Grandson is selling his place in NC and moving back to Maine.

Dear Old Gramps is his "Agent-in-place" to go put the Mark I eyeball on anything that looks good on Realtor.com.

I've been to three so far. First one was...meh. Pictures were reasonably accurate but obviously (and understandably) taken from the best angle.

Second one was downright horrific. We went into it knowing it needed major repairs to the basement and the price reflected that. Got there, and the basement was, if possible, worse than the pictures. All cement block which is a HORRIBLE choice for foundations in frost country. Laid by an idiot or an amateur (or an idiotic amateur) and falling apart. Slab all stove to hell, broken into chunks, heaved in a dozen different directions.

Wiring hanging from the joists. Dead furnace replaced by one propane direct vent heater upstairs. Plumbing cut off and hanging. Wet insulation hanging from their half-assed attempt to "finish" the basement.

The house itself is rimracked and sliding off what's left of the foundation. Walls separating, ceiling sagging, sway-backed roof, ocean-motion in the floors.

No self-respecting meth-head would set up a lab in that dump.

But hey, the pictures on Realtor.com looked great!

Assholes.

Agents are just as bad. We looked at one, 1920's brick bungalow. Agent said the foundation needed "some" work. Some work was the block wall was bowing in about a foot on one side of basement. Knob and tube wiring, friable asbestos on the pipes. All minor in the agent's eyes.

Upstairs we kind of wondered why it had a refrigerator on the front porch. Well, because a deck was added off the kitchen. When the added the doorwall there was no room for the refrigerator left, so......but they did "remodel" the kitchen. Apparently in the 1970's.

Beautiful woodwork, original bathroom was actually decent, nice hardwood floors. One bedroom floor was stained and there was the unmistakable odor of urine in there.

We are in the early stages of house hunting. We told our realtor the pictures are deceiving to be nice. Looked at a couple homes a few weeks ago. One was dumpy and the upstairs looked like a DIY addition that wasn't done very well.

That experience has us thinking about a new build...

I'm also house hunting. I've noticed that they use wide angle lenses which tend to make the property look way larger than it really is. A bit deceiving.

I use Google street view now to get a true feel for the lot and curb appeal. It has saved me a few trips to properties I wouldn't consider. Street view is also a good way to precheck the neighbors and neighborhood and see if they are a mess.

Up until last week I was house hunting. Boy, what an experience. Overpriced dumps built in the 1960's with no updates. Then....I had considered buying into a new 4 bedroom house in a small community, directly across the street from three dwellings that looked like props from the movie "Tobacco Road".

Ugh. Back to renting for now.

quote:

rimracked

?

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:

quote:

rimracked

?

Aslant. Out of plumb. Cockeyed. Tilted.

Parallelograms where there should be squares.

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:

quote:

rimracked

?

Aslant. Out of plumb. Cockeyed. Tilted.

Parallelograms where there should be squares.

Could be worse. Could be trapezoids.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
Could be worse. Could be trapezoids.

Probably were some if I'd looked closer. I was getting nauseous from the disorientation.

???

The job of realtors and their agents (photographers) is to put the best light on a property. The idea is to generate interest and a hope to sell.

Sure, most photos are taken to put a property in its best light. That's the purpose of them. No photo is going to replace an actual eyes-on inspection of the place.

I bought my current home about two years ago. I visited scads of properties before finding this one. The photos made me want to visit them, but once there, many of them were crossed off my list for one reason or another. That's the way the process works.

I don't understand this rant.

quote:

Originally posted by fpuhan:
???
I don't understand this rant.

1. You'll note that I stated in the OP that I understand taking photos from the most advantageous angle.

2. I drove an hour and a half and froze my ass off to spend 15 minutes looking at a grossly mis-represented property.

3. Yes, I know that's how it works, that's why I'm doing on-site inspections of every possibility. Doesn't mean I have to like it when I get intentionally misled.

quote:

Originally posted by fpuhan:
???

The job of realtors and their agents (photographers) is to put the best light on a property. The idea is to generate interest and a hope to sell.

Sure, most photos are taken to put a property in its best light. That's the purpose of them. No photo is going to replace an actual eyes-on inspection of the place.

I bought my current home about two years ago. I visited scads of properties before finding this one. The photos made me want to visit them, but once there, many of them were crossed off my list for one reason or another. That's the way the process works.

I don't understand this rant.

He wants to see ugly pictures of ugly properties. Naughty, naughty

quote:

Originally posted by cne32507:

He wants to see ugly pictures of ugly properties. Naughty, naughty

Close. I want to see reality, not the seller's/agent's beer-goggles version.

Lost cause, I know...

My neighbor's house was for sale a couple of years ago. The realtor used awful pictures for the outside. It's a beautiful piece of property, they photographed it on a gray, Winter's day, never went back to photograph it in Spring.

The home sold, I think the new owners were happy that the original pictures kept buyers away. They're realtors!

I sold real estate for 21 years. A big problem that I could not fix, was what the buyer could afford. I took a nice young couple to see a house they could afford and they brought her mother along. Mamma chewed my ass for even thinking that her little girl would live in this crappy neighborhood in this crappy house. I explained that this was what her little girl could afford, and if she wanted better for her daughter then she needed to kick in some money. Mamma shut up in a hurry. I don't know if this applies to your grandson, PHPaul but if it does... well you know how to fix it. I hope everything works out well for your family.
Rod

Grandson, amazingly, has a pretty good grasp of how money works. He has saved enough to put 20% down on up to $150K and have a little money left for the inevitable improvements.

He understands that his target price ($125-130K) is going to put him into houses that need work and is ready for that.

The house that spurred the OP was priced at $72K so we knew going in that it was going to be a fixer-upper, but we were both a little shocked at just how MUCH of a fixer-upper.

Currently, he's looking hard at a c. 1850's Cape listing at $135K but it has (and I went and looked at it and can verify) new windows, siding, shingles, electrical, furnace, HWH and septic all within the last 4-5 years, so the hard/expensive stuff is done.

Price reflects location (about 15 miles South of the middle of nowhere) and needing an complete cosmetic update inside. Previous owner thought he was a finish carpenter. He was only partly right: When he was done, he was finished.

Needs ceiling and floor trim, pretty much all new kitchen cabinets and some areas insulated and drywall put up. All things he and I can do a little here and a little there. Nice sized lot, good zoning, decent schools. Realtor says owners (who moved back to Denver, CO) are "motivated" so he's mulling over an offer.

Good for him! I was always shocked at how many first time buyers wanted to start out in a house better than the one mom and dad had. When that happened, a little education was in order.
Rod

That sucks man. I've been in sales a long time and am thoroughly convinced that damn near every used product, whether a house or a gun, is misrepresented somehow at the time of sale.

I love home shopping tho. I have done it three times now. Current home is a 110 year old nightmare that scared off all buyers due to the lack of a trendy "open floorplan" and the need for every single room to be remodeled. What prior shoppers didn't appreciate I fell in love with.

12"x18"x 120" solid douglas fir beams.

At least 2 inches of concrete in all bathroom floors.

True to dimension lumber

Poured in form concrete foundation that is at least a foot thick.

Pocket doors, solid mahogany banisters and balusters...

Two of my freinds that had new homes built have had major issues. Unless it was a super high-end home from a top builder, I don't think I'd ever buy a "modern" home.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:

quote:

rimracked

?

Aslant. Out of plumb. Cockeyed. Tilted.

Parallelograms where there should be squares.

Could be worse. Could be trapezoids.

Could be worse if you look at urban dictionary.

quote:

Originally posted by sig sailor:
Good for him! I was always shocked at how many first time buyers wanted to start out in a house better than the one mom and dad had. When that happened, a little education was in order.
Rod

You can lay the blame squarely at HGTV's feet for that one.

We love watching some young first-time home-buyer couple list all their "must haves" on one of these shows and then act shocked that it's going to cost them way more than they realized.