Alphabet Soup

Let's see, what has happened since my last posting?

I met with an agent a few weeks ago - I'm hesitant to call her "my" agent just yet. But I think she will be. We talked for about an hour...just general things of what I want, where I want it, when I want it, and how much I want to pay for it. It was all about me, me, me! Which is hard for someone who can't make up their mind.

She was nice, an older lady 20+ years of experience. She had the initials ABR,SRES by her name. The first means Accredited Buyer's Representative - which sounds like a good thing. The second is Seniors Real Estate Specialist. That's right. I picked an agent that old people go to! I think I really am an old person stuck inside a young person's firm, fit body :)

Since I do not want to/can't really buy until mid-summer, she said that I do not have to sign with her until probably mid to late May, when she will get busy sending me listings. Until then, I am to surf on the net and drive around neighborhoods to get a feel for what I like, and what is out there. She also gave me the names of 2 mortgage people. I have yet to call them.

On Friday, she sent me my first listings. So Saturday I drove around the area for almost 2 hours trying to find the houses. Don't tell Al Gore on me. I actually surprised myself by liking most the house that is in a HOA and that is a zero-lot property. That means that I would have to pay to live there (beyond the mortgage of course), and would have to live with someone else's rules. AND I would have a yard the size of a postage stamp. But what do I need a yard for? And there is a community pool. So now I think I will not exclude HOA and zero-lots from my short list. Which doesn't help when you can't narrow stuff down.