Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Another way in which you know we are huge geeks

(c) 2007 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com

Yes, we are big geeks. I mean that in the nicest, most quirky and odd sense. I was just re-realizing that as I pondered our house hunt.

We have a spreadsheet. Not so odd, you say, it's one way to keep your thoughts and information organized.

Our spreadsheet has multiple pages, one for each house on our short list. (More on that later.) We have a list of criteria - both tangible like number of bedrooms and intangible like character - that we each rate on a scale of one to ten for each house.

But what reminded me we were geeks was the fact that we also have weights for each criteria. First we came up with our criteria, then we each rated the criteria on a scale of one to ten as to its importance to us. So since Mr. Kluges' most important criteria were garden space, outdoor play space, bathrooms, kitchen, and curb appeal, and mine were outdoor play space, bathrooms, kitchen, and bedroom location, we ended up with outdoor play space, bathrooms and kitchen having a heavy weight in our criteria. Brewing space, other storage, and closet space, while things we think about, are given less weight and consideration.


So yeah. We've got spreadsheets that average our scores for each criteria, then multiply that average by the weight, then total it all up. Not that we're going to just pick the one with the biggest number, but it does help us discuss the pros and cons of each.

(And we've also graphed out where their point totals fall in comparison to their respective prices. Geeks. But thorough geeks.)


And that's helped us how? Well, not so much yet because all the houses but one that were on our short list before we sold our own house are gone. Yeah, gone. 3 sold, one we took off 'cuz it was too suburban for Mr. Kluges, one we removed 'cuz I hated the traffic flow through the kitchen when we looked at it again*, and one's left.

(* You had to go through the kitchen to 1) get to the only bathroom on the main floor, which also had the laundry, 2) go upstairs where all 3 bedrooms were, 3) get to the basement stairs, and 4) get to the backyard and garage. And it wasn't very huge, either.)

And that one sole short list survivor deserves a whole post of its own. Lots of attractive features, but oh, so many concerns/potential problems, too. But oh, so cute... and spacious... and huge yard... but knob-and-tube wiring... and cement-asbestos shingles... and only 100 amp service... but wonderful little sunporch... and 4 bedrooms (so we've got a guest room) upstairs plus one downstairs to be an office/playroom... and large kitchen with tons of cupboard space... but higher priced than anything in the neighborhood... and what about resale... but incredible curb appeal... and new 3 car garage that suits it aesthetically... but only one bathroom... but we could take out the maid stair (maid stair!) and put a 1/2 or 3/4 one... well, you get my drift.

So we're going to be looking at 4 more houses tomorrow. We'll see if any make it to the short list or even if we fall in love and want to make an offer.

But to let you have some idea of the attraction of this solo short list survivor, here's the picture of the front, uh, borrowed from the listing page.


See?!

12 comments:

Allknowingjen said...

Oh wow! It's better than I imagined. Do both of those chimneys have fireplaces? Love the porch to the side

Ms. Huis Herself said...

One fireplace in the LR (to the left). Other one probably served the kitchen.

The porch to the left has an enclosed sun room toward the back and an open porch toward the front. You can't see it behind the pine tree, but on the right there's a matching overhang to drive up under if it's raining and so it's all symmetrical and stuff.

Syl said...

Oh, it's lovely. There are things you can fix and things you can't - big yard, location, charm, all things you can't fix if they aren't there. Electricity, shingles, pricing - those are fixable. Expensive, but fixable. Is it worth it?

Pusher said...

I must confess, I've been mad about this house ever since Mr. Kluges first showed it to us when he came to do some work on your old place. I do definitely understand the drawbacks, but ... it's just so cool! My lizard brain looks at it and thinks, "Yep, that's a damn good rock" no matter how much the higher functions babble about asphalt shingles and whatnot.

kittenpie said...

This is so somethign Misterpie would do...

Anonymous said...

Wow
that looks like a wonderful place to grow up in Sigh---
greatauntTN

Syl said...

I;m guessing you guys would be holding the cards on this one. Make them a lowball offer. Or make an offer contingent on them removing and replacing the shingles.

It's so cute! But I bet it's a monster for them to get rid of, so you may have some leverage.

Ms. Huis Herself said...

Yeah, well, the owner's had it for 25 years, and that was a-within-the-family purchase, so we're guessing it's paid off. (Mr. Kluges wants to clarify that he's not a stalker or anything...just very interested in finding out everything he can about the house, and as a dba, knows a lot about databases.)

However, the owner first put it on the market in the fall of 05 for a crazy-high amount of money. He's gradually dropped it over time, until it's approaching two-thirds of what he started at. Considering the market, our agent says it's now almost at a price the area can support.

Negotiations would maybe be rather drawn out though...as he lives in Australia now...

DiploWhat said...

Wow that's nice looking - but there sure would be a LOT of expensive work to do. I agree with Syl - either make them a low offer, or tell them they have to pay for the fixes first.

A maid stair? That's just SO COOL! I've always wanted that! But, ONE bathroom is NOT cool. Wog and I have a rule that there MUST be at least two toilets anywhere we live.

Happy Veggie said...

I agree, lowball, AND require everything to be done first. It needs to be in line with the neighborhood. It really does look amazing.

DiploWhat said...

If it makes you feel any better, whatever you pay for that house and the repairs has a 95% + chance of being less expensive than just purchasing our current 2 bedroom condo in DC - never mind a house I'd actually like.

Ms. Huis Herself said...

Well, we don't want to lowball so much that he just walks away from the bargaining table... and some of the repairs we'd rather do ourselves (ok, hire somebody to do) so that it gets done in the style & with the materials we'd pick...