More House Hunting and Other Mundane Observations

On Saturday, my agent and I visited a home in a golf-course community.  It had been purchased in 2005 or so for $500k.  I consider an half million dollar home to be something (in my area at least!).  While the home was attractively laid out, and had lovely interior colors and hardwood floors, there were some glaring incongruities.

  • Incongruity 1: The kitchen countertops were formica.  I would expect some sort of solid surface in a home of this expense--not formica.
  • Incongruity 2:  All of the interior door hardware was cheap, builder grade stuff...just like I put in my home when we built and we had no money.
  • Incongruity 3:  The bathroom tubs/showers were fiberglass with fiberglass surrounds.  The tile was cheap.
All I could think of is that whomever bought this home for $500k was bamboozled.   Sometimes flash and dash in a house, much like it is in people, occludes the underlying lack of quality.  I have my own magpie tendencies to be sure.  But I also have a severe dislike of paying too much.  Must be my Armenian rug-trader (goat trader) roots showing themselves!

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Over the last three days, the grackles have been migrating with our woods and yard a stop over. Yesterday, I was working nose to the grindstone at my desk when I heard a strange noise that I could not place.  I then looked out the window I could see them stuck on every branch of every tree.  Today, when I headed out the door to take a break from my desk work, I realized that I was on the cusp of a large migratory batch.  I'm glad I was on the cusp as I otherwise would have been covered in poop that is so generously speckling the ground and our vehicles.

Mark and I had a meeting of the minds regarding the strangely elegant fixture to the left..  This was one of my  LampsPlus Open Box purchases.  I have a pair of them to go over the stairwell.  He has been giving me no end of grief about how is anyone going to change the bulb.  We agreed, (finally!), on a place that would allow the next homeowner to change the light bulb without undergoing a near death experience. 

The stairs to the basement are protected by a rail, so the basement is a very integral piece of the house.  A pair of these lights will be above the stairwell, and I think give some visual interest (in addition to light) to the upper floor area as well as the stairwell.  The new owners mibht think them hideous, but I think that they will be quite beautiful.

And finally...our local paper has an eagle cam project.  This ornithological voyeurism has been done in years past with a pair of mating ospreys.  Now we are at the top of the bird food chain with our national bird.  Take a look!

The Safety of Leisa-Land

There is a reason I call my blog Leisa-land.  It is my little oasis of writing and thinking  (griping, opining) that helps keep me keep my perspective. 

I've never been much of a pop-culturist.  I do not get sucked into the celebrities stories, or the internet "OMG you must send this to everyone you know to keep them safe" or the political/religious debates.  Having said that, I watched every hour of the Anita Hill "stuff " when Clarence Thomas was being confirmed.  I watched because I could identify with it, as could most professional women my age.  I just didn't have anyone 'famous' acting like a chauvinist twit.

In my own beautiful state of Virginia, we have the abortion issue hot as ever.  Now apparently they had put forth that  women to have a vaginal probe (though they have finally backed away).  My immediate thought is that the sponsors of the bill should have an anal probe to find out if their head is stuck up their ass.  But that is just my being jaded.  I still find it amusing that the party that who is against government interference (seat belts, motorcycle helmets, DDT, carbon emissions and other stuff to protect the stupid/greedy from themselves), gives no pause to trampling upon a woman's right to choose. 

If you are against abortion, it is quite simple--don't have one.  If you believe that every child should be loved and wanted...open your home and heart to an unwanted child.  I know many people adamant against abortion.  I don't know anyone who cares for or takes in abandoned/unwanted children.  There's a funny paradox for you.

The spectacle of Whitney Houston's death was hard to avoid, . . . .. enough said.  


Dementia and Exercise

I ran across this article this a.m. and I was left scratching my head.

Researchers assessed the health of more than 45,000 men and nearly 15,000 women, ages 20 to 88 years, in the United States and grouped them into one of three fitness categories -- low, middle or high.
After an average follow-up of 17 years, about 4,050 participants died. Of those deaths, 164 were attributed to dementia (72 vascular dementia and 92 Alzheimer's disease). Of those 164 deaths, 123 of the people were in the low-fitness group, 23 were in the middle-fitness group, and 18 were in the high-fitness group. http://www.nbc12.com/story/16924067/exercise-a-defense-against-dementia-study
As I read the above, I could only come away with the following 2 questions and one observation:
  • Question 1:  Of the 45,000  participants, how many of them fell into each of the fitness categories?
  • Question 2: Over the 17 years, long was their fitness level maintained.  Fit at 20 is not the same as unfit at 40, 50,60....
  •  Observation:  Is the incidence of dementia among the fitness groups any different?  Or...Is the incidence of dementia only marginally different?  75% of the deaths were in low fitness, but that leaves 25% of the deaths in the middle to high fitness levels.  I'm simply curious as to how the middle/high group was represented in the original sample (subject to the above two questions).  
  • Okay...I have another question...do we even have a statistically significant sample of N deaths from dementia to draw any conclusions.
The story is one of three things:  poor writing or poor science, or my own cognitive issues.

But having said that....we all know the benefits of keeping physically fit...dementia is a small malady compared with the chronic diseases that claim so many more lives.

Red Tape






Although I signed my offer on a house 02/05/12, I have yet to receive a ratified offer back from the asset manager. I'm not sure what is going on.  The selling realtor has never worked with this asset manager.  In the past, I've received a ratified contract from Fannie Mae in 24 hours.  Though Federal National is on the title, the asset manager is someone else.  Though I'm not an attorney, I do know that a verbal acceptance IS NOT a contract.  I think that there is an issue with the title that is getting resolved.

I've looked at a three other houses for possible purchase.  While I've lamented that there has not been a modicum of cleaning or rehab done on some of these houses on the market, there is something that is even worse:  poorly completed repairs. Two of the homes that I visited had substandard repairs:  exceptionally poor paint job--windows painted shut, drips in paint, poor coverage, poor application, paint dripping down on wood cabinets.  Plus, they were just dirty.   A third house was just a hot mess all the way around--a DIY addition onto a 1950's brick Cape Cod that had gone terribly awry. 

Of the three, one I would have put an offer on. There was already a 'low-ball' offer on the home per the selling agent.  After my agent and I looked at the house, tallied the repairs needed (to include a new heat pump), our $40k  rehab budget required a much lower price than what they were offering.  I asked my realtor to call the selling agent before completing any paperwork.  He said of our offer "it wasn't worth anyone's time". He currently is listing a home that cannot be financed due to an inoperable heating system.  The house in great shape might bring current asking price.  Oh well...move on to the next.  I plan to look at a couple tomorrow.

While $40k sounds like a lot of money to spend on rehab, it doesn't take long to plow through.  Many of the homes that I'm looking at have interiors and mechanical systems that are long past their useful life.   

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Mark and I worked on the FD project.  We are installing recessed lighting in the basement.  The ceiling is opened up because the house had to be replumbed.  Thank goodness we elected to tear out the downstairs shower.  It turned out to be the source of the water damage in the basement due to a faulty drain. My stomach does a little flip when I think of what a disaster it would have been to leave it in place, put in the flooring, and then have it fail.

 Once the lighting is installed, we can put the ceiling back together, and get going on repainting.   My own contribution this weekend was to remove the beads of glue and residual FRP backing from the studs of the mudroom.  I'm almost done.  Even though I was using an oscillating tool, my arms are sore.  I also sanded trim in preparation of painting. It's lots to do. Outside of the cleaning, neither Mark nor I are doing the heavy lifting that we did on the first one.  We do plan to lay the laminate downstairs, but I'm not doing the painting.  Nevertheless, cleaning that house was a chore.  Already in its ramshackle disarray it is cleaner than many of the homes that I go into. We don't plan to achieve 'walking dead' status as we did with the other house...but Other People painting, plumbing, tiling and the like does burn through a budget.

The front rails were demo'ed and new steps, rails, bands and pickets put up.  Now if you fall, you have something to hold onto! We put in untreated pine that was immediately primed--we'll get that painted so that the exterior of the house is refjuvenated, and lightened up some from the dark brown trim.  I've nothing against brown....I live in a brown brick house.  I just don't like the dark brown trim against the tan exterior.  I want something more understated. 



There are two bedrooms that do not have overhead lighting.  Here's a luscious light that will go towards illumination in the master bedroom.  Far cheaper than the time it will take to put in a ceiling light.  I surely do not understand why every room in a house doesn't have a switched overhead light.

I'm seriously quelling my desire to coop these beauties for my own nefarious ends! 

We had snow yesterday... and the daffodils have bloomed.  I can smell and see Spring...