PS members....what is the sq footage of your home?

[singer]

Date: 3/2/2006 11:10:08 AM
Author: someday
I think with this post, it goes back to your age and were you are in life. Because as some have pointed out they are alot older and have had time to invest in real esate, thus more expensive houses. I am just starting out I am only 23 and I just recently bought my condo here in no. VA, for a little more than 300,000. I decided to stay in the beltway and get a smaller house to be closer into work. So my place is only 950 aq. feet., but if I went out 30 miles or 30 mins. I could have gotten something around 1,500-2,000. sq. feet. But i didn't want to sit in my car for hours.
Also it depends on the type of loan you get and if you do interest only. I think a better question is how many are in debt. Because i don't care if you are living in a 50,000 sq. foot place home with 1,000 workers but you are bankrupt. That doesn't mean you are rich rather really poor. To me I would rather own a 1,000 and not own anybody...that is somebody wealthy. I hope this makes sensse and the thread is a good one because it is interesting to seem what you can buy in another state. But remember everything is relative and people buy things that are a waste to other people but not to yourself. Like my husband and i are going on a 14 day hawaii cruise and his family thinks that is a waste of money and we think it is a waste of money for them to buy a boat and going boating every weekend. Some pepole want to spend a lot on there ring and others don't

Someday~ I really liked your thoughts/responses, especially about being poor if you are in serious debt, even though you have a ginormous home. That is also the way I look at it. Hey, if everyone can afford what they are buying, that is cool!

I did not mean to start a big debate...sorry, everyone. I feel bad for saying some people were bragging. I better understand now after reading some responses. I was just having one of those "ah, ha" moments when I thought to myself, "What should I (we) really be focusing on?" It was more an insightful thought...like I said, "I need to work on this within myself too." I find that I often think about material things, but I should start putting more energy into strengthening personal relationships, etc. Thanks for everyone's responses...you were all so honest, and I appreciate that!

BTW, I do NOT think vacations are a waste of money...at all!

They are NECESSARY in order to keep your sanity. I mean, you need something to look forward to, right? Vacations are SO important for a family to stay close and spend quality time together. I just can't wait until we are more financially stable to be able to go on a nice vacation.

Have fun on your cruise, Someday! It should be a blast! I can't wait to go to Hawaii...someday (pun on words...hee, hee.

).

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 3/2/2006 6:09:32 PM
Author: singer

Date: 3/2/2006 11:10:08 AM
Author: someday
I think with this post, it goes back to your age and were you are in life. Because as some have pointed out they are alot older and have had time to invest in real esate, thus more expensive houses. I am just starting out I am only 23 and I just recently bought my condo here in no. VA, for a little more than 300,000. I decided to stay in the beltway and get a smaller house to be closer into work. So my place is only 950 aq. feet., but if I went out 30 miles or 30 mins. I could have gotten something around 1,500-2,000. sq. feet. But i didn''t want to sit in my car for hours.
Also it depends on the type of loan you get and if you do interest only. I think a better question is how many are in debt. Because i don''t care if you are living in a 50,000 sq. foot place home with 1,000 workers but you are bankrupt. That doesn''t mean you are rich rather really poor. To me I would rather own a 1,000 and not own anybody...that is somebody wealthy. I hope this makes sensse and the thread is a good one because it is interesting to seem what you can buy in another state. But remember everything is relative and people buy things that are a waste to other people but not to yourself. Like my husband and i are going on a 14 day hawaii cruise and his family thinks that is a waste of money and we think it is a waste of money for them to buy a boat and going boating every weekend. Some pepole want to spend a lot on there ring and others don''t

BTW, I do NOT think vacations are a waste of money...at all!

They are NECESSARY in order to keep your sanity. I mean, you need something to look forward to, right? Vacations are SO important for a family to stay close and spend quality time together. I just can''t wait until we are more financially stable to be able to go on a nice vacation.

Have fun on your cruise, Someday! It should be a blast! I can''t wait to go to Hawaii...someday (pun on words...hee, hee.

).

yeah...the Visa bills.

 

[cflutist]

Websailor and I live in a 3300 sq ft home, 5 br, 2.5 ba, on 1 acre hilltop (with a panoramic view) in the San Francisco Bay Area.

According to zillow.com, homes on our block are 3000 to 12,600 sq feet and range in price from $1.3 - 3.7 million.

Since I bought the home back in 1992 (pre-Websailor), my minimum mortgage payment is rather low, 7.1% of our gross monthly income. Been paying extra towards principal every month so I can own it free and clear in 3 years.

I know DF, you are already ahead of me

.

 

[hoorray]

I think this is an interesting thread -- info swaping rather than focusing on materialism. To most people their home is their largest asset, their largest liability, and the center of a lot of what happens in their life. (Shared moments with family, etc.) Life stages and age definately make a difference in being able to own a home.

I bought my first townhome when I was 24ish. My parents went in on it with me or I never would have been able to afford the down payment. CA real estate is always expensive relativly speaking. Once married, my husband and I eventually bought them out. It was expensive and scary. Through the wonders of that CA real estate market and our careers progressing my husband and I were able to upgrade a couple of times. Now we''ve sized down, and love our house. It suits our needs, and fits our personalities. It impresses me to see the 20-somethings getting their first house. That first purchase is the hard one.

F&I -- I don''t think it''s so much artificially controlled growth that pushes the housing markets in CA. Many of the larger employment markets have natural boundries such as ocean, and mountains. Thus to continue to grow means big commutes and people start making tradeoffs like Someday did. Until recently, there were big price differences between metro area with employment infrastructure and those areas without much industry. Now that people are retiring or planning for retirement, the desirable non-employment areas have been going way up. Now it just all seems expensive. (Don''t I sound so old?).

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 3/2/2006 7:34:57 PM
Author: cflutist
Websailor and I live in a 3300 sq ft home, 5 br, 2.5 ba, on 1 acre hilltop (with a panoramic view) in the San Francisco Bay Area.

According to zillow.com, homes on our block are 3000 to 12,600 sq feet and range in price from $1.3 - 3.7 million.

Since I bought the home back in 1992 (pre-Websailor), my minimum mortgage payment is rather low, 7.1% of our gross monthly income. Been paying extra towards principal every month so I can own it free and clear in 3 years.

I know DF, you are already ahead of me

.

cflutist
anything over 3000 sq ft is a big house .12,600 sq ft

i need a map

or else i would get lost inside of that house.

 

[firebirdgold]

Talk about homes getting pricey! There''s a new development on the north side of town with the entrance right in front of a highway exit/entrance. It''d shave 20 minutes off of our commute, and it''s very pretty with rolling hills.
So I stopped by today on my way home, the first home for sale is 3500+ sq ft, 3/3, 4 fireplaces, and 1 acre for .... $1,325,000!!!!

Well there goes that fantasy!

 

[kbaker]

I''m also in the Central Orange County (CA) real estate market. Since we''ve purchased our home has doubled in value!!. We feel so fortunate just to have a home that we own. If we would have waited longer, we would have lost out on some serious security.

We are in a 1500sf brand new townhome with 3 beds and 3 bath. Comparable homes are going for 620K. At this point, we are thinking of moving to Colorado while my husband pursues his Ph.D. We love the outdoors and so does our LAB so it might be a manageable move.
If/when we get to Colorado, instead of purchasing a home in cash, we are planning on taking the 300K profit and investing it all so we are done saving for retirement. Then we can spend the remainder of our income on living and having fun, knowing that our future is taken care of. SInce we are only in our mid-twenties, the concept of compounding interesting intrigues me....

Anyone live in Fort Collins?

 

[Dancing Fire]

okay i''m stupid

...what is the difference between a condo and a townhouse??.

 

[qtiekiki]

Date: 3/3/2006 12:33:39 AM
Author: Dancing Fire
okay i''m stupid

...what is the difference between a condo and a townhouse??.

Here''s my definitions (not sure if they are 100% correct):

condo is an unit in a building that can be one one or multiple floors

townhouse is an attached house

 

[Kaleigh]

Singer,
I am a very down to earth person. I don't care if you live in a big house or a tiny house. What matters most to me is what kind of person you are. I think this thread isn't about bragging, or being materialistic. We have people living in all different areas and it's interesting to hear what the prices of real estate are going for. When my husband and I bought our first house we made a great investment. It was a ranch ( I called it a cottage, sounded cuter ) and lived there for 10 years. It was tiny, and our kids were out growing it. The person who bought it tore it down and built a huge house, Ughhh. We struggled to buy the house we have now, but it wasn't beyond our means. It's not a big house, it's small compared to most around here. We love it and it's home to us. That's what really matters. This is the house that my kids grew up in and all our memories are here. I hope that made sense.

 

[InLuvWithMrH]

Date: 3/2/2006 9:02:28 PM
Author: Dancing Fire
cflutist
anything over 3000 sq ft is a big house .12,600 sq ft

i need a map

or else i would get lost inside of that house.

You could just attach a portable GPS to your belt!

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 3/3/2006 1:00:20 AM
Author: qtiekiki

Date: 3/3/2006 12:33:39 AM
Author: Dancing Fire
okay i''m stupid

...what is the difference between a condo and a townhouse??.

Here''s my definitions (not sure if they are 100% correct):

condo is an unit in a building that can be one one or multiple floors

townhouse is an attached house

thanks qtiekiki.

ILW MR H

how did you know ?? i just bought one of those portable GPS yesterday.

 

[orangevixen]

this has been interesting and fun to read...

my turn now...

we live in the San Jose, CA area where mara lives

6 months ago we purchased our first home. it''s a 1000 sf 2 bed/1 bath condo for $450,000. it has a detached 2-car garage, a fireplace, vaulted ceilings, is 25 years old, and is in a decent neighborhood. we used to rent a nice house in a fancy neighborhood for almost 1/2 of what our mortgage is. i miss having space and an actual yard

this has been quite an adjustment for us. we pay about $3000/month to live in a tiny ''apartment''. YIKES!!! the bay area is crazy.

our combined annual income is a little over $100K (which, like mara said, is NOTHING here)

my diamond is 3/4 carat, which is TINY for here too

the sad thing for me is that we both grew up here and ALL of our friends and family are here and we don''t want to move. but, unless our salaries keep increasing rapidly, i don''t know how we''re ever going to afford a decent single family home. so, my dreams of an upgrade have been squandered until we figure out what we''re going to do. i will continue to live vicariously through the rest of you...

or i could always move to NC

are there good engineering jobs out there?

 

[AGBF]

Date: 3/2/2006 2:02:51 PM
Author: aljdewey

And yet you participated in this thread.....more than once.

It's like tsk-tsking people for watching a train wreck, all the while angling for the best vantage point yourself.

If threads like this are disturbing to you, why do it?

I am not someone who sees everything as black or white. I frequently experience ambivalence. I am sometimes guilty for thoughts and feelings I have.

I am also a Freudian. I believe that my id impulses would have me do some very selfish things, that my somewhat archaic superego causes me guilt at the very thought of anything "wrong"; and that my ego is frequently left searching for a safe place to balance these opposing urges.

I dare to share my experience honestly on an open forum. I know what that means. If one cannot stand the heat he should stay out of the kitchen. That doesn't mean I have to be silent while the kitchen gets hotter. So let me say that I think you're off base saying I am "angling for the best vantage point". In fact, I see that as simplistic thinking.


Deb

 

[eks6426]

Reading all of you west-coasters posts on this just makes me realize how much harder it would be for a midwesterner like me to move to CA. House prices here just don''t appreciate anything like CA. My 116,000 house bought 4 years ago is probably worth 125,000 now. There''s no way I could ever build up enough equity to move and play the game in CA.

Are the salaries really that much higher in CA to afford these 1/2 million plus homes?

 

[portoar]

Date: 3/3/2006 1:00:20 AM
Author: qtiekiki

Date: 3/3/2006 12:33:39 AM
Author: Dancing Fire
okay i''m stupid

...what is the difference between a condo and a townhouse??.

Here''s my definitions (not sure if they are 100% correct):

condo is an unit in a building that can be one one or multiple floors

townhouse is an attached house

Condos and townhouses are the same as far as ownership. . . you own the airspace and a proportionate amount of the common area. A townhome is two stories (or more) and a condo is a single level.

At least that is the difference between the two in California.

 

[portoar]

Date: 3/3/2006 10:27:56 AM
Author: IslandDreams
Reading all of you west-coasters posts on this just makes me realize how much harder it would be for a midwesterner like me to move to CA. House prices here just don''t appreciate anything like CA. My 116,000 house bought 4 years ago is probably worth 125,000 now. There''s no way I could ever build up enough equity to move and play the game in CA.

Are the salaries really that much higher in CA to afford these 1/2 million plus homes?

In San Diego county there is nothing to be had for $125K. For $190K I can get you a 1 bedroom, 700 sf condo in a not-very-nice neighborhood (unless you like gangs).

A modest single family home (1000-1400 sf) can be had for $400-550K in some areas, in others that still only buys you a condo.

Born and raised in California, it''s the prices where you live that shock me!

 

[DonaBella]

Interesting thread...

Thought I''d share a bit of my info...

I live in Riverside, CA, which is 60 miles east of LA in the Inland Empire. The community we live in is called Orangecrest and we have resided in this area for 16 years come this November. Our prior home in this area was purchased in 1990 for $201K and sold about 2 years ago for $437K. My current home was bought in 2000 for $300K and appraised around Oct. 2005 for $749K. We live in a 2 story, 6 bedroom, 4 bath home, with a 3 car garage on a 7700 sized lot. We have a relatively new rock pool that we put in and enjoyed all of the summer of 2005 and it added to the value of our home a little we were told. Our neighborhood is very nice and has mostly second and third time home owners.

People in CA as a whole move more often than I ever will, about every 2 years. Houses and real estate has been on the fast track of appreciation for quite awhile, but it has slowed down in recent months. It''s really crazy. We couldn''t sell our former home when we first moved and held onto it for a bit, renting out the rooms to pay the mortgage. That got real old real fast and when the pendulum swung again in our favor to sell, we were fortunate to be able to do so.

We are FAR from wealthy or comfortable financially and work very, very hard for what we have. We are NOT materialistic per se. Our home and the security it provides our family is clearly our greatest asset. With the large family I have(9 kids, 7 still at home), we seriously needed this house.

Yes, we try to take mini 4 day vacations and we have taken 1 major family vacation in the past 6 years, but that''s it. Recently, my hubby and I celebrated our 25th anniversary by going to the Caribbean and staying on St. Lucia. I just got back like Thursday so I am still out of sorts with my body clock. This was a HUGE undertaking financially for us, but I am thrilled beyond words that we were blessed and able to have gone. I am recharged, rejuvenated and re-in love with my husband. Oh, I also had the good fortune to have my DH arrange to have our vows renewed. We got it on video and DVD for our kids and friends to see. Priceless...simply priceless.

But that will need to hold us for awhile cuz we are back in the real world with bills to pay, kids to raise, and laundry to do...and you know what?...That''s ok with me...

Sorry to go on and on, but I felt it was worth sharing...

 

[fire&ice]

I thought in a condo you own the airspace & everything else in common. A townhouse may differ in that you actually own the structure.

 

[jldunn]

Sounds like I''m on the low end of things. I''ve got a 4br 2.5 bath 2,300 sq. ft. house in central new york, incomes about 60k, and went for a 1.25 carat.

 

[partgypsy]

I was going to mention this but cflutist got to it first. Has anyone gotten on zillow.com? You type in your address and it tells you how much your house it worth. Where I lives it just tells me my property tax worth, but other areas it has more detailed information. I''m one of the "poor" people here, another NC folk here (Durham). Our house has a mortgage of 74K. It is just under 1500 sq, 3 bedroom, 2 bath. Houses aren''t Really that cheap here; we had to do extensive renovation to it. but California prices are insane!

My mom after my parents divorced, is still camped out in our former family home in a nice suburb of Chicago (4 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath). I of course looked her (and family members) up on zillow.com, and my sister and I were shocked, though she''s always complained about not having money she has the most net of all of us (if don''t include Dad''s restaurant) because of that house!

As far as California people, an acquantice moved from NC to CA. This past year they sold their house in CA moved back and bought a VERY nice house. My friend who has (guesstimating) a $160K house said, with what they sold their house for, they could have bought all the houses on my block!!!

That said, I am very happy with my home; though it may be modest to most, to us it''s our palace.

 

[Mara]

Date: 3/3/2006 11:58:46 AM
Author: fire&ice
I thought in a condo you own the airspace & everything else in common. A townhouse may differ in that you actually own the structure.

Actually the way I have heard is in the past is that a condo you own the airspace and your structure but not the land it sits on...townhouse means you own the structure AND the land and airspace.

It also has to do with how many units. aka we are technically a condo since we have 5 ''townhouse style units'' on one building, but if we were just 2 units (aka me and our neighbor), we''d be a townhouse. So we are technically townhouse-style condos. But we look like townhouses.

In reality I don''t see a huge difference in how the two appreciate, around here most of it is location. I was on zillow.com last nite playing around and these other townhouse/condos we were looking at which look alot like ours about a mile away right near the Rosegarden, near 1-2m homes....they were the same price as ours when we bought it and they have appreciated $100k LESS than ours has in 2 years. Fairly interesting...and nice to know that we chose a good ''area'' in terms of the value rising. There''s so much going on here that it just becomes more desirable, but for how long we''ll see.

In any case, let''s all move to NC! YAY! 3k sq ft houses for everyone!

Island Dreams, in terms of salaries, I would guess that they are higher here to compensate but not all jobs automatically have a 100k salary or anything like that. Some jobs pay better than others just like anywhere else, but there is alot of money still here in tech. I know some younger people who need their parents help to get into a 1 bedroom condo if they ever want to own.

 

[CareBear]

I read that the average salary in the bay area is about 80k. Though the average person probably doesn't make this much. Just a lot of really wealthy people to bump up the average. I think the average home around here is probably 650k? That's the average of condos, townhomes, and stand alone houses. All the townhomes my fiance and I have looked at have been at least 650k or more. You make more money but it all gets sucked into mortgage We haven't bought a house yet.

Mara, I remember you live in Santa Clara? Are you in one of those townhomes near Rivermark?

 

[lmurden]

Date: 3/3/2006 11:58:46 AM
Author: fire&ice
I thought in a condo you own the airspace & everything else in common. A townhouse may differ in that you actually own the structure.

The difference to me is the condo fee vs. the HOA fee that you pay for some townhomes. In this area the condo fees are anywhere from $75.00-$550.00 compared to HOA being about $75.00. This is one of the main reasons we are not interest in buying a condo because we don''t think it''s worth the big extra bucks. Plus we can get 2x-3x the size with a pre-existing townhouse.

 

[Mara]

CareBear, no we are over off Alameda near the HP Pavilion. We''re near the Centex51 loft housing that is just being created. We looked at Rivermark but we were totally not into the whole 1000 home community thing with it''s own school and park and all that. I have heard parking over there is a nightmare too since the houses are so densely packed that guest or Rivermark (shopping) parking is hard.

 

[hoorray]

Date: 3/3/2006 1:50:16 PM
Author: Mara

Date: 3/3/2006 11:58:46 AM

Author: fire&ice

I thought in a condo you own the airspace & everything else in common. A townhouse may differ in that you actually own the structure.

Actually the way I have heard is in the past is that a condo you own the airspace and your structure but not the land it sits on...townhouse means you own the structure AND the land and airspace.


It also has to do with how many units. aka we are technically a condo since we have 5 'townhouse style units' on one building, but if we were just 2 units (aka me and our neighbor), we'd be a townhouse. So we are technically townhouse-style condos. But we look like townhouses.


In reality I don't see a huge difference in how the two appreciate, around here most of it is location. I was on zillow.com last nite playing around and these other townhouse/condos we were looking at which look alot like ours about a mile away right near the Rosegarden, near 1-2m homes....they were the same price as ours when we bought it and they have appreciated $100k LESS than ours has in 2 years. Fairly interesting...and nice to know that we chose a good 'area' in terms of the value rising. There's so much going on here that it just becomes more desirable, but for how long we'll see.


In any case, let's all move to NC! YAY! 3k sq ft houses for everyone!


Island Dreams, in terms of salaries, I would guess that they are higher here to compensate but not all jobs automatically have a 100k salary or anything like that. Some jobs pay better than others just like anywhere else, but there is alot of money still here in tech. I know some younger people who need their parents help to get into a 1 bedroom condo if they ever want to own.

We probably need someone who really knows the legal definition, but I've owned a couple of townhouses, and thought that the only difference between them and condos was style of structure and terminology. (Townhouses being more stand alone yet sometimes still adjoined, condos often being together in a larger building -- apartment style, high rise, etc.)

I know that in our townhomes, we owned the interior walls and structure. (It was ours to insure and maintain. If it had burned down the HOA insurance would not cover flooring, cainents, appliances, fixtures, etc.) All of the land of the complex was commonly owned so we owned 1/xxth indiscriminently. And the exterior structures, landscaping, pools or whatever, were also commonly owned and maintained. So... our HOA paints and maintanins the exterior, we paint and maintain the interior. I'm pretty sure that's no different in a condo.

 

[Gemklctr]

As lop notes, the differences between traditional townhouses and condos come down to the ownership arrangements for the common areas and the nature of the group limitations on the neighborhood/building. Condos can be built in townhouse style with attached residences; they don''t have to be apartment style. Typically, with a townhouse you own your yard, the interior of your unit and any unshared exterior walls, you share ownership of the walls between units with your neighbors, and you have an ownership interest in the common parts of the structures (e.g., roof). In a condo, the grounds are typically shared ownership as are all exteriors. There are also more centralized purchasing arrangements for services (such as trash, upkeep, snow removal, etc.). However, all this can be varied and many neighborhood homeowners associations in both townhouse and single family developments take on many of the responsibilities of a condo association for exterior maintenance, etc.

I suppose I should answer the question while I''m here: 6 bedrooms, 4.5 baths, 2 fireplaces with about 4,000 sq. feet on the upper 2 levels and another 1,300 in the walkout basement on .25 acre in Northern Virginia.

 

[fire&ice]

The legal dif b/t condo & townhouse varies from State to State & is usually clearly stated in the documents. It''s pretty cut and dry. In VA, Condo - you own the air. TH - you own the structure & therefore own the land (or visa versa). Both have their pros and cons. In VA, Style is a non issue when dealing with the legal aspects of the complex. Also, variables exist within each. It is important to know what''s in the the argreement.

 

[butterfly 17]

I have a cute story to tell about my mom''s house.
They found their house in 1993 through a RE person. It was actually an open house that they followed a sign to find.
The asking price at the time was $595K. This house is located in one of the nicest areas in Queens, called Jamaica Estates.

The house was old and needed some work and my mom fell in love with the house and wanted it badly.
My dad is a civil engineer and my mom asked him how much they should offer for the house.
My dad said $400K, $195k less than the asking price. My mom said they would never accept that, but she told the RE person anyway, who laughed. So my mom said, okay, tell them I am offering $420k.
She also requested an appointment to see the house again.

The RE person made the offer and told my mom that someone else offered closer to asking price, in the $550+K range.

When my mom went to the house, the owner, who was an older gentleman ( 72, I believe), took a walk with her to the backyard of the house and as they were walking, tripped and almost fell, but my mom saved him and helped him up.
As he was recovering, he looked at my mom and said, So, I heard you made an offer of $420 for the house, do you know someone offered close to my asking price. My mom looked at him and said, I love your house, but that''s all the money I have.

He then looked at my mom and said, Gloria, you want it for $420, you got it for $420, I am calling my son and telling him to sell it to you for that price.

He was true to his word and sold her the house for $420K, $175k less than his original asking price!

The house is beautiful and sits on 20,000 sq. feet, but I don''t know the sq. footage of the house itself.

I went on zillow.com and the currently value is 1.43 million, but my mom says she would never sell the house because she considers it her lucky house. I don''t blame her.

 

[sevens one]

Date: 3/4/2006 9:49:52 AM
Author: butterfly 17
I have a cute story to tell about my mom''s house.
They found their house in 1993 through a RE person. It was actually an open house that they followed a sign to find.
The asking price at the time was $595K. This house is located in one of the nicest areas in Queens, called Jamaica Estates.

The house was old and needed some work and my mom fell in love with the house and wanted it badly.
My dad is a civil engineer and my mom asked him how much they should offer for the house.
My dad said $400K, $195k less than the asking price. My mom said they would never accept that, but she told the RE person anyway, who laughed. So my mom said, okay, tell them I am offering $420k.
She also requested an appointment to see the house again.

The RE person made the offer and told my mom that someone else offered closer to asking price, in the $550+K range.

When my mom went to the house, the owner, who was an older gentleman ( 72, I believe), took a walk with her to the backyard of the house and as they were walking, tripped and almost fell, but my mom saved him and helped him up.
As he was recovering, he looked at my mom and said, So, I heard you made an offer of $420 for the house, do you know someone offered close to my asking price. My mom looked at him and said, I love your house, but that''s all the money I have.

He then looked at my mom and said, Gloria, you want it for $420, you got it for $420, I am calling my son and telling him to sell it to you for that price.

He was true to his word and sold her the house for $420K, $175k less than his original asking price!

The house is beautiful and sits on 20,000 sq. feet, but I don''t know the sq. footage of the house itself.

I went on zillow.com and the currently value is 1.43 million, but my mom says she would never sell the house because she considers it her lucky house. I don''t blame her.

What an awesome story.
I love that. Good for your mom.

It just goes to show; you never know until you try.