In Shaw (an historically gentrified blog)

What can you buy for $400-$600K around here, pt1

The neighborhood hasn't completely gentrified. I'll know that we have finished gentrifying when I can get Pizza Hut and at 1 Sushi restaurant to deliver to my house. So with that in mind I ask, what can you buy for nearly 1/2 a million around here?
435 Rhode Island Avenue.
Price: $640,000
Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 3
Fireplace: 1
Basement: none
Parking: Off-Street

Some of y'all know I already hated this house without even walking into it. Well there was an open house. I walked in. I still hate it. Someone else at the open wondered why would you build this when you were able to start from scratch?
The inside was odd. Very odd. First floor was fine, with a fire place and this little warm room off to the side with a low light fixture. Was that supposed to be a dining room? There looked like there was barely enough room for a table.

The master bedroom had two floors to it. There was the floor that lead out to the deck over the carport. The there was this other level that I couldn't figure out what it was for or what it did (see above photo). According to the Realtor's description it is a "skylit sitting room". And on that upper level there was this storage space, that was not tall enough to be a closet. It was just odd.
The house is advertised as being custom built. What does this mean? Well it is not like other houses, other houses might make sense. It just didn't seem clear who the house was built for. Some corners seemed tight. I overheard someone ask, how on ear are you supposed to get furniture up the stairs and where would one sit the bed? Imagining where furniture would go without blocking a door or a closet was difficult.

The upper deck we noticed some shoddy workmanship, fixed with paint and caulk. My companions also noticed that the floodlights seemed to be at an incorrect height.
It was a rabbit warren of rooms upstairs. Not everything was on the same level. Now I mentioned the master bedroom having two levels. Well even from the hallway one had to go up just a few more stairs to get to the master bedroom.
When it is an older house it is understandable when things are odd. You had to take what fate and chance gave to you and work with it. With a newer home you don't have that excuse. Yes, the lot was oddly shaped. But even so, what went on with the upper floors just didn't make any sense to me.. When the house was being built, I and my neighbor would pass it and I mentioned that I thought it was horrid. My neighbor figured someone was building it for himself. Yes, the house would make sense if someone built it to suite their own little quirks. But to sell? Something must have happened because the only thing I can say is that is it all very odd.
Well we also popped by a few other houses, but I don't want to make this post too long.

posted by Mari @ 10.1.05