at houses. Only 3 but that was enough for an afternoon. The first two houses were in Womelsdorf, at town that was established in the late 1700s. Both of the homes I looked at were built in the 1800s. One was huge with lots of rooms and probably was quite a showplace in 1890. The second was a darling Victorian with turrets and a wrap around porch. It was obvious that the previous owners had attempted to fix it up. However, I think they discovered it was a money pit and after a second mortgage they were in over their heads. It is bank owned and as far as I am concerned, the bank can keep it! The worst thing about the property probably was the neighbors next door. It appears that they are running a flea market from their front porch. Not exactly what I was looking for in a neighborhood!
The last house I looked at was in a different county. It would add about 15 minutes each way to my work drive. The house is a real possibility, however, I am not going to make any quick decisions. There are other houses in that same town that interest me so I will continue my search.
There are a couple of things I have learned. Don't even think about looking at a period house unless somewhere in the brochure it mentions that upgrades to electrical have been made (!) Another thing I am learning is to decipher "realtor speak". When I worked with someone in the business back in Seattle, we were really honest about describing a property. Some realtors are not quite that "real" in their descriptions. Also, if a house is listed as a "fixer upper"...they are serious!
And so, the adventure continues..
Thursday, May 22, 2008
So I looked...
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1 comment:
Godspeed on your house hunt -- you're going to need all the help you can get! Older houses are great BUT -- and you know how to finish that sentence. My mother-in-law owned a wonderful old Queen Anne (built in 1895) that had been sort of cosmetically fixed up, but it would have been an absolute sinkhole for money to be updated and restored correctly. Electricity had been installed somewhere around 1930 and there was one -- ONE! -- outlet per room. And let's not talk about the heating. Or windows. Or plumbing. When she got older, she sold it and moved to a retirement community. You can see why.
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