I found what looked like a great deal up in Washington: two cabins on two quarter-acre lots. I made an offer, but the seller countered with the full asking price.
I dodged a bullet on that one!
I went up and saw the place on Thursday, planning to renew my offer; but what I saw discouraged me. I had planned to tear down the smaller cabin and put up a large garage/studio in its place. What I didn’t expect was for the other cabin to be so crappy. I knew going in that the two-bedroom house was barely bigger than my one-bedroom apartment. But those bedrooms are only about seven feet wide! Hell, my closet is as long as the bedrooms and not much narrower! The roof sagged, and so did the ceiling. Major roof joist repairs needed there!
I found another place, though. It’s a 2-BR/2-bath, 1,600 sq. ft. house with an attached two-car garage, and is on a smaller lot. It’s more expensive than the first place, but it’s in much better condition. Unfortunately it’s a repo, and the previous owners trashed the place. The carpets are heavily stained with what looks like used motor oil. The toilet in the master bedroom’s bathroom is missing, as is the sink. It looks as if they tried to take the doors with them, but there were doors in the other bedroom. The stove, refrigerator, and built-in dishwasher are gone. They may have tried to take the whirlpool tub in the other bathroom, but it was too big a job for them; so that’s still there. The solarium is unfinished. There is a door from the master bedroom that would lead to a deck… if there were a deck in back. They must not have gotten round to putting it in. There is a deck going from the front door and around the corner to the front of the house. The solarium is on the end-half of it. One third of the deck railing is missing. The previous owners had gotten permits to do some things but never finished; the permits have expired.
Still, it’s in a lot better condition than the first place. I made an offer, asking for the fixtures and the other missing things to be replaced. They’ll turn it down, of course. It really shouldn’t be that expensive to replace them (except for the carpet), so I’m prepared to go full-price if they resolve the permit issues.
My realtor says that the bank will probably make the house “financeable”, which means that the permit issues must be resolved and the house will pass an inspection. I hope. He says that otherwise the bank will have to find a cash-buyer, and that most people who would have that much money would tend to buy a bigger place or a place in better condition. Fingers crossed…
I mentioned in another thread that a friend of mine in the state moved away in January. My best fiend, who lives about 10 miles from the place I’m looking at sent me an e-mail today indicating that he might sell his house at the end of the summer and move to Hawaii. So I’ll have no close friends in Washington (although there are Dopers up there. Hi, Scotti!). I wish my friend wasn’t moving, but what the hell? I don’t get out much in L.A., and I like the cold, damp weather up there better than the omnipresent clear skies and frequently-hot weather in SoCal.
But if my close friends are not there, there is no hurry to move up. I’ve been wanting to move to the PNW since I was about 12. I can keep my job and make payments on a house and move up later. If I were to get the house I’m looking at (and there’s no guarantee that I will, since other people have bid on it before) and spend about ten kilobucks getting it into shape, and if for some reason I should decide not to move in after all, then I could sell it for up to 50% more than the asking price plus repairs.
So I’m still in Los Hideous. I don’t want to live here, but there seems to be no hurry getting north now except for my long-time desire to do so.
I saw a helicopter at the local airport up there. I wonder if the owner would rent it to me…?