I'm so confused!!!

So I've been in my apartment for almost four months now. I have a six month lease which expires the end of January. I know I don't want to stay here. It's a nice place, but the rent is pretty high and it doesn't include anything like cable, internet, water, etc., like a lot of other apartments do in the area. But when I sold my house last July, I had to find something fast and didn't have the opportunity to shop around. Besides that, I don't like the fact that no one so much as says "boo" to you when you walk around...very unsociable place.

So I was looking in the newspaper on Friday and saw an ad for a condo apartment. Out of curiosity, I went to take a look at it to see what else is out there. It was owned by an elderly woman and was in an older community of mostly professional people as opposed to students. It was $800 a month for two bedrooms/two baths, tiled living/dining room and kitchen, carpeted bedrooms, large patio, fireplace and wetbar in the living room. The rent includes cable and water. It was cute and had more character than the place I have now. But since my lease isn't up until the end of January, I'd have to pay rents at both places, which would just be throwing money away.

I took Jared by it yesterday and he thought it was cute, too, but it's still just an apartment. So after talking about it over breakfast, we went by the new subdivision that I did a post on last month. After viewing all the models, we agreed that this one would best suit our needs. It's called a "courtyard" home in which the grounds and exterior are maintained by an HOA for about $75 a month.

Although I'm not crazy about split levels, it has two totally separate living areas which would be great for both of us. Even though days can go by where we don't see one another in the apartment because of work and school schedules, when we ARE there together we kind of feel on top of one other.

I would have the upstairs area...

...with an extra room for an office...

And Jared would have the downstairs with a separate kitchen area...

Living area with a separate entrance to an outdoor patio area...

And bedroom...

We talked to the sales guy for about two hours on how much it would cost and the extras you can get. I can't get the $8,000 tax break because I've owned a home too recently, but the guy said that if Jared went in on the mortgage, HE could qualify for it...especially since he has excellent credit with a car loan and an American Express card. So, bottom line, with the considerable down payment I would put down, the monthly payment would be around $800 which includes the HOA fee and upgrades like granite countertops and stainless steel appliances (which I would want to do for resale purposes).

Sounds like a great deal, but I hesitate because I've heard lots of people say that the economy is going to get worse and I'm almost afraid to buy anything for fear of what's going to happen in the future. And I really question the resale value of these places. I had thought that I it would be an investment because I could always rent it out, but the HOA will only allow 20% of the homes to be rented out.

Then last night, Jill met a retired guy in Merida who's into real estate and she sent me his link:
http://mexintl.com/index.html So I could get this cute little place in Merida Centro for $59,900...

Look at these floors!

Or this little fixer-upper (also in Merida Centro) for $39,000...

Yeah, it needs a little work, but I could do wonders!

This is a yard I could handle...

Now I'm more confused than ever.

Another Mexico blog...

One of the many internet friends I have made since I started blogging is Jill...she lives in Seattle. She had arranged a vacation to Mexico with a friend, but when her friend couldn't make it, she decided to make the trip on her own. I convinced her to take her laptop so that she could stay in touch with people without having to find or pay for internet shops. Besides that, when you're traveling solo, after a day of exploring it's kind of nice to find a cafe or restaurant that has WIFI and just sit and watch the people or scenery while you're blogging and having a cerveza or four. So, she has started a blog on her adventures...which began on November 17th. She's starting out in Merida...

... (this is just a photo I found on the internet, by the way), and will end up on Isla. If you want to check out her blog, go here. It's a fun read. I'm looking forward to her posts because I'm thinking of going to Merida for Spring break. Check it out!

I knew it!

All my fears of the dreaded home inspection have come to pass.

I received the report yesterday evening from my agent. (Mike Mantel is the prospective buyer.) I was too depressed to do a blog post about it. Mostly because it was...

...pages long. I was exhausted by the time I was done reading it. Absolutely every square inch was covered and after reading it, you'd wonder why anyone would want to live here. I forwarded it to my brother and he said the same thing...who can possibly sell a home when they pick apart every tiny little thing?? I've sold several houses in my lifetime and none of them were examined the way this one was. Maybe it's because the regulations are getting tighter...I don't know.

The main thing was the roof. It's 15 years old, has hail damage and will need to be replaced in the next few years. I knew that and was willing to give an allowance for that. But I've already come down considerably from my listing price with the current offerors and don't want to go much lower. The bad thing about them is that they're going with an FHA loan...which means every repair, replacement or improvement has to be done before closing. You can't give an allowance for it for them to do the repair afterwards. I talked to some people at work about that and every one of them rolled their eyes and said that everything has to be perfect for FHA loans. I'm thinking that I need to look more into the couple that wanted to put in an offer last weekend before they found out I already had a contract on it.

So, anyway, my real estate agent suggested I call my insurance company and see if they would replace the roof. I called them and they've started a claim and will send someone by to inspect it. You already know how I feel about dealing with insurance companies from my experience from hell when my son had his accident.

Not to mention the fact that my deductible on a roof replacement would be $1,500. Yay!!!! I wonder if I could have the potential buyers pay for that.

On to more of the inspection report. This one gave me a good laugh.

We haven't had a good rain in South Texas for about a year now. Go figure that I'd have dry soil in my yard. And yet, when I try to water it, I get in trouble with the utilities company. You can't win.

Here was another one. The first part of the report had a checklist of items...one being the fireplace/chimney. Now, mind you, I don't have a fireplace or chimney, and yet I was checked as being "deficient" in this area. Does this mean I'm deficient in NOT having a fireplace or chimney?? Sure, I'd love a fireplace, but I don't think you can count it against me for not having one! How wrong is that??

And I thought this was a good one, too. Mr. Home Inspection Guy can criticize my home up and down, but the least he could do is spell "New Braunfels" correctly and get my zip code (78130) right. Duh.

So I was surfing the other day on properties in Mexico and found this place in Merida. (I loved the photo because it reminds me so much of photos I've taken on Isla.) $27,500. Sure, it needs a little (or a lot of) work, but what a cool place.

Look at those ceilings...and those huge doors! Yeah, it's a fixer-upper, but how cool could you make it?!

I'm thinking Mr. Home Inspection Guy would have a few things to say about it. But then again, I have a few things to say about Mr. Home Inspection Guy...which are probably not very fitting for a respectable blog site.