Have you discovered Zillow.com?
Because I did many moons ago and still, to this day, receive great joy that I can input someone’s address and find out how much they paid for their house. The first one I did? Oh. My parents. It was like finding out how many boys my mom ever kissed. Their mortgage amount was like a dirty little secret. Except just a secret. and not so dirty. Actually they scored a pretty good deal on their house.
Still.
I never knew how much my folks had paid for their home…I guess I was too busy hating that I was stuck in there so much. Kids don’t know the meaning of ‘grounded’ like homeschoolers do. Seriously. Ever try falling asleep during spanish videos with my mom checking in on ya? No? Well, let me tell ya, you don’t want to. The reprocussions are like a kung fo karate chop to the adnoids.
Anyhoo…back to Zillow. It’s like a peek into people’s private lives. And it’s a way that I can window-shop for a dream house. And it’s a way that I can see my house. Like from a really long time ago. Yeah. They have that fun street-view that shows our exterior from WAY back in the day.
Notice the little dogwood? And behind that was a magnolia tree that pooped pods all over our yard. And this is after we chopped down the giant pine tree that was four feet from the first step on our porch. And WAY before we did the front yard overhaul.
Man, I love looking back at how crappy stuff was. It’s like looking into the toilet after a really big you-know-what and proudly smiling about passing something so huge. Wait. Did I just write that outloud? Please strike that from the record. It’s like looking back at how crappy stuff was. That’s all that it is like. And nothing else.
Anyhoo, I thought it would be fun to do a little comparison…ya know…for fun.
Before (via Zillow):
Before the yard had zero landscaping. The trees were planted in what looks to be a block-the-view formation. The grass was a mixture of three different types (crabgrass, weeds, and dirt) and there were some overgrown rhodendrum bushes on one side of the porch. We also lived on a slope that provided a great workout for Jeremy when he attempted to mow our patches of grass.
After (via now with my camera):
Now we have a graded yard which provides us with a relatively flat area in the center where we can picnic…if we were the picnic-in-your-front-yard-types. The yard also has defined beds with plants and mulch. We also installed a sprinkler system (to the tune of $400) when we tackled the yard renovation. That sprinkler really helps the ONE type of grass that we have now.
Here are the infamous side-by-sides for your viewing pleasure. Clap at will. (That’s ‘will’ as in whenever you feel like it…not ‘will’ as in my baby).
Dontcha just love the flashback in time? And seeing the difference? It’s totally funkycoolmedena. Ok. So if you are still here and not Zillowing your parents abode…tell me, have you gotten hooked on a real estate website before? If so, dish it like Emeril. Man, I watch way too much daytime television 🙂
Wow. That’s really cool and your house is gorgeous! So classic!
That’s amazing!! You guys did such a great job upping your curb appeal, lady! Love it – great side-by-side comparisons. You should be so proud! (LOL on your crap metaphor…) 🙂
First of all. You crack me up. Seriously. Hilarious.
Second, kudos to you for a gorgeous front yard. We have a townhouse with no front yard to speak of, other than a teeny tiny flower bed. I’ve managed to kill off three evergreen trees and two bushes in the 7 years we’ve been here. Go me!
totally hooked on Sawbuck.com to find out how much neighbors are asking for their house! Sawbuck overlays public MLS listings onto Google maps.
I’ve been zillowing since we bought our house 2 years ago! Love love looove it. I especially like to compare our house to my in-law’s house (right around the corner) since there’s has so much nicer stuff, like a huge pool. I like to see how the estimated price of their’s goes down and how ours goes up (!!!) Hehe.
Wow, awesome transformation! You guys did a really great job, and your house and yard look SO much more appealing now!
Okay, Zillow wasn’t accurate on my house… it left off 2 bathrooms, gave the wrong “zestimate” price (or is this just an estimate??), and I only WISH my monthly payments were what they quoted!! Nonetheless, it’s still fun to look at!
I was homeschooled, too, so I TOTALLY know what you mean about being grounded. 🙂
I love what you’ve done with your house – it definitely looks wonderful. Personally, I’m a fan of dogwood and magnolia trees – they’re so beautiful in the spring! – so I’m sad to see that you cut them down. They definitely weren’t in ideal locations, so I can see why you went that route.
I’m so about to check out Zillow and how much my parents paid for their home. Also, how did you manage to score a sprinkler system for $400? Please share that!!!
The transformation is magnificent!
I never realize what a difference curb appeal can make until I see it this way.
How’s the baby??? 🙂
I was homeschooled…I SO understand!
I love their landscaping! Gorgeous!
Thanks for my new obsession…zillow, that is!
When I found Zillow a few years ago I zillowed everyone in my address book! Then I called my best friend to tell her about it and she said, “You can Zillow me if you want.” I said, “Duh, I did that like two hours ago!!!” Amazingly, we’re still friends. 🙂
I’ve been reading your blog for sometime now….. this is my first comment… btw .. congratulations on your wee one… superdee duper cute!! Anyway.. I get so addicted to real estate websites it’s CRAZY! I look at Zillow (of course), Zip reality, JohnLScott.com and craigslist…. there it is my addiction … in writing! Your house looks B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!!!!!!!!!
Wow! What a difference. The side by side shots are great.
I HATE Zillow. Each month they send me an email telling me how much my house has dropped in value. We’re now down 35%. Gotta love Michigan!
also try spokeo.com – it gives a little bio about each person’s name that you enter that is close to being accurate (not sure how it does this!)
Your house looks GORGEOUS! Thanks for introducing me to Zillow, but I can’t see where it shows the purchase price, only a zestimate. Help?
I love the transformation, and have yet to check out Zillow but I know I won’t be able to resist for long. My real estate website addiction is Trulia.com. I found it when we were househunting and it’s still on my favorites list. I love looking at the photos of the listings to see local trends (plus the asking price is always fun to see who gets more for their money and the tracking tools are great too). Thanks for the inspiring curb appeal!
After I discovered Zillow I may or may not have busted out my address book and figured out how much everyone in it paid for their home. Creepy… I know!
I love looking up peoples homes online! Feels so naughty, but fun!
My parents have lived in their house 25 years, so Zillow doesn’t say how much they paid for it, only current value. We love the GIS websites(geographical information websites). Just google “your county name GIS”. It houses the public records of all land and real estate values and sale prices. You can track down a lot of information about people that way. Some are easier to navigate than others. Some have more up to date aerial photos for newer construction areas. Wouldn’t that freak your friends out if you spouted out all their personal information about their house.
The estimate for the house we built as well as the estimate for the house we sold are both incorrect. The house we sold 12 years ago is listed at it’s current estimated value which I know is pretty accurate ,twice what we sold it for 🙁
Hahah. I have a confession. I’m OBSESSED with Zillow. We’re looking to move in the next couple years, and I spend hours just looking at houses on Zillow. Seriously all the time. It’s pathetic. Anyway, glad someone else knows what I’m talking about — because when I tell people, they’re like “what are you talking about?” I don’t like that everyone can know our info, but whatever. <3
Your house really looks great,but why didn’t you just ask your parents what they paid for their house? 🙂 It it too taboo? hehe
-heather
Yes, Zillow can be so addicting! I’m currently in love with http://www.cohomefinder.com as my real estate website of choice. I punch in my search criteria, get a little map back of my results and go browsing through. Then I send my favorites to my boyfriend and we daydream about what we’ll do once we have a house of our own instead of el rento apartamento.
Zillow thinks that my house is smaller than it actually is. . .by more than 2000 square feet. My county has a website listing all houses with photographs, sale dates and prices, square footage, number of bathrooms and bedrooms, year built, etc. It’s worth checking to see if other counties do the same thing.
I had never heard of Zillow before I started working at a newspaper a couple of months ago. We include it with our real estate classifieds…such a cool site!
Just FYI – Zillow isn’t 100% accurate all the time. Lots of discrepancies! 🙂
We’re military, and when my husband was on househunting leave from CA in VA (I was stuck in CA with the kids while he looked), we found a real estate site that looked promising. Found a house on there under foreclosure that we loved, called the contact info to see about viewing it, only to never receive a call back. I investigated, found the homeowners phone number, and called – only to find out the house wasn’t actually for sale, under foreclosure, or anything else. Hinky!
Your house look so great now! Good job!
I have a random question, if you feel like answering cool beans, if not.. okay too. I have been thinking about homeschooling my kids, what are your thoughts, are you considering it? (if you have blogged about this before, sorry, I’m new ’round here)
Hi Remodelaholic,
Cool name by the way. As for your question…I would highly recommend homeschooling. In fact, I am definitely considering it for Will (and maybe future siblings too) one day. I don’t think that I will homeschool him all the way through but I like the idea of doing it either for the majority of highschool or the majority of middle & elementary.
Hope this helps & let me know if you have any other specific questions,
Katie
That’s kinda scary.