Still searching

Well, I am still in the hunt for a house. What I seek is simple -- it is just hard to find in the area that I am looking. It's out there, but not for sale. There have been a few "almosts" lately, so I am feeling a bit encouraged. But it is an odd market, and realtors who list homes really do "gild the lily" when writing their descriptions and taking pictures. "Lovely home" forgets to mention that it surrounded on three sides by ugly apartment buildings. "Vintage bungalow" doesn't mention that there is a 6 inch slant in the kitchen floor. Or other things are omitted like "city is scheduled to put sidewalks on this land", or that the cellar smells like deep mold, or that unless you were a 4 foot tall person you could not walk upright in the cellar, or that the two upstairs bedrooms were only for use by small children, or that someone has put up all new ceilings and chose a design with sparkles in it so the ceilings all look like the ceilings in bad Tiki Bars, or that the prior owner seemed to have had many more cats than litter boxes (gag!).

I just want a simple house, more than 1200sqft with the bulk of it on the main floor. Kitchen, living room, dining room or discrete dining area, three bedrooms. Room for a dog in a yard big enough to be fenced in if not fenced already. Garage or room to set up a carport without destroying the house's sight-lines. No leaks in basement so I can store things without worry.

So I will just keep praying and hoping and looking. My favorite listing this weekend-- which only shows how utterly mad the market is, was for a house I had no intention of seeing. Here is a description from this $127,000 home - quite a bargain!
"1930's stucco, wrap around porch, kit, droom, 3bdr, flplce in lroom. Upstairs had waterpipe burst. Extensive damage to hardwood floor, plaster and ceiling on both floors. Damage through to basement. Severe black mold. Require signed medical health waiver before showing home." These people have to be nuts.