Some thoughts and observations

This is too long a post for putting on facebook so here goes.

Things I have noticed, griped about and observed with listings on Zillow. 

Whoever took some of the pictures was likely the owner who had absolutely no clue on what they were doing. Skewed photos, blurry, foggy, aimed at furniture not the room, five pictures of a 3 br/2ba home and all they got were three of the main living area and two of the kitchen. 

I totally ignore the flowery and exaggerated description other than noting if the lease amount is mentioned or any other things missing or if there are new things like roof, siding, water heater etc. 

If there are no pictures of the yard, there is none worth seeing.

Having pictures of the place while the occupants are still there and have all their crap covering the floors and walls can hide a multitude of sins and issues.

It's just very frustrating to look at a house listing and see the first picture is tilted, second picture is foggy of the living room, oh and then there's the screen captures of 3D virtual tour videos that warp everything. Almost makes me nauseous to look at them.

If the mobile home is older than 1985, pass. The plumbing is not up to code unless noted, the flooring and walls are thin and there's very little insulation. Hard pass. Jon and I can do some home improvement but we aren't going to and can't replumb an entire home.

Be advised of terms like 'investors dream', 'bring your tools and ideas', 'DIYers perfect project' all those equal to a house that is, in some cases, run down to the point of needing to be torn down and built from the ground up. One home was severely burned out and the price being asked was likely the cost of the property. Oh yes and the ever popular, 'secluded and serene' i.e. way out in the boonies that if there were a medical emergency they would have to life flight you out. Oh and forget about cell service there too.

Looking at Google maps is useless in most cases. A number of aerial maps were last updated in 2012, which means some locations do not look the same at all. 

That's just a start on what I have found. I steer clear of anywhere that is flat open land. May be cheaper but it's also blazing hot in summer and freezing/snow in winter. Nope.

I saw one mobile home park that was right off the main Hwy 41 to Yosemite. Yup. Never been there myself so I only remember the song mentioning Highway 41. The property looked nice but when I googled it and pulled further out I looked for conveniences and they were all right along the highway. Let's see... Yosemite: campers, tourists, fishermen, tourists, snow.... bears.... moose, elk..... racoons...people.

There's a house out there I'm sure that's just right for us and it will be there when we're ready. I'm doing all this looking to get my brain in the right category so when we do have to look or tell an agent what we're looking for I know the right terms to use.

 I could try and draw what would be ideal but not that good an artist and can't even draw  the house I grew up in correctly.

I've posted the house plans I've picked out and the one house in Clear Lake that is close to ideal. It'll be there when we need it. I hope.