hoUse hunting- The Good, the Bad, the Realty Ugly- for LadyWENDY-

Cloudbringer · 03-05-2001, 03:22 PM

THIS is the REAL RealEstate thread for LadyZekke aka ladyWendy. All hose jokes go to the OTHER one, please. (seriously, gang- this is her house hunt thread)

DEJAVU:

Ok, this thread is for LadyWendyZekke to post about her trials and tribulations while home-hunting. Check here to see what she has to tell us
(save her from having to repeat it in dozens of threads and re-live the unpleasantness!)

If anyone can find her updates as they peruse the various threads, transfer em here for her, too!

And as an added bonus, for her amusement and edification- offer up your own tales of housing hunts- just don't send Ladywendy screaming
from the forum in terror of realtors, please!

Here, you go Wendy, my friend! Post away! I'll wait a bit to tell my stories. you get the honor of doing so in the begining, since it's YOUR thread, sis!

Cloudbringer

------------------

Storm-Queen
Purple Rose of the Black Knight

Ladyzekke · 03-05-2001, 04:55 PM

OK CB. I'll try to be a bit serious here now. Yes, I DO have it in me!

Here goes:

Obviously we're looking to buy a house. Our particular pricerange makes it slim pickens to say the least. I hate this shitty city! Our realtor has been driving us to places to look at for the past few weeks. First place we saw had so many black stains covering the ENTIRE Carpet (stairs and all) I just had to walk out. Living on someone else's stains, yuk! The next one had only street parking (no thanks, I'll pop my tires I know it!). Next one had a mini washing machine in the KITCHEN! What? Well I guess you could clean your vegetables! Next one we went upstairs to the bedroom and it had only one closet. Well, OK, not so bad, but when we opened the door the FURNACE was in there!

Eventually we thought we had found THE ONE. Needed work, but don't they all! Came soooo close to buying it. Had a contract and everything. Then the inspector came. Basement: Had a giant horizontal crack across the wall (oh yea and the wall was bulging out). Then lo and behold ANOTHER crack on another wall (giant tree growing from beneath the house!). The gas furnace was 20 years old and had NEVER been maintenanced. You know it's gonna blow any day now. The basement also was vacant except for this suspicious couch sitting against the wall. mmmm. What's behind it? TERMITES!! yummy. "New" airconditioner was plugged into a 20 amp, wires running through a hole in the wall, no sealing. Middle level: Kitchen was supposed to be new but they didn't get the floor tile down right (can you say "missed a spot"?). Opened the refrigerator and found a large crack hiding beneath the bottom drawers. Something black was foaming out of the crack, I think it winked at me! Large red liquid something leaking underneath said refrigerator (probably foam's last kill). Door to outside in the kitchen wouldn't close all the way and no deadbolt (did I mention this was a VERY scary neighborhood? We're talking Ladyzekke is buying a gun!). Bathroom toilet, err, rocked when you came near it.? No crown molding in the living room and no deadbolt on the cheap hollow front door. Let's go upstairs: mmm, two-prong plugs? What? No way! Ladyzekke is the queen of electricity! Many boxes along the walls in all the bedrooms hiding various wall stains. They said they had a new roof put on. Well, they waited too long because over the years rain had gotten into the siding and basically the house is rotting from the outside in. Many varieties of mold sporing about. Windows won't close and grass was growing in a few of them (wanna plant a flower?). Closet shelves completely bowed. Upper bathroom had a hideous BLUE tub with various rust? spots. Guess Mr. Clean left the building on that one! Oh yea, all the sinks had leaks. Backyard had a crumbling shed and an INDIAN CUISINE sign laying in front of it on the ground. BTW, the street this house was on was called "Usher." Kinda funny huh? Gives a whole new meaning to the Fall of The House of Usher!

Whew! I think I covered it all. Obviously we hotfooted outta that contract! Really pissed me off though. The owner was obviously a liar. If I ever sold a house to someone, I would be upfront and honest about it. Making money is a good thing, but not at the expense of others.

So now we are starting all over again searching. Went to look at another on this past Saturday. Looks like somebody had an angry tenant! ALL windows were broken out and boarded up, graffiti spraypainted on the walls, wooden floor heaving up from all the water damage, kitchen counter was a slab of wood. Not kidding, a SLAB OF WOOD. Why would any owner want to show that place is beyond me!

So the search continues. I did like another one we saw on Saturday, but the price is a bit on the high side so waiting for hubby to relent. Hey, I make more money than he does, my opinion should count!!

Please feel free to add your own tales of house horror. That way I won't feel so alone in this!

------------------

Ramon de Ramon y Ramon · 03-05-2001, 05:46 PM

See, LadyWendy, that did not hurt, did it ?
Feeling any better now ? And it seems that you avoided making a big mistake and that always is a good thing. In my experience giving up to early and settling for something you are not really comfortable with will come to haunt in the end.

Good luck with swaying your husband's mind, lucky man that he is.

Btw, if your area is really that crime-plagued how about robbing a bank to expand your financial possibilities. It would just count as adjusting to the local customs and hardly be noticed anyway ...

------------------
So long !

R³

Ladyzekke · 03-05-2001, 06:02 PM

Thanks Ramon. But guess what? Realtor just called a few minutes ago and the house I liked was bought by someone else. doh! Rob a bank? No doubt! Got a ski mask on ya? When in Rome....

------------------

MILAMBER · 03-05-2001, 06:09 PM

EVERYONE MOVE ON OUT TO CALIFORNIA. IT IS PRETTY EASY TO FIND DECENT HOUSES OUT HERE. I HEAR THAT THE WEATHER ISN'T SO GREAT OUT THERE NOW. AREN'T YOU HAVING A BLIZZARD?

Ramon de Ramon y Ramon · 03-05-2001, 06:11 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ladyzekke:
Thanks Ramon. But guess what? Realtor just called a few minutes ago and the house I liked was bought by someone else. doh! Rob a bank? No doubt! Got a ski mask on ya? When in Rome....

Sorry to hear that.

But what the heck, you will find an even better one ! Soon. A queen deserves a palace and nothing less.

Btw, psst, here is my ski mask, wait ... just have to wipe off some traces of gunpowder, remnants of my last, uh, well, biathlon training.

------------------
So long !

R³

Cloudbringer · 03-05-2001, 06:27 PM

You are lucky not to have put money into that place, LW!

I built mine, but that's a nightmare of it's own! One story that's sort of funny now, but had me hysterical when it was going on-

My Cape Cod house is a balanced design. If there's a window on one side of the entry there's one on the other...mirror image from the outside. But of course inside the living room and kitchen occupy one side and the bedrooms and half bath the other side on ground floor (upstairs is all br/bath and hall)

So of course it matters which side you put the driveway on, because you want it on the side of the living rm and kitchen (back door is in kitchen). Well, I contracted to have a driveway that was single width at the road and tapered to double width near the house, for two cars to park. The salesman (son of the companies owner and making his FIRST sale to me...sigh) even drew a little sketch for the contract. Okay so one day I drive by and see they've got the drive roughed in (was January/Feb they were building) and I can't see how it's going to fit. The property line seems to close. So I mention to my friend (who was splitting the house purchase with me). She knows that by now CB could cheerfully strangle the builders from other problems so SHE looks into this...are you ready for this? The contractor was going to put the double part of the drive smack UNDER my living room windows to fit, because there was no leeway on that side of the house- too close to neighbors! I HAD A FIT , a genuine CB is p'oed HISSYFIT (not pretty, ladies and gents) reamed out the salesman and the vice-president of the firm and er.. the upshot of it all...the contractor sent me flowers and the house plan was flip-flopped to accomodate the drive on the other side (my lot's on a corner). I had them over a legal and financial barrel. The framers were set to start the next day. You see, the contract specified the side of the house the drive was on and showed it as a normal drive not overlapping the living room. If they built it on that side, they couldn't legally put the drive where I wanted it because of property line restrictions. BUT if they went ahead and flip flopped my interior design to accomodate the driveway move, they were violating the agreement already in the contract as well...and I made damn sure they knew I knew it! I could cancel the contract if they couldn't fulfill it as written. hehehe

They were also losing money as the framers couldn't start and they had $$$ sunk into my house already.

Moral---Don't mess with an anxiety-ridden Cloudy! hahahahahahaaha Of course the basement was already poured so my little windows are on the wrong side of the house...but what the heck!

And the BONUS? I forced the idiots to give me an ENTIRE double wide driveway, at no extra cost to me. Hey, anybody need a deal negotiated?...hehehe

------------------

Storm-Queen
Purple Rose of the Black Knight

\

[This message has been edited by Cloudbringer (edited 03-05-2001).]

Ladyzekke · 03-05-2001, 06:33 PM

Milamber - No blizzard here, just a few inches of snow it turned out. Cloudbringer on the other hand... I'd love to be in California. Just not exactly EASY to move across the entire country! Plus don't know if I could take earthquakes!

Ramon - Thanks friend. I'm not giving up yet.

psst - Biathlon training? Then you gotta be the one to run with the cash when I get it! Meet you behind the Pick 'N Save!

------------------

Draconia · 03-05-2001, 06:40 PM

Lady Wendy- I hope that you will find that house you like. I might be having to house hunt in June. I hope anyway. Good Luck and I do hope that right house will just show up.

Cloudbringer- I know about that. I didn't have trouble with a driveway. I had trouble with the foundation for my house. Let's just say that the guys who did it will never have any work here in Green River, I made sure of that.

------------------

Draconia, Dragon Queen

Stealthy · 03-05-2001, 06:46 PM

Sorry to hear of all your problems Ladywendy. I knew some of it from your e-mail, but it really sounds awful, no wonder you were down. It took me 9 months to find the right property here, so I know how frustrating it can be. How close to your deadline are you?

------------------

Charlie's S-Plan diet is no better than his invisibility potion!

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03-05-2001, 03:22 PM	#1
Cloudbringer Ironworks Moderator Join Date: March 1, 2001 Location: Upstate NY USA Posts: 19,737	THIS is the REAL RealEstate thread for LadyZekke aka ladyWendy. All hose jokes go to the OTHER one, please. (seriously, gang- this is her house hunt thread) DEJAVU: Ok, this thread is for LadyWendyZekke to post about her trials and tribulations while home-hunting. Check here to see what she has to tell us (save her from having to repeat it in dozens of threads and re-live the unpleasantness!) If anyone can find her updates as they peruse the various threads, transfer em here for her, too! And as an added bonus, for her amusement and edification- offer up your own tales of housing hunts- just don't send Ladywendy screaming from the forum in terror of realtors, please! Here, you go Wendy, my friend! Post away! I'll wait a bit to tell my stories. you get the honor of doing so in the begining, since it's YOUR thread, sis! Cloudbringer ------------------ Storm-Queen Purple Rose of the Black Knight

03-05-2001, 04:55 PM	#2
Ladyzekke Ironworks Atomic Moderator Join Date: January 7, 2001 Location: Virginia, U.S.A. Age: 57 Posts: 9,005	OK CB. I'll try to be a bit serious here now. Yes, I DO have it in me! Here goes: Obviously we're looking to buy a house. Our particular pricerange makes it slim pickens to say the least. I hate this shitty city! Our realtor has been driving us to places to look at for the past few weeks. First place we saw had so many black stains covering the ENTIRE Carpet (stairs and all) I just had to walk out. Living on someone else's stains, yuk! The next one had only street parking (no thanks, I'll pop my tires I know it!). Next one had a mini washing machine in the KITCHEN! What? Well I guess you could clean your vegetables! Next one we went upstairs to the bedroom and it had only one closet. Well, OK, not so bad, but when we opened the door the FURNACE was in there! Eventually we thought we had found THE ONE. Needed work, but don't they all! Came soooo close to buying it. Had a contract and everything. Then the inspector came. Basement: Had a giant horizontal crack across the wall (oh yea and the wall was bulging out). Then lo and behold ANOTHER crack on another wall (giant tree growing from beneath the house!). The gas furnace was 20 years old and had NEVER been maintenanced. You know it's gonna blow any day now. The basement also was vacant except for this suspicious couch sitting against the wall. mmmm. What's behind it? TERMITES!! yummy. "New" airconditioner was plugged into a 20 amp, wires running through a hole in the wall, no sealing. Middle level: Kitchen was supposed to be new but they didn't get the floor tile down right (can you say "missed a spot"?). Opened the refrigerator and found a large crack hiding beneath the bottom drawers. Something black was foaming out of the crack, I think it winked at me! Large red liquid something leaking underneath said refrigerator (probably foam's last kill). Door to outside in the kitchen wouldn't close all the way and no deadbolt (did I mention this was a VERY scary neighborhood? We're talking Ladyzekke is buying a gun!). Bathroom toilet, err, rocked when you came near it.? No crown molding in the living room and no deadbolt on the cheap hollow front door. Let's go upstairs: mmm, two-prong plugs? What? No way! Ladyzekke is the queen of electricity! Many boxes along the walls in all the bedrooms hiding various wall stains. They said they had a new roof put on. Well, they waited too long because over the years rain had gotten into the siding and basically the house is rotting from the outside in. Many varieties of mold sporing about. Windows won't close and grass was growing in a few of them (wanna plant a flower?). Closet shelves completely bowed. Upper bathroom had a hideous BLUE tub with various rust? spots. Guess Mr. Clean left the building on that one! Oh yea, all the sinks had leaks. Backyard had a crumbling shed and an INDIAN CUISINE sign laying in front of it on the ground. BTW, the street this house was on was called "Usher." Kinda funny huh? Gives a whole new meaning to the Fall of The House of Usher! Whew! I think I covered it all. Obviously we hotfooted outta that contract! Really pissed me off though. The owner was obviously a liar. If I ever sold a house to someone, I would be upfront and honest about it. Making money is a good thing, but not at the expense of others. So now we are starting all over again searching. Went to look at another on this past Saturday. Looks like somebody had an angry tenant! ALL windows were broken out and boarded up, graffiti spraypainted on the walls, wooden floor heaving up from all the water damage, kitchen counter was a slab of wood. Not kidding, a SLAB OF WOOD. Why would any owner want to show that place is beyond me! So the search continues. I did like another one we saw on Saturday, but the price is a bit on the high side so waiting for hubby to relent. Hey, I make more money than he does, my opinion should count!! Please feel free to add your own tales of house horror. That way I won't feel so alone in this! ------------------

03-05-2001, 05:46 PM	#3
Ramon de Ramon y Ramon Red Dragon Join Date: March 1, 2001 Location: Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany Age: 52 Posts: 1,517	See, LadyWendy, that did not hurt, did it ? Feeling any better now ? And it seems that you avoided making a big mistake and that always is a good thing. In my experience giving up to early and settling for something you are not really comfortable with will come to haunt in the end. Good luck with swaying your husband's mind, lucky man that he is. Btw, if your area is really that crime-plagued how about robbing a bank to expand your financial possibilities. It would just count as adjusting to the local customs and hardly be noticed anyway ... ------------------ So long ! R³

03-05-2001, 06:02 PM	#4
Ladyzekke Ironworks Atomic Moderator Join Date: January 7, 2001 Location: Virginia, U.S.A. Age: 57 Posts: 9,005	Thanks Ramon. But guess what? Realtor just called a few minutes ago and the house I liked was bought by someone else. doh! Rob a bank? No doubt! Got a ski mask on ya? When in Rome.... ------------------

03-05-2001, 06:09 PM	#5
MILAMBER Lord Soth Join Date: March 5, 2001 Location: Southern California Posts: 1,948	EVERYONE MOVE ON OUT TO CALIFORNIA. IT IS PRETTY EASY TO FIND DECENT HOUSES OUT HERE. I HEAR THAT THE WEATHER ISN'T SO GREAT OUT THERE NOW. AREN'T YOU HAVING A BLIZZARD?

03-05-2001, 06:27 PM	#7
Cloudbringer Ironworks Moderator Join Date: March 1, 2001 Location: Upstate NY USA Posts: 19,737	You are lucky not to have put money into that place, LW! I built mine, but that's a nightmare of it's own! One story that's sort of funny now, but had me hysterical when it was going on- My Cape Cod house is a balanced design. If there's a window on one side of the entry there's one on the other...mirror image from the outside. But of course inside the living room and kitchen occupy one side and the bedrooms and half bath the other side on ground floor (upstairs is all br/bath and hall) So of course it matters which side you put the driveway on, because you want it on the side of the living rm and kitchen (back door is in kitchen). Well, I contracted to have a driveway that was single width at the road and tapered to double width near the house, for two cars to park. The salesman (son of the companies owner and making his FIRST sale to me...sigh) even drew a little sketch for the contract. Okay so one day I drive by and see they've got the drive roughed in (was January/Feb they were building) and I can't see how it's going to fit. The property line seems to close. So I mention to my friend (who was splitting the house purchase with me). She knows that by now CB could cheerfully strangle the builders from other problems so SHE looks into this...are you ready for this? The contractor was going to put the double part of the drive smack UNDER my living room windows to fit, because there was no leeway on that side of the house- too close to neighbors! I HAD A FIT , a genuine CB is p'oed HISSYFIT (not pretty, ladies and gents) reamed out the salesman and the vice-president of the firm and er.. the upshot of it all...the contractor sent me flowers and the house plan was flip-flopped to accomodate the drive on the other side (my lot's on a corner). I had them over a legal and financial barrel. The framers were set to start the next day. You see, the contract specified the side of the house the drive was on and showed it as a normal drive not overlapping the living room. If they built it on that side, they couldn't legally put the drive where I wanted it because of property line restrictions. BUT if they went ahead and flip flopped my interior design to accomodate the driveway move, they were violating the agreement already in the contract as well...and I made damn sure they knew I knew it! I could cancel the contract if they couldn't fulfill it as written. hehehe They were also losing money as the framers couldn't start and they had $$$ sunk into my house already. Moral---Don't mess with an anxiety-ridden Cloudy! hahahahahahaaha Of course the basement was already poured so my little windows are on the wrong side of the house...but what the heck! And the BONUS? I forced the idiots to give me an ENTIRE double wide driveway, at no extra cost to me. Hey, anybody need a deal negotiated?...hehehe ------------------ Storm-Queen Purple Rose of the Black Knight \ [This message has been edited by Cloudbringer (edited 03-05-2001).]

03-05-2001, 06:33 PM	#8
Ladyzekke Ironworks Atomic Moderator Join Date: January 7, 2001 Location: Virginia, U.S.A. Age: 57 Posts: 9,005	Milamber - No blizzard here, just a few inches of snow it turned out. Cloudbringer on the other hand... I'd love to be in California. Just not exactly EASY to move across the entire country! Plus don't know if I could take earthquakes! Ramon - Thanks friend. I'm not giving up yet. psst - Biathlon training? Then you gotta be the one to run with the cash when I get it! Meet you behind the Pick 'N Save! ------------------

03-05-2001, 06:40 PM	#9
Draconia Avatar Join Date: January 7, 2001 Location: Utah Posts: 581	Lady Wendy- I hope that you will find that house you like. I might be having to house hunt in June. I hope anyway. Good Luck and I do hope that right house will just show up. Cloudbringer- I know about that. I didn't have trouble with a driveway. I had trouble with the foundation for my house. Let's just say that the guys who did it will never have any work here in Green River, I made sure of that. ------------------ Draconia, Dragon Queen

03-05-2001, 06:46 PM	#10
Stealthy Avatar Join Date: March 1, 2001 Location: Dundee in Bonnie Scotland Posts: 543	Sorry to hear of all your problems Ladywendy. I knew some of it from your e-mail, but it really sounds awful, no wonder you were down. It took me 9 months to find the right property here, so I know how frustrating it can be. How close to your deadline are you? ------------------ Charlie's S-Plan diet is no better than his invisibility potion!

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