House Hunting
Sep. 29th, 2003 02:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dmarleyYesterday, Albert and I went to our very first official house showing.
It was listed as a three-bedroom, one bath, two-story house with 1,350 square feet. It was in a pretty decent neighborhood, close to the airport but not that bad. It was a HUD house (Housing and Urban Development, for those who might not know), listed at a very, very low price, so we weren't expecting grandeur, but we thought it was worth an hour to check out.
Apart from the holes in every wall where the doorknobs had struck the plaster, the central air vents filled with cloth and paper, the bare insulation in the laundry room and attic rooms, the broken kitchen cabinets, the missing gutters, the loose linoleum in the kitchen, the broken windows, the broken alarm system controls, the holes in the interior doors, and the mysterious piece of plywood bolted through the carpet of the living room--it was pretty much a dump. Very solid, though. The floors were hardwood with no creaks or sags, and the place didn't vibrate so much as a whisker when I jumped up and down.
The piece de resistance, though, was the "second floor." The listing showed a total of 1,350 square feet: 1,150 on the ground floor, and 200 on the "second floor." When the agent and I went up the "stairs" to the "second floor," we found that, yes, the space was finished, carpeted and painted and so on, and had heat and electricity, which is what is required to be listed as square footage--and, in fact, which HUD regs say must be listed as square footage. The only problem was that the only place in the rooms where I could stand upright was at the apex of the roof, and my lofty 5' 6" of height left me about three inches of clearance. The rest of the roof sloped sharply down to a height of about two feet along the other walls. There was a working toilet, though, that hadn't been mentioned. It sat in a small little room at the end of the attic, enthroned in lone splendor atop a red-tiled stepped pedestal. I prefer not to know.
The good news, though, is that we hit it off with the agent, and she's going to show us some more listings this week. And it was still fun, even with the quick realization that this was not going to be the house of our dreams. You never know. :)
It was listed as a three-bedroom, one bath, two-story house with 1,350 square feet. It was in a pretty decent neighborhood, close to the airport but not that bad. It was a HUD house (Housing and Urban Development, for those who might not know), listed at a very, very low price, so we weren't expecting grandeur, but we thought it was worth an hour to check out.
Apart from the holes in every wall where the doorknobs had struck the plaster, the central air vents filled with cloth and paper, the bare insulation in the laundry room and attic rooms, the broken kitchen cabinets, the missing gutters, the loose linoleum in the kitchen, the broken windows, the broken alarm system controls, the holes in the interior doors, and the mysterious piece of plywood bolted through the carpet of the living room--it was pretty much a dump. Very solid, though. The floors were hardwood with no creaks or sags, and the place didn't vibrate so much as a whisker when I jumped up and down.
The piece de resistance, though, was the "second floor." The listing showed a total of 1,350 square feet: 1,150 on the ground floor, and 200 on the "second floor." When the agent and I went up the "stairs" to the "second floor," we found that, yes, the space was finished, carpeted and painted and so on, and had heat and electricity, which is what is required to be listed as square footage--and, in fact, which HUD regs say must be listed as square footage. The only problem was that the only place in the rooms where I could stand upright was at the apex of the roof, and my lofty 5' 6" of height left me about three inches of clearance. The rest of the roof sloped sharply down to a height of about two feet along the other walls. There was a working toilet, though, that hadn't been mentioned. It sat in a small little room at the end of the attic, enthroned in lone splendor atop a red-tiled stepped pedestal. I prefer not to know.
The good news, though, is that we hit it off with the agent, and she's going to show us some more listings this week. And it was still fun, even with the quick realization that this was not going to be the house of our dreams. You never know. :)
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(no subject)
Date: 2003-09-29 01:23 pm (UTC)That is so fascinatingly bizarre. What in the heck were they doing in that house? wow.
It sat in a small little room at the end of the attic, enthroned in lone splendor atop a red-tiled stepped pedestal. I prefer not to know.
ummm...okay. I believe I wouldn't want to know either. heh.
Good luck on the househunting. You know, the 'boro is mostly lovely. I'm just sayin'. ;-)
(no subject)
Date: 2003-09-29 05:14 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-09-29 06:22 pm (UTC)You know, the 'boro is mostly lovely. I'm just sayin'. ;-)
Believe me, the thought crossed my mind. But then I remember the $120/month gas bills for the commute, and start thinking, "Hm, Antioch's not so bad...." :)
(no subject)
Date: 2003-09-29 08:25 pm (UTC)