Wednesday, June 09, 2010

The strangest things are happening.

While not economically viable, I still do fantasize about buying crapshacks. Fixing them up, and setting them free. I guess the financial climate hasn't completely killed that nerve. Although, it is only barely twitching. I still keep track of what is going on. Not as much. Who likes to shop when there is no point. Right?

Every once in a while I still become curious about properties I was once interested in. And I try to see what happened to them.

Maybe a year ago now - a house came up in my neighborhood. This one caught my eye because I was sure that the owner had died. There was some old sedan sitting in the driveway for the longest time. The house was in horrible shape.

It was the classic kind of house I like. Most assuredly a complete tear out inside. You can always tell this from the pea gravel in the front yard. A clue the owner has become to disinterested or frail to keep the house up.

I fantasized about house for a while, and then I saw someone had acquired it. For a few months I kept an eye on it. After all - it was just 10 blocks over. It seemed like an investor to me, because it was obvious they were intent on a full tear out. Like I would have done.

They put a ton of work into it. Made it livable. Restored value to the neighborhood. No one appreciates this. They only see the greed.

Today I thought to myself - I should drive by that house to see if they put it back on the market or decided to rent it. The rental market in my city so far has remained firm.

To my surprise - the lawn was dying and all the windows were papered over like in a vacant retail outlet. And the weeds were taking over the driveway concrete. It didn't appear anyone had been there in quite a while.

Now I have to stalk that house for a little while to find out what is up with that. When you buy a house like that in this climate, you have to have a backup plan to rent it out. So, it's odd that while updated - it looked abandoned.

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