"The blue-striped house" (first look)

[To see more detail click on the picture]

My real estate agent suggested coming up with a distinctive name for each house. This one will be "the blue-striped house." It's in Los Altos, a neighborhood a few blocks north of the campus and just south of the 405 freeway.

Here are the stats:
1,248 square feet
6,000 square foot lot.
3 bedrooms
2 bathrooms
hardwood flooring
copper plumbing
no A/C

I haven't seen the inside yet, but it supposedly has hardwood floors and a remodeled bathroom.

Asking price: $439,000

Without having seen the inside, though, my principle concern is the front exterior, which I HATE. My first thought was "yuck." I don't like the vertical blue stripes; I think it makes the house look cheap. The poor planter box in front looks as if someone just put in some flowers last week to make it look presentable.

The thing is, though, a lot of this is easily fixable. I'm thinking a solid color, maybe Arts & Crafts style. Perhaps an Arts & Crafts style exterior window treatment. It's not clear which rooms have the north facing windows in front. The living room has large floor to ceiling windows facing the backyard.

To see how much better it would look simply with a solid color, check out this neighbor's house (it's too dark for my tastes, in terms of the landscaping), but it's still an improvement.