Property Value Appreciation Thread

[Poop Fresh-Herbed Pickles]

PMAs to all y'all's hizouse.

[Poop Fresh-Herbed Pickles]

Blarf.  Drank too much last night.

[Bizarro]

[ebay=300320310262]One of those tiny houses I linked to the other day is for sale on Ebay for about 1/5 its value.[/ebay]

[Jesse]

What a perfect name for a thread today!

I'm in home upgrade limbo and it's driving me mad.

We bought our house in December (the first one we've ever owned) and moved in February 1. Heather (don't think I need to call her H____, it's not like I use a pseudonym online) graciously allowed me to turn one room (the room over the garage) into a real "den", complete with big screen TV and everything. Trouble is, the room needs 4 new windows and a complete overhaul - insulation in the walls, new wiring, the works. Our contractor says that he'd rather not do the window installation (he's cheap and reliable, but he thinks that a window expert would be quicker and even cheaper) but he'd tear down the walls to the studs to make installation a snap, so we went out and found windows we like (Pella), and started to price out installers.

So in the last couple of weeks of research, I've discovered that: 1) Pella will do the installation themselves, but we'd have to pay full price for the windows. This doesn't seem right because we don't need them to all of the wall work that our contractor's already doing. 2) All of the local window guys want to sell us their own brand of windows, which is an issue because we already picked out the windows, dammit. 3) The other people who are adept at window installation and will allow us to purchase the Pellas at contractors' rates are also contractors - and will probably want to do the work that our contractor is going to do.

It seems to me that I'm going to have to bring in a bunch of contractors who are experts in window replacement and just get quotes on the whole shebang - and throw the figures back at our original guy.

I am a little frustrated, because nobody so far is letting me compare like to like, in either product or labor, so it's a little bit of a labyrinth. I'm sure when it's done it will be a great place to hang out, read, watch movies and listen to music, which are 4 out of 5 of my favorite things to do.

Anyone have any advice?

[captqitn]

No experience with window dudes.   Sounds like a cool project.    My only advice is throw a cot in the corner so you can have a perfect 5 out of 5 favorite things to do.

and speaking of which... allalallallaaallaaa

[Bizarro]

The only thing I know about Pellas is they often help you qualify for a tax credit. I am assuming you know that and it's why you're buying them.

So really, I got nothing.

[Doctor Rock]

No experience with window dudes.   Sounds like a cool project.    My only advice is throw a cot in the corner so you can have a perfect 5 out of 5 favorite things to do.

Sleeping? 

[Doctor Rock]

Anyone have any advice?

Have you tried the carrot and stick method?  You know, death threats and bribes? 

[Doctor Rock]

I have nothing.  And even if I did, well, I'm Canadian... It probably wouldn't apply. 

[Bizarro]

It sort of burns my ass that I bought my home right before the real estate collapse. I got what was a good price for my home at the time, and prices in our area have only dropped 10% (I was fearing 20%), so it could be worse. But I can't help but dink around on MLS listings now and then checking out the full-on houses we could buy if we were buying today. I love my townhouse, but still...

Maybe in a year or so, Mama will win her court case and move in with us and we can take the dough and buy some lovely old Victorian in Elgin.

[Bizarro]

Mama is going back to Romania on Wednesday and as I reflect back on our time with her here, I have come up with this list:

Life with an Old Hungarian Woman Is...

• having various half-used veggies lying around your kitchen in various states of decay (refrigeration is overrated)
• trying to explain tactfully why a young married couple might want to retire to the bedroom at 8:30 pm
• having soup, all the fucking time, with every meal, forever, whether you like it or not
• finding your last beer warm and half-empty in the bathroom because someone used it to wash their hair
• waking up in the morning while the sun isn't even up, stumbling down to the kitchen and having someone offer you some corn on the cob
• Eastern European variety shows, all day long
• seeing her change into pajamas just before lunch every day so she can wash the one shirt she has she says is comfortable in this week's weather, then put it back on for the 10th day in a row
• having each cold, flu, or upset stomach explained as the instant blowback for some poor decision you made ten minutes ago
• being able to gauge someone's energy level by whether or not they are wearing their prosthetic boob
• tiny purple stains all over your bathroom wall from the stuff she uses to keep her hair violet
• saving every plastic bag from every store transaction ever, even if it means additional storage solutions are needed to house them
• teaching a grown woman over and over how to open a deadbolt and six months later, she still can't let herself in or out of the house
• buying a perfectly matched number of hot dogs and buns, but before you can finish the hot dogs, you find the buns split into halves and drying in the window for some goddamned reason
• never going to a restaurant ever, because she can make food at home
• offering an elaborate, geometrically intricate cookie plate to anyone who enters your house for more than 90 seconds
• having every garment your child owns shrunk on a regular basis because the dryer is just too hard to use (even with all of the buttons relabelled in Romanian using a pTouch)

And you know what's weirdest of all? I'm really going to miss her. Sincerely. I really like her. And I think she likes it here. What with the eviction and everything, she's not going back to a good situation. Plus, M_____'s PPD means she needs support more than ever, so sending her mom away... Just sad all around.

[matthew]

Becky and I got a good laugh out of the list. The soup one reminds me of my ex's Croatian mother.

Speaking of lists, and with Noyel's Pitchfork lineup still in mind...I am very bummed that I cannot attend this:

http://www.goner-records.com/gonerfest/

THREE DAYS & NIGHTS
OF ROCK N ROLL INSANITY!

Featuring
The Clean (New Zealand)
Cheater Slicks (Columbus, OH)
NoBunny (San Francisco, CA)
Compulsive Gamblers (Memphis, TN)
Box Elders (Omaha, NE)
Ty Segall (San Francisco, CA)
Thee Oh Sees (San Francisco, CA)
Magnetix (Bordeaux, France)
Tire Fire (New Orleans, LA)
Intelligence (Seattle, WA)
Golden Triangle (New York, NY)
Earthmen & Strangers (Tempe, AZ)
Davila 666 (San Juan, Puerto Rico)
Sonic Chicken 4 (Perpignan, France)
Hunx & His Punx (San Francisco, CA)
Magic Kids (Memphis, TN)
Loose Diamonds (New Orleans, LA)
Useless Eaters (Memphis, TN)
Teenage Whoremoans (Philadelphia, PA)
River City Tanlines (Memphis, TN)
White Wires (Ontario, Canada)
Tampoffs (Boston, MA)
Yusuf Jerusalem (France)
Msr Jeffrey Evans (Memphis, TN)
King Louie One Man Band (New Orleans, LA)




One of the two new Intelligence albums arrived yesterday, and I am just dying to see them now. I have wanted to see the Cheater Slicks for more than a decade...I would love to see Compulsive Gamblers again...I can't wait to see The Intelligence (they are coming to Montreal soon)...would love to see the Clean...had tickets to see Box Elder and did not end up going because of a severe panic attack, so I would want to see them....Thee Oh Sees are on my list to see...Sonic Chicken 4 are a helluva lotta fun...Msr. Jefferey Evans, King Louie...to be Memphis again would also be sweeeet.

Just realized we missed The Vaselines playing Toronto a couple weeks ago...bummer.

I am not a huge fan, but Becky loves 'em.

[Doctor Rock]

That's in Memphis?  You have to, at least, go see The Clean!  I love them, they're a great band. 

[Jesse]

Wait. Hot dog buns drying in the window? How can you not ask why?

[Bizarro]

She thought they might be good in some pork meatballs, apparently. (Hungarian meatballs have dried white bread as a key component.)