Flu shot

Every few months for the past several years, I catch the real estate bug the same way people catch the flu. For a few days, I'm under the weather: endlessly checking movoto.com and redfin.com ... plugging numbers into online mortgage calculators ... updating and revising my various spreadsheets, all of which -- inevitably and definitively -- tell me the same thing: we can't afford to buy a house.

I caught my most recent bug when I saw a headline in the San Jose Mercury News: prices in some Bay Area towns and neighborhoods are down 20-30%. For the first time, it appears we may actually be able to afford a place of our own. Of course, we'll need to wait until after the Match and after Brian graduates and is gainfully employed. Even then, it may be difficult to quality for a mortgage, given the current credit crisis. And who knows if the dip in local prices will last into the spring. It's anyone's guess.

But ... maybe ... maybe we could buy something. And that's enough to keep me logged in to movoto and spinning my spreadsheets. We would almost certainly have to buy a fixer-upper, in a neighborhood that oculd only be described (generously) as up-and-coming.

For example, check out these pictures of places in our price range:



Who takes pictures like this when listing their home for sale? Seriously? You couldn't move the tub of clothes off the bed?



This last one is the best. Just looking at it makes me laugh.



What you can't see from these delightful picitures is that the house is in a terrible school district. But at least the Mexican food is great. And I'm wondering if maybe that isn't enough. A place of our own, and great Mexican food. Sounds pretty good to me.