And Just Like That

...

We got the property we wanted in Arizona. All we have to do is wait for a clear title and voila...

Snowbirds. (LOL)

It all went down so quickly and has been such a smooth process that I think both the hubby and I are still in a bit of shock. Reality hasn't quite set in.

Now, that being said...there are still some things we are going to have to get straightened away. The realtor we are working with has been very good about informing us of the differences between buying from a homeowner(seller) vs. buying foreclosed property. Apparently in Arizona, there is a law that says when someone buys a foreclosure property, the buyer is legally responsible for having the septic inspected. That means that we are going to be responsible for paying someone to come out, 'locate', dig up, inspect and then pump the septic. Seems incredibly weird that we are forced to actually dig up the septic for inspection...but according to the realtor...it's usually only a few hundred dollars. The other responsibility we will have is to get with the 2 other people on the shared well and find out how that is set up. Some shared well set-ups require a small monthly due to be paid into a community fund and some do not, any repair expenses to the well come out of pocket at the time of necessity. Either way, we will need to get the previous owners removed and ourselves put on as owners. The realtor is working on getting as much information out of the listing agent for the bank as she can and has done some location research on the previous owners. It's hard to say if the previous owners will be helpful...or just bitter. I am optimistic though. The property we have now was a foreclosure and I did meet the previous owner, who was quite helpful about how the waterlines ran on this property and where exactly the septic system was located, so hopefully these people will be kind enough to enlighten us a little bit.

Buying foreclosure properties is not for the faint of heart. The night after the hubby got the winning bid, I woke up in the middle of the night and laid there wondering about a lot of things we didn't actually have time to inquire about...One of the things that hit me was, none of us (me, the hubby or the realtor) can remember if we actually saw an AC unit outside the house. After looking at several properties that day and remembering that every other property HAD an AC unit outside the house, for the life of me, I cannot remember seeing one outside the house we just bought. Is that crazy or what? LOL

Oh well, I don't suspect that will be a huge issue. After all...Our biggest concern was the actual property...the fact that all 3.36 acres are level, rock free, fenced and there is an awesome cinderblock 2-car garage for the hubby and there is water and electricity. Having an actual house on the property is a bonus...and it's not even beat up inside. The one thing that sticks out in my mind about the house is the horrible job that was done putting in a floating laminate floor. Ohh my!! There were huge gaps between the planks where the flooring was not fit together correctly. It was so bad it actually made me giggle. But again...no worries. That laminate crap tears up very easily. Somewhere along the line, the house will have to be re-leveled, as there is a hump in the center of the house and after we get around to having that done, I'll just redo the floors in a little bit of a higher quality flooring. It will remain to be seen exactly how much time we will get to spend down there...

I can tell you...right now...I'm climbing the walls to get out of this snow and cold. Yuck!!

I am a bit worried about how the horses are going to handle the transition at this point. Not knowing exactly how everything was going to play out, I did not start blanketing anything before it got cold and the ponies look like wooly mammoths. I'm a little worried about how they are going to handle rotating climates. :-/ Oh man...there is a LOT to learn yet about being 'mobile with horses'.