My flight is booked, my car is "boxed up" for transport and my bags are packed. I'm flying out on Sunday to Redmond WA and will be living in a temporary apartment until I find suitable housing for me, my brain-dead lap cat Bob, my step-son and his wife and my two kids who will be joining me from Los Angeles. Oh, yes, everyone else's cats and dogs are coming too.

One trend I'm seeing which is a bit disturbing in the housing market is the way new home builders are trying to sell their properties. They are "renting" their homes at what could be considered teaser rate payments with an option to buy. But to get into this program, you have to cough up a non-refundable payment of $5,000 in addition to your standard security deposit and first month's rent. If for some reason, at the end of the lease, you can't buy, you can keep renting (At a higher rate) and they pocket your payment.

I don't know about this. Because if someone were to participate in such a plan, they're betting that mortgages will be available again and housing prices will go up. I don't see that happening for at least two years, so the odds that a buyer will not be able to obtain a loan to buy the house is pretty good, and why lock in a price when it's likely that the price will fall in the near future?

It appears this "Option-to-buy" rental plan is the market's way of "selling" homes they can't move at the prices they want since the housing market is currently in shambles. I'll have to put on my business suit and see if I can strike a good deal, since it is a buyer's market right now.

If anyone knows of a 3 bedroom home with a fenced in backyard suitable for large dogs in Redmond WA or the outlying areas that's available, let me know.