Saturday, January 9, 2010

Ixnay on the Ousehay

The adorable little yellow house was absolutely wretched. Wretched, I say. The living room, the size of a postage stamp, had room for perhaps two chairs. The remodeled kitchen? Well, let's just say that nothing was level and the granite is pulling away from the counter. The cabinets, what there were of them, were as cheap as they come. Now I'm no snob, but if those homeowners spent 9 months, and a small fortune on this remodel, then they were fools and so were the bankers who financed them.

The self cleaning oven was filthy, which completely escapes me since with the push of a few buttons, it can clean itself. And the fridge? I made the near lethal mistake of opening the door. The homeowners left it full of now rotting food. Blech.

The master bedroom was a bit larger than the living room and had an adjacent bath and toilet that were right there in the room. There wasn't a door. Now I love my husband, but even after 2,200 years together, there are still some things I insist can only happen behind closed doors. Can you imagine what would get on all of your belongings with every flush? Disgusting to even think about. The straw that broke the camel's back was when my very tall husband whacked his head on the door frame going up the stairs. I think his cursing was heard downtown...something about an effing doll house, or something in that vein. You get the picture.

Now that the bubble has burst, we're back to square one. We did go see another home and while it was cutely decorated, it was tiny, too, and needed work.

I don't get the hardwood floor thing. If you're going to have them, they should be finished. Worn finishes on floors really stretch the boundaries of shabby chic. But really? The chocolate chip cookies were a nice touch, so many thanks to the homeowner for that.

This evening, we're off to see a home that was a complete remodel (I'll believe it when I see it), but lacks a garage. The price seems fairly decent and it's quite a bit larger than the other two we saw.

How expensive can a garage be?

ETA: Well here are more questions: in addition to the garage, how expensive can the closets be (because in a 3 bedroom home, there was only one), or gutters, or landscaping, or hooking up the water supply to the fridge, or a hand rail for the steps, or a gate? Because to my eye, that's what's missing. I'm sure I'm only scratching the surface in respect to the complete remodel. We were told the yard was dug up to lay new gas lines. Any bet as to what's under the 6 inches of snow? All in all? Not such a great house. The kitchen was the smallest I've ever seen.

Reminder: You have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince.




18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh I am so disappointed it did not live up to your expectations. Yes things are way out of proportion these days. Good luck dear girl. Keep on looking and hoping.
qMM

SkippyMom said...

My dear it is time to start interviewing realtors - sorry you feel obligated because she found you a rental [her job] but these houses sound like bullsh**.

Interview three and pick the best one - you may actually find a decent home.

Also homesdatabase.com is one of the most updated MLS listings for the US - go to it and plug in your criteria and find home you want your realtor to show you.

The stuff you are looking at is ridiculous. I understand a fixer upper, but the no roof one and a toilet in the bedroom? C'mon.

Quiltluver said...

Don't leave out checking the sales from the sheriff's office for back taxes and liens. I just heard about 2 homes near me (very nice looking ones)that sold for $21,000 and $28,000. These houses should have sold for $150,000 even in this economy. They are NOT dumps...

Gail said...

One of those, you can't tell a book by its cover houses.

Some think the fun is in the hunt.

Now you have material for "Remember that one house..." as you sit enjoying your new home.

Deborah said...

WOW, I couldn't believe a bathroom without a door. That would just gross me out!
Good Luck with the house hunting!

Rudee said...

Skippy, I have nobody to blame but myself for that house. I found it driving down the street and insisted on seeing it. Our realtor really is good and knows the area well. I will check out homedatabase, though.

The listing agents are the ones who should be dealt with. In addition to the disasters in the home, they listed that house at 1250 sq ft, but really? It was only 1000. Did I mention it was small?

Brenda said...

Well I am curious what they were asking for the home because your last post you said the previous owners paid 250,000 and then they put in all the work. That makes me think the asking price was more than that. That is a lot of money for that small of a home. You should move to Missouri. You could get a lot of house for that much money. There are a oouple of nice homes down the street for less than that with about 2400 sq. ft.
I am still holding out for a nice little farm type place to retire on.

Rudee said...

Brenda, they were asking $149,000. I wouldn't give them a third of that. It was THAT bad.

Devon said...

That must be disappointing for you. I thought home prices have come way down. They are about 50% lower in California. I should know, I just refinanced!

I hope you have good luck tonight! Location, Location, Location!

Jeannette StG said...

I don't envy you Rudee. If these houses were not foreclosures, than your real estate agent should be more active (really), and find you better homes!

Celia said...

Oh, gosh! Househunting can be so frustrating.

Winifred said...

Like you say chances are you'll have to look at quite a few before Price Charming comes along!

laurie said...

i am so embarrassed. you are describing our house, over and over again.

tiny living room with room for three chairs: check.

doorframe that doug smacks his head on going up the stairs: check.

almost no closets: check. (none on the ground floor at all.)

the only difference is that in our kitchen the granite countertops aren't pulling away from the wall because we don't have granite countertops. the formica countertops, though, well....

laurie said...

ps good luck! the right home is out there.

Anonymous said...

Oh that's too bad.. It's beautiful from the outside.
Now as for the oven.. I nearly started a fire in my house last month when I used my self cleaning oven.. Apparently, You have to get the "big" stuff out ... spills before you turn on the self cleaning..
Still not sure what caused me to decide to clean it anyway.. Oh well.
Happy New year!

Rudee said...

Laurie, I've seen pictures of your house, and I've seen this house. They don't compare. When I say the granite was pulling away from the walls, I mean like more than an inch in places. Supposedly, this place was just remodeled. They were robbed.

Miss T said...

Yikes. Sounds awful. Here's to better luck with the next one.

sandy said...

Wow, this sounds pretty disappointing. I'm so behind here but now I recall you say you were going to be looking for a house. So I guess you've started.