For years, an afternoon touring open houses and a stop for frozen custard classified as a hot date for Brenda & me.  If we were even casually thinking about moving we’d get the Sunday paper and hit the road.  During the Parade of Homes, we’d visit around 50 on most years.  Even on vacation we’d sometimes find an open house and stop to look.  Being a realtor now gives me a reason to go visit open houses: market research.  Of course, I took Brenda along today.

We went to 7 open houses within 2 miles of our house.  We found a few nice ones, although overpriced.  (Brenda wonders if we’ll be the same way and let our emotions get in the way and make us inflate the price.)  We found some good values.  And we found one that was a real gem.

The Good: We found a split entry that was totally charming.  It is an older home and so it is smaller than the others we toured.  But even though Brenda hates split entry homes she said she could see us living there.  The upper level has a large living room with a vaulted ceiling.  The master bedroom is also on the main level.  The deck is big and the lot is 1/2 acre.  The homeowner did a great job of decorating.  The house has a very inviting feel about it.

The Bad: A house down the street from us was supposed to be open.  It wasn’t.  The flyer box has been empty for at least 2 weeks as well.  Bad agent!  No doughnut for you!

The Ugly: I walked to the top of the stairs in a 2-story entry and I saw a small tray ceiling.  I thought this to be an odd feature in itself, but in the middle is a very ugly light fixture.  It’s brass with a white globe & looks like it belongs in a powder room in a rental house.  In fact, when we rehabbed our rental house, we took one these out and put in a nicer one.

We also encountered several houses with wallpaper that didn’t quite qualify for ugly, but will definitely be a turn-off for most buyers.