the house my dad built, that I grew up in, was sold for an amazing shit-ton of money considering it had no phone, no tv reception, was not on the city power grid, was tiny and had an awkward floor plan, and getting anywhere from it you have to drive 30 minutes, some of it down an ungraded dirt road the county doesn't plow in the winter.
BUT, that 30 min drive will get you to one of the ritziest ski resorts on earth, so there's rub-off value
not sure about this place but yeah, I think the Alaskan middle-of-nowhere is very attractive to some people?? Having your own land and not being able to see anyone else has major appeal, and specifically the Alaskan wilderness I think has a rep for being unearthly beautiful? I don't know what I'm talking about
we put in an offer on our pretty-much dream house/dream location and they went with another offer! We didn't even get a counter offer.
Feelin' blue
this house had an upstairs living room and also a clawfoot tub by a window looking out onto a crabapple tree and also a custom-built privacy deck just for a hot tub
Oh no! I'm so sorry, YT! It truly is heartbreaking when your dream place falls through. But when it happened to me, several people told me that I would be happy it happened eventually - that the place I ultimately landed would be even better. And it worked that way for me, and I do honestly think it works that way for most people. Hang in there! You'll get an awesome house!
Do not fret YT, that is also how we felt! I was so depressed to lose the "clown house", but now I'm so glad we don't have the clown house and have the lasaña lasagna house instead. IT WILL HAPPEN!
But really, a clawfoot tub looking out a window onto a crabapple tree sounds perfect. And upstairs living room?!
Oh yeah, that is my childhood home for sale. I don't like living in the damn woods, but I gather some people do. It's also not far from JOBS because a new oil refinery or other centerpiece of capitalism is going in within commuting range. Gotta pay the big bucks for that.
Man I have so many memories popping up as I clicked through those pictures. Mr B's famous falafel in the dining room, role-playing games with Mike and 'Zin in the downstairs den, playing Ultima and The Journeyman Project on the mac, puking my guts out all night long in the downstairs bathroom the night before I left for college in The Big City, playing with their absurdly huge cat Luke Treewalker (RIP), listening to 'Zin bust out mad tunes on the piano or Mr B. jam on Paul Simon and Beatles with his sweet Taylor acoustic... The feels.
EDIT: Maybe it was a Gibson? In any case... amazing sound.
We're doing a lot ourselves. We are scraping wallpaper, painting everything, we demo'd the garage. Julia and her dad moved windows around in the garage - we're finishing it as bedroom for her.
So many projects! We want to take down that cabinet blocking the view in the kitchen, get rid of all of the soffits in the kitchen, open up the weird interior window in the office, paint the exterior black, fence, landscape. The list goes forever!
We had the interior doors dipped and that was cool, They look good.
We're putting in french doors to the garden and it's nearly impossible. We couldn't figure out how to get hot water out there without spending 20K+. Baby J is just going to have to take cold water baths in a tub and pee in the alley.
It wasn't the water heater cost, it was that we would have to upgrade our water service and our electrical service to the house in order to support the extra load. So that added a lot to the bill.
It's so overwhelming but you will figure it out. My mom's been telling me all these stories about early in my parents' marriage when they flipped two houses before it was called flipping. They bought this bombed-out wreck with good bones on a scary unsafe street and lived in it for a year while renovating it--everything, floors, ceilings, wiring, plumbing, the works. They turned it into such a rad beautiful house! Then they had me and felt like they needed to move to a chiller neighborhood, so they did, and my mom cried and cried because she'd come to love that house so much.
You can do it!
Is there some way you could do like a solar water tank on the roof of the garage or something? Is that a thing? I guess that wouldn't solve the water service issue. Hmmm....rainwater tank with filter and solar heater???? omg
We are still houseless. No houses in our price range/desired location have been coming on the market! It is very weird to live in a place with such low inventory, after portland. It's also really disheartening because even here it seems like the market is starting to pop off. That house that we put the offer on and lost? It sold for OVER ASKING PRICE, which our realtor was STUNNED by, he says that NEVER happens here. Well it's apparently a new era. We're going to have to figure out if we want to be competitive in this shitty way...we looked at a real piece of shit house the other day and it already had 3 offers on it. Ugh.
YT, yeah, solar water is a real thing and pretty sweet, although not so much in the colder months. You basically just cover your roof in winding black hose and the sun does the rest. There's a house near Fernhill park with that system on the roof.
Well, except that "finding houses online" is not the same as "being a realtor," so I'm not 100% sure it would translate. BUT, I also love working with people who are stressed out (as long as they're not assholes) and I love educating people about the home-buying process and I certainly love houses... Do NOT like the idea of "hosting open houses" or being a sales person in that sense.
Comments
BUT, that 30 min drive will get you to one of the ritziest ski resorts on earth, so there's rub-off value
not sure about this place but yeah, I think the Alaskan middle-of-nowhere is very attractive to some people?? Having your own land and not being able to see anyone else has major appeal, and specifically the Alaskan wilderness I think has a rep for being unearthly beautiful? I don't know what I'm talking about
I don't understand real estate (see other thread)
ha ha wait that's this thread; see below
I don't understand computer either
Feelin' blue
this house had an upstairs living room and also a clawfoot tub by a window looking out onto a crabapple tree and also a custom-built privacy deck just for a hot tub
But really, a clawfoot tub looking out a window onto a crabapple tree sounds perfect. And upstairs living room?!
Isn't home shopping devastating?
Upstairs livingroom sounds way cool tho.
EDIT: Maybe it was a Gibson? In any case... amazing sound.
Re-EDIT: Damn it.
this is called "house madness" and it is futile!!! The only thing that can heal me is BUYING A HOUSE
ugh how did this become who i am
Silvia Federici (my avatar) I am sorry for inscribing desire for private property underneath your beautiful face. I will go to hell
Some befores, some in the middles, few afters. Everything is being torn apart.
So many projects! We want to take down that cabinet blocking the view in the kitchen, get rid of all of the soffits in the kitchen, open up the weird interior window in the office, paint the exterior black, fence, landscape. The list goes forever!
We had the interior doors dipped and that was cool, They look good.
By this really nice guy.
It's so overwhelming but you will figure it out. My mom's been telling me all these stories about early in my parents' marriage when they flipped two houses before it was called flipping. They bought this bombed-out wreck with good bones on a scary unsafe street and lived in it for a year while renovating it--everything, floors, ceilings, wiring, plumbing, the works. They turned it into such a rad beautiful house! Then they had me and felt like they needed to move to a chiller neighborhood, so they did, and my mom cried and cried because she'd come to love that house so much.
You can do it!
Is there some way you could do like a solar water tank on the roof of the garage or something? Is that a thing? I guess that wouldn't solve the water service issue. Hmmm....rainwater tank with filter and solar heater???? omg
We are still houseless. No houses in our price range/desired location have been coming on the market! It is very weird to live in a place with such low inventory, after portland. It's also really disheartening because even here it seems like the market is starting to pop off. That house that we put the offer on and lost? It sold for OVER ASKING PRICE, which our realtor was STUNNED by, he says that NEVER happens here. Well it's apparently a new era. We're going to have to figure out if we want to be competitive in this shitty way...we looked at a real piece of shit house the other day and it already had 3 offers on it. Ugh.