Day 35 –
We went to two open houses over the weekend. This was a hoot. The first one… too small. But amazingly the new bathroom in that house was bigger than the kitchen. I could have fit my whole family into that bathtub. It was almost like they just took a hot tub installed it and called it a bathtub. I couldn’t believe the size. I’m still dumbfounded by it. I think my son could use it as a half pipe.
The second one, great location, strange layout. To get to the family room (which was kinda cool) and to the backyard you had to walk through the master bedroom. That’s right. You heard me. Imagine my 11 year old having friends over and wanting to play outside and run thru my bedroom right when I’m changing. Nope, don’t think so. Movin’ on.
Today Roxie, our agent, picked us up took us to 3 places that were on my list. The first, which I really like from the photos on-line was extremely disappointing in person. It was on a hill which made the backdoor 2 stories up. My small dog couldn’t run down those steps to pee if he wanted too. We could build him an extreme dog slide, but… no. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.
The second, was ok. First of all, it smelled right away like “old people”, we can fix that. We also would have to take off some hideous wallpaper, do A LOT of painting, and re-do the kitchen. That kitchen was old! The oven in the wall was something I had never seen before. I’m guessing “50’s modern?” It looked more like a microwave. I couldn’t fit a turkey in there if I wanted to. There was even a Montgomery Ward Brand TV in the kitchen which was so old you have to actually get up off your chair to change the channels. My kids would flip to see such a relic. There was also a strange bedroom in the basement with a shower. Not a bathroom with a shower, just a shower, right there in the room. But, all in all I think with my creative ability that place had some potential and it was the perfect size. It even had a dream feature of mine… a mud room. Oooo, I get giddy at the idea of a mud room. Keep that house on the maybe list.
The third house we saw was my foreclosure house. I couldn’t wait to get there and see inside. After my initial walk through I was jumping up and down, literally. I loved it! It was bigger than I thought it was going to be, which was a good thing. The layout was also kinda cool. I was sold. I could see myself in it baking christmas cookies in the kitchen. Even though there currently is NO kitchen. I, my friends, have the gift of visualization. I just can’t understand why some people don’t have it. Some will write off a house just because they don’t like the paint color. People it’s paint! $25 at the hardware store. Deal with it! But, they just can’t see a room in their heads as another color. I don’t get people like that. Kind of feel sorry for them.
Anyway, this foreclosure home did have a few odd things. There was a big hole in the floor of the living room that was covered with plywood. The basement, which is partially furnished, is only accessible from the outside. The non-existent half bath had a divided light french door, that you could see through. What’s with that? The master bedroom didn’t seem to have any vents. Not sure how the heat gets in there. But these things seemed like it they were an easy fix. But then… our contractor extraordinaire showed up and stomped all over my parade. It seems I may need anywhere from $90,000 – $150,000 to update all the things the last guy did wrong (‘Harry Homemaker’ he called him), and build an addition. I was hoping more along the lines of $70,000. And this ballpark estimate is without him looking at the basement (we couldn’t get it open. It was sealed with a Master Lock.) The estimate could even get worse once he got into the basement. Boy-o-boy, to be able to pull that off, I’d have to get that house for a song. Like $72,000 less than they are asking for it. And it’s a foreclosure, bank owned. Do they even negotiate that low?
I did learn one Interesting thing today… I was thinking of building an addition OFF of back of the house. It is a ranch after all, like to keep it long. But our contractor said it would be easier to build up instead of out, cheaper too. Wow, wouldn’t have thought that. Keeping that one in mind.
I did mention my foreclosure house to our mortgage broker, mainly because I didn’t know if I could get cash on top of the house price for fixing it up. Wasn’t sure how that worked. Her initial e-mail reaction was “YEESH!!!” Yeesh, what the hell is yeesh? That doesn’t sound good. She thinks we may need a “rehab” loan. A FHA 203K Rehab Loan. Whoa, sounds complicated. And complicated it seems to be. Inspectors, licensed contractors, higher interest rates… blah blah, blah. Is this something we really want to tangle with? Well, if we can get that dream house for a dream price… damn straight.
The best thing about this whole process is, I’m kinda having fun. It’s an adventure into uncharted territory. My husband too has finally taken to looking on-line at what is out there. Before it was just me. You see, he was the strong one. He held out til we were under contract. I was weak! Well, good for him. And, I’m glad he’s finally on the band wagon. It’s exciting now that we can share in this quest to find a new abode. I’m just hoping it remains fun for a while, I’m sure it will start getting stressful as we get closer to closing on our current house and haven’t found our new one yet.
Well, we are back at it tomorrow. Roxie is setting up more appointments so we can see other homes, walk through them, get a sense of how other people live, moth balls, old TV’s and all. It’s a lesson in urban anthropology. :)
