Sparky Comes Out!

No, not out of the closet.... :-)   As many of you have suspected, Sparky and Eldo have stayed in Sarasota for so long because we decided we loved Sarasota so much, we are buying a house in Bradenton, very very close to Sarasota. Yes, we are coming off the road after full timing for three years...Interest rates are very good but starting to climb, properties in Sarasota are HOT, HOT, HOT! So are the temps, but we are getting used to them. It's just a good time in the economy and our personal life all the way around for us to move from full time traveling back to a house in our retirement. So hot is the real estate in Sarasota County, the inventory has really dropped since we started looking a couple of months ago. Apparently investment companies are coming in and buying up houses by the dozens, driving up prices. Their plan is to rent them until the housing market recovers, then sell for big profits. Hm-m-m-m...that sounds like the beginning of the real estate bubble that burst back around 2008 when properties values crashed in Florida.

We are selling our Tiffin Phaeton, diesel pusher, 40 foot, QTH. We have ads online for it, on RVOnline and National Multi List, if anybody is interested. Down the road, (heheheh) we hope to get something smaller and still travel occasionally, but for now, we are going to stay put, fix up our house, and enjoy Sarasota to the fullest!

What does the house look like? It's beautiful, of course! Two bedrooms plus a den, AND a craft room for Sparky. And, Eldy is finally going to have a MAN CAVE! He's been looking at free standing bars and sports decor.....Here's Sparky's craft room...She's got LOTS of ideas to brighten and make this room a FUN room to create in!

The house has a pool, and it's on a golf course with a fantastic view out the back of the lanai. We will have a spare bedroom room for visitors.... :-)

It comes mostly furnished, which will really help our budget for awhile. The inside is white, white, white--- but there's lots of PINK, too. The previous owners liked pink--pink tile in the kitchen and baths, pink and mauve wallpaper on the walls. Pinkish kitchen cabinets....

This is the breakfast nook area....

Sparky is not too crazy about the pink tile floors in the bathrooms and kitchen, but we'll live with that for awhile. They swapped out all the appliances and put in all brand new, but left the really old cabinets in place.

We've had to think about getting some furniture to make more our own. We're not fond of mauve and teal everything. So we'll be refurbishing some of the finishes on some pieces, getting some new stuff, and donating some things.

Part of the great room

Guest bath...It already has palm tree towels and shower curtain!

Formal dining area...

We didn't want to say anything in the blog until it looked darn certain that everything was going to go through without a major hiccup. It was REALLY REALLY nerve wracking! So much information that the bank kept asking for, a roof repair that held things up for awhile, tropical storm Andrea that held things up...etc., etc., etc.

Guest bedroom

So THAT'S what we've REALLY been doing these past few weeks in addition to continuing to explore Sarasota. Window shopping for furniture, waiting to hear if the next step in the loan application was proceeding, looking at rugs, flooring, investigating all kinds of things we MIGHT do to the house on a limited budget. It's been really really fun looking and dreaming! First on the list of things to do---PAINTING....We're going with cocoas, browns, tans, and slate blues...We'll do some before and after photos as the weeks go by.....

Sparky just read an article about a guy who remodeled his house in Seattle with mostly Craig's List findings....to the tune of over $300,000. We'll be on a much smaller budget, lol...MUCH smaller! We'll check out estate sales, garage sales, you never know what treasures you might find.

pink and mauve everything in the master bath

We are closing on it soon....We'll keep you posted! Sparky will keep blogging daily until we have moved in, and then will probably blog about once a week....We still have another trip to do--to Red Bay and up to Indiana to empty out a storage locker up there....We'll be doing that in a few weeks.

And if you know anyone looking for a class A motorhome, spread the word about our Tiffin Phaeton, if you would...Email us for more information if you need it. We thank you!

Are we going to miss traveling? You bet, but all of you will keep us posted as to what's going on, cool places to be, great marvels to see, and who knows, some day we might be back out there joining you once again.

Until next time.....   Jeannie and Eldy