August 31, 2017

My son, Andy safely made it through Hurricane Harvey.  He said it was "an interesting week."  That's one way of looking at it - especially if you don't own property.  He still is not back in his first floor apartment.

I heard from my old neighbors that the section of Dumfries Drive where I used to live in Houston did not have flooded houses.  The national news made it look like total destruction in Houston.  Luckily there a few pockets that are okay.

Meanwhile in Portland:  The house that I had wanted to buy on North Fowler Street needed quite a few repairs.  I requested that the seller make the repairs.  He countered with an offer to reduce the price by $10,000.  That would not be enough to cover the necessary repairs plus I did not want have to deal with finding and scheduling contractors to do the work.

I was not totally enamored with that house.  It had many features that I wanted but it was on part of the street that looked messy.  The next door neighbor was letting people camp out on his driveway and in front of his house.  There had been many complaints against this neighbor but the campers remained.  I terminated the contract.

In the meantime I kept looking at houses online.  I went to one of them.  It is SO much better than the other one.  It was lovingly cared for over the years and was beautiful.  The street was well kept. 

I put in an offer on that house yesterday.  I offered to buy it at the asking price.  The seller is supposed to review offers on Sunday.  Houses in North Portland often sell for more than the price listed.  I included a letter to the seller telling her why I wanted the house.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that the seller will let me buy the house.  I think inspection would go well on this house.  The seller took good care of it.