Regular blog readers will simply never tire of “MLS Musings,” or perhaps, already have…
But once upon a time, it was my “Photos of the Week” theme that almost literally took place each week. So many properties, so many laughable things to photograph.
The videos, however, are even better.
They say “A picture paints a thousand words,” but when I’m in a house, and I see something that a single, still frame just won’t do justice, I’m not above taking a quick vid. So long as the home-owner isn’t a regular viewer of my blog, and/or the property can’t be identified…
….(ahem)…
So on this cold and wet Friday, let me entertain you with a handful of recent vids.
Let’s start with my favourite, shall we?
Sellers always ask things like, “Will prospective buyers be opening our kitchen cabinet doors?”
Yes, they will. And they might, say, I dunno, open a shower door.
So, if you’re the people who live in the house featured below, you might want to get this fixed…
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This is frustrating.
I went to see a two-bathroom house with a couple of buyer-clients, and this is the second bathroom:
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Maybe I’m old-fashioned.
Maybe I’m boring.
Maybe I don’t “think outside the box.”
But sometimes what’s classic, easy, simple, and time-tested works better than a shiny new invention…
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I honestly don’t know if this one is any better.
What’s worse: the look and design, or functionality?
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This is a great example of how, and why you need to scrutinize reno-projects.
As I said in the end of this video, “If you spot deliberately-hidden poor workmanship, it makes you wonder what else they hid that you can’t see.”
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And last, but certainly not least, this is an awful, miserable thing to happen in one’s home, but what I find the most egregious is that the listing agent clearly didn’t visit his or her listing often, as evidenced by the fact that this was never noticed, and never remedied.
It’s a doozie, folks…
Seriously, that happened.
I was beyond shocked. We could smell the urine as soon as we headed down to the basement, and opening the door to the furnace room answered all of our questions immediately.
This house had been on the market for months, and it was clear that the agent hadn’t been in to check up on the place. I would go crazy if I was the owner, and this was my agent. It’s negligence, plain and simple.
Anyhoo, that’s it for this week! Thanks to my readers as always for submitting MLS Musings; don’t worry, I have a thick file going for 2019 thus far…
Francesca
at 7:31 am
Wow crazy videos David! However nothing surprises me anymore. I think lots of people cut corners when doing renovations, especially if they are simply flipping a property. I have two friends who were both burned badly when they bought older homes that looked beautifully renovated. After only a few months living in them various things started to go wrong: leaking bathrooms, outdoor stucco that was brand new started peeling off, new floors started to lift etc. They both ended up spending thousands of dollars to fix what they thought was done properly. They both have told me they regretted buying their house and wish they had inspected things more carefully rather than being enamoured by the aesthetics of the renovations. Their experience would make me nervous about buying into someone else’s renovated house. Luckily my husband works in construction and knows what to look for to check that things are done properly. As much as it’s a huge hassle to buy something old and renovate it yourself, if you have a good contractor hopefully you can ensure your renovations are done properly! Plus you may be able to buy the house for way less than a renovated comparable! I’m sure there are lots of horror stories out there regarding this.
Izzy Bedibida
at 9:47 am
I ran into many of these botched renovations when my ex-wife and I were looking at homes. She became enamored of the aesthetics and was always ready to make a bully offer on the spot. I was called all sorts of nasty names,and accused of “denying her happiness”, when I pointed out some of the glaring faults that I have discovered.
Luckily on a few occasions, I jogged her memory of a similar situation on a Mike Holmes TV episode. She agreed, and wanted to get out as much as possible.
I can do a fair bit of reno work, and I am comfortable doing it. But I’m not a contractor, and insurance wouldn’t be too happy if something went wrong after I did electrical and plumbing work. Had to point this out many times.
Francesca
at 12:10 pm
@ Izzy, so what did you and your wife end up doing then? Did you buy something brand new to avoid someone else’s renovations or having to renovate? Or maybe you rent? Just curious to know what kind of compromise/decision if any you ended up making. My husband and I have always bought almost brand new or completely brand new, either pre-construction (which can have it’s own pitfalls with deficiencies etc – in fact we only did it once and swore never again!) or something only a few years old. Our current house is 14 years old this year..we bought it ten years ago and literally only had to paint when we moved in. Now we are starting to do some renovations but mostly aesthetic ones although I’m sure soon big things will need fixing like roof, windows, furnace etc. I know that in Toronto proper there aren’t many brand new houses and those that are brand new are most likely going to be super expensive. That’s one benefit of living in the suburbs like we do. I’m not going to debate the pros and cons of living outside of the city…I’ve talked about this before in the past. Just saying that when we were looking for a house both in the city and the suburbs ten years ago we were more swayed by the practicality of a new house with it’s new finishes and more modern layout than by the character and location of older Toronto houses. I know that many people would disagree with us and say that an older home with character that’s been renovated in a central location is preferable but we didn’t feel that way – we didn’t want to face a huge renovation with a toddler at the time or risk buying something renovated on paper but possibly not done properly. In fact we even dismissed much older homes in more established suburban neighbourhoods for the very same reason.
McBloggert
at 9:16 am
And to think Raccoon house still managed to get $2.4M 🙂
Izzy Bedibida
at 9:48 am
I’m not surprised
m m
at 10:57 am
I think there is a certain segment of the general population that will find a use for a mirrored top. Say, some folks mostly in their 20s-30s with a lot of disposable income, and an affinity for… certain substances. And taste for kitsch comes with that territory.
Housing Bear
at 11:11 am
“If you spot deliberately-hidden poor workmanship, it makes you wonder what else they hid that you can’t see.”
Spot on.
In university I would spend my summers working for a contractor who was an absolute perfectionist in everything that he did. Now I’m in a newer condo building and I see so much sloppy work on the finishings……….. really makes me question what structural issues could be festering behind the walls.
Francesca
at 12:34 pm
@ housing Bear. When I first moved into my Daniels condo at Bayview Village back in 2003 my husband, who works as a construction manager, who was then only my boyfriend used to walk around the building and check out all the deficiencies in construction in the common areas. He was shocked at how poorly built the building was considering it was only a year old at the time and from a reputable builder like Daniels. Ironically the interior of my actual condo was in better shape but that could have been because the previous owner who had bought it pre construction had already gone through the first few deficiency checks with the builder. Seeing how quickly and how many new condo towers have gone up since 2003 I can only imagine what the finishings must be like now
Housing Bear
at 2:08 pm
Absolutely, and Daniels is known for being a more quality and reputable builder.
Appraiser
at 5:32 pm
Yeah, because there is nothing more frightening than pure, unadulterated speculation.
paul
at 7:45 pm
HAHAH good laughs here