Is this a good time to remodel?

[sdrealtor]

Rustico
I think its time for you to revisit the “What is your household income” thread. The vast majority of those on this board are not median wage earners. This board is dominated by highly paid professionals and upwardly mobile young professionals who are on their way to becoming the former. Personally, I believe they should be able to get something they “love”!
sdr

[sdrealtor]

Rustico
I think its time for you to revisit the “What is your household income” thread. The vast majority of those on this board are not median wage earners. This board is dominated by highly paid professionals and upwardly mobile young professionals who are on their way to becoming the former. Personally, I believe they should be able to get something they “love”!
sdr

[NotCranky]

sdr said: ” Rustico I think its time for you to revisit the “What is your household income” thread. The vast majority of those on this board are not median wage earners. This board is dominated by highly paid professionals and upwardly mobile young professionals who are on their way to becoming the former. Personally, I believe they should be able to get something they “love”!
sdr”

I imagine they will weigh in if they want to. I think I will heed what Bugs said, that most of us “have more in common than not.”

Even if the eventual price tag, is different I think the nature of the blog and your motivation to post your original posts confirms that, regardless of income or wealth, most of those who haven’t purchased yet consider a potential loss more important than “love” right now or that they are not willing to go after a little “love” right now and risk paying too much, when they anticipate they can likely get a lot of “love” later and get a better deal on it.

Of the regulars here, I surmise that most of us who want to own, given the market conditions, do own already. Each to his own.

This is your original post:

Reading Chris’s post of late have brought me back to something that was a strong position I hold personally that I’ve lost touch with a little. Houses are for living and enjoying. They are not and should not be financial instruments. I figured that of anyone here, he would be the one to time the bottom. But he’s much wiser than I would have thought. He found exactly what he wanted, at a price he could afford and I’ll bet he’s enjoying the heck out of his life these days.

There is a great irony on this board to me. Many of you are genuinely pissed off that people viewed homes as financial instruments and drove the prices up through speculation. However, when you look at housing all you want to focus on is the price and buying at the bottom.

I’m not advocating everyone to buy right now but the real decision point should be can I afford it, do I love it, is this the place I can reside for the next 10+ years and yes, is the price reasonable by some metric. There is way too much focus on the last point around here IMO.”

Best wishes

Chris, Thanks for pitching in in. It is a little awkward talking about an absentee third party like we did. Thanks for taking it well.

[NotCranky]

sdr said: ” Rustico I think its time for you to revisit the “What is your household income” thread. The vast majority of those on this board are not median wage earners. This board is dominated by highly paid professionals and upwardly mobile young professionals who are on their way to becoming the former. Personally, I believe they should be able to get something they “love”!
sdr”

I imagine they will weigh in if they want to. I think I will heed what Bugs said, that most of us “have more in common than not.”

Even if the eventual price tag, is different I think the nature of the blog and your motivation to post your original posts confirms that, regardless of income or wealth, most of those who haven’t purchased yet consider a potential loss more important than “love” right now or that they are not willing to go after a little “love” right now and risk paying too much, when they anticipate they can likely get a lot of “love” later and get a better deal on it.

Of the regulars here, I surmise that most of us who want to own, given the market conditions, do own already. Each to his own.

This is your original post:

Reading Chris’s post of late have brought me back to something that was a strong position I hold personally that I’ve lost touch with a little. Houses are for living and enjoying. They are not and should not be financial instruments. I figured that of anyone here, he would be the one to time the bottom. But he’s much wiser than I would have thought. He found exactly what he wanted, at a price he could afford and I’ll bet he’s enjoying the heck out of his life these days.

There is a great irony on this board to me. Many of you are genuinely pissed off that people viewed homes as financial instruments and drove the prices up through speculation. However, when you look at housing all you want to focus on is the price and buying at the bottom.

I’m not advocating everyone to buy right now but the real decision point should be can I afford it, do I love it, is this the place I can reside for the next 10+ years and yes, is the price reasonable by some metric. There is way too much focus on the last point around here IMO.”

Best wishes

Chris, Thanks for pitching in in. It is a little awkward talking about an absentee third party like we did. Thanks for taking it well.

[PerryChase]

On the subject of love, what you love today you might hate tomorrow.

I used to like the Mediteranean, Spanish/Tuscan style houses. But now I hate them. I would love to have an airy modern comtemporary with lots of glass and clean architecture.

——
Rustico, how easy is it to add a bathroom in the garage? I assume the sewage drains are all in the garage. I noticed that many model home developments have restrooms in the garage accessible through a side door. When they sell the model house, they remove the restroom.

I think the concept of a dual use garage/bedroom/study is interesting. I remember some TV show where the main character would drive right into his living room.

[PerryChase]

On the subject of love, what you love today you might hate tomorrow.

I used to like the Mediteranean, Spanish/Tuscan style houses. But now I hate them. I would love to have an airy modern comtemporary with lots of glass and clean architecture.

——
Rustico, how easy is it to add a bathroom in the garage? I assume the sewage drains are all in the garage. I noticed that many model home developments have restrooms in the garage accessible through a side door. When they sell the model house, they remove the restroom.

I think the concept of a dual use garage/bedroom/study is interesting. I remember some TV show where the main character would drive right into his living room.

[NotCranky]

Rustico, how easy is it to add a bathroom in the garage? I assume the sewage drains are all in the garage. I noticed that many model home developments have restrooms in the garage accessible through a side door. When they sell the model house, they remove the restroom.

Perry,
I did the plumbing and foundation for a new house a few years back and we put a toilet shower and utility sink in a bathroom in one corner of the garage for the Husband of the family I was working for. Of course in new ocnstruction with permits it is easy. I don’t know if every and all building depts. allow it. This was on a part of Mt. Helix that is County controlled. In a remodel with or with out permits it could be easy or next to impossible depending on the lay of the land and the altitude of the plumbing relative to the garage. There are pumps that make just about anything possible.

Other Topic.
I was studying RE law last nignt and found that unless it is is in the rental/lease contract to the contrary the landlord has fair access to show the house to prospective or actual buyers. Fair is usually 24hrs. notice. Of course if the tenant is hostile that won’t work too well.

[NotCranky]

Rustico, how easy is it to add a bathroom in the garage? I assume the sewage drains are all in the garage. I noticed that many model home developments have restrooms in the garage accessible through a side door. When they sell the model house, they remove the restroom.

Perry,
I did the plumbing and foundation for a new house a few years back and we put a toilet shower and utility sink in a bathroom in one corner of the garage for the Husband of the family I was working for. Of course in new ocnstruction with permits it is easy. I don’t know if every and all building depts. allow it. This was on a part of Mt. Helix that is County controlled. In a remodel with or with out permits it could be easy or next to impossible depending on the lay of the land and the altitude of the plumbing relative to the garage. There are pumps that make just about anything possible.

Other Topic.
I was studying RE law last nignt and found that unless it is is in the rental/lease contract to the contrary the landlord has fair access to show the house to prospective or actual buyers. Fair is usually 24hrs. notice. Of course if the tenant is hostile that won’t work too well.

[sdrealtor]

Rustico,
I post on this board with the full knowledge of two things. First, no one on this board will ever be a client of mine unless it happens by pure coincidence through contact outside of this forum. Second, my comments toward the folks around here are based upon the assumption that most will not and should not be buying in the next 24 months. Dont think for a second that I am advocating home buying to anyone here. As for Chris’s decision, his was based upon finding something he could afford, loved, could reside in 10+ years and for him the price was reasonable by some metric which he considered relevant.

With that said, I carry with me an understanding of RE purchases that most here (not including you or SD R) cannot appreciate. Having spent thousands of hours looking at properties I see how challenging it is to find a home they like regardless of price. Not matter teh price, it is always alot of money to the buiyer. Spending $1M on a home is alot of money but in my mind spending $100,000 on home is too. How many times do people spend that kind of money on anything in their lives?

I hope that everyone here ultimately ends up living in a home they love and believe that hardworking, honest familes/individuals deserve that. From what I have seen the last year, the quality of the inventory is declining dramatically. When the bottom hits, the quality will likely be worse. The point of my original post is that people need to focus on more than catching the bottom.

[sdrealtor]

Rustico,
I post on this board with the full knowledge of two things. First, no one on this board will ever be a client of mine unless it happens by pure coincidence through contact outside of this forum. Second, my comments toward the folks around here are based upon the assumption that most will not and should not be buying in the next 24 months. Dont think for a second that I am advocating home buying to anyone here. As for Chris’s decision, his was based upon finding something he could afford, loved, could reside in 10+ years and for him the price was reasonable by some metric which he considered relevant.

With that said, I carry with me an understanding of RE purchases that most here (not including you or SD R) cannot appreciate. Having spent thousands of hours looking at properties I see how challenging it is to find a home they like regardless of price. Not matter teh price, it is always alot of money to the buiyer. Spending $1M on a home is alot of money but in my mind spending $100,000 on home is too. How many times do people spend that kind of money on anything in their lives?

I hope that everyone here ultimately ends up living in a home they love and believe that hardworking, honest familes/individuals deserve that. From what I have seen the last year, the quality of the inventory is declining dramatically. When the bottom hits, the quality will likely be worse. The point of my original post is that people need to focus on more than catching the bottom.

[NotCranky]

Yes buying a home is a big deal. Doing remodels I see that many people bond with any range of house & property. It is easy to understand the high end owners loving their houses and being really particular. I see people bond to really deep levels with houses that on a purely structural basis are shacks. Having the homebody personality myself I think I would do the same thing. Of course neighborhood character affects us profoundly too in very personal ways.

As far as you me and SDR goes,clearly we have different strengths with some crossover of course. I have definately gleened some good stuff from your posts as well as Adam’s.
In fact if I go beyond my “dabbler” status one day you and he(and many other posters on this blog) will get much credit for any success I might have.Either way I am going to be better at what I do because of all of you. Sorry we got off to such a rough start.
Best wishes,
Rustico

[NotCranky]

Yes buying a home is a big deal. Doing remodels I see that many people bond with any range of house & property. It is easy to understand the high end owners loving their houses and being really particular. I see people bond to really deep levels with houses that on a purely structural basis are shacks. Having the homebody personality myself I think I would do the same thing. Of course neighborhood character affects us profoundly too in very personal ways.

As far as you me and SDR goes,clearly we have different strengths with some crossover of course. I have definately gleened some good stuff from your posts as well as Adam’s.
In fact if I go beyond my “dabbler” status one day you and he(and many other posters on this blog) will get much credit for any success I might have.Either way I am going to be better at what I do because of all of you. Sorry we got off to such a rough start.
Best wishes,
Rustico

[sdrealtor]

No problem. I take nothing here personally and am only here to learn and hopefully share what I have learned.

[sdrealtor]

No problem. I take nothing here personally and am only here to learn and hopefully share what I have learned.

[NotCranky]

I’ll assume that you are sorry for your part too ;).

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