A home of our own

Portland, Missouri

2007-06-25T10:42:00.000-07:00

This house is located directly off of Hwy 94 in Portland, Missouri. This is an exceptionally small town directly off of the river. It is about 40 miles from Jefferson City. The Katy Trail is 1/2 mile away right next to the river. There is only a bar in the town, and even that was closed when I was there. There were many stray dogs running loose. The nearest gas station is 15 miles away. The house is located seriously 6 feet off the highway. The house is right there when coming around a turn. The town is about a block long. And I saw maybe 24 houses of varying sizes and condition. This house is 180 years old and is best described as a Victorian cottage. The house is supposed to have some land, but what was there was densly overgrown with trees and bushes. I was not impressed at all with this house or the town.

It really didn't help that the real estate agent took forever to call me back and then was not very helpful. The owners apparently changed their phone number and did not answer the door when I tried to knock to view it, despite the fact that I had an appointment. So I didn't see the inside. The real estate ad made the house look great. You can view it HERE. But the main picture was taken from almost a 1/2 mile away across the highway near the Missouri River. The views here were Gorgeous but the safety of the kids if they were playing would be comprimised due to the proximity of the large river and the highway.

This was taken from the 70mph highway while moving. Yes this is the front of the house a whopping 6 feet from the highway.
This is the right side of the property. Directly after coming out of a turn....
This is the left side, picture was taken from parking spot (well ruts really in the yard)
This is the parking spot I mentioned, I turned my camera to the right and got this picture. It shows where the highway is......
This is a shot out of the windsheild from the parking spot. Notice the location of the boat It is right up against the house, which you could see in the earlier pictures. The yard is supposed to boast 2 apple trees, 2 cherry trees, and a blackberry bush. But you can see how overgrown it is. Very little area has been cleared for the house to have a yard.

471 Fourth Street, Rush Hill, MO 65280

2007-06-25T09:17:00.000-07:00

This house was located in Rush Hill, Mo, which is approxiately 6 miles down the highway (rural highway) from Laddonia. It is very close to Mexico, Missouri as well.

This house is listed at $38,000. It has 3 bedrooms and 1 bathroom for a grand total of 1,144 square feet. It is an old house, built in 1880. It has a living room that measures 13.5x13.7. It is carped throughout with nasty looking carpet. At least one room has a stain that I believe to be animal pee. It does hace a lot size of 80x130. The house is served by propane, which costs approx $750 to fill the tank about once a year. It has a weird 'trailer' vibe to it. The town is located off a 2 lane blacktop road, however all the streets are gravel. And the town population is 102. It is somewhat near railroad tracks, and several of the neighbors have chickens and goats in their yards. The town is definetly shrinking. It was a thriving farmer town up until around 30 years ago. Since Mexico Missouri has built up it has dwindled. However it was very quiet. I was there for about an hour (the real estate agent was waiting for the keys which were supposed to be in a lock box but instead accidentaly got taken home with another agent) and I saw NO ONE. The house has a live well that is used for the garden and lawn. It is quaint. Although a tad over priced for the area (in my opinion). The origional real estate listing can be found HERE.

Everything pictured below comes with the house, including a washer, dryer, stove, large fridge, chest type deep freeze, bed, multiple desks and bookshelves, kitchen table and chairs, as well as a rolling island in the kitchen.

front of the house
right side of the house--door shown is enclosed porch/mudroom with washer and dryer
water leak in mudroom ceiling over hot water heater
this is the garage, it is detached and to the rear of the house. The garage door is on the left side of the house since the house is on a corner lot. Carport is kinda visable on right side of picture
here is a beter shot of the carport. in the very back of the picture you can see the corner of the house and the propane tank

This is a shot from the kitchen of the dining room. The doorway that the kids are walking thru is to the living room, the doorway on the right leads to the bathroom
This is the kitchen
This is the closet in the front bedroom which is to the right of the living room
This is the front bedroom from another angle
this is the living room picture taken from the front door
this is the right side of the house from the rear
this is the backyard, the rear of the house is on the right, and the carport is barely visable to the left. Just behind the propane tank is the workshop that is attached to the garage. It can also be a greenhouse
This is the yard on the right side of the house
This is a strange bedroom that is only accessed thru the master bedroom off of the kitchen, the doorway is tiny and it also has an outside exit with a storm door on the left of the room
Master bedroom

504 S. Western, Laddonia, Missouri 63352

2007-06-25T08:49:00.000-07:00

This house was in Laddonia, Mo.

front of the house
bathroom on left side of the house in small hallway between 2 bedrooms
smaller bedroom in rear of left side of the house
master bedroom in front of the left side of the house
3rd bedroom maybe 10x10. could also be an office. It has separate enterance and is a portion of the garage.
This is the garage.
view out the back door--shed pictured at left belongs to the house
This is the kitchen, as viewed from the dining room, the door on the right leads to a small square shaped landing with 4 doors. One obviously is to the kitchen, from there turn left to reach back door, straight ahead to reach small office/bedroom, and right to reach garage that has work bench in it
This is the dining room. The real estate agent is standing in the doorway of the kitchen. The door shown on the left is the little hallway to the bedrooms and bathrooms
This is the living room. This picture was taken from the enterance of the dining room

This house is 100 years old, but it was so clean that you wouldn't realise it unless you asked. It has been completely remodeled. This house is listing for $44,900. The estimated property tax is $214. It has 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom with a grand total of 1,084 square feet. The house has hardwood floors that are in good condition. The living room and one of the bedrooms has carpeting over the hardwood floors. The furnace is 13 years old. The house was resided in 1997. The kitchen has new ceramic tile, and a washer dryer hookup. There is also a vinyl sided storage shed in the rear of the house. It has a crawlspace, 1 car garage, gas forced air heat, window unit AC, city water ad sewer. The roof is asphault shingles. The origional realtors listing can be found HERE.

I like this house a lot too. It is probably my 2nd favorite. But I am not sure about Laddonia. However the town is a small one, it is very close to Mexico, Mo which is a larger town comparable to Troy. The house was very clean and move in ready. It has been empty for a few months, so they may come down slightly.

The cops old house...

2007-06-25T07:27:00.001-07:00

I forgot the address of this one. But it is in Marceline, Mo. I think that it is listed for around $34,000. The real estate listing can be found HERE. Anyway here are the pics----

The front of the house
The living room looking toward the enclosed porch. The white door just to the left of the front door is a coat closet
This is another view of the living room. I like the glass block window.
A view of the kitchen from the doorway to it looking toward the left.
A view of the kitchen looking straight toward the back of the house from the doorway of the living room
Another kitchen shot...this one is the rear wall of the kitchen (you can see a little sliver of the livingroom doorway, and the right wall.
This is the smaller of 2 bedrooms. The door on the right is to the basement
Another angle of the smaller bedroom
Kitchen leading into the smaller bedroom
The large bedroom (it doesn't have a closet)

The origional french doors leading to the large bedroom. It is right off the living room.
Completely remodled bathroom
This is the attic which was partially finished. This is looking left immedieatly after walking up the stairs
This is looking straight ahead from the top of the stairs
This is looking right at the top of the stairs

These are the weird stairs. There is no railing and the opening to the attic does not have any bannister around it so it's just an opening in the floor. The door on the left is the bathroom
This is the left side of the enclosed porch
This is the right side of the porch. The white door is the coat closet, and the wooden door straight ahead is the enterance door.

From what I remember, here are the details -- It has heated water for a heating system. Those are visable in the rooms up against walls with a cushion over them like little benches. It has pretty hardwood floors, and was over all a decent looking house. The attic/refurbished bedroom areas leave alot to be desired. The steps leading up to them have a loft type of feel. The attic needs cleaned, and railings need to be put in to prevent an accidental misstep that would lead to a fall. Around the top of the living room they painted about 12" of the wall a darker color and added a shelf right where the dark color stopped. Looks okay, like a poorman's crown molding. In the front of the house there is a deep rut that is the 'gutter' for the rain water. I really didn't like this house all that much......

I fell in love with this one...................

2007-06-24T21:04:00.000-07:00

For some strange reason this house just seems to possess my thoughts. It is located at 601 North Kansas Ave. in Marceline, MO. This house could easily be called 'Satan's Little Sister' especially if you are familiar with The Devil Queen. This house just has issues. But if you look past all the work, you can see a vision of what this house COULD be. Or more like it, what it SHOULD be, how beautiful she was in her full glory. The detail in the carved oak bannisters is still evident even through almost a century of thick poorly done paint. The small details like the antique metal fireplace that was removed but is still sitting in the front enterance area, or the leaded glass window in the master bedroom and the parlor. The way there is a bench in the bay window halfway up the stairs where they turn to go up the rest of the way. The wood floor that is inlayed with a pattern of reducing rectangles is a light oak color or maybe light pine and is in a bad need of refinishing. The details make this house have character. And when I looked at her all I saw was highly glossy floors, light airy colors, and an elegance that couldn't be touched.

It was this house that made me look to Marceline in the first place. This house that made me want to buy a home of our own. CLICK HERE to see the agent listing and why I loved it so much at first glance.

I have been told (supposedly as a secret between me and my realtor) that the lowest the owner will go is $18,000. He is asking $25,000. Several offers ranging from $2,000 to $8,000 have been placed. The agent thinks $15,000 will fix her up right. I am seriously considering it. But she is too much for us to handle. I know it. But I almost want to do it anyway. Because even though I see what's wrong, I don't see it in the shape its in. I see it as it should be.

So here's the pics of the old gal (she'll be 100 in 2010!)

rear half of great room
The kid in the orange shorts is walking over the buckling area in the floor.
This is the front portion of the great room. The door pictured at the end is the porch and the entry to the right of the screen is to an alcove that contains the 2nd entry to the parlor (first is off the porch) and the landing of the stairs and one enterance to the kitchen.
This is the new plumbing that was done. And the HUGE hole in the ceiling that was created to access this leak. Some water damage is visable in the top left corner
Strange little cubby like hole that was probably a windowless breakfast nook but now houses the Washer and dryer

view of back yard from the deck
This is the kitchen looking to the left from the enterance off the dining room/rear of the great room. For some reason the door was sealed off and a doorway was installed perhaps or maybe it was always there but it is just off screen to the left
This is the kitchen looking straight on from the dining room. I really liked the cutout woodwork over the sink....
This is a poor picture of the fireplace that was removed. The wall is slightly bowed inwards and just lumpy looking. Appears to be sagging plaster at first glance.....
The roof leaked before it was repaired. Evidence is shown here over the stairs

fuse box
one bedroom upstairs complete with tons of crap
bathroom downstairs
upstairs bathroom
another bedroom this one is "L" shaped
other half of the 'L' shaped bedroom
This is a pretty window in the 'master' bedroom. The floor here has a slight angle that is midly noticable because it is over the missing fireplace and subsequent 'buldge'
3rd upstairs bedroom
this is a shot of part of the hallway and the chipped and missing plaster at the corner of the stairs
missing wall area on 2nd half of split staircase
exterior of house on a painted side. Notice the broken windows
Here is the buldge. It is much easier to see with an enlarged picture, just click it to see. This is the unpainted side of the house. The left side of the picture shows the neighbors carport which is disturbingly close.
Under the deck is the access to the basement. If you enlarge the picture you can see old towels crammed next to the door where some concerete has broked away. They are apparently there to stop water damage

The house was built in 1910. It comes with all the old crap pictured that the owners left in it. YAY!!! Other peoples trash!!!! How Lucky!!! It is approx 2000 sq ft. A 2 story frame house with a block and poured foundation. The basement has a separate enterance below the deck in the rear. The roof is shingled and is 7 years old. The old owners only painted the 3 sides of the house that were visable from the street (it's on a corner lot). The floors are hardwood and need refinishing. In the rear portion of the great room there is a buckle upwards of 3 or 4 boards. The house is insulated with R15 blown and rolled. It has gas heat and window unit AC. The house does have screens on the windows and 2 ceiling fans. The hot water heater is electric and is a 40gallon. The house comes with range, refrigerator, washer and dryer all of which appear like new. The cabinets are metal and the floor in the kitchen is vinyl. The house has city water, sewer, natural gas. It's in the city so there is sidewalks and blacktop streets. The lot size is 50x140. The house has 220 volt wiring, outside lights, a closed front porch (where the removed fireplace is sitting) and a deck. It comes with a sattelite dish. The Living room and Dining room are combined in a 'great room' style but the individual measurements are 14x15.5 for the living room, and 16x14 for the dining room, the kitchen measures 15x12, the bathroom on the main floor is a half bath and is 7x6.5. The house has a parlor that measures 10x11. The enclosed front porch area measures 4x6 and is shaped like half a hexagon. The pantry off of the kitchen measures 4x7. That was the room count on the first floor. The 2nd floor has 3 additional bedrooms 11x14, 14x13, and 11x16 but 1 is larger mostly due to the 'L' shape of it. The bathroom upstairs is a full bath measuring 12x7.

Comments from the realtor include this information:

The fireplace was removed and the wall boxed back in. The exterior wall (that the fireplace was origionally located in) is showing some signs of bowing and will need attention at some point. THe owner has lived in this house several years and says the condition of this wall has not changed so there is no immediate cause for alarm. The home is heated with a natural gas forced air furnace that is about 2 years old, and cooled with window units upstairs and down. There has not been a termite inspection but the owner said that with all the work he has done throughout the house he has never seen any sign of a problem. The foundation itself appears to be in good shape. The plumbing is in good working order. The previous owner had a leak in the upstairs bathroom which he repaired by going thru the kitchen ceiling, the good news it that you can see that he replaced the plumbing the bad news is that he failed to replace the kitchen ceiling. The owner claims that all the wiring is in good working order. The owner says "I have made concessions in pricing my house for sale and do not intend to spend any more money in repairs" The ceiling thoughout are high 10 ft. But some have been 'dropped' to 8 ft. The downstairs parlor has a door that opens to the enclosed front porch and another door that opens to the rest of the house. The annual property taxes are $210.

129 West Truman, Marceline Mo

2007-06-24T19:28:00.000-07:00

This was the second house I looked at in Marceline, Mo.
front of the house
veiw of side lot
side lot again
colt liked the tree in back yard
back of house

smaller of the 2 bedrooms door on left side of screen is to the dining room door on right side that is barely visable goes to bathroom which you can pass thru to the master bedroom
shot of 1/2 of the bathroom
shot of other 1/2 of bathroom
this is the master bedroom the picture was taken from the living room doorway and the doorway on the right side is the bathroom

large living room doorway to the right of front door is the master bedroom
this is the large dining room the arched doorway leads to the living room
here's the weird garage door. It rained the night before and that explains the water the driveway is at a steep slope. Worth noting here is that along the edges of the basement about 4 inches from the wall is a channel that is about 2 inches wide that coveys water to the drain. Kind of like a gutter.
the secret passage the kids found. The basement used to have 'storm cellar' access from the front of the house. This was closed off and the porch put in over it but the door and steps remain.....
Kitchen

This house is listed for $32,000. It is approx. 900 sqft. The county taxes are 130.15 and the city taxes are 20.15. It is wood construction with a full poured concrete basement. It has a new roof put on in 1999. It has central air and an Amana gas furnace. The lot size is 75x140. It has a 1 car garage that is under the house (garage is strange, as it opens to the basement). The house has front and Back porchs. The front is covered and the back is enclosed. The house sports 220volt electricity, city water, natural gas, and public sewer service. The house is off of a blacktop road and has city sidewalks. The kitchen is 15'3"x9'7" and has white metal cabinets. The house also has a new gas range, garbage disposal, and kenmore refrigerator. The house has hardwood floors that are currently covered with brand new carpet (even the kitchen weird huh) The house has storm windows and screens, a new gas powered 30gallon hot water heater, and mini blinds throughout. In December of 1999, the house was completely rennovated including a new stove refrigerator, furnace, central air, new roof, 2 outside water faucets, motion detector security lights. The water heater was replace in 1996. The basement has a drain that has a 'cleanout' in the back yard. The house is on a larger corner lot. The living room measures 13x16, the Dining room measures 11.5x13, Kitchen measures 15'3"x9'7", the bathroom is 10.5x5.4, the bedroom is 10.5x13.5 and 9x15, the enclosed back porch measures 5x8'9". The basement has a backvalve to keep water out (the garage being attached to the basement and the steep slope of the driveway contribute to water pooling in enterance of garage) and new walls were poured in 1989.

My opinions of the house are this-- It has BEAUTIFUL origional woodwork that is a dark cherry color. The house has been extensively remodeled apparently due to being a rental home that was damaged severely. It is one of my tops so far. And I do want to put an offer in on it, but I am still a touch unsure. The layout is a bit strange with the only bathroom BETWEEN the 2 bedrooms (almost like a dorm or hotel type of layout). And the garage is odd too --- a steep inclined driveway on the right side of the house leads to a garage door. The garage opens to the basement with the basement steps leading to the enclosed back porch that has a separate locking door at the top of the steps. I kinda want to put in an offer..................

208 West Lake, Marceline MO

2007-06-24T17:44:00.000-07:00

The first house I looked at was in Marceline, Mo.
This is the front of the house
This is the view of the back yard and the shed
This is the rear of the house and the storm cellar
This is the view of the kitchen, doorway in the back is a utility room that has a sink and the washer dryer hookups
This is the enclosed porch/mudroom

Bathroom
Bedroom on main level
view of the living room
view from kitchen doorway into dining room the archway leads to the living room
This is the upstairs bedroom

The house is listed at $15,000. It has a metal roof (2004), a partial basement (storm celler), and is on block foundation. It is heated by a natural gas/gravity system and cooled by window air conditioners (new in 2004). There are 2 smoke detectors. The taxes on this property are $19.15 city and $154.83 county. The utility costs are $173.72 (high) and $73.52 (low). The kitchen has wooden cabinets and dows not include a refrigerator or a stove. However the house is equipped with BOTH an electric and a gas hookup for the stove. The ENTIRE house is carpeted, even the kitchen. (strange huh?) The windows are thermopaned storm windows. It has a gas 30 gallon water heater that is approximately 5 years old and 3 ceiling fans. There is a carport, as well as the large front porch. It has 220volt electric, a washer/dryer hookup, and the attic has blown in insulation. The road to the house is blacktop and there are sidewalks. The water is public water with a new line installed in 2000, it is heated with natural gas, and the sewer is maintained by the city and the new line was installed in 1996. It is a 1.5 story house. The second floor consists of a bedroom that measures 12x14 and a closet that measures 6.5x4. Through the rear of the closet is the attic access. The main floor consists of a 15x13 living room, 14x15 dining room, the kitchen measures 14.5x22, the bathroom is 6.4x9, the bedroom is 13x11, the hallway measures 10x4 and has a small linen closet across from the bathroom, the stairwell area is 3x13, the utility room off of the kitchen measures 6x5.7, the enclosed back porch is 13x5.

My opinions on this house is this -- the carpet needs to be replaced. The whole house had an 'old house smell' that was somewhat musty, similiar to the way that an antique store smells. It is decent for the price. My mortgage would be $90 per month, for 30 years. I don't think that this is the cutest of homes, but I could definetly live in worse places. It has minimal potential. I cant really see it being one of those 'WOW' homes. But for the price.....................

Day one of the search...

2007-06-24T14:14:00.000-07:00

I had a busy day yesterday. I ended up viewing a ton of houses. Now I just have to make up my mind...

I did see WAYYYYY more of Missouri than I intended to. Mostly because I got lost. But on a positive note I saw Jefferson City. If I wouldn't have missed my turn I would have never seen it. Here's a few pics of the capitol building

At first I was a little enamored with all the wide open spaces, and the smell of fresh air was intoxicating. Then after a while I got a little annoyed at the same sites along the highway. It was all trees and highway. I don't think I saw but 2 or 3 other cars on the highway in an hours time. Here is some of the pics I took while I was driving (funny what happens to a persons mind when the only conversation they have is a 5 year old and 7 year old...)

Luckily the view was broken up with your usual decrepit old falling down barns, livestock, and strange looking buildings.

My adventure begins to take shape.....

2007-06-22T13:33:00.000-07:00

I got a little anal retentive and started to plan my house hunting out. I printed a little map of Missouri counties and colored the qualifying counties under my loan in. After seeing where the counties were on a map, I came up with this.......

I colored all the counties that I am most interested in ORANGE. And the BLUE counties are the ones that qualified but are not as interesting to me. Pretty much by interesting I mean close to St. Louis.

I plan on going out house hunting on Saturday. I have a contacted some realtors that have properties I like and have set up appointments with them to view those as well as whatever else they think I may like. I am planning on focusing on the orange counties to the North to start with. That leaves me with exploring Pike, Montgomery, Callaway, Audrain, Ralls, Monroe, and Randolph counties. But there is a few houses in Macon and Linn counties (not so close and therefore BLUE)that I plan to see as well.

After mapquesting everything and setting up appointments, and figuring out that all my favorites are already sold, I figure that I will be driving about 800 miles round trip, all day, and viewing homes in Marceline, Brookfeild, Ethyl, Laddonia, Rush Hill, Fulton, and Portland. I wanted to view some in Mexico, Missouri but there were just too many to get fit into one day. So Mexico will have to wait until I am viewing the Southern counties (probably next weekend).

I am gonna bring the kids. I promised them McDonalds and a side fishing trip as a bribe. Also coming with me is the MLS printout on each property I am viewing as well as my camera so I can keep all of them straight.

It looks like I will be heading out at 6am and going to Marceline first since I am due there at 9am to view houses there and in Brookfeild and Ethyl. Then I am off to Laddonia to see a house there by 1:30pm. The agent there is taking me a few miles away to view a house in Rush Hill also. I am due in Fulton by 3:30 to see a few houses in town, then I am off to Portland by 4:30 or 5pm to see a house there. Then fishing, then home.

Sounds like it will be a hectic busy day. Wish me luck!

What I am looking for......

2007-06-20T12:33:00.000-07:00

A little bit of background on what I HAVE to have..........

I need a minimum of 2 bedrooms, 3 would be best
I would like a fireplace but it's not a must
I would like a 1.5 story or 2 story home
I hope for at least 1100 sq ft
I want a good school system (I will have a schoolage kiddo for a while)
I like bungalows. And Victorians. And old houses in general
I don't like ranch style homes, or trailers.
I like hardwood floors
I don't mind an 'ugly' house, as long as it is structurally sound, it can always be made pretty.
Jason wants land, but I could take it or leave it as long as its got enough yard for the kids to play in.

Thanks to Sheila Dees at Vested Mortgage and Chase bank, I have been approved for a USDA rural home loan. This type of loan seems to be a bit more complex than traditional loans because of all the requirements needed. My approximate price range is $30,ooo give or take a few thousand. But of course cheaper is better. Who doesn't like saving money.....The only drawbacks to this form of loan is that it only applies to certain counties. I think they have to be considered disadvantaged. Anyway, I want to be as close to St. Louis as possible, and still get a GREAT home. But to further complicate things, different counties have different stipulations for the loan concerning if I qualify or if the house qualifies. I have to make no more than 115% of the average income for the area. It doesn't seem like it would be that hard, since I am not really super rich. But some of these counties are out for me because I make more than $25,000 per year (the counties median income). And the house has to be priced at a certain amount or below (it varies per county). The house must qualify too. The house must be considered 'modest' in size and design. And it must pass a government inspection that will assure it is 'safe, sound, sanitary, and secure'. Although different inspectors will apparently let different things pass, it pretty much boils down to this......The house cant be majorly messed up. It has to be structurally sound, with a decent roof, plumbing, and wiring. It can be a 'ugly' as you could imagine, as long as the basics are good. So Cat Piss soaked carpet is okay, but a leaky toilet is not. How that covers the 'sanitary' part I couldn't tell you.....But who am I to argue.

In theory, I think that the inspections guidelines are a good thing. But it sure makes finding a house that qualifies hard, since it has to be priced at or below a certain price.