Househunting and other slow-moving things

So we’ve been here, dog-sitting the poor, pathetic, sad, blind dog, since Wednesday. We’ve toured about 10 houses and made an offer yesterday on a fixer-upper in a great part of town, and still waiting to hear back on that. Turns out that our price range … well. When you sit down and chart it out, trying to buy a house on just one schoolteacher’s salary is like trying to frost a cake with your feet. You’ll get something eventually, but it probably won’t be pretty.

And my god. Have these people not heard of staging? Or, I don’t know, Lysol? Soap and water? Storage? One house was especially foul and stinky and dirty, though you could see how someone with money could come in, gut it, and make it fabulous. We are not that person. Other houses are brimming to overflowing with lace and ceramic cats and Nascar memorabilia. I haven’t got the slightest problem with any of those things — if you’ve seen my collection of wicker baskets, you know I understand — but in this day and age I really expect people to clean it up a bit, you know? Ah, well. Perhaps I’ve watched too much HGTV.

So, as I’ve said, we put an offer in on a fixer-upper that’s within our budget. The drop-dead gorgeous Victorian with brand-new kitchen, four bedrooms, and two full baths turned out to be about 30K above what we could comfortably afford and still have money for mac’n’cheese. Sucks. I mean it really, really sucks. I planned the rest of my life in that house the moment I walked through the front door. Oh, well. If we get the fixer-upper and fix it up, it’ll be all right. And if we don’t get it, that’ll be all right, too, because to really make it work would require us building an addition down the road.

Aren’t y’all thrilled? Isn’t this fascinating? I know it’d be way more fascinating if I could give you MLS numbers and whatnot, but I’m not gonna. Sorry. There are wackos in the world and you might be one of them.

So, in sum: I hope to hear from our lady realtor tonight or tomorrow, and then we’ll know if we should settle in for the long haul and wait for more houses to come on the market, or start researching kitchen remodels at Lowe’s. Only time will tell.

In the meantime, most of my updating is happening at Twitter, usually at least one a day. The dial-up situation here is killing me, in addition to making me feel like a.) a spoiled brat who can’t deal and b.) a junkie with a wicked case of withdrawal. Typical.

July 26, 2008 | Filed Under daily grind, house

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Comments

8 Responses to “Househunting and other slow-moving things”

Christina on July 26th, 2008 8:11 pm

I’ve always wanted a Victorian!! I’ll chip in for the mortgage if you let me move in the basement…I’ll be crazy Auntie Neena in the basement. Plus, I could use the vacation from my weirdos.

One more thing…I’m typing this comment on my new Macbook. I think I’ve been converted to the dark side…
christinabutnothechristinaabove... on July 26th, 2008 10:04 pm

i feel like susan wang should be writing this blog. aaaaaaaaaaaand i think i watch too much hgtv as well..
matt on July 27th, 2008 5:30 pm

i’m in for a c-note if you can get 300 of your other readers to do it too. i saw the pics—that’s the one.
Natalie on July 30th, 2008 6:38 pm

So Just offer the Victorian 30K less and see if they’ll give it to you! Buyer’s Market chica!

(OR, plant some mice in the house by smuggling them in your purse. How much do you want the house?)
gwendomama on July 30th, 2008 9:10 pm

i refuse to join the tweeters. but next time we come all the way from CA to PITTSBURGH because that’s what we do, you and i are goin out for some yuenglings. or something better.
supa on August 2nd, 2008 10:01 pm

@christina i would love to have crazy aunt neena in the basement! although you would really not want to live in the basement of the one we’re buying.

p.s. we’re buying the fixerupper.

@otherchristina no such thing as too much hgtv!

@matt i like the way you think.

@natalie i really like the way you think (the mice? omg.)

@gwendomama oh it’s on. it’s so on. i would love to see you again.
matt on August 3rd, 2008 12:45 pm

now that i’ve seen the fixerupper, i think it’s the right one. why buy other people’s handiwork when you can do your own? i’m still in for the hundred, but you could just spend it on booze and plywood
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