sell a house, buy another house

People write that we must have goals written down. It works. The desires we have in our souls must be written down so as to reinforce their power and we will draw those desires into fulfillment in our lives. After my divorce I bought a 'cheapie' house in Anaheim, Ca. It had potential but for the 5 years I lived there, that was all it still have. I did nothing to it. I did pay down the mortgage after I liquidated $150,000 worth of stocks just before the tech bubble bursted. One day I decided I was tired of living like that in the house of undeveloped potential. I decided to fix it up. Just then I also decided to move instead. I called in a few realtors and soon realized that realtors worked only for their own bottom line and not the homeowners'. Both wanted to sell the house cheaply, making all kinds of excuses why it couldn't fetch more money. I wanted to pull $120,000 out of the house sale and together with $30,000 of savings, be able to put $150,000 down on another house. If I cold qualify for a $350,000 mortgage (which I did) I could go shopping for a house worth $500,000. I have always wanted to live near the ocean. It's cooler especially during the hot summer months in Southern California.