Oofah - after a bit of a lull over christmas I had a couple of vacation days and decided to go out with Ginny and blitz what was available. Bob is away so the plan was for me to rule out a few places and then go back to the better ones with him.
We started off in Bethel with the center colonial. $359,000. 1427 sq ft. Nice house on mains water and sewer. Clean lines but just small. The living room was 22 x 10 but the 10ft was between entering in the front door and a fireplace that jutted out about 18-24" so there wasn't really room for furniture around the fireplace. nice house though - wide floor boards but just too small for us.
Then we did one drive by also in Bethel over on Bethpage Drive - couldn't view inside but the outside was nice except for a strange garage door that was too narrow to actually get a car in!! It has nicer curb appeal than the photo shows but if you wanted a useable garage you'd have to tear off the siding and redo frame the garage door.
Then we drove through a nice part of Danbury. We didn't have a specific house but Ginny wanted to show me this small pocket neighbourhood with great access to the highway - consequently there's traffic noise (that reminds me of when I lived in S. Cal near the 405) - but it's a quaint little area of a mix of victorians, colonials and ranchs. We drove past one listing - the green colonial above with all the trees out front. We called the agent and went into view.
This was $389,900. Colonial built in 1951 with only one owner. 1941 sq. ft. 4 BR, 2/1 baths. Single garage. This turned out to be a good find. Big rooms and lots of potential and a feeling that the house was well kept. Enter into a small entryway and then a 19 x 12 living room with fireplace and wide board floors. Kitchen was a disaster - old sort of nonexistant cabinets and only in an 11 x 9 space but with potential to knock through into either some of the living room or the dining room or relocate it to the dining room and knock into the office and then have external windows. I really got a nice feel for this house for the first time. Some rooms would just need cosmetic help - paint. Others would be longer projects - the large 17 x 16 family room needs the sort of cheap plywood sheathing tearing out and new sheetrock hanging but then you could reframe the 1/2 bath in there. Then the kitchen would be a longer term/more expensive project. Upstairs the master bedroom could have a wider opening into an adjoing bedroom to make a suite and then remodel the master bath, still leaving 2 other bedrooms and another bath. I had a feeling that I was in a dead person's house or at least a house where someone had gone to a home. There was a scrapbook of photos of the projects they had done on the house since they bought it in 1951 so you could see how it had grown - they had added the large family room on one end and then later a single garage and dinind room office and then the master bedroom above with bath. Then they had screened in the back area between the two extensions to make a screened porch with an intriguing raise platform which got them over the door frame of the door from the basement. Anyhoo - great potential and I had a feel that it could work with some projects however at $389,900 I feel it's way overpriced however looking a few years down the road it would get us into a bigger house that we otherwise couldn't afford - it's great in some rooms - liveable and we could dictate how and when we spent the money to get things done over a couple of years. External needed some different color on garage door, shutters and front door as whole house is sort of a faded green color. Some of the plants/bushs etc are blocking light into the house but not much so a little landscaping would be needed and one corner of the lot showed recent excavation so would need to find out what that was. Mains water and sewer!! Being a Brit where you only hava septic if you live out in the frigging wilds I can't get my head around paying loads of money for a house with well water and a septic system. So mains water/sewer is a big plus for me.
Also Bob would hate the current kitchen - who wouldn't basically - but we could rebuild it how we wanted it so he actually seems quite game for that. So it is on our list for a revisit. This unplanned visit took a bit of time but then we headed off up to the Richter Park area.
Raised ranch. $384,900, 1317 sq ft. This was in the Richter Park/Aunt Hack area a part of Danbury that has good appreciation and a good elementary school and being in the far west has good access to 84 for both Bob and I. This first property with a nice crimson front door was in move-in condition. You enter into a carpeted (with HWF below) LR and then through to a nicely done kitchen with adjoining DR area. Then up the split ranch thing to 3 small BRs and one bath. Nice property just too small - no storage - there was a den room downstairs but if you thought about how much space there was a for awake time it was v. small.
Also hit up this other ranch ($369,000, 1800 sq. ft) on the same street. Bit of a nightmare - v. small again despite being 1800sq. ft - alot of it was downstairs and you really want some of that on teh main level. Needs the kitchen and the den room redoing in a major way. Again too small upstairs - bedrooms small.
Then we swung by a true ranch that was out of our budget but I was intrigued to see it as it had a nice living room form photos on the web. Elm Crest $399,000. 1576 sq. ft. This had a hubbard on it (offer is in but offer maker needs to sell own property). The L-shaped living room/fireplace/dining area was as nice as in the photos - great sunlight and plenty of space. The kitchen which was stripped off appliances needed redoing totally. Bedrooms were very small - 12 x 12 was the biggest I think. The basement was finished and huge which gave gobs of space but you might get slammed atthe next reassessment. It also showed some damp and the yard showed eveidence of recent excavation and the driveway had subsidence so I think there night have been a drainage issue across the lot. Double garage was a bonus. Again great LR/DR area but v. little storage and small BRs and only 1 bathroom.
Then (take a breath) we headed to the last house - a cape up in Brookfield ($385,000, 1352 sq. ft). This definitely was a dead person's house. Small 220 sq ft joining apartment and wow! this place hadn't been painted in maybe 30 years - enter into small kitchen - through past base of stairs into a small but long LR with fireplace. 2 v. small BRs and then a crazy unfinshed/slightly finished upstairs that they may have used as a sitting ara - I'm not sure. If you shed-windowed out the roof you'd get great space. The kitchen had the original (1957) metal cabinets and countertops. With paint in the kitchen it would look great but v. small. Plus Brookfield is a little too far for us maybe? but better schools than Danbury.
In summary - definitely want to take Bob back to the green colonial which after viewing the other houses - is still overpriced but stands out as the best find of the day - big rooms, potential, character etc etc.
Center colonial, Bethel, $359,000. 1427 sq. ft. Mains water/sewer.
Driveby cape, Bethel,$379,000. 1759 sq. ft. Sewer/city water.
Green colonial, Danbury, $389,900. 1941 sq. ft. maons water/sewer.
Split level ranch, Danbury, $384,900. 1317 sq. ft. Septic/city water. No a/c.
Raised ranch, Danbury, $369,000. 1800 sq. ft. Septic/city water. No a/c.
Ranch, Danbury, $399,000. 1576 sq. ft. Septic/well. No a/c.
Cape, Brookfield, $385,000. 1352 sq. ft. Septic/well. This made the green colonial look like a bargain!
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