MetaChat - House hunting.

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18 February 2009

House hunting. →[More:]I've been looking for a house for the past couple of months, and only one that's currently on the market fits the bill. I took 97 pictures on Sunday and just uploaded them. I'm nervous as hell and trying to figure out whether to make an offer on it or not. I posted an askme question about it earlier today.

I'm not sure why I'm posting this.

post by: Stewriffic at: 15:33 | 37 comments

It's a cute little house. I don't know why, but I'm a fan of red doors.

posted by mudpuppie 18 February | 15:54

oh, it's so very cute! i'd paint the outside but that's just because I'm not one for beige. Remember, up to $15k tax break for first time homebuyers!

posted by eatdonuts 18 February | 15:59

It is very cute and I like the red doors as well. I'd LOVE to have a home with character like this one.

The third bedroom (without a closet) would work as an office, wouldn't it? And I agree that it was probably the original garage.

I'd buy it just for the big ass magnolia. I love the lemony scent of the flowers.

posted by deborah 18 February | 16:30

Answered your askme to some extent. I think the house is ADORABLE, myself. Really cute!

posted by mygothlaundry 18 February | 16:35

Love it!

The tax credit is not $15k anymore, they cut that out of the final stimulus bill. Unfortunately. But it is still up to $8k.

Am suddenly considering speeding up the home-buying time line due to the tax credit...Crazy? Scary? Both!

posted by misskaz 18 February | 18:02

The asbestos doesn't sound like much of an issue. I'd say go with your gut. If it sings to you (the house), then make an offer. Otherwise, keep looking.

posted by chewatadistance 18 February | 19:17

chewatadistance has given the advice I would give. Good luck. Buying my first place was thrilling and terrifying. One of the better days of my life.

posted by crush-onastick 18 February | 19:33

I like it!

posted by gaspode 18 February | 20:41

I do really like it. I guess I'll see about making an offer. Because seriously, cute. The main negatives besides the asbestos issue are:
1) no screen doors.
2) most windows don't stay open by themselves(that's a must-fix)
3) The door leading from the breakfast room to the 3rd BR is really low-ceilinged. Just the door. There's a step down that they should have made happen before the door, which cut the door height. I don't know if that makes sense.

posted by Stewriffic 18 February | 22:23

Stewie, I see a chimney, but no fireplace. Is there a fireplace?

posted by taz 18 February | 22:38

No, apparently that may have been a wood stove at one point. There's a small area of dead space between the living room and one of the bedrooms, but no mantle. And the location wouldn't make sense for a full-on fireplace.

I *wish* there were a fireplace. I love fires.

posted by Stewriffic 18 February | 23:01

Me too; I really miss the one we had in our first apartment in Thessaloniki. If you get it, maybe you can do something with the fact that the chimney exists:

≡ Click to see image ≡

Keep us updated!

posted by taz 18 February | 23:17

Screen doors are cheap, cheap at Lowes. Like, you can get an unfinished wood one for less than $20. All you need is the help of a handyman to hang it and you're golden. Windows are also surprisingly easy and cheap to fix.

posted by mygothlaundry 19 February | 09:59

At least the windows are new and double-paned. I'm getting some strong resistance on the asbestos thing from my mom, who is helping some with the downpayment (hey, i never got married, and mom and stepdad came into an unexpected windfall)

Taz, the location where the stove used to be is really awkward if I installed one now. It would basically block off the entrance into the hall from the living room, so that people would have to traipse through the kitchen.

posted by Stewriffic 19 February | 10:28

Here's the next one I'm looking at. It's quite spendy, but it has two houses. TWO HOUSES!

posted by Stewriffic 27 February | 13:13

Oh, oh, oh! That one, that one! Sun room! Fireplace! Red door! Is that a pond? I love it!

posted by taz 27 February | 14:11

Spendy? oh Dog, I need to get out of NYC. Your monthly payments would be like, a quarter of our rent.

(I love it)

posted by gaspode 27 February | 14:30

Well, spendy for me, gaspode.

posted by Stewriffic 27 February | 17:10

Taz--yes that's a POND! And there's an old smokehouse! And a hot tub, I think! And 3.44 ACRES of land! And the land is CLEAR, so I could put a HUGE garden in! And CHICKENS!

posted by Stewriffic 27 February | 17:12

this is the place.

posted by taz 27 February | 17:13

wait... I meant to say "this is the One"

/Matrix voice

posted by taz 27 February | 17:16

If North Carolina is anything like Texas, "pond" is synonymous with "mosquito farm". Buyer beware.

posted by muddgirl 27 February | 17:20

Oh, hm, good point. I lived in NC as a kid and don't remember mosquitoes so much there (as compared to further south, where I also lived), but I was in the mountains. Something to check out, def.

posted by taz 27 February | 17:30

If North Carolina is anything like Texas, "pond" is synonymous with "mosquito farm". Buyer beware.

That's why one goes out and gets mosquito fish! Out here, the county gives them away for free.

posted by mudpuppie 27 February | 17:41

I think I may have figured out something that's bad about it. They list both OIL heat and electric. I'm guessing the main house is still heated with oil. That's yicky.

posted by Stewriffic 27 February | 18:09

Oh, and yes, mosquitoes. I'd be getting mosquito fish, which i'd never heard of until this very day!

posted by Stewriffic 27 February | 18:10

Mosquito...fish? My stars!

posted by muddgirl 27 February | 18:14

Actually, reading up on mosquitofish, they don't look so great. Maybe I'd just stock it with normal fish.

posted by Stewriffic 27 February | 18:17

Maybe it's too cold out there for them? I have some in my little pond, and I think they're fabulous. They totally control the mosquito population (in my yard, at least -- can't do anything about the neighbors'), they don't need to be fed, and their population self-regulates. That is, they cannibalize each other if they overproduce.

I recommend them highly, but maybe your conditions would be different from mine.

posted by mudpuppie 27 February | 18:36

No, no, it's just that at least wikipedia says they are pretty invasive as a species and that they're not really any better than normal fish at getting mosquitoes. We already have kudzu--wouldn't want to mess the fish up, too. Yanno?

posted by Stewriffic 27 February | 18:40

Ah, I see. Yeah, mine aren't really able to invade anything.

posted by mudpuppie 27 February | 18:47

Saw the mini-farm today.

Here.

Nutshell: main house is awesome. guesthouse is OMG sucky. land is fantastic.

posted by Stewriffic 08 March | 15:58

It's like a wee plantation, isn't it? I wonder why they built it with the ceilings so low? It seems really charming, though... What do you think?

posted by taz 08 March | 17:26

I'm on the fence. I mean, when i went inside the main house, it seemed like it was clearly MINE and THE ONE. The guesthouse is hell, though, and I fear the property might be a money pit. Also, do I want to live where it is? I mean, it's not the most desirable of locations. Bad schools (which I suspect won't matter for me), kinda far from good stuff, rather in a weird nomansland between industrial areas, train tracks and this pocket of nice quiet neighborhood.

There are SO many pros though.

posted by Stewriffic 09 March | 10:47

Pro: it's n Pleasant Drive. How can you not want to live on Pleasant Drive?

posted by dabitch 09 March | 11:05

I think that's a Magnolia tree as well. Oh they smell fantastic. I like the green oven in the guest house, but I can see that was rather sucky overall. Those random tanks of crap bother me, what can you do with those?

posted by dabitch 09 March | 11:08

The problem with the random tanks of crap is that I don't know to what extent they're actually still in use. The big blocky silver tank is probably fuel oil, which I suspect is what heats the main house. I *think* the others are propane, and I don't know what that's about. I'm waiting on more info from the realtor.

posted by Stewriffic 09 March | 11:46

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