Let's visit..... (apartments, vacation home, getaways)

[ElkHunter]

The wagon is in Canada. Haven't heard from them but I did get an email from a couple that stopped and chatted with them for a bit in Milk River Alberta. They even sent me some pictures that I put up.

[jimj]

Originally Posted by Reziac

Now, Tiberius, that's no way to treat our buddy jimj, you're just teasin' him with half the winter experience. You know he's longing for the full effect. So hand him that shovel, show him the sidewalk, and we'll go inside and drink beer.

Well I guess if I get too homesick I can go up to Flagstaff where they got record snows this year and do some shoveling... I've got to say I may like being able to go to the cold/snow and then GO HOME leaving the shoveling to others!
My wife loved Flag and I liked it as well but unfortunately it's too far from the kids school if he doesn't make it in the dorms (with his Autism there's a big question mark there) so we're kinda stuck in the valley.
The upside is we found a bank owned 2300 sqft 5 yr old house for real cheap.
Think $50 a sqft cheap which is about what all the repo's are going for right now and there are litterally hundreds of 'em.
I couldn't wrap my head around the news reports of these subdivision wastelands, thinking "this is just news hype" but I've got to tell ya it's a fact! I can't believe the streets that have a couple of occupied houses and the rest are bank owned or in process. I also can't believe what people do to some of these houses before leaving. I mean stealing things as trivial as kitchen cabinet knobs! These people are taking thermostats, knobs,door handles,fans, plugs from the walls etc.
Then you see the houses that they've just punched in every door and wall. I get they're ticked, I get that it's hard to walk away from your home BUT why they're not prosecuted for destroying their loan collateral is beyond me.
We saw one real nice looking, real big house. I was really interested UNTIL we went in. It was litterally gutted. No kitchen, I mean NO kitchen (we've seen many of these btw) no toilets,showers,flooring, they even took the shower heads.
We've seen a couple where the realtors advertised these wonderfull chef's kitchens only to walk in and see the counters and upper cabinets are GONE. Really? Granite counters crack when you rip 'em out so exactly what are you going to do with 'em? Used sinks? Are they really worth that much?

[Rickers]

We picked a few bad tenants who did stuff like that when we evicted them for not paying rent. The banks don't go after them because it is not worth their trouble. Those people may be hard to track down now, may not have jobs and ya can't squeeze blood out of a turnip.

[Reziac]

I've been told by folks in the construction trade that the gutting problem usually isn't the defaulting owner; it's usually under-the-table "contractors" and illegal aliens looking to refit their own dumps, or looting "scrap metal" to sell to recyclers. In the Bay area they put armed guards on major construction sites, because if they don't, next morning all the wiring will have walked with Jesus. Copper sells for $4/pound... it's a miracle!!

I expect a lot of the outright damage comes from general looting -- in my observation most people who walk away from a house leave a LOT of stuff behind -- furniture, appliances, clothes, toys, pretty much everything that won't fit in a cheap U-Haul. Because there's all that loot available, the houses attract looters, and in the time-honoured manner of looters everywhere, what they can't carry off, they destroy.

[jimj]

Recently there's been several people advertising this "loot" from their own houses on Craigslist. One fool last week advertised that the house was being forclosed so he was selling everything that people could take before leaving. He put his address etc on the add and ended up getting a visit/arrested by the police.

Another brain child advertised his car was being repo'd this week so he was parting it out prior to the bank getting it. Posted his address/phone number etc.... We're waiting to see what happens...

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by jimj

Recently there's been several people advertising this "loot" from their own houses on Craigslist. One fool last week advertised that the house was being forclosed so he was selling everything that people could take before leaving. He put his address etc on the add and ended up getting a visit/arrested by the police.

Another brain child advertised his car was being repo'd this week so he was parting it out prior to the bank getting it. Posted his address/phone number etc.... We're waiting to see what happens...

Those ads are usually either the looters themselves (cuz it's okay to sell the toilet and the light fixtures if you say it's from "your own house", right?!), or malicious pranks. Tho I imagine a few rocket surgeons do decide to try it themselves on the way out, on their way to a new career as a looter and/or scam artist.

[Mt-7]

I have associates that say everything even if it is nailed down is getting ripped off. Hard times all around.
Hey, it isn't Kansas but we might be getting a twister
Check the weather thread, EH is keeping us safe

[Mt-7]

Alrighty, the house was rocking with the thunder but only lost a small tree. Looks like a repeat tonight.

Hope the wagon isn't mired down in this. What is everyone up to for the Holiday?

[jimj]

Originally Posted by Mt-7

Alrighty, the house was rocking with the thunder but only lost a small tree. Looks like a repeat tonight.

Hope the wagon isn't mired down in this. What is everyone up to for the Holiday?

Now I do miss that!!!! Hmmm, forcast for today, let's see, uh... Sunny and hot!

The weather people are real funny here, they came on all serious and such saying how we're expecting a big cold front to move through seriously dropping temps and we're going to have a couple of days of cold temperatures......
Yep, it's going to be in the low 80's
I guess I'd better cover the plants or move 'em indoors, drain the water bowls or heat 'em and get out the long johns...
The upside is when it rains here it RAINS. None of this namby pamby drizzle for us, nope it's like someone turned on a firehose and every dip in the road becomes a river for a couple of hours.
I am enjoying watching the cactus bloom though, never really looked at it when I was younger living here but it really is pretty to see.
We're getting ready to come "home" to get our stuff out of storage, just waiting until the final horrah snow storm that usually hits the start of June.

[janab]

Ok,ok, jimj, I am in AZ NEXT winter for at least 3 months !!