debodun
SF VIP
- Location
- way upstate in New York, USA
Because you were wrong. I was just correcting your error.
Painter asked if I was selling or staying
- Thread starter debodun
- Start date
Because you were wrong. I was just correcting your error.
Nope. He'd take it off his taxes and make more money. Or ship it to South America, etc. and make more money. You would be without your Lexus and he would be fine.
debodun
SF VIP
- Location
- way upstate in New York, USA
If he wants to go to all that trouble to make a few bucks...goody for him.
I hope everything is goody for you (Wow, haven't heard that word in Years). I mean that sincerely. I live in an old coop apartment (my family moved here in '53) and since my dad died in '81, it has been neglected. Because it's a co-op, all plumbing, electrical, etc. is paid for, but I'd sure like to do a basic update.
debodun
SF VIP
- Location
- way upstate in New York, USA
I guess we are in the same boat, but you are probably not as tight-fisted as I am. I am not a penny pincher, I'm a penny strangler. I just can't help but feel contractors are always overcharging by taking advantage of my ignorance, gender, age and marital status (older, female and alone).
No. I'm afraid to spend money in case I live longer than I think I will. My 'fortune' has shrunk considerably since GWBush. I barely spend.
peramangkelder
Well-known Member
- Location
- Fleurieu Peninsula South Australia
Get another quote and then compare them
Wait! What? So all those windows that need replacing including all the brickwork that needs replacing since the mortar job was done wrong and is all falling apart, you are going to spend $12,000 to get this to look pretty?
If you are doing this to spruce up the house to sell, the buyers would most likely hire a home inspector and let the potential buyers know all the work that would need doing which would make this a complete waste of time. I’m pretty sure you have to disclose the things you know are wrong with the house and you have some serious foundation ssues due to water damage which also hasn’t been fixed. Then there’s all the electrical that needs doing. You’ve written about it online.
Are you not hiring an inspector or an appraiser so you can claim you don’t know these things?
To me getting your house painted at this stage in the game seems like a complete waste of money.
Hiring someone who can tell you exactly what’s wrong with your house and an estimate of how much it will cost to get fixed seems like a more logical place to start. Then get an update assessment of your house to find out how much it’s ‘currently’ worth. Then decide what to do from there.
Last edited:
Aneeda72
Well-known Member
But they are not doing that, the bid you have is valid.
hellomimi
Namaste 🙏
- Location
- City of Angels
Bottomline here is whether you want to spend your money to live in a nice house OR continue to hoard money and live in one full of issues.
Even my cheapskate aunt once said regarding discussion on why mooncakes are expensive. She said, "Can you eat your money?" This put me in perspective how to treat money. It is a means to enjoy life, spend it if I have it as long as I don't have to beg, steal or borrow.
Aneeda72
Well-known Member
The one thing I have NEVER been accused of in my entire life is hoarding money. Course I’ve never had any money to hoard but, still, I love that statement.
hellomimi
Namaste 🙏
- Location
- City of Angels
There lies your problem in all issues you've complained about. You are suspicious of everyone/everything and I can't blame you. However, things won't change until you loosen up a bit Deb. Choice is yours.
You're a reasonably intelligent person who may be a magnet to scammers due to age and marital status, but with careful thought, you can come up with reasonable solutions.
It's deplorable to live without money but more to tragic to have lots of
that one would rather hoard than make it their slave to enjoy life.
hellomimi
Namaste 🙏
- Location
- City of Angels
Knight
Well-known Member
Somewhere in the myriad of posts Deb mentioned her mother was suspicious of people. Wouldn't let people in her house. Present day Deb is suspicious of neighbors, a mask on her sidewalk, & any person that shows up to give her an estimate. Any advice to remedy her disaster of her home discarded. Lacks any real understanding of the cost of labor & materials plus the need to make a profit.
It's to bad Deb doesn't have family that cared enough to guide her all these years in keeping up a home. Socializing or at least having a circle of friends that she could enjoy social events with.
I suspect her childhood & early adult life left her as she comes across to me as an anti social, hoarder of money & items left by her parents. And that is not a great way to live in senior years. I truly feel sorry for her & wish I were able to help her.
The good is she is sentient & able to interact with those that respond to her posts
It's to bad Deb doesn't have family that cared enough to guide her all these years in keeping up a home. Socializing or at least having a circle of friends that she could enjoy social events with.
I suspect her childhood & early adult life left her as she comes across to me as an anti social, hoarder of money & items left by her parents. And that is not a great way to live in senior years. I truly feel sorry for her & wish I were able to help her.
The good is she is sentient & able to interact with those that respond to her posts
hellomimi
Namaste 🙏
- Location
- City of Angels
Deb ought to listen to the collective wisdom of golden strangers. I wonder what will make her loosen up? If not a what, perhaps a who?
Who knows what wonders the power of love can do to Deb? It's never too late, but first step is to give love a chance...it may be the next guy who gives you a quote. Smile your sweetest hon, let love find you.
There’s a huge gap between ‘throwing around money’ and being a penny strangler. Both these extreme ends aren’t logical or healthy attitudes to have about money. Having extreme obsessions about anything isn’t healthy and the main problem with holding possessions and money is that you end up having more than you need at the expense of ripping yourself off. It becomes counter productive but isn’t acknowledged due to mental dysfunction.
You are ripping yourself off by worshipping and hoarding money instead of using it for what it’s been made for. You can’t take it with you. It’s time to cash in. You have a perfect opportunity to get that house but your own mental illness gets in the way and while I don’t have money obsessions I DO have obsessions so understand how difficult they are to let go of. It’s an excruciating mental battle at times.
It’s so much easier for others to see this within us than it is for us so some sense of ‘trust’ is needed. If you have none then you’ll never get past defeating yourself like this. My parents were lucky that they had children watching out for them or they would have been in a really sorry state. You don’t have any children or anyone close enough whom you trust and in the end you might end up stranded in your home not able to get to your bank to get any of these strangled pennies. Either you spend it or somebody else will, most likely the government.
I pray that someone you know and trust steps in to help you with this.
https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.agingcare.com/articles/amp/133679
https://www.aplaceformom.com/blog/diogenes-syndrome/
https://www.thiscaringhome.org/hoarding-dementia-what-makes-someone-a-hoarder-and-how-to-stop-it/
Lara
Friend of the Arts
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic Coast
Hi Deb...this is a hard thing you're going through. I understand. Here's the reality for those selling an older home...I think renovation shows on TV have changed the perspective of what buyers are looking for in a house. What I'm seeing is that buyers either want a fixer-upper for a really low price that they can make into a perfect home themselves for 50k-100k+ of their own money......
...OR they want a "turn-key" aka "move-in ready" house that they are willing to pay "market value" for BUT not necessarily enough for the seller to recoup their investment in renovations. It must not need any more upgrades. It must have all new kitchen appliances, granite countertops, new kitchen cabinets, new hardware throughout (doorknobs, faucets, showers, etc), newish HVAC, upgraded lighting, new window treatments, refinished floors, no popcorn ceilings, no repairs needed, good roof, fresh paint, staged, no personal items in the house, etc. The house must be immaculate, light and airy.
The problem with dumping your own money into renovations is they may not like the choices you've made like, say, installing a new gas stove but they wanted electric. For your desired asking price, buyers most likely will want total upgrades in kitchens, all bathrooms, throughout the house. There is no in-between anymore. Be careful putting any of your own money into your home that you may not recoup in the sale.
Prepare yourself for disappointment....unless you live in a highly desirable area where it's a HOT seller's market, like a resort-like vacation-like area, then you may end up being on the market for a long time as you continually lower your price...
It's a hard decision to make...sell at a low asking price for pretty much as-is, or risk losing money on renovations. Also, now's not a good time to list your house. Spring is best, like April.
By the way, I paid $13,000 for a painter and his 5 helpers, to paint inside and outside trim/shutters (not the brick). They touched every nook and cranny inside including some 2-story high ceilings, every closet, french door/window slats, stair turned-wood, refinished the front door, wrought-iron railing, painted the garage floor and door, powerwashed the outside of house, sidewalk, and driveway. They did a good job so I felt it was worth it and I tipped them $300 (I don't know if that's necessary though) BUT...
Beware: My painter also asked if I was selling the house when we were discussing one facia board repair. I said yes. Later, he proudly told me he repaired about 9 facia board spots at no extra charge. They now leak and is an issue to get repaired since he fell off a ladder at his next house after mine and badly broke his hip.
...OR they want a "turn-key" aka "move-in ready" house that they are willing to pay "market value" for BUT not necessarily enough for the seller to recoup their investment in renovations. It must not need any more upgrades. It must have all new kitchen appliances, granite countertops, new kitchen cabinets, new hardware throughout (doorknobs, faucets, showers, etc), newish HVAC, upgraded lighting, new window treatments, refinished floors, no popcorn ceilings, no repairs needed, good roof, fresh paint, staged, no personal items in the house, etc. The house must be immaculate, light and airy.
The problem with dumping your own money into renovations is they may not like the choices you've made like, say, installing a new gas stove but they wanted electric. For your desired asking price, buyers most likely will want total upgrades in kitchens, all bathrooms, throughout the house. There is no in-between anymore. Be careful putting any of your own money into your home that you may not recoup in the sale.
Prepare yourself for disappointment....unless you live in a highly desirable area where it's a HOT seller's market, like a resort-like vacation-like area, then you may end up being on the market for a long time as you continually lower your price...
It's a hard decision to make...sell at a low asking price for pretty much as-is, or risk losing money on renovations. Also, now's not a good time to list your house. Spring is best, like April.
By the way, I paid $13,000 for a painter and his 5 helpers, to paint inside and outside trim/shutters (not the brick). They touched every nook and cranny inside including some 2-story high ceilings, every closet, french door/window slats, stair turned-wood, refinished the front door, wrought-iron railing, painted the garage floor and door, powerwashed the outside of house, sidewalk, and driveway. They did a good job so I felt it was worth it and I tipped them $300 (I don't know if that's necessary though) BUT...
Beware: My painter also asked if I was selling the house when we were discussing one facia board repair. I said yes. Later, he proudly told me he repaired about 9 facia board spots at no extra charge. They now leak and is an issue to get repaired since he fell off a ladder at his next house after mine and badly broke his hip.
Last edited:
Aneeda72
Well-known Member
Aren’t facia board leaks due to a leak in the roof?
We live in a very HOT selling area. It took off about 6 years ago. We paid 35,000 for our home that we lived in for 35 years. Eight years ago we couldn’t give it away. A money pit which we had to constantly update and we did a lot of the work ourselves. Six years ago we sold it to a flipper for 120,000.
The neighbor across the street updated his house but not as much as us. Same model type, same age house, and the flipper bought his house for 100,000. It took a while for the flipper to sell our house and it sold for, hmm, 160,000, after 8 months. Neighbors house became a rental.
Three years later, our old area really took off, that same type of house, the house next door to mine sold for 255,000. All these houses are eleven hundred square feet and were built in 1955. They have 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, and no garage.
Six months ago, we bought a house near our old house and paid 255,000. After we bought it, we got realtors calling to see if we wanted to turn around and sell it. It would now sell for 275,000 to 300,000. The area has increased 17% in general. We have already done a lot of necessary updates.
Lara is right! Unless you are in an area like mine, where growth is huge and demand is never ending, pouring money into a tear down is like pouring money down a drain. IMO.
Last edited: