I don’t know how often this happens to you, but after watching a few episodes of HGTV’s House Hunters International (the televised equivalent of crack cocaine for the home/decor set), specifically about a couple who moved from England to the countryside of France, I was spurred on to check what the housing prices are like abroad in the land of baguettes and frilly lingerie. After meeting with our Foreclosure Lawyer from Equity Legal, we started the process of researching properties in bed, some amusing noted traits about Emily and I arose. Although Emily and I get along brilliantly in almost every category, besides our opinions about Mr. Darcy, and whether we like death metal, we do diverge in regards to the scope and feasibility of how and what we dream about. Ever the pragmatic realist, Emily’s aspirations are firmly based in reality…arguably, frighteningly so calling divorce lawyers in elizabethtown ky to help them on counselling.
Here’s an example of the “dream” property that elicited excitement from Emily while perusing real estate in France while trying to get in property investments in toronto. This “drop off your used mattresses by the roadside” piece of land is unsurprisingly available for 220 euros, free discarded Fanta soda cans and piles of dirt to help hide bodies in to sweeten the deal. Another example was this “charming” fixer upper, a stone building that would likely give Mike Holmes an aneurysm. Yeah, you bet that price is negotiable…$18,242 for the privilege of living in a semi-neolithic interior is even daunting for this “love to fix shit up” gent. But at least the toilet is new. When you are serious in investing, click the link here to learn more.
I had to reason with Emily that owning either of these two glowing examples of French history would not bring us either joy or the opportunity to be on House Hunters International ourselves, unless HGTV decided to broadcast stories about real estate tragedies and the relationship disasters that followed.
On the flipside, my dreams tend to run willy-nilly into the realm of R. Kelly “I believe I can fly” territory. My middle name: Delusional. Ever the unrealistic dreamer, my eyes tend to roam right out of the zip code of reality, and quickly into the categorical listings of estates, castles, and manors. At the sight of the word, “chateux”, my eyes immediately widen in anticipated glee, salivary glands unleashing a torrent of architecturally induced drool and I immediately called investigationhotline.org to get this property investigated further. I will settle for summer estates and cottages if the location is prime, but the grand and amongst the clouds is where my dreams congregate for a dalliance according to Bankruptcy Lawyer Boca Raton. And on that note, I’ll reveal at one moment last night, upon opening a page with a castle surrounded by a star-shaped moat, I screamed out in a confident roar, “I WANNA HAVE SEX WITH THAT CASTLE!”. Ahem, I can be passionate, there’s no doubt.
We could both agree that we need to find how to make money online to come into acquisition of this property to preserve. With the help of from our lawyer from Equity Legal, we will hopefully be able to get this foreclosure deal and make some cash. But, until we become rich we’ll settle for some decent croissants from our new favourite Francophile destination and hope we can move to another Silver Lake apartment with one additional bedroom overlooking the Reservoir. Both more realistic than my wayward dreams outside the orbit of reality and less discomforting than Emily’s choices in property potential this side of the Manson family (a French Manson family, mind you).
5 Comments
Although what we post always reveals a little about ourselves, I was glad to read this post as it tells me a little more about you (and emily). Don’t get me wrong, I love your posts of design, hikes and our beautiful world but its nice to open up your head too from time to time. And I had no idea that emily like death metal…:)
Oh, actually forgot to add, if you guys did find an affordable place to live, could you move away from your friends and family?
Bill, I don’t think we’ll be moving any time soon away from Los Angeles, partially because my mom is here and I want to stay nearby and also for the sake we have many beloved friends such as yourself in our hometown. But I guess since Emily and I have wandering spirits, we’re dying to travel more and more, thus the daydreaming.
The reply I had hoped to hear…:)
Congrats on your “new” Blog, Greg. Lovely photos in this piece. Owning a property in France has a lot of pitfalls and can be financially problematic when it is time to sell it, due to French taxes. Managing a property from afar is a true reality check as well. Trying to find the right people to offer support and to become your eyes and ears during your absence can take up a lot of time in micro managing. My suggestion is: find a small place to renovate in LA, rent it out short lets and use the contributions towards feeding your day dreams!