Lifestyle is a potential downer. 90% of my interactions with Shannon over the last 10 years involve her either on the phone when we meet up or having to take a call in the middle of hanging out. I would resent being so majorly on-call. But I guess that's what everyone's jobs are sort of becoming anyway?
maybe you could be a "buyer's agent"? Is that just a Mass thing? Our realtor is a "buyer's agent," he just works for us, so he doesn't try to "sell" us on anything, he just helps us research stuff and look at stuff and then he helps us make offers.
I think he also is a regular realtor. I don't know if you can be JUST a buyer's agent. But buyer's agent seems like more what you love about real estate. Maybe you could create a new market niche, if it's not a thing in Oregon!
It is great. We spent like a week just looking at houses all over the place so he could get a feel for our vibe/what we want/our aesthetic tastes/etc. And honestly? He totally DID get it! Now all the houses he suggests are totally the vibe of house we are looking for. Or he'll be like "I think this house is perfect for you guys except you'll think the kitchen is ugly" and he'll be totally right. Or he'll tell us about some other couple he's working with and how he always laughs to himself about how much we would hate the house they bought and totally love. He's totally deep in our lives, like he knows that a weird floor plan where two of the bedrooms are on the first floor will work for us because we aren't going to have kids, stuff like that. It makes us feel way safer and calmer as we embark on this terrifying journey to know that he gets what will make us happy.
I could just see you being so good at this Flossy!!!!!
Yeah...hmm...I don't know. The idea of having a really structured work life (and working with a team I really like) is super appealing to me right now, and is not the life of a realtor. Hmm.
oh man TOTALLY. You could become like an unofficial portland real estate expert. You could be the Nikki Finke of Portland real estate!!!!!!!!!!! Everyone looking to your blog for your hot takes and take DOWNS
So, it's been proving difficult to find a house in the town where we really want to live (Easthampton). The town is a real town, with bars, restaurants, a cool record store, a weird dinner theater, a beautiful used bookstore, coffee shops, an actual "main street" with people walking down it eating ice cream, etc.
Houses in this town ARE within our price range, but they are near the top of it. And so far there just haven't been any on the market, except that one we bid on and lost.
We are sort of toying with the idea of drastically re-thinking our lifestyle, and moving out to one of the deeply rural little villages where there is no action at all. The benefits of this would be - much shorter commute to work - much, much cheaper houses - very beautiful--farmland, rivers, woods, bears in your yard, etc.
the downsides are - no coffee shop. Nothing to do at night. Low resale value. Have to drive EVERYWHERE. In Easthampton we'd only have to drive for groceries/work. In the country we'd have to drive to do everything, any leisure activity, etc.
On the one hand, we don't go out at night much as it is, but on the other hand, there's something about KNOWING that we COULD go out if we wanted to that makes us feel better. Moving to the straight-up countryside seems a bit stressful to me, especially since I do so much of my work in coffee shops. On the other hand, a part of me does thrill to the idea of living in the country, getting into having a fireplace and a 3-season porch and watching the deers walk by. Gary could chop wood and we could have a sick garden and we'd just do country stuff. I grew up in this kind of environment and a part of me has always been drawn to it. On the other hand I worry about going stir crazy and murdering my family, especially in winter when it's SO isolating even if you live right in a cool town
Okay. So the towns we are considering are South Deerfield and Turners Falls. If you want to google. TF is currently a bit more "happening" than SD, but local realtors are all shrieking about how SD is about to pop off and we all need to buy houses there, whereas I've heard nothing about TF.
Anyway WHAT SHOULD WE DO???
Should we keep holding out for Easthampton in hopes that July is better than the spring has been, in terms of houses coming on the market? Or should we move out to the country? If so, which town??? How do you decide to revamp your expectations of your lifestyle??
MirandaJuly nailed it. Go look at some houses in those towns, sit on the front steps, gaze out into the meadow and feel your feelings. Do you feel a flutter or a pain?
WHOA, how can you know? I would personally starve to death if I were not spitting distance from a salad bar. But it can be done! You just have to be extra intentional so you aren't trapped without toilet paper.
Today I'm trying to deal with the avalanche of junk mail that began immediately after buying a house. No one warns you about this!
I have no idea how this sort of thing works but you could buy and live in a more rural place and then use the "wealth" you've "built" with the rural place to buy another more urban place in a few years and rent out the more rural place? #wealthbuilding #capitalism #leverageassets
It seems like the commute to work and how that is impacted would be a big deal for you guys cause it feels like work is your #1 priority.
Will you be driving from either Easthampton or the rural locations to work?
Just looking at the map it looks like Turners Falls might be a little too far away.
South Deerfield is right near the freeway and only like 17-19 minutes from Easthampton. Turners Falls is like 31 minutes.
I don't really understand why you couldn't go out at night based on a 17 minute drive. Seems like that stuff is all still pretty accessible. That's the drive from my house to downtown Portland or the Aladdin Theater or many of the places around here.
I would think that South Deerfield looks more doable and if realtors are saying that values are gonna go up it could be a great investment.
Oh damn, we definitely should have mentioned the junk mail that arrives after you move in. So much of it trying to look "official" and it's weird companies trying to scam you on mortgage stuff. And all the various service providers offering you 15% off whatever they do.
It's definitely intense for a while. These days I feel like I'm back to a more normal amount of junk mail.
UBS nails part of the issue, work feels like so much of a focal point in our lives that we barely go out to begin with...and I just know that if we threw in a 17 minute drive (as opposed to walking 4 blocks) as our only means of eating at a restaurant or going to a bar or anything, I just feel we'd never do it.
We went and scoped out Turners Falls today and you're also right, it's just too far. It's really cute though! Another option is Greenfield, which is also pretty far though.
I don't know. Right now we're thinking we'll double down on Easthampton but it's starting to feel scary that we won't get something and then have another year renting. Also the landlords had our house assessed the other day so we're nervous that they might sell it out from under us....
you guys are helping me process! Thank you!!!
Oh another wrinkle I should add is that Gary and I teach at different schools--mine's in Amherst, his is in Northampton. So e.g. if we did live in Turners Falls it'd be like, I'd take an hour-long bus to school and Gary would take a 40 minute drive, in the car. Whereas in Easthampton, I'd have a 40 minute car ride and Gary would have like a 2 second bus ride.
oh another wrinkle is you are probably wondering "why don't they just live in Amherst" but the answer is that Amherst is LAME and full of drunk kids and the taxes are massively higher than any of the other towns. So when we're imagining a place to go at night for fun, we are thinking Northampton or Easthampton.
This is definitely a conundrum, but I just want to point out how cool it is that you really have a sense that you're going to stay in this area for a while and put down roots and make a home. Isn't that sort of an awesome feeling!? I know it's probably mixed, with many of your friends on the opposite coast, but still...I'm happy for you two.
it does feel kind of cool, but also scary because in 6 years or so I could totally lose my job! If I don't publish a book. So with that hanging over us it's a bit stressful. But nonetheless, yes, after moving so much it does feel good to imagine actually inhabiting a building and actually investing in a garden and things like that!
very lucky to have gotten a job in a place we just happen to like!! Could easily have gone another way!
6 years is so long. Especially in real estate (more like fake estate, amirite?) The house you buy will probably be worth 5 or 6 million by that time. Then you sell it and move to the Peruvian Amazon.
check this out: now we're looking at this little town that we really like (Greenfield--the actual town on the other side of turners falls). It's about as far from school as Easthampton, but in a different direction. And in many respects, it's got more going for it than Easthampton--it's got a co-op, a YMCA, and a movie theater, none of which Easthampton has. It's got some cool bars, some legit restaurants, a used book store, a cool record store, and coffee shops. And houses are ludicrously cheap. Tomorrow we are looking at all these beautiful huge victorians with yards and gardens that are like $125,000 (compared with $275-$330 for comparable houses in easthampton)
What's the problem, you're thinking?
EVERYONE keeps telling us Greenfield is "scary" and "grimy" and "unsafe" and "no one will visit you there" and "resale value is bad." Every single person.
Because there are poor people there!!!!!! It's so fucked up how blatantly people are like "a lot of poor people live there, so you shouldn't."
It is in MA's poorest county; and it does have a significant heroin problem. On the other hand, it's got all this thriving shit on a real main street; the town rallied together and refused to let Wal-Mart in; there's art fairs and farmers markets and a daily newspaper; and the town is in a beautiful location.
I guess we don't know if by "scary" and "unsafe" people LITERALLY MEAN it is scary and unsafe, or if they are just bourgie and prejudiced and have never been in a real city so they don't know what they're talking about! So we'll go spend some time there and feel the vibes. But like, Jesus Christ, go drive around Holyoke if you want to see a fucking busted-ass urban wasteland that I legitimately would not walk around in by myself at night. Compared to Holyoke Greenfield seems chill as hell.
We can't tell if people here are just super sheltered or if their advice is accurate. When you've lived in Los Angeles, as I have, sometimes the places in other parts of the country where people are like "oooh that's a scary place" seem so un-scary to you that it is hilarious. Like, I have walked around downtown LA at 2 in the morning by myself (e.g. on my way to my car after a show at the Smell) and while of course it's not great, it was not like I was in fear for my life constantly. If I've done that surely I can live in freaking Greenfield where there's like an organic dairy farm with solar panels
but maybe not???
ugh. But I kind of like it over there. And imagining buying a house for that cheap makes my heart pound. And Greenfield is much closer to Shelburne Falls, where they have old-timey candlepin bowling.
The only other issue is that living there would entail a super long commute for both of us, whereas in easthampton I would have a really long commute but Gary would have a tiny commute. In Greenfield I think I'd take an hour-long bus to school and Gary would take a 40 minute drive to his work. I feel like we would just get into this vibe and get used to it but maybe that's crazy
also re: the commute, one thing to remember is that the academic calendar is weird, and so we end up only actually doing the commute for like 6 months out of the year, if you take away christmas, spring break, and summer. And even during the semester you don't do the commute every day. So, a long commute is still a consideration, but it's not AS crazy as if you were doing it M-F all year round forever, I think
How long was your commute to L&C when you were teaching in Portland?
I like the sound of Greenfield. I think it's way more likely than not that people are being paranoid, but it's also a really good idea to spend some time there. Does Greenfield have a little hotel or anything? You could spend the night and walk around and feel it out.
Resale value is a real thing to consider, but you could look at the sale histories of homes in Greenfield to see how long they stay on the market, etc., and see just how bad it is. If you can live in a place for six years then sell it for what you paid for it, I call that a major win.
And great point re: my LC commute. That was a good 30 minutes on the way in and sometimes 50 on the way home! AND, my final year there I didn't have a car, and took the bus, which took 1.5 hours and two transfers standing out in the rain at 6 a.m.
wow that is some epic perspective. THANKS FLOSSY!!!!!!!
Hm, that link didn't work for me. What's the address?
The modernish house down the street from me had an open house today. I think it's just a model home. It was fun to see it after months of construction. Much better than the fake craftsman homes they've been building. INDOOR AND OUTDOOR FIREPLACES....
Comments
I think he also is a regular realtor. I don't know if you can be JUST a buyer's agent. But buyer's agent seems like more what you love about real estate. Maybe you could create a new market niche, if it's not a thing in Oregon!
I think it is a separate license and everything?
http://www.realtor.com/advice/buyer-agents-work-free/
It is great. We spent like a week just looking at houses all over the place so he could get a feel for our vibe/what we want/our aesthetic tastes/etc. And honestly? He totally DID get it! Now all the houses he suggests are totally the vibe of house we are looking for. Or he'll be like "I think this house is perfect for you guys except you'll think the kitchen is ugly" and he'll be totally right. Or he'll tell us about some other couple he's working with and how he always laughs to himself about how much we would hate the house they bought and totally love. He's totally deep in our lives, like he knows that a weird floor plan where two of the bedrooms are on the first floor will work for us because we aren't going to have kids, stuff like that. It makes us feel way safer and calmer as we embark on this terrifying journey to know that he gets what will make us happy.
I could just see you being so good at this Flossy!!!!!
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Ha ha! I love this so much!
I was shamed on FB today, though. Judah and his actual realtor friend found some amazing a-frames before I did. I'm slipping.
So, it's been proving difficult to find a house in the town where we really want to live (Easthampton). The town is a real town, with bars, restaurants, a cool record store, a weird dinner theater, a beautiful used bookstore, coffee shops, an actual "main street" with people walking down it eating ice cream, etc.
Houses in this town ARE within our price range, but they are near the top of it. And so far there just haven't been any on the market, except that one we bid on and lost.
We are sort of toying with the idea of drastically re-thinking our lifestyle, and moving out to one of the deeply rural little villages where there is no action at all. The benefits of this would be
- much shorter commute to work
- much, much cheaper houses
- very beautiful--farmland, rivers, woods, bears in your yard, etc.
the downsides are
- no coffee shop. Nothing to do at night. Low resale value. Have to drive EVERYWHERE. In Easthampton we'd only have to drive for groceries/work. In the country we'd have to drive to do everything, any leisure activity, etc.
On the one hand, we don't go out at night much as it is, but on the other hand, there's something about KNOWING that we COULD go out if we wanted to that makes us feel better. Moving to the straight-up countryside seems a bit stressful to me, especially since I do so much of my work in coffee shops. On the other hand, a part of me does thrill to the idea of living in the country, getting into having a fireplace and a 3-season porch and watching the deers walk by. Gary could chop wood and we could have a sick garden and we'd just do country stuff. I grew up in this kind of environment and a part of me has always been drawn to it. On the other hand I worry about going stir crazy and murdering my family, especially in winter when it's SO isolating even if you live right in a cool town
Okay. So the towns we are considering are South Deerfield and Turners Falls. If you want to google. TF is currently a bit more "happening" than SD, but local realtors are all shrieking about how SD is about to pop off and we all need to buy houses there, whereas I've heard nothing about TF.
Anyway WHAT SHOULD WE DO???
Should we keep holding out for Easthampton in hopes that July is better than the spring has been, in terms of houses coming on the market? Or should we move out to the country? If so, which town??? How do you decide to revamp your expectations of your lifestyle??
would just love some discussion on this
first world problems etc.
Today I'm trying to deal with the avalanche of junk mail that began immediately after buying a house. No one warns you about this!
Will you be driving from either Easthampton or the rural locations to work?
Just looking at the map it looks like Turners Falls might be a little too far away.
South Deerfield is right near the freeway and only like 17-19 minutes from Easthampton.
Turners Falls is like 31 minutes.
I don't really understand why you couldn't go out at night based on a 17 minute drive. Seems like that stuff is all still pretty accessible. That's the drive from my house to downtown Portland or the Aladdin Theater or many of the places around here.
I would think that South Deerfield looks more doable and if realtors are saying that values are gonna go up it could be a great investment.
You do love coffee shops though.
It's definitely intense for a while. These days I feel like I'm back to a more normal amount of junk mail.
We went and scoped out Turners Falls today and you're also right, it's just too far. It's really cute though! Another option is Greenfield, which is also pretty far though.
I don't know. Right now we're thinking we'll double down on Easthampton but it's starting to feel scary that we won't get something and then have another year renting. Also the landlords had our house assessed the other day so we're nervous that they might sell it out from under us....
you guys are helping me process! Thank you!!!
Oh another wrinkle I should add is that Gary and I teach at different schools--mine's in Amherst, his is in Northampton. So e.g. if we did live in Turners Falls it'd be like, I'd take an hour-long bus to school and Gary would take a 40 minute drive, in the car. Whereas in Easthampton, I'd have a 40 minute car ride and Gary would have like a 2 second bus ride.
I'm realizing Turners Falls is obviously a no-go
boy oh boy
very lucky to have gotten a job in a place we just happen to like!! Could easily have gone another way!
so true re: fake estate also
what is the DEAL with real estate??
check this out: now we're looking at this little town that we really like (Greenfield--the actual town on the other side of turners falls). It's about as far from school as Easthampton, but in a different direction. And in many respects, it's got more going for it than Easthampton--it's got a co-op, a YMCA, and a movie theater, none of which Easthampton has. It's got some cool bars, some legit restaurants, a used book store, a cool record store, and coffee shops. And houses are ludicrously cheap. Tomorrow we are looking at all these beautiful huge victorians with yards and gardens that are like $125,000 (compared with $275-$330 for comparable houses in easthampton)
What's the problem, you're thinking?
EVERYONE keeps telling us Greenfield is "scary" and "grimy" and "unsafe" and "no one will visit you there" and "resale value is bad." Every single person.
Because there are poor people there!!!!!! It's so fucked up how blatantly people are like "a lot of poor people live there, so you shouldn't."
It is in MA's poorest county; and it does have a significant heroin problem. On the other hand, it's got all this thriving shit on a real main street; the town rallied together and refused to let Wal-Mart in; there's art fairs and farmers markets and a daily newspaper; and the town is in a beautiful location.
I guess we don't know if by "scary" and "unsafe" people LITERALLY MEAN it is scary and unsafe, or if they are just bourgie and prejudiced and have never been in a real city so they don't know what they're talking about! So we'll go spend some time there and feel the vibes. But like, Jesus Christ, go drive around Holyoke if you want to see a fucking busted-ass urban wasteland that I legitimately would not walk around in by myself at night. Compared to Holyoke Greenfield seems chill as hell.
We can't tell if people here are just super sheltered or if their advice is accurate. When you've lived in Los Angeles, as I have, sometimes the places in other parts of the country where people are like "oooh that's a scary place" seem so un-scary to you that it is hilarious. Like, I have walked around downtown LA at 2 in the morning by myself (e.g. on my way to my car after a show at the Smell) and while of course it's not great, it was not like I was in fear for my life constantly. If I've done that surely I can live in freaking Greenfield where there's like an organic dairy farm with solar panels
but maybe not???
ugh. But I kind of like it over there. And imagining buying a house for that cheap makes my heart pound. And Greenfield is much closer to Shelburne Falls, where they have old-timey candlepin bowling.
The only other issue is that living there would entail a super long commute for both of us, whereas in easthampton I would have a really long commute but Gary would have a tiny commute. In Greenfield I think I'd take an hour-long bus to school and Gary would take a 40 minute drive to his work. I feel like we would just get into this vibe and get used to it but maybe that's crazy
anyway thanks for listening
I like the sound of Greenfield. I think it's way more likely than not that people are being paranoid, but it's also a really good idea to spend some time there. Does Greenfield have a little hotel or anything? You could spend the night and walk around and feel it out.
Resale value is a real thing to consider, but you could look at the sale histories of homes in Greenfield to see how long they stay on the market, etc., and see just how bad it is. If you can live in a place for six years then sell it for what you paid for it, I call that a major win.
And great point re: my LC commute. That was a good 30 minutes on the way in and sometimes 50 on the way home! AND, my final year there I didn't have a car, and took the bus, which took 1.5 hours and two transfers standing out in the rain at 6 a.m.
wow that is some epic perspective. THANKS FLOSSY!!!!!!!
https://www.redfin.com/city/30772/OR/Portland/real-estate#!v=8&sst=&lat=45.562626286163095&long=-122.64785294524381&zoomLevel=16®ion_id=30772®ion_type=6&market=oregon
I'm all for my property value going up, but seriously?
The modernish house down the street from me had an open house today. I think it's just a model home. It was fun to see it after months of construction. Much better than the fake craftsman homes they've been building. INDOOR AND OUTDOOR FIREPLACES....
Correct link.
https://www.redfin.com/OR/Portland/1907-NE-Holman-St-97211/home/26654882
https://www.redfin.com/OR/Portland/1927-NE-Highland-St-97211/home/25759719
Claims it's pending already.