Hey Cora, so you say you have been in real estate a really looooooong time. Tell us some of the most memorable homes you have seen or sold. Signed Dying to Know
Dear Ms Know. Well, I have to be careful, because I don’t want to offend anyone, so I will go with the most wonderful things that I have seen and we will “pretend” that I have seen homes I don’t like. There are some very beautiful homes in Anchorage and the Valley and I can tell you some really amazing things that you, hopefully, will find fascinating.
1) Views: I was in this house were the views were just amazing. It was on a lake and all the windows were on the lake side of the house – you could stand in the living room, kitchen and dining room and see practically the entire lake, the mountains behind, glaciers and the city lights at night. It was something – rather expensive but something!
2) Hidden rooms: We have talked about this before, but I actually have dreams that I have found hidden rooms in my house! Well, more than once I have got phone calls AFTER closing from clients tell me that they found a hidden room in their house! Now this can be a positive or a negative, depending on how you look at it. But I like to look at it in the positive. Think of all the Holiday décor` I can put in here, luggage and summer outdoor stuff! I love hidden rooms.
3) Dishwasher: Now we all know that dishwashers have come up in the world. They are so quiet now that you can actually not even hear them unless they are making music on your glassware. But I do like the drawer dishwashers because you can do just a little load. They stack one on the other and it would be like having the ability to run “half a load”. Yes of course they are more expensive! About $500 more than a mid range Bosch.
4) Dumb Waiter: So this house was multi level. The garage was of course on the lowest level and the kitchen, 2 floors above. The dumb waiter really helped with the groceries for sure.
Back your car into the garage, place the over sized Costco boxes into the waiter, push the button and casually enjoy the walk up the stairs to the kitchen while talking to ones mother on the phone. And voila! Costco deliver right to the kitchen! My kids would have put the cat in there….so there’s that.
5) Craft room: Now when I walked into this craft room….angels sang! It was amazing. She had huge work tables with drawers under. Loads of cabinets so everything had it’s place. All these cabinets she had found used on line, had them installed and then they were painted a beautiful color. Lots of natural light and electrical outlets above the countertops for easily plugging in ones glue gun! There was a painting station, a sewing station, a flower arraigning station and a kids station just for kids to keep them out of “the good stuff”.
6) Industrial staircase: I saw a house with a heavy metal staircase that looked like it came out of a hospital – only….prettier! I don’t know if it was something repurposed or they had it made, but it was quite stunning. It was very open, so there was no storage at all under the stairs, it took up a lot of square footage, but I still remember it and it was lovely.
7) Butlers Pantry: I know that the house doesn’t come with a butler, but I like to imagine it does! In case you don’t know, a butlers pantry has cabinets, upper and lower, places for silver and usually a pantry all in one room off the kitchen. It use to be were they stored flour, sugar and large items too. But now it’s just a workspace that can be off the kitchen with your mixer, your blender, coffee maker, even a large freezer etc all out of site.
Things I don’t like to see in a house? Well I am not saying I HAVE seen these things, but if I had, these would be a “hummmm, that’s interesting” kind of response.
1) Indoor hot tub with mirrors on the ceiling: So, at my age, this is something I would truly avoid.
2) Low ceilings in a finished basement: I get very claustrophobic in basements anyway, but then to have a low ceiling – it’s not useful space to me….unless of course you were very short or a serial killer.
3) Low vanities in the bathrooms: this was popular in the 80’s, as vanities were at a lower height than kitchen cabinets. I feel like I am washing my hands from a bucket on the floor.
4) Carpet in Bathrooms: Who, I mean, why, I mean…Huh?
5) Walled in kitchen: I know this was popular years ago. I remember looking at a house with my mom when I was about 13 and I didn’t like the kitchen. It was like a separate room in the house, like a jail cell if you will. I told her I didn’t like it and she said she did because guests could not see if your dishes were done or not. I suppose I can see that – but I guess I would just do the dishes and be sprung from my prison!
6) Homes that are big just to be big! Rooms that have no purpose, poorly designed and oddly shaped. I love plans with a purpose, a reason! I once saw a house where the master bedroom and kitchen only were on the main floor and the HUGE living room 2 teeny-tiny bedrooms at the far end and a bathroom were on the upper floor. I just was so awful, that it got my design noodles all in a wad! Whoops, I guess you know now that I did ‘see’ that one!
7) Exteriors that look like a face: Nope can handle that one. You know the upper windows look like eyes and the door a mouth. And it always has some strange menacing expression. That’s it, yes you can see it now in your mines eye!
Well that was fun, seven yes’s and 7 no ways! You don’t have to worry when shopping for homes with me, I will tell you what I think….unless you don’t want me to and then you will find me with duct tape across my mouth, but my eyes will let you know how I really feel! Call me and we can explore the idea of homes for you, but, that’s right experience matters!