New house

Well, it looks like it is really going to happen . . . Mike and I made an offer on a house in Corvallis a few weeks ago, and we are slowly moving through the steps to become homeowners. We have been amazed at the amount of time and energy this process requires, and yet we are grateful to be going through the process at all at a time when so many are unable to afford to own their own homes. We are grateful to be in a place where prices are more moderate than on most of the West Coast, though they would still be shocking for Michigan friends. If we were in Seattle, though, we would never be able to buy a home, and likely not even a condo.

The house is a 1300 square foot, 3 bedroom ranch that was built in 1951. It has been owned by the same woman (now 80 years old) for the last 30 years, and is decorated in a style that was definitely more stylish in past decades. In other words, as our realtor put it, "It's not crisp." But it's in pretty good condition and hasn't had any weird updates done that we will need to fix. It's not as close to our work and downtown Corvallis as our present place, but it's still definitely bikeable (I'll double my commute from 6 blocks to 12, and Mike's will be about 22). If all goes well, we hope to close and move in at the end of February. We hope that many of you will come to visit us there!