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CHANGE.....

Saturday, March 26, 2011

UPDATE ON OUR (POTENTIAL) CHICO HOUSE

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AS YOU HAVE SEEN EARLIER, we’ve been considering a house to buy in Chico. It’s still under consideration. (Sorry that I can’t make that link take you to the correct page - just click on “Family Matters: New House in Chico” over on the left, and then scroll down to the first post in the list.)

Since we made an offer and the bank accepted it, we’ve paid a professional home inspector to give us a report, and he discovered some serious issues that changed the calculus considerably. Mainly, it turns out that the house at 1938 Preservation Oak was built in the middle of what is really a seasonal stream - because it’s the low spot along the street and the runoff from the little watershed behind the house runs right across the property. So, we asked for an extension that was granted by the bank, and we’ve been exploring options and staying in touch with our agent and a top-notch Chico landscape contractor.

Here’s the back of the house…
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Posted by Earl on 03/26 at 08:31 PM
Family Matters • CHANGE..... • NEW HOUSE IN CHICO •

Sunday, February 13, 2011

THE HOUSE WITHOUT CURB APPEAL…..AND IT COULD BE OURS!

There it is…..from the other side of the overflow channel that takes excess water from Chico Creek to Butte Creek. At the time I took this photograph, Sandy hadn’t mentioned that it was for sale, so it’s pure serendipity that I got this - from the second floor of a different place we were looking at.

The stucco house on the far left over there across the canal was built in 2007, then lived in a fairly short time before being foreclosed on. The bank finally got it in late October, 2010 and it’s been on the market ever since. We understand that they got one offer, but that’s been it. To the left of the house are three lots, and the one next door has sold and will have a house on it fairly soon. All of the big oak trees to the left and behind the house are in a Blue Oak Preserve that will never be built on, so we “own” the views front and back.

There are some problems - drainage water from the section of the Preserve behind it runs through the property, and the builder (now reportedly fled the country after a mortgage scandal of some kind) dispensed with drains for the downspouts from the roof, so that adds to the hydrology difficulties. And the “street” in front is actually a private road, and we would own and be responsible for 1/7 of it. It’s also a fire lane, meaning there is no parking along the “curb”, and that’s why the “front yard” is a parking lot - two spaces required. Furthermore, the sewer system would belong to us, too….1/7 of the pipes, tank, sewer lift pump, etc.

It’s really no wonder people didn’t want the house very much at $225.00/square foot, it’s approximate original price. By the time we got there, it was down to about $155/foot, and we offered about $137. The bank wanted more and countered, but two days later they thought better of it and accepted the offer. You might ask why WE want it, with all the problems (there are more, but they appear relatively minor and we’ll know more after the inspection next week.) The first three reasons are, as with all real estate, “location, location, location”.....it’s on a private street with a Preserve behind and a canal lateral in front, so our views will never be marred by more houses! It’s about a mile from two of Gail’s brothers, where I will install my garden and work on a small orchard. And it’s two blocks from the lovely house that Laura and Leslie are renting, along with the two grand-girls!
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Posted by Earl on 02/13 at 01:30 PM
Family Matters • CHANGE..... • NEW HOUSE IN CHICO •

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

OUR 4th NEW AUTOMOBILE - IN FORTY YEARS

In an EARLIER POST, I explained how we like to buy well-made things and keep them a long (long) time, mentioning that we’d had only three cars in our 40 years of marriage. What I didn’t say was that we were in the process of buying our fourth car, one that we hope will last us until we quit driving altogether. It was a fun process, actually…..especially since, once she saw and sat in the 2010 model of the vehicle I’d decided was the best one for us, Gail loved it! We picked up the car on Sunday, but it was only this morning that we took the “official photograph”:
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Posted by Earl on 11/10 at 04:52 PM
Family Matters • CHANGE..... • REVIEWS •

Monday, November 09, 2009

THE PASSING OF AN ERA…...

In 1965, this is what Gail and I looked like, at the ALBION FIELD STATION during our freshman year:
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A lot has changed since then…..but not everything!

Posted by Earl on 11/09 at 12:54 AM
Family Matters • CHANGE..... •

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

EARL and GAIL’s BIG MOVE ACROSS THE COUNTRY…...

Well, we’re safely in Bend after a five-day trip across the United States of America. I want to do it slowly one of these days, but even driving an average of 10 hours/day allowed us to sense the wonderfulness of our country—the size, the variety, the wealth, the quality of the highway system, and the fabulous American people…...get out and experience the United States that we share, and I think you’ll agree that we live in the best country in the world!

Here’s what we saw as we approached Bend…...
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Posted by Earl on 10/06 at 11:42 PM
Family Matters • CHANGE..... •

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

WE’RE MOVING!! DID ANYONE NOT KNOW THAT, YET?

After five years at 3647 Bentwood Cove Drive:
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We’ll be moving to Oregon—next week, in fact. Van loads on Tuesday (currently predicted to be sunny - YAY!), we clean the house and sign the papers on Wednesday, and then we drive away on Thursday morning.
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Posted by Earl on 09/22 at 05:46 PM
Family Matters • CHANGE..... •

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