"Bungalow" style home owners?

[rickg]

Am in the process of buying a 1920 brick bungalow. Pretty cool old house:
http://www.era.com/erabin/listing?Property=1749038&Agent=90810
Just wondering if anyone else here is nuts enough to tackle one of these homes.
Also found an interesting web sight dedicated to them:
http://www.americanbungalowmagazine.com/AmBungalow/home.htm

[Jason Beal]

They are very popular down here in Tampa. Personally I shy away from them because of the work that *may* be involved, even though I like them. That is north of SLC right? That is a good deal, considering the same home would go for almost double in Sugarhouse.

I am currently renovating one right now (Tampa). Lots of work but the end result is very nice. I would have taken one on when I was younger and no kids, sure. They are cool. I bet it might be like owning a diesel. Plenty to keep you busy, but you love every moment of it (almost).

Edit: Wow, mountain view and fireplace...not bad!!!

[Kuan]

Six bedrooms Rick? That's a nice looking house. Be careful of brick chimneys though, I heard that those things typically fall down by themselves after 50 years or so.

[kerry]

Originally Posted by Kuan

Six bedrooms Rick? That's a nice looking house. Be careful of brick chimneys though, I heard that those things typically fall down by themselves after 50 years or so.

Rebuilt my brick chimney from roofline up last fall. Wasn't that big a deal. Couple of days work.

[Lebenz]

The place looks nice! I'm amazed at property values there. Looks to be about 1/3rd of what a similar place would sell for around Seattle.

[kerry]

I agree, very nice looking place. In Denver it would run around 350k.
Easy to understand the need for six bedrooms in that part of the world.

[suginami]

Jeeez, it's hard to imagine a bungalow with 2,400 square feet.

In So. Cal., what we would call a bungalow has about 1,000 square feet.

[Jason Beal]

Originally Posted by suginami

Jeeez, it's hard to imagine a bungalow with 2,400 square feet.

In So. Cal., what we would call a bungalow has about 1,000 square feet.

In Tampa a 1000 ft Bungalow would run 200k easy.

[G-Benz]

Intersting...my first home was a two-story tudor built in 1932...but it was 1600 sq. ft.

Fortunately, the previous owners were interior decorators, so very little overhaul was needed as far as superficial looks.

The killer stuff was leaving the ancient wiring and plumbing, which over time we had upgraded. The roof looked to have about six layers of shingles, so we had to get those completely removed and redone. Also, window upgrades were done, which greatly reduced utility costs.

The worst part of renovation was that conversions to modern hardware were RARELY plug-n-play...Many a time, I would have to make several trips to the hardware store just to complete a seemingly simple project...like hanging a new light fixture.

As charming as the house was, the lack of space in each room was the discouraging issue. Family life in the 30's was far different than today, so trying to utilize space for modern comforts in a home designed when grandpa was a teen makes for improvisational living.

But lots of memories at that old house...

That looks great. In Kansas City there are a lot of homes like that, all around 1200 - 2500 sq. feet. The larger ones can run upwards of 250K, but they are also well maintained and change hands with somefrequency as younger couples have children, etc, so they are inspected and "amended" often. My house is more like a little cape cod, but I love that bungalow style. Good luck and have fun!

[Jason Beal]

The other good news for you is that Utah RE is coming out of it's slump finally (after being dead last in the country). My home went up 18% int he last quarter, and yours should too. It's a sellers market now, and Utah homes were thought to be 25% undervalued. So you should get some good equity over the next couple of years.

[InSaNeBoY]

I love my bunglow

Built in 1937 and it was a one owner house when I got it, so most all the origional details were intact. 1,400 sq ft, 4br, 1ba, .15acre lot, 3car garage(no foundation tho) and it's 30 miles from work all for $152K two years ago... Still needed a bunch of work... mostly cosmetic (lots and lots of wall paper *UUGH!*) total overhaul of the electrical system (which I have done, all my self) we've redone the livingroom, and done other smaller projects, but we're tackiling the bathroom next! (really we're just ripping out the handicap shower putting in a tub and pulling up the carpet and putting in tile for now since we want to have kids real soon and well we need a tub.)

[Jason Beal]

That looks nice!

[Lebenz]

Originally Posted by kerry edwards

Easy to understand the need for six bedrooms in that part of the world.

m-u-s-t r-e-s-i-s-t

[rickg]

aw, go for it, Tracy

Thanx guys! We're both excited, and apprehensive as heck We've long dreamed of an old home, and guess it's time to take the plunge. I've been "window shopping" for months now. Have looked at dozens of old homes all over the county. I'd find the right one, but in the wrong place, or the right one, in the right place, but wrong price, ect, ect. This one came up, just 2 weeks ago, I drove by it, and almost bought it on the spot. Right house, in a good neighborhood, for a good price. The electrical has been updated, a new roof is going on right now, and the home inspector said it's about as good a house of this age as he's looked at. Still needs tons of TLC, but basically a good solid old house.
I'm back in Washington now, packing up the household.(been down there working the past 4 months) We close here wednesday, close down there a week from Monday, and it's our, all ours!