Househunting is Done for a While
As Tweek so succinctly put it, "Too... much... pressure!"
In this case, not so much pressure, but disappointment. Things we looked at should've either been cheaper or were just out of the acceptable range.
Let me list them and their faults.
House #1: Bankruptcy house. Ugly exterior. Basement which smelled of cat pee. Possibly saggy roof. Garage door problems. Screen porch which needed removed. Glass patio door which needed replaced. Landscaping that was neglected for years. No central air. To it's credit, it had 2 working fireplaces, a newer furnace and water heater, a dry(?) block 1/4 basement. Storm windows. LOTS of SPACE. Single story.
House #2: Small. Disaster area. Money pit waiting to be discovered under all the CRAP. Owner chopped off the back porch and did nothing with it. Living in filth. Too small.
House #3: Not bad, really. Disasterous back yard and "studio" which might've been a garage at some point but certainly wasn't now. Bad neighborhood, too campusy. Needed love. May've needed a lot more than that. Basement was damn near inaccessible. Addition wasn't finished.
House #4: Sweet, charming, perfect bungalow. Priced right for the neighborhood, but a little high for us. Sears house. 2-car block garage. Big lot. Space not conducive to pets and escapism living. Very cute, nothing to fault it about, really.
House #5: Renovated Dutch Colonial. Big upstairs. New tile in kitchen and bath. Half bath downstairs. Unusual space. Hardwood floors. Gassy basement. Beautiful lot with driveway and privacy fence.
House #6: Very suburban 2-story, dry livable basement. 4 bedroom. Big bland yard. Not much to fault it except the panelled kitchen and 70s updates. Know nothing about the neighborhood. Felt very suburban. Not close to anything, really, for being urban. Very sub-divisiony. Very... middle-aged midwesterner.
To be honest, we looked at some very nice houses. By list price, in ascending order, they went #3 for 117K, #6 for 121K, #2 for 134k, #1 for 144k, #4 for 149k, #5 for 159k.
Now, normally I wouldnt think that #1 would be my choice as something I would want, but I did some poking around on the auditor's site, and based on the auditor saying in 1997 that it was a "very good" house, and the fact that it's a bankruptcy house, and I really liked the size... and the neighborhood, and the lot, and the proximity to work and the park, river, and bike path, and coffee... It's been on the market for 2 months now.
Well, suffice it to say I'm doing some research on bankruptcy houses. I'm thinking a lower bid, more in line with a "fixer upper" in the neighborhood, contingent upon inspection, would be something I could live with.
Oh, and if anyone knows about buying such things, let me know.