“Evidence of past roof leaks in LR and K” says the listing. The top photo is from the kitchen, but the other two are a bedroom and the garage (I think)… which presumably do not show evidence of past roof leaks, but instead show evidence of past interior decorating decisions. It’s not a leak: it’s a water feature!
My LOLcat overlords suggest that I do more pop culture references to get those vital young people reading my blog. Do you think a headline that refers to a defunct BBC gardening show will draw the kids in?
Loveliest comment, by Land of shimp: Yes, water seems responsible for the condition of that home. Corrosive, flammable water certainly got to that stove.
Found by: Teri
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Copy & paste this:
Here in the UK, Charlie Dimmock is mainly famous for having a large and… er, unrestrained bust. Recognising the name as a gardening presenter comes very much second.
Which means I was looking for boob prints in the photos.
Yes, looking her name up on Google to make sure I was spelling it right was an autocomplete insight into these things. It also shows up on her Wikipedia page, and… well, pretty much everywhere. But this is a tasteful and discrete blog (stop snickering back there), so I went with a link to her book.
Discrete (separate)? Or discreet (on the quiet)?
It is so very tempting to use my admin powers to get rid of that mistake…
I watched her show on BBC America back in the day, so I laughed at the reference. I never quit understood how she could shovel dirt with those things bobbing about. a wee bit uncomfortable, imo.
I always thought Alan was the best part of the show. That could be because I’m straight and female. Charlie would be fun to hang out with, though.
Oh no, not Alan! That lovely, quiet side of woodworking British beef.
*snork*
Hang out.
Hee.
Yes, water seems responsible for the condition of that home. Corrosive, flammable water certainly got to that stove.
In the second picture I’m pretty sure it has nothing to do with water damage. Rather, the wallpaper is so scared of the mold on the wall that it’s trying to escape. Looks like it almost made it too.
Tell your lolcat overlords not to mess with perfection.
I love both your blog and icanhascheezburger, but they are two very different things. It’s the classic “New Coke” marketing lesson: don’t alienate your base by fundamentally altering your product to try to please new consumers; you’ll end up pleasing no one.
This is especially true on the interwebz, where choices are nearly infinite. Network TV constantly messes with its lineup to try to attract that vital 18 to 25 demographic, and habitually ticks off the over-25 crowd by canceling perfectly good shows. But tv is linear… you can only have on one show per channel at a time. On the internet, it’s much more possible to serve a small but dedicated niche market because you’re not losing the “opportunity” to air something else at the same time.
So yeah, I’m 31 years old and if every post contains a reference to Hannah Montanna or the Jonas Brothers, I’ll probably stop coming.
That said, I have no idea who Charlie Dimmock is either…
Or even Kraft taking over Cadbury’s! Don’t mess with the original recipe or you’ll lose your fans!
Or like Indy took over the Baltimore Col….er, um, oopsy. Guess that worked out pretty good for them.
And Pears soap’s formula was changed last year. Very disappointing!
Take heart, ol’ chum, I hear the new ’10 Packard is the bee’s knees!
Well, I should be fair. I had asked “How do I get more readers?” and that was one suggestion.
Sara, the problem with more timely pop-culture references is that people likely to get them aren’t quite as interested in the world of real estate, real estate listings, etc.
You’d need to have a sister blog that focuses on rentals and advertisements for consignment furniture that are wacky. Combine that with some pop culture references and then maybe you’ve got a winning formula
Because people interested in the goofy stuff that goes on in real estate listings are not as likely to get them.
Snerk. Admittedly, you might have figured that out when the comment section exploded with activity when the subject of organizing books was being addressed.
Hipster Librarians are a niche market.
…and those same people are less likely to make the idiotic comments I see in — ah — other blogs. For which I am so very grateful.
I’d just like to say that I’m part of that 18 – 25 demographic, visit this blog regularly, and would also probably leave if every post contained pop culture references, they’re just not as funny as what’s already here.
I’m also part of the 18 – 25 demographic, visit the site nearly every day, and love it.
For me the humour you show in your comments is the most important reason I keep coming back.
(Though I have been apartment hunting, so I guess I also relate that way)
As someone who is in the BEST DEMOGRAPHIC EVAR I can say I come here to giggle helplessly at your photoshop . . .
Ah well, if you asked, that’s fair enough. But I think that particular suggestion doesn’t fit very well for this particular blog.
Teenagers won’t get this, for the most part. I count a number of 22-25 year olds among my friends, and they have the life experience to get it, but most of them haven’t really been bitten by the real estate bug yet (or at least haven’t bought a house yet) and won’t be regular followers.
I’m still in my first house, so I haven’t been really involved in staging a house to sell, but your quirky sense of humor keeps me coming back.
So my unsolicited advice for growing your readership is, keep being your funny self, and maybe offer some kind of incentive for current readers to link their friends in.
Word of mouth is how stuff really gains punch. I started reading this because my (teenage) sister linked me to it… hmm, maybe some teens do like it. 
I don’t think Margaret counts as your average teen, though.
Another question worth asking is how much you WANT it to grow. Readers = money and fame and all that good stuff, I know, but part of the experience of this blog is the “cozy community” feel. Like swapping Thanksgiving recipes under the photo of the disgusting “marinated” bath tub. When you get hundreds of people commenting, it’s harder to do that.
I agree. Say “NO!” to pop culture references. I get enough of them on the other Cheezburger network sites, I like coming here and not expecting some faux-witty name dropping…
OFGS. “Don’t make me LEARN anything! I want to mindless switch from blog to blog painting my frontal lobe with marshmallow! A NAME! And it comes with a LINK? OMG, no, information — get it away, get it away!”
How did you ever learn to read or push the on-button, with that attitude? And why bother us with the fact that you prefer to wallow in ignorance?
Wow. “Marinated” cornflakes this morning?
Now, now. oregonbird. No need to be mean.
Of COURSE there’s a need to be mean. Far too many people these days not oppressing women and leaving our lovely religion to make its own way into bedrooms to stare beady-eyed at…
okay, but still — ‘Charlie Dimmock’ as name-dropping?
I didn’t get that from Ankh’s post; I thought the “please, no name-dropping” was a response to the idea of changing the blog, not a response to the Charlie Dimmock reference. Oh well…
Just to let you know, I’m 20 years old and I love this site! Don’t change anything! <3
UGH! But this would be a nice house if it were totally gutted. That is, if it’s not too damaged beyond repair. $349,000? GEEZ! People want to live in San Francisco AWFULLY bad!
I’m pretty sure vital young people rent, so they’re really never going to be your audience.
Hehe, true. It’s not like we’re infirm and elderly here but in the first blush of youth, perhaps not
Now where’s my walker, I need to make my long, slow way to the front door, those damn kids are tromping all over the Tulips. Whippersnappers.
There! There’s the pop culture tagline this site needs: “You kids! get off of my lawn!” :shakes walker angrily:
Love the “giant squid” looking thing in the background of the last pic. They could market this as an “environmental wonderland”.
Just one word. I never thought I could sum up into just one word, because I tend to go on at length, but here it is: Eww.
I can sympathize…you must be getting pressure for more “monetization”…all the while forgetting that older folks have more disposable income and more income period. People that like this blog will NEVER be in the ICHC demo, so they need to realize that there are other niches out there. Oh yeah we buy more stuff too (including CDs & DVDs).
I’ve watched two of my favorite snarky ICHC blogs go under recently, I’m most disappointed with INAD’s death. At least you still own your old domain, right? We’ll still find you, wherever you end up if your LOLcat overlords decide to pull your plug.
I reeaally, REEAALLLY like this blog (in fact, I park in the street outside this blog’s house with binoculars, just to see if I can get a peek at this blog in its nightie!) (Okay, I’m kidding. I don’t know where this blog lives. Yet.)
But, I am also on ICHC regularly, and even have a few LOLs over there (4,818 “favoritings” and counting!), so I would respectfully disagree with your statement. Now, the ROFLrazzi blog–yikes! Who are all those people?? Are they all really celebrities? I’ve never heard of 60% of them…
But, back to the point: I reeeaally like this blog. If you change it, I will be sad. (And I will retire my binoculars.)
No, no! No plans on changing. Get those binoculars back out.
Apparently, I am the demographic equivalent of a schizophrenic, because I am, ahem, over 35 (how much over is a secret known only to my mother and the leprechauns in my closet) and the first thing I do when turning on the computer in the AM is go on the ICHC site and lol at the kitties (why are cats so much funnier than dogs?) then check out the Bad Tattoos and the WTF, then here I am at the Lovely Listings! I also read the comics first in the newspaper…so maybe it’s just me…
Ha! Me too for all of that.
I’m in the over 35 division, and the over 40, and the uh… Yep, enough of that. I read this blog every day and usually several times a day looking for new posts and comments. My mom also likes it. As for pop culture, I’m at least 30 years behind on it.
On Topic: That house is worse than the purple house inside. You’d be better off dismantling it and pitching a tent.
42 here and you know, I was never poorer in my life than I was in my twenties. It didn’t matter what commercials I saw back then, I had money to buy necessities and that was pretty much it.
I don’t get advertising demographics because not only do I now have disposable income the above describes all of the people I know. I’ve also got a 19 year old son — who is part of the highly treasured male, 18-35 demo — although there’s a lot of room for financial improvement in his life, right now he’s a poor college student. The only time he has disposable income is when I take pity on him and give him some.
It’s just insane troll logic in terms of what the “best” demographic is.
LOVED the Ground Force reference! Work in a few Stig or Tardis references if you can. Seriously – pop culture is, pretty much, why we’re here – to have fun! The leprechauns in my closet know that I’m 48 (but they’d better not tell my weight) and I love your blog.
Stay just the way you are (and have a cool summer!)
Nooo! I am in the so-called ‘young demographic’, and I like this blog way better than blogs targeted at people my age. Most of them use crude humour and pop-culture references that I’ll never get because of my location (Britain). Stick with what you’ve got!
Oh, I miss that show!!!
I think your headline was perfect.
So that’s what a $350,000 house in SF looks like. I used to live there but rented (thank God for rent control). I used to hear that the median home price in SF was $1,000,000. So this is what you get for a third of that. Could look really nice–if you put another $350,000 into it (at least!).
As a member of the age group your “I can haz pop culture?” people would like you to target, I say don’t change a thing. While I would understand quippy modern references, and I can gilmore-girl with the best of them, that’s not why I come here. I visit every day (other than hysterically bad real estate listings) because of the distinct personality that resonates in your posts and I would be so sad if you made it something else. So tell them a 23 year-old reader says, “Ceiling cat is watching you. Behave.”
19 years old. Makes me younger than many of the posters on this site I guess. This is one on a short list of blogs I read every day, and I love it. I don’t fit the general demographic, but I still love the site as it is.
So let’s see; this one is three times a fixer. It has no working bathroom, no kitchen, needs all new “systems,” every roof it has or has ever had leaks, the yard and fence are trashed (insofar as they exist at all) and even if it were brand-spanking new, let’s face it, this thing never had any “original beauty: — it’s one freaking ugly garage door with a window over it. Oh, and did I mention it’s situated on landfill in one of the earth’s best-known earthquake zones? All for under $350,000? Makes one of those “my father was king of Nigeria and his widow needs your help in securing his billion dollar fortune” scams seem like a reasonable investment opportunity.
“Earthquake liquification of ground surface” is a good phrase to learn up on. I just hope that water is coming from above or leaking under the garage door rather than up from the ground. On the plus side, the house is less than a mile from the nearest refinery and waste-water treatment facility.
I totally agree and was thinking the same thing!
$350k is an awful lot of money for a fixer-upper like that!!!!
on the bright side: the wallpaper removal will be really, really easy…..
Sometimes I don’t get your references so I look them up on google or wikipedia.
I didn’t know who Charlie was so I looked him – turned out to be her – up and learned something new.
So, not only is this blog funny but it’s also educational.
The comments are great and worth reading as well.
No need for changes or pleasing a younger audience. (And, for the record, I don’t fit into the youthful category but I’m not old either – somewhere nestled in between.)
At least the wallpaper has been loosened for easy removal.
please don’t change a thing! you’re on the short list of blogs I love & check all the time.
(and to prove what a small world the interwebs is: hi, TeratoMarty! I see you all the time on Skippy’s List, but I’m under another name there!)
Maybe somebody already said this and I just got distracted by all the talk about Charlie and her, um, free-swinging girlies, but I think the part you missed in the original listing is that the living room and kitchen have evidence of *past* leaks, while the ones in the bedroom and garage are quite … current.
I say, tell the lolcat overloards to suck it. You’re awesome. Funny is funny.
I love this blog so much I wanna take it behind a middle school and get it pregnant.
yeah the jokes kind of kill this whole blog for me, so i’d rather just look at the upcoming photos. and i’m 29 yrs old so.. i don’t know how much older i would need to be to get them
Please don’t add pop culture to this site, if I’d wanted pop culture I’d have gone elsewhere, this site is amazing as it is
Aren’t we all sick of pop cultures already? I’m 17 so I can definitely say not all the young people get attracted by pop culture references.
Your lolcat overlords have roflrazzi already.
I’m glad to see all the support you’re receiving in the comments. I panicked for a moment when I read the lolcat overlord suggestion. But if it’s just a suggestion, then it’s ok.
Plea to the lolcat overlords: PLEASE don’t require this site to add pop culture references. All of your websites help me to survive the 8 hour workday by giving me a quick way to de-stress and laugh about something. You guys help me break out of the cycle of stress and anger and I appreciate it. But LovelyListing is one of my absolute favorites and I’ve gone through every single page on the blog. I love it as is!
I think you have a missing picture here?
http://lovelylisting.com/2010/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/wallpaper.jpg gives me a 404 error
Hmm. That picture’s been coming and going, and I don’t know why. Thanks — I’ll see if my LOLcat overlords can fix it.
oh… this is my neighbor’s house…
I just recently found LovelyListings. Please don’t change anything. It’s become one of my favorite ways to relax before going to bed. I love Sara’s comments first off then I love to read everyone elses. I haven’t enjoyed myself this much in ages. I start my day with LOLcats and finish my day with LovelyListings. I’m even going through the archives to see the old listings because I enjoy it so much. Don’t change anything!!!