Don't skimp on quality. Our appraisal just came back 10% higher than even my most optimistic prediction, in large part because we invested in quality during our renovations
Four burner stove? I wouldn’t cook ramen in that claustrophobic galley kitchen, nothing special
Nothing special but for the dirt. Folks are always willing to pay a shit ton for the Pacific Ocean dirt.
Grandma Yella used to say she had a “one butt kitchen”. But that shitty little 3 bedroom house in Laguna Beach was worth about $5 million by the time she kicked the bucket.
When I was stationed at Camp Pendleton I rented an apartment a half block from the beach. After a month or so I never looked at the ocean. I’d rather live inland and have a resort in my backyard.
Lol. It’s the Marines, not Club Med.
It’s still SoCal beachfront, and had the usual bikini babes and volleyball. I’m just saying that I would trade the high dollar location for a cheaper location, and use the savings to create my own amenities.
Edit: I swam in the community pool almost every day. I think I went to the beach twice.
How many trips can you make to SoCal for a beach weekend on what you can salt away each month on a $400K home vs. a $1.2 million home?
$400K less 20% down = $320K mortgage ===> $1,401.63 monthly/$16,819.56 annual
$1.2 Million less 20% = $1 Million mortgage===>$5,968.72 monthly PMI/ $71,624.64 annual
$50K per year savings. Probably could stay in the best hotel in Aptos and order the finest meats and cheeses.
This also argues hard against vacation home ownership, the rationale of which I can't argue. Sure, there's something great about just going whenever you want to go w/o having to book and all that shit. But, still. I can spend one or two months in Chelan, for example, for the rest of my life for a lot less than it will cost to own there.
Part of if is every American's instinct to value "ownership" over borrowing and renting. But for the second home, that's not so much a "need", as is your primary, and more of "nice to have". The economics rarely shake out if there is no investment motive.
I guess it depends on when you buy and when you sell. When was the last time real estate didn't appreciate over a ten year window? I could spend $20K per year to stay on Lake Chelan for a couple of months per summer or I could have bought a house on the lake in 2009 for $400K that I could sell today for $800K. After interest, taxes, insurance, and real estate fees, this theoretical vacation home would add to my wealth by about the exact same dollar amount those yearly rentals for a dozen years would have subtracted from it (roughly $250K).
A coworker of mine takes his family to Maui every year. About five or six years ago, he did the math and realized he was pissing a lot of money away. He bought a condo on the beach, rents it out through VRBO when he's not there, and spends about four weeks per year using it himself. He could sell it today and pocket six figures easy after subtracting all expenses.
You could call us and get it all including new cabinets for 20 to 30 k. If we were in Oregon
Get a reputable kitchen remodeling company that acts as the GC. Don't do it yourself.
Get more than one price and check references. Trust no one. Don't pay over 30 percent up front. Balance when it passes your wife's punch list.
Put a timeline in the agreement
We've neared the finish line finally and only have a few electrical things (outlet covers and some lights under the cabinets) to complete.
I don't think it would have been possible for you guys to get a full kitchen done in C. Oregon for 30K these days. The labor market is just way too tight here. We landed at closer to 75K on the kitchen part but that includes moving some walls and pretty high end appliances, cabinets and finishings.
@BennyBeaver I got the @PurpleBaze towel head dishwasher. Bosch is still on like a 6 month backorder.
Moving walls involves engineering, architecture, permits, and time.
75K isn't unusual for the wife approved appliance and wall package
“Wife approved” is the key here.
New floors - provenza engineered wood product - for about 60 percent of the home ran $22 k installed. Pretty nice stuff.
Hiring a GC was the only way to go. It would have been impossible for me to get this done and get all the subs lined up on my own. In market where the trade guysm have no shortage of work the GC's relationships with subs is critical. We paid our GC on time and he pays the subs on time, which goes a long way towards getting to the front of the line.
Comments
It’s what the bumper stickers say.
https://toofab.com/2021/03/02/jonathan-knight-farmhouse-fixer-nkotb/
First minute, I'm like "hey - that's one of the New Kids"....sho' nuff, it is.
Not Lindsey Bennett but not bad.
A coworker of mine takes his family to Maui every year. About five or six years ago, he did the math and realized he was pissing a lot of money away. He bought a condo on the beach, rents it out through VRBO when he's not there, and spends about four weeks per year using it himself. He could sell it today and pocket six figures easy after subtracting all expenses.
#hchilluminati
I don't think it would have been possible for you guys to get a full kitchen done in C. Oregon for 30K these days. The labor market is just way too tight here. We landed at closer to 75K on the kitchen part but that includes moving some walls and pretty high end appliances, cabinets and finishings.
@BennyBeaver I got the @PurpleBaze towel head dishwasher. Bosch is still on like a 6 month backorder.
75K isn't unusual for the wife approved appliance and wall package
New floors - provenza engineered wood product - for about 60 percent of the home ran $22 k installed. Pretty nice stuff.
Hiring a GC was the only way to go. It would have been impossible for me to get this done and get all the subs lined up on my own. In market where the trade guysm have no shortage of work the GC's relationships with subs is critical. We paid our GC on time and he pays the subs on time, which goes a long way towards getting to the front of the line.