We saw a lot of modest homes on Whidbey Island on Saturday.
Amy and I have been thinking about a move to Whidbey Island. We both grew up in places with woods and relative freedom and lots of places to run around and get ticks — and we kind of want Liam to have the opportunity to experience that too. It doesn’t hurt that Amy’s family is on the island too. Closer proximity to them means more exposure for Liam — especially for Amy’s mom, whom he adores.
After looking at some properties in the Seattle area and the Eastside, the tour of Whidbey was eye-opening. There’s a basic level of “modesty” which seems to pass for normal in many of the older properties on the island. Given we’d like some land — it tends to be older properties that we’re looking at.
Chip commented that he had been on perhaps the most unique and bizarre showing of houses at the end of the day. There was the crooked house, the “worst designed house I have ever seen”, the house with the urinal, the soulless “it looks like a giant mobile home” on clear cut (not far from the Chinese Junk house), the cute house that was overpriced beyond reason, the hippie farm, the labyrinth bed & breakfast with (made) beds in the closets, the “no, this is the worst designed house I have ever seen — and it’s purple!”, and the cottages that smelled like dime store lavender plug-ins.
We didn’t come out of the tour eager to buy on Whidbey. Not yet anyway.
In our tour, Chip helped me learn a bit of “real-estatese”. “We don’t use the word crappy in the business, instead we use modest.” Such a modest word has taken on entirely new meaning in our household.
As to Whidbey. Well the crooked house remains under consideration. If we could get it at a low enough cost to funnel a lot of money into rebuilding it on the inside — it seems to have the right bones and the 4 acres, while not exactly estate-worthy, are enough to have some options about a guest house for a parent or two at some point.
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Tags: whidbey, real estate, crap, modest
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