We bought a home in Arizona

Early September, Mike and I made a trip to Arizona to find a home.

I have been making jokes for a year that I was going to (have) to live in “Buckeye” because the Phoenix area has had a price boom during the last few years and prices were going through the roof. (No pun intended.)

Buckeye is an up and coming community on the west side of Phoenix way out in the desert where the homes are more affordable.

Mike was willing to check out the city, but kept saying he wasn’t going to live in Buckeye, and that we would find a home on the east side of the valley.

And in fact, he was sure he could find an affordable home in Mesa where we want to be. I want a home on the east side also. I just wasn’t as confident as he was that we could find one.

We looked at several different 55+ communities. Two or three were in Mesa, and three were in Apache Junction. We chose Rancho Mirage in Apache Junction and narrowed the search to three homes, and then went to lunch to decide which one to put an offer on.

As we compared each home to the other I finally said, “ There isn’t three in the running, there’s only one.” Mike held his breath and asked which one. The relief on his face was confirmation that we were in agreement.

The one we both now saw as the perfect one for us didn’t look as perfect when we had toured it earlier.

It had burgundy carpet throughout the home, and I knew I couldn’t live with that carpet!

It needed a new coat of paint inside and out, lacked street appeal, and was in dyer need of a face-lift!

But the upside was that it was priced at $69,500. Compared to the other two at $90,000 and $110,000 this needed to be taken into consideration.

The home we had now decided was ours was larger and offered much more than the other two, and $30,000 would go a long way in making the improvements I desired.

Mike was with me all the way except for one major detail. He could live with the carpet, that was admittedly in good condition, and the outside of the home didn’t bother him in the least.

He definitely had no intention of spending $30,000 on repairs and improvements. Actually, I didn’t either, but I did intend to paint and have new carpet, and eventually spend some money on the outside of the home, and spruce up the landscaping. (No pun intended again.)

We made a bee-line back to the home and without the Realtor knocked on the door.

The 80 + year-old man of the house opened the door and pulled us in in one swoop. They were both so pleased that we liked their home and they weren’t the least bit concerned that we were there without our Realtor.

We were also brazen enough to drive to the Realtor’s home, wake her from a nap and ask her to write the offer and present it before anyone else had an opportunity.

We were nervous because we’d heard there was another interested couple. She presented the offer while we took a third trip through the home and continuing with our brazen attitude we asked if we could bring my brother and his wife through.

They agreed. Our family came. And they loved it.