Buying our first home! UPDATE pg 4: Starting Over

[ChicknThief]

So DF and I currently live in Sacramento. He has been city raised his whole life, but I was raised in the foothills and miss it terribly. We have talked and talked and finally came to the conclusion that we want our permanent residence to be on land in that area, and that we want to make that happen in the next couple years.

I was bored at work yesterday

so I decided to check out some real estate online. I looked at a bunch of houses that were nice, but didn't really spark my interest. I stumbled onto a website that wanted me to join before I could look at pictures. It was free, so I filled out the little form and started browsing. Almost immediately I got an email from the agent that set up the website. She had recommended a couple of properties based on my specifications.

The first one was a gorgeous house. 3 bdrm, 3 story, on 1 acre. The only problem was that the land was sloped to the point of being unusable. NEXT!

The second house.....

http://www.yourfoothillhomesolution.com/listing/mlsid/148/propertyid/11063598/

It needs a little work and some renovations, but it's on 3 usable acres, it has 3 bedrooms for our future family, and it's in the right area!

AND.... Here's the kicker...


All we need is a 4050$ down. Yes, Four thousand and fifty dollars. That is no typo. We can easily do that and only put only the slightest dent in our savings.

There is just one little problem... We both work in Sacramento.

I can easily find another job with a comparable pay rate in the area, but what Jamison does is pretty specialized. We need to be sure that we will be able to support ourselves before we make this big step. Does anyone who lives in the Somerset area have any insight on the Job market in the area? What towns/cities are closeby???

 

[The Sheriff]

It is pretty close to Shingle Springs and Placerville I think. I tried to look at the listing but don't want to have to sign up so I can get spammed by a real estate agent. From what I saw it looked nice. Maybe you could buy it as an investment or to live in later if you can't find work in that area yet. I know Linda drives about an hour or so to get to work in Sacramento.

Good luck if you decide to go for it. You might also try up my way in Auburn. The commute is not as bad because it's mostly highways. But property in Placer county is pricey. At least it was a year ago when we bought up here.

Mary

 

[ChicknThief]

Oh! I didn't realize you guys couldn't see it! *facedesk*

I will try to upload the pics directly...

 

[ChicknThief]

This is the front of the house... Modest, but just perfect for us

The right side of the house. The property goes waaaay back there.....

The GORGEOUS flagstone hearth! I have always had a soft spot in my heart for these. The house I grew up in had one

The kitchen. We would wind up remodeling this and updating the appliances, but everything looks functional...

One of the rooms. The wood on the walls makes everything kind of dark. Not sure if I will like that in person or not. But worst comes to worst we can always pull it out and paint it

Lovely Hardwood flooring...

One of the two bathrooms.

The road to the house. No more noisy highway, no more sirens all night long, no more having to hear our neighbors fight over their crack. Ahhh yes

 

[ChicknThief]

Eeeeee We found an even better house! This one is closer to Jamison's job, so it is actually doable!

This one is in Placerville, on just over 3 acres. 3 stories, 4 bedrooms (

), 3 bathrooms. Like the other house, we will be doing some renovations and tweaks here and there (the linoleum has GOT to go), but all in all, we love it. And the best part is, it is only 4,000$ more than that first house

Here is the front view of the house. Definitely unique. The "missing" 3rd story is actually below those two. The house is on sloped land. Whether or not we actually take the house will depend entirely on how much of the 3 acres are usable.

We will eventually be ripping out that stove and replacing it with something prettier and more efficient...

The view out of the back of the house....

The entryway/dining room and kitchen... Linoleum...

The family room...

The view out of the family room... Trees instead of neighbors! yay!

I believe this is the master bedroom...

One of the bathrooms.... yea we will be working on that haha

The back porch...

Some of the land....

You can guess what THAT will be used for!

So what do you guys think!? We are going to go look at it on Saturday the 17th. I can hardly contain my excitement! This is so incredible!

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Both of those houses look wonderful! I especially like the second one even more though. That deck!

Good luck to you guys! Buying a house must be so exciting!

 

[nikki1]

Good luck to you! We just bought our home this past summer. Like you, we didn't know if it would be feasible, but when we started surfing the web we realized that housing prices had dropped to the point that we could finally afford to do it! It feels GREAT to own! We got away from a crack house, too. We much prefer the cop couple next door at our new place.

Have you looked into USDA loans? They're AWESOME for those of us that can't put a full 20% down, as they waive the mortgage insurance you'd usually have to pay without the 20% down. Only homes in designated rural areas are eligible, but the places you showed us are certainly suitably rural! Ask your realtor/banker/whoever about it. It was a great deal for us!

Good luck on your hunt! Keep us posted, as I plan to live vicariously...

--Nikki

 

[sfw2]

They both look cute, but the second one looks more "move-in-ready". What, you're not a fan of the plaid vinyl flooring???

Good luck!

 

[ChicknThief]

Quote:
Luckily, Jamison has a credit score of 832

So I don't think we will have any problem getting the financing for 3% down

Quote:

Erm... NO

Ideally we will be replacing that with either hardwood, or stone tile. Jamison is handy in pretty much every imaginable area of home improvement. You should see the tile he did in our townhouse. That man has some TALENT!

Quote:
Thanks Lauren! I am fit to bust I am so happy

He owns the townhouse we live in, but this is my first ever experience and I am in HEAVEN let me tell you

 

[ChicknThief]

So I had a slight moment of panic when I started thinking about zoning and ordinances and the like, so I looked it up...

Our house is zoned re-5. So that means:

The purpose of the RE-5 districts is to provide for the orderly development of land having sufficient space and natural conditions compatible to residential and accessory agricultural and horticultural pursuits and provide for the protection from encroachment of unrelated uses tending to have adverse effects on the development of the areas so designated.

17.28.190 Uses permitted by right. The following uses are allowed by right, without special use permit or variance:

B. Barns, agricultural structures, etc.;

E. Raising and grazing of domestic farm animals and the cultivation of tree and field crops and the sale of such goods when produced on the premises and when in conformity with Chapters 17.14, 17.16 and 17.18;

And here are the applicable parts of 17.14, 17.16, and 17.18....

17.14.060 Stables. Stables shall be located at least thirty feet from any building used for residential purposes on the same or adjoining building site, in any district, and at least twenty-five feet from any property line. No horse shall be kept on a building site of less than one acre in any district.

C. In estate residential, residential agriculture, and agricultural districts (RE-5, RE-10, RA-20, RA-40, RA-60, RA-80, RA-160, A, AE, AP, PA, SA-10, OS, TRE, TA and TAE), the following agricultural fencing standards shall apply within required front, side and rear setback areas when agricultural uses are fenced. Residential uses within these districts shall be subject to the limitations noted in the subsections A3 and B above:
32 (Revised December 2009) El Dorado County Zoning Ordinance
1. Agricultural fencing (open wire, chain link or similar material) shall be permitted in any setback area provided it does not exceed fourteen feet (14') in height.
2. Agricultural fences in excess of fourteen feet (14') in height shall conform to all applicable setback requirements, or shall otherwise be subject to issuance of a special use permit.

Soooooo looks like I am in the clear!