Stone foundation. We backed out on a house that had a bowing/cracking unreinforced cinder block foundation...feel much better about old ass stone, but we'll see what the inspector says
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***Official Real Estate Thread***
- Thread starter One-Off
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Seems to be in good shape. I bought it during COVID. Some spots have the standard wood rot type thing.
the one thing is that it’s built on a hill and the foundation is clay. It’s pier and post and all the houses on the street are slipping and causing cracks in walls and stuff.
weren’t old homes framed with redwood, and other super high density lumber?
I recall that the homes of the 1920s are better immune to all sorts of things that need to be mitigated in later construction eras, namely 70s onward.
old homes can flood and can dry out. new homes flood and need to be rebuilt. that sort of thing.
Stone?
That is a first for me.
Stone with mortar or just plain old wood on stone that is on earth (rock? soil? gravel?)?
in any case, no bolting frame to foundation will mean higher insurance costs...I think, been a while since I looked at the nitty-gritty of the homeowner policy and earthquake rider.
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Older homes had poor insulation and no vapor barriers (they did have vapor retarders such as Craft Paper with asphalt which was stuck to fiberglass insulation which was accidentally excellent). Those homes were able to dry out really well all the time. As insulation was increased, air conditioning was added and the engineering community had a very poor understanding of vapor control all sorts of bad codes were written causing all kinds of mold and rot problems.
For instance, after Hurricane Katrina, FEMA brought trailers to Louisiana. The trailers had air conditioning and vinyl wallpaper which you can't do in a humid climate (OK in Las Vegas though). Normally in a humid climate the AC indoors cools the sheet rock and the vapor outdoors comes in through the exterior cladding, through the insulation, through the vapor retarder on the insulation, through the sheet rock, through the latex paint (which is vapor permeable), into the room then into the AC unit and is condensed on the AC units coil and goes down the drain. The vinyl wallpaper stopped the vapor inside the walls and they all rotted in about a year. Oil based paint is no good either and mirrors need air space behind them.
I have some attic moisture problems to solve and I stumbled on Dr. Joe - he's written most of the International Building Code on vapor and moisture control - they've figured a lot of the problems out by now but even 10 years ago they were way off. Here are some of his videos - It was his idea to use world vegetation maps to know how to build in different places because plants are really smart about that stuff - truly a luminary:
Roof and Attics
Adventures In Building Science
How New Zealand Can Learn From Memphis
I have his new book – Moisture Control in Residential Buildings
Clay can be tricky. We are on a clay deposit and have similar issues with our main house.
In the long run, it most likely wont be a problem but you will need to learn how to fix (hide) cracks.
$4.9M for a houseboat in SB Harbor.
this seems like a terrible purchase
maybe if you had the intensity to rent this place out hourly it could make sense - but that would be quite the job
https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/9-Randall-Ln_East-Quogue_NY_11942_M44501-76735
This is near me. Crazy market
This is near me. Crazy market
Can a bubble have its own bubble?
We sometimes hit the neighborhood open houses when walking the dog. The ones that are turn key sell fast but the ones that are 30yrs of piecewise updates with no real cohesion, sit sit sit for months.
I felt bad for some of the selling agents, seems their clients won’t budge on what they perceive to be the floor. Talking to the agents about my home and when I moved in, I quickly gather the agent perceive their clients are hoping for an extra $100k-$150k than what the current market will support.
We sometimes hit the neighborhood open houses when walking the dog. The ones that are turn key sell fast but the ones that are 30yrs of piecewise updates with no real cohesion, sit sit sit for months.
I felt bad for some of the selling agents, seems their clients won’t budge on what they perceive to be the floor. Talking to the agents about my home and when I moved in, I quickly gather the agent perceive their clients are hoping for an extra $100k-$150k than what the current market will support.
I walked by that thing this morning and looked at those huge walls and thought how badly a big south wind would hit it broadside, and how much movement there would be in bad weather.
The biggest hurdle my wife faces is the seller not wanting to put any effort in making the house as turn key as possible. Often, she fronts the money for the "must do" updates and recoups at close.
We just sold my wife's aunt's house in Texas without having to go to Texas. 1994 house, uncle kept it in good physical shape until he died in April but the aunt was manic depressive and had painted the shrubs white, her name on the exterior brick, and random white paint over places on beige interior walls and the yard had overgrown in 4 months. But all just cosmetic problems. First priority - national brokerage chain, second priority - proximity to the house so the agent could stop by easily. Found a ReMax 3 blocks away, my wife called on a Monday and got an agent who just happened to be coming to NY to see the big tennis matches on Thursday. We met her in Manhattan for dinner on Saturday in a restaurant the agent picked which happened to be in a building near Grand Central that I have serviced for 30 years and had brought the aunt and uncle into to tour a vacant floor high up (great views of the Chrysler building, etc.) 25 years ago - what a coincidence!
At dinner the agent was really great - I could tell right away she was a keeper. I told her that I knew about the 80/20 rule that brokers have where you make 80% of your money with 20% of your customers and that we intended to be in that 20%. She tried to buy us dinner but I bought instead, quoting the 80/20 rule. My wife signed the listing agreement. The agent got to work the next week. I told her we wanted her to get the local people that her brokerage knows to use who are reasonable and good. She met a locksmith there to change the locks, she arranged to have the yard cleaned, the outside pressure washed, the last remaining beds and stuff carted away, a few boxes of keepsakes boxed up, the inside cleaned. Every price she quoted me from the various people was reasonable and I just said yes. She said interior painting - hard to say if you'll make money on it - I said I don't want the house giving off any weird vibes and I want to turn over a nice house and I don't think I'll lose. She got a quote for $2,900 to paint complete interior and doors I just said yes - you pick the colors - you live and breath this stuff - you know what sells. Carpets couldn't be cleaned, aunt had painted some so she got a quote for $4,800 for all new vinyl faux wood planking all floors even bathrooms. Part of the kitchen linoleum was missing and can't get an FHA loan with that so I said yes - you pick the flooring. She was al Lowes at 9pm buying it but they didn't have enough in that style so I said you pick price/color/availability as you would do if this was you. She did. She got the toilets fixed, some other small problems so the house would inspect 100%.
Man how great that house looked afterwards! Real move-in condition so someone could solve their housing problem with a single monthly payment. Then she loaded up her car with mulch and her and her husband and kids spread it around the shrubs. She even bought a welcome mat and a cute door hanger. Before the painting, etc. 10 or so of the other agents in her office said the most we could hope for was $175,000. I looked at the comparable sales - the price made sense.
The agent worked out all the issues with the title company since it was property of a survivor's trust. She listed it on a Thursday for $180,000, got 3 offers on Friday, one of which was all cash for $182k, there was also one with $50k down and conventional financing for 185k. We took the 182k all cash on Sunday (less risk), closed 10 days later, last Friday. Done. Didn't even have to go to Texas. What a woman that agent is!!!! She was like a miniature general contractor for us and for no added cost! Truly worth her weight in gold, and she loved working with us too. My only regret is that her office couldn't get both sides of the commission, all the offers were from other brokers customers. I had told her (verbally of course - never in a text) if it came to it I would try to steer it that way.
At dinner the agent was really great - I could tell right away she was a keeper. I told her that I knew about the 80/20 rule that brokers have where you make 80% of your money with 20% of your customers and that we intended to be in that 20%. She tried to buy us dinner but I bought instead, quoting the 80/20 rule. My wife signed the listing agreement. The agent got to work the next week. I told her we wanted her to get the local people that her brokerage knows to use who are reasonable and good. She met a locksmith there to change the locks, she arranged to have the yard cleaned, the outside pressure washed, the last remaining beds and stuff carted away, a few boxes of keepsakes boxed up, the inside cleaned. Every price she quoted me from the various people was reasonable and I just said yes. She said interior painting - hard to say if you'll make money on it - I said I don't want the house giving off any weird vibes and I want to turn over a nice house and I don't think I'll lose. She got a quote for $2,900 to paint complete interior and doors I just said yes - you pick the colors - you live and breath this stuff - you know what sells. Carpets couldn't be cleaned, aunt had painted some so she got a quote for $4,800 for all new vinyl faux wood planking all floors even bathrooms. Part of the kitchen linoleum was missing and can't get an FHA loan with that so I said yes - you pick the flooring. She was al Lowes at 9pm buying it but they didn't have enough in that style so I said you pick price/color/availability as you would do if this was you. She did. She got the toilets fixed, some other small problems so the house would inspect 100%.
Man how great that house looked afterwards! Real move-in condition so someone could solve their housing problem with a single monthly payment. Then she loaded up her car with mulch and her and her husband and kids spread it around the shrubs. She even bought a welcome mat and a cute door hanger. Before the painting, etc. 10 or so of the other agents in her office said the most we could hope for was $175,000. I looked at the comparable sales - the price made sense.
The agent worked out all the issues with the title company since it was property of a survivor's trust. She listed it on a Thursday for $180,000, got 3 offers on Friday, one of which was all cash for $182k, there was also one with $50k down and conventional financing for 185k. We took the 182k all cash on Sunday (less risk), closed 10 days later, last Friday. Done. Didn't even have to go to Texas. What a woman that agent is!!!! She was like a miniature general contractor for us and for no added cost! Truly worth her weight in gold, and she loved working with us too. My only regret is that her office couldn't get both sides of the commission, all the offers were from other brokers customers. I had told her (verbally of course - never in a text) if it came to it I would try to steer it that way.
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It sounds like you and your wife were dream clients, and the agent was amazing in her willingness to put in a lot of time and sweat equity, all for, what, 2.5% of a $182K sale? So many agents in California don't do much of anything, yet bring in that same 2.5% on a $2,500,000 sale (or MUCH more). Texas realtor makes <$5K, California realtor makes >$60K. The industry sucks.
Our 1921 Craftsman in North Park was all solid redwood beams, termites didn't bother it. The prior owners added a bedroom in the 90's and that wood was hit by termites.
So that new Jennifer Lawrence movie "No Hard Feelings" based in Montauk is pretty accurate?
Sounds like you met the Texas version of my wife.
I'll be moonlighting tonight as a handyman retrofitting old crappy can lights with new LEDs.