House #22

Good things must come in threes! Three great houses in three weeks! On the same trip as #21, we drove to another town to check out #22. What a beauty from the ONE picture shown on the listing. No photos at all of the inside, so this was the "mystery house." We wouldn't have bothered at all if we weren't already working with an agent who could show it. Built in 1920 (a bit younger than I was hoping for) and listed for $60,000, at 2,370 sq, it's substantially larger than the previous two houses. Larger could be an issue for moving, but might alleviate the need to add on. I was pretty taken with #21, so all the way on the drive between #21 and #22 I was obsessing about how to add on to #21 and telling myself not to get my hopes up about #22, having no clue about the shape of the inside, other than that it was described as "as is" and "full of character and possibilities."

When the realtor opened that front door, I think all three of us went (or thought) "oh my god!" Not only at the shape it was in, but at the possibilities waiting! It appears to be structurally sound, and the interior is actually in quite good condition (the exterior has quite a bit of peeling paint and perhaps a little rot), but the current owners started a renovation that has left it in a state of disarray, to say the least. But the character! And the possibilities! The ad was quite right in that regard. Two notes about the trim and doors - 1) the trim is not as ornate as #21 (which I love) and the doors are the horizontal panels which came a bit later than the four-panels which are my first choice, but they are all present and accounted for with the original hardware, and 2) the wood is stained, not painted. I've decided that 2) is both a pro and a con. It is a con because painted trim is an ABSOLUTE in my next house, and painting over all that virgin wood is going to be a bit painful, but it's a pro because all the other houses had multiple layers of (lead-based I'm sure) paint which would have to be stripped, and this will be a much easier paint job. I could go on and on about this house, but I don't want to give too much away, because I'm holding out on my kids, who read this blog. (That's also the reason I'm not showing any photos of the interior.)

BECAUSE, my friends, we have made an offer on House #22! It's contingent on the inspections, which is a biggie, because if it's found to have structural damage then that may be a deal-breaker, depending on the extent. I also want to try to have a mover come look at it to make sure it is indeed possible to move it out of its current location, which could be another deal-breaker. But keep your fingers and toes crossed! We're probably jumping in way over our heads, and straight into a money pit, but this beauty was a grand dame in her day, and she can be again!

Pros:

The price is right
Great bones
Oozes charm
Appears to be in sound condition
Large enough not to add on
30 minutes from home for weekend commutes

Cons:
The porch doesn't wrap (minor, but would be nice)
Size may cause a moving problem
Kitchen is small
Floorplan works for us, but might not work for resale (hopefully that's our heirs' problem)
Trim and doors not as ornate as others, and stained (pro and con)
A little younger than I was hoping for (minor)

Edited to add: Since we didn't get this house, I came back to add pictures of the interior.

House #21

So as I was despairing over House #18, up popped this listing for a fairly similar farmhouse, also listed for $50,000. It was listed as being built in 1954, which just couldn't be true, so we had to do some research. Mr. D.H. found some old tract maps that showed it in the present location in 1915 (same age as #18). We figured that 1954 may have been when it was added to the tax rolls. So with its age confirmed, we trotted off to see it. While it lacks the coveted wrap-around porch, it almost makes up for it in much nicer trimwork/doors, city utilities, and better overall condition. The floorplan and roof lines, however, are not as amenable to an addition, which it would have to have. The attic has been completely "remuddled" into an attempt at a "master suite" which would have to go. That's what the weird pop-out on the upper back elevation is. Nonetheless, it would be "liveable" in its current state, and is in a town that we wouldn't mind spending weekends in during the time before we moved it. The location is also less isolated and a bit safer from vandals than #18.

Pros:

Right price for moving
Great bones
Fantastic trimwork and doors
Plaster walls
Wood floors
City utilities
Liveable condition

Cons:
Not on acreage; a moving candidate
No wrap-around porch
Small and not well-suited to an addition
Muddled attic addition

House #18 Interior

Updates

OK, I need to bring this up to date. A lot has happened in the last couple of weeks! We toured #18 with an agent and I fell totally in love. While I was inside drooling over the details, Mr. D.H. was outside poking his fingers into the wood. He reported that every place he poked, it went straight through...not a good sign. In addition, there are no city utilities, and no way to know what kind of shape the well and septic tank are in without paying for an inspection. And one thing I DON'T like is the wall and ceiling treatments, which appear to be pieces of plywood nailed up with trim pieces covering the joints, so I said they would have to go (see middle photo above). So Mr. D.H. said if we removed the interior walls and the exterior walls are rotten, what exactly are we left with? A pretty nice metal roof , some trim, and a floorplan...hmmm...To add to the negatives, the house is pretty isolated, making it a vandal/arsonist target waiting to happen. And probably uninsurable at that...not sounding good, is it? I pondered at length how we could possibly make this place work, and we considered going ahead and paying for an inspection just to be sure what the problems are, but they do seem almost insurmountable.

SO, as these things seem to happen, just as I was on the verge of admitting defeat - along came two more very interesting listings to take my mind off #18.

Edited to add: As I read back over this more than a year later I can see how a reader might wonder why we were concerned about utilities, vandals, etc. if we were buying it to be moved. At the time, we had considered using it as a weekend place for a while and starting work on the inside before we had it moved. We didn't have any land at the time.

House #20

One more in the same town as #19, this would be a moving candidate, but it's REALLY far gone. The interior is in really bad shape and doesn't have much left to work with, and it's very small. I believe the date listed for this one is also mistaken (1961), as it appears to be early 20th century that was last renovated in the 60s or 70s. It's listed for $45,000.

Pros:
Appears to be the right age
Right style
Right price for moving

Cons:
Very few bones left
In very bad shape
Very small

House #19

On the same drive as #18, we took a little detour, mainly to view the little town this is in. The listing for this one says it was built in 1935, but it looks much older. It's cute, but very small, and has already had quite a bit of renovation. It's listed for $124,500, and is not in a location I would want to live, and not a good candidate for moving (because of the price and previous renovation), so not a serious contender.

Pros:
Cute little house
Seems to be right age and style

Cons:
Not on acreage
Small
Already renovated

House #18

OK, I have put off writing about House #18 because I have been (and still am) on an emotional roller-coaster all week. We went to look at this house last Sunday with the perspective (for the first time) of looking for a house that could be moved, and I fell in love with it. Built in 1915, it's just the style I love, and the wrap-around porch is to die for. The interior needs a lot of work, but still has some good bones (the trim work is not as fancy as some, but it's authentic "farmhouse"). And the best part - it's only $50,000! If we bought this and moved it, it would need to be added on to, and I even spent some time drawing up a proposed floorplan. I also called a house moving company to get a ballpark figure for moving it.

So what have been the ups and downs? Well, first we thought it was on a slab (unheard of for a house that age, but we thought perhaps it had been moved previously), and a slab would make it difficult and more costly (roughly twice the cost) to move. Then on closer inspection of the pictures we saw vents in the foundation and decided it was just a concrete retaining wall (relief). Since we don't yet have a real estate agent (since this is the first property we've been serious about), I emailed the listing agent and asked for a showing. I emailed Sunday and again to a different address on Monday, and also tried to call four times on Monday. I have yet to get a response. By Tuesday I decided to "cold contact" an agent in the area the house is located and ask for a showing. When I finally heard back Wednesday morning (yesterday), she said she would be happy to show us the property, but were we aware it would not finance and was "cash only." Crushing blow! I would be willing to take out a home equity loan to finance it, but Mr. Dream House is not on board with that idea. Mr. D.H. is also very leary of why it is not financeable. I suspect it has to do with the fact that it has no central heat/ac and is considered not liveable (although many older houses make do with window units and space heaters so I don't quite get that...). And I thought the whole point of this project was that we were going to MAKE it liveable...so I still want to see the interior and talk to the agent about what the situation is. We have an appointment for tomorrow at 4:00...Stay tuned!

Pros:
Right age
Right style
Good bones
Fair condition but needs lots of work
Wrap-around porch
Fantastic fence
Great price

Cons:
Would have to be moved
Small, would have to be added on to
Cash only
May have other problems

Update on House #15

Oh, before we go to House #18, I wanted to update you on House #15...the Kosse ranch heartbreaker...it is relisted with the house and 10 acres (sub-divided out of the 128) for only $135,000! I had to make my heart be still all over again! Trying hard to remember how ugly the view is and forget how beautiful the house is :)

Reflections

Time for some reflections on this process. I've been pretty down in the dumps about the whole thing the last few days. I'm more and more convinced that the "perfect" property doesn't exist, so I've been brainstorming ways to try to create it. Problem is, if we won the lottery that wouldn't be any problem...in real life, cash flow is an issue. There seem to be only a couple of ways to try to create my dream home - 1) find the perfect house one place and the perfect land another and have the house moved (sounds pricey), or 2) find the perfect land and find a tear-down house with some good architectural details and build a "new" house using old materials (sounds pricey).

These ideas did cause me to start looking at the bottom price range of the real estate listings. I found some amazing old houses for amazingly low prices, in bad parts of bad towns...but several were too large to consider moving and in too good of shape to consider tearing down. Then I stumbled across the listing for House #18...this one just might have some serious potential for moving.

Stay tuned...