Well, Crap!

So, I think I've finally had my first real setback in house-hunting. At the time of my last report, the Bunker Hill House had been sold, which was a bummer, but not hugely upsetting. Well, 45 minutes later, Suzy called to tell me that the Van Buren House had also gone under contract. Apparently, someone who hasn't heard about the lousy housing market and the current recession swooped in and offered the owner his exact asking price. So, while the owner had agreed to discuss my low-ball offer, he obviously backed out on me. So, there you have it. In the span of one hour I lost the two best house prospects I had going.

The really, really sad part is that there's NOTHING else in my price range on the market right now. Suzy says she really thinks things will start popping up soon (May, apparently, is prime home-listing time) and not to lose hope. I haven't lost hope at all (I have been at this for a comparatively short time, afterall), but it was fun to have houses to fantasize about - you know, furniture arrangement and paint color selection, all that fun stuff.

Sigh....

Update on the Update

The Bunker Hill house (the completely renovated one that was cute but lacked much charm and had some odd electrical issues) sold last week. Well, I guess I can take that one of the list! I'm not as bummed about it as I thought I would be, so I guess I didn't really want that house afterall.

The Update...

Miss Bess requested that I get on the ball and post something with regards to the Van Buren house, so here you go:

Well, the saga of the Van Buren house continues. Suzy managed to get the property assessment documents so that she could find the legal property lines. As it turns out almost half of the gravel parking lot in front of the house actually belongs to the house property. So, I could conceivably get a permit from the city to put in my own driveway, and then grass-in the rest of "my" gravel to make it part of the yard. So, practically speaking, that solves one of the biggest problems with the house! I would probably still need to put up some sort of privacy fence, too, because Suzy was also able to confirm that there are indeed 5 apartments next door to the house, and they are all currently occupied by college students. Ever since I hit 30, I've come to have an aversion to finding passed-out drunk kids face down in my flower boxes on Saturday morning, so the neighbors at the Van Buren house are still a bit of an issue. The other new issue is that the owner of the house says he would be willing to accept my offer of somewhat under his asking price, but only without including the $12,000 of fix-up money he was originally offering to the buyer. I understand that, but its still kind of a bummer - especially since the house does need work, and that $12,000 would have been a HUGE help - I don't know how much a driveway costs, but I'm guessing its more than $50. On the bright side, my local historic preservation/renovation expert and good friend Phil has offered to help me build a fence, if I need it - I just have to pay for materials and beer.

So, basically, the update is that I'm still thinking about it! I still really like the house, but I'm not sure its "the one". Suzy says its not going anywhere anytime soon, so I have some more time to consider it.

The Van Buren House

So, nearly 2 weeks after her disappearance, realtor Suzy resurfaced on Monday with a phone call to let me know that after her vacation she had come down with bronchitis. Okay, okay, so she was sick. I apologize for questioning her work ethic. Anyway, she offered to show me the little house on Van Buren (as in Martin) Street last evening after work. The house (which is the last one pictured below) is a 1949 bungalow that has had some renovations done, but not many. Happily, I think this might be a real possibility!!!

The Pros:
It still has plenty of fixing-up that needs to be done, so I don't feel like its been stripped of its soul the way some other properties have. The bathroom still has its original tile work - yay!

Although it needs work, it doesn't need major huge things like a new roof or wiring - mostly its cosmetic stuff (it currently has some NASTY carpet in every single room, including the kitchen - that would be the first item on my to-do list!).

It has a great fenced-in yard that currently features a rusty corrugated metal shed that I could probably knock down with a good shove, and some really old grape vines that are still producing!

The owner/realtor had intended to flip this house, but has since decided that its not worth his effort, so he's offering $12,000 to the buyer for improvements - woohoo!!

The Cons:
The house is set back from the street quite a ways, and that space in between is a gravel parking lot. Not very attractive, and a little confusing.

The reason there is a gravel parking lot in front of the house is because the property next door is a not-very-big house with 5 - count'em 5! - apartments in it. At the moment, they're all college student renters. Yay.

The view from the front of the house is of the back side of a service station. Also not attractive.

No air conditioning. No dishwasher. No washer/dryer. And no place or hook-up for a washer/dryer. Ancient refigerator (and not in a cute, vintage way, but rather in a electricity-guzzling 1980's way) and stove.

So, that's the latest news fromt he house-hunt! I have some thinking to do about this place...

Results of Hookie

TA-DA!!!

Have to have some snapdragons...

Hens and Chicks from last year actually - they grew a few more over the winter!

And this is what I did in the afternoon, after I warmed up with that small stuff above...

Pictured above: the fabulous, glorious results of all my hard work yesterday! I'm still planning to fill in the big pot with zinnias, but I'll pick those up at a plant sale that I'm going to with G and Cathy (in celebration of Cathy's 30th - yay!) next weekend. I'm sure once all of this stuff starts to grow it'll fill in a bit. Looks a bit sparse at the moment, but I have hope! When I downloaded my gardening photos, I also found a few pics from a trip to Dumbarton Oaks last weekend, where the gardens are, well, a little bigger than mine. The last picture is of the orangerie there (what the rest of us would call a greenhouse). I put it in just for the comedic value of it next to my own pots o'flowers!

Playin' Hookie (or Hookey?)

Hmmm....Apparently I don't play hookie often enough, because I can't quite remember how to spell it. Nevertheless, I am playing it today! Many thanks to G and Laura for talking me into it last night! I decided this morning that since no one else was going to be in the office today, and since I have to work at a museum event this Sunday, I could safely not go in. However, I suck at playing hookie, because I did end up going in briefly this morning to feed and water our office bird, Peep, and to leave a note for my interns (who probably won't show up anyway). Then, I listened to voicemails and sent a few emails. Yeah, I suck.

But, then I left the office and went to Home Depot to buy plants for my container garden - they had Gerbera daisies on sale! Home Depot's garden department is infinitely better than Lowe's, in my opinion, and I generally enjoyed plant shopping with all the senior citizens who got to Home Depot at 9:30am on a Friday. Now, I'm going to tackle actually planting my new daisies. Hookie has officially started!

In other news, my realtor Suzy apparently went to Cancun on a week long vacation without telling me, and that's why she was MIA last weekend. Wish I could go to Cancun. Guess the real estate business isn't suffering as much as we all thought it was...

Hmmmm...

Well, no real news on the house-hunting front. I was supposed to see one house over the weekend (pictured above), but Suzy was MIA, so it didn't happen. Its another 1940's bungalow, that was somewhat renovated about 6 years ago, and from the interior pictures, it looks like it still needs plenty of work, so this could be a good one. It has two bedrooms and a converted attic, and one bathroom. We'll see - as usual, trying not to get my hopes up!

My parents were visiting over Easter weekend, and I took them on a driving tour of all the houses I've looked at so far. Their reactions alternated between appalled and enamored. My dad totally wants to buy the serious renovation house and make it his retirement project. However, he stands by his opinion that it would not be a good first-time house for me, though.

Otherwise, life is a little blah right now. Would real springtime hurry up and get here already?!?!