house hunting - Karen's Musings

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			house hunting - Karen's Musings Random Rambling




			10:55 pm March 30th, 2004

estherchaya


	house hunting
	I think we're getting closer to full blown house-hunting mode. I looked at a house today about a mile from our shul (which is a mile and a half closer than we are now!), and it's really adorable, but needs TONS of yard work done, which doesn't entirely thrill me. I really like the house a lot and the price is right. Seth is looking at it tomorrow morning. I got myself very excited about it after I left, thinking about all the little things I really love about it. But now I'm realizing that it's probably not the right house for us right now. The kitchen is tiny. Smaller than our current kitchen, and I didn't realize that was possible. And that's two strikes against it right off the bat. But then another friend pointed something else out that I hadn't thought of... it's listed as a tudor, but more like a cape cod, really, and it's nifty, but that means the upstairs has angled walls, almost down to the floor. That's fine and dandy for 5 foot nothing me, but my husband is 6'2". Probably not so fine for him. I'm fine with it if this turns out not to be a good choice for us. I'm still very glad I looked at it, and I'm getting excited that we're actually in a position to be able to put an offer on a house if we find one that suits us in the eruv. Current Mood: content

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	Comments




			Comment by Zero

	From: rebelzero	Date: March 30th, 2004 09:45 pm (UTC)		(Link)

considering I'm in the (real estate) industry, let me know if you have any questions along the way.

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			Thread started by Spooky-Lu

	From: spooky_lu	Date: March 30th, 2004 10:39 pm (UTC)		(Link)

The kitchen is tiny. Smaller than our current kitchen, and I didn't realize that was possible.

meh...? You didn't know that was possible? Boy, you do need to visit the cabin more often!

Jim and I are working through some of our yard hell now. Although I enjoy it, that is only because the alternative for me is working in the basement hell. Or the garage hell. Or the barn hell. Or the septic system hell. Or....

Finding a new house can be fun and frustrating at the same time. I wish you luck!! I'm really happy that you are feeling that you are in a good position to start seriously shopping!!

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	From: estherchaya	Date: March 31st, 2004 01:45 pm (UTC)		(Link)

your kitchen is, in fact, smaller, but it's open, which makes it bearable. I could sooner cook on a regular basis in your kitchen than the kitchen in this house we wanted.

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			Thread started by Monica

	From: cellio	Date: March 31st, 2004 09:20 am (UTC)		(Link)

Yard mess: As with any other modification you would want to make, factor in the cost of having someone else fix it for you. Then decide if the total price of the package makes sense. There's no shame in hiring a gardener for a one-time job, after all. Just put it in the same part of the balance sheet as "upgrade circuit box", "replace stove", or whatever.

Though it sounds from your post as if this might not be the one you really want anyway. Good luck figuring it out.

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	From: estherchaya	Date: March 31st, 2004 10:24 am (UTC)		(Link)

It's going to be many thousands of dollars just to remove two dead trees (upwards of $5K a piece, perhaps). And if I really wanted to hire someone to clean up the landscaping the first time around, and maintain it myself thereafter, it'd probably be a good $2500.

Suffice it to say, I still think it's worth it, because with that work done, we get more than an equal return on our investment. If we fixed the yard and fixed the exterior bits of the house that need to be fixed, and closed in the side porch (the neighbors did so), we'd probably increase the value of the house by at least $100K.

However, as I expect I'll write in an actual entry later, we've decided that although we love, love, love the house, the kitchen is not workable, and to top that off there aren't a lot of good places to put our bookshelves, which would mean putting them in the basement, which isn't a possibility because it's not the right kind of climate-controlled in the basement. I'm not interested in destroying my books, and neither is Seth, so that was the deal-breaker.

We were SO close to putting an offer on it today.

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