Buying A House Online: Part Two

Finally, we are organized enough in our new digs that I can finish the series (all two parts of it) on Buying A House Online.

I can honestly say that the house and neighborhood are pretty much as we expected. The relatives and friends did a good job of assessing both. It didn't hurt that the friends live only a few blocks from our house. The pictures online (there were 30 of them) did a good a job of showing what the various rooms looked like. We were a little fuzzy on the layout of the rooms, but we had guessed at what the layout probably was given what we knew, and were darn close.

We're not crazy about the paint job in the house, although I suspect it would be an interior decorator's dream--3 shades of gold used throughout the upstairs with a dark brown accent wall in the living room, and one very green room upstairs. About half of the basement is painted the same green color, with the rest of the basement being painted tan. Not a white wall in the house. Logically, I understand how some people could find this pretty, but I find it overwhelming. We'll be painting. However, we suspected that would be the case when we looked at the pictures, so seeing it in person only confirmed it. (I had been hoping that once we got here, I wouldn't dislike the paint as much as I thought I would.  No luck.)

(living room)

(basement living room)

The room featured in the two pictures below is what I've begun referring to as the "multi-purpose room".  It is our sewing center, office, and a mini kitchen--sink, fridge, microwave, toaster, and coffee pot.  I considered straightening up the sewing area before I took the picture, but decided I should show it to you in its natural state. And yes! I've begun quilting again. The Juki and I spent some quality time together the last couple of days.

There weren't really any surprises, except one. The home inspector did a lousy job. We've got a phone plug in the basement that doesn't work (the only phone plug in the basement), and the plumbing in the basement bathtub is all screwed up. Water comes from both the tub and shower faucets at the same time, and the one handle that controls hot and cold will only go halfway so the water is lukewarm. I've seen this in another house and it is an installation problem. I think this one was probably installed wrong from day one, but the previous owners never used it and so didn't know. The thing of it is, even if we had come in person to look at the house ourselves, I wouldn't have tested these things out myself. That's what the darn house inspector is supposed to do!

Oh and that home warranty that the sellers paid for doesn't cover the plumbing problem because it is an installation problem; the policy covers only items that wear out.

The other thing is that we were spoiled by the oversized 3-car garage we had in Nevada. This house has the standard two car garage. No place to store the lawn mower we'll eventually need. We didn't ask about the garage in advance, but it would not have been a deal-breaker if we had known.  Storage sheds for items like lawn mowers are the norm here, so eventually we'll need to get one.  Luckily we're going into winter so it's not necessary that we deal with it immediately.

Despite the items I've pointed out as issues--the paint, which we already knew about; the plumbing problem that the house inspector should have caught; and the garage size--the house is proving to be ideal for our combined family.  My mom and I cook the main meal relieving my grandparents of a task that has become difficult for them.  We've somewhat divided the house, giving the main floor to my grandparents, while we reside in the basement.  We're nearby for anything they need, but we each have our space.  Given our specific needs, price range, and time constraints, I highly doubt that we could have done any better if we had made the trip to see houses in person.

Bought a House Online: Part One

I can hear you now.  They bought a house online?  Are they crazy or what?  (I suppose the crazy part IS debatable....)

Under most circumstances, I wouldn't consider buying a house sight unseen.  However being able to do so made life so much easier.  First off, my mother and I are the primary caretakers of my 87 and 88 year old grandparents.  They are doing well, but we would never leave them alone for the time it would take for us to go the 1200 miles to Kansas and house shop.  And, neither one of us wanted to take on the responsibility of house shopping alone.  We'd resigned ourselves to renting and then house shopping after we were there--a process that would require finding the right rental property, then the right house, and moving twice.  Moving once is no fun, but twice?

At the same time we were mulling over how to get this complicated move done, we were looking at houses online.  We told ourselves we just needed to get a feel for what was available so we could hit the ground running after we arrived. Then we came across a house that would be perfect for the four of us.  It was nice to know something like we wanted was available.  After that we began to worry that it would be snatched up before we got there.  Hmmmm.

So the conversations went something like this:

"It would be so much easier to move only once...."

"Yes, but wouldn't it be dumb to buy a house without seeing it in the flesh?"

And we'd agree that it was, and then try to ignore that beautiful house and the 30 pictures of it on the real estate agent's website.

However, it wasn't long before we asked ourselves what we would need to know in order to feel comfortable purchasing a house sight unseen--except through cyberspace.  Here's what we decided:

1.  We'd need to know about the neighborhood.  Fortunately, we weren't totally disadvantaged.  Newton is a town of only 20,000 people.  My mom and I were somewhat familiar having passed through Newton on our way to somewhere else, but my grandparents had been there many times, and in fact they had friends who lived there.  Upon further investigation we discovered that their friends lived only 3 blocks from the house we were considering.  Okay, we had confirmation that the house was in a nice neighborhood.

2.  Is the house as pretty in person as it is the pictures?  Maybe the photographer is only showing the best stuff?  I doubted it because 30 pictures is a lot, and it would seem unlikely that with that many photos they could be hiding much.  Still....  So we asked one of those trusted family members we're moving 1200 miles to be near if she would go look.  Bless her, she had no problem at all doing that.  We got a wonderful report back.  The house was beautiful and she wouldn't hesitate to buy it.

3.  So is the beauty only skin deep?  We hired a home inspector to check out the things that aren't cosmetic.  He did indeed find a wiring problem in the basement, and an issue with the sprinkler system.  We brought these to the sellers' attention and those issues were fixed.

Those were the three major questions, and for two out of the three, we relied on friends and family to determine the answers.  Without the help of trusted friends and family, this wouldn't have happened. It was a perfect set of circumstances that made this doable.

Here's where we are~the closing was done as of today.  We are now the new owners of a house in which we know what a lot of the rooms look like due to the pictures, and we know the size of the rooms, but don't have a clear picture of the layout of the house.   So while I feel comfortable that the house is in good shape, and will suit our needs, there's still some mystery about the place.  Needless to say, there is a sense of adventure about the day we roll up in front of our new house.

I'll do "Bought a House Online: Part Two" after we get there.  Then we'll find out if there is anything else we should have considered.