Buying A House: C or D?

ha ok, wait. That Marlowe Ave house is sweet, but I didn't realize that there was an emergency room entrance three lots up the street.

yup, though the hospital might be closing

might become just a rehab center or something

In short, no that is not crazy if it is crazy the crazy it is is crazy cheap for a house

Lol

If you want to live in Cleveland:
http://www.zillow.com/homes/2420-Derbyshire-Rd-cleveland_rb/

whoa

A 10-15% increase in six months isn't crazy?

prices are rising 20% in nine months where I live and a 1bdr 1bath cottage nearby sold for $860,000 last month. I reiterate my lol.

(US$664,000.)

wow that Derbyshire mansion is crazy, I wonder if there will be any takers

lol marcos we're actively looking in boston suburbs and these cleveland links are killing me

$19 a sq foot!! Insane.

From the photos, all I'd really want to do to that mansion house is make sure the pipes work and and maybe update the toilets and sinks and then just live out my own Grey Gardens fantasy.

I kind of like the old-style bathrooms. Plus, steam cabinet!

Oh def. Any updating would be period-correct. I just want to make sure toilets flush and stay flushed.

I don't know for sure but I think there are maybe a decent amount of homes like that in Cleveland, and not enough people willing to invest in rehabbing them

I spent 3 years looking for a place in the Boston area, and most of the condos near public transportation seemed like glorified dorms--600/700 feet 1BRs listed over $300K and $500/600 monthly homeowners fee. Yet so many of them went under agreement even before the open house happened. Investors would be putting down cash and waiving the inspection and that was that. The place I am in now (which is awesome) had 7 other bids besides mine, and then it went into a second round of bidding, with the top 4 bids putting another (higher) bid in. Pretty sure I would have never been successful without my buyer's agent.

I kind of like the old-style bathrooms. Plus, steam cabinet

Ah, yes. Nothing like having a good ol fashioned Cleveland steamer at your disposal whenever you felt the urge.

Ha!

Ok could somebody identify for me the mystery plumbing fixture in the Cleveland mansion, between the toilet and the shower? It's way too large to be a bidet, but too small to be a bathtub (and the actual tub is five feet away). And it's got about 7 pipes leading to it, not including the drain. What is that thing?

I was wondering the same thing.

Baby bath?

But why would a baby need whatever those six knobs do? It looks harder to bathe a baby in there than in the regular tub.

It's a sitz bath.

We have a winner! But I'm still surprised for a seemingly high-end sitz bath to show up in a private house - every one I've ever seen was at a hospital, usually much smaller, and without the separate plumbing for salene, baking soda, and other additives. Most either sit in an existing sink, commode, or bathtub. Anyhoos, here's how to use one should you find ono where you are and have a need. I now know what to put in those empty corners we can't always work out of remodeled bathrooms....

I think this was very posh at the time, kind of like having a Jacuzzi bathtub.

I never knew there was the perfect bathtub fixture just waiting for me, in Germany, 85 years ago.

It's an arse sink?

arse sink in old place

Housing prices have gone insane in my area - since last fall properties that were around $105k have started moving to $115-120k and there's no sign of a slowdown.

It's really not in an area with median income around $42k.

Jesus fucking christ, that's about the average income where I live and the average price for a *flat* is $400,000.

Even if you financed the entirety of a $120k purchase price, that's around $550 a month at current mortgage rates (less if you get an FHA mortgage). Even on a $42k income, that's affordable by any standard.

lol marcos we're actively looking in boston suburbs and these cleveland links are killing me

― call all destroyer, Monday, April 25, 2016 8:29 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ha i know what you mean, tbh this is a large reason why we are considering a move there

we met with a realtor friend of ours in boston a couple months ago and we are getting daily MLS listings for "our price range" (in quotes because the idea of that price range being remotely in our budget is laughable) and it is mostly tiny condos or homes that will need prob $100k of repairs. these emails basically serve as daily reminders that we should leave boston.

this home is cute http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1349-Bonnieview-Ave-Lakewood-OH-44107/33489911_zpid/

it's a nice street, walk south to the corner and you can go to one of cleveland's oldest and best headshops, daystar boutique

this one was listed for sale last july for $75k but now after some rehab it is listed at $309k, but there is no way they will get that much imo http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1458-Wyandotte-Ave-Lakewood-OH-44107/33501765_zpid/

we met with a realtor friend of ours in boston a couple months ago and we are getting daily MLS listings for "our price range" (in quotes because the idea of that price range being remotely in our budget is laughable) and it is mostly tiny condos or homes that will need prob $100k of repairs. these emails basically serve as daily reminders that we should leave boston.

I mean, if you want to know what keeps us around in Little Rock, I'll tell ya, it ain't the theater.

you might doubt the utility of an arse sink, until you get a chronic case of the 'rrhoids

What's the social vibe in those areas of Cleveland like? My biggest fear of these *charming, affordable little American cities* is that life would just revolve around church and football or something.

There's a goth club right down the street, over the border in the Cleveland. Buncha gay bars in that area. Head shops. Lotsa parks. A dive bar within walking distance of anywhere in Lakewood. Sweet library system.

lakewood is a pretty progressive neighborhood, gay-friendly, lots of good food/bars/cafes, kind of alternative, has a good farmer's market, not hugely diverse (about 85% white). there are a fair amount of hipsters i guess but they are cleveland hipsters not like williamsburg hipsters. it has a wide range of very wealthy people who live on the lake, middle class people in one- and two-family homes, and more working class/blue collar whites who live in the areas directly bordering cleveland.

cleveland heights is way more diverse (49% white, 42% black), has a "bohemian" center that was probably more bohemian in the past, very close as mentioned to the main cultural institutions of cleveland (museums, universities, etc)

both are overwhelmingly democratic. they are old inner-ring suburbs that are a pretty good mix between urban/suburban.

A dive bar within walking distance of anywhere in Lakewood

lol otm

there are definitely a lot of sports bars but that's just cleveland

My biggest fear of these *charming, affordable little American cities* is that life would just revolve around church and football or something.

― JWoww Gilberto (man alive), Tuesday, April 26, 2016 12:40 PM (18 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

fwiw my brother-in-law is from small town western nebraska and when his family visited and described what cleveland felt like to them, you would think they were talking about NYC or chicago, it is an urban place. outer suburbs though are definitely church and football.

starting to wish I'd considered closeness to head shops in my house-hunting decisions

that marlowe house i posted at $185k just dropped to $173k today, i really want it

And all of a sudden that dn falls into place. xp

I feel like sports bars are endemic most places, now

or just a flood of restaurants with televisions on every flat surface that's not a table

yea totally

There is a place in my hood that has an individual TV at every table. I pretty much don't care about any sports but the kids like it when we go there so they can put it on Disney or whatever

when i was in town last week i got a little too high w/ my siblings one night and we went to a very large sports bar to watch the cavs-pistons game and it was a very strange and surreal experience, the bar was in this old cavernous brick building that seemed way bigger than it actually is, huge enormous tvs everywhere, a giant backlit grinning chief wahoo behind the bar, and i had the very stoned & trenchant thought of like this is a modern cathedral maaaaan...