Sunday, February 20, 2011

Adventures with Foreclosures

I've been checking out foreclosures in the area and am still looking for that diamond in the rough, but the hunt has been an adventure.

First rule: the photos always look much better than the actual property. This leads to the second rule: never get your hopes up.

One place had such a low ceiling that if you were taller than six feet, you had to constantly duck -- this place also had a support column in front of the sink and counter space -- you would have to straddle the column to wash dishes or prepare food. In the basement, there was a finished apartment -- although I'm being generous with the word "finished."  Behind the shower was a cubby-hole that looked like it might have been a torture chamber -- quite scary.

Still another place had two full bathrooms -- literally side by side -- a doorway connected them. Stepping into the kitchen, it was a huge mistake to open the freezer -- not sure what was in there, but I can still smell it! Nasty!

Just yesterday, as I was touring a house -- that was supposed to be empty -- a guy popped his head out of a bedroom -- looking very surprised and then slammed the door and bolted it. He refused to allow us inside. I guess he decided not to sell at the last minute.

I'm still looking -- and I have to say that half the fun is never knowing what/who you are going to find -- but I am leaving the refrigerators closed -- that's an adventure for the real estate agent.