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

That apartment looked a lot like my old place, but nicer. I'm done with living in flats though: I lived in my old place for nearly 3 years and not once did it feel like home.

I *really* liked the most recent house: absolutely gorgeous.

The thought has occurred to me that it might be useful for you lot to be able to compare what we have now to what we're looking at and looking for. Of everyone who's posted here, the only one who's ever seen my place (because she's been here) is Mala. The place is a bit messy right now, thanks to cats, but once we tidy up a bit, I think I may take some photos this weekend and upload them so you can see what stuff we'd be putting in any given space.

If we don't find a house before the lease is up here, we'll look for a similar rental till we do. But that's not till April 2012. Today's offerings were not so good but I am sure I will find something else new to share soon.

I think the last place is gorgeous, too, even for a wood frame house.

If properly done, wood-frame houses can have as good a microclimate as brick ones. They're easier to insulate - for heat, if not for noise - but some builders will skimp on the insulation, of course. They do need some kind of mass for storing heat, though. Stone floors, for example, or an interior brick/stone wall behind south-facing windows.

Since you're looking at old houses, the environmental factor doesn't matter so much, but keep in mind the energy required to fire bricks and transport them vs. wood if you're thinking of making any changes to your house.

Bamboo is a fascinating building material, too. I don't think many people realise how useful it could be. I certainly didn't, until I started looking into it.

Again, if air miles are an issue, it wouldn't be worth importing it. I'm a little bit in awe of its versatility, though.

The biggest factor in preferring brick to wood- aside from pure aesthetics- is the HUGE difference in homeowner's insurance premiums.

For that above post (how do I make an "up" arrow?) obviously I meant for US, not for everyone.

Re: bamboo, it's very attractive because it's very sustainable. If I ever had to put new flooring down, I'd definitely go with bamboo as opposed to hardwood (though I would refinish any existing hardwood if possible before replacing with anything). I have to look and see if anyone does bamboo countertops- though if I could have what I really wanted on my kitchen countertops, I'd do terra cotta tiles.

( browses, skims, reads, , ... )

Most of the listings for the last few days weren't worth posting- too many condos that are too small to even think about, and houses that need a bit too much of what listing agents like to call "TLC" (some of them need something more along the lines of TNT, but whatever). Maybe I'll have something new today or tomorrow...

Well, this is kind of nice (found it on my own and not through my daily notifications):

http://www.trulia.com/property/3005311720-3512-W-Potomac-Ave-Chicago-IL-60651

I need to research the immediate area a little bit more. And short sales can be a pain... but what a cute house.

Hmm, I don't like that one: too dark and cluttered and too many different colour schemes. I'd expect better taste from gay folk.

The first picture, of the outside, was nice, but then everything looks good with snow and clear blue skies.

Well, color schemes aren't *that* big of a deal, depending. I like the black and white bathroom- right in line with what I want anyway- and most of the color is paint, which can easily be painted over. More likely than not we'd have to repaint anyplace we bought... I liked the kitchen and the living room for sure.

Cluttered- wait till you see photos of our current place, then.

That kitchen might look nicer in a lighter shade of blue, or perhaps light green. The living room- well, I don't like curtains but bamboo blinds would look nice in there with all that brick. And I still dig the b&w bathroom once I got rid of the blue and put in my orange.

Here's a nice house with a great floor plan, but ugly decorating:

http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/1926-N-Central-Park-Ave-60647/home/13288014

At least one bathroom needs to be completely redone, and what's up with that stupid trend of painting one wall a different color than the rest? They have that at my office, too. It's hideous.

I prefer the second one - it seemed bigger. It's a bit hard to tell and neither listing tells the square footage, which doesn't help. Admittedly, the first one could probably do with being de-cluttered to better compare to the other one..

Why is the first one more expensive? Is it the short sale thing? Or is it about the location?

I think the coloured wall is a trend because it's easy to change and if you notice, all the other walls in each room were white white. Not cream, not magnolia, white! So in this instance it doesn't bother me so much, but it can look hideous.

I agree the curtains in that first one are horrible, but it does have potential!

Sometimes, it's a cost thing, or just to keep the room from becoming too dark. When I was a child, my bedroom had yellow walls - deep marigold for the walls opposite the windows, and a paler shade (the same paint with more white added) on the window walls.

And a white ceiling, white carpet with coloured flecks, blue painted furniture and orange curtains with cowboys and indians

I like for all of the walls in a room to be the same color- it makes the room look bigger, for one thing, and I just find having a single colored wall to be aesthetically unpleasant.

The second one is probably cheaper mostly because of the short sale- there's no guarantee the seller's bank will accept that amount anyway- but the area might not be as "desirable" for whatever reason.

I still don't see any clutter in the first one, though.

And both of thes recent ones are short sales. The price difference most likely has more to do with what is owed the bank than anything else in that case. I saw a couple of short sales last week for under $50K- unfortunately they needed enough remodeling that they were cash only listings.

Ugh, I should do all my research before posting so I don't have to spam my own journal.

Square footage- Ismarah is right that the first home is much smaller. It might be too small for us, in fact. Would depend on how useful the basement is- basements are never included in square footage calculations (for tax/ assessment reasons). The first home is 975 square feet and the second is 1,530. But it's so ugly!

What can I say - it's a burden to be so gifted. And always right.*

In some cases, the 50K bargain-but-needs-gutting, aren't necessarily a bad option, especially for someone in your situation, with guaranteed housing as you'd renovate it. Having handy friends or friends of friends or relatives, as well as being handy yourself, does of course make things easier, but spending 50K on a house (I appreciate that you couldn't pay cash for that and do the renovations too) would leave you plenty of budget to spend on a contractor to do the house _just_ the way you'd want it.

And having bought an older house myself, twice, and having piecemeal discovered the different level of (in)capability from some of the people who have worked on them, there's something to be said for the whole gutting it option. Then at least you'd know things have been done right, provided you've checked out the references for the contractors.










*and oh, so, modest, too.