I don't think we'll be making offers on any of these houses, but it was definitely not as depressing as our last open house session. The good news is that there are plans to extend the $8k tax break through till April.
House #4:HALF-FAIL
$395,000; 1350sf; 3bed/1bath
+ Partially finished basement
- Small 'master' bedroom and no bath upstairs
+ Large, level backyard
- Small kitchen, no good for entertaining
- Also on Sundays a nearby church lines all the roads with cars - we couldn't find parking!
House #5:FAIL
$387,500; 1400sf; 3bed/2bath
- $6,300 YEARLY TAXES
+ Great neighborhood
+ Nice deck
+ Has Garage
- Can see neighbors from backyard
- Really awkward layout
- Very small 'bedrooms'
House #6: HALF-FAIL
$370,000; 1400sf; 4bed/2bath
+ Awesome backyard with only one neighbor
+ Bright & sunny
+ Refinished original wide-plank hardwood floors
+ Renovated bathrooms
+ Ability to finish basement
- Small kitchen
- Upstairs needs work (nasty floral wallpaper)
- Taxes are $5k/year
- Almost ON Route 90 (high high high traffic = super noisy)
We really liked house #6, it was the perfect size for us and the layout was great (minus the super small kitchen). The realtor was rather creepy and told us the old lady had just died. I think my face must have shown shock/disgust because he quickly clarified 'not in the house'. He also proceeded to talk to us about possibly showing ID to enter open houses because of serial killers murdering real estate agents....yeah, not sure what that was all about.
* all images from NewEnglandMoves.com
Your taxes there must normally be a lot lower than ours here. When we were looking at houses, 5000/yr in taxes was a 'PLUS' on our list. :-|
ReplyDeleteWeird about the creepy real-estate agent. Do you have your own real-estate agent? We found that really helpful - he dealt with the other agent for us 100%.
@Pink Helicopter - Yes, taxes in the neighboring town were only $3,500 for a house of the same square footage. But yikes! for you :)
ReplyDeleteWe got hooked up with one, but I'm not sure he's what we need. I think we need someone a little more pro-active.
finding a house is a fun process. you'll go through tons of junk till you find the right one - and it will all be worth it in the end!
ReplyDeletebest of luck!