The Wall Street Journal posted a real estate story Tuesday that is over-the-top even here in California.
A woman named Lidia Pringle home buying search is already legendary in Bay Area real estate circles after she looked at exactly 298 homes in Marin County to find her "dream home."
Pringle, a former reporter for UPI, started her nearly three year long quest after she authored a book titled "Suffer the Child: How the Healthcare System Is Failing Our Future." The book took her two years. Her husband Doug says he was shocked that it took her even longer to find a home.
It's not like she didn't have the money. Pringle told the Wall Street Journal, "It was amazing how little, in 2007, you could get for $6 million." Cue eye roll now.
The Pringles already had a beautiful 4,000-square-foot home in Mill Valley but decided it wasn't enough after Doug, a real estate developer, needed to join Lidia and work out of their one measly home office.
Pringle's wish list was lengthy and had her crisscrossing Marin County as she looked at house after house. Because she took so long finding a place that fit her beyond elite criteria, the search slipped into the real estate market slide and that turned out to be gold for the Marin couple.
The Pringles ended up buying a place in Tiburon with 19-foot windows that look out on the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco Skyline. And of course it has two home offices.
The home had an original asking price of $9 million, but the Pringle's got it for a cool $5.9M.
If the length and number wasn't enough to make her house hunt the thing of legends, catch this: The broker who found the Tiburon digs showed Mrs. Pringle all of one home and still got the commission.
Pringle's other broker who spent months working with the picky client did not make a cent. Lindy Emrich of Alain Pinel Realtors told the WSJ, "I have so many wonderful things in my life. That is not one of them."
Lori Preuitt thinks this qualifies for an "Only in California" story.
