Saturday, August 05, 2006

Going once, going twice...

Sold! for $200,000...but not to us. We went to our first real estate auction today, and I think it will be our last. A crowd of investors and young homebuyers were ready to bid on this 1950's ranch in a neighborhood of similar houses. This one featured the original septic tank, knotty pine as far as the eye could see, and the original bathrooms. I know I'm cheap, but I'd like to think that if I'm spending that much, the toilets won't be green! It was a lot of fun to watch the bidding and get a better feel for the investor side of the market, though. Anytime Grandma watches the four-year-old is officially a date! At one point I left to nurse the baby. I was shocked to find our car hemmed in by others. What was I going to do? Simple. Just whip out your digital camera to record the damage and watch the truck's owner race to move his car. He knew perfectly well he parked too close!

Note: I know I have many questions to answer in the comments below, but I haven't (and won't) have much time on the computer this weekend. I'll do my best to answer them as soon as I can!

7 comments:

Carrie J said...

Our main bathroom used to be just that color. When we first moved in there was a hideous brown, turquoise and yellow tile floor AND a very busy floral wallpaper. It makes me a little sick nauseous just thinking about it. After replacing the flooring with white tile and the wall paper with a much simpler pattern, I actually learned to like it. Good thing because I had to live with it for 10 years before we were able to remodel. Now it is a nice white tile with rope trim. I agree with you, if I paid that much I would like something that needs a little less updating.
Carrie

Someone Beautiful said...

Oh, I love the green bathroom. I like old fashioned pale jade green. It looks like my favorite tupperware bowl. I purposely bought bath mats that color! that I know I'm funny. :)

That's great how you scared the guy into moving his truck! Did he say anything?

DonnaB said...

I'm confused...was this the house you were interested in after seeing it at the estate sale or was this a completely different house?

Anonymous said...

I like the green bathroom. It's vintage and it has character, unlike the fixtures you can get at a chain home improvement store. Just look at the quality of that sink! To kick this bathroom up a notch, I'd say it needs a fabulous colorful rug, a better shower curtain, and some pictures.

Luke and Valerie said...

This is way off the subject, but did you ever go to that children's clothing home party? Just curious.
:)

Meredith said...

I like the green color, too, but it would have to be updated for resale at a premium price. The fixtures were all chipped and discolored.

Donna, this is not the estate sale house. We're still waiting to hear back from the owner, who has ordered an appraisal. This one was in an adjacent neighborhood of brick ranches. We went prepared to buy it in case the price was low.

Valerie, I did not go to the children's clothing home party. We had just decided to put the house on the market, and honestly, I did not have the time to spare. The funny thing is that two days later, I received a baby gift from my husband's aunt--which was a beautiful smocked dress from the same company!

Mimi said...

I was shocked to see that green sink! I used to live in one of the dormitories in the University of the Philippines that was built in 1949 to replace the cottages used by American soldiers during WWII. This dorm, when I lived there in th early 1990s, still had that same kind of sink! Exactly the same except for the color (the dorm's were white). Talk about having the same vintage sinks on both sides of the Pacific Ocean in 2006...

http://www.dilnet.upd.edu.ph/~ovcsa/osh/molave_residence_hall.htm