topic Re: Opinions, Please in Community Chat

Opinions, Please

coffee drinker — Thu, 31 Oct 2019 00:05:02 GMT

Out of curiosity, I rode by the house I lived in as a kid -- almost 60 years ago. It was for sale. Checked it on-line and it appears someone is flipping it. At the time the house was very small and it still is, but things have been done to update. I don't want to waste anyone's time, but would love to call the real estate agent, tell her my story and that I do not have any intentions to purchase, but would love to see what's been done. What would you do?

Re: Opinions, Please

Nonametoday — Thu, 31 Oct 2019 00:08:11 GMT

@coffee drinker wrote:
Out of curiosity, I rode by the house I lived in as a kid -- almost 60 years ago. It was for sale. Checked it on-line and it appears someone is flipping it. At the time the house was very small and it still is, but things have been done to update. I don't want to waste anyone's time, but would love to call the real estate agent, tell her my story and that I do not have any intentions to purchase, but would love to see what's been done. What would you do?

@coffee drinker

After 15 years from my mother's death, I walked up to the door, rang the bell at the house I lived as a child and where my mother lived until her death, and asked the owner if I could see it. It had been changed from the living home I grew up in during my mother's illness to accommodate her and the nurses, and I was happy to see the nice changes. Although the changes were different from what I might have done as I would have kept it true to the period, it was very nice looking and well kept.

Re: Opinions, Please

Kachina624 — Thu, 31 Oct 2019 00:10:26 GMT

I'd let it go. Realtor are very busy people and don't have time for curiosity seekers. If it's for sale and is being flipped, there may be updated photos posted on the listing. That's where I saw the updates on my childhood home.

Re: Opinions, Please

FrostyBabe1 — Thu, 31 Oct 2019 00:14:58 GMT

I'd check the realtor website or realtor. com for the listing and see if there's an open house scheduled. If so, there's your opportunity to see the house. If they ask you to register, you can always decline. But I certainly wouldn't waste the realtor's time asking for a showing when you have no intention of purchasing.

Re: Opinions, Please

KathyM23 — Thu, 31 Oct 2019 00:18:08 GMT

I moved from the state where I grew up and was back visiting my brother. We were riding around the area "sight seeing" We went to the town I lived in, past my old school, etc. and then to the block I grew up on. We parked across the street from the house I grew up and lived in for 25 years.

Trying to decided if I wanted to go in and see it. I knew I could have as the couple that bought it and were living there was a couple I went to school with and were friends. Decided I did not want to go in. Wanted it to remain how it was in my memories.

Re: Opinions, Please

nana59 — Thu, 31 Oct 2019 00:18:27 GMT

i've wanted to visit my grandmother's house....it's not for sale...but i would love to take a walk down memory lane.... i loved being there with her...unfortunately it's now a dangerous neighborhood.......

Re: Opinions, Please

haddon9 — Thu, 31 Oct 2019 00:27:37 GMT

Many years ago before the Internet back in the 1980s. I drove past my old house. It's about an hour away from where I live now and I happened to be in the area.

I pulled up to the front and there was someone out on the driveway. I pulled the window down and told them that I used to live there. My parents had sold the house about 10 years before. They were friendly and I was surprised when they invited me in to see the house. I went (not sure if I would do that today) but I got to see the updates and remodeling that they had done.

It was really nice of them to have done that!

How badly do you want to see the house in person? Do you think that you would be satisfied with seeing photos online? If not then go check it out. I wouldn't say that I'm just looking. I would just say that I was interested in the house.

Re: Opinions, Please

patbz — Thu, 31 Oct 2019 00:27:49 GMT

@coffee drinker : I would not knock on someone's door and ask for a tour but my brother did that in order to see our childhood home and also my Grandmothers home. As for me, I looked it up on Zillow (new owners did a great job of updating it!).

Re: Opinions, Please

Carol Diane — Thu, 31 Oct 2019 00:32:24 GMT

@KathyM23 , I'm with you. After my dad's death, 2 men bought the house, gutted most of the inside and redesigned it. They asked my sister and me if we wanted to see the finished product. My sister did and went for a tour. I remember the story my parents told me of when they were on a beach in Florida and designed their dream house in the sand. My father was a builder and by that time, very successful. I wanted to remember that house the way they dreamed it and my whole life til I got married living in it with the best memories. Nothing was going to take that away from me!

Re: Opinions, Please

wildcat fan — Thu, 31 Oct 2019 00:53:26 GMT

This thread reminds me of Miranda Lambert's song, "The House That Built Me." I get weepy everytime I hear that.

I agree with those who encouraged you to just check for updates on the internet. There ought to be some good photos to give you an idea. If after that you still want to see it in person, I guess you could call the realtor. You don't have to disclose that you don't plan to buy it, or you could share your story and just ask if the owner would care if you saw it even though you don't plan to buy it. I too would be afraid of wasting the realtor's time. There was a house that I wanted to see that was listed in my hometown, but in the end I just stuck to the internet photos because I knew I wouldn't be buying it and didn't want to get anyone's hopes up or waste anybody's time.

Re: Opinions, Please

Foxxee — Thu, 31 Oct 2019 01:03:04 GMT

Suggestion: Look for the house on the realtor's website to see if interior photos are available. Many are doing that now so people don't waste time going from house to house.

I often look at houses for sale, not to buy, just curious. I thought to look at the house I grew up in. It had been up for sale and sold a month before I found it. Numerous interior pictures.

I couldn't believe the 2-story Cape Cod I moved into at the age of 6 looked exactly as I remember entering the first day when it was new.

The previous owners kept it the same way I remember, same light fixtures, doors, hardwood floors, same heat registers, wooden garage doors, even the bathrooms that had been redone looked the same. The corner DR cabinets my father made were still there. The brick fireplace I remember so well.

Walls repainted, floors redone. The kitchen had a new stove, refrigerator and dishwasher. Kitchen cabinets replaced in keeping with the Cape Cod style. The only other changes were heat from oil to gas, and central AC added.

The interior and exterior looked new. What a trip down memory lane that was and sorry I missed the open house.

If you can, try to get inside. It would be quite an experience.

Re: Opinions, Please

suzykee — Thu, 31 Oct 2019 01:17:25 GMT

First, ask yourself if you really want to see the house with all the changes. If the answer is yes, call the realtor, explain that you used to live in the house & ask if there would be a way you could see it - maybe through an open house? Then, it is in the realtor's hands & at least you tried. Great business people understand that going the extra mile & extending a little kindness can result in free advertising & more business through word of mouth. Who knows , maybe one day you wil lbe in need of a realtor's services. If the realtor is "too busy" then be content with online pictures.

Re: Opinions, Please

coffee drinker — Thu, 31 Oct 2019 01:34:20 GMT

Just to reiterate -- it would not be my intention to waste the realtor's time being a lookie-loo. If I did call, I would be 100% honest with her. If she didn't want to bother showing me, it would be OK. I have seen the internet pics, but just wanted to see the house in person.

Re: Opinions, Please

jannabelle1 — Thu, 31 Oct 2019 01:46:33 GMT

The house I grew up in for 14 years is in a town 400 miles away. I've driven past it a few times when I've been back to visit relatives. "My house" has changed over the years, but I have no desire to ask anyone to give me a tour. I have wonderful memories of that home and I want to keep my memories of it just the way they've always been. I agree with the others that if there is an open house, then check it out, but make it clear that is why you're there. Realtors have a job to do, and showing people their childhood homes isn't one of their jobs.

Re: Opinions, Please

ECBG — Thu, 31 Oct 2019 01:49:50 GMT

I'd get some flowers and visit the cemetery where your mother is and just remember the good memories.

Re: Opinions, Please

Kalli — Thu, 31 Oct 2019 02:24:04 GMT

On behalf of myself and my siblings, I recently drafted a letter to folks who currently live in our childhood home asking if we could come and take a picture in front of the home standing at the bottom of the front steps. We have an Easter picture with the four of us older siblings standing in that exact spot as grade school kids and we’d love to take this one now. We think it would be a fun trip to our old neighborhood and we want to give a copy to Dad for his upcoming birthday.

For some reason I haven’t sent the letter. Maybe because it would be disappointing to be denied. Yes we could take a picture standing on the sidewalk in front but really would like to duplicate the original. I just haven’t sent the letter yet.

Re: Opinions, Please

manny2 — Thu, 31 Oct 2019 02:33:07 GMT

I would call the agent, and go see the house. They show houses that is their job, and they don't always make a sale. It will also give the agent a story to tell about the house to potential buyers.

Re: Opinions, Please

occasionalrain — Thu, 31 Oct 2019 02:51:23 GMT

Knocking on a stranger's door asking to tour their home is rude, presumptuous and nothing a person with the most basic manners would do.

Putting a Realtor on the spot asking them to take their time to show a non-buyer a home is unacceptable as well.

Re: Opinions, Please

Lindsays Grandma — Thu, 31 Oct 2019 02:58:48 GMT

@Kalli wrote:
On behalf of myself and my siblings, I recently drafted a letter to folks who currently live in our childhood home asking if we could come and take a picture in front of the home standing at the bottom of the front steps. We have an Easter picture with the four of us older siblings standing in that exact spot as grade school kids and we’d love to take this one now. We think it would be a fun trip to our old neighborhood and we want to give a copy to Dad for his upcoming birthday.

For some reason I haven’t sent the letter. Maybe because it would be disappointing to be denied. Yes we could take a picture standing on the sidewalk in front but really would like to duplicate the original. I just haven’t sent the letter yet.

@Kalli ...Send the letter, you have nothing to lose.

Re: Opinions, Please

Catty2 — Thu, 31 Oct 2019 03:04:54 GMT

Maybe you can find out if there will be an Open House. That way you can see it and not take up the realtor's time since she'll be there anyway.