as much as I want to get into a house and out of this apartment, the frustration of shopping in this crazy market is getting to me.
The place we looked at today was described as nice on the inside and in need of "a little paint" on the outside. Ah, that must be real estate speak for "really rough shape". It probably hasn't been painted since before the first Oil Shock crisis. There was trim that I bet I could have pushed my fingers into if I could have reached it. In the attic I could see daylight through the roof in several places. The stairs must have been made for Lilliputians. The detached 4 car garage was in better shape than the exterior of the house. Yes, the inside was nicely done. It had a glorious amount of daylight through all the windows. There were spaces between the stones in the basement walls around the bulkhead that probably would have screamed "welcome come on it" to rodents, raccoons, bears, maybe moose.
The asking price was 340, it'll probably go for 375-380, and it needs 50-80K of work if a penny.
On the way home, I saw another open house sign. We found the place, a new construction at the end of a dead end street. We guessed that it would have been 480-490. Nope. 575.