Hot One-Story

Written by Jim the Realtor

October 27, 2011

Trying to find a quality home at $500,000 or under is tough enough – then once you find it, having to beat out the competition is challenging too.  Get good help!

5 Comments

  1. College Joe

    Nice house, but I’m not sure what’s going on with that pool. Looks kind of odd….but that fence is not a problem. Just throw that in the dumpster and you’ll be fine.

    Do you think that the beige travertine will last in terms of buyer interest? It seems that travertine is everywhere. When my parents built our house in 2001, we put in travertine everywhere….family room, kitchen, laundry room and the bathrooms. The rest is cherry hardwood floors, except for the loft & bedroom upstairs which is some interesting looking carpet. And then granite in the kitchen and green marble (I think) for the bathroom countertops.

    It looks good, but I wonder how long it’ll be until that will seem “dated.” Even now my Mom is saying we should have put in more interesting granite in the kitchen and do more color in the house.

    It seems like travertine is everywhere in the newer/upgraded houses. Is travertine a good type of flooring in terms of durability? I’ve always wondered about that. Seems to have held up pretty well in the 10 years we’ve had it, but the floors have had to have some work done because if you have a big dog with big nails and women who refuse to take off their heels…it gets scratched REALLY easily.

    Ten years is a lot of time in terms of what’s “in” in terms of housing. What will be the next “in” thing, Jim?

    What are your clients looking for? More interesting/colorful countertops and flooring? I’ve been seeing that more and more in your videos of houses that were built 2007 and on (ish) and I like them.

    It’s also interesting to compare that house to the one you just did in “Encinitas Estates” (love that name), which is basically like Village Park. I wonder if people are willing to trade a nice looking house with a big backyard (which you don’t get too often in Encinitas)….and a pool….for a more expensive regular tract home.

    If I were buying, I would be split. I like Encinitas, but I know that area and it’s not really “prime-time” Encinitas and it is dated and needs a lot of work. The house in Vista does not, but it is Vista and you get the….uh, not so great ?….school district. And Vista is pretty far away from the beach.

    The 500K market is interesting for sure. If you’re looking in that price range, you should take a look at Village Park. Which is about the same look, but has tennis courts, pools…etc and a lot of mature trees/greenery. I have some friends in VP and I like it, especially with the extras.

    500K gets you a nice condo in Encinitas, but that’s not a house.

  2. College Joe

    I meant the wood floors which get scratched up easily, or at least the ones we have. Buyer beware on those….

  3. François Caron

    About the “crazy fencing”. Based on the presence of playground equipment on the side, the family must have had some very young children. The fence is to keep the children from falling into the pool and drowning.

    In the province of Quebec, pool fences are now required by law.

    http://www.globalnews.ca/strict+safety+rules+imposed+on+new+pools/80250/story.html

    However, the law only applies to new backyard pools. The law doesn’t apply to pools built before the law was passed — regrettably.

    http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2011/06/20/quebec-drowning-backyard-pool-safety.html

  4. College Joe

    I love how Jim has readers from all over the world.

    🙂

    Does that mean that the Quebec police are going to individual houses looking to fine people for not having a fence around their pool?

    Talk about government intrusion into one’s personal life.

  5. Jeeman

    Thankfully, we don’t have a Pool Fence Gestapo here in the United States….yet.

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Jim Klinge
Klinge Realty Group

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