Buying A House: C or D?

> though I'm nervous about the lack of exterior view

there's a google map widget lower on the page. doesn't let you drag the little man but zoom out a bit and the satellite view is enlightening (school one block east, backs onto railway tracks, two, count'em, airports...)

An option contract is kind of like earnest money, I think - a deposit to the owner to hold the house while they work on financing kind of thing

That kitchen's a cut above most flips that I've seen.

that Columbus house really makes me wonder about the windows, though. I'd hope that they've been reworked sometime since the house has been built, because otherwise that place is going to be incredibly inefficient to heat/cool

There was one of that era in a nice part of town that is now up to par because someone bought it and immediately put $40k in replacing all the windows. I think the iconic ones in the southwest get away with it because you can close all the blinds during the day and a/c is more economical than heating and the desert is very cool at night.

idg that los angeles house?!?!?!? there are other non-decrepit houses in the same name neighborhood for that price

― marcos, Monday, May 18, 2015 7:57 AM

Maybe it's the lot size and position, it does look like there'd be a good view if the replacement house were built at the back of the lot. Maybe it's just wishful thinking.

I've mentioned this one before, but it's has been fun to watch:

http://i.imgur.com/JAFYxeB.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/lJrXR0r.png

haha

did someone remove the gold bricks in the basement between listings?

I think they're juuuuuust about there.

Check it out on Google Street View. Once you're there, spin around 180º.

hahaha

sweet deal, walk to work

even sweeter if you're a garden center specialist!

"You could totally build a gas station here. Maybe a Taco Bell."

*five years later*

"Or you know what? Just live here like my family has lived here for the past quarter-century."

Any UK people buying a house at the moment? I'm not but a bunch of my friends are and it's crazy town out there. One friend made the best offer out of 6 people then the estate agent told them to do 'best and final offers' and they got outbid by what the agent described as a 'silly offer'. Another friend made an offer over asking price and still didn't get it - would have offered even more if they'd been asked.

So glad I'm not going through this right now.

Yes, but not in the south east so I think it's a bit calmer. Seems to be going smoothly so far.

dublin

already praying for the next crash tbh

I don't get what's weird about the kitchen and bathrooms, they read totally neutrally to me

― Guayaquil (eephus!), Monday, May 18, 2015 11:28 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Frameless Euro-style cabinets, granite countertops, and (stainless-steel appliances are exactly what someone who's into mid-century style doesn't want.

Roof on the house JF posted is all kinds of awesome.

Not sure what the deal is with the house pplains posted - I wouldn't have thought having a hardware store built across the street would cause it to lose 75% of its value. There must be something else we don't know about it, like fire or flood damage inside.

I think stainless appliances would be fine, esp. if you're going to spring for a Wolf/Viking-style range - Atomic Ranch goes horribly wrong when the houses look like a time capsule from 1962.
It's less that the kitchen needs to be MCM as it needs to be more modern and less subdivision.

Agreed - but the particular S/S appliances in that house are generic low-end, obviously recent pieces. Besides high-end stuff, there are modern appliances available that would have fit in much better, like this oven:

http://www.smegusa.com/smeg_us/images/products/168/170/FU67-5.jpg

the diff between a functional remodel and one that's aesthetically pleasing and upper-middle to high tier appliances for a kitchen that size is prob at least $20k though

Xps to Kinder, I'm looking at the moment and it is ridiculous. Still seems, conservatively, to be increasing at a rate of 15%+ at the lower end of the ladder in some boroughs on the fringes of London. Keep seeing two-bed maisonettes requiring updating in Romford advertised for north of £275k that would have been under £250k even three or four months ago.

You can get a nice three bed Victorian house less than an hour from Victoria for £150k but I can not bring myself to live in Gillingham or Chatham yet.

I wouldn't have thought having a hardware store built across the street would cause it to lose 75% of its value.

The house was probably only worth $75,000 in the first place. It wasn't until they built the Walmart across the street that the owner presumably thought, "Hey! I could make millions off this!"

This house is on my street. Tiny by modern standards, but it is in a desirable location, not-un-cute, and appears to be nicely renovated. Asking $650K, which it will likely get.

jesus

did not know that about arlington

Wulp, some of the price drivers are: Walking distance to the subway, three grocery stores, plentiful restaurants, a shopping mall, bikeshare and zipcar stations. While carelessness is possible here, very few people have the stones to try it (myself included).

But it's the square footage that is the story here. Suburban families rarely live in sub-1,000-square-feet houses these days. My house is only a little bigger, and we find it decidedly snug with four humans and four pets. Relative to our neighbors and peers, putting that many people in that amount of space is tantamount to doing something a bit eccentric, like veganism or Scientology. (Though obviously, city dwellers frequently make do with still-smaller spaces. Just speaking in relative terms here.)

Anyway, new houses in this 'hood are generally 3,000 sq ft. Most renovations of 1940ish houses involve additions pushing toward, again, 3,000 sq ft - which seems to be considered a reasonable starting point for a house that has kids in it.

So who will live in 980 sq ft? A gay couple with a dog. A few young-professional renters. Probably not a retired person. There's also the possibility that a builder or developer will buy it, obliterate it, and replace it with a McMansion that features the currently accepted minimum house size.

Um, I think I meant carlessness and not carelessness.

lol @ y'all, that would be 1.4 million easy round my way

round my way, you have to pay 2 million to live in this jpeg maze
http://www.printableparadise.com/images/easy-round-maze.jpg

haha sic where are you

I think in Palo Alto it'd be $2M+.

But in, say, Tulsa, it might be more like $200K.

So things are relative.

in cleveland it would be $80,000

it's almost as if location is one, if not say three, of the most important factors in real estate.

want to hang out in the center of the maze? that'll be another million!

did not know that about arlington

― marcos, Wednesday, May 20, 2015 9:37 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i've been eying this little house a few blocks from me but i don't know i could do a 2-bdrm with two kids and if i'm honest it is still probably $100,000 out of my price range

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/264-Corey-St_Boston_MA_02132_M47368-96892?row=13&source=web

Are Boston's outlying communities cheaper? Because that house would probably also be over $300k here in Atlanta proper, but in my neighborhood just about 10 minutes south you could probably buy it for $100k or less.

we are barely looking right now, just browsing online and going to an open house or two to get a sense of what the greater boston market is like. so i might be way off. but it seems to me that some outlying communities can be even more expensive than boston proper. houses in newton, brookline, and cambridge are all pricier than houses in my neighborhood (west roxbury) which is in boston proper. those communities have better schools than the gargantuan lottery-based boston school system and i think that is part of it. (obviously desirable neighborhoods in the heart of boston, e.g. back bay or the south end or something are extremely expensive). you have to go really really far out, like an hour's drive, before you start seeing prices drop that much.

and that little house down the street is about as cheap as a single-family house gets in my neighborhood. $500k-$700k seems more typical.

$369k is more typical of a condo around here. if you want to live an hour away from the city then you can get a decent single family for that price, maybe not even though

marcos, are the sexes and ages of your kids conducive to room-sharing at present?

That place seems like it has a large enough lot that you could make do with the space for now, and potentially add on a master BR when the kids are older.

I do know of a few same-sex close-in-age kids who have shared a bedroom. My nephews shared when they were 7 and 9 until they were 12 and 14. Me, I have a 4-year-old boy and an 8-year-old girl who get along reasonably well - but if they aren't good candidates for room-sharing now, they certainly won't be when they're (for example) 12 and 16.

The problem with going further out to the exurbs is that many parents then have to spend 2-4 hours on commuting. It can be a false economy, not only because of child care and transportation costs, but also the psychic wear and tear of never seeing your family in daylight hours.

yea they are both boys, would be a little while until room sharing since F is just 2 months old right now. also we talked about J on the autism thread and we are wondering if having his own space to retreat to when overstimulated might be a good thing for him to have, still early to tell though.

yea the commute is rough, definitely otm about the false economy, there is no way i want to spend 2-3 hours commuting back and forth everyday

also worrying about downsizing to a 2 bdrm -- we're renting a spacious 3 bdrm right now and we'd have to do a lot of purging.

haha sic where are you

Sydney. Owning a home is not likely to happen to me.

test

Anybody have any advice on buying a lawn mower? I've been using a reel mower, but it's on its last legs and just not getting the job done anymore. I'm afraid a gas mower is going to be too much maintenance and too heavy for me to lift up the stairs from my garage, though. Not sure what to buy next.

I buy the cheapest electric (corded) mower at a typical big box hardware store. They do a reasonable job, are maintenance free, and last about 15 years. They lighter than gas mowers, too.

Wish I could. Unfortunately, I don't have any outlets in my backyard. Using anything with a cord (even a weed whacker) is a major, major production.