Looking through realtor.com, the horror!

[Lauren674 (WavyGlass)]

Every once in a while, I get the idea to go through realtor.com for our city and see what's for sale, price, etc. You know, wondering how badly the house prices have dropped, or what that really cool house with a sign is going for and has inside....

So this morning I did a look through, as there wasn't really much of the 'old houses' for sale, it didn't take too long, and seriously I was moaning out loud at the pictures and descriptions, "Best of both words with this old Victorian house with modern sensibilities." UGH!! Completely gutted, granite tile floors, support pillars instead of walls...oh, a double sink crammed into a small bathroom. I'm not even going to mention the really bad decorating choices, that's a matter of taste and can be undone, but what they do structurally inside these beautiful old houses is nauseating.

This is something homeowners have done always done, and more so during the 'boom times'. We've just spent thousands restoring our house's walls/floor plan to fix some of what was changed in the 30's-40's. I can practically hear them voicing their stupid ideas to the contractor, "Remove all the ceiling fixtures, give me 2 ft more wall here, take down these walls, oh and just stick the closets over here..." the end result having no light, air flow, confusing turns and strangely sized EVERYTHINGS. 2nd owners were only here a short time, so I have decided it was them and after they did it, the house felt so uncomfortable and wrong that they moved!!

Do we all do this, look through realtor.com and moan?

[nezwick]

Looking at the houses on Realtor.com, other local real estate websites, and the local online classifieds is sort of a weekend ritual for us. We get our coffee and our breakfast and sit at my desk for about an hour.

I tend to gravitate toward the listings under $80k which include some pretty run-down or hacked up old places. Most of the pre-1900 stuff falls into that price range around here. Sometimes there are some really awesome finds (I try to pick out the original features like windows, door hardware, etc.). Most of the time though, they're old houses that didn't survive the 60s-70s and received the paneling and drop ceilings.

Other times we just sit back and marvel at the big old Victorians that we'll never be able to afford.

[kmdipaolo (WavyGlass)]

I have never looked at realtor.com. I just logged on there and lots of neat things to look at. Thanks.

[Neighmond]

I look and shake my head at all the wasted resources.

[Lauren674 (WavyGlass)]

And, what's the big need for the "Master Bedroom Suite"? As you may have seen with our "Little Bedroom" pictures, the downstairs of our bungalow has two bedrooms and a bathroom at the end of the hallway, which is right outside the first bedroom (ours). We've had many friends take a look and say that the whole area containing the first and 2nd bedroom and even the one suggested blow it out all the way to the front of the house (which is now the study with the colonnades) to be consolidated into one bedroom, a big walk in closet and a master bathroom. I said, "but why? The bathroom is right outside our bedroom and I have a whole 2nd bedroom to use as a dressing/room and extra closet." And, this gives us another bedroom for guests when needed, AND (no one making the suggestions cares about this point) this is the way the house was designed to be by the architect. I see this all the time, on realtor.com; people trying to retrofit a great old house into the need for this huge closet and private bathroom. My feeling is that I should keep my wardrobe to fit the size of the closets and wear a robe to the bathroom. The 4th bedroom is really great to have for so many reasons. Its probably its because I've never had the walk in closet and private bathroom right?

[Wackyshack]

There is a house in my town that is having it's sale going about the right way... It is an historic registered property and can't be torn down and the rehab has to be approved with the historic commission.... hoping someone who loves old houses will rescue this awesome house!!
it really has a lot of great things going on with it. The elderly ladies who owned it kept things they way they were since it was built. WAVY GLASS !!!! Bottled gas on the old iron stove... the fixtures for curtains at the staircase and dining room still there. We did the open house walk thru and I was amazed. There are places where the plaster really needs a helping hand. With the way the center hall in the upper story of the house is with the bedrooms on either side of the hall, it would make a great bed and Breakfast! My husband and I can't afford it, much less fix it up.

http://www.weichert.com/44143045/?cityi ... &maxpr=220
here is the listing if you want to take a jaunt through....

[Neighmond]

that's when you all walk through just before the bidding commences and loudly whisper how nice it was all the blood came clean, and wonder how much the priest will charge to come out and exorsize the joint.....you'll get it for a song then!

[1880 stick (WavyGlass)]

that's when you all walk through just before the bidding commences and loudly whisper how nice it was all the blood came clean, and wonder how much the priest will charge to come out and exorsize the joint.....you'll get it for a song then!

[Kansas.1911]

I admit to house peeping on realtor.com, enjoying myself and losing track of time.

Lauren, I am happy you post about your bedroom, new walls, and the colonnades--it's fun to follow the progress. On our second floor, there are three bedrooms and a bath. Without moving any walls or doors, we took over the floor as one bedroom for ourselves. Guests sleep in the basement. They like it down there. haha

One bedroom is the "closet room." The elfa closet system we used would leave almost no markings if we were to remove it. That was one of my better ideas, if I say so. Three families have visited and copied us in their old house.

[chooseopen (WavyGlass)]

Yeah so many old houses get chopped up over time. Ours is no exception but it did escape many of the bigger changes because it was a funeral home business for 40 years. If you follow our blog you will see that our kitchen needed a lot of love and our original porches are long gone. The master bath was also born in the 1980's. It was probably a 4th bedroom originally.
A neighbor told me that in the 1970s a previous owner 'modernized' and removed the original overmantles and original gas fixtures. Everything was sold really cheap at a garage sale.