We're Home!

This is our home. We own it. And it's in Hollywood, where we've said we'd like to stay forever. We're so happy to be home.  Now, let's take a walk down memory lane: our house hunting experience that lasted three years and caused our hearts to ache and our eyes to swell with tears. I'm not exaggerating.  We looked at hundreds of homes, and bid on about a dozen. Here are the ones that stand out.

This was the first house we bid on. It was in a neighborhood we'd never heard of before: Glassell Park. It was up in the hills, with a gorgeous view of Mt. Washington. The house was tiny. But the yard! And the finished back house/studio/office!  And the jacuzzi!  It was an oasis. In East LA.  It sold for $60,000 over listing price.

Next, we bid on this house just off of Beverly. Two stories. A real home. Little yard, but big enough. I loved this house; my husband not so much.  But he didn't have to worry. It also sold for $60,000 more than listing price.

This was our dream house. In the heart of Hollywood, in walking distance to Hollywood and Vine, to our gym, to the farmer's market. Sure, the house needed serious work: new floors, a new kitchen, a new bathroom. But we were willing to slum it over time, to create our dream home with our bare hands.  Although we were the top bidder, we were passed up for a cash buyer.

We really thought we were going to get this one. We wrote a cover letter to the owners, they seemed to really like us - they were like the forty-something versions of us. But, they went with a cash buyer. This is when Joseph coined the term "cash holes".

This was almost our dream house. It wasn't in Hollywood, but it was in a super cute neighborhood (Baldwin Hills), walking distance to the Expo line, and was BIG. Two bedroom/two bath, big front yard, huge back yard, huge back house. We were the top bidder. We went into escrow. The house appraised low. The selling bank wanted us to pay the difference in cash. We said no. They canceled our contract.  Our hearts broke and we became angry at the whole damn system.

State of the art, this was. Gorgeous. Like Tuscany. It was in Highland Park, LA's hottest 'hood for young home buyers. We didn't have a chance in hell.

In Frogtown, almost my favorite neighborhood outside of Hollywood. Tiny, but super cute. A million bidders entered the game. We had a little bit of a chance on this one, but not enough.

Also in Frogtown, on the same street as the one above. At this point, we were desperate to find a home in Frogtown. Near Echo Park! Right off of the LA River bike path! So quiet! So cute! Yeah, us and everyone else.

Again, in Frogtown, right off of the river. With a gorgeous, landscaped backyard. Oh, it was beautiful. Again, like Tuscany. Again, we didn't have a chance.











This is not all of them. Just the ones that we really, really wanted. After three years, hundreds of viewing, dozens of bids, we wound up staying in Hollywood, which is what we wanted all along.

Hollywood forever.