Survival in Wichita

Published: Friday, June 27, 2008 2:51 PM PDT

E-MAIL STORY

I heard from Bill Curtis, our "Lure of Wichita" reader whose frustrations with the local housing market have finally propelled him out of town.

He sent me an e-mail last night with some photos of his new house in Kansas:

I promised to send you a picture of our new house after I bought one here in Wichita. So here it is. It's so new it doesn't even have grass yet.

You won't believe the following stats, but it's true.

My new place is ...

newly built - 2008
5 bedroom / 3 bath
2900 sq. ft. including the main floor and basement
3 Car garage
whirlpool tub in master bath
walk in closet
located at the end of a cul-de-sac
18,000 sq. ft. lot
and there's a small lake behind the back yard.

All this for...

Wait for it...

$209K

Do I miss San Diego? Not even a little bit.

OK, so maybe Curtis is bragging a little bit. How about you? Would you, have you, will you leave San Diego County to buy a house like this? Send me an e-mail.

I'm not sure how his moving out of state will affect the request he's made for more information about his mother-in-law's visa denial. Rep. Brian Bilbray's office is still waiting to hear more detail about the denial. I'll keep you posted as I figure it out.