Between 485 & 705 SQ/FT Bob Heine's Auto Emporium

[Grizz1963]

There's endless entertainment in the Emporium.

BINGO!!


So true.

That eye looked impressively bad Bob.

 

[bolensboneyard]

Bob my dad was helping me in his later years to build porch screens. He made furniture and cabinets when I was a kid because framing houses was more than he wanted to do after work. I bought one of those B&D staple guns that some idiot designed to operate backwards from the way it looked. You should have seen the embarrassed look on his face when he shot the first staple into hand. To add insult to injury a large arrow with staple here was painted on where the staple came out. He was the first one to use the gun. I would have done the same thing. To this day I approach that fool tool like I was trying to grab another copperhead. Good thing you were not using framing staples; you could still be "hangin on the shed." Dang it!

 

[PugetDude]

One thing we can say with certainty about Bob Heine is that his blood type is "Be Positive'

 

[oldironfarmer]

Nice humble brag. What did that cost you, about three million dollars?...

Bob can afford it, he certainly never sends me any money.

By the way Bob, when you buy lumber these days it's best to not accept the extended warranty. The warranty is void if you alter the product in any way, like cutting it. However do get the serial numbers of the UPC tag and go online to register your purchase in case of theft.

 

[jbmatth]

Bob,
I'm a little late to the news, wishing you the best with your predickament. I have a story about getting nailed too, I was 14 working in my uncle's factory building wooden deck for carts like you would use at HD or similar. Nailed one end of a board on and went to the other end, pushed with one hand and fired, hit a knot, went in the tip of the thumb and out near the knuckle missing the bone. Got a free tetanus shot and a happy meal out of that one.

JB

 

[Bob Heine]

Bob: more prayers sent while you go thru your process.

Looks like your brother is his old self and omg only he could find a way to have a good looking doctor to remember instead of all his pain.

Keep smilin and best of luck too

Drives, it appears I inadvertently ignored your post. I like the new GJ but it requires a little learning and patience. My brother from another mother finds the fun or funny in everything. I try to do the same.

your SWMBO probably watches the same cop shows you do and on nightly inspections out to your work areas she brings her black light for evidence.

GEESH that had to hurt and sorry you had that happen. I guess these things happen to us when we are trying to be HANDY so rub it out, and after it's done bleeding a little bandaid (or duct tape if bigger cut) and back to work.

when I mentioned Andy is one of the few to make a funny story out of something that usually isn't I didn't mean to exclude you cause you do your best to find the bright spot in every situation.

when my mother in law had colon cancer about 6 or so years ago she didn't tell us tell she had almost beat it about a year later (we see them almost monthly). do what you think is best and again best of luck and more prayers sent.

cheers old man!!

Drives, I like to watch car-related shows but I want Liane to pick the shows we watch together in the evening. During the day she watches (actually just has turned on while she putters around the house) nothing but cop shows. Law & Order Special Victims Unit is running some kind of multi-faceted marathon so she doesn't have to change the channel.

The chisel-point brad is super sharp so it really didn't hurt. Kinda like a hypodermic and although it bled a lot to start, it stopped in about a minute.

Andy and I are a lot alike. He's just better at everything.

I don't plan to keep the family in the dark for long. I just don't want to have to answer all their questions with "I don't know" or "I haven't decided on the treatment plan yet" (I have appointments with two oncologists and they have different specialties). I may choose to have the gland surgically removed and that's yet another specialist.

I guess I've been missing all the latest GJ news. Nine years of Catholic school took all the praying out of me, but rest-assured you're in my thoughts as you deal with this, Bob.

John, if my invisible friend only listens to me in church I'm in big trouble.

Ummmm looks like have a slew of new and repeat students.

Hey Mack, I got a new product we need to prototype.

Bob glad it was a brad ***** not a J. Holmes *****.


Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

Shorty's Safety School is going to need a bigger classroom. Do you have enough pull to get us all into Doak S. Campbell Stadium?

I'm thinking either gauze & plaster of Paris or one of those 3D scanners and a 3D printer.

May John rest in peace with his Johnson.

On fire-rescue in the booming economy of south Florida, I saw a variety of accidents, some much-worse than others. I also have stories from guys working at other jurisdictions.

Bob, glad to hear it wasn't any-worse. I always try to keep my hands/body parts away from where I believe an errant fastener would land. Anything with a knot, all bets are-off.

In terms of bloodshed on a project, I almost don't consider it 'done,' until I've baptized it in-blood, somewhere. Unless it's somewhere inside the house, or inside the vehicle, on upholstery for instance, where it would be seen, I don't-bother cleaning it up.

Consider yourself lucky:
The worst construction site accident I heard-of involving a single victim, my friend from Miami-Dade Co. (FL) Fire-Rescue told me they responded to a report of a 'worker trapped,' which turned out to be a tilt-wall warehouse being erected, and the concrete wall panel, > 20 ft high, somehow fell, as it was being erected. An unfortunate worker was underneath it as it came to-rest. My friend said when they removed the wall panel, the deceased was about two inches thick.

Philip, I feel fortunate it was no more than a pin *****.

A quick search on google site shows you have a few options.

Uncle Willie, Google is both a blessing and a curse. Sometimes it find things I didn't really want to see.

Ah, I think you found breast plates for the Comic Con ladies.


Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

Some of those would be perfect for Tampa's ladies.

Nah, those are factory produced tin foil
hats for the well-to-do alien conspiracy set!

Bob, I’m still out of town on a long weekend RV trip but wanted to drop a best wishes to you over the prostate concern. I’ve been there/done that and came out without a bad diagnosis. Wishing the same for you. Take care, stop puncturing yourself too!! - Dan

Dan, I hope you enjoyed your RV trip. Liane saw that chipped windshield ad with the tiny camper and said it looked like fun. No A/C, no toilet and no room would be a big problem the first night out on the road.

The puncturing thing took my mind off the other thing for a while but you're right, need to chill and get this thing taken care of.

There's endless entertainment in the Emporium.

Hardtop5000, life is short and boring makes it feel longer but I'd rather have fun.

BINGO!!


So true.

That eye looked impressively bad Bob.

Rian, for a few seconds I couldn't see through the blood and thought I lost the eye for good. It's damaged but it works well enough to pass the driving test.

Bob my dad was helping me in his later years to build porch screens. He made furniture and cabinets when I was a kid because framing houses was more than he wanted to do after work. I bought one of those B&D staple guns that some idiot designed to operate backwards from the way it looked. You should have seen the embarrassed look on his face when he shot the first staple into hand. To add insult to injury a large arrow with staple here was painted on where the staple came out. He was the first one to use the gun. I would have done the same thing. To this day I approach that fool tool like I was trying to grab another copperhead. Good thing you were not using framing staples; you could still be "hangin on the shed." Dang it!

Bobby, I have the Craftsman version of that stapler and managed to figure it out but spent a long time trying to remove the staple spring thing from the wrong end. I never could get that stapler to reliably put a staple flush with the surface of a stud. Punch in five staples and get the hammer to finish the job.

One thing we can say with certainty about Bob Heine is that his blood type is "Be Positive'

Scott, you're not far off. My blood type is B-Negative but because opposites attract, that makes me Be Positive.

Bob can afford it, he certainly never sends me any money.

By the way Bob, when you buy lumber these days it's best to not accept the extended warranty. The warranty is void if you alter the product in any way, like cutting it. However do get the serial numbers of the UPC tag and go online to register your purchase in case of theft.

Andy, are you telling me the Nigerian Prince didn't send you the money I gave him?

Thanks for the advice on the warranty. I would have paid for it without reading the fine print. Happens to me all the time: "Sorry, the warranty covers everything but the part that broke and labor is always triple the MSRP for the part.

Bob,
I'm a little late to the news, wishing you the best with your predickament. I have a story about getting nailed too, I was 14 working in my uncle's factory building wooden deck for carts like you would use at HD or similar. Nailed one end of a board on and went to the other end, pushed with one hand and fired, hit a knot, went in the tip of the thumb and out near the knuckle missing the bone. Got a free tetanus shot and a happy meal out of that one.

JB

JB, I assume you were paid extra for the hours in the ER. Oh, wait, you were working on the family plan. Never mind.

 

[madison069]

Bob, you got to be a little more careful. Then again I hit my middle finger with a sledge hammer while hammering rebar in the ground for the footer the other day. Took a chunk out of the side of my finger. I bled some but luckily I had some old rags laying around and I just wrapped the finger up with dirt and oil. Great antibacterial material right there. Course it's a little black now, but that's just the scab. Right?

As for your wood trim, I raise ya 13 sheets of 19/32 osb wood. I just inserted the card and watched it melt when I paid for the lumber. Sadly I'm not even finished with wood purchases so I got another card on order to finish the purchase list. Seem my wife wanted a porch with a gabel roof added at the worst time in lumber price history.

 

[Bob Heine]

Bob, you got to be a little more careful. Then again I hit my middle finger with a sledge hammer while hammering rebar in the ground for the footer the other day. Took a chunk out of the side of my finger. I bled some but luckily I had some old rags laying around and I just wrapped the finger up with dirt and oil. Great antibacterial material right there. Course it's a little black now, but that's just the scab. Right?

As for your wood trim, I raise ya 13 sheets of 19/32 osb wood. I just inserted the card and watched it melt when I paid for the lumber. Sadly I'm not even finished with wood purchases so I got another card on order to finish the purchase list. Seem my wife wanted a porch with a gabel roof added at the worst time in lumber price history.

Cody, what does this word "careful" mean? I imagine it means the whole family and a couple of friends going out for a drive. Oh, Google says it has something to do with not hurting yourself. Should have looked that up a long time ago.

It looks like the lumber industry has made the decision for me. The inside of the workshop is going to be sheathed in drywall, not OSB or gold leaf. Every time I cringe at prices of things in the US I remember the prices in Australia. In 1989 I bought a brand new Toyota Camry 4-cylinder automatic for $25,730(A). That same vehicle in the US sold for $14,000. I got a $3,900 IBM fleet discount, otherwise it would have been $29,630. Back then banks paid 8% on Certificates of Deposit and my credit union gave me a deal on the car loan, charging only 13% interest (about as good as a typical mortgage back then).

 

[Lyndon]

Bob

(My first post in this weird new world....).

I've been watching your "prostate thing", as I have a Urologist appointment on 3rd June, as my latest PSA scores came back too elevated for my GP's comfort.

My best mate's wife was the surgery nurse for a Urologist for many years, so I'm following her recommendations.... My mate had something similar some years ago, and had some sort of corrective surgery, and happily reports, like Andy, that he can now pee over a car and not put a drop on it... I'm hoping for a similar outcome (I hope).

First time I've mentioned this to anyone else, see keep it under your hat.

Lyndon
(Sig line isn't working)

 

[TomcoPDR]

Just jumping in GJ a little. I’ll be joining the prostate exam club end of this year.

in our province there’s a program call The Man Van, where they’ll offer mobile prostate exams, and this non profit organization would advertise their van at our local auto and truck show... for the past decade or so they‘d keep telling me and friends we‘re not old enough for that ride. But this is the year Bob, I finalLy qualify. What should I expect lol... I guess recent lumber prices have given us all what will be in store during the exam.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

.... my credit union gave me a deal on the car loan, charging only 13% interest (about as good as a typical mortgage back then).

I bought my first house for $65,000 in 1978. Here is SoCal real estate has always been higher than most other states. I was on a business trip and had to leave a half day early to get home to sign escrow papers. Talking with the taxi driver in New Jersey I mention I was going home to sign the papers and when he heard the 65k number he asked how many acres? Did it have a pond? He was flabbergasted when I told him it was a 3bd/2ba on a suburban lot. We paid 12.99% mortgage. It was high - my parents had paid 4% for our $14,000 family home in 1956 which seemed impossibly low then. But the mortgages the last 10 years or so seem incredibly low to me

 

[Bob Heine]

Bob

(My first post in this weird new world....).

I've been watching your "prostate thing", as I have a Urologist appointment on 3rd June, as my latest PSA scores came back too elevated for my GP's comfort.

My best mate's wife was the surgery nurse for a Urologist for many years, so I'm following her recommendations.... My mate had something similar some years ago, and had some sort of corrective surgery, and happily reports, like Andy, that he can now pee over a car and not put a drop on it... I'm hoping for a similar outcome (I hope).

First time I've mentioned this to anyone else, see keep it under your hat.

Lyndon
(Sig line isn't working)

Lyndon, 13 out of 100 men will get prostate cancer in their lifetime. Five- and ten-year survival rates are around 98% so I expect it's going to be a walk in the park for you even if they do find something. Finding it early is the key.

I'm going to be thrilled if I can leave the loo with a dry floor.

I guess recent lumber prices have given us all what will be in store during the exam

Tom, while the lumber price hikes should make the prostate exam a non-event, give the Man Van person a high five before the exam. Go home if it's this guy.

 

[Bob Heine]

I bought my first house for $65,000 in 1978. Here is SoCal real estate has always been higher than most other states. I was on a business trip and had to leave a half day early to get home to sign escrow papers. Talking with the taxi driver in New Jersey I mention I was going home to sign the papers and when he heard the 65k number he asked how many acres? Did it have a pond? He was flabbergasted when I told him it was a 3bd/2ba on a suburban lot. We paid 12.99% mortgage. It was high - my parents had paid 4% for our $14,000 family home in 1956 which seemed impossibly low then. But the mortgages the last 10 years or so seem incredibly low to me

Dan, I visited San Jose in 1973 and looked at a really nice development. A split level 4bd/3ba was just over $50,000 and mortgages had just gone up to 8%. One of the people at the IBM site offered me a job if my boss back in New York would let me go. Not only did my boss's boss not let me go, I later learned he told all the managers under him that he would never approve a promotion or award with my name on it. In 1975 I got revenge and took a job in Boca Raton that he couldn't stop. Found a 3bd/2ba for $63,500 and assumed a 7% mortgage. Five years later he had been demoted and visited Boca. I had been promoted three times, had 40 people working under me and had a corner office in a leased building that overlooked a golf course. When he walked into my office I just smiled.

 

[xtremek]

Bob, don't you just love karma.

 

[Bob Heine]

Bob, don't you just love karma.

Kirk, it was especially sweet because my promotion happened three weeks before he arrived and on that day Human Resources posted my promotion on all the site bulletin boards. That's Karma with a capital K.

 

[shortykorte]

Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

 

[TomcoPDR]

shortykorte: I've seen that meme circulate so many times on my IG (Instagram) feed so many times. Few years ago I would chuckle, now, should I be on preparation mode?

Bob: It's so cool reading about all of you who's experienced 5-digit house prices era.

 

[GeddyT]

...Bob: It's so cool reading about all of you who's experienced 5-digit house prices era.

EVERY new home buyer is experiencing the five-digit house price era these days. Only in the sense of the above prostate exam joke...

 

[drivesitfar]

Bob: I gave your post a LIKE when you posted about taking a top job and having your old boss stop by, but that really was more than just a LIKE. NICE WORK and WELL DONE cause you seem to overcome any obstacle you come up against.

Shorty: first time I saw that and had to grin and showed it to my bride and she let out a belly laugh. nice way to lighten up a tough subject.

 

[harley jim]

Bob,
In 1978 I bought my first home, it was a 3br 2 bath, story and a half
24,500 at 13.99 percent.
3 years later it dropped to around 7%
I refied and went from 30 to 15 year mortgage and the house payment still dropped a bunch. I sold it in 2004 for 135.000. The good old days.

Sent from my SM-A102U using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[TomcoPDR]

EVERY new home buyer is experiencing the five-digit house price era these days. Only in the sense of the above prostate exam joke...

Touché touché lol

 

[jbmatth]

I'll weigh in on the 5 digit home price topic, my first home was in 2009, 30 year at 5.5% for a $93,000 3br/2ba, sold for nearly the same 5 years later when we moved out into the country. Many homes in the mid-west rural areas are still easily had in that range for a nice 3/2 home but plenty of bigger more expensive homes as well.

JB

 

[mybigwarwagon]

The problem with home prices is they jumped stupid high. A 2br one ba house on .25 acres that sat unsold at 50k for nearly a year, just sold for 187k. It is absurd.

 

[Toolfool]

I purchased my first house (Long Island, NY) in 1983 for $68,000. Mortgage rate was 14.47%. It was a 75 year old Sears kit house that hadn't had much upgrading done to it. I ripped out all the galvanized plumbing and replaced with copper, all the way to the road shut-off (learned how to solder pipe real good). Tore out the old oil boiler and cast iron radiators, replaced with gas boiler and hydronic baseboards. Had insulation blown into the balloon walls. Replaced all the knob and tube wiring. All new windows and doors. New kitchen and bathroom. Refinished hardwood floors. Added an illegal one bed/one bath apartment in the basement with private entry (walking distance to East Rockaway LIRR station. Half the neighborhood had them. Bob knows). When we decided to move to Washington in 1989 a realtor friend told me it was worth close to $200,000. Word of mouth among friends had it sold for $175,000 in a week.

 

[gearhead1960]

Bought my 1st house in 1987 for $103,000 in Springfield, VA. Sold it 9 years later (1996) for $160,000. Built a house in Manassas for $223,000 putting down 20%. Zillow says house is now worth $563,000. Same house 20 miles closer to DC sells for $300-400k more....location, location, location

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

The problem with home prices is they jumped stupid high. A 2br one ba house on .25 acres that sat unsold at 50k for nearly a year, just sold for 187k. It is absurd.

It IS absurd but it is also the current market. You can take your chances that the bubble will burst and prices will go down as dramatically but in my life time experience (Southern California, admittedly) real estate NEVER EVER goes down or if it does it’s not much. Get in while you can, IF you can and hope for the best.

 

[gearhead1960]

Get in while you can, IF you can and hope for the best.

I count my lucky stars I got into the DC real estate market when I did....couldn't afford to now....

 

[OutlawDrifter]

It IS absurd but it is also the current market. You can take your chances that the bubble will burst and prices will go down as dramatically but in my life time experience (Southern California, admittedly) real estate NEVER EVER goes down or if it does it’s not much. Get in while you can, IF you can and hope for the best.

That may hold true in your neck of the woods, but is not the norm everywhere. We are in a housing sellers market right now...materials for new homes are overpriced, and the current inventory of homes is at an all time low. Houses in and around Kansas City are selling on average @ 103% of asking price. New homes being built are costing 40-50% more than they were a year ago...this bubble will burst, and there will be a lot of people upside down in homes. One good thing is the historically low interest rate market we are in right now.

Our home in Northeast KS appraised for $185k 3 years ago. I bet we could easily get $230-250k out of it in today's market...this same type of property in Western NE would probably sell for closer to $325-375K.

For some reason, small acreages in rural Northeast KS are still selling what I would refer to as "inexpensive".

 

[ronjon1190]

I bought my first house in 2013 for $50,000. It was a tiny 1 bedroom house on a crawlspace foundation. I spent a year between working full time, and completing an engineering degree taking a full course load, completely gutting and rebuilding it with a lot of help from my father. I kept the foundation, studs and sheathing, and roof and well, and replaced everything else. It cost me about an additional $50,000. I lived there for 5 years, paying roughly half what a 1 bedroom apartment cost in my town for my mortgage, and then I ended up moving back to my parent's property and renting from them in 2019. (My little house didn't have a garage, and my current apartment is directly over a 26x50 shop.) I rented my little house out for a year and a half, renting it for close to double my mortgage payment. In October of 2020, my tennant told me he was moving out, and the housing market was on FIRE here. I listed the house for 169,900, and it sold 2 days later for 187,000. So I will agree, housing prices are absurd, but I was on the right side of it!

 

[gearhead1960]

Inventory is definitely low in my area. Houses are only lasting days on the market before they are snapped up, even at $500k+ prices.

 

[Bob Heine]

Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

Stewart, I expect cocktails, a bottle of nice wine and dinner at a nice restaurant first.

shortykorte: I've seen that meme circulate so many times on my IG (Instagram) feed so many times. Few years ago I would chuckle, now, should I be on preparation mode?

Bob: It's so cool reading about all of you who's experienced 5-digit house prices era.

Tom, some of us are old enough to have experienced 4-digit house prices for brand new homes. Right after WWII brand new homes in Levittown on Long Island could be purchased for $8,990.

EVERY new home buyer is experiencing the five-digit house price era these days. Only in the sense of the above prostate exam joke...

Stewart, if it involves a real estate agent, their commission can involve 5-digits.

Bob: I gave your post a LIKE when you posted about taking a top job and having your old boss stop by, but that really was more than just a LIKE. NICE WORK and WELL DONE cause you seem to overcome any obstacle you come up against.

Shorty: first time I saw that and had to grin and showed it to my bride and she let out a belly laugh. nice way to lighten up a tough subject.

Drives, I was pretty frustrated at that point in my career. IBM had great benefits, including a real pension plan and I thought working hard would help me get ahead. Three weeks after I transferred to Boca Raton my ex-manager (not the boss above him who visited) called my new boss and said "If we had known how many projects he was handling, we would have fought harder to keep him!" My new boss told him "A promotion or two might have helped." They ended up assigning three people to take care of the stuff I was doing.

Every time I fill up one of the cars, Rian's (grizz1963) avatar pops up in my brain.

Bob,
In 1978 I bought my first home, it was a 3br 2 bath, story and a half
24,500 at 13.99 percent.
3 years later it dropped to around 7%
I refied and went from 30 to 15 year mortgage and the house payment still dropped a bunch. I sold it in 2004 for 135.000. The good old days.

Sent from my SM-A102U using The Garage Journal mobile app

Jim, I am not a big fan of banks but sometimes I am forced to deal with them. After I retired I wanted a house with a 3-car garage but they were all really expensive and the rest of the house was always much bigger than we needed. Nevertheless, we scrimped and saved to have 25% down-payment fund for the $550,000 house we found. I was then going to find two or three good paying jobs to cover the mortgage. When we found our 'close to dream' house by accident, it was $42,000 more than our $143,000 down payment fund. Sold enough IBM stock to fill the gap and gave the one-finger salute to the banks, real estate agents and the rest of the vultures that make home buying a nightmare.

Then we tried to sell our old home. Before getting anyone involved, we put the "For Sale - By Owner" sign from our current home out in front of the old one. Because we bought that house for $63,500, Liane insisted we wouldn't sell for a penny less than $163,500. Got three solid offers for $150,000 and turned them down. Got a real estate firm involved and the agents promised Liane they would get her price in no time. No time turned out to be just that. Their contract ran out before they got any offers even close and assured us they could sell the house if we dropped the asking price to $150,000. The next agent made similar promises but also couldn't find a buyer for Liane's magic price. Ended up accepting a $150,000 offer two and a half years after we closed on the new house. The bank, real estate agent and the title insurance company took their $12,000 in fees and we reimbursed our down payment fund $138,000. I didn't calculate the taxes, utilities and maintenance on the old house because it might upset me. Two months later I retired for the second time from my AOL career.

Touché touché lol

Tom, don't let either of those proctologists touché you.

I'll weigh in on the 5 digit home price topic, my first home was in 2009, 30 year at 5.5% for a $93,000 3br/2ba, sold for nearly the same 5 years later when we moved out into the country. Many homes in the mid-west rural areas are still easily had in that range for a nice 3/2 home but plenty of bigger more expensive homes as well.

JB

JB, I think the real estate markets are more stable when you get away from the hot spots on the east and west coasts. Real estate prices in the 1950 to mid-1960s were stable almost everywhere. The first house we bought sold brand new for $14,500 in 1952 and we bought in for that same price in 1966. In a way we were very lucky. The owner dropped the price from $16,900 to $15,500 the month before but the bank wouldn't give us a mortgage for more than $11,600 ($110 a month -- my gross weekly pay). My parents helped with the down payment since they didn't have to pay my college tuition (that was my mother's argument to help get us into a really nice home).

 

[xtremek]

Every time I fill up one of the cars, Rian's (grizz1963) avatar pops up in my brain.




JB, I think the real estate markets are more stable when you get away from the hot spots on the east and west coasts. Real estate prices in the 1950 to mid-1960s were stable almost everywhere. The first house we bought sold brand new for $14,500 in 1952 and we bought in for that same price in 1966. In a way we were very lucky. The owner dropped the price from $16,900 to $15,500 the month before but the bank wouldn't give us a mortgage for more than $11,600 ($110 a month -- my gross weekly pay). My parents helped with the down payment since they didn't have to pay my college tuition (that was my mother's argument to help get us into a really nice home).

Gas prices around here seem a little high, but not horrible.

As far as wild housing markets, it's not just the coasts. Michigan is stupid crazy right now. We sold the late in-law's place for 100% asking price, cash on the barrelhead (no mortgage, no inspection, no title search), plus 60 days free rent for the BiL. The neighbor just got 115% of their asking price. Yep, crazy even in rural Michigan.

 

[TomcoPDR]

Tom, some of us are old enough to have experienced 4-digit house prices for brand new homes. Right after WWII brand new homes in Levittown on Long Island could be purchased for $8,990.

Haha thanks for posting this ad Bob. I’ll take 10 with my today’s money. Own half the block

 

[Bob Heine]

The problem with home prices is they jumped stupid high. A 2br one ba house on .25 acres that sat unsold at 50k for nearly a year, just sold for 187k. It is absurd.

Uncle Willie, it feels like deja vu all over again. The housing crash in 2008 proved you could lose money in real estate. Feels like the stock market has made a lot of people think they have more money than they do.

I purchased my first house (Long Island, NY) in 1983 for $68,000. Mortgage rate was 14.47%. It was a 75 year old Sears kit house that hadn't had much upgrading done to it. I ripped out all the galvanized plumbing and replaced with copper, all the way to the road shut-off (learned how to solder pipe real good). Tore out the old oil boiler and cast iron radiators, replaced with gas boiler and hydronic baseboards. Had insulation blown into the balloon walls. Replaced all the knob and tube wiring. All new windows and doors. New kitchen and bathroom. Refinished hardwood floors. Added an illegal one bed/one bath apartment in the basement with private entry (walking distance to East Rockaway LIRR station. Half the neighborhood had them. Bob knows). When we decided to move to Washington in 1989 a realtor friend told me it was worth close to $200,000. Word of mouth among friends had it sold for $175,000 in a week.

John, you did well. Of course if you had to pay someone to do all those upgrades it would have been a lot closer to break-even. I did a few upgrades to that first house we bought. Finished the basement. Built a 16'x32' deck with the window replaced with a sliding door in the dining room for a better view of the river. Moved two closets to decrease the size of the third bedroom (matching the second) and increase the size of the dining room. Insulated the house to dramatically lower the heating cost. Put on a new roof. The upgrades over the nine years we lived there meant a $39,000 selling price. Just enough equity to buy our second house and assume the $33,500 balance on the existing 7% mortgage.

Bought my 1st house in 1987 for $103,000 in Springfield, VA. Sold it 9 years later (1996) for $160,000. Built a house in Manassas for $223,000 putting down 20%. Zillow says house is now worth $563,000. Same house 20 miles closer to DC sells for $300-400k more....location, location, location

Mark, when I went to work at AOL in 1995 they offered me a permanent position with stock options. We looked at new homes west of Dulles Airport with 3-car garages. They were all two-story brick with way too much space for two people. They were selling in the $350,000 range. Looks like those are all over a Million now. Kinda glad we didn't take the offer.

It IS absurd but it is also the current market. You can take your chances that the bubble will burst and prices will go down as dramatically but in my life time experience (Southern California, admittedly) real estate NEVER EVER goes down or if it does it’s not much. Get in while you can, IF you can and hope for the best.

Dan, a friend of mine who did real well financially bought and sold several homes in the Ocean Reef Club community on Key Largo FL. Even during the worst of the housing bust, prices in that community held up. People with lots of money aren't affected by the cycles most people experience.

I count my lucky stars I got into the DC real estate market when I did....couldn't afford to now....

Mark, I look at what my house would sell for every once it a while but it is meaningless. I'd still have to have a place to live and I know what's right and wrong with the one we're in now. Not real interested in discovering new problems in a different residence. Besides, our property taxes can't increase more than 3% a year as long as we live here. Taxes on a different house would be a whole lot higher.

That may hold true in your neck of the woods, but is not the norm everywhere. We are in a housing sellers market right now...materials for new homes are overpriced, and the current inventory of homes is at an all time low. Houses in and around Kansas City are selling on average @ 103% of asking price. New homes being built are costing 40-50% more than they were a year ago...this bubble will burst, and there will be a lot of people upside down in homes. One good thing is the historically low interest rate market we are in right now.

Our home in Northeast KS appraised for $185k 3 years ago. I bet we could easily get $230-250k out of it in today's market...this same type of property in Western NE would probably sell for closer to $325-375K.

For some reason, small acreages in rural Northeast KS are still selling what I would refer to as "inexpensive".

Marc, the slightly smaller empty lot across the street from us sold for $310,000 in 2020. That means I could tear my house down and sell the lot for double what I paid for it. And then pay double that to replace what I had.

I bought my first house in 2013 for $50,000. It was a tiny 1 bedroom house on a crawlspace foundation. I spent a year between working full time, and completing an engineering degree taking a full course load, completely gutting and rebuilding it with a lot of help from my father. I kept the foundation, studs and sheathing, and roof and well, and replaced everything else. It cost me about an additional $50,000. I lived there for 5 years, paying roughly half what a 1 bedroom apartment cost in my town for my mortgage, and then I ended up moving back to my parent's property and renting from them in 2019. (My little house didn't have a garage, and my current apartment is directly over a 26x50 shop.) I rented my little house out for a year and a half, renting it for close to double my mortgage payment. In October of 2020, my tennant told me he was moving out, and the housing market was on FIRE here. I listed the house for 169,900, and it sold 2 days later for 187,000. So I will agree, housing prices are absurd, but I was on the right side of it!

Ronjon1190, you have done well. Invest your money in something that grows so you're ready to pounce when the market tanks.

Inventory is definitely low in my area. Houses are only lasting days on the market before they are snapped up, even at $500k+ prices.

Mark, I think some of this is due to the low mortgage rates. I think some is just speculation, with people getting on the ride, hoping it never ends.

Gas prices around here seem a little high, but not horrible.

As far as wild housing markets, it's not just the coasts. Michigan is stupid crazy right now. We sold the late in-law's place for 100% asking price, cash on the barrelhead (no mortgage, no inspection, no title search), plus 60 days free rent for the BiL. The neighbor just got 115% of their asking price. Yep, crazy even in rural Michigan.

Kirk, having lived in Australia and traveled a bit in Europe, I smile at our gas prices.

I hope you have no regrets for selling so low. If you follow my lead and wait for a much better price you might just lose some money!

Haha thanks for posting this ad Bob. I’ll take 10 with my today’s money. Own half the block

Tom, if you held on to just one of those houses you'd be doing great. One of the many unmolested homes in that neighborhood is fetching a decent increase. I think they opted for the second bath upstairs.

 

[Toolfool]

I remodeled close to a dozen of the Levitt homes on the Island. Knew a guy who had access to the list of homes going into foreclosure. He was a mortgage broker. He'd purchase the houses for cash, turn around and write himself a mortgage and put the cash, plus some, back in his pocket. My cousin and I would go in, replace the kitchen and bathroom, blow out the back side of the roof, add two bedrooms and a second bath upstairs. The guy made such a nice profit that he kept us busy for a few years.

 

[Bob Heine]

I remodeled close to a dozen of the Levitt homes on the Island. Knew a guy who had access to the list of homes going into foreclosure. He was a mortgage broker. He'd purchase the houses for cash, turn around and write himself a mortgage and put the cash, plus some, back in his pocket. My cousin and I would go in, replace the kitchen and bathroom, blow out the back side of the roof, add two bedrooms and a second bath upstairs. The guy made such a nice profit that he kept us busy for a few years.

John, I remember a regular ad running in the newspapers from a company (I believe it was Crown Construction but these are some really old brain cells) that would put a dormer on your house for less than a thousand dollars ($999.99 or something like that). That was for the dried-in shell. Probably one of the most popular upgrades to the homes built on Long Island back then.

 

[Toolfool]

That, and vinyl siding, over the original asphalt or asbestos siding.

 

[Bob Heine]

Made some progress on the sprinkler system yesterday. Replaced three heads in the front yard. Had to run the system to verify which ones were bad so it turned into a very wet and very dirty few hours. No pictures because when I wasn't covered in black muck I was dripping water everywhere. I have to replace one more out front and a few more in the other five sections but hunching over a small hole in the ground has turned me into Quasimodo. A good night's sleep and some Tylenol 3 and I feel better today. The big RainBird impact sprinkler heads are connected to the PVC fittings with a section of Funny Pipe, which makes it a bit easier.

If you've never seen a RainBird pop-up sprinkler head, they are pretty cool. Until something jams it part way out of the ground. That's when a lawnmower blade clips off the lid and all kinds of stuff falls into the housing. Actually, stuff can find its way in there whenever the head pops out of the ground. For years I have tried to determine what's wrong with these sprinkler head so I take them apart. First thing is the button that holds the lid in place.


With the lid out of the way I can see this head hasn't been hit hard by a mower blade. Both of the clips are intact.


The second head was not so lucky and it is missing the button, the lid and one side of the retaining lug/clip.


As far as I know there is no way to get the sprinkler mechanism out of the housing without this special wrench.


You wiggle the big end down into the housing and use the upper U to align it.


A couple of turns and the sprinkler mechanism comes out. I sometimes find an obvious flaw or broken piece but most of the time it's a mystery. Probably wear on the shaft that jams the head and lets water flood out.


These two went straight into the trash (I have a bucket of them that I saved for parts.

 

[Bob Heine]

That, and vinyl siding, over the original asphalt or asbestos siding.

John, asbestos was a key ingredient in houses built back then. My parents house had asbestos shingle siding (and we had a punch/shear like the one Don Long restored), corrugated asbestos insulation on the steam pipes and even in the floor tiles we glued down to the floor in our 'finished' basement. I did everything but eat that stuff.

 

[Finallygotit]

Bob, you might want to look into these to replace those impacts.

https://store.rainbird.com/sprinklers/rotors.html?rotor_series=17317