The Great House Hunt

I have decided to buy a house. In order to accomplish my goal, I have enlisted the help of Jane Frasch, a local Coldwell Banker Realtor recommended to me by Elaine. We began our house search two weeks ago. My ideal house would have 2 bathrooms, a large kitchen, plenty of storage, a room that could be used as an office, a dishwasher, garbage disposal, well kept exterior, reasonably close to school and shopping and be 60,000 or less.

The first house we checked out was only 936 square feet and way too small. I currently have an apartment around 1300 sq. ft. and I am crowded as it is. My dad thinks I have too much stuff for where I am in my life if I can't fit into 900 sq. ft., but I like space so we set off to look at some slightly larger houses.

The next house was a 1680 sq. ft. foreclosure. The house was rough on the inside, but some rooms were really nice. It has 1.5 baths, a huge kitchen, three small bedrooms, a detached two car garage, a large deck, and a Michigan basement.

The third house on our tour was interesting because of the decor. There were five shades of carpet used in different rooms: chocolate, aqua green, pink, orange, and pattered green. There were several types of paneling: real wood, fake brown wood, fake white wood, and fake stone. The basement was finished and had a bar which was nice, but I felt this house would take too much to redecorate so it was quickly crossed off the list.

We looked at several more houses but they were crossed off because the kitchen or bathroom was too small. There was a condo in the mix, but due to its 70's decor with mirrored walls and very vertical floor plan it was also discarded.


The second day of house hunting involved visiting three different duplexes. The idea of making money off my property was quite attractive, but once I saw the condition they were in I felt they would take too much work before my investment would pay off. They were all very old and needed new floors, plumbing, and many other cosmetic fixes that would be rather more time consuming that painting over the hot pink paint in the bedroom. Another duplex overlooked the local municipal brick and paving supply depot.

The second day yielded one house that Michael liked. It 1300 sq. ft. and well maintained. The kitchen was of a decent size, but it only had one bathroom. The attic was finished and could be used as a large bedroom or rec room. The main problem with the house is that it had a very narrow driveway that opened onto a major street so getting in and out could be a problem. There was an alley behind the house and we could rip up bushes and park in the backyard to solve that problem though.

At the end of our two day house hunt, I had determine my favorite house of the bunch. My favorite was the second house from the first day. Even though it was rough and needed work, all of the work could be classified as cosmetic. So tomorrow I am planning to get pre-approved for my mortgage and formulate my offer. With luck the house will be mine by August 1st.