Buying A House: C or D?

thanks, marcos!

and yeah, that tree is the main one that was growing into my sewer pipe. it's a hardy old rascal

i wish we had bigger trees on our property. we have two hickories (i think?) that are 20-30 ft in the back and that's it. we have a lot of other trees but they are all really young - river birch, tulip, maple, horse chestnut, magnolia, one of those cool tricolor beeches. in 10-20 years our yard will be amazing but right now there is nothing big. there are some big silver maples in neighboring yards though

I had a huge tree in the parking area (or whatever you call the grass strip between the sidewalk and the street in your locale) but it had a rotting hollow in it and the city removed it after I had them check it out a few years back. I still miss it a little because my house faces the west and the sun really hits it in the evening now

I only recently checked my house on google street view (mapped in july of 2011) and noticed that there was a tree in the front yard and two in the grass strip that were taken down some time in the last seven years and I got kind of sad about that, even though I never experienced them and honestly they probably would have blocked a lot of sunlight in a bad way and made our living room much too dark.

Speaking of dark living rooms, I finally painted our living room yesterday after living with a horrible yellow color for 9 months and holy shit my wife and I are terrible picking paint colors. Every single time, without fail, we pick a color that's way darker on the walls than we expect or want it to be. We looked at like a dozen swatches, taped a bunch of them to the walls and looked at them in all sorts of light, and specifically eliminated all the ones that seemed even slightly too dark. And still it went wrong.

xp we call it the "tree lawn" here. in high school, a friend of mine wrote a very clever college application essay, the assignment for which was "look outside your window. what is one thing you would change, and why?" and his essay was very witty and smart but had a punchline that used the word "tree lawn" and he didn't know it was a regional term. i don't know if he got into that school.

xp oh yeah, swatches are decent for guesswork, but getting testers is where it's at

it's like, why am I wasting money and materials on a little container of paint that's not even the right type, but I narrow things down to three or four colors, get samples, and then just make stripes on the wall and let them dry

ime the sample pots can still come out different from the actual tin

it's very important to use the same kind of paint from a particular brand.
For example if you pick a typical Benjamin Moore color and pick the same sheen, it will look different between Ben, Regal, Regal Select, and Aura due to the additives in the paint. Also if you're going from a color to a color and don't prime first you'll have a hell of a time getting good results. Lastly, high-chroma colors always need 2 more coats than you think they will.

I’m a huge dumbass and thought I’d give painting a new mailbox I bought a go with the latex house paint. I just determined how much of a bad idea that was when I was able to peel all the paint off it in one big piece.

doing inside painting, just splurge for the “paint+primer” in one can every time imo

IDK I think Behr has gone down in quality in the years I've been using it. If you're in the USA and can afford it BM Regal Select is about the best consumer grade paint out there. Zinsser 123 or Kilz 2 for primer if you need it.

The better materials and tools you can afford, the better results and less headaches you will have.

I should say Regal Select is the best all-around. There are much better paints but they are ridiculously expensive. Also between BM's 2 main color lines there are plenty of choices and coordinating schemes if you want a place to start from.

In the old house, the satellite salesman said I'd have to get rid of the trees on the south end of the property to get any reception. Didn't think it was worth it.

Some time since then, those trees came down anyway, and boy, it's opened the yard up. Can't really hide on the porch anymore to smoke either.

https://i.imgur.com/tgGO6Yg.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/qY4GNuG.jpg

(See that white car in the first pic? I'd bet my old neighbor really lost his shit when he saw that.)

Anyone have any strong opinions on stone foundations? Good / bad? I've heard varying reports.

idk, if you're dealing with a house of a certain age it is what it is. tough to make a blanket statement about them. my house is from the tail end of when they were common (1940s) and has no issues at all.

yea just depends on the house, have it inspected if you like the house

our house was built in 1908 and its fine. it's not pretty but there are no major issues at all

relatively dry too

I assume stone foundations are in areas without seismic activity

My house is 1911 vintage and needs a lot of foundation work. The mortar holding the stones together is crumbling, it's like sand in some areas. Inspect, I'd say.

Hmmm. The mortar problem you're having is consistent with the 'cons' I have heard about stone foundations.

Thanks!

my house is circa 1915 and the foundation seems solid

I think the entire structure is starting to stand taller after removing all those layers of shingles tbh

Congratulations to diamonddave85 on the imminent purchase.

re: taxes, I'd be ecstatic if mine were only in the four figures -- for a smallish 3 bedroom. And of course I just remembered that yesterday was the deadline for filing a tax grievance this year. Damn.

and............ sold

congrats! that's a relief huh

still need to conclude missives.... will be relieved then. 80% of the way there tho, so feeling chill

woo hoo!

Nothing really WTF or OMG about this house... I mean, it definitely has "character" and everything, but I'm really just posting it because, hey, https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/183-Frobel-St_Monticello_GA_31064_M66573-64614?ex=GA636635434&view=qv40,000 for a 2,465-SF 5BR/3BA isn't something you see every day.

One day I shall learn BB Code.

That's not tooooo far from Atlanta (it's still pretty far out, though, so impractical for me). But dang. Tempting!

The siding in the bathroom scared me off a bit.

Never lived in a house with transoms, I'll say that.

The other bathroom is even scarier, peeling paint everywhere....

Also, there's way, way, way too much stuff in that house. I'm usually not an adherent of the "declutter before listing/photographing your house" edict, but all that crud makes the place look even tackier than it is.

I dunno, just picture a 19-year-old Michael Stipe shaving at this sink. Pretty easy if you try!

https://i.imgur.com/sSjatRm.jpg

Wait, is that sink in front of a door?

"Haha, c'mon, plains. Every old house has that room with the TV in front of the sealed door to the bathroom..."

https://i.imgur.com/CcmG596.jpg

(ME, WAVING A KNIFE AT EVERYONE): "NO! NO THEY DON'T!"

That house looks like a steal tbh

The camera lenses they use for these shoots confuse the hell out of me.

Like, these stairs seem really flat to me (for stairs):

https://i.imgur.com/su5wtho.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/TSVLSi4.jpg

But from this angle, hope you keep a rope and harness ready:

https://i.imgur.com/ay14J6Y.jpg

"I dunno, man. Seems like it'd be a bit more Christmasy if we took the plywood out of the fireplace."

"Shut up and hand me another beer from the fridge, ok?"

https://i.imgur.com/PqnHb1Y.jpg

Least you wouldn't have to worry too much about keeping up with the Joneses.

https://i.imgur.com/YTMm6Rl.jpg

see, that's why I was lax in fixing up my house. guy with a nice-looking house doesn't mow the yard or weed often enough? eh, we have a couple of those on the block. irritating but at least they do something. guy with a nice remodeled house is lazy? well, that just draws attention

whoops, that is to say, guy with a paint-peeling, roof looks bad house doesn't do the work, no one cares

I've never been so angry at a house listing.

https://i.imgur.com/yX0VL4f.jpg

That looks like some weekend warrior shit.

lol I just saw a listing with a really extreme use of fisheye lens and thought of pplains's other thread, will try to find the pic

Oh yeah here it is
https://ssl.cdn-redfin.com/photo/79/mbpaddedwide/515/genMid.3031515_11_0.jpg

guys, what shape is a bed, normally?

HAHA

florida bed

I remember that scene from Time Bandits.

I've never been so angry at a house listing.

WIsh I could find the place where 3/4 of the ground floor had been converted into open plan with stairs and one or two small rooms tucked behind a curved wall, like a full 90 degrees front wall to side wall curve. It looked so bad. So bad.

In other news a) aargh, ii) never get complacent or fail to hassle solicitors etc from day one, 3) accepting an offer on your place before find another place to move is not the best idea.