quote:

I had *exactly* the same thought....

Great minds...

Those are all nice towns, but Ohio does property taxes strangely. Many of the towns mentioned are in Cuyohoga County, which has a property tax rate some 3X that of Lorain County to the West. I don't know about Summit or Lake County.

I see Avon and Avon Lake mentioned - two nice Lorain County towns - close to the kids with very nice neighborhoods. If we go inland we'll look there, or North Ridgeville.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:
I think everything Lisa says is on the money, and after sleeping on it I don't think this house is going to work. Too big, too many renovations needed, too expensive to furnish.

That's been a problem looking at the lake. Everything is either lake cabins built in the 50's or giant houses where they have torn down a lake cabin and built something new. The prices are attractive by CA standards but the maintenance on those is going to be more than I want to do.

So we keep looking, and maybe we give up on the lake and buy a nice, newer house inland, closer to the kids. The selection is much broader in the 'burbs.

Don't forget that in the north, heating square footage you don't need is not something you want to do. Plus property taxes are higher for a bigger house.

The first house you linked to looks nice and serviceable. I personally don't like open concept living or cool gray colors, but you may!

However if dogs are not allowed on the beach, that would be a deal breaker for me.

I showed mr wtg the contemporary ranch house with the open floor plan and blue decor.

We're both ready to move to Cleveland. We just love that house.

quote:

Originally posted by piqué:

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:
I think everything Lisa says is on the money, and after sleeping on it I don't think this house is going to work. Too big, too many renovations needed, too expensive to furnish.

That's been a problem looking at the lake. Everything is either lake cabins built in the 50's or giant houses where they have torn down a lake cabin and built something new. The prices are attractive by CA standards but the maintenance on those is going to be more than I want to do.

So we keep looking, and maybe we give up on the lake and buy a nice, newer house inland, closer to the kids. The selection is much broader in the 'burbs.

Don't forget that in the north, heating square footage you don't need is not something you want to do. Plus property taxes are higher for a bigger house.

The first house you linked to looks nice and serviceable. I personally don't like open concept living or cool gray colors, but you may!

However if dogs are not allowed on the beach, that would be a deal breaker for me.

Utilities in that part of the Ohio are absurdly cheap. My daughter pays less to heat and cool her house in Obio than I do mine here in California.

The combined gas and electric bill on that gigantic house on the lake are less than $200 a month year round.

quote:

Originally posted by wtg:
I showed mr wtg the contemporary ranch house with the open floor plan and blue decor.

We're both ready to move to Cleveland. We just love that house.

Stay out of Cuyahoga county. The taxes will eat you alive.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:

quote:

Originally posted by piqué:

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:
I think everything Lisa says is on the money, and after sleeping on it I don't think this house is going to work. Too big, too many renovations needed, too expensive to furnish.

That's been a problem looking at the lake. Everything is either lake cabins built in the 50's or giant houses where they have torn down a lake cabin and built something new. The prices are attractive by CA standards but the maintenance on those is going to be more than I want to do.

So we keep looking, and maybe we give up on the lake and buy a nice, newer house inland, closer to the kids. The selection is much broader in the 'burbs.

Don't forget that in the north, heating square footage you don't need is not something you want to do. Plus property taxes are higher for a bigger house.

The first house you linked to looks nice and serviceable. I personally don't like open concept living or cool gray colors, but you may!

However if dogs are not allowed on the beach, that would be a deal breaker for me.

Utilities in that part of the Ohio are absurdly cheap. My daughter pays less to heat and cool her house in Obio than I do mine here in California.

The combined gas and electric bill on that gigantic house on the lake are less than $200 a month year round.

I paid $64/mo in Missoula, on average. In the Queen City we are averaging $200/mo and think that is ridiculous. Why is power so expensive in a place without winter?

quote:

Originally posted by piqué:Why is power so expensive in a place without winter?

Enron and deregulation gone wrong. It's what caused Gray Davis' impeachment and the Governator to take over.

California will be paying for it forever. Upside is that the Governator did away with gerrymandering so there is that.

Here's another one. 5 miles from the kids - a plus. Ground floor MBR and laundry - both real plusses. Finished basement.

Ignore the wallpaper, I can deal with that. Wood floor is nice, bath floors and finishes not so much. Nice Heatilator fireplace - haven't had one of those since I was a little kid in MN.

Pool is interesting. I've had pools before but never in that climate. I called a pool company and there is a bit of a war dance you have to do spring and fall to keep it safe over the winter. Doesn't sound terribly difficult but the service I called gets $500 in fall and another $500 in Spring to do the work so there may be more to it than I think.

5266 Case Road

This one leaves me kinda cold.

Not a fan of the kitchen (some really odd stacked kitchen cabinets) or the tile floors. Ceramic tile is hard on old knees, and in that climate if it's not a heated floor, they're cold as heck during the winter.

The pool is a definite negative. I have a friend who is a real estate appraiser. I don't know what the current figure is, but a decade ago an in ground pool reduced the value of the home by $10 to 15K. Also makes the house harder to sell because a lot of people don't want the work or the liability.

It's also a lot of house to furnish and to heat. Taxes aren't cheap. It's like you'd be living on the first floor and the whole second floor would probably only get used when you had guests.

I'd be taking a pass.

Looks like a good bit of new construction in the area. And the subject property seems to be priced higher than others in the area. Wonder how well it would do down the road when you went to sell it.

1. I agree with WTG about pools. We categorically ruled out any house that had a pool, no question.

2. There are lots of things I like about the house, but almost all the rooms have wallpaper you'll have to re-do and probably carpeting as well. Do you really want to take on that large of a project?

I can see WTG's point regarding the kitchen, but personally it wouldn't be a deal breaker for me. But seriously, what would you put in those cabinets up above the stove? A dead body? They're like 12 feet off the ground!

I do like the house overall, though.

As far as the pool, I'd be skeptical. My in-laws had an in ground pool on Long Island, an area that is milder than where you would be. It was a headache all the time. I assume it's not plaster (because it's too cold). They had to replace their lining every 10 years or so, and it wasn't cheap. They also had the pool closing and opening ceremonies, and paid someone to do that. I'm not sure how much it cost them, but they complained about it all the time.

quote:

It was a headache all the time.

This. This is my impression of in-ground pools.

The family room looks like it would be hard to furnish. It looks really big, especially with the vaulted ceiling, but when you look closely you can see that furniture placement would be a real challenge.

Look at the overhead view photo. There's a large sofa pretty much blocking the entire opening between the family room and adjoining eating area. The TV is on the opposite wall, so I can understand why they did that, but it doesn't look very inviting.

Lots of space, no place to put furniture. One wall is occupied by the fireplace and the other is where the TV is. I wonder if they have floor outlets so you can put lamps on tables in the middle of the room and not just around the perimeter. It's something people don't think about with open concept floor plans. They can be a real challenge.