Back to Camarillo

After I moved out of my parent's house and rented an apartment for a few years, my dream/ goal became home ownership.  I wanted to own a house so I could have stability (when I was renting my apartment they kept raising the rates,) I wanted to have no one looking over my shoulder counting how many dogs I had, and I wanted my money to go into paying off a house instead of into a landlord's pocket.  At first the prices were way too high and all I could do was dream about it.  I watched as the prices started coming down and as they came down even further I contacted a Realtor and got approved for a loan.  I looked at tons of houses online and a few in person.  I made some offers but nothing I could afford was available.  So I went back to waiting and watching.  I think it was maybe a year later that I started looking seriously again.  That was when I ended up buying the house in Santa Paula.

Santa Paula was not my first choice of cities to live in.  I knew I wouldn't like how far it was from work and that as a city, it was not very pretty and happy.  But I thought I wanted to own a home more than I cared about those things.  I remember when I bought the house and passed the city limit sign with the population listed.  At the time I still had Missy and I imagined upping the population by 2.  Once Missy was taken away, the house when from a home back to just a house. Missy was not the only reason I wanted to buy a house.  I wanted a house far before I ever thought about adopting.  But once I had her and had a house, and then I lost her, the house wasn't as important to me.

Another thing I didn't like was my mortgage payment.  I was paying much more than I ever paid in rent.  I didn't have cash left over for fun things like dog shows, and I was barely saving anything.  I thought I'd get lots of money back in taxes and that could go into savings in case my house broke.  But when I filled my first taxes as a home owner, I only got $1000 more back than usual.  Saving only $1000 a year didn't make me very happy.

And on top of all of that, the final problem was I was unhappy overall.  I'm not going to put my personal problems in my blog, but I thought if I sold my house and moved back to Camarillo I might be happier.  I am pleased to say I was correct.  Around the same time I also switched prescription medications so that may have helped as well.  But overall, I am feeling a sense of well-being and I think being back in Camarillo is a large contributing factor.  I am a person who is happiest being somewhere I am familiar with.  I was hoping Santa Paula could become familiar to me, but after a year I still wasn't feeling it.  I never even found a place I liked to walk.  Poor Santa Paula is pretty run down, lots of junky cars, houses with weedy yards and houses that needed fixing up.  It is interesting how well kept lawns, no trash in the street and newer construction like I see in Camarillo can improve your mood.  I'm afraid that makes me sound stuck up, but it is just how I feel.  Living in a nice place makes me happy, a not so nice place makes me feel run down.

I sold my house for more than I bought it for, but due to the real estate commission I lost a little money, but not a whole lot.  The house sold pretty quickly to an investor.  I wish it had been sold to a family who would love it for a long time.

So, I'm back in Camarillo now.  More about the move and the new rental later.