"I couldn't possibly fail to disagree with you less."
29 September 2007Voice of the (former) beehiveA local real-estate company puts out a monthly throwaway which shows up at the supermarket, and I grab one every now and then to see what's happening. The cover shows a "Stately Stonemill Estate," and here's the proffered description:
This classic five bedroom home in Stonemill was designed and built for the very discriminating home owner. The outdoor living space is complete with pool, waterfall, spa, firepit, and an outdoor kitchen. This home makes entertaining dreams come true!
Inside you will find a fully equipped theater room, a true 5 bedroom floor plan with a nanny's area if needed. Oakdale Schools K-8. This NBA Hornet family is sad to be saying goodbye to this fabulous nest! Wait a minute. Hornet family? The agent's two-page spread features three commendations, two from Chesapeake executives — and one from Hornets coach Byron Scott and his wife Anita. Could this have been Byron Scott's Oklahoma home? After exercising a bit of Search Fu, I arrived at the truth of the matter: yes, it was. Here's the house, and the Assessor confirms the ownership. (And 73131, incidentally, is an Oklahoma City, not an Edmond, ZIP code.) I suppose it would be bad form to hold this place open for the next NBA coach to live here. Somewhat lower on the food chain, the house across the street from me has been blessed with a ten-grand price cut, to $119,500. The new flyer says "To fully appreciate this home, you must see the inside," which seems fair, since the outside is neat and clean but doesn't scream "Buy me!" Up the street, another house has remained unsold for five months at $87,900. I can't help but think they'll budge eventually: this market is not in the sort of dire straits you see on the national news, but it's not exactly flourishing either. Posted at 7:07 PM to City Scene , SurlywoodThis only goes to your header, not the story. The very first CD I ever bought after I finally went digital was Voice of the Beehive's Let It Bee. Posted by: Brett at 8:33 PM on 29 September 2007*gnashing of teeth here* Posted by: Tatyana at 8:54 PM on 29 September 2007five bedroom home... The outdoor living space is complete with pool, waterfall, spa, firepit, and an outdoor kitchen Something tells me it's on a slightly larger piece of land than my 0.95 acre. Posted by: McGehee at 8:59 PM on 29 September 2007Or maybe not. The Assessor says this parcel is 166 x 234 feet, which is about 0.89 acre if I remember my math. Posted by: CGHill at 9:04 PM on 29 September 2007Ah. No septic tank, then? Posted by: McGehee at 10:38 AM on 30 September 2007This location is well within the city limits; I presume they're connected to the utility lines. (Some outlying areas, mostly in the far southeast, don't have full city services yet.) Posted by: CGHill at 10:47 AM on 30 September 2007The taxes seem *extremely* reasonable; any idea why? Posted by: wamprat at 12:01 PM on 30 September 2007My next-door neighbors foreclosed on their house; when we went inside once after they'd moved out, we found that they'd left most of their posessions, a refrigerator full of maggots, and the smells of mold, cat pee, and unwashed soccer laundry. They have two teenage girls; who lets their kids live like that? You'd never have expected that if you'd met them; nicest people on the block. A month ago some people bought the house at sheriff's auction. When I met them they expressed surprise at how crapped-out the place was; they'd paid $90,000, sight-unseen. Now I find out the wife is battling breast cancer while they're trying to put this house back together. Not their year. Posted by: Nate at 12:26 PM on 30 September 2007The taxes seem *extremely* reasonable; any idea why? Any of the following: (1) The first year they were based on the unimproved lot; (2) this part of the Oakdale school district lies outside any vo-tech boundaries and therefore there is no levy for vo-tech (usually 15-16 mills); (3) the people who put up the real-estate site didn't get the actual number because it's not on the assessor's site and just filled in the line with big numbers. The new tax numbers will be out in late October. I expect the tax on this house will be somewhere around $8000. Posted by: CGHill at 12:48 PM on 30 September 2007While I was house-shopping in 2003, I looked at a repossessed home, and reported thusly: [D]espite what you see on those TV infomercials, there's not a lot of benefit to buying these things; apparently, once informed that they're about to be dispossessed, the occupants avenge themselves by trashing the premises. It was certainly the case here: non-functional appliances were scattered about, the window treatments were more trick than treat, and someone had made off with a couple of downspouts, fercrissake. This will be a beautiful home for someone someday — provided that someone is willing to spend half again the purchase price to restore its dignity. I'm not. Posted by: CGHill at 12:51 PM on 30 September 2007You hear about these bargains, but there's always a catch. For example, this house was half off. Posted by: Mister Snitch! at 8:36 PM on 30 September 2007 |