Latestarter's ramblings/musings/gripes and grumbles.

[AClark]

House #1, the purple bathroom isn't the only affront to the eyes...I believe the kitchen is lime green! LOL. Maybe I'm plain, but bold colors in the house just don't do it for me, and with those bright colors, that's going to take some Kilz to go over.
I know the house I'm looking at in OK is painted similarly, and all I can think of is "how many gallons of Kilz is that going to take to cover up the ugly" - same lime green too.

 

[animalmom]

Fencing, fencing, fencing. Whatever property you go with make sure the fencing is good. 5 strand is better than 4 strand, but 7 strand is grand. I'd watch out for fencing that has a lot of those spacer twists in between the T-posts/fence posts as that can mean the fence is not taut or you have some wire down somewhere. Fencing isn't like repainting, if it was neglected it probably won't be a repair but a redo. Ca-ching!

Just my opinion. I'd offer places here in Erath County (about 2 hours west-ish, but land is so expensive now we would not be able to live here if we hadn't gotten the land when we did. It is outrageous!

 

[Devonviolet]

I'm checking in to see how your trip went.

Sorry I haven't done so until now. With limited wifi data, I can only check in once in a while. As it stands, I am over my allotment for 11 days into my billing cycle [0.20 GB/day].

I'm sorry your trip, to Kentucky, was so disappointing. Are you a glutton for punishment, or what??? Only a crazy man [and I say that in the nicest way] would drive straight through, and then get back on the road, immediately, for the return trip. I kow you don't mind the long drives. But REALLY!!! You're gonna kill yourself doing these long cross country drives so close together.

All three of the properties you have found, near Mt. Pleasant look interesting. As you said, each one seems to have merit. I checked Google Maps and they are about 35-45 minutes away from us.

The price on #1 looks good, and it looks like the nicest house. But, that small galley kitchen would be unacceptible for us. The price would allow wiggle room to remodel that kitchen.

I'm wondering what is on the other side of the refrigerator wall? You could take that wall out (might need to add a beam, if its load bearing) and make a great room, if that other room is the living room - it looks like it might be, it would be easy to make the kitchen bigger.

I spoke to DH. Before you make another long drive to Texas, we are willing to meet with your realtor and look at each property (and take lots of pictures). That way, if they turn out to not be "as described" you can re-evaluate, without coming all this way.

If so, PM me with the details & we can make arrangements to meet your REA.

 

[misfitmorgan]

Definitely like #2 the best....it is set off the road a couple acres, looks like it has 4 outbuildings and a storm shelter or root cellar thingy. Has nice pipe corral area for running a few cows. Fencing generally looks nice 4 or 5 strand a portion of it definitely looks newer cause it is still silver. It has no neighbors right up your butt, and it has quite a few nice shade trees in the pasture as well an that entire wooded area in the back that goats would love. There is also a chain-link fence with a nice double gate....curious how far that goes. It does look like the majority of the property is fenced already.

The reasons i dont like #1 ugly small kitchen, ugly dining room, ....basically most of it is ugly to be honest...the wood vanity with the wooden kitchen countertop, the paperroll across by the shower(thats just gonna get wet), the house layout is odd and not in a good way, vanity in the master bedroom...no thanks. The house just appears very dated and like they added on a bunch of additions and had no care about the layout and flow from room to room. The house is pretty darn close to the road and you have a neighbor right there...right up your butt to the north. The driveway looks concrete and broken up. The only visible fence line is that on the south edge which is the South neighbors and does not look new as they have no livestock in it. There are several piles of garabe/stuff, a well as a few downed trees. I see no new fencing on the majority of the property which they have been cutting for hay and no access to the barn from that area. Also no woods on the actual property.

The reasons i dont like #3 Cabinets def need redone or replace,countertops are very old you can see damages edges in the picture, Home seems dated with a slightly awkward layout. The wood floors are nice though in the kitchen/living room. It does have at least 2 pastures with livestock on the property and a nice looking large barn. It does have a pond but there is a lack or woods and shade trees in the pastures. The creek while it sounds charming can be a mess, we have one running thru the corner of our property and it is so far nothing but annoying and the surrounding area stays to wet to do anything with as well as us not being able to fence thru the creek or allow our animals to use it because of the law banning livestock from drinking from moving sources of water. So far we can not even brush hog the area around it to keep vegetation down. There appears to be a grain silo or corn crib right by the house and no driveway to the actual house just ground driven on. Also again looks like some random debris scattered around the property. The house look slightly larger then #2 but smaller then #1 i would guess 1650-1700sqft making its cost approx $110-106 per sqft. And its right on the highway with the house quite close to the road and since the fencing is already in place there isnt much room to fence off an area for your LGD. They only left a very small area right around the house not fenced for cattle which woul be the people area lol...basically they made a circle driveway on the grass and fenced out a bit from it.

Basically you have to decide do you wanna pay 145-150K to spend your time putting up fencing, cleaning up someone elses garbage, reworking the property, and redoing/remodeling the house?

Do you want to spend 175-180k to again clean up someone else's garbage, reworking the property, redoing/remodeling the house, and repairing/redoing fencing?

Do you wanna pay 170-179k to repaint some and possibly add to fencing already there and in very good condition? The add says and the pictures show the property was well taken care of and is clean inside and out.

I'm sure you will be able to answer those questions when you see the properties in person, honestly #2 seems like the best deal for work trade off and setup. i believe #1 is priced lower because of all the clean up and reworking needed. The aerial views show a lot for each property.

@Bruce
Mapquest shows it. The view they have on the ad is turned 90 degrees the property actually runs east/west.
Its the pink square.

 

[Latestarter]

Well, as it turns out, #2 is unoccupied, so closing on short notice would be easier. Thanks for your generous offer @Devonviolet I do appreciate it greatly but I will be back down there Saturday morning to visit all three. Perhaps we could all get together for dinner again? Maybe @Ferguson K can make it north this time? It would be a Saturday evening, so I don't know, she may need to work.

I have to admit, that jacuzzi with #2 is a HUGE plus and just one more temptation for me... I absolutely love them and want one. They help my back and old tired joints so much. And that one looks like a "better" model as opposed to a cheap unit. Love soaking with snow flakes falling all around me

 

[Ferguson K]

I'm usually off Saturday EVENING. Sometimes as early as noon.
Might can do it.

 

[AClark]

I have to agree with the hot tub, it cures what aches you for sure!

 

[Devonviolet]

That's great, about #2 being available. You do have somewhat of a time crunch. So, I look forward to seeing you again this weekend. That would be nice if @Baymule & @Ferguson K could join us for dinner too.

That jacuzzi does look like a nice one. However, dont get your hopes up too high . . . I doubt that you'll be getting too many snowflakes falling on you, while you are in the jacuzzi.

Last winter we didn't get any snow. The winter before (2015) we maybe had 2" total snow.

 

[Latestarter]

I'll close my eyes and imagine snow... Maybe I can get someone to stand over me shaving ice cubes or something...

 

[AClark]

Zamboni! We got 8 inches all in 1 day here last winter...it was crazy when we usually don't get any snow. Freak storm.