Are You Ready to Be a Homeowner in Humboldt County California? My First Time Homebuying Experience

My husband bought our first Humboldt County CA Home 4 years ago. We were living in a small Eureka CA apartment in a really cool original Victorian Duplex that had been chopped up into 3 units. We weren't married at the time, heck he didn't even propose to me yet.

I was still working as a Promotions Director for a local radio station at the time and the thing you learn about working in radio is, there's no money in radio - just fun, and experience that can lead you to bigger and better opportunities down the road.

But as we started to watch the prices slowly increase and we knew we planned on getting married Dave decided it was time to bite the bullet and buy a house. A year before we started to talk about the idea of owning a home, we had already started to do our homework. We rode our bicycles everywhere in Eureka CA so we could narrow down the neighborhoods we would enjoy living in. We hadn't quite figured out the houses we would be ok living in, but we knew that we had to be comfortable with the neighborhood. Very important for us.

When we finally made the decision to get serious about finding the right house, I asked a co-worker for a good real estate agent and he referred me to his agent. When we met with her, the first item on our to do list was to sit down with a lender and get pre-approved so we absolutely knew what our price range would be. Then we set up some time and looked at a few homes with our agent. Like most First Time Homebuyers - we realized quickly that most of the homes available in our price range didn't quite fit our criteria.

We could at the time afford a home more in the country. So we really needed to do some soul searching to decide where we wanted to live and what type of house we wanted to live in. We quickly determined that living in the country wasn't a feasible option for us. We didn't want to have to drive everywhere to buy the basics. We really enjoyed living in the neighborhood we rented in, because we could easily ride our bicylces around, walk the dog down to Old Town Eureka to buy some groceries at the Co-op or just to meander around and enjoy the old architecture and our lovely Humboldt Bay.

We loved old houses. So we were hoping we could find a Victorian, Craftsman or California Bungalow in our price range. Dave had been eyeing this Purple Victorian that was literally a few blocks away from our apartment. It had been sitting on the market for a couple of months. Apparently it went pending the first week it was on the market, but the buyers backed out at the last minute because they found something that suited them better. So the house had an artificial stigma on it after the fact. Lucky for us! Before we made an offer we walked by the house several nights at different times to make sure we were comfortable with the neighborhood. Then we proceeded to do some pre-due diligence before making the offer.

So we called our agent to show us the house. There was a hump in the dining room floor - not major, but obvious enough for concern. To ease our concerns we called a contractor to take a look and he felt the home was in pretty good shape. The hump was due to settling. So we made an offer - even though my parents were not happy about it at the time, since again Dave and I weren't married, and no proposal on the horizon. Dave made and offer and 30 days later the house was ours, despite the fact that I had a hissy fit about the back yard - which is landscaped with river rock - literally. I envisioned grass and fruit trees. Not in this house. No garage either. And the upstairs floors were painted grape purple - YUCK! So it wasn't 100% perfect but it met most of our needs at the time and I have since grown to love the back yard.

The house overall was in good shape - the guts that is - good plumbing, decent enough electrical, our pier and post foundation was good, just needed a few minor upgrades, interior paint job and we were good to go.

Looking back 4 years later, I'm glad we took the plunge. It was tough - mind you I did not contribute or help pay the mortgage - and we've done some esthetic work on the house since - paint job, stripping the grape paint off the floors and refinishing them (Beautiful Old Growth Redwood Floors) - so yes we did put in a little sweat equity to make it feel warm and wonderful.

If we hadn't taken the plunge 4 years ago, then we would still be renters today in a tiny apartment with a hairy stinky big old dog. We were riding up the big bubble here. We also wanted something specific. Finding an older house in Humboldt County CA that is in decent shape is a rare thing here - ie: has good electrical, plumbing is good, and doesn't need major updating because someone in the 70's thought is was a fabulous idea to "improve the old house look" to a 70's hip style (how horrid can you get).

In the past 4 years, I have not seen 1 Victorian or Craftsman in as good condition as ours sell for the price we paid 4 years ago - $283,000. Our house is worth about the same today as it was 4 years ago. I sold a Victorian around the block for almost $100,000 more just last year. Even in today's market where prices have really come down I rarely see a good Victorian or Craftsman come on the market in this price range, even in a higher price range. And when they do, they sell very very quickly. Even in this "buyers market".

I don't regret buying our house. I'm much happier owning my own home than paying rent to my landlord and living in a tiny apartment. But see we were ready to buy. Trust me, we played the woulda coulda shoulda game for a while. This same house sold for $130,000 back in the later 90's early 2000's. But I had just gotten out of college, was in debt from school, trying to figure out my life, had very little savings and Dave was not in my life then. So yes the home sold for more than we wanted to pay for it, but in 2004, that's when Dave and I were ready to buy a house. We had the savings, we had jobs, and we were ready to start our life together in our own home, not someone else's investment dream.

Sometimes we want something that is just out of reach for us. So did I when Dave and I bought the house we did. It wasn't perfect, but I could see myself living there for several years until we could build up enough equity to upgrade. For me, I've grown to love this house and could live here for 20 years no problem. But most buyers want something better than what is available. So buy something you can be comfortable with, improve it, live in it, build the equity and then sell and upgrade to a home that meets more of your desires. If you don't you'll continue contibute to your landlords investment dreams, not your own.

Copyright 2009 Jessica Bigger. All Rights Reserved. *Are You Ready to Be a Homeowner in Humboldt County California? My First Time Homebuying Experience*

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If you're looking to buy your first or next home in Humboldt County CA I'd be happy to discuss your situation. Call me anytime. Jessica Bigger 707-496-5770