No Dice

Well I put in an offer and the sellers countered and we were just too far apart. I put in a counter-counter and they walked away so back to searching. No big deal, I know something will pop up. I was nervous as hell before I put in the offer. Almost sick to my stomach. It was good to experience that though and now I kind of now how putting an offer works and will hopefully be a little more comfortable for the next time. Back to the search...

Putting in an offer!

So I met with my realtor today and we chatted a bit. Looks like I'm putting in an offer tomorrow. Stay tuned!...

This one looks promising

So my realtor called me last week while I was in Savannah and told me she knew of 2 houses that were right up my alley and hadn't hit the market yet. So we agreed to look at them today. The first one was beautiful. It had very cool 3 panel floor to ceiling windows on the front, sliding glass door leading the kitchen to the patio in the back yard. It's in an established neighborhood (forest heights) but it was out of my price range and was already renovated so we went over to see the other one on the east side. It's an up and coming area and the house is in the middle of renovation. I have to be honest I smiled from the minute I first saw it til we got back into the car. A 2 car carport, 3 bedroom with an enormous addition and 2 full baths. Nice flat lot with a privacy fence. It's basically everything I'm looking for. Built in 1968 which is almost too young (I know, I'm crazy!) There's enough cosmetic work to be done to keep me busy and allow me to put my own stamp on the house without being overwhelming. They installed a new metal roof and central air. Newer appliances in the kitchen and even a dishwasher! There is a rub, but possibly with a silver lining. The owners need to sell so they can move within 3 weeks. So I kind of need to act fast. I don't want them to do anymore reno work, but I can't very well ask them to stop unless I put in an offer. So I'll be going over tomorrow at lunch to take some more photos (sorry for this crappy one!) and making my final decision tomorrow about putting in an offer. My thinking is that I can put in a low offer with the agreement that they don't need to do anymore work which would be attractive to both of us. We'll see...

Still looking...

So yeah, i'm still looking. this awesome, modest 70's one popped up, but no carport! it's a 2 bedroom so it's probably just a bit too small for me and the pack anyways. still cool, though. The longer it takes, the more money I'll have saved up which is good. Still, "the way-yay-ting is the hardest part"

"Dream" by the Everly Brothers

It's going a little slower than I thought it would. I thought since this is supposedly a buyer's market that I would find a few that I liked fairly quickly. I have seen a few that I sort of liked, but they tend to have a fairly big negative: One house that I really liked, didn't have a carport and it had some mold issues along with some other cryptic things on the disclosure. Another house had no HVAC or duct work (no AC in Georgia, seriously?) In general it seems there's not too much for sale down here. My brother told me there are for sale signs all over Nashville. My only assumption is that since Athens is a small town, there's simply not a lot of properties compared to a bigger city, hence not a lot for sale. Also my realtor explained to me that summer is generally slow in any market and so sellers may have taken their houses off the market until the fall, when college kids are moving back and things in general pick up around here. I scour realtor.com and trulia.com and countless other real estate sites (with the same damn expired listings) at least 3 or 4 times through the day in hopes of finding a fresh listing. I've burned 2 tanks of gas in a weekend driving through all kinds of neighborhoods rubberneckin' looking for those ugly yard signs. I've only been looking since May, but anybody that knows me, knows I'm an impatient SOB. I use to throw major temper tantrums when I was kid when I wanted something. Turning all beet red, stamping my feet. I don't plan on doing this and it really doesn't accomplish anything anymore (except passing out from hyperventilation and sore feet) So in the meantime, while I wait with white knuckles for the next house for sell to pop up, I've been looking through my current issue of Atomic Ranch. I've been picking up this magazine for about 2 years now. It is the ultimate source for inspiration. Even the ads in the magazine get me pumped. Who knew that a full page ad for Crestview Doors could get me so excited! I've also been sketching out and writing stuff down that I'll want to do and get for the house. Sort of a little backwards, but it's a lot of fun and keeps me from getting down or frustrated.

Slow Summer

I went over to the Whitehead area today. I really dig this area of Athens. It's not too far out, yet not overcrowded with SUV driving college students. Word on the street is that there's a lot of young professionals moving over to this area and cleaning up/remodeling these homes. I hope I'm not too late!
There's quite a few 50's and 60's brick ranches over there. I took a look at one on Lillian Drive. Seller is asking $109,900 which is at the top of my budget. Well of course that's the asking price, so I would be buying at a lower price than that. Anyways, the house itself is okay. There's a perfect carport to house my '53 Buick. The lot, was really not to my liking. Neighbors were a little too close. The lot slopes in the back and levels out which allows a nice unfinished basement in the back. However there's no access to the basement from the inside of the house. Poor Leeloo (my 7 year old Great Dane) probably wouldn't want to have to go up and down stairs EVERYTIME nature calls. This also means that access to the top of the house in the back is about 2 stories high. I'm slightly (okay extremely) acrophobic (fear of heights) so this limits my handyman-ness for maintaining the house myself: gutter cleaning, painting the siding at the top, roof work, soffit/facia replacement, etc.I envision a nice fairly flat lot in the back that I can fence in. The house was built in 1960 which is okay, but I'm really wanting something from the 50's. So the hunt continues...

On the hunt!

It's time. I'm ready. I've been fantasizing about it for 5 years.

It's now on the horizon. I'm in the market for a 50's (or 60's) ranch style home.

The horizontal lines. The seafoam green kitchen with sliding glass door allowing access to the slate patio in the back with a charcoal barbecue and tiki bar. The black and white tile and pedestal sink in the bathroom. Pulling up into the carport with the slanted roof in my 1953 Buick (from my solo art reception of course!) It's right there in front of me. However I'm getting a little ahead of myself. You see, I'm smack dab in the middle of searching for my dream home. That's right, I want to take you through the entire process.

Down here in Athens, it's seems ranch style homes are fairly rare. I guess not too many people were coming back from the war to reside in lil' 'ol Athens to attend UGA. Here, the pre-war craftsman, kits and cottages are what is popular. Then it seems in the 70's they got duplex fever and popped them up everywhere. In the 80's and 90's it was the condos. Now it's the brand new "choose between 4 pastel colors and 4 styles" cookie cutters. And that's all fine and dandy. I'm not dogging those. That's why they make chocolate and vanilla as my Dad would say. I just prefer a ranch and finding a ranch down here (or in the South in general) seems to be a little tougher than I thought it would be. I'm not looking for an Eichler style, but I would like something fairly unique with good clean horizontal lines. Specifically a 3 bedroom 1.5 bath brick with carport on .5 - 1 acre. However, I remain optimistic, because they are here and available. The house will find me... soon...