"I'm never shopping THERE again!" Share your story!

[DottyG]

It could be a duplex divided by the 1st and 2nd floors.

We have a friend who lived in a house like that (until the elderly lady downstairs died - now he owns the whole thing).

[BabyMama]

Our house was listed as a 3-bedroom, 1 bath--I guess because the dining room has a closet they felt they could list it as a bedroom. I don't know many people who like bedrooms with large sliding glass doors leading to the outside and no room door...

[Piratelvr1121]

My theory is that perhaps they had the idea of making it a duplex, did a bit of work towards it but then changed their mind.

[Samantha]

When I was house hunting last year, I saw a gorgeous house that was on the lower end of my price range. I set up an appointment with a realtor to view the place. It was listed as a three bedroom, two bath home.

Technically, it was a ZERO bedroom, two bath home. The master bedroom was a loft, and only had two full walls (one wall was a partial, the other was a balcony railing overlooking the foyer/entrance). At first, we thought it was a second living room on the second floor (with a balcony!), but it turned out that the other two rooms upstairs were the master bathroom and a walk-in closet!

The main level of the home had a kitchen, dining room, living room, and a side room that would have been perfect as an office off the living room.

The other two "bedrooms" were in the walk-out basement... Which meant that they couldn't actually be marketed as bedrooms, based on what my realtor said about state housing regulations. So according to regulations, the house was a zero bedroom.

[mmswm]

I'm really enjoying the house hunting stories, but I don't want this thread to close because it got derailed.  I just started a house hunting horror story thread so we can keep swapping these stories.

[Jocelyn]

Our house was listed as a 3-bedroom, 1 bath--I guess because the dining room has a closet they felt they could list it as a bedroom. I don't know many people who like bedrooms with large sliding glass doors leading to the outside and no room door...

I have a friend who went to see a 2-br apartment. It turned out the dining room had a closet, so they were calling it a bedroom. Except that there was a huge arched opening into the living room, and you had to go through the dining room to get from the living room to the kitchen. The 'other' bedroom was off the kitchen, and the bathroom was off the bedroom. There was only about a 4'section of the dining room that was not visible from the living room, and that was the corner where the closet was. Yep, a really practical second bedroom.

[dawnfire]

It could be a duplex divided by the 1st and 2nd floors.

We have a friend who lived in a house like that (until the elderly lady downstairs died - now he owns the whole thing).

my relatives live in a setup like that.  my grandmother and single aunt lived upstairs. my uncle and his family lived downstairs. 

[Kimblee]

It could be a duplex divided by the 1st and 2nd floors.

We have a friend who lived in a house like that (until the elderly lady downstairs died - now he owns the whole thing).

my relatives live in a setup like that.  my grandmother and single aunt lived upstairs. my uncle and his family lived downstairs.

A friend of mine lives in a similar set up. A tiny old lady lives in the downstairs, he lives in the upstairs. And her children apparently live VERY far away (since they only visit once every four or five months as far as he can tell) yet seem to feel that his very presence in their mother's home (She owns the whole thing and he rents from her.) is horrible and leave nasty notes all over his door when they do visit.

He is hoping that will stop now. He has to walk through the woman's hallway to get to his front door and about two weeks ago, coming home from a weekend visit somewhere, heard something weird when he did. Her kids often yell at him to stay away from their mother's part of the home, but he rarely listens, so he went searching for the sound, figuring the woman's cat was stuck in a cabnet (again) and the old lady was at a social function. (She is fine with him letting her cat loose if it gets trapped)

It wasn't. It was the old lady sprawled in her bathroom, more or less worn out. Thankfully she is fine now (well, a broken leg isn't fine, but she's cheerfully getting around on a cane) but he says his heart about stopped when he opened the door.

[ladyknight1]

Thank God he found her! I hope her family treats her better.

[Kimblee]

Thank God he found her! I hope her family treats her better.

Oddly, while her family visited her in the hospital they tried to put his name on the "Do Not Visit" list. Yet the place called HIM to come pick her up when she was ready to go home. (He had to borrow his sister's car, all he has is a motorcycle. Funny Part: His sister wants him to ask the lady what perfume she wears because she keeps smelling it on the passenger seat and wants to buy a bottle. Friend has no idea how to ask this question without it sounding creepy.)

He says he loves his landlady, would do anything for her, but he's starting to really despise her kids.

Not really funny but cute: He says the lady's cat about had a fit when he brought her home. He had to pick it up and carry it until she could sit down. He was afraid its "welcoming" might knock the woman over.

[Black Delphinium]

Thank God he found her! I hope her family treats her better.

Oddly, while her family visited her in the hospital they tried to put his name on the "Do Not Visit" list. Yet the place called HIM to come pick her up when she was ready to go home. (He had to borrow his sister's car, all he has is a motorcycle. Funny Part: His sister wants him to ask the lady what perfume she wears because she keeps smelling it on the passenger seat and wants to buy a bottle. Friend has no idea how to ask this question without it sounding creepy.)

He says he loves his landlady, would do anything for her, but he's starting to really despise her kids.

Not really funny but cute: He says the lady's cat about had a fit when he brought her home. He had to pick it up and carry it until she could sit down. He was afraid its "welcoming" might knock the woman over.

"Hey Landlady, my sister was wondering what kind of perfume you were wearing the day I picked you up in her car? She said the car smelled lovely when she got it back, and that it had to be you're resume, because I don't smell nearly as nice."

[gramma dishes]

...    And her children ... seem to feel that his very presence in their mother's home ...  is horrible and leave nasty notes all over his door when they do visit.

...   Her kids often yell at him to stay away from their mother's part of the home  ...

Does the little old lady know her children are leaving nasty notes, yelling at him and trying to get the hospital to not let him visit her?

You'd think they'd be so grateful for his having found her with her broken leg. 

I think she needs to know what her kids are doing if she doesn't already.

[Kimblee]

...    And her children ... seem to feel that his very presence in their mother's home ...  is horrible and leave nasty notes all over his door when they do visit.

...   Her kids often yell at him to stay away from their mother's part of the home  ...

She knows about the yelling, he says he's pretty sure she doesn't know about the notes (and he doesn't want to upset her further, the yelling at him makes her really upset) ditto for the "do not visit" I assume.

He visited anyway. Apparently unless SHE says for him to be banned from visiting, her kids can't do much about it.

Does the little old lady know her children are leaving nasty notes, yelling at him and trying to get the hospital to not let him visit her?

You'd think they'd be so grateful for his having found her with her broken leg. 

I think she needs to know what her kids are doing if she doesn't already.

[KB]

I wonder if there's some issue on the part of the children that they fear she will leave Man Upstairs the house because of how much he helps her instead of leaving the building/money from its sale to them when she dies. Money makes people do very strange things.

[Kimblee]

I wonder if there's some issue on the part of the children that they fear she will leave Man Upstairs the house because of how much he helps her instead of leaving the building/money from its sale to them when she dies. Money makes people do very strange things.

Its possible. He's spoken to his landlady about buying the place from her before. Her answer was "When I get too old to upkeep it, that might be nice. Then I can take care of the plumbing and you can look for my dog." (Which he says is a running joke. She's afraid of "strange men" in her part of the house so any repair that can be done by an amatuer he pretty much takes care of, with her dropping his rent for the month appropriately. Also his dog thinks he is HER dog and has to be coaxed back into his own half of the house.)