Welcome to Crazyma's Boot Camp #2- read the first post to get started:) (Alaska, bathroom)

[njsocks]

GROUP HUG ALL.

Lorrie- You are in my thoughts and prayers for your hub to have everything allright.

[Judy P.]

Lorrie you and your hubby are in my thoughts and prayers.

Well we got the water pumped out from under the house. It took 6 hours! They fixed the leaks but of course told us we need new plumbing, gee you think, DUH!!!! I don't know about "Joe the plumber" but I can tell you one thing my hubby went into the wrong occupation!!! I about passed out when we got the bill it was over $900!!! Well it is done at least till the next one.
I swear if I had a bomb....

TYVM everyone for your support it really means a lot to me. You all are so caring and it is nice to know I can vent and you all understand.

The Christmas thing about the ornaments is something I have always done for my children and my grandchildren. It is something they will always have from my hubby and me. I mark each one with their name and the year. When my hubby and I go on vacations ( I am a Christmas nut) we always look in the phone book yellow pages wherever we are and find a Christmas Store that is open year round or some store that has ornaments and get one so we can always remember our vacation there when we decorate the tree.
When you all were talking about baking I have to tell you a funny story. I was baking Christmas cookies with my granddaughter and we used cookie cutters with great success except for poor Santa. It seemed like every time we tried to cut him out and put him on the cookie sheet his head fell off! My granddaughter looked up at me and said "Grandma you aren't very good at this are you?" I laughed so hard and told her no I wasn't and she said "That's o.k. grandma we can leave Santa out this year."

TC and GB!!!

[raising3boys]

Judy- That story was funny about Santa.

Joe the Plumber charged you 900? Ugh.... You know when we got new counter tops dh was of course in Ohio. The Lowes people said that their installation guy couldn't hook up dishwasher/garbage disposal because that wasn't his job...He was not a plumber. Anyhow, I told dh and he said call a plumber. I called and they said it would be a WEEK before they could come out and it would cost $150. My dh fell over when I told him. I called another one and they said 200!

Well, I did tell them both that it wasn't a new system it was just to re hook it up! I ended up getting one of our custodians at work to come by to look at it. It took him 30 seconds! He did an excellent job. I paid him 60. He was shocked. He didn't want to take the money, but in the big picture it was worth it because he didn't rip me off and I knew him. He couldn't believe they wanted to charge me all that money.

I am sorry- I think we should boycott Joe the Plumbers...

Or anyone trying to rip people off!

Uhm, no offense if anyone has a s.o or dh that is a plumber. LOL.

[the painter]

Glad to change subjects, so sad.
I purchased a stainless steel dishwasher at Lowe's for $50.00! A $600. model because it had a hairline crack in the plastic across the top where the door meets the unit under the cabinet, about 1/2" long but...they wanted $150. to hook it up! My guy installed and put in a new faucet for $75. Do you think I would ever find another new for $50.00? I stay buddies with floor mgr at Lowe's and Home Depot, something I will miss IF I ever get to move.

In my field I see elderly getting scammed all the time and it really pi**es me off. I had an elderly couple with abit off water damage in the living room and they called for an estimate per their ins. company they needed 3. I was the last one in and I told them it would be $250. for the labor/materials and that it would be done in about 3 hrs. The lady says "Honey you need to look again that isn't right" and she handed me the other 2 estimates. My gosh they where both for over 2500.00! They tried to tell the folks they had to redo the whole room. I did the job and they didn't turn it into the insurance. Afew weeks later I got a very nice card with a gift certificate to the local Outback as a thank you for being honest.

[Judy P.]

Wow Painter what a bargain on the dishwasher!!!
That is awful about the way some people take advantage of the elderly! I just don't get people, they need to realize some day they will be old too! You were so kind to do that for them. It really shows your kindness and compassion. It's to bad there are not more people like you in this world!!!

[LaceyEx]

Hammy-know your by the cities and they said there were very strong winds and damage. You okay down there?

The rain here has been some of the hardest I've ever seen.

[the painter]

Judy P. I could probably come up with a hundred similiar stories, it is sad. But those scammers usually don't last long, they usually end up out of business. Well alot of them anyway. Honesty kept me in business for 30+ yrs. Along time ago there was some contractors specializing in reworks/remodels and they had different pricing set for different neighborhoods. I knew one that would tack on big bucks if you lived in certain areas. The moral of the story is always get 3 estimates EVEN when your best friend recommends them.

[LaceyEx]

I worked in a senior community in NJ and the scams were unreal.

I see my mother fall for them all the time-there's no reasoning with her about it.

[raising3boys]

What a deal on the dishwasher! I hope when we get new appliances we can find deals.

We got an update this evening.

I LOATHE home buying. It was easier on the selling side....


Ok, who am I kidding?

Selling was hard!


Let me explain the ordeal we are now into with the lovely sellers to help paint a clear picture.

The house we bid on original price was 270,000. This is what the seller paid according to tax records too. We can't help that he probably over paid and now the market isn't supporting his original price.

We all know as sellers you really have to "let go" of your original asking price. It could have been inflated to begin with.

Anyhow... he is asking 251,900 now. The seller reduced it last week.

We offered 245,000. Seller countered at 248,000. My dh wanted to talk to his friends at work. ( Two people live in the same neighborhood.) They all said to offer 246,000. One told him that since it was a buyers market to offer 244,000 now! LOL

Anyhow, our agent called us and said the seller got pissy and now will only take the listing price from us. She said his agent even is willing to take a lower commission to get the contract. We said if he wanting listing price he shouldn't have reduced the home THAT much. My agent is beyond mad. She said it is ridiculous with an offer like that presented that isn't wiling to take it. His agent isn't happy either.

On another note, our agent told us the other house we are looking at agent called and said they will take 10,000 off the asking price.

We decided we are just going to hang on for a bit. We aren't making any rash decisions. Taking your time on a purchase is important.

Ok, now I am done venting as a BUYER. Blah

[raising3boys]

Forgot to say in my longggggg post...

Our agent told us that ALMOST all buyers are asking for at least some if not all the closing costs even~!

We didn't do that. UGH.