Serendipity?

We've been a little depressed and overwhelmed and work-obsessed over here lately, and I've noticed that every time I look out the window, I think about work. Because it's right there. Outside the window. All the time. I can't leave the house, or come back to it, without looking at the building I work in and thinking of all the things that are piling up that I haven't gotten done yet.

J and I were talking about it, and also about the fact that his pony will need to retire in a few more years, and mine a few years after that. We don't really want to pay board on FOUR horses, but we want to be able to keep riding and also not send the ponies to the knackers just because they are old and can't do the job anymore. That seems a little ungrateful... to say the least... And then Vaughn mentioned that he probably has about four more years of running the barn before he won't want to do it anymore. With the way the land out there is developing, the chances of it selling as a horse barn are slim. And we can see a time when our 0.7 acres won't be enough for the things we want to do and/or the area around the University will be rezoned.

So we thought, now's a good time to start looking around, and see if maybe we could find a couple of acres, a little farther from work, where we could put a barn and an arena, and keep a few chickens and a garden. Oh, and a house too... ; ) If we can find a property with all that already on it, we probably can't afford it, but let's look.

Oy. Be careful when you walk out your door. You never know where you'll get swept off to...

We've discovered that prices in Ogden Valley are WAY, WAY down from a few years ago. And we've found a property (http://www.utahrealestate.com/880895) that might suit. It's dramatically over-priced compared to comparable properties---the owner is still pegging it at 2007 prices. There are five acres, with a house, a large chicken barn and a pond. Mature trees, 17.5 water shares, and it backs up to a river (which is down a hill, so no worries about flooding at the primary part of the property). The house is about twice as big as we want, but the main floor is the right size, so maybe we could compromise, if the price is right.

So we called an agent our friends recommended, and made an appointment for Saturday morning to talk to her about what we might be looking for up there. We specifically asked about this property, which turns out to be one of hers. On Friday, the Homefinder circular in the newspaper has a picture of the property. It said, 'Will trade for smaller property' across the top. Eep!

So on Saturday, we asked the agent. The woman had the property on the market in 2007, but then her husband fell ill, and they took it off the market. He passed away recently, and she re-listed it for the same amount as before (which is about 40% more than the market will bear). She lives there with her daughter and granddaughter, but the property is too large for her to care for. She is looking for a house in Ogden, not in a development, with about half an acre, where she might have a garden and a couple of chickens, and live there with her daughter and granddaughter. WE HAVE THAT! And two houses and fruit trees too! Our house is valued at about the same amount as this acreage, according to several different sources.

So now we are waiting until next Saturday, at 11 am, to go actually see the property, and see if it actually will suit. We've viewed it on Google Earth, drawn in an arena, played around with barn placement, looked up barn-building estimates, etc. We've run the numbers every conceivable way, and find that if we do a straight-up trade, we can afford to build a nice barn, add an arena, fix up the house, and cross fence the pastures. If we trade plus money, we can't do it all right away before we move in, but we might be able to make it work if we stretch.

There's a lot of carbonation over here, as we are buzzing about the possibilities. Maybe.