Sunday, July 24, 2011

More Expensive Ugly Houses

I thought that raising my price limit would mean that I would get to see nicer houses. Boy was I wrong. I looked at 8 houses today between $75k-$90k. They were just as ugly as the last ones except more expensive. Actually, one house was remodeled and priced right at $82k, it just didn't have what I was looking for which is block walled yard, tile floors and covered parking. I did find two that could have potential with a lot of work and money to fix it up. I think I will just have to wait and see if anything new comes on the market.

Here are the highlights....

Oh no! Falling down wooden fence! Not good.

This was a cute bathroom but the yard was too small and the wooden fence was falling down.

The old kitchen at the house with the cute bathroom and wooden fence.

Nice beehive fireplace. I think that was the only thing nice at this house.

Original 70's kitchen cabinets. The wood grain paper was peeling off the fronts.

Why oh why would anyone put pavers over their ENTIRE yard???

Ahhh....lime green. Not my color of choice. The counter top had a bad tile job too.

This was the master bath in the remodeled home. It was very creative. It goes with the sea turtle shower down below and the nice kitchen right below.

The kitchen was newly remodeled as was the whole house. My realtor was freaked out because a big fat cockroach was sitting on the oven burner. He was just minding his own business.

And the lovely sea turtle tile. Very cute. Too bad the back yard of this house wasn't what I was looking for and the neighbors had large barking dogs that were trying to throw themselves over the fence. Not that I'm against dogs or anything...just lunging, growling ones.

The house I thought had some potential had one remodeled bathroom with blue paint on all the walls and even the back of the door!

This is the kitchen of the blue bathroom house. They seemed to be in the middle of an upgrade but ran out of money or something. They are asking $85k, much more than the other house that I wanted to buy that was only $72k. I don't know if I will ever find a house to match that one. If I do, I should buy it right away!

This is another house that had potential but they wanted $90k for it and I didn't like their upgrades. Who needs fancy tile in the hallway and bedroom?

It did have a nice kitchen but the floor looked like it had already been ruined by water. Nice back yard but no covered parking. They had turned the carport in to a giant room. I would rather have a carport or better yet, a garage!

I can't decide if I want to put in a low ball offer on the blue bathroom house or not. It really does need everything. I made a list and I'm trying to get a rough estimate of the cost to make it livable. If I could find a house like the sea turtle house except with a nice yard, more tile and less laminate, then that would be great.

12 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi - by British standards those houses are huge! Anything that big in the UK will cost 200K, even if it needs renovating. You are lucky to have so much space.

Laura L said...

If you can bear to wait, you will likely do very well. You'll have to wade through the frogs to get to the prince, but I believe the prince is out there. Too bad you couldn't live this far up the road. You can get newer houses (2000-2005) for $65K up. I saw lots of fabulous homes for $75K. Most yards were smaller than what you're looking for, though. Have you looked at HomePath.com? Those are foreclosures. Happy hunting! Your house is out there.

Daizy said...

Frugal Queen, yes it does all come down to what one is used to. I know in California the prices would be double.

Daizy said...

Where are you Laura L.? Texas? We do have new homes for not much more money but since I am avoiding home owner's associations, I am out of luck for anything close to my work. Most of the houses that I am looking at are Home Path homes. I have renamed them Home Path to Destruction because if a poor person stretches to buy one of these dumps, they will be living with 30 year old carpet, collapsing roofs and mold in the wall until they can't take it anymore and the bank takes it back again.

Lizzie @ her homeworld said...

Its true. Our houses are the smallest in Europe apaprently. I cant imagine how it still takes so long to clean.
Did they smell any better than the last lot? The lime green kitchen would sure wake you up in the morning. I would wait and pounce when you see the right thing, assuming the dogs dont demolish everything else in the meantime.

Anonymous said...

Don't be afraid of houses that are dumps. Most people are! You can pick them up for a major discount. Look for something that is structurally sound but cosmetically horrid. How much was your tile job at the rental? Check out stock kitchen cabinets at Home Depot. Get an estimate of how much to install. You can offer a lot less and contract it out. I have done this with numerous homes and you can too. Just make sure you have a good area and that the house has good bones.

A Frugal Mom's Financial Expressions said...

Would it hurt to make an offer on the one you did think might have potential - at a price you are comfortable with? If they are foreclosures, the bank might just want to move it out of inventory. Wouldn't hurt to try.

Daizy said...

Lizzie, they smelled a little better. Only one smelled a little like um...animals. And I have plenty of water for the moment so as long as my road doesn't wash out or roof cave in, I can last out here for a while.

Daizy said...

Anonymous, I decided that I can't keep up with my job and think about a remodel at the same time so I had better stay away from the total dumps. Now, partial dumps are still ok.

Daizy said...

Frugal Mom, the one I thought had the most potential needed a lot of work before I could even move in so I think I will keep looking.

Laura L said...

I am about halfway between Phoenix and Tucson. You mentioned HOA's. Yes, they are the fatal flaws. All the subdivisions by me have them. You are so creative, I think you will come up with something that you'll make work well for you. Courage!

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