climates can deteriorate rapidly and then leak accordingly.
At any rate, I am elated to read of your "find" and hope it turns out to be everything you wish!

It's nice to see you have your priorities in order. Congratulations on finding and buying one of the few covered RV carports in Tucson that has an attached house. It's CC&R-free and even comes with a front yard palm tree to keep your fair-skinned flamingos from getting too sun burned ... what's more to want? A very successful shopping trip indeed!

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