Speaking of garages ...

"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher) 07/04/2019 at 10:09 • Filed to: Would you?

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A philosophical question for Oppo:

It is well established that folks around here appreciate good architecture.

For obvious reasons, we all love a good garage as well.

So, would Oppo buy an ugly, vinyl sided, slab on grade ranch house, completely devoid of all architectural thought ... To have a 4-car detached AND a 2+ car attached garage?

Pretty great, right?

But that house ... Woof!

It is actually pretty nice on the inside, and there is a really nice back patio too.

Linky: !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

Bonus points: it’s on a busy road too.

We’re not actually considering moving, and I cannot afford this anyways ... But I might go for it. Actually, the worst thing about it to me, is that it’s slab on grade ... Bleh.

Link in replies, in case of kinja.

Echo51 > shop-teacher 07/04/2019 at 10:38

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You could do sick donuts in that roundabout driveway!!

Sovande > shop-teacher 07/04/2019 at 10:40

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I would buy it if that driveway could be made less parking lot like. I want a pretty house just like everyone else, but I would much rather have the garage space than curb appeal. Of course I live alone and don’t have to answer to anyone else, so I might not be the best judge.

I'm kidding. I looked at the pictures of the inside and the brick patio and I couldn't live in that place. It's terrible. 

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > shop-teacher 07/04/2019 at 10:50

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Okay... this choice compared to what?

I mean... that house can look great to someone currently living in a clapped-out shit hole.

fhrblig > shop-teacher 07/04/2019 at 10:52

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I’d take it in a second, but then again I currently live in a condo that I hate.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > shop-teacher 07/04/2019 at 10:56

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SO CHEAP. I would in a heartbeat.

shop-teacher > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 07/04/2019 at 11:02

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Compared to an attractive well designed house with a conventional 2-car garage.

shop-teacher > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 07/04/2019 at 11:06

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I payed less than half of this for a 4-bed 2-bath Craftsman style bungalow , with a detached 2-1/2 car garage. Granted, it needed a lot of work, I’ve put tens of thousands into it, and I am by no means done yet.

shop-teacher > Echo51 07/04/2019 at 11:07

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Its begging for a go kart race!

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > shop-teacher 07/04/2019 at 11:09

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I need to see a picture of what you consider attractive.

For example... many consider this no-garage to be attractive and would prefer it :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casa_Batll%C3%B3

But it might not be to your taste...

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > shop-teacher 07/04/2019 at 11:10

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The lowest detached home in Fort Langley is $94 5K.

WilliamsSW > shop-teacher 07/04/2019 at 11:11

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Cheaper to build a garage than to fix that house.

Plus no way I’d live on a busy road with kids unless I had a lot of land. 

XJDano > shop-teacher 07/04/2019 at 11:25

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I’d pass because of the price.

It reminds me of my grandmas old place where my mom grew up.

Slab on grade with vents through the floor, HV AC, and baseboard heaters?

VincentMalamute-Kim > shop-teacher 07/04/2019 at 11:37

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I’d buy it.

Positives: The garage space. Ranch. No basement. Backs up to a forest preserve! That must be a lot of the asking price. Easy access to the expressway. House remodeling for prettier gives you something to do with your time!

Negatives: Garage too short for lift. Busy road. I bet you can hear a lot of the expressway noise . Dang, it really is ugly.

nermal > shop-teacher 07/04/2019 at 11:37

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That particular place seems wayyyyyy overpriced for what you get. However, it’s Chicago area so there’s that. Location and everything.

Regarding the question at hand, a nice garage is a must for my next place, but like everything it’s negotiable and open to compromise. Not gonna take a 10/10 garage in a 1/10 location, for example. 

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > shop-teacher 07/04/2019 at 11:42

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What’s wrong with slab on grade? /lives in a place where everything is slab on grade.

shop-teacher > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 07/04/2019 at 11:47

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Its rare around here, and exclusively done out of cheapness. There are a few problems. It puts the floor of your home closer to grade, so if you have drainage problems, you have much less margin for error to keep water out of your house. If you have anything to do mechanically, be it plumbing, or wiring or whatnot, you have to go up into the attic. Plus, it puts into question whether or not the foundation really goes below the frost line. In these parts, you have to dig down at least 48" to the bottom of your footing to do that,l. However, b ack in the day, building code was a lot more loosey-goosey, so that didn’t always happen with slab on grade houses. This can lead to frost heaving and cracked slabs. And when that happens, you're pretty much FUBARED.

shop-teacher > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 07/04/2019 at 11:52

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Its not a question about me. I'm asking what you would do. So, consider what you would find attractive.

shop-teacher > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 07/04/2019 at 11:52

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I can't even.

shop-teacher > VincentMalamute-Kim 07/04/2019 at 11:53

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Yeah, you can definitely hear the expressway from here.

shop-teacher > nermal 07/04/2019 at 11:54

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Solid logic.

I think it's overpriced for this area.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > shop-teacher 07/04/2019 at 11:55

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I can’t even.

#homeless life

shop-teacher > XJDano 07/04/2019 at 11:55

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Yep. Maintenance nightmare.

I think it's overpriced, even for this area.

shop-teacher > WilliamsSW 07/04/2019 at 11:56

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It does have a lot of land, but the location sucks.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > shop-teacher 07/04/2019 at 11:59

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I prefer Casa Batlló...

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > shop-teacher 07/04/2019 at 12:00

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Interesting. In the desert S outhwest, pretty much anything built in the last 50 years (and a good portion of things before) are slab on grade, regardless of price range. You might find a crawl space on an old enough house, and a full basement would be like a one in a million kind of thing (and likely very old) . Of course, frost heave isn’t really a concern here.

That said, I’d take the  house listed. For that much garage space, I’d be okay with a house that looked like a giant ass.

shop-teacher > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 07/04/2019 at 12:05

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The economics are totally different where frost isn’t a concern. These days a lot of towns wont even let you build slab on grade. S ince you have to dig down 48", and do a full footing and perimet er wall anyways, you may as well dig down 8' and have a proper basement. There are a lot of old houses with crawl spaces, but they are in the vast minority compared to the number that have full basements. Slab on grade is even rarer. I doubt a house has been built around here without a basement in the last 30 years.

CTSenVy > shop-teacher 07/04/2019 at 12:14

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The drive way and the garages would be great, and I even like the interior. But.... for half a million I can get so much more  where I live.

shop-teacher > CTSenVy 07/04/2019 at 12:37

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Its overpriced for here too.

WilliamsSW > shop-teacher 07/04/2019 at 12:51

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I didn’t click the link originally - nice back yard and lots of land, but the house looks like it used to be a motel.

Nice that it backs up to a forest preserve too.  

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > shop-teacher 07/04/2019 at 12:53

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You can get really nice architecture in Chicago for less, I don’t like the house at all.

WilliamsSW > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 07/04/2019 at 12:59

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Barcelona + Gaudi = awesome 

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > CTSenVy 07/04/2019 at 13:28

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Wait this is only $500k?? I can't even get a cheap starter condo thats smaller than my apartment for that kind of money. 

CTSenVy > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 07/04/2019 at 13:52

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“Only 500k”

I don’t think I could make it in your housing market.

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > shop-teacher 07/04/2019 at 14:10

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I would love to say yes, but in reality, we passed on a few like this over the 3-5 years we were house shopping.  We settled on a hugemungous house with a 3 car.  One of the only five bedroom houses we liked that we could afford.  Life’s all about compromises.  At least my Dakota will be in a garage this winter :).  

shop-teacher > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 07/04/2019 at 14:57

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Yeah, it's pretty uggo

shop-teacher > merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc 07/04/2019 at 15:46

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Not too shabby.

shop-teacher > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 07/04/2019 at 17:16

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Its $465k.

shop-teacher > WilliamsSW 07/04/2019 at 17:17

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My wife said, "It looks like they glued a bunch of manufactured homes together."

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > CTSenVy 07/04/2019 at 18:06

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I’ve just never even given it serious thought about buying a house here . Between my girlfriend and I, we make enough to live well. But even so, we will be well past 30 before we can consider a house instead of renting. I absolutely do not understand how people our age have children and still want to live relatively debt free, productive lives. Considering a decent ~ 15 % down payment will be $100k or more, it's hard to fathom just keeping a chunk of cash like that around to spend. 

WilliamsSW > shop-teacher 07/04/2019 at 18:57

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Haha - everything around here that’s on a slab looks like that a little bit 

shop-teacher > WilliamsSW 07/04/2019 at 21:13

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Truth!

bob and john > CTSenVy 07/05/2019 at 12:13

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dude....you shoudl see the toronto housing market....

bob and john > shop-teacher 07/05/2019 at 12:18

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I would. Id have to redo the driveway, too parking lotish for me. but I like the garage, I like the parking for the DD’s, and the interior is very nice too. 

bob and john > shop-teacher 07/05/2019 at 12:18

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I would. Id have to redo the driveway, too parking lotish for me. but I like the garage, I like the parking for the DD’s, and the interior is very nice too. 

bob and john > shop-teacher 07/05/2019 at 12:18

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I would. Id have to redo the driveway, too parking lotish for me. but I like the garage, I like the parking for the DD’s, and the interior is very nice too. 

CTSenVy > bob and john 07/05/2019 at 15:42

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That’s insane.  That’s it I’m officially poor pretty much any where else in the developed world but here.