Back "Home" in Benson

We are back in Benson (actually, St. David), ready to close on our new home. Yep, we bought it! We got an amazing deal--apparently the builder had several spec homes that weren't moving in this market, and wanted to sell before it went into foreclosure. It was originally listed at $214,900 when it went on the market in October, dropped to 189,000 in January, and had just dropped again to 179,000 when we looked at it for the second time in early March. We made an offer of 167,500, figuring that would give them room to counteroffer, but they accepted the offer as written. We couldn't believe it! So, for the past month, we've been mailing and emailing paperwork back and forth to the mortgage company, the realtor, and the title company. The amount of paper is staggering--we half more than a half inch worth of copies! Things certainly have changed since the last time we bought a house (20 years ago). Both the realtor and the lender agree, saying that it gets worse every year. Some of it I can understand, but some of it is totally ridiculous. The lender actually required a "motivation letter" saying why we wanted to buy a house in Arizona. Why that is any of their business is anyone's guess. Anyway, all is well; our closing is scheduled for Wednesday, but may happen a day early, which would be great.

We arrived here on Tuesday for the home inspection and final walk-through on Wednesday. We parked the RV on the property Tuesday night, but, because of liability issues, the realtors didn't want us staying on the property after that one night until it's officially ours, even though it was ok with the owner. Sydney, our realtor, offered her front yard as an alternative to $30plus a night in an RV park, and we gratefully accepted. She lives on 15 acres, has a huge yard, horses, and two dogs who welcomed Ellie and Tex like long-lost pals. There is a lot to see and do around this area, and we've been doing day trips here and there. Once we close and have the keys to the house, we'll be moving some things in. Although we won't be moving here permanently for at least a year, we'll be making lots of trips down with stuff, and working on building a storage building and a garage/workshop.

The pictures in this post show a couple of views of our house and some of the flora on our property. The barrel cactus are starting to bloom, and prickly pear and cholla won't be far behind. There are lots of little desert wildflowers in purple, yellow, and white. The mesquite, which in the winter looked black and dead, like they had been in a fire, are beginning to green up too. The elevation is 4000 feet here--too cold for saguaro and citrus, but I can have my favorite ocotillo. My mom said she'd buy me one as a housewarming present (Thanks, Mom!).