129 West Truman, Marceline Mo

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

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...

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.....

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......

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.