04 February 2008

The Hunt and the Headstone...


O
k, I have a confession to make: I've been hard at work trying to find a house in southern California. This is one tough and expensive market. In fact I've made an offer on a house and the counter offer came in at $100,000 MORE than asking! I want to know who has this kind of money?! What fantastic paying jobs do these people have??

I'm looking for a small old house with character that needs some love. I'm finding that that is a tall order around here especially with all the house flippers around here. You can't toss a cat around here without hitting a house that has "GRANITE COUNTER TOPS AND STAINLESS STEEL APPLIANCES." What is the attraction of this combination and why is it that EVERY kitchen that has been redone is redone this way? In my opinion it says nothing of the quality of the stone nor of the appliances.

On a side note: aren't gravestones made of granite?

7 comments:

Michelle | Bleeding Espresso said...

I'm so with you on the granite and stainless steel; whenever I see it on TV (home improvement type shows) I have to wonder what the attraction is. All I see are fingerprints all over the stainless steel!

And I like granite on my fireplace, but I don't need it on my counter.

You make an excellent point about the granite and headstones....

Alex said...

Sogna -Mark my words: Granite tops and stainless steel are the Harvest Gold and Avocado colors of our times.

Don't get me wrong I think they're fine and even good (in moderation) but I can't see myself spending 100K more on a house just because of that.

mamacita said...

I blame HGTV for this. They are the holocaust of design.

Anonymous said...

My aunt just sold her small, normal looking house in So. Cal for $831,000. My husband and I would really like to live in Southern California, but it is too rich for our blood. I don't know how people can do it!
Good luck in your search though.

Alex said...

Mama- that television station HGTV is very influential! For all the work they do some of it still is a pig in a dress.

JDoe -wow! Great for your aunt! I've seen a lot of those happening here and it is really sad because a lot of 1st time home buyers have a hard time to enter this market.

Anonymous said...

Have you ever watched the old lady on HGTV? She is my secret hero. She makes stupid crafts but I love it.. so embarrassing. I think her name is Caron Duvall. And I always had a special place in my heart for that nasty avocado colored fridge we used to have..

Kataroma said...

$831,000 doesn't sound so bad when you're househunting in central Rome. :(

I agree about the granite and stainless steel fad although I do have a bit of a soft spot for granite since I was born and raised in NYC and remember all those great big granite climbing rocks in Central Park. Doesn't mean I want my kitchen made of it though.