I got such a great response to all of my "What did you do?" Wednesday topics over the holiday season that I decided to try to expand it into the other 11 months of the year. We'll see how this goes!
Billy and I are inching closer to buying a house (if the real estate stars align for us, of course). We've considered a lot of the big stuff like the number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, and price, of course, but even the limited amount of actual house-hunting we've done has resulted in some questions we had never considered. Follow me on this.
Imagine you're house-hunting. You have a pretty short list of criteria you want, and you happen to find a house on a really great street in a sought-after neighborhood. The house has tons of curb appeal and has a good blend of newer amenities and opportunities for you to put your own improvements in. As you're checking out the backyard, the realtor comments that this house is special because it has a silver oak. You look out the back window and pretend to know what a silver oak is, while sagely nodding in the direction of any tree that looks silvery or oaky. The realtor sees right through you and encourages you to look again. And then you see it.
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And you learn that "silver oak" is code for an electrical tower instead of a plant.
Now, in the interest of full disclosure, the tower seems to be on the edge of the backyard in an area surrounded by trees. So, from your backyard, you can hardly notice the tower's legs or its upper parts at all, thanks to the trees. Pretty much the complete opposite of this house's front yard view.
So, my question is this -- is the electrical tower's presence a deal-breaker for this otherwise pretty charming and ideal house? If so, why? Resale concerns? Health concerns? If not, why not?
And, just to add a fun little extra twist, let's say that you decide to not think about the house and let the market (hopefully) make a decision for you. Six months later, the house is still for sale, even though it was vacant when you checked it out half a year ago. The selling price hasn't dropped by a dime. Does that change your opinion on the matter?
Even if you aren't a home-owner or actively shopping, I'd love to hear your opinions! We go back and forth, depending on what type of mood we're in at any given point in time.
Hmmm...
ReplyDeleteMy first thought is, is the electrical tower fenced off at all, or is it just hangin' out in the open like the one in that picture? That might be a concern for future dogs or kids. I can imagine rebellious tweens/teens trying to climb the tower, if you plan on kids or plan on being in that house until they're that age.
I'd also wonder if it would be a fire hazard, if a fuse or something on it were to blow -- would it catch your trees on fire? Would it be close enough to your house that a storm could knock one of the lines down and it would fall on your roof?
If you do want to buy the house, the fact that it's been listed for so long can work to your advantage, because you can offer under asking price and they might go for it. After 6+ months they'll probably be excited for any kind of activity, even if it's less money than they thought they'd be getting.
If your offer gets accepted, you do the inspection next, and you can ask your inspector what he/she thinks about safety risks it might pose. After the inspection, you have the right to walk away from the sale for any reason, and you get your hand money back at that point too. So if you find from the inspection that it's more of a risk than you're willing to take, then you have an "out".
Phew! That was a novel. But this is relevant to my interests since we're closing on our house next week, so real estate is where my brain is lately :)
Oh man, I didn't even think about a fence or fire hazard! Geez, this house-buying this constantly surprises me.
DeleteHaha, I love your description of pretending to know about trees. I would do the same thing, and have never heard the term "silver oak".
ReplyDeleteI think I would get an EMF monitor and see how high the levels are in the home. And I don't think I would worry about it too much if I didn't have kids. I always worry more about health stuff with kids because their bodies are still growing and changing and they are more susceptible to toxins and stuff like that. (Like, I don't really worry about organic food for me that much, but do care for the kids.)
And resale value would be a concern, just because of the perceived danger. Of course, if you can buy it for a reduced price, selling it for a reduced price wouldn't be so bad.
Another concern would be access. Do the guys from the electric company come through your property to access it? Our neighborhood has a TON of outages, and the house up the block houses the lines that are usually the problem. The electric company employees are always all over their yard. I think that would be really annoying, and I would hate it if their trucks and equipment were always messing up my lawn.
I like the idea of getting a monitor; I'll have to look into it. And thanks for bringing up access; definitely a detail I hadn't considered!
DeleteHmmm. How long has the house been on the market? Are there other families in the neighborhood? I don't think it's a deal breaker but I do have a question. The picture you showed here - is that the view from the house's front yard? If so, how is it in the backyard? Maybe I'm confused. Also, who calls trees silver oaks? I would think she was talking about wine... I don't know. I really think I would have to see it. But, if the house was perfect and that was the only gotcha? I'd probably buy it.
ReplyDeleteI believe the house has been on the market for about 9 months now. There are definitely other families on the street, many of them with kids (from what we could see on our sole visit).
DeleteThe picture I showed has the tower in the front yard, completely dominating that house's entire yard/view. The house we're maybe considering has the tower in the backyard. I tried to find a picture to give you an idea, but the only one I could find was from the real estate listing and sharing that online spooked me a bit.
Thanks for the input!
Another one who'd never heard the term "silver oak"! My parents always go on about trees they have, and I'm just like "uh huh totally I know exactly what you're talking about *bobblehead*"
ReplyDeleteMy parents have a couple acres of land, and they have one of these towers on the side of their lot. It's covered up by trees, so most of the time it's not noticeable. They did have one issue a few years ago when the trees grew tall enough to rub against the wires, and they had to call the fire department for a small fire, but since they cut the branches down around the wires, there haven't been any more problems.
To me, it wouldn't be a deal-breaker if everything else about the property is perfect.
Yikes, that fire sounds like a crappy turn of events. Glad they got it taken care of quickly!
DeleteI've been meaning to comment on this forever! We moved to a house in the country when I was around seven, that had a HUGE tower right in the front yard. The acreage on the land was enough that it was worthwhile to buy anyway, and the 'front yard' was really quite far away from our actual house. My dad grew strawberries under it and I have yet to become radioactive. ;)
ReplyDeleteHowever, I'm totally immune to those buzzing electrical noises from things like overhead lights and TVs that bug some people. And one time I got to hear a blackout happen -- we heard a big crack outside and then my sister came running out of the house complaining that the computer died and there was no power about thirty seconds later.
If it were a house like the house I grew up in I'd totally buy it. It just became part of the scenery after awhile (and it was a really tall tower so you could see through the bottom of it just fine).