On Sun, 25 Jul 2010 19:44:14 -0400, "Robert Green"
wrote:

wrote in message
.. .
On Sat, 3 Jul 2010 08:36:20 -0400, "Robert Green"

wrote:


snip - quotation levels are getting messed

Yeah, they are that way. Since I wasn't working there was no way to buy a
house without selling the one we had. I got an apartment in Ohio and went
alone while she sold the place, which she did in three months. Actually,
the
buyers made an offer about the time I left but they wanted the contract
contingent on their house selling. Since we had just put the house on the
market, I didn't like that idea. They sold three months later and bought
ours. I should have accepted the contingency. :-/

One day I will learn not to beat myself up over not having 20-20 hindsight.
It's not today, though. We almost sold and moved just before the crash but
mom got cancer and that took all our spare time and then some. 2008 was a
bad, bad year in so many ways . . .

Not so much beating myself up as an observation. We sold in 2007 and bought
in 2008. I should have waited another year to buy but as I said, I was really
sick of living in an apartment.

I think empty houses always sell for more - just because they look
bigger,
but that's just personal observation. I am sure others have seen the
reverse.

All agents I know (and my wife worked for many) have told us the opposite.
People want to visualize how the layout works. For example, a bedroom is
easier to size up if there is a bed in it. Beds are standard so even if
it's
a queen and you have a king it's easier to visualize the fit than if there
is
nothing. In fact there are companies that just do "staging" for this
purpose.

We've got an unusally small home and lots of stuff. Agents were always
telling us to put as much as we could in storage. I guess the idea is to
have it looked "lived in" but not like a packrat's burrow. (-:

More precisely, they want it to looked lived in so people can see how things
fit. It also helps hide the imperfections of an empty room. If there isn't
furniture to look at perhaps it'll be a crack in the wall that grabs the
attention. ;-)

Now my
wife wants me to get rid of the 20 or so PC's I've built starting with my
first IBM clone in 1985. They're lined up against the basement wall, doing
nothing, so I suppose it's time but it's so hard to dispose of something
you've spent so much time on, even if it's worthless now. I've promised I
would as soon as I've copied all the data off them. Ahem.

I still have my "first day order" IBM PC (from '82). I've pretty much gotten
rid of all of the rest of the junk, after the last two moves. The next won't
be any easier, though. I've added a ton (almost literally) of tools.
Preparing for retirement. ;-)


We're still not 100% on where we're going. It *was* San Diego, but both
the
city AND the state are in serious trouble so we're waiting until she
stops
working to get serious. Last two assignments have been abroad, next one
might be, too. It's strange how much a bad market can change all your
plans
if it hits at exactly the wrong time. I guess there's never a right
time.

I thought '07 was a bad time to sell, until '08 and '09. I found a
regular
job in '08, so we moved to Alabama and bought a house. We probably should
have rented before we bought but a year in an apartment was about all I
could
take. ;-)

That's what we're thinking. Renting before buying. That will give the
market time to recover but sometimes I wonder if it ever will.

You don't want the market to recover *before* buying! I'm sure it will
recover, but not soon.

Housing demand is really "adjustable" in that kids can move back in with
their parents when they get in a jam. I know several folks whose kids are
back in the nest and no one is happy about it, neither the kids nor the
parents.

Understandable. Ours is married, so that certainly wouldn't work out well.

I just read an article that said in NYC they have begun stringent
enforcement of partitioning laws to prevent people from taking apartments
and chunking them up into smaller units by dividing the LR into two more
bedrooms. The cause was the death of some firefighters whom the city claims
died because they became disoriented fighting a fire in an illegally
partitioned apartment.

They have maps of every apartment? Seems lame. Not that I disagree much with
the city.

BTW, we bit the bullet and bought a new GE fridge. It's SO quiet compared
to the old one but more importantly, it uses 1/4 the juice the old one did.
We should have done it much, much sooner. I was astounded when I compared
the Kill-o-Watt readings. Some of the reasons are obvious - the doors and
walls are perhaps three times as thick as the old unit and I am sure that
the motor is much more efficient.

I was worried from reports on the web that it wouldn't cool as quickly as
the old one, but it cooled quickly enough for my taste. $600 (included an
additonal two year warranty) but worth it - AND - we stimulated the economy!
Got it from HomeDespot and I must say, it was pretty painless (except for
the $ part) once a salesman actually showed up in appliances - took 20
minutes! The guys they sent were pros - had to take the side door off
(which we never use and whose hinge pins had rusted). Thank God for WD-40.
A two minute soak and that pin popped right out.

These two very small Hispanic guys managed to navigate some very awkward
turns by carrying it between them with just a big strap underneath. I was
impressed - not a scratch or mark anywhere. Showed up two hours early, too.
Took away the old box too, for free. Delivery and set-up was done by a
company called HBI - they also called three times after the install to make
sure I was happy. Good deal.

We recently bought a Electrolux 'fridge from Lowes. Same deal, though it's a
straight shot for us (this house is on a slab). We'll probably buy the
matching stove around Christmas. We're debating on whether we want to go for
gas (dual fuel) or electric. I'd have to have gas piped around the house -
another $400 if we went that way.

We figured that we could be staying here for a while so why not be happy and
cut the electric bill at the same time? Of course, now that we've made the
purchase, we'll find the perfect real estate deal.

I doubt that a 'fridge or the $600 is going to make much of a difference here.