"redfin.com saved my life!"

It's a good thing that Jon and I don't have, you know, full time jobs, or part time Master's degrees, or job hunting, or half marathon training, or social lives. This is because searching for a home is an all-consuming, can't-think-of-anything-else, OBSESSION/ addiction once you decide to go for it.

Before I go on, Jon and I went (swam/ kayaked) back to 11 Gardner St last night and decided it's a no go. We wanted to change too many things in addition to not being crazy about Salem

Today I discovered a marvelous tool called redfin.com that I'd seen come up in google searches but had never explored. This real estate site is brilliant, for the following reasons:

a. No typing in search towns; manipulate a map to show your search area
b. See when/ at what value the previous sales were for the property
c. See what comps sold for/ are listed for in your area
d. See the average home price in your area
e. See the status of the sale: under agreement? Accepted offer? Or is the property really "active"?

We are making plans to see two properties Friday night; one is in Wakefield and one is in Peabody. Stay tuned :o)