Saturday, May 26, 2007

picking your battles

The house next to us is on the market. Its not winner, but at 500K without any work being done on it and for sale by owner, it makes you wonder. Is this going to be a tear down or a flip/resell. It has been a rental for the last twelve years and the owners have not been our favorite people on the planet for various and sundry reasons.

Let's hope for flip/resell for our sakes.

There are neighbors around us who still refer to the house as Grandma Koontz's house, her rose bush is still out front. I have been pruning it when the house occupants can't be bothered.

Does it make me sad that this house is a commodity?

Yes.

Does it make me sad that our neighborhood is changing?

Yes.

Does it make me angry that a house that has fine lines may be torn down to put in a house that will change our street?

Yes.

Does it bother me that I don't even flinch when I hear that a rental in my neighborhood is going for 700K and some moron will buy it?
A little bit, I no longer have sticker shock, that is for sure.

Where do all these people who sell their houses for 700K move to? Certainly not anywhere else in the city.

Does it make me sad to see our street make up change?

Not really, we have some pretty cool people, I just hope they can afford to stay here. I like having families around, I like to talk to my neighbors. I actually like my neighbors. I hope that who ever buys the green house with the old apple tree in the back yard with several cat graves and the final resting place of Henny Penny will appreciate it for what it was, Mrs. Koontz's house.

Just trying to be optimistic folks.

3 comments:

Headgirl said...

Hi

I know exactly how you feel.
My terraced house was built circu 1900, & when my neighbouring properties go on the market, our location means their price is sky high. Generally only property investors or career proffessionals can afford to buy and everytime ones sold, it gets another grotesque face lift. My adjoining house, now rented to tenents from ????? has just changed hands & I wait with baited breath to see what will happen next!

Blue

jk said...

mony should be weighing in with a comment,too. I've seen her neighborhood! (close in, convenient, big lots,original homes, new biiiiiig houses and mini subdivisions.)

Kerrio said...

We see a lot of this kind of thing round us too, they tear down lovely houses with good sized gardens and plant 5,6 o even 20 new homes on the sites.

I have the overwhelming urge to get some very subtly printed banners to stick to their advertising signs reading:
"shoehorning houses into green spaces near you". And see how long it takes for anyone to notice.