Jeff's
New House Journal
Background
Story
I began seriously looking for a house at the beginning of 2003, after years of talking about it. Initially I planned to move out of the area, but later decided to stay closer to home. The areas that I then considered were:
Monterey was quickly eliminated when I found out the prices of the new development i was looking at. Tracy was just too dull. Sacramento I liked quite a bit, but it was just too far from family and friends. Santa Rosa seemed like a nice place, and I had a realtor helping me look around the area, but we never found anything decent that I could afford.
Brentwood (in far-eastern Contra Costa County) was a place I initially dismissed, after going there and finding nothing but farms and tract homes. Not even a store in sight. After further exploration, I found more services and a cute downtown area with a beautifully restored movie theater. Another advantage of Brentwood was that I wouldn't have to wind through the City to go to my parents house. After a few months of thinking about it, I put my name on the list of the development that I could afford.
In the late afternoon on April 24th, I received a call from KB Homes asking if I was interested in one of the two lots they were releasing. One was against the edge of the development, while the other was against the golf course. Price difference: $33,000. They wanted a yes or no answer on the phone, and I told them I couldn't give them one. Two hours later I called back and told them I'd take the cheaper of the two (against the wall, not the golf course). I was told that they'd already called other interested parties, and that I'd have to be the first one there to get the house.