More Real Estate Lust
Nov. 24th, 2003 01:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
talktoolooseA good weekend, but not enough to recharge me from the last two weeks of pressure.
Friday night we went to see Matrix Revolutions and I'd like to write up a critique of that today or tomorrow. Stay tuned.
So, about buying houses. Remember that crazy week in August? I hope not to repeat that madness and folly. But... There's this house, y'see. A fine, old Edwardian all brick 3-story job on a corner lot overlooking the pretty, tree-filled neighbourhood park. And it's been on sale for months. That's weird in our 'hood where houses move in 3 weeks or less. So I phoned and booked an appointment for us to view it.
After on-site analysis and initial detective work, I think the story is this: Yuppie couple buys this old wreck of a building that has been a boarding house for old Hungarian men. (Snake remembers the old men smoking and cursing in Hungarian on the corner). The couple has great dreams. They begin to realize them with acts of broad stupidity. They leave crumbling plaster walls, a useless kitchen and galvanized pipes alone and instead put in a royal bathroom with a soaker tub, jacuzzi and heated floors. Then, I figure, they split up and have to sell the place. They probably paid too much too begin with and then paid too much for the renos. They're making a desperate attempt to recoup on the bad investment.
On the fact sheet from the realtor, I noticed that the taxes are almost the same as ours. Since taxes are based on assessed value of the home, I know what the city thinks the house is worth. The question is, why does the couple think they can get away with asking $130,000 more than it's worth? Because they're dumb and greedy and pissed. They haven't even received a low offer in two months. The house is too much of a headache for the yuppies they're pitching to.
I have this evil, ruthless desire to lowball the asking price by $120,000. It's a great house in a great location and we can change important stuff immediately and live in the wreckage for a few years. Unfortunately, if I do succeed in lowering the price, someone else will swoop in and offer $30,000 more which we cannot afford. Still, I have this perverse and kind of pathetic lust to punish people who are too stupid and wasteful to put down a fucking bathmat instead of heating the stupid floors!
Friday night we went to see Matrix Revolutions and I'd like to write up a critique of that today or tomorrow. Stay tuned.
So, about buying houses. Remember that crazy week in August? I hope not to repeat that madness and folly. But... There's this house, y'see. A fine, old Edwardian all brick 3-story job on a corner lot overlooking the pretty, tree-filled neighbourhood park. And it's been on sale for months. That's weird in our 'hood where houses move in 3 weeks or less. So I phoned and booked an appointment for us to view it.
After on-site analysis and initial detective work, I think the story is this: Yuppie couple buys this old wreck of a building that has been a boarding house for old Hungarian men. (Snake remembers the old men smoking and cursing in Hungarian on the corner). The couple has great dreams. They begin to realize them with acts of broad stupidity. They leave crumbling plaster walls, a useless kitchen and galvanized pipes alone and instead put in a royal bathroom with a soaker tub, jacuzzi and heated floors. Then, I figure, they split up and have to sell the place. They probably paid too much too begin with and then paid too much for the renos. They're making a desperate attempt to recoup on the bad investment.
On the fact sheet from the realtor, I noticed that the taxes are almost the same as ours. Since taxes are based on assessed value of the home, I know what the city thinks the house is worth. The question is, why does the couple think they can get away with asking $130,000 more than it's worth? Because they're dumb and greedy and pissed. They haven't even received a low offer in two months. The house is too much of a headache for the yuppies they're pitching to.
I have this evil, ruthless desire to lowball the asking price by $120,000. It's a great house in a great location and we can change important stuff immediately and live in the wreckage for a few years. Unfortunately, if I do succeed in lowering the price, someone else will swoop in and offer $30,000 more which we cannot afford. Still, I have this perverse and kind of pathetic lust to punish people who are too stupid and wasteful to put down a fucking bathmat instead of heating the stupid floors!
