When you look at a house and everything about it is awesome except...

"Dusty Ventures" (dustyventures)
11/11/2019 at 22:15 • Filed to: None

Went to look at this house. On paper it was fantastic. Back from the road and only visible in winter. Kickass balconies off the master bedroom and living room/library. Central air. Double pane windows. Jacuzzi tub. Recessed lighting. Two garages with enough room combined for nine cars. In-law apartment on the lower level (aka space I can rent to help offset costs). Ten acres of mostly-forested land on a hillside (the property climbs 200 feet front to back), with a state forest behind it. Five miles from my favorite kayak spot. It seemed way too good. And, well, it was.

I knew going in it would need some work. It was a bank foreclosure being sold “as is.” Which, honestly, is the only way I could remotely afford it. I can do moderate repairs. Drywall is easy, I have enough electrical and plumbing knowledge that I could do repairs in those areas to code. Any kind of woodworking is no problem. All of which is to say I knew it would be a project, but I considered it potentially worth it considering what I’d have once it was all done.

Walking the property revealed some issues, but nothing too egregious. A few wasp nests, no gutters, some tires and trash in the woods that would need to be taken care of, as well as an old wire fence. The worst parts of the driveway had been patched since the realtor photos, but there were still some cracks that needed to be addressed. The worst of it was the stairs leading from the smaller garage to the lower level door and the wooden retaining wall along the edge of the driveway by said stairs.

Projects, but projects that I could handle. Then I went inside.

Unsurprisingly considering the home had been vacant for over two years, there was ample evidence of rodents right off the bat. Whatever. The kitchen appliances were stained and messy, desperately in need of a very thorough cleaning at the least. NBD. The ceilings though. Most rooms had evidence of water staining on the ceiling, both on the upper and lower level. In the lower level kitchen there was evidence that a pipe in the ceiling had burst. All the cabinetry and appliances had been pulled out and moved across the room and the ceiling had been removed to replace the pipes. While not too extensive, some of the floor joists around the burst pipe area had patches of black mold. Fuckety fuck. I gave up on taking photos. With the visible mold in the kitchen I could only imagine how much more there was over the other water spots.

The final nail in the coffin though was the foundation. In the basement on the front wall we found a large crack in the cement. Homes built in CT in the 80s are notorious for crumbling foundations due to bad cement from one of the main quarries used at the time. The house had been built in the early 70s, so I assumed it would be safe from this. Unfortunately the front section of the house was apparently an addition because it had the telltale cracks. Looking again from the outside showed they ran all the way through the cement wall.

Back to the drawing board. Definitely a shame, it’ll be hard to find this combination of unique and (for me at least) uniquely desirable features again.

DISCUSSION (32)

AestheticsInMotion > Dusty Ventures
11/11/2019 at 22:21

That sucks. Looked like a great place with fixable problems up until that water damage...

This just means you've got a chance to find something even better.

CB > Dusty Ventures
11/11/2019 at 22:21

Damn shame, but best to avoid mold and unnecessary nightmares . You probably could’ve added a rally track to your property, too.

Kinja'd!!!

Also what the fresh hell is this chicken pox room?

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Dusty Ventures
11/11/2019 at 22:21

Just say no to home ownership

Dusty Ventures > CB
11/11/2019 at 22:23

Kinja'd!!!

lone_liberal > Dusty Ventures
11/11/2019 at 22:26

That’s too bad. Foundation issues can be fixed, but I sure as hell wouldn’t want to be the one paying for it.

Dusty Ventures > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
11/11/2019 at 22:32

But I like poor life decisions

MM54 > Dusty Ventures
11/11/2019 at 22:33

I was a solid “for the right price it’s not bad” until the foundation part. Good call on walking.

(also what the hell is the lattice on the inside doing there)

Sammyno55 > Dusty Ventures
11/11/2019 at 22:35

OMG! My last house had that disorder throughout! AC p lugs , phone jacks, cable outlets light sw itches everywhere . I spent a week running Ethernet cable everywhere, removing jacks that didn’t need to be there, adding TV mounts , making all the outlets the same height and the same distance from each doorway. I slept better after that.

ttyymmnn > Dusty Ventures
11/11/2019 at 22:36

Can you buy just the garage?

dogisbadob > Dusty Ventures
11/11/2019 at 22:37

Kinja'd!!!

My X-type is too a real Jaguar > Dusty Ventures
11/11/2019 at 22:40

The gun rack in the library is a nice touch.

Chariotoflove > Dusty Ventures
11/11/2019 at 22:41

I might think about getting a mold remediation specialist out and a foundation repair company to see what kind of disaster this is. It might be salvageable.

Dusty Ventures > ttyymmnn
11/11/2019 at 22:42

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t tempted

Dusty Ventures > Chariotoflove
11/11/2019 at 22:42

Might be, but not on my budget.

Dusty Ventures > My X-type is too a real Jaguar
11/11/2019 at 22:43

The circuit breaker has that room labeled as “gun room. ” I would’ve used it for rally memorabilia

Chariotoflove > Dusty Ventures
11/11/2019 at 22:44

Yeah, I suppose not. Bummer.

Dusty Ventures > MM54
11/11/2019 at 22:46

I have no answer for the lattice. I assume some sort of decoration was attached to it.

And yeah, the price was decent for the amount of land and buildings included. listed at $199k, and with the amount of time they’ve been holding onto it I’m sure it could’ve been negotiated down a fair bit.

I’m about to add the land survey in the photos

My X-type is too a real Jaguar > Dusty Ventures
11/11/2019 at 22:47

I do cowboy action shooting competitions you want find a gun on display in my home. I don't understand prominently displaying firearms.

Your boy, BJR > Dusty Ventures
11/11/2019 at 22:47

Does “as is” include the piano and Pontiac?

Dusty Ventures > Your boy, BJR
11/11/2019 at 22:49

Piano yes. Pontiac probably not, but didn’t get to see inside the big garage so can’t say for sure it’s gone.

camarov6rs > Dusty Ventures
11/11/2019 at 23:06

Buy place rent lower portion for a couple years to save money use saved money to level house then sell entire property piecemeal...profit

Your boy, BJR > Dusty Ventures
11/11/2019 at 23:09

a tough decision then

Dusty Ventures > camarov6rs
11/11/2019 at 23:10

It’d take too much money to get the lower level livable

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Dusty Ventures
11/11/2019 at 23:41

I'm almost more concerned about the mold and water damage than the crack in the foundation. The water damage could mean $15,000 new roof plus lots of drywall replacement. I would walk too, find something smaller and in better shape.

Dusty Ventures > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
11/12/2019 at 00:26

I’ve got a roofing guy, and I can do my own drywall

camarov6rs > Dusty Ventures
11/12/2019 at 00:57

Burn it to the ground. Quick, simple and warm! I’m feeling particularly evil this evening.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > Dusty Ventures
11/12/2019 at 03:07

Well at least you found this before deciding to buy.

It still can be a good deal for the right person if it’s cheap enough.

In a worst case, you can buy it for the land value, tear it down and rebuild.

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > Dusty Ventures
11/12/2019 at 05:10

It’s worse than that... she’s dead, Jim!

arl > Dusty Ventures
11/12/2019 at 06:03

Yea, I wouldn’t touch that with a 10'pole. More of a tear-down than a remodel. Major water and foundation damage? Nope right out of there. You made the right choice.

My bird IS the word > Dusty Ventures
11/12/2019 at 06:55

I used to work for a realty company that specialized in foreclosures. This has so many of the typical features/issues of houses in this price range. Really brings me back.

OPPOsaurus WRX > Dusty Ventures
11/12/2019 at 08:09

I looked at a house where the people had gone on vacation in the middle of the summer and the hose to the icemaker let go. It flooded the basement and with the heat and moisture the whole house was covere d in black mold. The house was a STEAL at the price they were asking so I walked thru and within seconds was like yea.....fuck that, and ran out. It looked like the interior was turning into a bear.

Dusty Ventures > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
11/12/2019 at 09:57

If I could afford the cost of rebuild I might have considered doing just that, the location was a huge selling point for me. The state f orest in the backyard has a small mountain with an open access fire /observation tower on the summit, roughly two miles from the house . I would have loved hiking out to that every couple weeks. Especially in the fall