The Hunt for a House

Jeff and I decided that when we moved to North Carolina we would buy a house, so before we got here we spent a lot of time thinking about what we wanted. We had a few solid ideas. We wanted an older home with character in a lively neighborhood close to restaurants and shops (think Highlands if you're in Louisville; Ballard if you're in Seattle). We wanted to be close to Duke so that Jeff could continue to ride his bike to work. We wanted 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, something with room for guests and an office but not too much extra space that we'd just have to furnish and clean. We wanted it to be in live-in condition. Though the idea of renovating an old house has its appeal, we're realistic enough to know that right now we don't have the time...or the know-how.

So our first two days here, we just rode all over Durham trying to get a feel for it, figuring out which neighborhoods looked like good fits and which didn't. On our third day, we went out with a realtor and saw 11 houses. Two days later we went out and saw 2 additional houses. On Tuesday, we went and saw 1 more. So far, that's 14 houses that we've seen in person. How many we've looked at online I can't even begin to guess. Yet we're still at square one, without a house that we want to purchase.

We've seen some interesting houses though. We've seen two that must have had previous lives as boarding houses, as none of the rooms were connected, with each and every one opening up into a hallway that ran straight from the front door down the middle of the house. They had some cool old fireplaces and doors but weren't exactly livable. One also had a styrofoam ceiling. That's a new one for me.

We've seen one that was firmly situated on the corner of Okay and Not Okay. The tricky thing with Durham is that you can cross one street and go from a neighborhood of lovely, well-maintained homes to a neighborhood you wouldn't walk through by yourself at night...and maybe not during the day. This house, if approached from the south, seemed to be well located. If approached from the north, it seemed to border the ghetto. And for us, the corner of Okay and Not Okay is pretty much Not Okay. (Props to my friend Kate for this original reference, which Jeff and I love.)

We've seen a couple that used to be duplexes but have been reconverted back into single family homes. By reconverted I mean that they simply filled the window and door areas with drywall while leaving the framing. Very classy.

We've seen a cool solar home, but it was a bit far away and more of an ideal set up for a single person, or at least a couple who never intended to have overnight guests.

We've seen one or two homes that are nice, but just aren't us.

And twice we've seen our dream house. The first one was oozing with character---beautiful wood floors, a cool closed in sleeping porch, an amazing fireplace surrounded by built in bookshelves in the living room, an updated but not at all sterile kitchen.

But it was on a busy street, set only a few yards from it (so a good bit of street noise), and with a driveway about as big as one car. It's impossible to get in and out, and the nearest street you can park on requires you traipse through your back neighbor's yard. It also only has one bathroom, and there wasn't an obvious place to put a second one. Also, near the top of our price range, we won't really have extra funds for adding bathrooms. And finally the washer/dryer was in the basement, which totally reminded me of a cave (or being on the Seattle Underground tour). It is not what anyone in Louisville would call a basement, but apparently the standard for around here. It was exposed dirt...with exposed wiring and exposed insulation to match.

The second one we adored was an Arts & Crafts style bungalow (exactly what we were looking for!). It had great hard wood floors and fireplaces, lovely crown molding, a nice front porch, cool built-ins, a redone kitchen, redone bathrooms, and a good yard. Perfect. Except for the neighborhood. The immediate neighbors looked good. (Though the house immediately next door isn't as nice, and is, in fact, on sale for $70,000 less than the house we looked at!) But the house backs up to an apartment complex that appears to house a lot of people who like to keep the majority of their possessions on their front porch. Three houses down in one direction is a house with literally 15 cars parked in the yard. Three houses down in the direction is a house with a falling down barn-like structure and a driveway filled with junk. At the end of the street is a used car lot and a checks cashed place. I really wish we could just pick up the house and move it.

And then there was the house we'd probably put a bid on if it weren't for one major thing. The house isn't our dream house, but we like it a lot. It's just down the street from Dream House #1, and it's a fantastic neighborhood of mainly much bigger houses at much higher prices. It's right across from a lovely park, a short bike ride to Duke, and best of all, just a mile walk from the newly revitalized downtown area. It's set much farther off the street than the other house, has a turnaround and garage, and has a large, terraced lawn that blocks out most street noise. The kitchen and bathrooms are a bit smaller than we'd like, but livable. The living/dining area is great as are the bedrooms. There's a nice fireplace, beautiful hardwoods, elegant crown molding. There's also a closed in sleeping porch that would make an awesome office, and a large and very light-filled sun room. It would make a great house.


So what's the problem? Well, it may just collapse on us if we bought it. You see, the first time we saw it, we noticed a bit of cracking inside by the windows and doors. We took some photos and sent them to my brother, an architect who works for a firm that pretty much specialized in this kind of thing. He got back to me and said that they didn't look too bad from what he could tell, but we should look more closely and especially pay attention to the outside. So we revisited the house, and I don't know how we missed all the cracks the first time. They were everywhere. And worst of all, they were outside. There were lots of stairstep and pyramid cracks, which indicate that the foundation has shifted (or is shifting). There were cracks that had been filled but had cracked again, a sign that it wasn't a one-time thing. There was a crack that was 1/2 inch wide, which my brother says is pretty substantial in the world of architecture. And there was a long horizontal crack, which is apparently a sign of wall failure. Fan-freaking-tastic.

Not wanting to entirely write it off, we requested info from the sellers. They were, however, completely unhelpful. They claim that they had it looked at when they bought the house 10 years ago and were told it was fine, but they can't provide any paperwork to substantiate it. They also claim it hasn't moved since they have lived there, though they haven't had it looked at any time recently and don't have crack monitors, so I don't believe they have any way of knowing, except that it hasn't fallen on them. And they don't appear to have any interest in having a structural engineer look at or in paying for any necessary repairs.

So we're walking. And it's back to square one. Though sort of fun at first, I'm already getting tired of the house hunt. It feels like it's been a long hunt already (as evidenced by this long post!). Not exactly inspiring is the fact that we're moving into the holidays and winter, which is not a popular time to be house hunting. But I guess all it takes is the one perfect house. Cross your fingers for us!