Friday, July 21, 2006

Virginia is Lovely, but Ed Drives too Fast!

We wandered today, looking for the elusive FSBO (Ed keeps hoping that we will stumble across an underpriced FSBO), got lost, and wound up in Virginia. We did mean to go to Virginia anyway, but, not having a map, we never quite figured out Where we were. Wherever it was, it was absolutely beautiful. I could hardly believe how quickly we went from rolling hills to Mountains with sharp drops and spectacular views. We drove for quite a while, stopping for ice cream at a little store and admiring, but it didn’t take long to figure out that we weren’t in the right place to find our future home, at least in the area we drove today around the Blue Ridge Parkway. Not only were the houses mostly outside our price range, but the narrow, twisting roads scare me silly. They might not be frightening with some drivers, but Ed doesn’t like to use the brakes, even when speeding downhill at an ever faster pace, because he says that the mini-van needs to “pick up speed” to make it up the next hill.

Eventually, after asking quite a few locals for directions, we managed to find our way back to North Carolina. The temperature was at least five degrees warmer (it was so cool and lovely in those mountains!), but the driving was much less stressful for me. We decided to look around the towns near that house we found yesterday. We are still considering that brick house, partly because we haven’t found anything else, and partly because it is located in a pretty area and seems to have potential.

This evening, on our way back to Mount Airy, we went back and took another look at the house. I actually liked it better this time. There is a ball park and school across the street, and there was a kids’ baseball game going on. It gave the place a nice sort of small town (Very small town) feeling. The awful wallpaper, paneling, etc., were less shocking the second time around, and we noticed that the first floor bedroom, which is the only one too small to add a closet to, has a usable closet. We noted all the “must do” items, so we have a rough estimate of what it would cost to make the place livable. We found out today that the house has been on the market for a year, and that there may be some extra wiggle room in the price for unfinished renovations (the owners have done the roof, floors, and some windows). Of course, we are not sure which items They would say still need to be re-done, since some people might consider 1970’s décor and frightening bathrooms to be just the thing. Anyway, we’ve left a message for the listing realtor, so maybe we will learn more tomorrow. (And don’t worry Daddy, we won’t forget about inspections!)

2 comments:

CeCe said...

It's pretty fun experiencing this all with you!

Melora said...

Thanks Cece! It is fun having friends along for the ride!