House Lust Redux
So a week or so ago, we're riding our bikes to the park and as I'm cruising down the sidewalk, I see a "for sale" sign in the yard right next door to the mayor's house. Across the alley from The House That Got Away. I mentioned to Ben that it was for sale, and forgot about it.
Until a couple of days ago.
I decided to look it up and see how much they were asking for it, out of curiosity. When I saw it listed at $120k, I almost spit out my Dasani. Then I noticed the words "bank foreclosure, selling as-is, no disclosures."
Oh, shit. That usually means the prior owners were meth dealers who plugged up the toilets with used syringes and painted all the walls black.
So I started peeking in through windows. Yep, it looks like a dump. Bad, Bad, Bad carpet. Ancient windows. One-car garage in back that leans due south. One post holding up the front porch leans due north. Seriously poor taste in paint colors.
But $120k--I had to get a look inside, especially since it's listed as four bedrooms, 2.5 baths.
Oh, yeah--it's a dump. Smells like piss in certain spaces. Walls are all painted in some godawful dark color or another. Someone plastered the ceiling in one downstairs bedroom with paper bar coasters. There's no stove or dishwasher, and the fridge is gross. The main floor has a full bath (tub but no shower), and behind that is a big gaping hole where the half bath used to be, before the previous owner ripped it out to re-do it and, before he could replace the subflooring he pulled out, abandoned it when he found out he was being foreclosed on. Nice. The basement is a bizarre labyrinth of rooms, as it was at one time three studio kitchenette apartments. So we have three little kitchens and a bathroom in the basement. Very, very strange. The furnace is ancient, and I'm sure the water heater isn't up to code.
BUT...there are definitely four bedrooms, two upstairs and two down. There's a fireplace in the living room with really nice built-ins on either side. It wouldn't take much to remove the wall between the bathroom and the hole and create one big bathroom. It could be made liveable with just that bathroom remodel and ripping up the carpet and painting. (There are decent hardwoods under the carpet.) With the right amount of work, it could be a very fetching home in the area we want to be in.
But man...it's a lot of work.
I've already called our Favorite Realtor and our mortgage broker and clued them in to this, my latest insanity. It may or may not turn into something bigger than we are. It will either be a huge pain in the ass with major payoff, or another fleeting lack of common sense on my part--we'll know more tomorrow after Mortgage Dude crunches some numbers for me.
I'm completely insane.
Until a couple of days ago.
I decided to look it up and see how much they were asking for it, out of curiosity. When I saw it listed at $120k, I almost spit out my Dasani. Then I noticed the words "bank foreclosure, selling as-is, no disclosures."
Oh, shit. That usually means the prior owners were meth dealers who plugged up the toilets with used syringes and painted all the walls black.
So I started peeking in through windows. Yep, it looks like a dump. Bad, Bad, Bad carpet. Ancient windows. One-car garage in back that leans due south. One post holding up the front porch leans due north. Seriously poor taste in paint colors.
But $120k--I had to get a look inside, especially since it's listed as four bedrooms, 2.5 baths.
Oh, yeah--it's a dump. Smells like piss in certain spaces. Walls are all painted in some godawful dark color or another. Someone plastered the ceiling in one downstairs bedroom with paper bar coasters. There's no stove or dishwasher, and the fridge is gross. The main floor has a full bath (tub but no shower), and behind that is a big gaping hole where the half bath used to be, before the previous owner ripped it out to re-do it and, before he could replace the subflooring he pulled out, abandoned it when he found out he was being foreclosed on. Nice. The basement is a bizarre labyrinth of rooms, as it was at one time three studio kitchenette apartments. So we have three little kitchens and a bathroom in the basement. Very, very strange. The furnace is ancient, and I'm sure the water heater isn't up to code.
BUT...there are definitely four bedrooms, two upstairs and two down. There's a fireplace in the living room with really nice built-ins on either side. It wouldn't take much to remove the wall between the bathroom and the hole and create one big bathroom. It could be made liveable with just that bathroom remodel and ripping up the carpet and painting. (There are decent hardwoods under the carpet.) With the right amount of work, it could be a very fetching home in the area we want to be in.
But man...it's a lot of work.
I've already called our Favorite Realtor and our mortgage broker and clued them in to this, my latest insanity. It may or may not turn into something bigger than we are. It will either be a huge pain in the ass with major payoff, or another fleeting lack of common sense on my part--we'll know more tomorrow after Mortgage Dude crunches some numbers for me.
I'm completely insane.
posted by Mitzi Green at 12:50 PM
5 Comments:
Insane, maybe. But if you turn this fixer-upper into your dream home, you will have an awful lot to be proud of (besides your little family).
Go for it. Good luck!
We've done it. It rocks when you get it all done.
Good luck - any updates?
So where is this "dream" home? I think it'd be great to do that - I however probably couldn't do it. I'm not very handy. Although I think I'd like to try to learn.
Good luck with it all working out!
Good luck!!
Post a Comment
<< Home