The more I think about it, the more I would much rather have a house I love and spend money to belong to my favorite pool in the area, rather than a smallish house that needs tons of work and requires changing schools just to have a pool. (1500 is a fine size, but the rooms look small and you mention a lack of dining room, which you want.)
That said, you must go see it and report back on what it's like IRL.
I like the pool and the lot! I would go for it if you could paint and redo the floors right away and then everything else can be done slowly as the budget allows. Nothing looks to be in bad shape or anything! Keep us updated!
After being on the market for several months, we bought a ranch in similar condition to the one you posted (for twice the price lol). It needed a lot of work--we gutted the kitchen and all the bathrooms, new flooring, etc. We also made some fun improvements that weren't really necessary, like vaulting the ceiling. We spent around $200k. Of course we weren't living here through most of the renovation. (We did two bathrooms and the laundry room after we moved in, and it was a PITA.)
I'm not sure why everyone is against renovating houses, but I certainly wouldn't try to do the work yourself unless you have a lot of free time and are good with plumbing, tile, etc.
Well, my realtor got back to me. Her message is below. I still have to tell my husband but I doubt we'll go see it now. Womp womp.
"I am booked up tomorrow and Friday after five and Saturday and Sunday pretty much all day. I could show it to you Monday at five. Coincidentally, I had spoken to an agent in my office about this house when it came on the market. Issues at that time were: no heat or cooling vents in the basement, master bedroom and bath are in the basement, the third bedroom has no use because you must walk through it to go to the pool room, there there was a strong sewer odor in the house."
Unrelated. Is it normal for a real estate agent to not be able to show you a house for five days? Mine always showed us within 24 hours or had her colleague take us if she couldn't, but we were in a hot market and houses sold within a couple of days.
Post by expectantsteelerfan on Jul 11, 2018 18:49:55 GMT -5
My first thought was that windows looked original, and I'd wonder about plumbing/electrical/hvac needing updating on a house that old that hasn't been visibly updated, and all those updates are an expense that doesn't help the cosmetic looks of the house. The realtor update is probably taking it off the table, but one other thing I was thinking was that it looked mid-century modern, and that if you were planning on updating it, another thing to consider is resale, because often the biggest selling points for mid-century moderns are updates that still fit with that look, so if that's not for you, I wouldn't do regular modern updates unless it was your forever home.
Unrelated. Is it normal for a real estate agent to not be able to show you a house for five days? Mine always showed us within 24 hours or had her colleague take us if she couldn't, but we were in a hot market and houses sold within a couple of days.
I thought that was a long time too. I'm sure if we could go during the day we could get in sooner but we're only available in the evenings.
Post by smilee1079 on Jul 11, 2018 19:17:09 GMT -5
First thing I noticed was it has a septic tank... we are buying a house in Indiana and ruled out houses without public sewers based on horror stories we have heard.
Post by minniemouse on Jul 11, 2018 19:36:54 GMT -5
With you update I would say yes, it would be crazy to buy it. An indoor pool would be pretty awesome though. I have no desire for an outdoor pool that can be used 3 months a year where I live.
First thing I noticed was it has a septic tank... we are buying a house in Indiana and ruled out houses without public sewers based on horror stories we have heard.
Almost everyone we know has a septic tank. They are pretty common where we are so that alone wouldn't bother me. My house smelling like a sewer is a different story!
Never in a million years, but I also told our realtor not to even show us houses with a pool. I want no part of that in my life. They are way too much work.
Post by ilikedonuts on Jul 11, 2018 20:12:29 GMT -5
Just read your update. So definite no, but I just want to say we’ve completely updated our house (2500 sq ft) minus kitchen cabinets and counters (3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms) walls, carpet, full bathroom Renos, major landscaping, new furnace/ac etc and it was less then 100k. Granted we did almost all of it ourselves but even after we do the last bits of the kitchen we won’t be at More then $110k.
First thing I noticed was it has a septic tank... we are buying a house in Indiana and ruled out houses without public sewers based on horror stories we have heard.
Almost everyone we know has a septic tank. They are pretty common where we are so that alone wouldn't bother me. My house smelling like a sewer is a different story!
I agree that septic tanks are NBD. I grew up with one and other than not learning how great garbage disposals are until college it was fine. BUT! I do wonder how that works with an indoor pool? Maybe no effect. I have no idea.
I would think that keeping an indoor pool warm enough to use in the winter in a cold climate would be $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.
This house looks like it has nothing going for it other than an indoor pool. Have you considered just building an indoor pool at your current house?
Almost everyone we know has a septic tank. They are pretty common where we are so that alone wouldn't bother me. My house smelling like a sewer is a different story!
I agree that septic tanks are NBD. I grew up with one and other than not learning how great garbage disposals are until college it was fine. BUT! I do wonder how that works with an indoor pool? Maybe no effect. I have no idea.
I would think that keeping an indoor pool warm enough to use in the winter in a cold climate would be $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.
This house looks like it has nothing going for it other than an indoor pool. Have you considered just building an indoor pool at your current house?
We love our current house and have done some minor upgrade but much more and we'd price our selves right out of our neighborhood. The yard isn't very large and we can't have an unground pool here. I was totally content to get an above ground pool until I saw this listing! Oh well, looks like it wasn't meant to be!
O.k., you totally lost me at "strong sewer odor"; but my concern was going to be about the potential for pool/water/mildew smell. IME, houses with an indoor pool always seem to smell sort of...pooly, which would be a major turn-off for me.
O.k., you totally lost me at "strong sewer odor"; but my concern was going to be about the potential for pool/water/mildew smell. IME, houses with an indoor pool always seem to smell sort of...pooly, which would be a major turn-off for me.
I'm not kidding when I say the "pool" smell of walking into a hotel or a school for a swim meet is one of my families favorite smells! When we started looking at this house online, my oldest said "Mom, our house would smell like a pool!"
It's an awesome looking pool (and I am not a huge pool person) but the rest of that house needs a lot of work. My sister and her husband just redid a floor of their house (similar size to the listing) and it cost them $50k. Granted, we're in a HCOL area, but that only included updating one powder room and not their two upstairs master bathrooms which that house needs.
Sounds like walking away is the better option. Sucks when you fall for a house though!
I'm not sure why everyone is against renovating houses, but I certainly wouldn't try to do the work yourself unless you have a lot of free time and are good with plumbing, tile, etc.
I'm not at all against renovating. We did a complete gut and remodel on our current house and I'd do it again for the right house in the right location. But that house looks like it needs too much work for the list price and what she said others were going for in the neighborhood.
Um, yes you are crazy. I’m am not a fixer upper person. That house is all kinds of hideous and would need so much updating, I don’t think it is worth the time or effort unless you can do it all while not living there. Also, the market for people who want a full size indoor pool like that is pretty small. If you buy it, it better be a forever home because I think it would be a tough sell down the road.
This! The pool is kinda cool but for my family, the novelty would wear off quickly I think. Indoor pools usually don’t smell awesome and are humid, so that’s another thing to consider. If you upgraded it, would you be priced above the neighborhood?
Thanks! It's probably really for the best. We do love our current home and have the best neighbors in the world. We always figured this would be our home until our kids are grown and then we'd buy a ranch with a little property. So I was jumping the gun about 20 years, lol!
I am not afraid of a fixer upper but I love living in a house that is updated and decorated just the way I like it! So I just saved myself years of work and tens of thousands of dollars. But I will still dream longingly of that pool....
I grew up with a pool and loved the idea of having a pool when I had my own home. But then our first house had one and it was the worst. SO MUCH EXTRA MONEY and even more work. Our electric bill doubled when running the pool and then there were weekly expenses to maintain the pool.
In theory I still love the idea of having a pool (but an outdoor pool, I hate indoor pools) but I would need to be $$$ to pay someone else to maintain it, lol.
I'm not sure why everyone is against renovating houses, but I certainly wouldn't try to do the work yourself unless you have a lot of free time and are good with plumbing, tile, etc.
I'm not at all against renovating. We did a complete gut and remodel on our current house and I'd do it again for the right house in the right location. But that house looks like it needs too much work for the list price and what she said others were going for in the neighborhood.
I see what you're saying. I think it's important to have a realtor who's familiar with the neighborhood who can judge whether the house is appropriately priced and how much work you could do without making it too expensive for the neighborhood.
But reading madringal's update about the sewer smell...
Post by ilikedonuts on Jul 12, 2018 19:15:43 GMT -5
We only turned up the heater for the pool room right before we used it growing up (we kept it much lower the rest of the time) We did have a gigantic sun room between our house and the pool that we didn’t heat in the winter so maybe that helped the pool smell not reach our main living areas? I don’t remember smelling like a pool all the time but maybe I just didn’t notice lol