Random talk thread: It just keeps happening

[Madrun Badrun]

Bebs, if you touch those oak cabinets you are a monster.  Sure they look way too busy and too much, but only in the same way heaven looks like too much when you look at it straight on.   

[Bebpo]

Some more fun photos from my visit at night:









Previous owner was definitely the "weird" guy on the block.

[Bebpo]

Also I walked through the place with my brother whose remodeled two houses and kind of got some ideas before I do my walk through with my interior designer.

The place is salvageable, but the scope of it is pretty overwhelming. I'm probably going to need to change all the flooring, move walls, paint all the walls, create a new small exterior room and join it in, put in new windows that let in more light, maybe add skylights, change windows to french doors, etc..

I can probably afford the renovation, but I've had like zero free time for the past 4 months and this stuff will take all of it for like the next 6 months. Not too mention good luck living and working from home there with major construction constantly going on.

Even the backyard is full of gnat swarms so you can't even just put out a chair and relax with a beer. Probably because all the dead bamboo since the previous owner didn't do a great job with maintaining the place, especially on the exterior.

Just feels tiring. I'm tempted to just give up and rent a place for myself and work on this project from afar and if it turns out nice, great I move in, if not, fuck it I sell it and try to break as even as possible and try the housing purchase market again when my lease expires. I wasn't planning on buying anything that wasn't pretty turn-key for exactly this reason, don't have time for this shit and need to move soon. Every time I walk in this new house it's just depressing, not because it was a horrible mistake (though I think it was a mistake just because it needs a lot of work and I don't have time for that), but just because the place needs way too much work and every time I walk in I find a couple of new things wrong with it.

Like I got it at a very good price, but it's pretty clear it's because the owner (who was not the person living in it, that was their son) was like ok, I need to get rid of my son's weird place as quickly as I can in a bargain sale.

Maybe all home sales are like this where it goes from "this looks great and fairly turn key" on initial impressions, but the more and more you visit the more and more it seems like a trainwreck and so much you need to fix and it's just overwhelming and sadness.

[Transhuman]

Can't you just replace that lightbulb and keep the rest the same?

[Bebpo]

Can't you just replace that lightbulb and keep the rest the same?

Yeah, that was just showing the house is weird. None of that is an actual issue. Like I'm replacing the black toilet tomorrow and a white toilet is like $130 at home depot.
I am keeping the tub and the knight TP though.

Black Toilets are the dumbest thing ever made if you actually want to see your body health from what you discharge from your system. Both toilets in this place are black wtf.

[Raist]

Some more fun photos from my visit at night:

(Image removed from quote.)

[Nintex]

Just do one room at a time. It takes time but it's worth it. I wish I had my own house with a Dark Souls boss holding the toilet paper.

Worst mistake you can make is trashing it all at once. A friend of mine did that and he ended up staying at his parents for another decade and selling an unfinished house for pennies. Now he's stuck renting again and pretty much broke.

[Bebpo]

Just do one room at a time. It takes time but it's worth it. I wish I had my own house with a Dark Souls boss holding the toilet paper.

Worst mistake you can make is trashing it all at once. A friend of mine did that and he ended up staying at his parents for another decade and selling an unfinished house for pennies. Now he's stuck renting again and pretty much broke.

Good advice. Yeah, might be a room by room remodel.

[Potato]

If you change that toilet roll holder you are the devil. That's the best thing I've ever seen. If you don't want it, please send it to me.

[Snoopycat_]

Bought myself a watch

[HardcoreRetro]

Just keep the place the same and start a D&D group. Start wearing medieval reenactment gear and roam the place as a king.

[Cauliflower Of Love]

this stuff will take all of it for like the next 6 months.

I've got some news for you.

All that stuff you want to do will not be done in 6 months.

[james]

I'm probably going to need to change all the flooring, move walls, paint all the walls, create a new small exterior room and join it in, put in new windows that let in more light, maybe add skylights, change windows to french doors, etc..

No actually, you dont

Even the backyard is full of gnat swarms so you can't even just put out a chair and relax with a beer. Probably because all the dead bamboo since the previous owner didn't do a great job with maintaining the place, especially on the exterior.

This I would fix

[Bebpo]

Even the backyard is full of gnat swarms so you can't even just put out a chair and relax with a beer. Probably because all the dead bamboo since the previous owner didn't do a great job with maintaining the place, especially on the exterior.

This I would fix

Yeah, I don't even know how to fix this. The gnats are coming from the bamboo that's dead which is also the only privacy wall from a commercial office building looking down on you. You cut the bamboo out and property value plummets because of your backyard without the privacy. You can plant new bamboo and redo the landscape and sprinkler irrigation to avoid gnats everywhere but they won't be that tall to start and it will take years to get your privacy and home value back.

This is kind of a doctored photo as it looks a lot shittier in person. 1 full set is dead and 1/2 or 1/3rd of the one to the left of it is dead. The wall behind it is pretty low too so if you remove the bamboo people could jump the wall from the commercial lot behind it. May need to build a higher wall if I do that.



I think the real solution is if I'm staying for a few years to cut that all out and plant some new healthy trees with a good sprinkler irrigation system and let them grow to give privacy (and yeah, maybe put a higher wall in for the meantime). The gnats come from the bamboo and swarm all over the artificial grass there and the whole yard in mass.

[Uncle]

I don't know a lot about bamboo, does only that specific type of bamboo grow that high and to that density? because there are varieties that reach their maximum height in like 3 months

[Bebpo]

I don't know a lot about bamboo, does only that specific type of bamboo grow that high and to that density? because there are varieties that reach their maximum height in like 3 months

I asked my landscape guy how long the new bamboo will take to grow and he's basically like it's a crapshoot, could be months, could be years. Which, I have to admit, is kind of a weird answer for a guy whose entire job is doing this stuff. Like it shouldn't be that random? I think he said it depends on the soil, lighting, weather, etc...

[Uncle]

I don't know a lot about bamboo, does only that specific type of bamboo grow that high and to that density? because there are varieties that reach their maximum height in like 3 months

I asked my landscape guy how long the new bamboo will take to grow and he's basically like it's a crapshoot, could be months, could be years. Which, I have to admit, is kind of a weird answer for a guy whose entire job is doing this stuff. Like it shouldn't be that random? I think he said it depends on the soil, lighting, weather, etc...

I suppose it wouldn't be unrealistic to assume the previous homeowner had the exact same problem, a multi-year wait to get some privacy, and that's why he was hesitant to deal with it too

[james]

Even the backyard is full of gnat swarms so you can't even just put out a chair and relax with a beer. Probably because all the dead bamboo since the previous owner didn't do a great job with maintaining the place, especially on the exterior.

This I would fix

Yeah, I don't even know how to fix this. The gnats are coming from the bamboo that's dead which is also the only privacy wall from a commercial office building looking down on you. You cut the bamboo out and property value plummets because of your backyard without the privacy. You can plant new bamboo and redo the landscape and sprinkler irrigation to avoid gnats everywhere but they won't be that tall to start and it will take years to get your privacy and home value back.

This is kind of a doctored photo as it looks a lot shittier in person. 1 full set is dead and 1/2 or 1/3rd of the one to the left of it is dead. The wall behind it is pretty low too so if you remove the bamboo people could jump the wall from the commercial lot behind it. May need to build a higher wall if I do that.

(Image removed from quote.)

I think the real solution is if I'm staying for a few years to cut that all out and plant some new healthy trees with a good sprinkler irrigation system and let them grow to give privacy (and yeah, maybe put a higher wall in for the meantime). The gnats come from the bamboo and swarm all over the artificial grass there and the whole yard in mass.

Check to see what local regulations are on fence height. Some are 6-foot max, but with a commercial abutter may they allow 8 feet.

I dont know anything about gnats, but is it possible to get rid of them while keeping the bamboo?

My understanding with bamboo is that it grows like weeds and is impossible to get rid of, so most people have the reverse problem you have.

I would def plant a couple of nice shade trees regardless of what happens to the bamboo. Theyre super slow to grow, but with a little more $$ up front you can buy a tree with a few years head start in growth (make sure it comes with warranty).

The fountain looks sweet.

[HardcoreRetro]

The bamboo might be rotting from overwatering. Dude probably drowned that thing. I'd get rid of it. I imagine the gnats are coming from the murky water at the bottom of the dead bamboo. They're attracted to the fungus that grows around it.

Shouldn't actually be too hard to get rid of the bamboo. Trim them down, dig out the roots. Get rid of the top feet of soil to get rid of the rhizomes. It'll take some work.

[Cauliflower Of Love]

drig out the dirt, and replace it with rocks.

[Bebpo]

The bamboo might be rotting from overwatering. Dude probably drowned that thing. I'd get rid of it. I imagine the gnats are coming from the murky water at the bottom of the dead bamboo. They're attracted to the fungus that grows around it.

Shouldn't actually be too hard to get rid of the bamboo. Trim them down, dig out the roots. Get rid of the top feet of soil to get rid of the rhizomes. It'll take some work.

Nah, wasn't overwatering. We checked and the sprinkler that went to the dead set of bamboo was broken. They died from lack of water.

[Potato]

Saw Helmet play tonight. Bit of a blast from the past. They were very good.

[Bebpo]

So it turns out I'm going to flip the house I got. Working on redesigning it to modern flip standards. If anyone wants that knight toilet paper holder I can ship that to you instead of throwing it in the trash if you want to pay for shipping.

Pretty nervous because it's my first time doing a flip, I'm not a flipper, and I have minimal experience with contractors in general.

Also if I make any profit from this, that profit will be taxed at 51% wooo because I can't afford to do it as a 1031 exchange and put the money into another investment property, because uh I need that money to buy a different house.

But yeah, next few months between repairs and updating the house, listing it (I've never listed/sold a house before), and all the way through close is going to be pretty nerve wracking, time taking and incredible stressful on a gamble of gaining or losing money.

Also, at the same time trying to do some mold remediation issues at my condo to fix my AC issues so I can have AC this summer and stay at my condo until I get this house flipped and my money back so maybe I can look for houses again in the fall.

2023 continues to be the worst year ever for me.

[Nintex]

Why flip it, looks like a decent place to live.

Just get a big beautiful fence

[Bebpo]

Why flip it, looks like a decent place to live.

Just get a big beautiful fence

Some things with it came up that were unexpected and it doesn't make financial sense for me to stay.
I need to list it for about $200k more than I bought it for, so doing a lot of upgrades to make it a sleek modern looking house like every other sleek modern looking flip house and hoping for the best.

I looked a nice rental property today, but since I'm basically going to be broke making these upgrades to get my money out of the new house, I should just stay in my condo and fix the mold issue and replace the AC (the mold is really minor, but it's at a spot that's very difficult for professionals to fix and unfortunately it gets sucked into the AC intake and spreads in the AC unit and around the house if I use the AC, and not using the AC is very, very bad in So Cal heat).

[BIONIC]

Thank you for contributing to the housing crisis.

[HardcoreRetro]

At least the thought of a one million dollar impulse buy is making me laugh.

Thanks for the laughs, Bebpo.

[who is ted danson?]

are ppl that share porn on the internet cumfluencers?

[Bebpo]

I don't even want to get into the details, but I'd file a lawsuit if I thought I could collect. Even if end up breaking even (which is very questionable, I still may end up losing $100k+), I'm losing the next 2-3 months of my life because I got scammed by the seller.

[james]

I don't even want to get into the details, but I'd file a lawsuit if I thought I could collect. Even if end up breaking even (which is very questionable, I still may end up losing $100k+), I'm losing the next 2-3 months of my life because I got scammed by the seller.

Isn't there deed insurance and inspection insurance and stuff if you discover things that weren't said to you?

[Bebpo]

I don't even want to get into the details, but I'd file a lawsuit if I thought I could collect. Even if end up breaking even (which is very questionable, I still may end up losing $100k+), I'm losing the next 2-3 months of my life because I got scammed by the seller.

Isn't there deed insurance and inspection insurance and stuff if you discover things that weren't said to you?

It's an underlying condition of the property thing so title insurance doesn't fit in. I could sue the inspector, but the real person who fucked up was an inspector I didn't have a contract with. The inspector was like "eh, this is worth looking into, but probably ok" and so I did get an expert company to rush over and investigate and give a proposal estimate for repairs and they were like "eh, no big deal, don't worry about it".

Well turns out it's going to be a few hundred thousand dollars and I won't be able to live in the place for months. So it puts me underwater on the property. Best to make it pretty, let the next buyer know it's a thing if they want to deal with and get the fuck out with as little of loss as I can. But it's a gamble and will take months to get it nice and pretty and next buyer will still probably want like 20% price reduction.

But if I just turned around and sold it now as is, it would be a distress sale and wouldn't get any decent prices anywhere near what I got it for.

I've been really depressed, more so than in my entire life, can barely function and been thing of checking myself into the psych ward at the hospital because I've started minor cutting myself in anger and suicide has been appealing as a way out. I mostly hate myself for missing this and getting rushed through this sale process and fucking myself into this corner. I noticed there were some weird issues that I thought COULD BE POTENTIAL BIG EXPENSIVE DEALS in the inspection but everyone (inspector, specialist repair company, family and friends, agent) basically told me "you're overreacting and getting anxious and cold feet and even if it's a problem it'll be cheap to fix"

So I caught the fucking thing before I was locked in and I could've and should've bailed. But because I'd bailed during the contingency period on the last house I was going to buy mostly just because of anxiety and cold feet, I told myself I'm not going to do that again and next time I get into a house unless something major comes up I'm going to sign the papers and go through with the sale. The risk of that was that the next time I got a bad gut feeling and nervous it would actually be on the mark and I'd ignore it....and whoops that is exactly how it turned out.

So I caught the thing, I could've and should've backed out and not lost any money, but I didn't and now I'm losing 2-3 months trying to fix this mess and could end up making $5, or $0 or lose even $200k. Which means I'm eventually back to where I was looking for a house but now with less money so it's even harder in this market to find something. If I lost $200k five years from now of retirement savings, I could live with that because it doesn't really affect anything. But losing that kind of money now when I will need to try to find a house again is going to be really hard. Hopefully it'll be closer to $15k lost and several hundred hours or something when all is said and done but it's just a ?? until the day it's sold what it'll sell for and that's huge anxiety.

I just hate myself and want to die 

[Bebpo]

If I ignore all the emotional aspect of this and can just robot it out instead of replaying all my fuck ups for the last three months over and over in my head, then it's basically simple of

1. Don't stress
2. Fix AC/mold issue at current condo so can stay here
3. Fix and sell house and maybe eat $200k loss max
4. If still want to buy a house just to have a house, even though my condo will be fine to live in if I can do #2, then just get a larger mortgage to make up for the $200k down in finances and live with an extra $1-1.5k/month mortgage payment to get the house in the range I want.

Or the smarter logical option is just live in my condo a few more years until the market gets a bit better, save up some more to make up for the money lost in this situation and when the market is better buy a house.

It's just hard to reconcile the logical approach with the emotional aspect of having spent hundreds and hundreds of hours and stress for like 3 months straight in house searching, determined to get my first single family house, and to just have to give up on that and all that time and energy and having no life for those months (+ the next few months doing repairs), and it was all for nothing. The crushing depression of that is just hard for me to accept.

It's also not a 100% thing the AC/mold issue can actually be fixed at my condo. I'll be working on that this week as well and next week and will see what is possible. It will also potentially be like $20-40k in fixes. If it's not even physically possible to fix this, then I basically just will need to get through the 105f+ summer here with my crappy portable AC. But maybe in that case I could cut a hole in the bedroom walls to make exhaust holes and just build in room AC units in my 2 bedrooms. There's probably some solution, but hopefully it can be fixed.

[Bebpo]

I also packed up like 75% of my place in boxes ready to move and now that I'm not moving it's just depressing looking at them all. Because the next 6-12 months is now so uncertain, pretty much just going to leave everything in boxes. No motivation to put stuff back in closets and things. So if I stay here a few more years everyone who comes over will be like wtf, why is your entire living room boxes like you're about to move?

I'd probably put stuff back at some point. But I'm just too busy with everything atm and it's not a priority.

[Nintex]

Don't be so hard on yourself bro.

Maybe you can make some money from this house by doing short rentals on AirBnB once it's in an ok condition?
Just going by inflation alone you should be able to sell it for what you bought it for and if you have to sell it for less that means that whatever you're going to buy has likely gone down in price as well.

For you it might be a big issue but another buyer might own a construction company or knows a guy who knows a guy who can fix it for cheap.
I would just put it up for the same price as you bought it for and see if anyone bites. Based on the story of your search it doesn't seem like there are many options right now so selling it as is might not be as hard as you think.

[Bebpo]

Thanks, yeah I could rent it but A) That would require me to be a landlord and I don't think I have the temperament for that, and B) The market is a complete seller's market now where people will make compromises and put up with a lot of crap just to get something, the market could be different in a year after a one year lease and might be harder to sell.

As much as I'd love to just put it right back up. The problem is commission is about 5% between buyer/seller's agents. So that's $50,000 they take out of the sale price, plus a couple of thousand for escrow fees and misc stuff and even selling it for exactly the same amount I bought it for I'd lose about $55,000 instantly.

Then because of the perception of looking at the sale history and seeing someone bought a property and then instantly a few weeks later put it right back up for sale, people will avoid the property so offers probably come in at like 75% of the market value or something. So not only would I struggle to sell it for what I bought it for, but after commissions and escrow fees I'd lose even more. My best guess is like $100,000 loss, but could be more.

At least making it nice enough to be a flip the profit margin of what otherwise would be flip profit, should be enough to cover repairs + commission. That is my hope, so that I can break even. But just never know. It's enough money that it's worth trying to minimize the loss as much as possible even if it's a depressing pain in the ass for a few months.

[Snoopycat_]

I thought I'd buy a new bottle of Dior's Sauvage so I went on Ebay. My God, the amount of fake bullshit on there is staggering. I think I counted 5 ads that looked legit. Almost every ad which claimed to be 100% genuine was clearly fake. I don't know how Ebay haven't been sued to the moon

[Uncle]

sounds like a really stressful situation bebpo, but you'll get through it, just one step at a time

I'm worried about you trying to upgrade the house to get it into a flippable state...I'm picturing like getting all the cupboards ripped out, but sourcing good new ones becomes a problem, so it sits without cupboards for a while and feels like even more of an albatross, in the meantime working on some other part of the house and that goes wrong too, etc. 

take deep breaths and be cautious

[Snoopycat_]

Won this Timex Marlin on Ebay -



I put in a fuck it bid on about 3 minutes before the auction ended. These sell for over £200, my bid was 67 quid so I really didn't expect to win it. There was a weird buffering delay at the end and the countdown timer started glitching out. Never seen that happen before. I think the snipers came in a bit too late and the system defaulted back to my bid. I'm interested to see if the seller actually sends it or comes up with a bullshit excuse. I actually wouldn't blame them if they didn't send it. No doubt they'd have been expecting to get around the 250 mark

[Cauliflower Of Love]

name checks out

[Snoopycat_]

[BIONIC]

What’s your favorite piece of Snoopy porn?

[Snoopycat_]

https://www.pornhub.com/view_video.php?viewkey=ph60fb1f35b191e

[Potato]

What’s your favorite piece of Snoopy porn?

Did you forget to log back in to the filler account?

[Cauliflower Of Love]

https://www.pornhub.com/view_video.php?viewkey=ph60fb1f35b191e

I hate you so much for this, and you know why.

[Snoopycat_]

Are you mad she didn't finish the level?

[team filler]

https://www.pornhub.com/view_video.php?viewkey=ph60fb1f35b191e

pokeslut 

[Snoopycat_]

There's a vid on there of some girl riding a dildo on top of a Switch. I don't know why. I suppose it's just what Nintendo people do.

[HardcoreRetro]

Lol, not even the OLED model. What a dumb cunt.

[Polident Hive]

We went from licking a PSP to this. Define escalation.

[remy]

(Image removed from quote.)

I like the on brand snoopy watch

this one goes hard too. great colors + design

[Cauliflower Of Love]

how many of you all will subscribe to my OF if i start one?

[Cauliflower Of Love]

I'm broke.

[Uncle]

what did you do before that you got downsized from?

[Cauliflower Of Love]

Self made entrepreneur selling goods to people who needed goods.

basically an OF without genitals

[Snoopycat_]

I like the on brand snoopy watch

this one goes hard too. great colors + design

The other one arrived this morning. There's a noticeable difference in the quality between them but they both look great.

[Polident Hive]

Left one is classy. And there’s an air of superiority to knowing an unfortunate percentage of society can’t tell time on it.

[Snoopycat_]

Aftershave clones are nuts these days. I bought a Tom Ford one for 20 quid. It's almost identical and lasts longer than the real 300 quid one.

[MMaRsu]

The Super Mario Bros Movie 2023 1080p WEB-DL

[Cauliflower Of Love]

Anyone else not able to read quote posts without going back where the original post is?

[Polident Hive]

As I’m stuck moving between hotel fitness centers, where if I’m lucky at least have 20kg dumbbells, I’ve used this setback to take up running and cardio again. Stamina and endurance are embarrassingly bad. First time post-20s I feel old and decrepit. Kinda depressing but not listen to my friends and take supplements to compensate depressing. But listening to Hearts on Fire isn’t working like it used to.