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BraveUlysses posted:did this get posted already? saw it over in the BWM thread I'm halfway through reading this and are these people that stupid? They hired some random guy who rode up on a bicycle as their contractor?
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May 31, 2017 21:08
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mattfl posted:I'm halfway through reading this and are these people that stupid? They hired some random guy who rode up on a bicycle as their contractor? Nah, they're the driving force of Canada's economy. It's people like this all the way down that are all the Canadian economy has left. The government's got their back.
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May 31, 2017 21:20
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mattfl posted:I'm halfway through reading this and are these people that stupid? They hired some random guy who rode up on a bicycle as their contractor? Working in real estate/construction and having family in the industry, hiring this dude would terrify me. They are lucky he didn't fake an injury at the end to sue them (or worse, actually get hurt), although it is Canada so I guess he wouldn't have US sized medical bills. Or if one of bike dude's workers got hurt on the site and their ambulance chaser saw deeper pockets up the ladder, because nothing about this sounds like they carried insurance for the work site. And bike guy probably never gave them a lien waiver for his work or lack thereof. Or or or...
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May 31, 2017 21:37
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BraveUlysses posted:did this get posted already? saw it over in the BWM thread 
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May 31, 2017 22:00
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quote:Unfortunately, that dream was becoming increasingly unrealistic for a young family without a lot of money. Julian had just finished his PhD in education and was teaching part-time at Humber; I was an editor for the Food Network’s website and preparing to go on maternity leave. Still, we scoured the listings every day, searching for a fixer-upper that we could renovate ourselves to save money. We weren’t particularly handy, but we’d seen all the home reno shows, and it seemed like everyone in the city was doing it. How hard could it be? gently caress these people e. quote:That night, six hours after Julian had called me at work, we submitted a bid of $480,000 without conditions. To our surprise, the owners refused it outright, evidently realizing they’d under-quoted us. We pushed our offer to our limit of $560,000, and they accepted. They went straight from $480k to $560k in a matter of hours, jesus christ e2. quote:We sold our two-bedroom rat trap for $635,000, put $200,000 down on the new place and ported our mortgage over. I really despise wealthy people who think of themselves as being poor people. Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 22:28 on May 31, 2017 |
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May 31, 2017 22:22
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Leperflesh posted:gently caress these people Don't forget the looney to USD conversion (it's still $410k USD though!) And that they had to suffer the indignity of living in the condo they owned while they sold the main house and were getting their new house renovated. And they own a vacation cabin/beach house
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May 31, 2017 22:26
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Yeah I'm aware, and also that they're wheeling and dealing in a ridiculously inflated property market, even in 2010. But yeah this whole idea that they were low on money, jesus christ. I have absolutely zero sympathy, none whatsoever, for rich people making bad financial decisions and whining about their hardships while having literally hundreds of thousands of dollars of financial cushion. e. ok I realize I'm giving a play-by-play while reading this thing which might be annoying but I just keep finding these little casually-dropped gems like quote:Our agent was acting on behalf of the sellers and us Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 22:32 on May 31, 2017 |
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May 31, 2017 22:30
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I just feel terrible that you actually had to think about money for a few months there before being bailed out of your own stupid financial decisions. At least you went with bargain finishes and furnishings for your new place while you were so desperately in debt...oh, I guess you didn't even a loving little bit. Get hosed, yuppies.
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May 31, 2017 22:45
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Yeah, their enormously expensive remodel included tons of very expensive upgrades that were not at all necessary. And at no point did they ever suffer actual hardship of any kind - their worst case scenario was possibly having to sell the building and wind up only owning the condo they were living in, with a reasonable mortgage on it. E.g., a pretty good scenario for the vast majority of people.
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May 31, 2017 23:00
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canyoneer posted:Don't forget the looney to USD conversion (it's still $410k USD though!) But it only had two bedrooms! Can't put a toddler with an infant, or the crib in your own drat room since you'll be getting up in the night for feedings anyway. Also how do you not press the owners on the crack-den state of the house to get the price down? I used the smell of cats and water damage to get the previous owner to cover closing costs.
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May 31, 2017 23:09
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Leperflesh posted:Yeah, their enormously expensive remodel included tons of very expensive upgrades that were not at all necessary. And at no point did they ever suffer actual hardship of any kind - their worst case scenario was possibly having to sell the building and wind up only owning the condo they were living in, with a reasonable mortgage on it. E.g., a pretty good scenario for the vast majority of people. But it's only 900 square feet.  And 2 bedrooms, so their toddlers would have to share a bedroom like savages.Whenever I feel bad about my shabby little apartment I like to remind myself how good I have it by looking at these: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/02/shocking-photos-of-cramped-hong-kong-apartments/
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May 31, 2017 23:10
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Facebook Aunt posted:But it's only 900 square feet. Yeah, I think of these  And not in a denigrating way. I've never been to a village in Africa, but most of the accounts I read about them are that for the most part, barring wars etc., these people are pretty cheerful and happy people. Your family's happiness is not dependent on how many bedrooms you have. It's good to remind myself of that every time I start thinking my own house (1200 square feet, 3br 1.5ba with a 2 car garage) isn't "big enough for us."
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May 31, 2017 23:28
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BraveUlysses posted:did this get posted already? saw it over in the BWM thread I particularly like the part where she gushes about how fastidious and thorough her husband is, and then he hires the first gap-toothed random stranger that rides his bike up to him on the street to completely gut his half-a-million dollar home. 
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Jun 1, 2017 00:47
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BraveUlysses posted:did this get posted already? saw it over in the BWM thread This is entirely hilarious because it's obvious the husband is a dumb gently caress who thinks he's smarter than he is and the wife just goes along with whatever the hell he says Or at least it'd be hilarious if their dumb asses weren't bailed out Leperflesh posted:gently caress these people Yeah I like how they "luckily still owned that other property they didn't mention earlier
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Jun 1, 2017 00:57
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Leperflesh posted:Yeah, I think of these The village in the middle of nowhere- you might grow up dreaming to own the finest grass hut in the village. You (probably) don't dream of the latest iPhone, fancy clothes, 1500sqft condo, or BMW. The illegal 50sqft "apartment" dweller has a TV and walks around in a world where the only person below him is someone living on the streets.
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Jun 1, 2017 01:00
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How do a part time teacher and a website editor with a kid and another on the way save up $560,000 in the first place? ?
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Jun 1, 2017 01:05
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Vulcan posted:The village in the middle of nowhere- you might grow up dreaming to own the finest grass hut in the village. You (probably) don't dream of the latest iPhone, fancy clothes, 1500sqft condo, or BMW. Oh yeah, absolutely. I'm not trying to blame poor Americans for not being happy with their circumstances, at all. I'm more just railing futilely against wealthy Westerners' privilege and sense of entitlement, and also, trying to keep myself more grounded about how good I personally have it. kid sinister posted:How do a part time teacher and a website editor with a kid and another on the way save up $560,000 in the first place? They didn't "save up" half a million dollars, they sold property they already owned in order to raise cash. How did they own that other property outright in the first place? They don't say, but the most likely answer is: having wealthy parents, e.g. generational wealth.
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Jun 1, 2017 01:05
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Leperflesh posted:
If it makes you feel better their kids won't have generational wealth so we can feel bad for them once they make poor life decisions?
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Jun 1, 2017 01:13
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Bozart posted:If it makes you feel better their kids won't have generational wealth so we can feel bad for them once they make poor life decisions? Their neighbors sold their house for 2.1 million dollars, not sure where you're getting that idea that they wont have generational wealth...
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Jun 1, 2017 01:18
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Maybe Canadian inheritence taxes or maybe the imminent collapse of Canada's insane city housing bubbles? I dunno but the former won't prevent generational wealth and the latter is not a guaranteed outcome, at all.
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Jun 1, 2017 01:57
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ElCondemn posted:Their neighbors sold their house for 2.1 million dollars, not sure where you're getting that idea that they wont have generational wealth... Stupidity is its own tax.
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Jun 1, 2017 02:01
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Bozart posted:Stupidity is its own tax. When poor people make even minor mistakes, they are punished severely financially. When wealthy people make even massive mistakes, they usually remain wealthy. This is one of the great ironies of the system we live in. It mostly comes down to "creditworthiness" plus the value of social capital among similarly-wealthy peers and family.
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Jun 1, 2017 02:22
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Vulcan posted:The village in the middle of nowhere- you might grow up dreaming to own the finest grass hut in the village. You (probably) don't dream of the latest iPhone, fancy clothes, 1500sqft condo, or BMW. I was recently in Africa. They most indeed do care about appearances and that poo poo. Consumerism is a cancer.
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Jun 1, 2017 03:16
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Levitate posted:This is entirely hilarious because it's obvious the husband is a dumb gently caress who thinks he's smarter than he is and the wife just goes along with whatever the hell he says I think the husband has one of those penny-pinching streaks that's divorced from any real sense of value. Like he thinks of himself as good with money and prudent so he'll do research expecting it to net him a better deal, but if that doesn't happen he just jumps on what feels like a thriftier options. Look for houses for weeks and stumble on an old crack-den who's owners don't quite know the value of what they have? Buy it right away! Renovation will make it worth so much more that it doesn't matter how much time, money, or inconvenience you'll have to go through to get the prize. Extensive, expensive renovations require a good, reliable contractor? Research the best, realize there's no way to get around the cost and go with the first rear end in a top hat who'll underbid everyone you'd rather have rebuilding your drat house.
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Jun 1, 2017 04:12
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Leperflesh posted:When poor people make even minor mistakes, they are punished severely financially. There's the story about Trump driving his car with his wife, back when he was deeply in debt. He points to a bum on the side of the road and says 'hey, look at that bum, he has a billion dollars more than me.' That's basically the difference between 'having money' and 'being wealthy' right there.
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Jun 1, 2017 04:13
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Leperflesh posted:Yeah, I think of these How do you bone if everyone is in the same room?
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Jun 1, 2017 04:24
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FogHelmut posted:How do you bone if everyone is in the same room? Normally. Kids just grow up knowing what sex sounds like. 
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Jun 1, 2017 04:28
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FogHelmut posted:How do you bone if everyone is in the same room? 
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Jun 1, 2017 04:29
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Leperflesh posted:They didn't "save up" half a million dollars, they sold property they already owned in order to raise cash. How did they own that other property outright in the first place? They don't say, but the most likely answer is: having wealthy parents, e.g. generational wealth.  FogHelmut posted:How do you bone if everyone is in the same room? Waking up for an hour or two in the middle of the night to read or bone is a lot more common if you're going to bed at dark and getting out of bed at sunrise. http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-16964783 http://slumberwise.com/science/your-ancestors-didnt-sleep-like-you/
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Jun 1, 2017 05:24
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"Family with not much money" and "total cost $1.2m" got me as well. Content: Pulled up the floor in the front room and found the first bad construction not done as part of the lovely extensions. These joists look a bit small but they're fine, right?  Oh.  Oh no.  At least these sistered joists are well supported on.. what is that?    One joist pivoted up if you stood on the end and the one by the fireplace snapped in half when stood on. Jaded Burnout fucked around with this message at 10:37 on Jun 1, 2017 |
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Jun 1, 2017 10:33
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Just put some Pergo on top it'll be fine
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Jun 1, 2017 13:24
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moist turtleneck posted:Just put some Pergo on top it'll be fine Bit late for that  
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Jun 1, 2017 13:33
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Arachnamus posted:Bit late for that Someone's gonna take all of that off your hands and make a salvaged wood wall hanging / structural component of their idiot shack. I mean, it's what I would do.
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Jun 1, 2017 14:48
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Put them on SAMart and see if bEatmstrJ will buy them for his bathroom remodel I heard he needs some joists 
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Jun 1, 2017 14:51
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Suspect Bucket posted:Someone's gonna take all of that off your hands and make a salvaged wood wall hanging / structural component of their idiot shack. They'll have to get to it before the builder burns it all. The floorboards in the background are getting sanded and sold.
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Jun 1, 2017 15:31
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BraveUlysses posted:did this get posted already? saw it over in the BWM thread The worst part of it is that the house, at least on the outside is a good historic home. I'm one of the purists who recognize the needs of maintaining the historic integrity of this kind of unique home. You don't do that by adding modern lighting, built-ins, flooring, sliding doors onto a treated lumber porch, vinyl-loving windows, etc. You maintain the integrity by trying to find period matching fixtures and try to bring the house back to its original state.
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Jun 1, 2017 16:47
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Budgie posted:Put them on SAMart and see if bEatmstrJ will buy them for his bathroom remodel I heard he needs some joists 
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Jun 1, 2017 16:54
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Neutrino posted:The worst part of it is that the house, at least on the outside is a good historic home. I'm one of the purists who recognize the needs of maintaining the historic integrity of this kind of unique home. You don't do that by adding modern lighting, built-ins, flooring, sliding doors onto a treated lumber porch, vinyl-loving windows, etc. You maintain the integrity by trying to find period matching fixtures and try to bring the house back to its original state. Why is that a need? Lots of things about old homes suck. The people who are living in a space get to make that space one they feel comfortable in, they shouldn't be beholden to a bunch of dead people. I think the worst part is that they already made the mistake and learned nothing from it: quote:I was at work when my husband, Julian, called, sounding breathless. “I just saw a house,” he blurted, “and I think we should put in an offer. Today.” It was a three-storey detached Victorian on a corner lot, a few streets from where we lived at the time in Parkdale. What a perfect reason to buy impulsively a second time. quote:Our agent was acting on behalf of the sellers and us, but she was on vacation and not responding to emails. How dumb are these people? (Gets to the part where they hand $3000 in cash to a crack-addicted squatter.) Oh, that dumb. Poor old Julian, thought of remodeling and died. quote:He was the contractor we should have hired from the start—in fact, Julian had already interviewed him twice but we had passed because he was charging market rate. This is loving hilarious. How did these people ever accrue enough money to purchase a house in the first place? I'd have thought all their money should be in the hands of a Nigerian prince. Phanatic fucked around with this message at 17:23 on Jun 1, 2017 |
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Jun 1, 2017 17:05
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But my nostalgiaaaaaaa
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Jun 1, 2017 17:05
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Phanatic posted:Why is that a need? Lots of things about old homes suck. The people who are living in a space get to make that space one they feel comfortable in, they shouldn't be beholden to a bunch of dead people. Lots of things about old houses work better than newer materials and techniques. But the basic thing is there is value in authenticity You don't want to rip out materials from an old house from hard-woods that cannot be found anymore and replace it with Menard's pine.
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Jun 1, 2017 17:26
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