We almost didn’t stop into the house we now live in. It was #10 of 10 of open houses on a rainy Saturday and we were just looking to get a sense of things we both liked/didn’t like. This listing had terrible photos and the building had almost no updates since 1993. We walked in and in 2 minutes knew we’d want to buy the place, in part because it showed so poorly and the sellers were motivated to close. Zillow was a thing, but nowhere near as big a force as it is now.
When I saw the house I eventually bought, I had seen one property I was interested in but was on the fence about. When I saw this one I was pretty much sold. Great property. The house was old and very little had obviously been done with it for decades. And there were some things (like on the small side and one bathroom) that would probably have been showstoppers for a lot of people but weren't an issue for me.
Various things cost me a fair bit of money, effort, and angst that I'm glad I didn't know about at the time. But, at the end of the day, I got a ridiculously good deal--especially by today's standards--for a semi-rural place only about an hour out of Boston.
