The combination of hearing that my job would be stable (for at least the next year), my father prodding me to buy a home because of the low interest rates right now, and an e-mail from my real estate agent, got me back into the house hunting game. I've been looking at places for the past few months with the focus of buying a place that is relatively easy to maintain so that I could rent it out if necessary.
The places for sale were really limited this past Spring. I don't blame people for not wanting to sell their homes in this real estate climate. I saw a few townhomes that mainly didn't appeal to me because their bedrooms were too small for my primary requirement-- be large enough to hold a bed and a dresser. Almost all of the newer homes are obviously built for profit and not for the person/people who will live in them.
However, I did end up finding three different places that I liked enough to consider placing an offer on them. As a little game (a la the t.v. show House Hunters), I'll present you with my three most promising homes before I reveal which I ended up placing an offer on. All of the places essentially have 3 bedrooms and are in neighborhoods with a reasonable amount of street parking for guests.
1. This townhouse was built in 2005 in a charming bungalow style in a neighborhood close to where I lived as a graduate student and two blocks from where I currently live. This neighborhood contains a large park on Lake Washington, a biking/running path running through it, and is very safe and quiet. The townhouse is 1346 sq. ft., has 2 upstairs bedrooms and 1 downstairs bedroom, a 1 car garage, and was priced $100K below the maximum of my price range. It had a large open first floor with very nice appliances and finishes. Both the bedrooms on the second floor had ceiling fans and funky multi-angled vaulted ceilings and a small footprint. The master bedroom could fit a queen sized bed and dresser, but not much else. The second upstairs bedroom was big enough to fit a full sized bed and nightstand. Though there is no private yard, the complex has lots of grass between the buildings that are common space. The main downside of this place was the sizable monthly homeowners dues which are considered a negative towards resale value in Seattle.
2. This townhouse was built in a generic current-day style in 2009 within walking distance from #1, except it is a little further away from work. This place is across the street from Lake Washington and has an amazing direct view of the water. It is approximately 1800 sq. ft. It also has an open floor plan and is decked out with a high-end kitchen and high-tech features like a security camera at the front entrance. It has a whirlpool tub off the master bedroom, lots of closet space, and a 2 car garage. It costs $50K below the maximum of my price range. The downsides of this place are that it is currently being rented and will not be available for a few months, and it is on a busy (and noisy) street. Also, access to the driveway is tricky because it can only be accessed (essentially) from one direction so homeowners have to make u-turns on a busy road to get home.
3. This house was built in 1911 in a very popular Seattle neighborhood about 1 km away from Green Lake--an extremely popular running and biking area. It is within walking distance of Whole Foods, Starbucks, and other local restaurants and shops, and is closer to work than my current apartment. It is approximately 2500 sq. ft. with a patio and deck for the yard, and has been renovated so many times over the years that it has lost most of the original 1911 features except for the fireplace. The many renovations have updated the floorplan so that the main floor is more like a 1970's ranch house. It has new modern fixtures in the kitchen and bathroom and everything appears to be in good working condition. It also has a new roof and siding. It is essentially move-in ready. It has a driveway large enough for 2 cars but no garage (the original garage was converted to an entryway/basement/bedroom in one of the previous renovations). The main downsides of this place are that it doesn't have a garage, each of the bedrooms are on a separate floor of the house, and it is priced at the super absolute maximum of my price range.
Based on these descriptions, can you guess which home I placed an offer on and am now in the process of closing on?
I saw many more places than those described above, and liked the three places described above, but ended up putting an offer on the Green Lake House. Honestly, I liked #2 the best but had many issues with the sellers' real estate agent. He ended up being a swarmy agent who lies to and screws clients if it serves his best interests.
On the other hand, the Green Lake House is (in real estate terms) a great value. In 2007, it sold for $150K more than I will be paying for it. The current owners wanted to sell quickly to finance the building of their next house which will be next door from this house. The story is, the owners bought this place for the land. It was one of those old houses that came with a very large yard. They split the property in half and sold off the house with half the land to me, and are building a McMansion on the remaining land. Yup, I'm going to be partially responsible for financing a modern McMansion in a historically older neighborhood.
To compensate for some of this bad architectural/cultural karma, I would like to restore some of the period detail. But first things first, I need to close on this house before I can call it mine.
