So what happened? Lotsa stuff.

• I took up running, and I’ve lost almost 20 pounds since January.  I’m now running with the Echo Running Club.
• We bought a house in the Markley Farm neighborhood.
• We officially joined Anderson Hills United Methodist Church.
• We’re now permanent residents/home owners of Anderson Township – hooray!Now when will we resume this discussion? Soon, I hope.

Have you ever watched House Hunters on HGTV?  A 30-minute episode features a home buyer (or a couple) touring three houses and then choosing one to buy at the end.   Pretty simple concept.

At the end of our House Hunters journey, we’d love you to help us answer the question “Which property looks like the best deal for us?”  Any other advice (buying resale vs building vs remodeling) would be most appreciated.  I’d prefer if you’d post a comment below, but e-mail is OK too.

Here are the basic guidelines we’re working with:  

** $350,000 rough maximum price
** A house we’ll want to live in for the next 10 years
** A house with something unique about it (no cookie cutter)

So here we go!

House #1 -7716 Coldbrook Lane (map) (Coldwell Banker listing)

“Move-in ready!”

7716 Coldbrook Lane

This Colonial is on a street with a bunch of pretty houses, many of which are also Colonials of fairly-recent vintage.   Coldbrook is a nice street off Asbury, just south of Beechmont — very convenient, but you don’t feel like you’re dealing with all the Beechmont business when you’re home.

This home has 5 bedrooms upstairs (one has been converted into a reading room off the master).  There’s technically a 6th-bedroom that takes part of the basement space.  The kitchen is updated with granite.  There are hardwoods throughout the first floor.  It’s really decked out and in very nice condition. 

The backyard isn’t huge, but it’s landscaped nicely.  There’s plenty of room for family activities.

Behind this home is a new subdivision of homes selling for more than $500,000 — that’s a good sign.

This house will sell quickly to some lucky family.  It’s move-in ready.  The only downsides for us is 1) it’s near the top of our price range, and 2) the house doesn’t stand out on the street.  It’s a beautiful street, so there’s no real need for a house to stand out, but my wife and I have always preferred houses that have a unique appeal. 

 House #2 – 1046 and 1064 Eversole Rd (map) (Huff listing)

1046 Eversole Rd

 I’ll tell you up front that this is my wife’s favorite home.  The home was built in the 1930s, but everything inside looks new.  I’m told that there haven’t been any major renovations to the home in several years (the kitchen was done in the 1980s), but that the current owner is meticulous.  Everything in this house showed perfect.  It’s currently listed at $344,900, but last year it was being advertised up past $400k.  The same owner has had the home for more than 20 years, I’m told.

As charming as this Cape Cod home is, it is not big, however.  It’s got three bedrooms and a single bath on the top floor, and all of us would be up there together.  The third bedroom measures 9×9.  And the closet space – well, there isn’t much of that either.  What you do get are a lot of first-floor features, including a beautiful garden room attached to the side of the home. 

And then there’s the land.  This home sits on 2.5 acres of some of the prettiest Anderson Township land you’ll ever see.  It’s virtually flat with a canopy of perfectly-spaced trees up and down the long and narrow plot.  Totally serene. 

The sellers also own an identical lot next door, and it’s for sale at $165,000.

If only this house had decent-sized closets, a bigger third bedroom and another bathroom upstairs. 

House #3 – 7393 Riverby Rd (map) (listing via Huff)

“The ultimate party house”

7397 Riverby Rd

 I screwed up.  I should have taken more photos of this house, if only to show you the work that needs to be done now, and the enormous potential that lies inside and outside.

If Eversole was my wife’s favorite home on our journey today, this was the one that had me thinking, “hmmm – what if?”

 Click to the map link for this home above, and then zoom out just a bit.  You’ll see the mighty Ohio River at the bottom of the map.  This house sits on a steep hill with a great view out of the river.  In fact, the river-facing side of this home is all windows. 

There aren’t that many photos of this home, but from the ones the seller has posted, you can see the dramatic scene this home sets.  Two balconies with 1,000 square feet project toward the river.  It’s a sight.  The other homes on Riverby, by the way, go from $350,000 all the way past $1 million — good company.

The home has sat vacant for some time (months… years… not sure).  The insides feature old and heavily-trafficked carpet and very dated 70s styling in some areas.  The master bedroom on the top level is small and a bit disjointed in its layout.  The other two bedrooms and a game room are on a lower level, with the garage.  The kitchen cabinets, however, appear to be almost new.   The walls and the floors appear to be solid.  It looks like the house was well built.  I bet $50,000 would go a long way to making this home a showplace again.  The question is, how low could this house sell for?  It’s listed now at $329,000, but it’s sat vacant for a long time.  Could you get it for less than $300,000?  $250,000?

And finally …
Open lot #4 – 7827 Kimbee Dr (map) (Sibcy Cline listing)

“Start from scratch”

7827 Kimbee Dr

This lot just came on the market within the past few days.  For those of you not familiar with Anderson Township, it’s a community of about 40,000 people.  Most of the township is built out, and there’s very few lots available for building.  Since I’ve lived here, there have been about a dozen single-home lots listed for sale on the MLS.  About half of them seem to have some fatal flaw, like a cliff-like dropoff. 

This lot on Kimbee is just off Little Dry Run Road, east of Wolfangel, west of Bridle, and just north of the fancy new Eagles Watch community where starting prices are running well into the $500k’s. 

Lot outline - 7827 Kimbee

The lot is 1.2 acres.  You access it from a driveway cut between two homes on Kimbee.  There are two lots behind the homes on Kimbee.  The lot we’re looking at is outlined in red on this aerial map.  On one lot sits a beautiful lake and a log-cabin home.  The next-door neighbor home is at the bottom of this photo, and it’s a pretty log-cabin home.

The lot is heavily treed, though much of the trees are scrub.  I saw only a few trees that are worth saving. 

We had a topographic map of the site.  There is some slope (the highest point is the left point of the outline).  It’s about 30 feet lower at the front of the lot (where the triangle meets the panhandle) than the back of the lot (the corner at bottom-left).  But it still looks like you could build a nice home on this property, in a very private setting, and with an acre-plus to spread things about.

The price is right – $65,000 for a pretty piece of land.   But would it cost us a lot more in the end to build something new?

Bad omen?  When Susan and I and our realtor were walking the land, the next-door neighbor (the owner of the log-cabin home, I presume) came out and crankily asked if we’d get our car off his driveway.  That, plus he keeps a dog in an outdoor pen.  Maybe he was just putting on a cranky show so that no one would buy the property and interrupt his pretty much near-total privacy.

So there you have it.  Given what you know, and given what you can see via the links attached to each home, what do you think?

First things first:

1. It’s great to see reporter Lisa Wakeland dig into public records to tell important stories.  This is community journalism at its most important.  Keep at it, Lisa.
2. I was accurately quoted in the article.  Thanks for getting that right, Lisa.

Here’s the backstory:

You know there are two new blogs talking about Anderson Township matters.  The one you’re reading, and Around Anderson, hosted by Brennan Donellan.   Brennan and I both have real jobs, and very similar ones at that, in the mainstream local media.  But we both live in Anderson, and apparently we both like to blog.   I look forward to meeting him soon.

Back on February 4, Brennan posted a story on his blog titled “Trustees Target County with 15,000 Nastygrams”.  I posted a comment below this post, in which I agreed that the money (estimated by him to be at least $1650) could/should have been saved and that matters like this belong in an online forum like AndersonTownship.org.  I guess Ms. Wakeland read my comment there — I’m sure that’s how she came across my name. A few days later, she called me.  I agreed to do a quick interview in which I said the things she reported in her article.  

The article published today really ups the ante, as Ms. Wakeland’s open records request shows the Township spent a whopping $8500 to print and mail the letter.   She reports:

That includes $3,730 for postage, $1,386 for “mailing services,” $1,325 to buy a mailing list with names, $1,010 for printing, $991 for envelopes and $75 to “create art.”

For $8500, the Township could have put hundreds of documents like this on its website.  How about some Trustee meeting agendas or minutes?  Think the public would be well served by these?  I do.  What about the Township budget?  It’s just a document — why can’t we post that?

For that same $8500, I bet the Township could build and maintain its own e-mail list.  E-mail blasts are far more efficient and much less expensive that an old-fashioned mass-mailed letter.

So the mass-mailed paper letter was a colossal waste of Township money, when everyone I know (including my family and our government) is trying harder than ever to manage our limited resources.

Like I’ve said in other posts, I never offer criticism without offering a willingness to help.  If the Township has any interest in bringing its digital media communications (namely its website) into the 21st-century, I stand willing to answer any call to help.  I have some expertise, and it’s what I do for my real job.

(ok, deep breath)

The lighter side of this post is that I guess I’m now going to be known as that Cranky Old Citizen Complainer guy.  You know the type — he’s the guy that always complains about anything the government wants to do.  In reality, I’m nowhere near that guy.  I’m more than happy to be a cheerleader for local government investments that make sense and provide lasting value.   Ask the mayor and council in my old hometown, Flower Mound Texas  (pop 64,000 with a great website — look at all those public documents under the “Your Government” tab), and read through my posts on my long-running and popular hyperlocal blog FlowerMoundRoad.com.  I called my shots fairly, but I generally supported the Town’s efforts to invest in itself because our leaders spent money wisely (most of the time).

I’m brand new to Anderson Township, and as the subtitle of my blog says, I’m the least qualified person to write about these important matters.  I’ve got a lot to learn, I realize.  But there’s no reason to stand quiet if someone else, a reporter in this case, wants to ask my opinion about how our government functions.  Tough times like these demand vigorous reporting to shine light on government matters (thanks again Lisa) and an engaged electorate voicing their opinions.  If that makes me cranky this time, so be it.

Temps in the 40s gave my daughter, son and wife a reason to get out and enjoy our first visit to Five Mile Trail.  My wife now says we MUST buy a home that backs up to the trail.  Noted.

7366 Riverby Road – Anytime you get the chance to visit a home on Riverby, you know you’re in for some big views.  This house, listed by Key Realty Group for $376,000, is no exception.  Three levels, each with a great view of a magnificent turn in the Ohio River.   The top level is all about the master suite.  The middle level is living space — a large family room, kitchen, dining, large patios.  The lower level has three bedrooms, a bathroom, and the three-car garage.   There’s an acre of land, but not much yard.  It’s heavily treed, with some slope.   The house appears to be in good shape, but there’s an odd mix of natural wood (lots of it in trim), and gray/yellow tile. 

841 Indian Trace Ct – This Huff listing shows off a $259,000-priced, 21-year-old home in a neighborhood near Asbury Rd. and Forest Rd.  The lot is on a cul-de-sac, which means a limited front yard, but an expansive back yard.  The back yard is gorgeous, but slopes down to the creek (Five Mile Creek?) that parallels that part of Forest.  The home has a beautiful deck – 3 of them actually – and several upgrade.  One of the downers is the 2nd, 3rd and 4th bedrooms are very small.  Great neighborhood, nice drive-up though.

1126 Hawkstone Dr – Another home in a good neighborhood – this one is just off Salem Rd, just west of Sutton Rd.  Listed by Sibcy Cline at $237,000, this home goes back 38 years.  In contrast to the home on Indian Trace, this home has much bigger bedrooms.   The home needs some updating.  The basement is usable but unfinished.  There’s ample room on all three levels.  Since this is a corner lot, most of the yard is in the front and on the side, with less space in back.  This would be a nice house to refurb, but the risk is in resale.  A quick search of Zillow shows this home is at or near the top in price in its immediate vicinity, so putting too much into to home (assuming you paid the asking price) might not get you much in return for your extra investment.  (In contrast, with the Indian Trace Ct and Riverby homes, you’d be making improvements in a home where other homes are more expensive -a much better investment).

The facilities at Beechmont are very nice, and they’ve got everything I need to get a good workout.  I also love the fact that there’s plenty of space up front for members just to hang out — watch TV, watch some tennis action, meet and visit friends. 

Great atmosphere!  And yes, they allowed us to sign up with a full family membership (unlike another Beechmont-located club, for only $62/month plus tax.  That’s the cheapest I’ve spent for any health club membership since I was married almost 20 years ago.   Granted, we’ve lived in other parts of the country, so perhaps it’s just more expensive outside of Anderson.  Anyway, we’re very happy.

By the way, we did also tour the M.E. Lyons YMCA.  We’ve been members of 3 Y’s – two in Dallas and one in Virginia – and we’ve always enjoyed the Y experience.  The club here looks quite nice and shows off well.  Here, we felt the Beechmont Racquet Club was a better deal for our family, and not just because it was a lower price.

It was an ordinary Wednesday night.  My daughter and wife were at church.  My son and I had just finished dinner at LaRosa’s.  On the way back home, I asked Andrew if he’d indulge me for a few moments while I checked out the FitWorks gym on Beechmont Ave, just west of Nagel.  He was kind enough to say “yes”, so we dropped in.

This particular location sits back off Beechmont just a bit.  It’s got a flashy silver marquee that sets it apart from other stores in an otherwise nondescript strip mall.   Thankfully, the inside of the club is much nicer than the outside.   It’s got a modern feel, with bright lights, new-looking equipment, and a healthy number of people working out.  All of this makes a good first impression. 

Second impressions were not as favorable.  We stopped at the front desk and asked if we could get pricing information regarding a membership, and if possible, a tour of the facility.  Right at that moment, the Fitworks marketing machine stepped into action.  We were led to a table just inside the members-only part of the club, and there we were asked to sit.   We were both given forms to fill out (my son is 13, by the way).  The forms ask all sorts of detailed medical information.  They appeared to me almost as detailed as a form you’d complete if you were a new patient at a physician’s office.   I told my son not to fill his out, and I stopped filling mine out about 2/3 of the way down the page, somewhere in the middle of the list of potential diseases and conditions they wanted to know about.

The salesman (er, health counselor or fitness advisor) reviewed what I had filled out to that point.   He tried to finish the rest of the form himself, asking me the questions I had not answered, but I gave him nothing else.   He then asked me if I were to have all my needs fulfilled and questions answered, what would I do?   I think he wanted to hear me say ”sign up!”  I mumbled my response, but said I would sign up after checking out some other clubs first, which was true.

He then led us on a tour.  Again, nice facility.  Pretty much everything you could ask for in a workout facility.  Nice gear, decent space, two cardio theaters (one sports and one movies) clean and new.  Most everything’s included in the membership, and the salesman fairly pointed out a few things that were extra charges (specialized sports training, for instance). 

After the tour, we returned to the table where we filled out the forms.  The salesman asked if I had any questions, and I said, “how much does all this cost for me and my family of two adults and two kids?”  Apparently it’s not a simple answer.  He pulled out a white binder with laser-printed information individually wrapped in plastic protector pages, and he began to go through a spiel. ” Here’s what you get.  You get more (additional locations, for instance) if you pay us a higher upfront fee.  ”

Still, there’s not a simple answer as to how much the membership would cost, but one key fact was revealed.  Fitworks wouldn’t sell us a family membership.  My wife, my 13-year-old son and I would all have to have our own individual memberships.   The reasoning, and YOU WON’T BELIEVE THIS, and I’ll quote:  “If you and your wife were to get divorced during the contract period, it’s just a lot easier if you have your own individual memberships.”  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  That’s a happy thought.  Makes me feel really healthy.

Apparently, after a lot of scratch-paper math to add up the upfront fees and the monthly recurring fees, Fitworks was going to cost us quite a bit more than either Beechmont Racquet & Fitness Club or the M.E. Lyons YMCA. 

Since my wife and I don’t plan to get divorced during the term of our health club contract, we’ll take our chances and get a family membership at a different club.

No thanks, Fitworks.

We’ve never spent more than $100 a month for a family gym/club membership, so I’ll need to be convinced beyond my imagination before I’ll sign up at Mercy’s fancy Healthplex (approx $150/month for a family).   Currently we’re checking out the Beechmont Racquet Club (approx $60/month for family; tennis costs extra) and the M.E. Lyons YMCA near Eight Mile and Clough (approx $80/month for family).  We might also check out the Fitworks gym, which is the closest to our home.   Tennis and cost might be the overall factors — that would have us leaning toward Beechmont Racquet Club, but

If we lived on the west side of Anderson, we’d check out the UrbanActive facility in Mt. Washington.  But it’s 5 miles and about 83 Beechmont traffic lights away.

Any advice?

6148 Watchview Ct

There’s probably nothing wrong with this house.  The Comey listing lays out its many features.  It’s not as big nor nearly as fancy as the home on Bruns Ln, but I can’t say there’s $90,000 of difference between the two.   There’s new flooring and carpet and new granite countertops.  The house has good space in its traditional colonial floor-plan.   The basement has a lot of space, though none of the individual rooms is very big.  The backyard features two levels of decks.  The rest of the yard is pretty and wooded, but less useful, with a steep slope.

What was striking during my visit was how it appeared the Open House came as a surprise to the owners.  The house looked like it had just been evacuated, as so much of the family’s personal effects were lying around (food in the kitchen, makeup/toiletries scattered about the bathrooms).   If the family would tidy up and also remove half its furniture, the home would look much nicer and bigger.  Almost every room felt cramped because of the overabundance of furniture.

There was one surprise on the second floor, and I wish I could have photographed it for the blog.  One of the bedroom doors was closed, with a sign that said “Cat’s Room – Do not let them out!”  Fair warning.  I carefully opened the door to find an empty room with a beautiful white cat sitting on a 4-foot perch-stand in the middle of the room.  The cat on its perch throne just looked at me like I had entered, without permission, its royal chamber.   God save the cat, and I wish these sellers well.