Homes 6 & 7 Sun 3/1/09

Today is a rainy day in Corvallis, you can tell because all of the photos are kind of dark. There were few open houses, all outside of the walkable downtown radius. But there is good news,we found two interesting houses downtown. I'm numbering them picking up where we left off...

House #6

This house is right downtown.
I didn't even know there were homes this close to the shops.
It is a block to the skateboard area and river park,
Safeway grocery is less than two blocks away.

This can be a single-owner home,
but it is also a true rentable "duplex,"
even with separate fenced yards
(a little front yard and a bigger back yard),
and an upstairs master suite unit with kitchen and separate entrance.

It has an alley along the side and the back fenced area,
and an area of yard outside the fence
(maybe they used to park an RV or boat there).

The yard is big, partly shaded, partly open.

Here is another yard view:

In case you are wondering what is on the other side of the alley,
it is the Willamette Veterinary Clinic, and there is a
veterinarian there 24 hours a day (kind of nice to have
a secure presence in the neighborhood).

Here is the flyer:

Location: 353 SW B Ave. (one block from those riverview tower condos on the river)

Price: $259,900

MLS #590255

You can click here to get additional information.

House #7

Normally we would not have looked at this house because ALL of its yard is on the sides and in the front (no backyard at all, just a garage and parking area). But it is a corner house in that beautiful area one block north of the library.

This is another house with nice details:

This house is begging for a beautiful lush front and side garden,
because this is the road everybody (including visitors) travels
to cross the bridge heading West out of town.
I envision something like this:

Mark walking around the side:

The West side yard:

The East side yard (also long and narrow):

Back of the house(with no back yard):

Mark is contemplating where a back yard could go.
Two things to see:
1. A family bought and are refurbishing the yellow house next door
2. There are two BIG maple trees, so you can rake in Oregon too.

View from the front porch:

The house is empty, so I snapped a few shots through the window:

The flyers were all gone
(two people drove up to see the house while we were there),
but there were a few more pictures on-line:

Location: 660 NW Van Buren Ave (one block to the library, two blocks to the park)

Price: $269,900

MLS #600769

You can click here to get additional information.

We're hunting for more!

Estate Agents

We don't have any new houses today (tomorrow we'll have open houses to peruse), so today is something different. We have been researching what "estate agents" (us) do to get hints about how to help out. It's actually pretty interesting, here is a summary of what we've learned.

Step #1: Arrive with the tools of the trade (disposal equipment, packing materials, etc.).

Step #2: Everything is divided into one of five different groups:
Group #1: Refuse (things of no or little value to be discarded in the garbage)
Group #2: Recycling (things of no or little value to be recycled)
Group #3: Donations (things of value to be given to charity or acquaintances)
Group #4: Sales (things of value to be sold/auctioned)
Group #5: Belongings (things of value kept by the estate owner)

Step #3: Groups 1 through 4 are removed.
a. Groups #1 and #2 (refuse, recycling) are removed first, during the sorting stage.
b. Group #3 (donations) is subdivided by destinations (specific charities or individuals) and delivered, or arrangements are made for these to be picked up.
c. Group #4 (sales) items are classified ("collectibles, full collection, glass, silverware, etc."), boxed, and sent to auction and sales houses.

Step #4: Group #5 (belongings) is securely packed and shipped to estate owner's desired destination.

Step #5: Some estate agents then have cleaners that prepare the house for sale.

-  side notes:
a. most estates have less goods in group #5 (belongings) than in the other four groups.
b. estate agents promote sorting a lot of things into group #4 (sales), to "make" $$.

Vladi would be a good packer.

Thought that was interesting.  More houses coming soon!

New Homes Friday 2/27/09

Hi Mom!

This is a blog we've set up that will have new entries every so often on houses we find, or interesting things we run across.

We called this "Garden Homes" because we are looking for a beautiful home with good garden space, a way to enjoy the garden (a deck, porch, or window view), good overall condition, pretty interior spaces ("good bones"), a quiet neighborhood, in walking distance to grocery shopping/stores, with a reasonable price. If there are any other characteristics you'd like to add, just let me know.

Right now the blog is not set up to accept comments, but I can set that up later on your computer, if you like.

At this point, we want to show different kinds of houses, so we get a feel for what characteristics are winners, and which are losers. Some will be downtown, others will be in other nice areas around town. If there is a home that catches your eye, we can get more information right away. For each home, I'll include a photo or two, the location, the features that caught our eye, other comments, and the web listing link at realtor.com (if it has one).

Here we go...

House #1

I might have passed this little cutie right by...
(Mark is waving in the car)

Some planters or raised beds out front would be nice.

(I added the flowers to hide their big car)

The interior spaces look interesting:
(photos from the listing at realtor.com,

and there are more at the link below)

And the yard is BIG and private.

This house is a block away from Corvallis High School (red arrow),
which was remodeled/updated a few years ago.

Here is the flyer:

Here is a new photo of the back of the brochure.

Location: 1025 Nw Buchanan Av. It is a bigger street in a nice area on a city bus route. Fred Meyer is about four blocks West on Buchanan, Goodwill and the Arc are about six blocks away, Borders is about five blocks SE.

Listed Price: $220,000
Web Listing: Click here to go to the realtor.com listing

House #2

This is big $$$,but since it was right down the street from house #1,
we took some photos.

This house is directly across from the main entrance to CHS:

Its BIG (the "shop" in the back is way back there)

Here is the flyer:

Location: 1403 NE Buchanan (one block from Fred Meyer)

Listed Price: $309,656
Web Listing: Click here to go to the realtor.com listing

House #3

Remember several years back, when the four of us visited a house North of town by the hospital, end of a cul-de-sac, wild colors in the bathroom, but also was nicely planted?
Well, this corner house with curb appeal is in that area:

Nice view out the front because its higher than other houses:
A lot of garden space:

And the back yard may be nice and private.

Here is the flyer:

Location: 789 NW Deer Place (one block from bus stop)

Listed Price: $249.500
Web Listing: Click here to go to the realtor.com listing

"House" #4 (really a commercial building)

Well, it would need work, but its right on 9th street
so we took a look:

Brick and a nice roof, the screens on the
windows may be a bit much.

Its got a big front yard, and a smaller backyard:

Location: 1045 9th Street (North end of Border's block)

Listed Price: Don't know yet

House #5

Just for fun, we can see this house (red arrow) from our driveway

Nice lavender in the front yard (the red arrow is where we are)

Here is the flyer:

Location: Close to us.

Listed Price: $299,000 (seems high to me)

Well, that was fun :)