Den hunt, day 10

Aug. 30th, 2007 at 10:26 AM

*sigh* Well, I don't think the house we were looking at is going to happen. Pity, it had the potential to be a really sweet house for us...but the amount of stuff that's wrong is vast...it's setting, there's no way to *fix* the settling, only arrest it, and the settling foundation's crushed the drainage pipes, creating an unpleasant sewery smell. The electrical system's not in good shape, the AC/heater's shot, the hot water heater and kitchen appliances are on their last legs, the roof's teh crap, and the kitchen's got a leak from the upstairs restroom (which doesn't work).

All in all...even if we *could* afford all the repairs, the list is too long to make the house a good deal for us. I'm not saying "no," but I'm letting go of it mentally, unless they make us an amazing offer on house repair fundage.

And I'm out $650 for fees and inspections. Poopie.

Current Mood: sad

Comments

( 19 comments — Leave a comment )

kristov

Aug. 30th, 2007 04:05 pm (UTC)

Still...it is better to find out about these things *now* rather than after you've signed your life away. Good luck with your continued searching.

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spottylogic

Aug. 30th, 2007 04:12 pm (UTC)

This is true...I think I'll rent Tom Hank's "The Money Pit" tonight.

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drleo

Aug. 30th, 2007 04:37 pm (UTC)

Seconded. Better $650 than six figures on the house + repairs.

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jenna_thorn

Aug. 30th, 2007 04:12 pm (UTC)

I'm sorry that you are disappointed, but the $650 was certainly worth it. Foundation recovery and repair can be catastrophically expensive and you don't realize how much a roof is going to cost until you have part of it fall off, leading to new surprise expenses like interior drywall replacement. And once a carpet is wet, whether with rain water or worse salt water or worst, sewage? Ghastly.

Plumbing alone can be a money pit. Foundation alone, ditto. Roof alone. But all of them? Ouch.

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spottylogic

Aug. 30th, 2007 04:14 pm (UTC)

Yeah, all true. I've just been wanting to get a house for about two years now, so it's easy for me to get worked up about a possibility--particularly one that's got enough room for all my STUFF. And Whines's.

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pacerfox

Aug. 30th, 2007 04:52 pm (UTC)

You really did not want that place. That's too much to repair.

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spottylogic

Aug. 30th, 2007 04:56 pm (UTC)

Yeah, the stuff you can do with minimal skill can make a huge difference, but there's too much stuff here that requires professional intervention.

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pacerfox

Aug. 30th, 2007 05:23 pm (UTC)

Wish ya didn't mind Round Rock so much. The house at the end of our street is up for sale. I walked through it when it was for sale last time and it was really cool. The upper floor has a balcony that looks over the hills. Next to the sale sign is something that says "The Government wants to pay you $80,000 to live in this house." I don't know what that's about. Government loan or something. Not bad when you figure the house is probably only $125k. Heck, I was even interested! But I know you don't like the drive. You'll find something!

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spottylogic

Aug. 30th, 2007 05:27 pm (UTC)

It's tempting :) But particularly since I don't know where I'm going to be working in six months, and I still want to be able to take advantage of the bus system if it's possible, Austin's really it for me. It's also a point of pride--I've never lived anywhere *but* Austin!

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pacerfox

Aug. 30th, 2007 05:33 pm (UTC)

I understand. I just am amazed at the prices there. Nice starter homes out here still for about 100k. However, you do have to have a car. But the good thing about our area of RR now is that the toll road is right there. I can get most places in 15 minutes or so now.
But... if you don't have a car.... you need the bus system.

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eris_star

Aug. 30th, 2007 06:43 pm (UTC)

If you wait long enough, you can take the train.

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artfulreggie

Aug. 30th, 2007 05:08 pm (UTC)

Yeah, trust me, our sewerline collapsed a few years back and all these gotchas arose: the city would only pay for removal of concrete and asphault if the root cause of the problem occured on public property, etc. It was very much like buying a small car. You don't need costs like that destroying the euphoria of a "new" house. :)

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spottylogic

Aug. 30th, 2007 05:17 pm (UTC)

Well...you really can't make any money buying a "new" house, either. Unless you get lucky, but it's hard to gamble on luck. But there's fixer-uppers, and then there's burner-downers, and it seems we're looking at the latter.

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kt_kat

Aug. 30th, 2007 11:32 pm (UTC)

There's a cluster of brand new neighborhoods going up around Pioneer Farm, dunno about the exact location and bus service though. The houses are going for $150k, but I guess that's kinda high.

Have you not found anything in the Gracy Farms area? I thought that there were cheaper homes around there, and that's definitely Austin.

For a daily dose of real-estate OMGWTF, I have been enjoying http://www.burbed.com lately. XD

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spottylogic

Aug. 30th, 2007 11:36 pm (UTC)

Honestly, haven't really been looking--since we're stuck in our lease until the end of the year, it's only weird opportunities that don't require lease-breaking that I'm paying attention to... but we'll probalby start looking in Gracy Farms and some of the adjoining areas in November, along with a rash of whiney real-estate posts :)

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luckless_willow

Aug. 31st, 2007 04:43 pm (UTC)

Feeling your pain

Currently been on the hunt for 3 weeks (Have been loosely looking for 2 months). The agent's giving us headaches and the mortgage guy isn't working as fast as we'd like.

*Hug*

You'll find one. This is a great market for buyers right now.

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spottylogic

Aug. 31st, 2007 04:46 pm (UTC)

Re: Feeling your pain

Thanks :)

Ooooh...the Spirit Halloween stores are going up in Austin right now. I get a little bittersweet whenever it's this time of year :)

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luckless_willow

Aug. 31st, 2007 05:34 pm (UTC)

Re: Feeling your pain

LOL - I feel the same way when I see Spirit or Halloween Express.

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asterickpup