Oh give me a home...

Well, I'd rather NOT have buffalo roaming my home... but I would like to have a home. I guess I just want more home than I can afford. The latest one I found that I want needs work, and I'm told i can't buy a home that needs work on a VA loan. It doesn't need more than cosmetics... gutters, carpet, a window replaced and trash cleaned up. I would also bulldoze a circular driveway if I bought it, but that's between me and the trees. My real estate agent says since it's a short sale there is no way the VA will lend on this house. It's a good deal, 2300 sf, 2 acres.... He won't even put an offer in for me. I'm a little frustrated. It's within spitting distance of wildcat lake. The floor plan is good for my family, there's a separate shop for Tom.

I haven't heard from Tom in 2 weeks, so I don't have anything to go on from him. Here's the complete list of houses I've been eyeballing....


Shady hollow.. needs carpet, 1 window, gutters and driveway modification. listed at $255k. pros, closer to bangor, close to wildcat lake, close to trails, 2.5 acres, good curb appeal, detached shop, detached barn, craft room for me, klahowya high school, seperate living/family room. cons master bath small, all bedrooms close to each other, all bedrooms upstairs, laundry room in garage. needs fridge.

Alpenwald 260k (taylor's current favorite) has parking, nice private deck, covered area for kids to play in, small yard, adequate parking, although is visible from street, near jackson and lund. split entry, kitchen painted grey, dining room big enough. living room upstairs, rec room dnstrs, additional large bedroom dnstrs, his and hers baths off of master bedroom.

Olsen, 265k near costco, corian counters, real hardwood floors. 4 bedrooms upstairs, my plot is to turn rec room dnstrs with bath off of it into master suite, current master bedroom has no bath off of it, one of 4 bedrooms is tiny. turn shop area dnstrs into rec room. has additional attached 2 car garage, and detached 1 car shop with electric and heat. good size covered back deck. .4 acre, 1/2 in front was once nicely landscaped has fallen into disrepair, back yard fenced lawn.

Phillips, Ollalla, 2.5 acres, property looks ideal. house is 2500 sf, but two kitchens.. I haven't been inside yet. Additional 4 car detached shop. just off of mullenix, not quite olalla. 350k... finding out how low they could go... they owe 260k

Conifer $250k .5 acres, yard is awesome. front looks like normal subdivision blah, but back yard is brush cleared woods. quad trails throughout, garden area in, fruit trees. paved parking for boat, trlrs etc. car gates on both sides of house. house is similar to lilly's, 1.5 baths, think shower could be put back in... looks like it was removed some time ago. 3 bedrooms upstairs, 1 down. corian counters, bamboo flooring. bedrooms painted manly colors. closets small. large deck.

North $220 .5 acres, backs onto banner forest, standard split level home, has parking. Owner willing to negotiate on price if we take over some of the cosmetic repairs. Just off of mullenix.


meanwhile, my head attempts to explode from trying to make this decision on my own. How do I weight commute, price, yard size, house space, floorplan, parking, etc. etc. too many options and nothing perfect. very very frustrating.