h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

So how about this 'small world' episode?

There's a family that my (extended) family has pretty much grown up with for generations, because they usually have children at the same time as ours that play together and they remain friends as adults.

When "their" G - currently the grandmother generation - was a little girl, the family still lived on a big farming estate. Her father was named Wilhelm S. One day, their dairymaid Ilse came and gave notice, because "I've met my own Willi S. (same surname) and we're going to get married."

G went and visited her a few times at her new home, a farm with a small dairy herd. So you can imagine her surprise when my mother invited her over to the same house after she'd bought it - we had no idea

Our door does have the initials "WS" carved into it, from when Willi renovated the place after he bought it, and the house was sold to my parents after the owner, Ilse S., died...

Welll...I use LinkedIn (Facebook for grownups). In my network I've found:

- A Norwegian colleague who used to be the neighbour of a Swedish colleague. Not such a small world...except they were neighbours in Lagos, Nigeria.

- A guy who works for the Norwegian shares childcare with a guy I used to work with.

- A Zimbabwean friend lives around the corner from the owner of a company I used to work for.

And I'm only 2 degrees of Kevin Bacon from POTUS...as is the company owner, via the same person.

OK, here's the listing info for the two houses we liked best. If we go back to look again, I'll take photos of the rooms that don't appear in the listing photos.

This is the last one, the one closer to where we live now, with the attic, the extra full bath, and the mostly finished basement:

http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/4036-W-Argyle-St-60630/home/13495540

And this is the first one, which is the one with the fireplace and the tiny kitchen. K and I actually like this one best overall, except for the small kitchen and that there is less space overall:

http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/5823-W-Eastwood-Ave-60630/home/13476235

The other thing is that the one with the attic, etc, is under contract but is a short sale, which means the seller is trying to sell for less than what he owns before the bank forecloses on him. The lien holder won't always approve the sale price, and the seller's agent feels the current contract is very sketchy. The thing with this is that we would not be likely to close in time to meet the deadline for the tax credit. Short sale approval can take several months. While waiting to find out, one might miss out on something else.

The home with the fireplace is an estate sale, which means the home is owned outright and the estate of the decedent typically just wants to sell the home and be rid of the responsibility of taxes and assessments on property that's vacant and unused.

And apparently that one has three bedrooms and not just two- somehow I missed seeing one, I guess. I wonder how I did that?

For the first one, am I reading it right that all bathrooms are in the basement? I'd seriously reconsider that, then, because having to go down there every time would be really annoying, especially in the night. (I had that when I was living in a shared flat, my bedroom was at the furthest point from the bathroom possible ) Though I much prefer the look of that one, it's less of a "box with decorative bits slapped on", really shows the architecture of its time rather than an imitation of a bygone era. Seems to have nice floors, too. And I love that oddly-shaped attic space. Seems to be right by the hospital, though. Having lived between a hospital and a fire station, I can tell you that the sirens get annoying sometimes.

Second one - really nice stairs, and I like the windows from the inside. Not so great facade-wise, because it's a fake "old" house (those vestigal shutters!) but that's just my opinion. It seems to be right across from a large parking lot. Handy if that's a supermarket, but it does mean a lot more traffic noise! The kitchen doesn't seem that tiny to me - at least not where counter space is concerned. Is there no room for a table?

I wish they included floor plans

Mala:

I've just posted various bita of Architecture Porn in my Journal. If you want floorplans...see the last link.

(2nd to last. Extraneous repetition).

No, the home listed first has an extra room is the basement that is currently being used as a spare bedroom. I'd probably not use it as such.

I'm not sure what constitutes a fake old house- that one was built in the mid 1940s. Didn't pay attention to the other one.

And keeping up with the multitudinois replies...

Neither home is too near either a hospital or fire station for me to handle- in fact, where I am now is closer to both a hospital and a fire station and sirens, like street traffic and the announcement thingies on buses, are filtered into my white noise so much that I sleep better than I do in utterly silent places.

Oh, Mala, I see what you mean... no, "bathrooms in basement" and notes like that are usually for additional rooms. That home has a full bath on the main level and a second in the basement.

Here's my biggest obstacle: one of my many "neuroses" () is a very serious Buyer's Remorse reaction. Any time I buy even the smallest, most trivial thing. Hell, even if I spend a bit more on groceries than I'd budgeted. I'm prone to hemming and hawing, taking days or weeks or even months to make up my mind to buy something, and then returning it right away afterward. That's making it a lot harder for me to make up my mind, and to psych myself up to actually making any offers.

Any suggestions how to overcome that long enough to buy a house while the prices are still down? They're expected to stay down a bit longer, maybe even dip a bit more, but all signs would indicate prices will climb again in a year or a few.

Georgian architecture is from the reign of the Georges, circa 1720 to 1840 - and it was already a neoclassical movement. So building a Georgian house 100 years after its time is faking it Even worse now, when they do that and make it out of plastic!

No advice from me, PC, I'm the same way Just think that every house you come across will have its advantages and disadvantages, there's no way to be sure, and the worst thing you can do is *not* buy before everyone recovers from the economic crisis and snatches them away from under your nose.

Off to go visit Ed's journal...

>>Georgian architecture is from the reign of the Georges, circa 1720 to 1840

In USAland, they call that period 'The Pleistocene'

After quickly have glanced the pictures at the real estate agent, I think I'll put my for the 2nd house. I liked it better, maybe it's just the colours of the first one that make me like it less.

I wasn't a huge fan of the pinkish kitchen walls (though painting is not out of the question) or all the yucky beige carpet (which would be replaced ASAP).

The only thing the second house needed was fridge, stove and new cabinet doors in the kitchen. I suppose I could live without a dishwasher for a while at least, and when I did get one it could be a mini one.

Thanks, everyone, for all the input!

Hang on, am I reading this right? Argyle St. has the master bedroom in the basement?
And does the kitchen go around the corner on the wall?

On Eastwood I'd have to start by gutting the kitchen. That's just me though - other than that it looks really lovely.

One of the things I like about houses in the UK and the US is that a lot of them are wood and therefore easy to update / change / hack to bits...

Most houses in Iceland are concrete and are a pain to change to suit you, as opposed to the previous owner.

Argyle St? Eastwood? Why's everything named after locations in Glasgow?

(Argyle St - Major shopping street. Eastwood - my parliamentary constituency).

>Hang on, am I reading this right? Argyle St. has the master bedroom in the basement?

No. Master and second bedroom on main level, third bedroom in basement.

What you see in the kitchen photos is the hallway leads in, with a fridge set into a cubbyhole thingy there, then the counter wraps around to the pantry (which is just floor to celing shelves from wall to wall), then the stove and more cabinets are opposite between the sunroom and the rear exit door.

I plan to replace the cabinet doors if we get the one on Eastwood. No point gutting it- gorgous vintage ceramic tiles on all four walls and the cabinets themselves are very sound and clean. It's just about $4K to replace the doors and hardware.

Neither of these houses are wood. I didn't want wood, as homeowner's insurance costs 3-4 times as much.

>Argyle St? Eastwood? Why's everything named after locations in Glasgow?

Coincidence, probably.