House Hunting

tips for house hunting in the new economy.
1. There are ALOT of houses out there right now. But one man's $200,000 house is another man's $100,000 house. No two we have seen are anything alike. Some people over-value their home, especially the ones who put the sweat equity into it.
2. If there are any kinds of bars on the doors or windows. don't do it.
3. Yesterday I drove by two homes in an older neighborhood that, on paper, was called "established" . This means that street walkers have established corners to hawk their wares, and the drug dealers have established customers. Watch, "established" could mean old, wealthy or just old and crummy.
4. A "fixer -upper" runs the gamut from needs new carpet, wood floors or paint to there is a newly formed sinkhole swallowing up your patio pool. Trust me- down here, especially, the realtors actually have to look up geography surveys to see where the sand is sinking, and there are whole neighborhoods that have cracks in the concrete walls, driveways and pool patio stucco from shaky sandy soil.
5. Always check out the neighborhood and the neighbors near your potential home. I like to drive by afer 5 to see who is hanging out in their yards, driveways or front porches. It's good to see lively neighborhood with friendly looking people, but not good if there are too many people around (especially men) who seem like they don't work.
6. Of course....look up the child predator sites.
7. Stay away from neighborhoods near Scientology elementary schools, offices or meeting places. Ok- it's just for us folks down here, but thre are schools in neighborhoods, etc everywhere. For their own protection, I should not buy a home near them. I'm a nice person really, but these people irritate me like a pea under a mattress.
OK- gotta jet! We're loading up the Xterra for a jaunt over to Oldsmar to look at houses. We made an offer on a good one recently and were high up there but someone beat us who had cash to pay. Not gonna win on that level :) have a good day kids.