Today We Will Look at Houses

**forHISglory** · 03-06-2009, 08:42 AM

Yep, today we become house hunters. No, our home hasn't sold yet, although we have some lookers coming over the weekend. But Hubby wants to look this weekend and get a feel for what's out there, prices, etc. I'm a little nervous about it. It's been over 35 years since I last looked for a house. Things have changed so much, and I fear that I'm woefully behind.

But we packed a house hunting kit: tape measure, notebook, extra pens and highlighters, flashlight, magnet, digital camera, bottle of water. We've looked thru the internet listings and contacted a broker in the area where we want to relocate. And now......

When we return, I'll report to you how it went.

**Patty A** · 03-06-2009, 08:51 AM

Good luck, hope you find what you are looking for and at a great deal for you. Please do let us know how it goes......
Have fun and enjoy!

**cab54** · 03-06-2009, 10:33 AM

Good luck! Have fun this weekend!

**frugalfriend** · 03-06-2009, 10:43 AM

Hope it goes well for you!! Will look forward to hearing an update when you return. Are you still looking out of state where your parents live?

**Texasgirl** · 03-06-2009, 04:26 PM

Good luck!

**jas** · 03-06-2009, 06:45 PM

Have fun looking at the houses!! I wish I could look inside every house there is, I just like looking and seeing how people decorate. I don't go to many open houses though, unless they are real close.

**forHISglory** · 03-08-2009, 04:48 PM

We're back and it was frustrating. The real estate agent was very friendly and had prepared a great list of homes. She was quite prepared. We looked at over 20 homes during the weekend. She filled us in on neighborhood information, zoning info, etc.

But the frustrating part was that our money will not go far in that area. Homes are MUCH more expensive there than where we currently are. And the property taxes are out of sight: close to 4 times higher than what we pay here!!

We were surprised that people put their homes on the market without cleaning them up. I clean house every day here while our home is on the market. But we were in homes that were grimy, dusty, junky, and smelly. We were in homes that were cobbled up in the oddest layouts with little dark rooms. We were in homes that that had major roof problems, mold and water problems, wet basements, homes that had holes in the walls, peeling paint, broken concrete, broken windows....... We tried to estimate how much it would cost to renovate, and that took us completely out of the game. We would have to get a loan to do that! We wanted to pay cash for the house with the proceeds of our home sale. But our cash just won't go far.

Hubby and I looked at each other after we were finished and said, "Our own home doesn't look bad at all. In fact, it's looking better and better!"

Out of the 20+ in our price range, only 4 were possibilities. And of those 4, only 1 had property taxes that we could afford (and that is still triple what we pay in taxes here).

We aren't afraid of the work it would take to fix up the houses. But even with our sweat equity, it just would take more than we have. Frustrating.......

We ran into some interesting things:
1. One house built in the late '50s had a bomb shelter in the basement.
2. One home was owned by heavy smokers and that puts a huge stench in the home. The homeowners were still there when we arrived. The lady greeted us at the door with a cigarette and followed us around chain smoking all the way. She told us she didn't want to sell the house, but had to because of her cancer treatments........
3. One family decided that the living room really looked more like a dining room. So when we walked in the front door, we were greeted by a big table and chair set! For a living room, they just put two recliners in the breakfast nook. They left a note saying that they were sure that we would agree that was the best arrangement.
4. One house had the bottom 12 inches of a bedroom wall cut away, and had finished all the edges of the drywall. We have no idea why....
5. Another home had a 3 car garage with garage doors on both ends of the garage, as if you could drive straight thru. But trees were on the other side......
6. One home advertised an "eat-in" kitchen. They had room for a 12" round table there, and had to stand to eat at it as there was no room for chairs or stools.
7. One home had a beautiful fireplace, but positioned the couch in front of it, with the back of the couch almost touching the fireplace.
8. One home had the original 1940s style of kitchen cabinets, which I found fascinating. They were state of the art back then, and if I lived there, I would leave them in place. Cabinets then had the pop up and out stands for mixers, and other cabinets were little one inch high drawers designed to hold table linens. Really retro!
9. Another family left a note telling us to not be afraid of the big yard as they were leaving a riding mower for the buyer to use!

I could go on and on about some of the oddities. We are glad that we invested a weekend of looking as it brought some reality to our dreams. But oh my........... Now I am sort of scared that our house WILL sell!

**Texasgirl** · 03-08-2009, 06:56 PM

Looking at houses can be a eye opening experience.
When we where looking there was one that the kitchen well there really wasn't a kitchen in the house. The stair case moved when you walked on it.
Another had a self made inground pool with vinyl liner the water was pea green and it had the biggest tad poles that I have ever seen. The inside of the house was worse then the pool.

Hope your able to find something that you can afford and has everything you need and want.

**hollyhill** · 03-09-2009, 01:22 AM

i am sorry that everything was so expensive, but I just want to tell you I really enjoyed reading your 9 oddities, it sure made me laugh!

**Greebo** · 03-09-2009, 09:02 AM

A foot of drywall removed?

WTF?

**Missy** · 03-09-2009, 10:37 AM

the foot of drywall thing sounds like they had some water damage /mold damage and hye just took out the dmaged stuf....instead of doing it right...wierd

good luck with the ose hunting, something gret will come thru!