Since our apartment-stalking became an earnest, all-consuming hunt, I imagine we’ve read over a hundred potential listings. Ones that – on paper – fit our needs and requirements:
- It correctly answers my 5 ugly house hunting rules
- And meets our 3 main requirements.
And yet this is the suckiest, most heart-wrenching hunt ever.
Ok, well the suckiest hunt that doesn't involve raptors.
I hate it. Hunting for a place to renovate, an ugly baby, adds a whole other layer to first-time home buying.
You want to renovate a property, too? 3 evil truths:
1) Obviously, it has to fit our budget. Our savings are what they are, as is our mortgage pre-approval. Nothing different there from any normal home-buyer.
1a) The ugly difference? The asking price needs to be low enough that, in a year’s time, a healthy selling price makes the renovations worthwhile. A realistic expectation of being happy with the result. It’s a fine line to tread, as a low asking-prices often indicates there’s something nasty in the woodshed.
2) It has to be a property that we can actually live in for a year. This goes to my discussion of decency and location. No amount of profit will be worth living miserably – that’s not the point. We have to love our first apartment enough that we look forward to coming home in the evening and then doing hours of sweaty, hard work.
This has never been the case with our current rental apartment, The Cave. If we don’t want to be there – the required renovations will never get done. It has to be our baby first, its ugliness incidental.
3) Another tricky point? No matter what kind of renovations the property requires, it has to have gorgeous, delicious, melt-in-your-mouth potential.
Can we compromise? Yes. As it’s not a long-term home, we can skip having various ‘little extras’ that don’t make or break a living environment. A fireplace would be nice, but I don’t have to have it. The dishwasher, though? Non-freaking-negotiable.
Ugly Baby! Come out, come out, wherever you are!
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Robert Muldoon found here.
Hey, you want a s'more? Some more of what?
