On Sun, 2 Apr 2017 20:56:23 -0500, -MIKE-
wrote:

On 4/2/17 7:43 PM, wrote:
On Sun, 2 Apr 2017 19:24:47 -0400, Ed Pawlowski
wrote:

On 4/2/2017 7:08 PM, Markem wrote:


Go check out realty ads, craigslist or Realtor.com, zillow.

The pictures that kill me are when the house is stuffed to the
gills, but the pics are that nice soft focus (blurry). You can
tell the staged ones. My preference when looking at houses, empty
my imagination can fill it.

I doubt anyone has kept statistics that are valid as to which
sell best though, the messy one though are probably last.


Most people depends on the money from the sale of their house to
use as downpayment on the new one so they want to sell before
moving. If the house is empty, why? Overpriced? Problem with
structure?
+1 -,or more


Unfortunately, that shows a blatant disregard for recent home values and
trends in the market.
Our last house wasn't anything close to what you'd consider luxury or
high value, but we sold in 3 days and that was only because it took that
long for the bidding war to calm down. The home we bought was on the
market for several hours when we made our offer which was accepted
within a couple days only because it took that long for inspection. The
way the recent housing market is, homes are selling for tens of
thousands more than they were worth only a year ago and they are
selling, not in months, weeks, or day, but hours-- many much higher than
listing.

People in many housing markets can well afford to empty and stage their
homes, move into a hotel for a week, store their belongings in PODS, and
make a profit that will make these expenses seems like peanuts.
Not making any sense, when in this hot market people are getting
offers 20 and 30K over asking - SIGHT UNSEEN.the first day the
property is listed. Why pay motel room and storage when it isn't going
to make ANY difference in the selling price or how long it takes to
sell??? I talked to a neighbor at the open house down the street today
- his neighbour listed his house, and had THREE offers before anyone
was in to see the house - all of them from out-of-town - (toronto) -
All of them well over listing price, and no conditions on the offer..
Even a quart of paint would have been wasted money.

On Sun, 2 Apr 2017 22:11:26 -0400, Keith Nuttle
wrote:

On 4/2/2017 9:56 PM, -MIKE- wrote:
On 4/2/17 7:43 PM, wrote:
On Sun, 2 Apr 2017 19:24:47 -0400, Ed Pawlowski
wrote:

On 4/2/2017 7:08 PM, Markem wrote:


Go check out realty ads, craigslist or Realtor.com, zillow.

The pictures that kill me are when the house is stuffed to the
gills, but the pics are that nice soft focus (blurry). You can
tell the staged ones. My preference when looking at houses, empty
my imagination can fill it.

I doubt anyone has kept statistics that are valid as to which
sell best though, the messy one though are probably last.


Most people depends on the money from the sale of their house to
use as downpayment on the new one so they want to sell before
moving. If the house is empty, why? Overpriced? Problem with
structure?
+1 -,or more


Unfortunately, that shows a blatant disregard for recent home values and
trends in the market.
Our last house wasn't anything close to what you'd consider luxury or
high value, but we sold in 3 days and that was only because it took that
long for the bidding war to calm down. The home we bought was on the
market for several hours when we made our offer which was accepted
within a couple days only because it took that long for inspection. The
way the recent housing market is, homes are selling for tens of
thousands more than they were worth only a year ago and they are
selling, not in months, weeks, or day, but hours-- many much higher than
listing.

People in many housing markets can well afford to empty and stage their
homes, move into a hotel for a week, store their belongings in PODS, and
make a profit that will make these expenses seems like peanuts.


I think that whether a house sells and how fast depends on the area the
house was located. You count not expect the same price and turn around
in North Carolina, Florida, New York City, and Los Angeles.

We have not been in the market for over 5 years, but watching the house
around us it seems like it is taking between 3 and 6 months, and they
are getting close to their asking price.



1-7 days, 10 to 150 thousand over listing price in Region of Waterloo,
Ontario - about 60 miles from Toronto.

On Sat, 1 Apr 2017 07:20:27 -0700 (PDT)
DerbyDad03 wrote:

maybe we aren't the right people to ask. ;-) If staging bedrooms and
kitchens is all the rage these days, why not stage a shop?

because a shop is more personal to a woodworker
we are particular about our tools

woodworker is a very very small market segment

plus what is the commision for a realtor these days

maybe make them earn that and take their advice

On Sun, 02 Apr 2017 22:20:35 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 02 Apr 2017 21:54:28 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 02 Apr 2017 20:11:54 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 2 Apr 2017 19:24:47 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 4/2/2017 7:08 PM, Markem wrote:


Go check out realty ads, craigslist or Realtor.com, zillow.

The pictures that kill me are when the house is stuffed to the gills,
but the pics are that nice soft focus (blurry). You can tell the
staged ones. My preference when looking at houses, empty my
imagination can fill it.

I doubt anyone has kept statistics that are valid as to which sell
best though, the messy one though are probably last.


Most people depends on the money from the sale of their house to use as
downpayment on the new one so they want to sell before moving. If the
house is empty, why? Overpriced? Problem with structure?

The people already moved? I'd expect that a lot of people who move,
are moving out of the area. There is usually a time line for such
life changes. In two of our three moves, the house was empty. The
third was a move into an apartment for a while (I was working a
short-term contract at the time) so left everything in the house
(including SWMBO) until it sold. The first was a "corporate move", so
there wasn't a worry about selling and the last was a more "normal'
move, though we owned both homes for some time (with a year leasing it
"after" the sale).
That may happen in some markets - but right now, around here, if a
house doesn't sell in a week it is either in bad - and I mean REAL bad
shape, or VERY over-priced - or both.

If it's really that hot, housing is very under priced. Ninety days is
considered "normal". This isn't even the normal peak buying time.

BTW, if I move again, I certainly wouldn't even try to buy a house
after selling. Way too stressful.
When a 3 bedroom 45 year old semi-detatched home with no garage in a
"working class" subdivision sells for over $350,000 I don't think the
house is "under-priced"
With the influx of Toronto buyers I think you could sell a henhouse in
a week for what would have been the high end of the market for a
decent house less than 2 years ago.
It's NUTS.
Going by the house down the street I could likely get $400,000 for my
house if I put it on the market tomorrow - but then whwere would I
live? I'm not ready to move 100 miles west or 350-400 east, or 150
north, to get an affordable place.. There are places 50-60 miles west
that might be reasonable, but not close to any decent centers with
good hospitals and othe facilities - and where I wouldn't have to
drive half an hour to get anywhere.

On Sunday, April 2, 2017 at 10:54:47 PM UTC-4, Electric Comet wrote:
On Sat, 1 Apr 2017 07:20:27 -0700 (PDT)
DerbyDad03 wrote:

maybe we aren't the right people to ask. ;-) If staging bedrooms and
kitchens is all the rage these days, why not stage a shop?

because a shop is more personal to a woodworker
we are particular about our tools

woodworker is a very very small market segment

plus what is the commision for a realtor these days

maybe make them earn that and take their advice

As if different realtors don't have different opinions.

Just because were paying them doesn't make them right 100% of the time.

On 4/2/2017 10:57 PM, wrote:


If it's really that hot, housing is very under priced. Ninety days is
considered "normal". This isn't even the normal peak buying time.

BTW, if I move again, I certainly wouldn't even try to buy a house
after selling. Way too stressful.
When a 3 bedroom 45 year old semi-detatched home with no garage in a
"working class" subdivision sells for over $350,000 I don't think the
house is "under-priced"
With the influx of Toronto buyers I think you could sell a henhouse in
a week for what would have been the high end of the market for a
decent house less than 2 years ago.
It's NUTS.

How easy is getting a mortgage? I hope it is not heading like our
housing market before the bubble burst. Of course, if you earned $2000
a month and your payment would be $1999 you qualified.

On 4/3/2017 5:53 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Sunday, April 2, 2017 at 10:54:47 PM UTC-4, Electric Comet wrote:
On Sat, 1 Apr 2017 07:20:27 -0700 (PDT)
DerbyDad03 wrote:

maybe we aren't the right people to ask. ;-) If staging bedrooms and
kitchens is all the rage these days, why not stage a shop?

because a shop is more personal to a woodworker
we are particular about our tools

woodworker is a very very small market segment

plus what is the commision for a realtor these days

maybe make them earn that and take their advice

As if different realtors don't have different opinions.

Just because were paying them doesn't make them right 100% of the time.


This is correct, but a realtor typically knows much more about selling
homes than the average home owner.

On Monday, April 3, 2017 at 10:13:28 AM UTC-4, Leon wrote:
On 4/3/2017 5:53 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Sunday, April 2, 2017 at 10:54:47 PM UTC-4, Electric Comet wrote:
On Sat, 1 Apr 2017 07:20:27 -0700 (PDT)
DerbyDad03 wrote:

maybe we aren't the right people to ask. ;-) If staging bedrooms and
kitchens is all the rage these days, why not stage a shop?

because a shop is more personal to a woodworker
we are particular about our tools

woodworker is a very very small market segment

plus what is the commision for a realtor these days

maybe make them earn that and take their advice

As if different realtors don't have different opinions.

Just because were paying them doesn't make them right 100% of the time.


This is correct, but a realtor typically knows much more about selling
homes than the average home owner.

Trust, but verify.

We're dealing with a realtor to sell my dad's house. Even she says that nothing is 100%
when selling a house. The smell of chocolate chip cookies could send the best buyer
running out of the door. :-)

On Mon, 3 Apr 2017 03:53:33 -0700 (PDT), DerbyDad03
wrote:

On Sunday, April 2, 2017 at 10:54:47 PM UTC-4, Electric Comet wrote:
On Sat, 1 Apr 2017 07:20:27 -0700 (PDT)
DerbyDad03 wrote:

maybe we aren't the right people to ask. ;-) If staging bedrooms and
kitchens is all the rage these days, why not stage a shop?

because a shop is more personal to a woodworker
we are particular about our tools

woodworker is a very very small market segment

plus what is the commision for a realtor these days

maybe make them earn that and take their advice

As if different realtors don't have different opinions.

Just because were paying them doesn't make them right 100% of the time.
Sometimes 50% is optimistic.

On Mon, 3 Apr 2017 08:40:29 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 4/2/2017 10:57 PM, wrote:


If it's really that hot, housing is very under priced. Ninety days is
considered "normal". This isn't even the normal peak buying time.

BTW, if I move again, I certainly wouldn't even try to buy a house
after selling. Way too stressful.
When a 3 bedroom 45 year old semi-detatched home with no garage in a
"working class" subdivision sells for over $350,000 I don't think the
house is "under-priced"
With the influx of Toronto buyers I think you could sell a henhouse in
a week for what would have been the high end of the market for a
decent house less than 2 years ago.
It's NUTS.

How easy is getting a mortgage? I hope it is not heading like our
housing market before the bubble burst. Of course, if you earned $2000
a month and your payment would be $1999 you qualified.
The mortgage "stress test" is pretty tight. You don't qualify for a
CMHC insured mortgage if you wouldn't pass at 3 or 4%? higher than
current levels..

As an example, at my bank, IF I was making $80,000 a year and was debt
free with a $50,000 down payment on a house with $3000 taxes and $750
anual heating bill, they would approve me for only $247,900 purchace
price (about $197,900 mortgage) with current payments of $1133.00 per
month.
A $4751 CMHC insurance fee is charged on that mortgage.

A minimum 5% down payment is required up to $500,000, and 10% on the
balance up to 1 million. Over 1 million no default insurance is
available and a 20% down payment on the total value is required.

At my current income I couldn't afford the mortgage on a chicken coop.

On Sun, 02 Apr 2017 22:57:20 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 02 Apr 2017 22:20:35 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 02 Apr 2017 21:54:28 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 02 Apr 2017 20:11:54 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 2 Apr 2017 19:24:47 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 4/2/2017 7:08 PM, Markem wrote:


Go check out realty ads, craigslist or Realtor.com, zillow.

The pictures that kill me are when the house is stuffed to the gills,
but the pics are that nice soft focus (blurry). You can tell the
staged ones. My preference when looking at houses, empty my
imagination can fill it.

I doubt anyone has kept statistics that are valid as to which sell
best though, the messy one though are probably last.


Most people depends on the money from the sale of their house to use as
downpayment on the new one so they want to sell before moving. If the
house is empty, why? Overpriced? Problem with structure?

The people already moved? I'd expect that a lot of people who move,
are moving out of the area. There is usually a time line for such
life changes. In two of our three moves, the house was empty. The
third was a move into an apartment for a while (I was working a
short-term contract at the time) so left everything in the house
(including SWMBO) until it sold. The first was a "corporate move", so
there wasn't a worry about selling and the last was a more "normal'
move, though we owned both homes for some time (with a year leasing it
"after" the sale).
That may happen in some markets - but right now, around here, if a
house doesn't sell in a week it is either in bad - and I mean REAL bad
shape, or VERY over-priced - or both.

If it's really that hot, housing is very under priced. Ninety days is
considered "normal". This isn't even the normal peak buying time.

BTW, if I move again, I certainly wouldn't even try to buy a house
after selling. Way too stressful.
When a 3 bedroom 45 year old semi-detatched home with no garage in a
"working class" subdivision sells for over $350,000 I don't think the
house is "under-priced"

What it is, is irrelevant. How fast it sells for and how many people
want it (at the price) is. Worth is defined by what people are
willing to pay. Nothing more. Nothing less.

With the influx of Toronto buyers I think you could sell a henhouse in
a week for what would have been the high end of the market for a
decent house less than 2 years ago.
It's NUTS.
Going by the house down the street I could likely get $400,000 for my
house if I put it on the market tomorrow - but then whwere would I
live? I'm not ready to move 100 miles west or 350-400 east, or 150
north, to get an affordable place.. There are places 50-60 miles west
that might be reasonable, but not close to any decent centers with
good hospitals and othe facilities - and where I wouldn't have to
drive half an hour to get anywhere.

Or a thousand miles South and get three times the house on 20 times
the property and still be within an hour[*] of six woodworking stores.
;-)
[*] Well, before a key highway collapsed.

On Mon, 3 Apr 2017 08:40:29 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 4/2/2017 10:57 PM, wrote:


If it's really that hot, housing is very under priced. Ninety days is
considered "normal". This isn't even the normal peak buying time.

BTW, if I move again, I certainly wouldn't even try to buy a house
after selling. Way too stressful.
When a 3 bedroom 45 year old semi-detatched home with no garage in a
"working class" subdivision sells for over $350,000 I don't think the
house is "under-priced"
With the influx of Toronto buyers I think you could sell a henhouse in
a week for what would have been the high end of the market for a
decent house less than 2 years ago.
It's NUTS.

How easy is getting a mortgage? I hope it is not heading like our
housing market before the bubble burst. Of course, if you earned $2000
a month and your payment would be $1999 you qualified.

It does seem to be going back that way. Not so much qualified income
and no-docs, perhaps, but the (close to) 100% loans are back.

On Mon, 03 Apr 2017 13:26:57 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 02 Apr 2017 22:57:20 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 02 Apr 2017 22:20:35 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 02 Apr 2017 21:54:28 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 02 Apr 2017 20:11:54 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 2 Apr 2017 19:24:47 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 4/2/2017 7:08 PM, Markem wrote:


Go check out realty ads, craigslist or Realtor.com, zillow.

The pictures that kill me are when the house is stuffed to the gills,
but the pics are that nice soft focus (blurry). You can tell the
staged ones. My preference when looking at houses, empty my
imagination can fill it.

I doubt anyone has kept statistics that are valid as to which sell
best though, the messy one though are probably last.


Most people depends on the money from the sale of their house to use as
downpayment on the new one so they want to sell before moving. If the
house is empty, why? Overpriced? Problem with structure?

The people already moved? I'd expect that a lot of people who move,
are moving out of the area. There is usually a time line for such
life changes. In two of our three moves, the house was empty. The
third was a move into an apartment for a while (I was working a
short-term contract at the time) so left everything in the house
(including SWMBO) until it sold. The first was a "corporate move", so
there wasn't a worry about selling and the last was a more "normal'
move, though we owned both homes for some time (with a year leasing it
"after" the sale).
That may happen in some markets - but right now, around here, if a
house doesn't sell in a week it is either in bad - and I mean REAL bad
shape, or VERY over-priced - or both.

If it's really that hot, housing is very under priced. Ninety days is
considered "normal". This isn't even the normal peak buying time.

BTW, if I move again, I certainly wouldn't even try to buy a house
after selling. Way too stressful.
When a 3 bedroom 45 year old semi-detatched home with no garage in a
"working class" subdivision sells for over $350,000 I don't think the
house is "under-priced"

What it is, is irrelevant. How fast it sells for and how many people
want it (at the price) is. Worth is defined by what people are
willing to pay. Nothing more. Nothing less.

With the influx of Toronto buyers I think you could sell a henhouse in
a week for what would have been the high end of the market for a
decent house less than 2 years ago.
It's NUTS.
Going by the house down the street I could likely get $400,000 for my
house if I put it on the market tomorrow - but then whwere would I
live? I'm not ready to move 100 miles west or 350-400 east, or 150
north, to get an affordable place.. There are places 50-60 miles west
that might be reasonable, but not close to any decent centers with
good hospitals and othe facilities - and where I wouldn't have to
drive half an hour to get anywhere.

Or a thousand miles South and get three times the house on 20 times
the property and still be within an hour[*] of six woodworking stores.
;-)

[*] Well, before a key highway collapsed.
But not half a mile from Lee Valley!!!

On Mon, 03 Apr 2017 13:28:56 -0400, wrote:

On Mon, 3 Apr 2017 08:40:29 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 4/2/2017 10:57 PM, wrote:


If it's really that hot, housing is very under priced. Ninety days is
considered "normal". This isn't even the normal peak buying time.

BTW, if I move again, I certainly wouldn't even try to buy a house
after selling. Way too stressful.
When a 3 bedroom 45 year old semi-detatched home with no garage in a
"working class" subdivision sells for over $350,000 I don't think the
house is "under-priced"
With the influx of Toronto buyers I think you could sell a henhouse in
a week for what would have been the high end of the market for a
decent house less than 2 years ago.
It's NUTS.

How easy is getting a mortgage? I hope it is not heading like our
housing market before the bubble burst. Of course, if you earned $2000
a month and your payment would be $1999 you qualified.

It does seem to be going back that way. Not so much qualified income
and no-docs, perhaps, but the (close to) 100% loans are back.
Not up here. Thank Goodness.
It's bad enough that the "well healed" Torontonians are grabbing up
everything in sight (The vast majority recent immigrants, by the way)
without all the riff-raff joining them. It does make it hard for our
kids to buy houses - they would qualify for what the houses were
selling for 2 years ago - but now they are being totally bid out of
the market - with Semis and townhouses over $300,000, and bidding wars
- and lineps around the block when new condos go up for sale. This
weekend a 40 unit condo sold out in hours - with a waiting list for
the next tower virtually selling it out before it is built.And it's
not a cheap condo tower ----. Being 10 minutes from the 401 it was
sold almost totally to Toronto Commuters.

On 2017-04-03 4:54 PM, wrote:
On Mon, 03 Apr 2017 13:28:56 -0400, wrote:

On Mon, 3 Apr 2017 08:40:29 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 4/2/2017 10:57 PM, wrote:


If it's really that hot, housing is very under priced. Ninety days is
considered "normal". This isn't even the normal peak buying time.

BTW, if I move again, I certainly wouldn't even try to buy a house
after selling. Way too stressful.
When a 3 bedroom 45 year old semi-detatched home with no garage in a
"working class" subdivision sells for over $350,000 I don't think the
house is "under-priced"
With the influx of Toronto buyers I think you could sell a henhouse in
a week for what would have been the high end of the market for a
decent house less than 2 years ago.
It's NUTS.

How easy is getting a mortgage? I hope it is not heading like our
housing market before the bubble burst. Of course, if you earned $2000
a month and your payment would be $1999 you qualified.

It does seem to be going back that way. Not so much qualified income
and no-docs, perhaps, but the (close to) 100% loans are back.
Not up here. Thank Goodness.
It's bad enough that the "well healed" Torontonians are grabbing up
everything in sight (The vast majority recent immigrants, by the way)
without all the riff-raff joining them. It does make it hard for our
kids to buy houses - they would qualify for what the houses were
selling for 2 years ago - but now they are being totally bid out of
the market - with Semis and townhouses over $300,000, and bidding wars
- and lineps around the block when new condos go up for sale. This
weekend a 40 unit condo sold out in hours - with a waiting list for
the next tower virtually selling it out before it is built.And it's
not a cheap condo tower ----. Being 10 minutes from the 401 it was
sold almost totally to Toronto Commuters.

That drive must be brutal on the 401, through part of Toronto,
Mississauga and the rest of the trip to Waterloo, especially doing it in
rush hour twice a day. It would be different if I could get a job
there, and probably pocket a good hunk of change.

--
Froz....

wrote in
:


Or a thousand miles South and get three times the house on 20 times
the property and still be within an hour[*] of six woodworking stores.
;-)

[*] Well, before a key highway collapsed.

Yeah, but what happens when it rains?

I've been there (Atlanta) when it's rained... Sure doesn't take long for
someone to slide into someone and clog up all the major expressways out of
town.

Is Toronto better about that?

Puckdropper
--
http://www.puckdroppersplace.us/rec.woodworking
A mini archive of some of rec.woodworking's best and worst!

On Mon, 3 Apr 2017 17:01:38 -0400, FrozenNorth
wrote:

On 2017-04-03 4:54 PM, wrote:
On Mon, 03 Apr 2017 13:28:56 -0400, wrote:

On Mon, 3 Apr 2017 08:40:29 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 4/2/2017 10:57 PM, wrote:


If it's really that hot, housing is very under priced. Ninety days is
considered "normal". This isn't even the normal peak buying time.

BTW, if I move again, I certainly wouldn't even try to buy a house
after selling. Way too stressful.
When a 3 bedroom 45 year old semi-detatched home with no garage in a
"working class" subdivision sells for over $350,000 I don't think the
house is "under-priced"
With the influx of Toronto buyers I think you could sell a henhouse in
a week for what would have been the high end of the market for a
decent house less than 2 years ago.
It's NUTS.

How easy is getting a mortgage? I hope it is not heading like our
housing market before the bubble burst. Of course, if you earned $2000
a month and your payment would be $1999 you qualified.

It does seem to be going back that way. Not so much qualified income
and no-docs, perhaps, but the (close to) 100% loans are back.
Not up here. Thank Goodness.
It's bad enough that the "well healed" Torontonians are grabbing up
everything in sight (The vast majority recent immigrants, by the way)
without all the riff-raff joining them. It does make it hard for our
kids to buy houses - they would qualify for what the houses were
selling for 2 years ago - but now they are being totally bid out of
the market - with Semis and townhouses over $300,000, and bidding wars
- and lineps around the block when new condos go up for sale. This
weekend a 40 unit condo sold out in hours - with a waiting list for
the next tower virtually selling it out before it is built.And it's
not a cheap condo tower ----. Being 10 minutes from the 401 it was
sold almost totally to Toronto Commuters.

That drive must be brutal on the 401, through part of Toronto,
Mississauga and the rest of the trip to Waterloo, especially doing it in
rush hour twice a day. It would be different if I could get a job
there, and probably pocket a good hunk of change.
On a good day an hour will get me from North Waterloo to Pearson. My
oldest daughter drives from Midtown Kitchener to World Place in
Mississauga -She generally allows an hour and a half and usually gets
there early enough to stop for a coffee. There have been times where
it took over 2 hours, and sometimes she takes the back roads to
Milton. from Mississauga, or from Milton to Mississauga.
It IS a nerve wracking drive, but nothing like driving from
Mississauga to Scarboonie, or vice versa!!!!!!

What kind of work do you do??

On 03 Apr 2017 21:35:48 GMT, Puckdropper
puckdropper(at)yahoo(dot)com wrote:

wrote in
:


Or a thousand miles South and get three times the house on 20 times
the property and still be within an hour[*] of six woodworking stores.
;-)

[*] Well, before a key highway collapsed.

Yeah, but what happens when it rains?

I've been there (Atlanta) when it's rained... Sure doesn't take long for
someone to slide into someone and clog up all the major expressways out of
town.

Is Toronto better about that?

Puckdropper


Significantly. I've driven through/around Atlanta a couple times -
the traffic is nothing compared to Toronto - but I've NEVER made the
trip without a traffic delay from some driver doing somethinf stupid.

On 03 Apr 2017 21:35:48 GMT, Puckdropper
puckdropper(at)yahoo(dot)com wrote:

wrote in
:


Or a thousand miles South and get three times the house on 20 times
the property and still be within an hour[*] of six woodworking stores.
;-)

[*] Well, before a key highway collapsed.

Yeah, but what happens when it rains?

I've been there (Atlanta) when it's rained... Sure doesn't take long for
someone to slide into someone and clog up all the major expressways out of
town.

Rush hour(s) is a mess anytime but when it gets wet the drivers really
turn into assholes. Fortunately, I live far enough out (~30mi from
midtown), and on the side where traffic isn't an issue. When I go to
the other side, I make sure it's either the weekend or in the middle
of the day (or the ER a couple of times at 2:00AM :-( ).

Is Toronto better about that?

Snow is no fun, even when they know what to do with it. I'm done with
that stuff!

On Mon, 3 Apr 2017 09:50:59 -0700 (PDT), DerbyDad03
wrote:

On Monday, April 3, 2017 at 10:13:28 AM UTC-4, Leon wrote:
On 4/3/2017 5:53 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Sunday, April 2, 2017 at 10:54:47 PM UTC-4, Electric Comet wrote:
On Sat, 1 Apr 2017 07:20:27 -0700 (PDT)
DerbyDad03 wrote:

maybe we aren't the right people to ask. ;-) If staging bedrooms and
kitchens is all the rage these days, why not stage a shop?

because a shop is more personal to a woodworker
we are particular about our tools

woodworker is a very very small market segment

plus what is the commision for a realtor these days

maybe make them earn that and take their advice

As if different realtors don't have different opinions.

Just because were paying them doesn't make them right 100% of the time.


This is correct, but a realtor typically knows much more about selling
homes than the average home owner.

Trust, but verify.

We're dealing with a realtor to sell my dad's house. Even she says that nothing is 100%
when selling a house. The smell of chocolate chip cookies could send the best buyer
running out of the door. :-)

It's all about odds. if everyone is making chocolate chip cookies...

On 2017-04-03 9:24 PM, wrote:
On Mon, 3 Apr 2017 17:01:38 -0400, FrozenNorth
wrote:

On 2017-04-03 4:54 PM, wrote:
On Mon, 03 Apr 2017 13:28:56 -0400, wrote:

On Mon, 3 Apr 2017 08:40:29 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 4/2/2017 10:57 PM, wrote:


If it's really that hot, housing is very under priced. Ninety days is
considered "normal". This isn't even the normal peak buying time.

BTW, if I move again, I certainly wouldn't even try to buy a house
after selling. Way too stressful.
When a 3 bedroom 45 year old semi-detatched home with no garage in a
"working class" subdivision sells for over $350,000 I don't think the
house is "under-priced"
With the influx of Toronto buyers I think you could sell a henhouse in
a week for what would have been the high end of the market for a
decent house less than 2 years ago.
It's NUTS.

How easy is getting a mortgage? I hope it is not heading like our
housing market before the bubble burst. Of course, if you earned $2000
a month and your payment would be $1999 you qualified.

It does seem to be going back that way. Not so much qualified income
and no-docs, perhaps, but the (close to) 100% loans are back.
Not up here. Thank Goodness.
It's bad enough that the "well healed" Torontonians are grabbing up
everything in sight (The vast majority recent immigrants, by the way)
without all the riff-raff joining them. It does make it hard for our
kids to buy houses - they would qualify for what the houses were
selling for 2 years ago - but now they are being totally bid out of
the market - with Semis and townhouses over $300,000, and bidding wars
- and lineps around the block when new condos go up for sale. This
weekend a 40 unit condo sold out in hours - with a waiting list for
the next tower virtually selling it out before it is built.And it's
not a cheap condo tower ----. Being 10 minutes from the 401 it was
sold almost totally to Toronto Commuters.

That drive must be brutal on the 401, through part of Toronto,
Mississauga and the rest of the trip to Waterloo, especially doing it in
rush hour twice a day. It would be different if I could get a job
there, and probably pocket a good hunk of change.
On a good day an hour will get me from North Waterloo to Pearson. My
oldest daughter drives from Midtown Kitchener to World Place in
Mississauga -She generally allows an hour and a half and usually gets
there early enough to stop for a coffee. There have been times where
it took over 2 hours, and sometimes she takes the back roads to
Milton. from Mississauga, or from Milton to Mississauga.
It IS a nerve wracking drive, but nothing like driving from
Mississauga to Scarboonie, or vice versa!!!!!!

What kind of work do you do??

Retired now, worked in computers, programming and network admin for many
years. In the mid eighties I actually did drive the
Mississauga/Scarborough run for a commute, that got old, and fast, got a
job in Mississauga.

--
Froz....

On Mon, 03 Apr 2017 21:26:48 -0400, wrote:

On 03 Apr 2017 21:35:48 GMT, Puckdropper
puckdropper(at)yahoo(dot)com wrote:

wrote in
m:


Or a thousand miles South and get three times the house on 20 times
the property and still be within an hour[*] of six woodworking stores.
;-)

[*] Well, before a key highway collapsed.

Yeah, but what happens when it rains?

I've been there (Atlanta) when it's rained... Sure doesn't take long for
someone to slide into someone and clog up all the major expressways out of
town.

Is Toronto better about that?

Puckdropper


Significantly. I've driven through/around Atlanta a couple times -
the traffic is nothing compared to Toronto - but I've NEVER made the
trip without a traffic delay from some driver doing somethinf stupid.

As much as people rank on the Atlanta traffic, I don't even think it's
in the bottom ten major metro areas. There wouldn't be a problem at
all if the drivers weren't such asses.

In article ,
says...

On 03 Apr 2017 21:35:48 GMT, Puckdropper
puckdropper(at)yahoo(dot)com wrote:

wrote in
:


Or a thousand miles South and get three times the house on 20 times
the property and still be within an hour[*] of six woodworking stores.
;-)

[*] Well, before a key highway collapsed.

Yeah, but what happens when it rains?

I've been there (Atlanta) when it's rained... Sure doesn't take long for
someone to slide into someone and clog up all the major expressways out of
town.

Is Toronto better about that?

Puckdropper


Significantly. I've driven through/around Atlanta a couple times -
the traffic is nothing compared to Toronto - but I've NEVER made the
trip without a traffic delay from some driver doing somethinf stupid.

I used to commute from the outskirts to Georgia Tech. Traffic wasn't
really that big a deal most days. A lot better than Hartford. Of course
Hell is probably better than Hartford.

On Mon, 3 Apr 2017 21:36:38 -0400, FrozenNorth
wrote:

On 2017-04-03 9:24 PM, wrote:
On Mon, 3 Apr 2017 17:01:38 -0400, FrozenNorth
wrote:

On 2017-04-03 4:54 PM, wrote:
On Mon, 03 Apr 2017 13:28:56 -0400, wrote:

On Mon, 3 Apr 2017 08:40:29 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 4/2/2017 10:57 PM, wrote:


If it's really that hot, housing is very under priced. Ninety days is
considered "normal". This isn't even the normal peak buying time.

BTW, if I move again, I certainly wouldn't even try to buy a house
after selling. Way too stressful.
When a 3 bedroom 45 year old semi-detatched home with no garage in a
"working class" subdivision sells for over $350,000 I don't think the
house is "under-priced"
With the influx of Toronto buyers I think you could sell a henhouse in
a week for what would have been the high end of the market for a
decent house less than 2 years ago.
It's NUTS.

How easy is getting a mortgage? I hope it is not heading like our
housing market before the bubble burst. Of course, if you earned $2000
a month and your payment would be $1999 you qualified.

It does seem to be going back that way. Not so much qualified income
and no-docs, perhaps, but the (close to) 100% loans are back.
Not up here. Thank Goodness.
It's bad enough that the "well healed" Torontonians are grabbing up
everything in sight (The vast majority recent immigrants, by the way)
without all the riff-raff joining them. It does make it hard for our
kids to buy houses - they would qualify for what the houses were
selling for 2 years ago - but now they are being totally bid out of
the market - with Semis and townhouses over $300,000, and bidding wars
- and lineps around the block when new condos go up for sale. This
weekend a 40 unit condo sold out in hours - with a waiting list for
the next tower virtually selling it out before it is built.And it's
not a cheap condo tower ----. Being 10 minutes from the 401 it was
sold almost totally to Toronto Commuters.

That drive must be brutal on the 401, through part of Toronto,
Mississauga and the rest of the trip to Waterloo, especially doing it in
rush hour twice a day. It would be different if I could get a job
there, and probably pocket a good hunk of change.
On a good day an hour will get me from North Waterloo to Pearson. My
oldest daughter drives from Midtown Kitchener to World Place in
Mississauga -She generally allows an hour and a half and usually gets
there early enough to stop for a coffee. There have been times where
it took over 2 hours, and sometimes she takes the back roads to
Milton. from Mississauga, or from Milton to Mississauga.
It IS a nerve wracking drive, but nothing like driving from
Mississauga to Scarboonie, or vice versa!!!!!!

What kind of work do you do??

Retired now, worked in computers, programming and network admin for many
years. In the mid eighties I actually did drive the
Mississauga/Scarborough run for a commute, that got old, and fast, got a
job in Mississauga.
Back when I was in the automotive service business as Service Manager
for Toyota I used to make the run from Waterloo to Scarboonie every
couple of months. Started out I could do the trip in an hour and a
half to get to headquarters for 9am if I left at 7:30. Then it got so
I could do it in an hour and a half if I left at 7, but it took over 2
if I left at 7:30. By the time I got out of that business back in '89,
if I wanted to be there for 9am I had to leave at 5:30 - and I'd
arrive at 7:00. If I left at 6:00, I'd get there at 8:00, if I left at
6:30 I might get there by 9:30 on a good day - - - -

On Mon, 3 Apr 2017 22:01:06 -0400, "J. Clarke"
wrote:

In article ,
says...

On 03 Apr 2017 21:35:48 GMT, Puckdropper
puckdropper(at)yahoo(dot)com wrote:

wrote in
:


Or a thousand miles South and get three times the house on 20 times
the property and still be within an hour[*] of six woodworking stores.
;-)

[*] Well, before a key highway collapsed.

Yeah, but what happens when it rains?

I've been there (Atlanta) when it's rained... Sure doesn't take long for
someone to slide into someone and clog up all the major expressways out of
town.

Is Toronto better about that?

Puckdropper


Significantly. I've driven through/around Atlanta a couple times -
the traffic is nothing compared to Toronto - but I've NEVER made the
trip without a traffic delay from some driver doing somethinf stupid.

I used to commute from the outskirts to Georgia Tech. Traffic wasn't
really that big a deal most days. A lot better than Hartford. Of course
Hell is probably better than Hartford.


You want to see an 18 lane parking lot? Try driving across Toronto
between 3PM and 6pm, or 6:30AM and 9AM.
It used to be you could drive across Toronto in "off hours" with
hardly any traffic - now there are NO "off hours" - I've been caught
in a traffic jam at 2AM heading west - - -

On Mon, 3 Apr 2017 03:53:33 -0700 (PDT)
DerbyDad03 wrote:

Just because were paying them doesn't make them right 100% of the
time.

certainly you mean overpaying them

On Monday, April 3, 2017 at 10:01:10 PM UTC-4, J. Clarke wrote:
In article ,
says...

On 03 Apr 2017 21:35:48 GMT, Puckdropper
puckdropper(at)yahoo(dot)com wrote:

wrote in
:


Or a thousand miles South and get three times the house on 20 times
the property and still be within an hour[*] of six woodworking stores.
;-)

[*] Well, before a key highway collapsed.

Yeah, but what happens when it rains?

I've been there (Atlanta) when it's rained... Sure doesn't take long for
someone to slide into someone and clog up all the major expressways out of
town.

Is Toronto better about that?

Puckdropper


Significantly. I've driven through/around Atlanta a couple times -
the traffic is nothing compared to Toronto - but I've NEVER made the
trip without a traffic delay from some driver doing somethinf stupid.

I used to commute from the outskirts to Georgia Tech. Traffic wasn't
really that big a deal most days. A lot better than Hartford. Of course
Hell is probably better than Hartford.

I grew up in NYC. I hated NYC traffic since Day 1.

My family and I used to leave for Jones Beach at 6AM. We'd eat breakfast at the beach,
swim until it got crowded and then drive home, laughing at all the people stuck in traffic
on the LIE and Meadowbrook trying to get to Jones Beach. (and they were going to be
stuck on the way home too.)

After getting out of the USCG and going to college in NYC, I only took interviews for
jobs outside of NYC. Why? Because I grew up in NYC and I hated NYC traffic since Day 1.

I like to drive and for the past 30+ years I've been able to.

On Tue, 4 Apr 2017 15:28:33 -0700, Electric Comet
wrote:

On Mon, 3 Apr 2017 03:53:33 -0700 (PDT)
DerbyDad03 wrote:

Just because were paying them doesn't make them right 100% of the
time.

certainly you mean overpaying them

You mean they're stealing money from you? Are they forcing you to use
their services?

On 4/4/2017 9:48 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote:

I used to commute from the outskirts to Georgia Tech. Traffic wasn't
really that big a deal most days. A lot better than Hartford. Of course
Hell is probably better than Hartford.

I grew up in NYC. I hated NYC traffic since Day 1.

My family and I used to leave for Jones Beach at 6AM. We'd eat breakfast at the beach,
swim until it got crowded and then drive home, laughing at all the people stuck in traffic
on the LIE and Meadowbrook trying to get to Jones Beach. (and they were going to be
stuck on the way home too.)

After getting out of the USCG and going to college in NYC, I only took interviews for
jobs outside of NYC. Why? Because I grew up in NYC and I hated NYC traffic since Day 1.

I like to drive and for the past 30+ years I've been able to.


When I lived in Philadelphia my commute was to outside the city so it
was much better than the opposite but still not fun. I've done my share
of NYC, Hartford and Boston but mostly a day at a time. I cannot imagine
doing it every day for years.

My commute for the past 27 years was 24 miles and in light traffic 32
minutes, heavy traffic 34 minutes. My commute now is to the kitchen to
make a cup of tea. I'm liking it.

On Tue, 04 Apr 2017 22:09:53 -0400, wrote:

On Tue, 4 Apr 2017 15:28:33 -0700, Electric Comet
wrote:

On Mon, 3 Apr 2017 03:53:33 -0700 (PDT)
DerbyDad03 wrote:

Just because were paying them doesn't make them right 100% of the
time.

certainly you mean overpaying them

You mean they're stealing money from you? Are they forcing you to use
their services?
Pretty close. Not saying they are stealing money, but in many cases
they are not providing the service you are paying for. Worse yet for
home inspectors than realtors.

On Wed, 05 Apr 2017 13:39:32 -0400, wrote:

On Tue, 04 Apr 2017 22:09:53 -0400, wrote:

On Tue, 4 Apr 2017 15:28:33 -0700, Electric Comet
wrote:

On Mon, 3 Apr 2017 03:53:33 -0700 (PDT)
DerbyDad03 wrote:

Just because were paying them doesn't make them right 100% of the
time.

certainly you mean overpaying them

You mean they're stealing money from you? Are they forcing you to use
their services?
Pretty close. Not saying they are stealing money, but in many cases
they are not providing the service you are paying for. Worse yet for
home inspectors than realtors.

You chose to hire them and agreed to the terms. They don't get paid
if you aren't successful in selling your home. How is that being
"overpaid"?

My selling agents have been worth every dime I paid them. We had a
loser buyer's agent but she didn't get paid a dime either. Her
replacement got paid the buying side of the commission for a few hours
work (she was willing _to_ work).

On Wed, 05 Apr 2017 20:41:23 -0400, wrote:

On Wed, 05 Apr 2017 13:39:32 -0400, wrote:

On Tue, 04 Apr 2017 22:09:53 -0400, wrote:

On Tue, 4 Apr 2017 15:28:33 -0700, Electric Comet
wrote:

On Mon, 3 Apr 2017 03:53:33 -0700 (PDT)
DerbyDad03 wrote:

Just because were paying them doesn't make them right 100% of the
time.

certainly you mean overpaying them

You mean they're stealing money from you? Are they forcing you to use
their services?
Pretty close. Not saying they are stealing money, but in many cases
they are not providing the service you are paying for. Worse yet for
home inspectors than realtors.

You chose to hire them and agreed to the terms. They don't get paid
if you aren't successful in selling your home. How is that being
"overpaid"?

My selling agents have been worth every dime I paid them. We had a
loser buyer's agent but she didn't get paid a dime either. Her
replacement got paid the buying side of the commission for a few hours
work (she was willing _to_ work).



You need to vet your agent, whether buying or selling. In a hot market
any agent can sell your house and get you a good price. In a slow
market just about any agent can get you a suitable house.. Whether
they have fully represented you, and provided you all the information
they should have when buying, or given all the information to the
buyer they should have, is another question.
Getting you into or out of a house isn't the whole job.

On Wed, 05 Apr 2017 22:48:14 -0400, wrote:

On Wed, 05 Apr 2017 20:41:23 -0400, wrote:

On Wed, 05 Apr 2017 13:39:32 -0400, wrote:

On Tue, 04 Apr 2017 22:09:53 -0400, wrote:

On Tue, 4 Apr 2017 15:28:33 -0700, Electric Comet
wrote:

On Mon, 3 Apr 2017 03:53:33 -0700 (PDT)
DerbyDad03 wrote:

Just because were paying them doesn't make them right 100% of the
time.

certainly you mean overpaying them

You mean they're stealing money from you? Are they forcing you to use
their services?
Pretty close. Not saying they are stealing money, but in many cases
they are not providing the service you are paying for. Worse yet for
home inspectors than realtors.

You chose to hire them and agreed to the terms. They don't get paid
if you aren't successful in selling your home. How is that being
"overpaid"?

My selling agents have been worth every dime I paid them. We had a
loser buyer's agent but she didn't get paid a dime either. Her
replacement got paid the buying side of the commission for a few hours
work (she was willing _to_ work).



You need to vet your agent, whether buying or selling. In a hot market
any agent can sell your house and get you a good price. In a slow
market just about any agent can get you a suitable house.. Whether
they have fully represented you, and provided you all the information
they should have when buying, or given all the information to the
buyer they should have, is another question.
Getting you into or out of a house isn't the whole job.

Sure, in a slow market the agent's biggest job is to find buyers but
the buyer isn't paying the agent. The fact is that the seller is
paying both ends of the deal. Since you, the buyer, aren't paying the
salary of the agent, he can't be over-priced. You don't seem to
understand that both agents are working for the seller, no matter what
they may say.

On Wed, 05 Apr 2017 22:53:48 -0400, wrote:

On Wed, 05 Apr 2017 22:48:14 -0400, wrote:

On Wed, 05 Apr 2017 20:41:23 -0400, wrote:

On Wed, 05 Apr 2017 13:39:32 -0400, wrote:

On Tue, 04 Apr 2017 22:09:53 -0400, wrote:

On Tue, 4 Apr 2017 15:28:33 -0700, Electric Comet
wrote:

On Mon, 3 Apr 2017 03:53:33 -0700 (PDT)
DerbyDad03 wrote:

Just because were paying them doesn't make them right 100% of the
time.

certainly you mean overpaying them

You mean they're stealing money from you? Are they forcing you to use
their services?
Pretty close. Not saying they are stealing money, but in many cases
they are not providing the service you are paying for. Worse yet for
home inspectors than realtors.

You chose to hire them and agreed to the terms. They don't get paid
if you aren't successful in selling your home. How is that being
"overpaid"?

My selling agents have been worth every dime I paid them. We had a
loser buyer's agent but she didn't get paid a dime either. Her
replacement got paid the buying side of the commission for a few hours
work (she was willing _to_ work).



You need to vet your agent, whether buying or selling. In a hot market
any agent can sell your house and get you a good price. In a slow
market just about any agent can get you a suitable house.. Whether
they have fully represented you, and provided you all the information
they should have when buying, or given all the information to the
buyer they should have, is another question.
Getting you into or out of a house isn't the whole job.

Sure, in a slow market the agent's biggest job is to find buyers but
the buyer isn't paying the agent. The fact is that the seller is
paying both ends of the deal. Since you, the buyer, aren't paying the
salary of the agent, he can't be over-priced. You don't seem to
understand that both agents are working for the seller, no matter what
they may say.
You may not be paying the "buyer's agent" directly - but the agent is
being paid, and it IS coming out of your pocket indirectly because the
cost of selling the house is reflected in the price you pay when you
buy the house. There is no "free lunch"

If you manage to get a "double header" agent - the listing agent also
being your "buyer's agent" it is doubly important that they know what
they are doing -Or a triple header - listing and selling YOUR house,
as well as being the listing agent on the house you buy and your
"buyer's agent"

When we bought our house (and sold our old house) the house we bought
was listed by a different agent working for the same company. - but
neither was the "buyer's agent" for the buyer of our old house.

I'm sure glad I'm not buying or selling in the current market. We were
looking 2 years ago but I'll put in stair lifts and stay in the house
we have for a lot less than just the real estate comissions involved
in changing houses - and there are no decent bungalows available for
what we are likely to get for our 2 story - and I refuse to deal with
a mortgage in retirement.

On 4/5/2017 10:35 PM, wrote:
Snip



I'm sure glad I'm not buying or selling in the current market. We were
looking 2 years ago but I'll put in stair lifts and stay in the house
we have for a lot less than just the real estate comissions involved
in changing houses - and there are no decent bungalows available for
what we are likely to get for our 2 story - and I refuse to deal with
a mortgage in retirement.


What's a mortgage? ;~)

On 4/6/2017 9:11 AM, Leon wrote:
On 4/5/2017 10:35 PM, wrote:
Snip



I'm sure glad I'm not buying or selling in the current market. We were
looking 2 years ago but I'll put in stair lifts and stay in the house
we have for a lot less than just the real estate comissions involved
in changing houses - and there are no decent bungalows available for
what we are likely to get for our 2 story - and I refuse to deal with
a mortgage in retirement.


What's a mortgage? ;~)

Slavery for young people

On Thursday, April 6, 2017 at 9:11:32 AM UTC-4, Leon wrote:
On 4/5/2017 10:35 PM, wrote:
Snip



I'm sure glad I'm not buying or selling in the current market. We were
looking 2 years ago but I'll put in stair lifts and stay in the house
we have for a lot less than just the real estate comissions involved
in changing houses - and there are no decent bungalows available for
what we are likely to get for our 2 story - and I refuse to deal with
a mortgage in retirement.


What's a mortgage? ;~)

A method used to raise cash at a low interest rate so that it can be invested
at a higher rate of return.

Possibly risky and something that has to be managed carefully, yes, but a
strategy used by wealthy people (and businesses) quite often.

Lots of rich folks (and businesses) have mortgages that they could pay off
this afternoon if they wanted to.

On Saturday, April 1, 2017 at 10:28:32 AM UTC-4, Leon wrote:
On 4/1/2017 9:20 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
My neighbor is selling his house. He has a wood shop in his basement, maybe
15 x 25. Table saw, jointer, planer, bandsaw, a couple of workbenches, etc.
The shop is at ground level, with a door to the back yard. Some pretty nice
stuff has come out that shop.

The rest of the basement is unfinished, basically one large room with the
furnace, water heater, washer, dryer and some storage shelves. Oh yeah,
there's a shower stall bathroom in the corner. The basement can be accessed
by stairs from the kitchen or through the shop. They are 2 separate spaces.
It's sloped lot, allowing for a walk-out basement in the rear for the shop.

His realtor has told him that he should empty the shop before showing the
house, so he has moved all of his equipment and material to storage until
his new house is ready.

What are your thoughts? Would you have left the shop as staging or emptied
the room like the realtor suggested? I know we are biased, so maybe we aren't
the right people to ask. ;-) If staging bedrooms and kitchens is all the
rage these days, why not stage a shop?


If you have a place to move the equipment to, move it out. As hard as
this is to believe, not every man is a "He-man" and he may not, if he
even has any say in the matter, care to see wood working equipment. ;~)
An empty room just looks bigger and uncluttered, that is what the
realtor and perspective buyers want to see for a storage area.
Basically the area is not only intended to be a shop and a perspective
buyer may see it as only a room intended to be a shop if it is filled
with equipment. If the room is empty the buyer can see it as any thing
he or she wants it to be.

I'm in Real estate. Granted, most of what I do is commercial, but it's the same thing at the end of the day. Leon nailed it with this:

Basically the area is not only intended to be a shop and a perspective
buyer may see it as only a room intended to be a shop if it is filled
with equipment. If the room is empty the buyer can see it as any thing
he or she wants it to be.

Current Owner's shop could be new owner's gym ... or their home office for the business they run, or a place for the kids to play out of earshot of migrained parents, or (today) a 'private movie theater' (I still can't believe that trend.) ...a billiards/pool room. In the setting that you described, it's possible that the shop becomes a recreational place for the new owners to set up their equipment & fun for the new pool they may add to the back yard. Add a hot tub, little bar, open up the back with a slider or big overhead door, and bang-- you're in their maritime oasis.

The best bet is for the people reviewing the home is to see "whatever it is they may see" in the home's rooms. Therefore, the best bet for a person selling a home is to let the buyers see "whatever it is they may see."

Think about the very first time you saw your shop-- what was it when you saw it? In my case, it was someone's garage. My prior shop before that was a workout room. My wife saw my shop as a greenhouse/garden set up area. (I claimed it first and she got the front porch, which has better light anyway!)

In terms of staging, generally speaking, a living room is a living room, a bedroom really is a bedroom (or small office), and a dining room really is a dining room. These are easy to declutter and stage. Not much staging is done in a kitchen-- it usually already has its stuff. "Bonus" spaces, however, are best left empty or nearly empty.

On Thu, 6 Apr 2017 07:35:37 -0700 (PDT), DerbyDad03
wrote:

On Thursday, April 6, 2017 at 9:11:32 AM UTC-4, Leon wrote:
On 4/5/2017 10:35 PM, wrote:
Snip



I'm sure glad I'm not buying or selling in the current market. We were
looking 2 years ago but I'll put in stair lifts and stay in the house
we have for a lot less than just the real estate comissions involved
in changing houses - and there are no decent bungalows available for
what we are likely to get for our 2 story - and I refuse to deal with
a mortgage in retirement.


What's a mortgage? ;~)

A method used to raise cash at a low interest rate so that it can be invested
at a higher rate of return.

Possibly risky and something that has to be managed carefully, yes, but a
strategy used by wealthy people (and businesses) quite often.

Lots of rich folks (and businesses) have mortgages that they could pay off
this afternoon if they wanted to.
getting "over-leveraged" is a significantly common cause of
bankruptsy

On 4/6/2017 12:40 PM, Steve wrote:
On Saturday, April 1, 2017 at 10:28:32 AM UTC-4, Leon wrote:
On 4/1/2017 9:20 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
My neighbor is selling his house. He has a wood shop in his basement, maybe
15 x 25. Table saw, jointer, planer, bandsaw, a couple of workbenches, etc.
The shop is at ground level, with a door to the back yard. Some pretty nice
stuff has come out that shop.

The rest of the basement is unfinished, basically one large room with the
furnace, water heater, washer, dryer and some storage shelves. Oh yeah,
there's a shower stall bathroom in the corner. The basement can be accessed
by stairs from the kitchen or through the shop. They are 2 separate spaces.
It's sloped lot, allowing for a walk-out basement in the rear for the shop.

His realtor has told him that he should empty the shop before showing the
house, so he has moved all of his equipment and material to storage until
his new house is ready.

What are your thoughts? Would you have left the shop as staging or emptied
the room like the realtor suggested? I know we are biased, so maybe we aren't
the right people to ask. ;-) If staging bedrooms and kitchens is all the
rage these days, why not stage a shop?


If you have a place to move the equipment to, move it out. As hard as
this is to believe, not every man is a "He-man" and he may not, if he
even has any say in the matter, care to see wood working equipment. ;~)
An empty room just looks bigger and uncluttered, that is what the
realtor and perspective buyers want to see for a storage area.
Basically the area is not only intended to be a shop and a perspective
buyer may see it as only a room intended to be a shop if it is filled
with equipment. If the room is empty the buyer can see it as any thing
he or she wants it to be.

I'm in Real estate. Granted, most of what I do is commercial, but it's the same thing at the end of the day. Leon nailed it with this:

Basically the area is not only intended to be a shop and a perspective
buyer may see it as only a room intended to be a shop if it is filled
with equipment. If the room is empty the buyer can see it as any thing
he or she wants it to be.

Current Owner's shop could be new owner's gym ... or their home office for the business they run, or a place for the kids to play out of earshot of migrained parents, or (today) a 'private movie theater' (I still can't believe that trend.) ...a billiards/pool room. In the setting that you described, it's possible that the shop becomes a recreational place for the new owners to set up their equipment & fun for the new pool they may add to the back yard. Add a hot tub, little bar, open up the back with a slider or big overhead door, and bang-- you're in their maritime oasis.

The best bet is for the people reviewing the home is to see "whatever it is they may see" in the home's rooms. Therefore, the best bet for a person selling a home is to let the buyers see "whatever it is they may see."

Think about the very first time you saw your shop-- what was it when you saw it? In my case, it was someone's garage. My prior shop before that was a workout room. My wife saw my shop as a greenhouse/garden set up area. (I claimed it first and she got the front porch, which has better light anyway!)

In terms of staging, generally speaking, a living room is a living room, a bedroom really is a bedroom (or small office), and a dining room really is a dining room. These are easy to declutter and stage. Not much staging is done in a kitchen-- it usually already has its stuff. "Bonus" spaces, however, are best left empty or nearly empty.

So what you are saying is people have no imagination and can only see it
for what it is.

Years ago, homes were never staged, you went out and saw what people
had. You used your imagination. Figured out what you wanted it to look
like.

--
Jeff