This house is near a nice park in Lakewood but was just far too depressing on the inside.
The stats:
3 bedrooms
1 bath
1,161 square feet
5,600 square foot lot
horrible carpet, which might have hardwood in parts
no A/C, with floor heater
Built: 1952
Asking price: $409,900
There's just so much wrong with this house. Here are the lowlights:
Crappy and flimsy built-in shelving in the dining room:
[with crappy blinds]
The original kitchen cabinets, with laundry adjacent:
[The linoleum floor was sticky]
The living room, with its drab floor to ceiling drapes, features a floor heater (yuck!)
The one bathroom was horrific. Whoever had the idea it was to match plaid wallpaper with mosaic countertops must have been blind or mad (or both).
[the cabinet was disgusting and the shower/bathtub nearly as bad]
Finally: a wide swath of the backyard adjacent to the house was covered in pebbly concrete.
By the time I added up all the renovations necessary to make this house livable, I could have bought something far nicer (not to mention I would have blown my budget). There's no way I could talk myself into buying this house.
the same madness ruling over the bathroom appointments has obviously set the price. For 400K you can find something that's actually nice. Or you can 300K and get something nice in the valley. Hey, we're joining the metro lines pretty soon....
ReplyDeleteon a scale of 1-5, 1 being embarrassing to have on the market and 5 being when can i move in?, i'm giving it a 2. laundry rooms do not belong in the kitchen. even if you're lazy, you don't need to add the fabric softener while loading the dishwasher. and those built-in cabinets, you were right. disgusting. the celing fan just adds to the "unacceptable in any room" list. and the backyard reminds of the 'burbs in Edward Scissorhands. the only way i'd buy it is if Johnny Depp himself came with it.
ReplyDeleteThe valley? That would be crazy! Sometimes people from out of town ask if you can get to UCLA from here by public transportation. I always answer "if you have enough time" (as in 3-4 hours).
ReplyDeleteI actually don't think that house is that bad. Maybe overpriced, but I don't know the market. But there is nothing that needs immediate renovation and over time it could be made really nice.
ReplyDeleteNot that bad? Let's do the math, shall we:
ReplyDeleteAsking price $409,900
remodeled kitchen: $30,000?
remodeled bathroom: $30,000?
relandscaped yard: ?
central air/heat: ?
restored floors: ?
Well, that adds up to at least $470,000 before we ever get to the backyard, the floors and the utilities. That's too expensive, not when I can get possibly this ( http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3097-Palo-Verde-Ave-Long-Beach-CA-90808/21191411_zpid/ ) for $20,000 less (the asking price is $450,000, but this is the one I suspect is a short sale).