Most people who know me know we moved into a new house back in August. They also have either been to the house or seen pics and understand why we affectionately call it “The Alamo”. Well, the fight is over. We have made our last stand to keep the Alamo, and we are moving out.
We moved in on a handshake agreement with the owner. We have known him for years and he had always been a stand up guy, a good businessman and friend. We negotiated a price and monthly payments, which were not exactly cheap, but we felt the house was worth it. We began paying him a large monthly sum in September, for what was supposed to be an owner financing situation. We were to sign the papers first week of September. In October we paid again. Still no papers to sign. At the end of October we decided to get traditional financing, and began the process.
Big problem. The house doesn’t appraise for enough to pay his desired sale amount. And it is not off by just a little. Sorry, but I don’t routinley have an extra 6 figures laying around, so no go that way. November comes and goes. Payment made. Still no signed agreement.
Now it was December. We had paid this man enough to have paid off a quarter of the mortgage on our old house, yet we still had no signed agreement of any kind. We put an additional large chuck into paving the driveway and adding the theater room. More waiting. Still nothing signed. At this point we realized we needed to move on.
It is now January. The heater doesn’t work, yet he won’t fix it. The roof leaks, but he won’t fix it. We have been paying what amounts to tens of thousands of dollars in RENT with nothing to show for it.
So – we are done. We are moving out. We have found a beautiful home in Bel Aire, with comparable square footage and a lot of amenities. Nice neighborhood with a lot of kids, rec center and pool. We are also working with good people, sellers who are ready and able to sign a legal, binding agreement of sale, and not just take our hard earned money, and trust.
Are we sad to be leaving The Alamo? Of course. We LOVE this house, but we do not love shelling out the equivilant of my annual income in “rent” and getting no equity in return. So we are saying goodbye to Derby and our 5 acres and hello to Bel Aire and our new mauve house on 1 acre.
Naturally I will be having wine night soon to properly break in the new place and make it feel like home. Sam, Duke and Kitty will have lots of new floors, walls doors and bushes to sniff. We signed papers yesterday and are moving this week. We are not loosing any square footage, and gaining acres of pretty rose colored carpet and a new start.
So long, Alamo. I love you and will miss you. Thanks for the memories and the chance to live in a place that looked like to belonged on the beach in Malibu. It was fun while it lasted. I hope the next people who live here love you as much as I do.

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