Dream house, Flop House, or no house?

[Spartana]

OK, since I'm in the house buying/looking mode, here's another "What would you do in my shoes" question. here's the background if you didn't know it already:

Sold my house a bit ago once the last pup passed and planned to travel full time totally unencumbered by a home for a couple of years before buying a very small condo in an inexpensive state once I was ready to settle down again. But last spring I inhereted my Dad's dogs when he died and haven't found them a home so will be keeping them. That means I can't travel like I wanted too (but will still travel a bit) and need to think about my lomg term housing situation since one of the dogs (3 of them) is fairly young. So I have several choices as I see it and want some input to help me decide what to do:

I can buy my "dream house" in an area I love and make that my permenant home. It would be far from very expensive So Calif, where I currently live, and from my sister - my only relative who I am extremely close to - and who pet sits for me alot giving me more freedom to roam.

Or I can buy an inexpensive "Flop House" in SoCal to take advantage of the current low housing prices. But it would be in an area I don't like that much and wouldn't want to live in forever, but is close to my sister (50 miles) and would make seeing each other and having a pet sitter so I could travel very easy. Then once the pets are gone I could sell it (hopefully for a profit or at least for what I bought it for) and move to my dream house - where ever that ends up being!

Or I can go the "no house" route and continue to rent a place in SoCal instead of buy. Wait to buy until the pups pass on or whenever I wanted. If I did that I would be freer to move when I want, but it may be several years before I'd buy again and housing prices may have really increased. Plus paying rent for a place that allows three dogs will be high.

So any suggestions?

[Gina]

Good luck finding a nice rental at a reasonable price that will allow 3 dogs.

First thing I'd do before making such a decision would be to really look hard at places in an area closer to your sister for something in your price range. You never know what you might find in this market. For myself, I would not want to live in an area I didn't like. You are talking a number of years, and with dogs, you'll likely be home more than travelling.

You can of course rent while looking for a really good, reasonable, permanent home in an area you like. I looked for 2 years before finding exactly what I wanted in a down market. No dogs to deal with however.

Good luck.

[shadowmoss]

I'd buy, and be near sister for pet sitting reasons. As for going for dream for flop, I'd veer more towards dream (knowing your dream is small, minimalist, etc.) something that you can enjoy now, and then sell later and move to dream location. My $.02.

[loosechickens]

Certainly the market right now in southern CA is tilted decisively in favor of buyers, so you should be able to get a pretty decent deal. And with rising population, don't think prices can stay down forever, although a quick recovery is unlikely. I'd put my vote into staying near your sister, looking for a small place in a decent neighborhood (I agree, presence of three dogs makes you nearly an untouchable in the rental market), so that you can take advantage of nearby pet sitting, allowing you to enjoy your dream of travel, at least part time.

Good luck........

[Glo]

Go for the dream house. IMO, where you live is the most important thing since it has a lot to do with your degree of happiness.

[sweetana3]

There are always pet sitters. We use them for our 5 cats and have had paid and unpaid ones (they also have unkenneled doggie care). Factor that into your plans also. It is rarely one thing or the other.

Really it is how much do you want to live near your sister and how much that relationship adds to your life.

I agree that finding housing with 3 dogs is not going to get you quality housing.

[Reyes]

How old are the dogs?

[Spartana]

Thanks for the replies everyone. At the moment (may change!!) I am leaning towards just staying in SoCal permanently (been here forever already!) and buying a small place in a town (Temecula) that I really like alot. It's in a nice valley mid-way between the mountains and ocean and surrounded by big horse ranches, about 40wineries, and avocado groves. Nice historic main street and downtown area. Lots of city parks, bike paths, casino, couple of big lakes close by and lots of great hiking and mountain biking areas near by too. The only draw back is that it gets too hot and dry for me in summer and fall - and I absolutely HATE hot, dry, endlessly sunny weather. But it's perfect in winter (60's to low 70's). But it's close to my friends and my Sis (only family, best friends, beach VB partner, and free pet sitter :-)), is fairly inexpensive with low property taxes and low heating costs and cooling cost (would hope to be gone travelling during summer or at least at the beach or in the mountains - both about an hour drive away). So I guess the pull of family is stronger than the pull of the Great White North (Maine, Washington, Colorado or Alaska - places I'd want to live). hey, least I won't have to shovel snow!! Lindi

editted to add: the other big drawbacks for me is that pretty much anywhere in SoCal has lots of people and traffic (Temecula has a pop. of about 100,000 so that's OK) and the fact that if you want to go anywhere besides the mountains, it's going to be either the desert or the metro areas. I love the forests and wooded areas and farms and meadows you see in other parts of the country when you go outside of town, The rivers and lakes and wildlife and trees and change of seasons, etc.. Don't know if having those things only part of the year, assuming I can travel to them, will be worth staying close to sis and friends.

[Spartana]

How old are the dogs?

2, 6, and not sure about the big one (boarder collie) but probably between 10 and 13. So will have the little ones quite a while longer. But I know myself pretty well in that if I do end up buying a plkace in SoCal, I'll probably just end up staying there forever. Maybe downsizing to a condo once the dogs were gone - maybe, once I was 55, to the seniors place (Leisure World) like my Mom lived in down in Seal Beach. So even though I say I would move again, I probably wouldn't. So it's an important decsion for me. And to be honest, now that I'm older, I don't know if my dream of being a back-packingworld travelling bum will ever happen again. I did it when I was younger but onc e the dogs are all gone I might be at an age where that isn't so attractive anymore. At least not for years on end. So maybe getting a place now while it's cheap and easy is the best thing afterall.

[Spartana]

There are always pet sitters. We use them for our 5 cats and have had paid and unpaid ones (they also have unkenneled doggie care). Factor that into your plans also. It is rarely one thing or the other.

Really it is how much do you want to live near your sister and how much that relationship adds to your life.

I agree that finding housing with 3 dogs is not going to get you quality housing.

Unfortunately one of the dogs is crazy and can't be pet-sat by anyone except my sister or in a locked kennel, and I wouldn't want to put her in a kennel if I was going to be gone for a long time. So it's either take them all with me or have my sister do it for longer term things. Otherwise, if the dog wasn't crazy and aggressive, I'd get a roommate and not only have a built-in pet sitter, but a house sitter AND some extra moo-lah too! But that option isn't open to me.