Fugly listings

edited August 2008 in Seattle Real Estate
Can we start a new thread with the ugliest listings or flips that do not have a chance in heck of selling, here is mine:

http://www.redfin.com/WA/Woodinville/12 ... ome/454648

I can honestly say this is the ugliest house I have ever seen and this is supposed to be an improvement. Blah

Comments

  • I can honestly say this is the ugliest house I have ever seen and this is supposed to be an improvement. Blah

    The front roof line combined with the unpainted wood siding is just horrendous. The late 60's/early 70's were a bad time for residential architecture. This remodel has actual made the house uglier.
  • Yeah, I could post those 50s and 60s Brady homes all day in this thread:
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    Ditto with townhomes or newer homes with 3 garages front and center like a mutant monster.

    Or skinniesI hate skinnies.
    28103833_1_1.jpg

    This one's trying so hard to be ugly, it's kinda cute.
    28092014_0.jpg

    But what I hate the most is the houses made of light, one-inch tall brick. Absolutely hate 'em. Particularly if they paint them over. I'll see if I can find a prime example.

    Of course, Now I'll probably end up finding one that's an absolute bargain and can't pass up, and end up living there for 50 years. ;)
  • You have to see this one in person to really appreciate how much it looks like a waste treatment facility.

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    Jon - I think this will work ....

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    I like it!!! Way out of my price range though

    5340 Butterworth Rd Mercer Island, WA 98040
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  • Cool interior with a blah exterior...
  • I like the house, but could not deal with living in the trees like that. Looks like what I used to call a "canyon house" when I lived on MI. Down in a canyon above one of the coves on the east side of the island. No light in the afternoon, kind of damp, dark and dreary.
  • I guess we truly know the cause of the deforestation and global warming now.

    Who knew it would be a man in phinney ridge?
  • Hardwood floors, 4 bedrooms, private, fenced backyard, detached garage.

    More like "Hardwood floors, hardwood walls, hardwood ceilings, hardwood cabinets, hardwood bedrooms..."
  • Hardwood floors, 4 bedrooms, private, fenced backyard, detached garage.

    More like "Hardwood floors, hardwood walls, hardwood ceilings, hardwood cabinets, hardwood bedrooms..."

    You beat me to the joke! but I like the parquet....
    28117342_6_0.jpg
  • I like hardwood floors and such, but damn.
  • To me, putting parquet on the walls is like putting wallpaper on the floor.
  • This has gotta be the only house I have ever seen in Seattle with a pool. They seem to be pretty proud of it on the listing; I guess that they are hoping all of these scorching 84 degree days will reel in the buyers.

    28107261_9_1.jpg

    http://www.redfin.com/WA/Seattle/647-NW ... ome/302455
  • There are pools out there. Personally I find them a negative, as I have a dog and a small child. I don't think I'm alone. Why would you waste your yard on something you can use a few months out of the year?
  • Properties with pools in the NW are only attractive to people who have never owned a pool or have never known anyone who has owned a pool. Especially in ground pools.
  • Properties with pools in the NW are only attractive to people who have never owned a pool or have never known anyone who has owned a pool. Especially in ground pools.

    Not fair. An extremely small minority of residents actually do swim - a lot. If I swam 6 days a week 11 months out of the year, I would think a modest pool with jets (so you can do "laps") and a heater would be worth having.

    Of course, I'm not one of those people. And neither is pretty much everybody else. If you had 1 1/2+ acres however, the land usage wouldn't seem so bad.
  • True, a small part of the population does swim year round, but not outdoors that whole time.

    A pool in the NW is only usable from mid may to mid september. If you keep your pool heated up here any other time of the year, you're a fool.
  • In the several appraisal classes i took, I learned that in the Seattle area, not only does a pool not add value, but to find the value you need to subtract the cost of filling the pool in.
  • ira s wrote:
    In the several appraisal classes i took, I learned that in the Seattle area, not only does a pool not add value, but to find the value you need to subtract the cost of filling the pool in.

    That cracks me up, but it's so true for an in-ground pool around here. My neighbors behind me have an in-ground pool that hasn't worked in about 15 years. All it's good for is breeing mosquitoes and there's a family of ducks that live there about 9 months out of the year.
  • http://www.redfin.com/WA/Bellevue/1825- ... ome/509231
    A short detour off Richards Rd leads to this landscaped lot with mature trees.





    Neglected, landscaped, they're basically synonyms right?
  • Couldn't you also apply the pools argument to central air as well? It's only a nice-to-have 4 or 5 days out of the year. I've lived in places where central air was a need. You don't even want the bills for running that in the summer in the South. My in-laws, who live here, tried to get me to put one in our home because the home they had purchased had it. I told them I'd go and stay at the Four Seasons if it ever got too unbearable instead of dropping an ungodly amount of money on something I'd rarely use.
  • Couldn't you also apply the pools argument to central air as well? It's only a nice-to-have 4 or 5 days out of the year. I've lived in places where central air was a need. You don't even want the bills for running that in the summer in the South. My in-laws, who live here, tried to get me to put one in our home because the home they had purchased had it. I told them I'd go and stay at the Four Seasons if it ever got too unbearable instead of dropping an ungodly amount of money on something I'd rarely use.

    No, the same argument doesn't apply, because central air does not have any specific downside. Dislike it, and you can just not run it. It might have very little return on investment, but you have no risk that a neighbor child will drown in it or any such thing.

    In that regard, central air might be more like buying a tuxedo, at least for most people.
  • My grandparents in whatcom county had a pool when I was growing up and it was nice. They also had a ton of extra land and built a building around the pool so it was indoors. I'd say an outdoor pool on a normal sized city lot is a negative, but if you have the land and can make it indoors, it's a definite positive.
  • Ha ha ha, RCC!

    Funny, you mentioning central air on probably the hottest day of the year.

    Yes, just like that tuxedo--you don't use it except for a few times a year, but when you do use it, you really need it!

    I grew up in eastern WA and used to spend all day outside with the temperature in the 90s or low 100s, but I'm really out of practice now! :D

    Back to that fugly listing above, holy crap, almost $600K for that fixer :shock: ???? Folks, listen up, what we have here is proof positive that we've got a long way to go. And while on the rant, what's up with the discrepancies between some information in the listing and KC records?

    Listing says: 2007 taxes are $2566
    KC property records say it is: $2828 ($2566 was for 2006)
    Listing SHOULD say: taxes for this coming year are $3076 (still seems low relative to the asking price)

    Listing says: electric heat
    KC records say: gas
  • Couldn't you also apply the pools argument to central air as well? It's only a nice-to-have 4 or 5 days out of the year. I've lived in places where central air was a need. You don't even want the bills for running that in the summer in the South. My in-laws, who live here, tried to get me to put one in our home because the home they had purchased had it. I told them I'd go and stay at the Four Seasons if it ever got too unbearable instead of dropping an ungodly amount of money on something I'd rarely use.

    No, the same argument doesn't apply, because central air does not have any specific downside. Dislike it, and you can just not run it. It might have very little return on investment, but you have no risk that a neighbor child will drown in it or any such thing.

    In that regard, central air might be more like buying a tuxedo, at least for most people.

    Did anyone really NEED central air today? It was what.....88? There has been maybe one time in my ten years of living here where I thought I could really use some A/C right now.

    I would argue that central air does have a big downside. The cost to put in and cost to run the thing. Very similar to a pool, at least up here. You are right in that there is no risk of child becoming injured in having one. My family, from TX, is still shocked when I keep mentioning that we don't have A/C.
  • Central air should probably have a maintenance checkup once a year too. It isn't a big expense but it is still there.
  • I don't really see the need for central air in the Seattle area. I'm from Texas, so I'm familiar with areas where central air is indeed needed. And I hate the heat so I tend to have less tolerance. I have a window unit AC that I put up in the computer room in the summer and use it generally when the daytime high is over 70 (to keep the hard drives healthy). That room also serves as a nice place to escape the heat when it gets to be too much (which for me is >80 degrees in the house). But even for me and my heat intolerance, central air seems overkill. I spend around 3/4 of the year with my windows open.
  • ira s wrote:
    In the several appraisal classes i took, I learned that in the Seattle area, not only does a pool not add value, but to find the value you need to subtract the cost of filling the pool in.

    Ira, this is true elsewhere, not just Seattle. It was true in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Indiana. In Indiana, I think appraisers usually used the cost of removing the concrete, filling the hole with good dirt and planting vegetation, which is marginally costlier than just filling the thing in. A good friend bought a house with a very nice 40x20 in-ground pool and it lowered the appraised value of the house by about $15k (from $160k to 145k).

    The flipside is that it more than doubled his homeowners insurance, and only double because it was completely fenced in so a kid couldn't wander into it without climbing a 5' high fence.

    I really can't see having a pool in Seattle as being that great. I used to swim laps and there's no way I'd do it in a backyard pool (too short and way too costly to keep at a reasonably warm temperature). And it's not like we're in a desert for those twice-a-year 85 degree days when swimming seems like a good idea.
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