A Day of Adventure

Well I guess you know it rained today.  I certainly found out once I reached Santa Rosa.  It was pouring, not some friendly California sprinkle, nope, this was a Washington downpour.

So I found the little dump, I mean house and it was wet, the place was rough, very near downtown, had nice tenants, agent never showed up at all.  I darted out into the rain to measure, then back under eves to write the numbers down, my sheet was soon soaked.  Once I got inside it was old, about 100 years and weak but had character, in a back unit I found a younger brother of the renter in bed with his girl so I just shot my photo over them and let them resume whatever they were doing before!

Once I was completed I checked my time and found I had just enough to catch a Starbucks so I ventured out one more time to get soaked and have a mocha, a bagel and a break.  I had already driven 2 hours through the rain to get there.

Now it was time to turn to Oakland and so I hit the road, gradually the rain let up but it was hard to keep the car's windows from fogging up with all the wetness in the car.  So I drove with the heater and AC on and it all worked out.

The next house was a beast.  Almost 3,500 sf and on a steep downslope, had a unit deep in the lower levels, the house was pretty dirty but eventually I figured out the layout, shot my photos and then spend the next 45 minutes trying to locate the comps on narrow one lane streets in the pouring rain once again.

The next property was in Hayward and by then it was warmer, no rain and I was a bit late.  No matter.  The owner had died and Sun West is going to try to sell the property to reclaim their money.  This one was strange.  A tiny little 100 year old house surrounded by other tiny homes or light industrial uses, a welding shop, a trucking company, a storage for pallets etc.

There were some nice folks there when I arrived, the main guy who met me had lived there for 8 years in his Bounder Motorhome and he showed me around.  The main house is tiny, floors are sketchy and the owner turned a tiny storage shed into a little unit and of course the renter there was showering.  His wife / girlfriend let me in anyway so I shot my photo the other way and moved on.  This property was on Bridge Street and it was as close to the Bay as could be, I mean the street sticks right out into the bay almost, never been there before, so I learned something but knowing how much it is worth, well I don't have many clues yet.

After that I headed back to Oakland near the downtown to find that the house I had researched had been totally remodeled and was now 500 feet larger.  The owner had done a super job on the place and it was nice, once again opening one bedroom door I found some young people, one boy, one girl looking a bit guilty so I shot my photo and moved on.  Dad was right there so I guess its OK.

After that I headed home and that process took some time as traffic was moving slowly.

I'm looking forward to Tahoe this weekend.  The family is descending on the Ridge where STeve and Nikki have a time share, great place, Jo is there tonight with kiddos, Nikki will go up tomorrow and I'm going to drive up on Friday late afternoon with I think both Steve and Jason with me.  I'll stay one night and then come home but it sounds like great fun.

Right now going to bed sounds like a great plan.  In the morning at 8:30 I see a huge one here in Discovery Bay, would you believe I found the sketch of the floor plan from 1999 so I'll not have to measure.  That is a big deal as this one is tough to measure.

Love to all, I'm praying for my special friends, Bob, Glen, Dolly's husband Ken who is recovering from a broken hip and others as well.

Tim