Second time Second Beer. I foolishly while in draft mode went to copy my tags and lost my post. Oh well guess we all do that once.
Where to start again? I live in a nice coastal town. A piece of God's country it seems because no one wants to leave and if we have to when we get older we seem to want to return. Due to my crazy week I can't give you a lot of statics about home prices (just wait until my localism post). I have written at least five P&S agreements this week. I wish I could say for five customers(no I'm not an idiot it was out of my control and needed to be done). I have been listening to a lot of young hopefully customers talking about the prices of homes in my town. Besides mobile homes and 55+ communities they just don't seem to be affordable to most. Anyway there are approximately five homes listed under $190,000.00 foreclosures, short sales, etc. Sorry in that price range it is mobile homes or nice homes in the 55+ communities.
So they want a home but just what kind of home. They want them in the best part of town and near new. Mind you there aren't many bad parts of town to begin with.
So I started thinking about my first home. Two bedrooms, one bath, small square footage. Sounds good right - wrong! Kitchen - home made narrow cabinets, 1940s fixtures you know the ones big rounded fronts, bread warmers next to the oven on the stove with the big combination light timer on the top. Refrigerator with the rounded front and big bulky handle but they worked and that's what we used. One of the bedrooms was off the living room and while we were fixing our new home my sister came by eight months pregnant at the time. The only thing in the bedroom was her and a chair and that was about the only things that could fit. We looked at each other and laughed down came the wall to enlarge the living room. Bathroom - 4x8 no sink, claw foot tub I remember I could extend my arms and touch each wall. Slowly we redid the kitchen, enlarge the bathroom (was nice), sided the house, replaced the roof. You get my point we saw the POTENTIAL and made it what we wanted. So now you say well mortgages are expensive and yes they are but when I think back we bought that house in the late 80s at that time my mortgage was $925-$975 which wasn't cheap for a $95,000.00 house especially when I was paying $240 a month for rent.
So I went to look at one of these foreclosures priced around $161,000.00. Three bedrooms, one bathroom, nice hard wood floors, new windows, new shingles on the back of the house, nice big deck. Needed gutter work, trees removed from the front of the house, kitchen update - yes, broken dishwasher but heck I still do them the old fashion way. Not bad looking from the outside in who knows. Now I want to go inside. My point looks like it may have POTENTIAL at least it warrants investigation. Someone else must think so also because it looks like someone was trying to get in. PISSES me off! Just call we will get you in don't destroy stuff.
My point: 
Start seeing the POTENTIAL in what you can afford.
I will work my butt off for you to find you a house, not a shack, not a rundown condemned property a decent house you can afford with POTENTIAL.
If you think you are going to find a house with granite counters, a jacuzzi, tile floors, all the bells and whistles for a song I am here to tell you. 
I would love to hear what you think and what you are experiencing out there. Tell me about your first home. I couldn't have been the only one to have purchased a so called dump. Maybe I was but I made it a home and a nice one if I say so myself.
Until next time be happy, prosperous, take time to love family and friends. I'm off to finish that beer and get to bed.
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