Finding a Home - Continued

As my friend who accompanied us reminded me, I did not cover all the houses that we reviewed. If there is a piece of advice that I can give about looking for a new home, it is to bring a friend along. The friend can look at the property without prejudice - without thinking of how the furniture will fit in that room, or why something appears out of whack, or even how to get back to that street the 'special' house was on. A friend is also a great person to bounce ideas off of, since your spouse will be considering his or her concepts, or, in my case, involved in a conversation with the realtor!

More Houses

In reviewing the MLS listings, we saw a 'fixer-upper' for a really low price that was described as a 'Doll House.' It was, although I think most doll houses are larger. There was off-street parking, for one car - small car - and the 'driveway' ended in a large rock on the side of the hill. Oh, and you wanted to get out of the car, too? Sorry, no room for that!

Inside, the living room was cute, the two bedrooms just fit the twin bed in each (I guess the hubby and I sleep separately?) and the kitchen was another 'step-saver.' The listing said there was a second floor, which there was, with steps that you had to lay down to climb up. Something out of an old war movie "We're taking the hill, Clancy, one at a time." My husband did climb up there, but he could not stand up. We heard there was another apartment downstairs, but I could not climb down the hillside to get there. Okay, if I were 30 years younger, wanted a place for my own, maybe..

Then there was the house overlooking the creek (Blue Creek House), very blue exterior, but what a view! The kitchen was smaller than the Doll House, with an eat-in dining area for very small people, but the rest of the house showed a lot of Craftsman details and wood finishes that made us consider it seriously, but... Next door to a biker bar, small bedrooms upstairs that did not seem to have any way to get furniture to (the stairs were narrow and had a landing half-way up), and the mechanicals (heat, water pump) were original from the 1930's. We seriously considered it, but someone else bought it while we pondered.

The Raised Ranch was built over the large garage, which acted as its foundation. At this point, we were not quite desperate yet, just getting tired of looking. Still, this place was in very good shape and had been on the market for quite a while, but was in a community. The older people who had this as their second home did some unusual wiring outside for lights on their driveway, etc. that consisted on indoor extension cords strung through the trees, over the front deck, under the leaves on the ground - can you say fire hazard? And I would like to say that if you have your house for sale, put away your medications and personal information - these poor people were on some pretty intense medications!

This house we seriously considered as well, but when we went back to see the house again - second look - the owners were there and the gentleman told my husband that he really did not want to sell, but his wife wanted to move closer to the grandchildren. Well, so much for negotiation, as he also said that he would make no concessions on anything, 'he could wait forever.'

Home Sellers and House Pets

The homeowners we encountered, which were few, were an interesting lot. Some were very forthcoming about information on the house, others appeared to resent anyone looking at their house. I guess they really did not want to sell. Then there was the house with a tenant, who insisted that there were only certain times to look at the house, since he worked odd hours. We understood that, but could some accommodation be made for when he was not home? No, so we saw the outside of the house and gave up.

A couple of houses had pets, which is nice, but some pets are not friendly. When the listing sheet says "Beware of Dogs," you take heed, especially when one of the 'puppies' almost knocks the door down trying to get to you. Kitties are cute - "is that cat supposed to go out?" - and we are eternally sorry to the pretty kitty whose tail was stepped on by my husband!