Sparring over the Heights
Seen lots of houses in the last few weeks. Can't say we've been blown away. The long and short of it is, the market is still at a level that it is really beyond our means to get something we'd really like, and I don't think it'll ever come down enough. So you have to compromise or stay out of the market. Then the big question becomes what do you compromise on, and here is where Better Half and I probably have the biggest divergence of opinion. I'm all about location. I can live with a house that is not perfect as long is it's livable and the location is good. By that I mean, good schools nearby and a walkable neighborhood. Today we saw what absolutely fits the bill in my opinion. You can see the listing here. It is just a block away from THE best part of all Glendale, the Montrose strip on Hononulu. It's got all the good schools. The catch is the house is old and undoubtedly needs some work. How much and how soon we wouldn't really know until after an inspection. But for BH, it's a non-starter more because of the layout -- a feng shui thing. The layout doesn't bother me at all and I think you could still do a lot with the place to make it more comfortable, but location you can't change. Dunno if we'll ever find something that suits us both. Pretty darn sure we'll never find anything in this area (known as Sparr Heights) at this price again unless the market were suddenly to collapse (and by all indications, it seems to be picking up again).
Comments
Oh, this sounds really frustrating! I too am inclined to think the location can't be beat and the house looks OK...though of course it's hard to really tell at a distance. Buying a house is such a big decision, and that makes it especially hard when you have different priorities. Hope you can find some middle ground, preferably sooner rather than later!
And may I just say OUCH on that price tag??!!! This is the COMPROMISE level?? LA real estate is frickin insane.
And yes, Cher, LA prices are insane. And the salaries are not necessarily commensurate with these kind of prices. It's crazy.
I agree that it looks like a nice house with not too much fixing up to be done, as far as I could tell from the pics. But that doesn't help you any if BH is dead-set against it! Either way, good luck in your search, and I hope you can come to some sort of compromise soon.