House Hunting

Since May, Michael and I have been house hunting. Due to our limited spending budget and living in the DC suburban area, we have seen some very interesting houses. Many of the houses in our price range are Short Sales which basically means the owners are living their mortgage free as filing for foreclosure would cost too much money. This is good for us as it gives us more time to save if we were to put a contract on the house but very bad for looking at a house. Many of the families choose to stay in the home while we are looking at it, and their crap is everywhere thus making it very difficult to see the potential in the house. In addition, it is always awkward commenting on the house when the owners are there. For instance, one house claimed to have a basement when actually it was a two step level change. Others have had very small kitchens or no living space. Then there are the ones that just aren't "us" and there is nothing wrong with that.

My favorite disaster house is in Reston, VA. Upon driving up to the house, it looks rather normal. However, the house had several surprises waiting for me. When I opened the front door, a NEON green foyer and living room greeted me. I'm not just speaking of the walls but the ceiling too. The kitchen had orange counter tops, but that wasn't the best part. The cabinets were finished with chicken wire in the spot where wood, plastic, or glass would have gone on a cabinet. My realtor even said she had never seen anything like that. The downstairs powder room did not have an actual mirror but four smaller ones to create the mirror. I didn't even go in the basement. Upstairs, now that was a treat, contained four bedrooms and a bathroom which sounds normal. Don't be fooled! Each room not only had a different paint color that covered walls and ceilings but a different flooring as well. One had carpet, pergo, laminate, and wood. The ceilings had stencil paintings as well. Now, the bathroom was sponge painted blue with fish stenciling on the walls, ceilings, and front part of the tube. These owners went all out. To quote Michael, "They must have gone to Lowes and used the paint from all the clearance shelves." I'm all for home improvement, but I don't have the energy to take on that big of a project.

Needless to say, we are still looking for the house that says "Welcome to the Lutfis."