I've been meaning to stop by to update you all on the beach house and realtor situation but I've been terribly lazy. 

After my last blog, I went back online and started looking for other options and found an efficiency motel on the oceanfront, not far from where I vacation every year, that is pet-friendly and that will rent me a kitchenette for the same price as the beach house during the winter months... so I have a "back up" plan in case the realtor bugs out on me or I "fail" the application process.

My friend Janelle hooked up with the realtor at the property on Wednesday morning. THANK GOODNESS there really is a property and realtor!  Janelle provided me some input on the house, neighborhood and sent me some lovely photos. 

The house is an authentic fisherman's "shack" circa mid-century stuck in the middle of semi-urban sprawl.  Expensive cookie cutter condos on one side and residential areas on the other.  Not on the main drag but close enough to get to shopping and etc easy enough. Quiet. Peaceful.  And close enough to the water that you want to never work and just sit on the deck with Jimmy Buffett queued on the CD player and a frothy drink in your hand.  The house is small, but I can do small.  I spent the first 18 1/2 years of my life living in a single-wide trailer.

I'm working on my rental application this weekend.  I've nailed down 2 of 3 personal references.  I've printed out my "financial" statements (pay stubs, retirement and investement balances, checking and savings balances, etc.) Now, I just need to fill out the application and mail it off.  I'm nervous that the debt consolidation thingy will appear as a negative mark on my credit since I didn't technically pay 100% of the balances on the credit card portions, but I did pay 100% of my car loan and student loans.

So, here are some photos of the house thanks to Janelle.  I didn't crop them or re-size them so Photobucket may cut them off.. but you'll get a general idea.  And yes, I know it is small...  but I wasn't looking for a huge cookie cutter place.  No stairs.  Easier to clean.  At the end of the day, all I need is a comfortable bed, a working bathroom and proximity to the shore.  A microwave and fridge tossed in are a bonus.

This is where I'll park my car: 

This is part of the sunroom where I'll crash at the end of the day:

This is the other part of the sunroom:

This is one of 2 bedrooms. I don't have a photo of the other bedroom:

This is most likely where I'll set up my computer:

Looking into the kitchen:

Part of the kitchen:

The entrance to the house:

Looking back at the house from the dunes:

The beach/dunes near the house: 

The money shot -- the view from the dunes near the house:

The view from the deck off of the sunroom side of the house: