Monday, June 18, 2012

On house hunting (part two)


Ten months ago, when we started the house hunt, I made this list of ten things I wanted:

Detached cottage/bungalow
Off the street
Outdoor space (deck or patio with trees)
Hardwood floors
Washer/dryer (or hook-up)
Clawfoot tub
H studio/guest room
Writing corner for me
Parking
Storage

Somewhere along the line I crossed out clawfoot tub and wrote in VIEW.

That was when I realized we probably couldn't afford Echo Park, and I kept announcing, "If I'm going to leave this neighborhood, I have to have a view."




ha
ha
ha
ha





ha ha ha


Now all I want is a CUTE HOUSE.



Cute.

Is that too much to ask??

(compact beach chalet by studiomama via designboom via Pennyweight)

33 comments:

  1. Yes. You don't see the outside much. Make the inside cute yourself.

    aka grumpy woman who will never be able to buy a cute house in london.

    ReplyDelete
  2. He-Mouse won't live anywhere with carpet. Srsly. He'll be all "why would they carpet such a cute place?!" with a horrified look and everything. Now I agree.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm concerned that dishwasher is missing from your list. It's the stuff that could ruin a marriage.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My bf and I just moved in together. Our apartment in Brooklyn has a dishwasher. Yes, it is important.

      Delete
  4. I feel your pain, love. Hang in there. It took us two years to find our dream farm. We *almost* settled several times for places that would not have been right. The right place is worth the wait!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. wow. i've even given up on cute.

    ReplyDelete
  6. My wish list started out almost identical to yours...by the end it was pretty much:

    Detached cottage
    Parking
    Windows that aren't rotten
    Not too many birds actually nesting inside the house

    You'll find something and it'll be totally worth it in the end ! Three years later and we've finally finished renovating it to include (almost) everything on our wishlist

    ReplyDelete
  7. house hunting sucks butt.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Try the neighborhood of "Monterey Hills" and/or "Hermon", in NE Los Angeles, on the eastside of the 110 from Highland Park. There are some great (and cute) homes with spectacular views for sale right now!
    If you don't already have a Realtor, I had an amazing experience with Margaret Arana from Nourmand & Assoc. She specializes in Eastside homes. It was my first home purchase, and she delivered everything on my wish list! I found a 2 story house with a front yard with a mountain view and backyard with a city view, detached garage and patio, for a price that worked on a starving artist's income. ;) www.margaretarana.com

    ReplyDelete
  9. Above comment so helpful, v.good.

    I live in London and looked at 48 flats before finding one that was liveable. We bought that one.

    ReplyDelete
  10. My list reads:

    no structural damage
    no damp
    south facing garden

    It helps that all of the houses in the area we're looking at are virtually identical, just in varying states of disrepair.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Newish, functional roof
    No mold
    Several acres
    Hardwood floors

    ReplyDelete
  12. We looked at over 100 houses in Toronto before buying. Our list went from detached, garage, yard, 3 bedrooms in good west end neighborhood. To any sort of home anywhere in Toronto.
    We ended up in an old storefront, in a "transitional" neighborhood, with a mix of hipsters and crackheads and we couldn't be happier, but fuck that search was hell.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I knew posting this would make me feel better.

    ReplyDelete
  14. living in the south, we always imagined that when it time to buy, we'll get a spacious house with a huge lawn..In reality, moved to a big city and the preparing ourselves to love a small condo which is the only thing we can afford right now :) wouldn't even call it cute but it's home! so i guess we are going to enjoy living in it!

    ReplyDelete
  15. You and H will make it cute.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Yeah, we gave up on the whole list when it became clear that we were insane for thinking we could find anything, cute or not, in our price range.

    Prob silly to ask, but you are signed up to get the Redfin email alerts for your areas/price range of interest, right? I still look at them even though I know it's an exercise in masochism.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. dude.





      redfin is my crack.

      Delete
    2. have you tried the iphone app? you can be driving through a neighborhood and search "nearby homes for sale."

      Delete
    3. Oh my god. We'll never get anything done on the weekends again.

      Delete
    4. yep did you find the "nearby open houses" button?

      Delete
    5. we used redfin. we love redfin.

      Delete
  17. Yeah, you may have to down grade to "house." Floors and bathtubs can be replaced. That will up the cute factor. We're redoing an entire bathroom 2 years after buying a house, because a wall was secretly rotten. But when it's done, it'll be cute. (I hope).

    ReplyDelete
  18. It took almost 200 homes/a year to finally find a home up here. I finally have evenings and weekends free but lol the paperwork hasn't completely gone through and it's the 3rd house I'm putting a bid on so I'm crossing my fingers :S I hope you find something soon!

    And I agree, you will make it cute w/ H!

    ReplyDelete
  19. took us two years and an la neighborhood I would never set foot in (let alone actually throw a boat load of cash at) til we found our little abode. it's out there, just in a neighborhood to the left and south of where you're looking.

    ReplyDelete
  20. A cute outside is less enjoyable on a daily basis than a view.

    A clawfoot tub you can buy yourself, yo! No crossing off necessary. I love mine to pieces. Sitting in a bath reading a wet copy of the New Yorker and drinking bourbon is the most decadent thing in the universe.

    ReplyDelete
  21. we bought a house that had been occupied by a heavy smoker for 30 years, had carpet and about six inches of grime on all of the tiled floors. everything we touch turns to dust and we just had to replace all of the windows. also half of the electrical outlets don't work.

    it does have a 3x10 ft backyard though, and is at the end of a row of row houses, and the shower only leaked into the kitchen for a couple of weeks.

    best idea ever.

    wish lists will kill you.

    ReplyDelete
  22. my search criteria is for a piece of shit in a decent area... i've a husband, dad, and brother who're all contractors who'll build my castle from the ground up- and i STILL can't find anything. there are 5, count 'em, FIVE homes for sale within a 60 mile radius of where we'd like to live. each is a POS but not in the right way :/

    house hunting is the breaks.

    ReplyDelete
  23. You will find the cutest house, or it will find you!

    We are currently addicted to a property phone app for australia, checking out dream homes, and realistic ones. I love looking at houses.

    Some DIY always helps if your budget is not as grand I guess.

    GOOD LUCK!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Unless you've got over 500k to spend, finding a decent house in a bearable part of LA (not the valley) is tough. If you get really fed up, you might want to check out some lofts in Downtown. I live in the Arts District and it has a real neighborhood feel once you get to know it. There's some real steals out there right now because of foreclosures and this area is only going to go up in price because of gentrification. I've seen incredible changes since my H moved here in '05. Stay for five years and then use your equity to get a place with a yard.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Have you thought about Highland Park?

    ReplyDelete
  26. Have you thought about Highland Park?

    ReplyDelete