Our new home is now under contract

We finally were able to negotiate an acceptable offer for a very nice home in Gilbert, Arizona.  It is close to a big park, close to an LDS chapel, and close to a Trader Joe's store.  It is not as big as many of the houses we looked at, not as fancy, and most importantly, not as expensive.  It should do nicely for us.  It has a 3/4 acre park like yard with desert landscaping in front and luxury oasis in the rear.  It has a detached 900 square foot guest house with its own garage.  The neighborhood is very nice and several of the homes on our street are being renovated.  The house we are buying has been renovated from top to bottom.  We hope to have many visitors.  Here are some pictures:

as you can see the paint choices are very nice

the tile, carpet, and stone work is top quality

House hunting in Phoenix area

Below you may see pictures of some of the houses we looked at.  You will also see pictures from a birthday party we had with our girls and Natalie on the far right, our friend and realtor.  Eve, our grand-daughter has her own picture.  

hunting houses in phoenix

This property on Jerome in Mesa has a barn and a 30 foot square sand box.  It needs a pool but the price is right.

Rose and Bob received a fish pedicure while in Alexandria.  Little fish nibbled the dead skin from our feet.

Our new car is a Toyota Matrix.

Phoenix Report

We have been here in Phoenix since Aug 28 looking for a house to buy.  Maybe we are just too picky.  We have visited many houses and read on line about many, many more but have not found our dream house yet.  We have made offers on six but apparently our idea of what a place is valued at and what the owners consider the value is different.  We have had several counter offers but have not accepted any of them.  

It is true, people become emotionally attached to their homes if they have put a lot of work into them and it is hard to face today's lower value.  We have looked at the Maricopa County "full cash value" for the years 2007-2009 and we do not want to pay a lot more for a house now that will go down in value in 2009.  Reminds me of buying a car and as soon as you have driven off the lot you have lost value in it.  By the way, we did buy a new car - a toyota matrix.

We are busy busy busy and waiting for the day that we do sign a contract so we can relax a bit and catch up on visiting family and friends and maybe even read a good book.  

We are adjusting to life in the USA.  We do miss our handy green vegetable store in Budapest and the schedule that we maintained while on our mission.  We continue to exercise by getting in the pool each morning and do water exercises along with throwing the ball for the dog to fetch in and out of the pool.  

It is great to be close to Lydia, Peter, Eve, Rebecca and Sergio and to get reacquainted with them.  Our oldest, Laura, came to visit from Orem last weekend.  It was great to see her again.  We hope to go to UT to visit family and friends during the time that our house is in escrow.

It has been enlightening to visit the different Wards/congregations around the Chandler/Phoenix/Gilbert areas.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is true all over the world.  I invite any who are not members to invite the missionaries over and learn about our doctrine.  

I can promise you that you will find joy, light and peace in your life as you study the doctrines with a sincere interest and a sincere prayer.

love from us,  Rose and Bob