Yesterday I took my first foray into searching for The One. I asked my mother to come along as an experienced home buyer to give advice and as second pair of eyes to see things my realtor and I miss. After choosing my favorites from a list of potential homes, we ended up going to see four.
The first House was a delight, although it needed quite a bit of cosmetic work. A simple ranch, with a large living room, two bedrooms and one bath. The biggest issues included a tiny kitchen that would have to be completely redone (including blowing out a wall and expanding it towards the small dining room) and little to no storage space (no basement). The house sat on quite a bit of land, and it included a Gazebo and two sheds (that would probably have to be torn down). Definitely one to keep on the list since it's price was reasonable and it was in a great little neighborhood.
The next three homes were what one would call "interesting." The first was over 2,000 sq. ft. and had amazing potential to be an absolutely beautiful house. Too bad it was in complete shambles and in the worst neighborhood. The second looked like an upside-down Hansel & Gretel house, equipped with a stone fireplace and a funky circular staircase in the living room leading up to a small attic. It was a flip, and the back end/downstairs portion of the house was all brand new, but completely different in style than the charming cottage-like living room. And it was small! Made for a midget small. Finally was a corner house, lacking in any privacy. I was immediately turned off by the musty smell and horrible construction. Whoever redid this home literally just added on to the outside of the original house - without doing any sealing or cosmetic work to make it livable. My realtor called it the quickest showing she's ever done on a house as we left! Even she was turned off!
We decided to up my price range a little, to get some better homes on the list. A few hours later she sent me a new list of homes to peruse, and I picked out 8 more to look at! We'll see what the next trip brings.....
The first House was a delight, although it needed quite a bit of cosmetic work. A simple ranch, with a large living room, two bedrooms and one bath. The biggest issues included a tiny kitchen that would have to be completely redone (including blowing out a wall and expanding it towards the small dining room) and little to no storage space (no basement). The house sat on quite a bit of land, and it included a Gazebo and two sheds (that would probably have to be torn down). Definitely one to keep on the list since it's price was reasonable and it was in a great little neighborhood.
The next three homes were what one would call "interesting." The first was over 2,000 sq. ft. and had amazing potential to be an absolutely beautiful house. Too bad it was in complete shambles and in the worst neighborhood. The second looked like an upside-down Hansel & Gretel house, equipped with a stone fireplace and a funky circular staircase in the living room leading up to a small attic. It was a flip, and the back end/downstairs portion of the house was all brand new, but completely different in style than the charming cottage-like living room. And it was small! Made for a midget small. Finally was a corner house, lacking in any privacy. I was immediately turned off by the musty smell and horrible construction. Whoever redid this home literally just added on to the outside of the original house - without doing any sealing or cosmetic work to make it livable. My realtor called it the quickest showing she's ever done on a house as we left! Even she was turned off!
We decided to up my price range a little, to get some better homes on the list. A few hours later she sent me a new list of homes to peruse, and I picked out 8 more to look at! We'll see what the next trip brings.....
