More house hunting

Yes, seriously, will it ever end?  I went looking in Santa Fe today with a friend and an agent (if you missed why, here’s why) . So here’s your house hunting show!

HOUSE #1

TOTAL IRONY if I were to buy this house. Who goes to Santa Fe to buy a contemporary almost-Asian style house? Umm, maybe that’s why it’s not selling? Also it is some sort of split level and has short runs of steps everywhere.  Stairs don’t bother me any, in fact, it gives it character, but it could negatively impact resale. Also there is only one garage space. Also ok with me, also a potential resale issue.

Pretty good neighborhood. A bit close to a high school for my taste in that there could be some traffic in the morning or sports noise after school. But the school is not right on the same street – it could just impact getting out of the cul-de-sac.

What I love about this house is the bright light, clean lines and simplicity. Also it’s the newest of the ones I saw today.

It even has some Asian-style interior sliding doors (but not the whole wall). In Japan the entire walls slide.

Laura, there’s even tatami mat upstairs! (But just under the bed, not the whole room.) There’s 2 bathrooms, both beautiful, understated, simple, although not large.

The yard is small and uninspired. It would take a lot of work to get it looking the way I’d like. And it’s not fully fenced, so that would have to happen before the dogs could join me. It has potential though. It’s up above the surrounding houses, so could be a beautiful, private space.

And there’s some views.

I like that’s it’s on a hill; it makes it quirky, and I like that it has several small decks. It’s interesting to me how the layout has an open, bright feel, but also enough variation; little nooks and turns and stairs – that it seems larger than it is. This house is only 1,500 square feet.

My main concern with this house is resale – lack of Southwest styling, and too many stairs everywhere. Funny – that’s the same problem we have with the house on the hill in Placitas! Lack of southwest styling and too many stairs. Yet it’s open and bright, with clean, simple lines. Hmmm, do I sense a trend here?

House #2

This house is not heavy on the southwest styling either, but it’s definitely got more than the first house. It looks very typical from the front (for this area). So many houses around here look like this.

I should have taken my own photos of this one, because I’ve just discovered that the on-line photos are really poor. So I can’t show you a fair comparison to the first house, which was staged and photographed well. This one does have saltillo floor tiles and the traditional round ceiling beams in the living room and dining room ceilings, and a modest kiva fireplace. It is 1,600 square feet and only about 5 years older than the first house. They are similarly priced (both a bit more than I want to spend, of course).

Also a fairly standard, somewhat updated kitchen.

The main appeal to this house is the views. Looking out, you’d think you were out in Placitas.

The backyard is a blank slate. It’s good sized, and walled, but contains almost nothing except a large rectangular brick patio and the rest is gravel. It has enormous potential, because it’s large and located up on a hillside so it would be private. And it would have great views. But it would take a lot of work. My agent kept saying “but landscaping is cheap”, until finally my friend, Clarice, said, “You don’t know how Kristina landscapes.” Thank you, Clarice. That is one way of putting it!