House hunting and disasters real estate agents referred us to

If you give a real estate agent a list expect the outrageously improbable.

Consider our requirements:

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1. Enough property that we can’t see our neighbors from our windows
2. No farms or ranches
3. Must have internet access

And yet we ended up being sent to:

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1. A home that had originally been partially built by a religious leader who siphoned off cash from a church-funded business and whose church (after his indictment) sold it to a retired rodeo clown couple who finished it. One of the 2 bedrooms (no attached bath) could only be accessed via an outdoor stairway. To its credit, the home did have a nice creek that flowed under the back deck for fishing (steelhead trout) but I was certain it would flood and wash out the foundation (call me pessimistic). The retired clowns were only somewhat interested in selling. The house had been on the market on and off for 10 years because it was way overpriced and although they only rarely used it as a weekend retreat, the clowns wouldn’t negotiate.




2. A property that could be built on but was across “The River of No Return” from where the main road ran and it had no way of getting town power or creating its own (no sun most of the year, no access to land where wind-power could be generated, slim possibility of getting permission for water-generated power). It kinda bothered me that 50 years prior the former residence had been totally destroyed in a flood. When we got there to check it out we were shown the place by someone who was locally rumored to be on the run from the FBI. Purportedly he would disappear into the hills every time they showed up. I dunno…



3. A 6000 sq.ft residence that had a 5-car garage (one bay had a carwash) and a huge shop which stood beside a man-made pond (read ‘mini-lake’) that had to be drained, cleaned, and restocked with fish every 2-5 years. I think the house size was a little excessive for the two of us, I’m not so sure that my fondness for fishing in any way matches the pond maintenance requirements, and if any of you hate cleaning one bathroom upvote me! This house had 4 plus a powder room!


Hmmm... Could it be that someone else didn’t want to clean the fishpond either? A rather green pond there!
(Road name inexpertly removed for the privacy of the innocent)

4. A house where every indoor wall was made of glass including the bathrooms. I watched the owners’ kids running around and could only think, “Have you ever wished you could see your parents sitting on the toilet?” then I recalled that I don’t even want to see my neighbor from my bathroom window.
(sorry - no pix)

5. And a house made from a very large quonset where the bottom level was a huge 2 story high garage and workshop for all things very large and mechanical. (again, no pix)

You can almost see how finding a house like Snowslide Gulch that was inaccessible by vehicles was almost a relief!