Look what my partner is getting me for my belated birthday

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Hometechdoc

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 18, 2005
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Since he failed to get me a present for my birthday, he has surprised me with this. Actually, we are buying it together, if they accept our offer!!!!

We have been looking on and off for awhile. Of course one of us must sell out home too. This is the first house that we were both pretty crazy about and the price has slowly declined almost $100K. After 11 years, it is time to live together - we think!

http://tours.tourfactory.com/tours/...TF-8&rlz=1T4GWYE_enUS275US276&q=9253+shoshone
 
oooh that's nice. Don't bother to wrap it I'll e

CONGRATS! LOVELY!

Never under-estimate the power of

two televisions
two computers
two bathrooms
two landline telephones

and sometimes:

two separate bedrooms

to increase the longevity of marriages/relationships when shacked-up!

If you both have two different levels of housekeeping standards a house-boy / cleaning service is nice too!

Again best wishes and good luck!
 
Toggle

You hit the nail on the head there. The two master suites was a selling point for both of us. A houseboy is a great idea that has been discussed. There is a small apartment over a detached garage which is not pictured, a bit rough, but workable. The house is within walking distance to the University.

The downside of this house is that it is a bit "cutsie" for my taste,the kitchen is in too good of shape to justify gutting and putting in what I really want and there is a formal living room which I have absolutly no use for or have furniture.
 
yeah. Too picture-perfect makes me nervous as well.
Great to have a rental income or a place to stash the "servant(s)".

Lesson learned from my house:
Do what you have to (actually WANT to) do SLOWLY and when CASH allows.

Being near the university sounds great. There is movement, youth, vitality, energy and probably shopping and hang-outs/ restaurants. cafes etc, nearby at decent price levels.

That must be a fun transfer-stations as the seniors graduate and unload all kinds of dorm stuff. Maybe you could be/have/own the local thift-store! LOL

In an emergency one can be Mrs. Madrigal and rent-out rooms!

I'mm REALLY EXCITED AND HAPPY FOR YOU there is nothing like being a HOMO-WNER. :-)
 
Stunning. I love the big sycamores. You're not far from my buddy in Winnetka, yet a world apart, that's for sure!

Congratulations on your beautiful home!
 
No need to "gut" that kitchen.

Looks like a nice place.

That kitchen could be manned up a bit by removing the drapes and carpets (they don't match anyway, do they? ;-), and replacing/renewing the carved wooden cabinet doors with something more, well, plain. But if they are good, solid wood (oak?), not particle board, I'd just live with them. The light fixtures could be replaced with less fussy more modern ones for moderate cost.

Other than that the kitchen layout looks good and sensible with plenty of room to manuver. The countertops look fine as well - are they corian?
 
A Word About Sycamores....

....And that word is, DON'T.

They are the world's most poorly-behaved tree, bar none. Their little sycamore balls are beyond treacherous underfoot, and they "volunteer" seedlings all over Hell's half-acre. I have sycamores, and I spend more time than I can tell you dealing with both the balls and pulling and cutting down volunteers. They love to take root among my ornamentals, where they are hard to get to and harder to remove.

Buy the house, but get those things outta there. They will become the bane of your existence, trust me. I'm sorry to bring up something negative, because it's a great house and I know you want it, but you'll rue the day you ever let sycamores into your life.
 
new kitchen

there will not be any new kitchen any time soon. We will be lucky to have something other than pork and beans for awhile. Acutally a new countertop and cooktop will really help for under $10K.

The ovens are new GE Monogram, the refrigerator is pretty plain, but the dishwasher is a suberba 22 series, I think. The laundry are original Neptunes, but they don't stay, I don't think. I have Miele anyway.

My partner does have two brothers, but they are in El Salvador Both tall dark and handsome and half German!
 
Very nice property! Hope it works out for you. I hope you will post some pictures of what you do to update it and make it yours.

My brother and his wife bought a house in '89 that was built in the early 70's. They are coming up on 20 years there and they still have a lot of the original paint and wallpaper that was there from the previous or previous to the previous owner. I could never understand that, it's like living in someone else's house. We did gut the main floor of the tri-level a couple of years ago and combined the living, dining, entry and kitchen into one massive room, even moved a few of the exterior doors, made a very nice livable space.
 
New House

Allen,

Congratulations to you and your partner on this wonderful house. Hope you two will spend many long years together. I have been with my partner for 9 years and yes it does make a difference when you have 2 bedrooms (in case someone snores), 2 baths (a must!!). It will make living together a lot easier. You must post new pictures when you have it decorated to your taste. However, I do like the lace curtains.
Best wishes,
John
 
$769.00 is a good deal

for Northridge..

Northridge is in the San Fernando Valley and it is a very desirable area.
Given the square footage of the home and overall condition, this house could easily be worth over 1 million in a healthy real estate market.

Btw, Congratulations! lovely home and layout...Please tell me you are going to remove the wallpaper!! lol.
 
Hey Steve~

Here in the Winter Park area of Orlando, a house like Allen's would se1l for about the same amount of money. Median home prices here are about 500k and up, depending on square footage of course

In order to find a house like that in the 250k price range, you would have to drive far out away from Orlando to the more rural areas.

You are lucky Pensacola ia still so affordable given the fact it is such a lovely area.

Good to see you posting again!
 
Back to the drawing board

Well we were informed today that the seller has a full price offer $769,000. We offered $750,000 with seller paying closing costs. Both offers are contingent on selling property. I have no idea what situation they are in, but I am very familiar with ours.

I have a townhouse in studio city (a very desireable area of the valley). However, there are a flood of amaller, less expensive places in the market that are brand new! At one time, upscale remodels like mine, would have sold for $750,000 very quickly. In todayays market, our neighbor has not had any offers at $550,000 - on the market for over three months and two price reductions.

My partner has a fairly large house that at one time was very nice (builty by Lucille Balls brother in the early sixties. Hoever, he and his co-owner (another long story) have not kept it up at all and it will not show well without substantial work. His house is in North Hollywood, not a highly desirable area.

Anyway, we are going to go out looking again saturday. I figure I better strike while he (my partner) is still interested. Will keep you posted.

By the way, Juan has some interesting equipment in his kitchen. All of the appliances are original. A double Thermador oven (like the Bradies), an electric cooktop with a griddle in the middle (Thermador), a KitchenAid Superba, probably 15 or 16 series, and a nutone appliance center. They don't know where any of the parts are, but remember them being there when they purchaed the house. All of this with a large dorm refrigerator. They purchased used an 800 series kenmore laundry pair, and have recently replaced them with new kenmore models
 
Isn't Northridge also the epicenter of the porn industry?

That is a very comfortable looking home. I think that the "cutesy" will turn "comfortable" as you get order and wax nostalgic.

At least you don't have Arizona Ash trees to go along with the Sycamore trees. Those are also ill mannered trees as well.

You both must be doing extremely well in your careers to afford such a house. Especially with the way banks are being so stingy with their money lately.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that your offer is accepted!
 
Northridge and earthquakes

Norhridge was the epicenter of the 1994 quake. This house does not appear to have damage. I would place a bet that the reason the winders were replaced is earthquake related. Many of the houses which suffered throug the quake were left with windows that were hard or impossible to open. There is a chimney certificate certifying the flues. I had a home inspector scheduled for tomorrow. Often times there are foundation issues that are not easily spotted by average homeowners.
 
Allen

I know the laws vary state to state regarding home inspection. I took the course here in Georgia and got my certification in home inspection so I would know what to look for when buying a house. And it helped with maintenance issues.

Here in Georgia the certification is not required to be an inspector. It is an unregulated industry. You can just print up business cards and call yourself an inspector.

I would ask for proof of certification and a business license when I had to hire one. And I did not tell them I was certified. I wanted to compare their inspection with mine. Getting my certification saved me from buying a house my partner wanted really bad. I found several foundation problems the "Inspector" missed.

You seem to know the issues to look for so I hope it all goes well for you. GOOD LUCK on the inspection!!
 

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