Here’s the chance of a lifetime. Now you can actually live in a Real Estate Junkie house. Yes, a house I used to own has come on the market and I can personally attest to the fact that it’s a great place to live, at least since they remodeled it and got rid of the shag carpeting.

I bought 3001 Goldenrod St. in 1996 for, I believe, $105,000. It was a good solid Southgate home, located in the eastern section close to Lockwood Ridge. I bought it for the same reason I’ve bought every house I’ve ever owned—I liked the way it felt. It was sunny and peaceful and slightly secluded. It had a great layout, with a big living room set horizontally to the street, and three bedrooms, two of them quite large. The house formed an “L” around a nice courtyard, and I kept telling myself that I would some day put in a pool. In fact, I even had plans drawn up.

Now, over 15 years later, it’s been all gussied up, with a new roof, a new kitchen (thank God) and new bathrooms (kind of a shame, as the old ones were very retro). For some reason they have covered the wonderful terrazzo floors in the living room with wood of some sort, but all in all, the house has been vastly improved. I’d continue to do a little work on the landscaping—the front yard still needs re-sodding, as it did even then.

So why did I move if it’s so great? I had a crazy neighbor. She would sneak into my yard and spy on me. Once she even followed me to Best Buy. As I browsed around the store, I kept seeing her out of the corner of my eye. Then she’d vanish. Then I’d see her again. I can’t deal with that sort of thing, so I put the house on the market and a week later sold it for a profit. (Oh, those were the days.) BTW, the crazy lady moved from the neighborhood years ago, so you don’t have to worry about her. (Hmmm, maybe I should move back.)

For more information, call Jason Silverstein at Budget Realty of Sarasota: 371-0774.

For more Sarasota real estate news, become a fan on Facebook or follow @SarasotaMagazin on Twitter.