Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

ab348

The good news is that if the house slides off the foundation, your car will break its fall...

jipster

kyfdx said:

jipster said:

I almost put in a photo of the ole Jipster, but I think isellhyundais is still trying to track me down. ;-)

The new foundation wall actually looks pretty good.

And, for a neighborhood of 90 yr old houses, that neighbor's retaining wall isn't an unusual occurrence. Probably needed re-done 30 years ago, and they never had the money.

Dayton, KY has been a low-income town for a long, long time. The last time it was "prosperous" was probably in the '50s. It is seeing a resurgence (and, I'm stretching that term), lately, because of the property values rising in Bellevue, next door, and the new development along the river.

That hillside is probably as stable as any around, as there is no development above it. I didn't realize until I mapped it that it was above the railroad tracks. In this case, that is a good thing.

About four blocks West on O'Fallon Ave., they've torn down some old homes and are now building new $500K+ hillside homes with views. I'd worry more about that hillside, where you are cutting into previously undisturbed ground. (and, investing a lot more money).

All that said, I would discourage my child from buying a house in Dayton.

Daughter just said she's putting the Dayton house on the backburner (thank God) , and is looking at a house in Newport today. What's the scoop on Newport? They have the Aquarium. We ate at that Buckheads on the river when we were there. Seemed fairly nice and active.

jipster

imidazol97 said:

What the realtor showed in their picture.



What a street photo shows.

Yeah, the agents photo are angled so you don't see the bowing in those retention walls. The house on the left was fairly junky. Like Sanford and Son, just junk laying around everywhere.

I said I didn't like all those steps. My daughter said she was young and it wouldn't bother her. :-(

jipster

driver100 said:

Jip, I know nothing about construction, but I would be nervous standing in that basement.
Mariner looks good.

Yeah, they could have put a little lipstick on that pig of a basement. Unfinished basement smell, uhhh,

Thanks. Took that photo of the Mariner after I had it detailed. The guy only charged $60, and I thought he did a great job. Jip tipped him $10.

snakeweasel

What a great weekend, I learned something this weekend, never clean out your garage when people in your neighborhood are having garage sales. 

Keeping it car orientated on Saturday we ended up at an interesting place. You know it's unique place when you have bars like this:

jipster

ab348 said:

The good news is that if the house slides off the foundation, your car will break its fall...

LOL. As of now, I think my car may be safe. My daughter likes this house in Newport. ;-)

stickguy

If people want to pay me to take stuff away, send them right over!

snakeweasel

stickguy said:

If people want to pay me to take stuff away, send them right over!

But it was stuff I wanted to keep.

ronsteve

driver100 said:

Since everyone has been showing off their trunks lately I decided to post mine. Mrs D went to Costco earlier while I played tennis, so these are only bags from the grocery store. Usually there are about 6 plastic bags and 3 or 4 bags of Costco stuff. They just float around back there, can't say I have ever had anything roll around or break. My car is kept fairly neat and clean, but, I don't care if things are a little out of place.


A few extra tennis caps too....and I think an extra racquet lying in there too.

No pics, but one feature I miss from my old Volvo wagon is the plastic tray that was accessed by just flipping up a panel from the cargo floor. Made it really to put grocery bags in a spot where they wouldn't move around, and was also a good spot for anything I didn't want to get the carpet wet. Honda didn't think of this until the current generation Passport and RDX.

ruking1

fintail said:

Detached house near a major city for 125K LOL, alien concept, I can't relate to it.

Speaking of houses, This place, which I've had my eye on for years, finally hit the market - dang it, I was too slow, already pending.

I like the postwar traditional styling of this, along with the garage and the little porch/breezeway between it and the house, along with the originality of the place, probably some original appliances in that kitchen. Sadly, I have a suspicion this place will be knocked down and replaced by yet another tacky mcmodern/faux farmhouse/faux craftsman/faux Tuscan/etc.

I’m guessing that even in this market, the sales price was probably over asking. Even @ that, it will probably, as a minimum go through a high $ remodel job.

fintail

I suspect you are right about the sales price. Awfully quick "pending" even for here, as that part of the market doesn't seem to move as fast as those around 1MM or less. It'd be cool to see the house, one of the dwindling survivors of when money had some class and taste, be treated to a sympathetic renovation, but there's just as good a chance it will be bulldozed and replaced with something regrettable.

Very good chance iffy foreign money is involved, heck, the price even has an "8" which can be a clue to the aims of the broker.

ruking1 said:

I’m guessing that even in this market, the sales price was probably over asking. Even @ that, it will probably, as a minimum go through a high $ remodel job

kyfdx

@jipster Newport has a varied housing stock, from areas much, much worse than that house in Dayton, to $400K-$600K Victorian masterpieces in the East Row district.

Shoot me an address.

Do you have any idea of your daughter's budget? I might be able recommend some close-by areas.
On the plus side, you can't beat the location, walkable, and plenty to do for a young couple. Schools are not the greatest in either Newport or Dayton, unless you go the parochial route. I'm sure she is looking at Bellevue, as well. (which is where Buckhead is actually located).

ruking1

fintail said:

I suspect you are right about the sales price. Awfully quick "pending" even for here, as that part of the market doesn't seem to move as fast as those around 1MM or less. It'd be cool to see the house, one of the dwindling survivors of when money had some class and taste, be treated to a sympathetic renovation, but there's just as good a chance it will be bulldozed and replaced with something regrettable.

Very good chance iffy foreign money is involved, heck, the price even has an "8" which can be a clue to the aims of the broker.

ruking1 said:

I’m guessing that even in this market, the sales price was probably over asking. Even @ that, it will probably, as a minimum go through a high $ remodel job

Again a guess, but even Homeland Security could care less.

ab348

fintail said:

Speaking of houses, This place, which I've had my eye on for years, finally hit the market - dang it, I was too slow, already pending.

I took a Streetview tour of Evergreen Point Rd this morning. I wouldn't fret, I'm sure one of the many modest little crackerboxes along that stretch will come on the market for you to pick up at a song.

fintail

They are told to not be able to care less. Remember the real golden rule, and in this new Belle Epoque, most of life can be pay to play.

ruking1 said:

Again a guess, but even Homeland Security could care less.

ronsteve

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

Best car racing movies....agree with others, but did we mention RUSH?
https://youtu.be/sT_arCRoDHk
Ford V Ferrari looks good, can't wait.

It does look good, but I wonder how accurate it's going to be. Hollywood has a habit of doing a lot of embellishing and creating conflict where no existed and turning ordinary people into villains.

For all of Hollywood's sins, I will say RUSH was very well done. And based on my read of a few of his books including his autobiography, the portrayal of Lauda was dead-on!

fintail

It's an amusing road. There are numerous legit mansions, along with bland older planbook/tract houses, and even a few surviving postwar bungalows from when the area was more middle class. I often drive the fintail around the area, as traffic is low there, and it is scenic.

ab348 said:

I took a Streetview tour of Evergreen Point Rd this morning. I wouldn't fret, I'm sure one of the many modest little crackerboxes along that stretch will come on the market for you to pick up at a song.

ruking1

fintail said:

They are told to not be able to care less. Remember the real golden rule, and in this new Belle Epoque, most of life can be pay to play.

ruking1 said:

Again a guess, but even Homeland Security could care less.

You are making my point. It sounds like (your) the area is a great place to launder money!

The backyards dock, again as a minimum appears to need substantial to major repairs.

I know that Bezos owns property in the Medina, WA area. I’m sure he’s not one of your examples of a “foreign” money launderer? 🤣

fintail

The entire west coast is. Real estate here is a money laundering/capital hiding playground. Some areas here have a majority of sales to offshore cash buyers. No "extreme vetting", of course, because of that golden rule.

It really took off in Vancouver awhile ago, and now we are in it too - both places with insane housing markets, coincidence?

ruking1 said:

You are making my point. It sounds like (your) the area is a great place to launder money!

The back yards dock, again as a minimum appears to need substantial to major repairs.

28firefighter

In fairness, the Seattle market is quieting down pretty dramatically for better or worse. Still expensive and very overpriced for what you get, but not the craziness we were seeing even a year or so ago.

graphicguy

kyfdx said:

kyfdx said:

jipster said:

kyfdx said:

jipster said:

Michaell said:

jipster said:

Michaell said:

jipster said:

Anybody know anything about foundation wall replacement? Daughter looking at a house where the basement wall was replaced with cinder blocks, due to water damage. The outside trench wasn't refilled. A drainage pipe wasn't installed. Agent doesn't know squat. Nothing I can find on the internet. You guys are my last hope. :-(

Are sump pumps a thing where you live? Here in Colorado, we have one for our house to collect and drain the water that accumulates around the perimeter of the house. It's an electric pump and we've extended the drainage pipe so it expels into the front yard.

Well, that's what I was thinking when we looked at the house the other day. This is in Newport, Kentucky by the way. The 100 year old house is on a hill. I'm thinking the foundation wall was damaged, then leaked, thru soil and water pressure. And there is no sump pump?

To me this looked like the contractors walked off the job before it was completed, OR, the trench wasn't refilled with dirt and drainage... for some unknown reason to me.

I suppose being at the top of the hill is better than being at the bottom, when it comes to water...

There aren't many 100 year old houses in Colorado, so I'm not sure how much help I can be...

The house is actually about on the middle of said hill. So halfway between good and bad. ;-)

What is the address? If it’s on a hill in Newport, I’m probably within a mile of there. Is it listed with a realtor?

Also, if the basement floor is below the water table, it wouldn’t need a sump pump

Sorry, it's actually in Dayton...right by Newport.

514 10th Avenue. Dayton, Kentucky. mLS #525965 I tried to pull it up but couldn't find it. RE Max Affiliates has it listed. Feel free to post a link.

Yes, there was a door below the water table. Guess just open that door and let the water run out? LOL.

https://www.sibcycline.com/Listing/NKY/525965/514-10th-Ave-Dayton-KY-41071

I get the view thing. Not the best location, otherwise. No shirt needed for her husband/boyfriend in that neighborhood.

Someone has obviously spent some money on the inside. Wonder if they did all that before they discovered the water problem?

I agree with Walt. As they say in real estate...LOCATION...LOCATION....LOCATION! That house isn't in a good location, at all. View is nice, but that's all it has....aside from some inside updating.

They bought it for $42K 6 mos ago? Not sure what it looked like before, but a kitchen redo is worth maybe $10K-$15K if all they replaced were some appliances, some formica and the floor.

Knowing where it's at, I'd say the comps around the area might support $80K? At $100K plus? Not sure I could pull the checkbook for that....especially with the water issues and the looks to be always troublesome foundation.

ronsteve

On the trunk organizing front, this is not my pic so I will leave the link here. Volvo really had it right, and I don't think their current generation cars have this.

http://www.propertadverts.co.uk/img/VolvoV70/boot3.JPG

qbrozen

Been listing my dad's bigger tools on ebay the past few days. Last week, I put his old lathe up for bid. 2 days before auction end, 2 guys contacted me saying they wanted to come see it. OK, no problem, I'll be at the house all day Sat. Now, mind you, I hadn't even taken the garbage off the top of it when I snapped pics. I found the same one in near perfect condition also in NJ for $1200. So I started bidding at $200. Before coming to see it, these 2 went back and forth and took it up to $405. Dude #1 showed up Sat morn around 11. Looked it over, ran it, then said he'd want to do a deal right now. I asked: ok... what are you thinking? He offered $700. I took it. What I was not anticipating was spending the next 2 hours helping him and his friend get it into his truck. I knew it was heavy, but WOW! I've lifted the back end of compact cars that were lighter that trying to lift one side of this thing. Anyway, with the help of dad's engine hoist, we got it done eventually.

I think that should be the worst of it. After that, I put up his mig welder, acetylene torch, plasma cutter, massive compressor, and aforementioned engine hoist (hydraulic cherry picker, not the chain deal that hangs from the ceiling) on ebay. We'll see what happens, but probably a good $2800-$3k there to help mom out. My brother and I also worked together to sell his John Deere front-loader/backhoe to a relative for $10k. Along with the $18.5k carvana is paying for the subaru and probably about $7k-$8k for his Ford diesel that I will sell AFTER the move, its a fairly OK chunk of change to add to her account. Still a ton of little items to deal with, and we're not even sure how we'll go about that, but it will all get done eventually.

ruking1

fintail said:

The entire west coast is. Real estate here is a money laundering/capital hiding playground. Some areas here have a majority of sales to offshore cash buyers. No "extreme vetting", of course, because of that golden rule.

It really took off in Vancouver awhile ago, and now we are in it too - both places with insane housing markets, coincidence?

ruking1 said:

You are making my point. It sounds like (your) the area is a great place to launder money!

The back yards dock, again as a minimum appears to need substantial to major repairs.

Indeed, that (quoted first, second para) might be grossly overstated. There are a LOAD of caveats to/in real estate. One caveat is real estate prices are “local”. So it might depend on what is define as the entire west coast. Another might be, one doesn’t want to buy for (higher) $1.00 & have to resell (lower) for $.65. Indeed plus + $.10 to $.15 per year are numbers to beat; even for “nefarious foreign monies”.

stickguy

that list included a lot of stuff I want to have, but actually have no clue how to use or any actual need for.

though if I did not have a car currently I would have been interested in the Subaru!

driver100

ronsteve said:

On the trunk organizing front, this is not my pic so I will leave the link here. Volvo really had it right, and I don't think their current generation cars have this.

http://www.propertadverts.co.uk/img/VolvoV70/boot3.JPG

Scotty says don't buy a Volvo. They are made by a Chinese company and they are going to go all electric so it will be hard buying parts for them. And Scotty probably won't know how to fix them.

driver100

imidazol97 said:

What the realtor showed in their picture.



What a street photo shows.

Those stairs look crooked and the retaining walls look like they could go. My guess is they spent as much as they could and didn't want to go over budget, fixing the basement, trench, stairs and lots of structural stuff. One thing that would really bother me is trying to cut grass on that hill.
About the stairs not being a problem because you are young. Those are things you say until you find out it is a pain getting a baby stroller onto the sidewalk, or taking in groceries from your car.
Spend more up front and get a house that won't need expensive repairs, and that has the things you really need....and it will cost less in the long run.

andres3

Amica, highly rated insurance company quoted me about 33% higher for a year than Geico on Auto insurance.

However, when I asked about home coverage, they asked the age of my house (built 1960), and if it had been "Earthquake" retrofitted. Of course it hasn't. That was instant denial of coverage; no quoting.

I guess the "BIG ONE" is near.....

ruking1

andres3 said:

Amica, highly rated insurance company quoted me about 33% higher for a year than Geico on Auto insurance.

However, when I asked about home coverage, they asked the age of my house (built 1960), and if it had been "Earthquake" retrofitted. Of course it hasn't. That was instant denial of coverage; no quoting.

I guess the "BIG ONE" is near.....

I have read more than one article saying that when the big (“one”) earthquake hits, it’s more likely to hit in So CA that it is in Nor CA. Given that the San Francisco county population is less than .871 M & the Los Angeles county population is about 10.1 M, that portends many more problems.

qbrozen

stickguy said:

that list included a lot of stuff I want to have, but actually have no clue how to use or any actual need for. though if I did not have a car currently I would have been interested in the Subaru!

Same here, but it would rarely be utilized and takes up a lot of space. It just isn’t worth it. 

If nothing else, I’d like to keep the torch, but I have gotten by this long with nothing more than a map gas handheld torch, so it must not be important enough. 

fintail

Definitely. A house in Aberdeen will be a lot cheaper than one in Bellevue, both technically wet coast. I don't know if I see that much of a correction coming though - rates of growth have slowed a little, but no deflation yet, no signs of anything.

The waterfront mention on the Camelot era house is telling too - it is shared waterfront. Nearly 5MM is bottom of the barrel for Medina waterfront these days (I bet that house was maybe 50K new).

ruking1 said:

Indeed, that (quoted first, second para) might be grossly overstated. There are a load of caveats to/in real estate. One is real estate prices are “local”. So it might depend on what is define as the entire west coast. Another might be, one doesn’t want to buy for $1.00 & have to resell for $.65.

ruking1

driver100 said:

ronsteve said:

On the trunk organizing front, this is not my pic so I will leave the link here. Volvo really had it right, and I don't think their current generation cars have this.

http://www.propertadverts.co.uk/img/VolvoV70/boot3.JPG

Scotty says don't buy a Volvo. They are made by a Chinese company and they are going to go all electric so it will be hard buying parts for them. And Scotty probably won't know how to fix them.

Realistically, it’s not only Scotty.😱

I believe Geely (mostly China state owned, I’m guessing) is now the new parent company Volvo owner. Quality, reliability, durability is @ best spotty. This is the best of both worlds, socialist owned by communists. 😜

berri

Seattle may be cooling, but now Tacoma is red hot from what I hear.

28firefighter

berri said:

Seattle may be cooling, but now Tacoma is red hot from what I hear.

It is - South Sound and north of seattle (think Snohomish County, Everett etc) are still doing well. In part because the cost of homes in those areas is dramatically less then Seattle metro. Tacoma is also experiencing something of a renaissance - not nearly as much political strife as you find up in Seattle.

berri

I can't recall the name of the restaurant in Tacoma overlooking the water from a hill, but may have been the best prime rib I've ever eaten - in a seafood area to boot.

abacomike

Just found out that my grandson is not returning to his college in the fall because of his disgust with the baseball program. He said he made a big mistake going to Nebraska. They hardly played him at alll - the coaches played the seniors on the team for pitching and he sat on the bench for 95% of the entire season. His grades were good, but he said that he wants to play baseball and they had promised him he would be in the starting rotation - but went back on their word. He also mentioned that he doesn't want to spend another day in Nebraska because of the horrible cold weather and snow - something he is not used to since he was born and raised in the California Desert where it is in the 60's and 70's during the winter and in the 105+'s during the summer. I know where he is coming from regarding the climate there in the winter.

So he is giving up his scholarship and returning to the California Desert and will enroll in a junior college. He will then get into a 4 year school in his junior year - University of California or California State University. He will be playing baseball - with a 92 mph fast ball and a great change up and curve ball, he shouldn't be sitting on the bench most of the season. So I don't blame him for what he decided to do. He wants to play professional baseball and he is talented enough to have a great chance at that. He has been followed by scouits for a couple of years now so he said since the College's Baseball Progarm did not afford him with the opportunities that were promised, he just up and left after his finals.

As time goes on, I assume he will share more info with me - but I am supporting his decision.

imidazol97

Here's the house in 2007 compared to 2014 in the recent street view photo.

Notice the retaining wall is firmly against the neighbor's wall on the left in the 2007 image.
The retaining wall portion nearer the street has not pulled away from the main part of the
driveway retainer in 2007.

I don't know if there was a 2019 picture posted of the shifting of the concrete.
If all that concrete is being pushed toward the street and to the right, what is happening
to the house and its basement walls...

ruking1

abacomike said:

Just found out that my grandson is not returning to his college in the fall because of his disgust with the baseball program. He said he made a big mistake going to Nebraska. They hardly played him at alll - the coaches played the seniors on the team for pitching and he sat on the bench for 95% of the entire season. His grades were good, but he said that he wants to play baseball and they had promised him he would be in the starting rotation - but went back on their word. He also mentioned that he doesn't want to spend another day in Nebraska because of the horrible cold weather and snow - something he is not used to since he was born and raised in the California Desert where it is in the 60's and 70's during the winter and in the 105+'s during the summer. I know where he is coming from regarding the climate there in the winter.

So he is giving up his scholarship and returning to the California Desert and will enroll in a junior college. He will then get into a 4 year school in his junior year - University of California or California State University. He will be playing baseball - with a 92 mph fast ball and a great change up and curve ball, he shouldn't be sitting on the bench most of the season. So I don't blame him for what he decided to do. He wants to play professional baseball and he is talented enough to have a great chance at that. He has been followed by scouits for a couple of years now so he said since the College's Baseball Progarm did not afford him with the opportunities that were promised, he just up and left after his finals.

As time goes on, I assume he will share more info with me - but I am supporting his decision.

If he has/has not been promised a slot on the JC (2 year college) team, it’s IMPERATIVE to be in touch with a KNOWLEDGABLE JC athletic college counselor, before school starts. Together, they can layout goals, requirements, etc., etc.

While he’s still young, he may want to take a class in motivation, performance, bridge building, rather than burning. Sports can be an incredibly small small world. As in life, it’s all about grit, stick to it tiveness, etc. All the best.

fintail

Scotty proves a broken clock is right twice a day. Funny thing though, I have sincere doubts the firm runs in the black anyway, so our most favored trading "partner" (we take their junk, they take greenbacks and bid up certain real estate?) is losing. And just like in our system, birth determines a lot.

ruking1 said:

Realistically, it’s not only Scotty.😱

I believe Geely (mostly China state owned, I’m guessing) is now the new parent company Volvo owner. Quality, reliability, durability is @ best spotty. This is the best of both worlds, socialist owned by communists. 😜

fintail

College sports, just end the sham and have minor league/feeder teams give scholarships.

stickguy

well, baseball already has a full MiL system that HS kids can go straight into. Get paid like serfs, but at least it is something!

Football is the one that needs to support the college feeder teams. and the NBA.

kyfdx

It's funny though.. the high school draft picks (at least the higher round picks) get bigger signing bonuses than the college draft picks. Because they have the option of going to school, instead.

ruking1

Yes, the feeder systems are multiple & complex, we have been followers for years on the title nine side, NCAA for softball (Ivy’s), basketball. (Div 1)

NCAA.com

The bars are set very high. At times, almost everything seems capricious. So for example, two alumni of a certain Bay Area high school produced Barry Bonds, Tom Brady.

oldfarmer50

snakeweasel said:

oldfarmer50 said:

venture said:

Hooks like are in my Legacy to hold bags. Between them and the nets, things remain pretty much where I leave them.

Here’s my custom bag holder:



I can arrange to have one shipped to any of my Edmunds buddies for half of that $395 MB price.

Gee I can pick that up at Aldi's for practically nothing, well for actually nothing.

Yes, but it won’t have the Old Farmer official seal of approval certifying it free from rats, tics and homeless people living in it. It might even explode!

Risk your safety if you wish.

oldfarmer50

jipster said:

Here's a photo of my 2008 Mercury Mariner...since I figured out how to add photos.

I’d buy that Mercury as it looks in good shape. That basement floor gives me a cringe. Looks buckled from below by water pressure. Is that a mold line on the wall? Looks like there’s been water there since the repair or else water is still seeping through. Can’t tell from the trench picture but there had better be a drain line and some waterproofing under that mess. That’s also the problem with the retaining walls, they were built without any weep holes so water/ice pressure is pushing them over. They would have to be rebuilt with drain holes and gravel filled in the back.

Money pit.

imidazol97

imidazol97 said:

Here's the house in 2007 compared to 2014 in the recent street view photo.

Notice the retaining wall is firmly against the neighbor's wall on the left in the 2007 image.
The retaining wall portion nearer the street has not pulled away from the main part of the
driveway retainer in 2007.

I don't know if there was a 2019 picture posted of the shifting of the concrete.
If all that concrete is being pushed toward the street and to the right, what is happening
to the house and its basement walls...

2007



I finally got this to post in edited form.

Notice that in the upper left corner of the large picture on street view, the bottom line
says the date of the mapping. If you click on that line, with the clock at the left, you
can go back through the previous times that location was mapped.

On each of those mappings you can use the arrows on the picture to move to the previous
or later pics taken, letting you get various views of the walls.

My comment about the house is, without know how much bedrock is underneath
that hill and how much is plastic to slump in the future, I would buy that house
only if I owned a concrete company. It's got a lot of concrete and may take a lot to get and to
keep it in shape.

$50,000 and more for the garage driveway walls and the walkways and the porch.

henryn

You would need to have a structural engineer go over that house and prepare a report. Which would not be cheap, and probably wouldn't tell you anything that would qualify as good news. If the present owner were willing to pay for the report, then it couldn't hurt to consider it.

houdini2

henryn said:

You would need to have a structural engineer go over that house and prepare a report. Which would not be cheap, and probably wouldn't tell you anything that would qualify as good news. If the present owner were willing to pay for the report, then it couldn't hurt to consider it.

That would be a big expense for nothing as the engineer would recommend that you immediately tear the house down. This is not a fixer upper, it is a tearer downer.

ronsteve

driver100 said:

On the trunk organizing front, this is not my pic so I will leave the link here. Volvo really had it right, and I don't think their current generation cars have this. http://www.propertadverts.co.uk/img/VolvoV70/boot3.JPG

Scotty says don't buy a Volvo. They are made by a Chinese company and they are going to go all electric so it will be hard buying parts for them. And Scotty probably won't know how to fix them.

Mmmmkay... so should I have stolen the pic and posted it without the link?  

Seriously it's a bit of practicality that I miss. Who knows if Scotty is right about current Volvos? If I could have kept my old one as a non-DD I would.  It did well to 12 years and 192k. 

How many gears and how much tech will I be able to wrap my brain around next time I buy a car? 

jipster

oldfarmer50 said:

jipster said:

Here's a photo of my 2008 Mercury Mariner...since I figured out how to add photos.

I’d buy that Mercury as it looks in good shape. That basement floor gives me a cringe. Looks buckled from below by water pressure. Is that a mold line on the wall? Looks like there’s been water there since the repair or else water is still seeping through. Can’t tell from the trench picture but there had better be a drain line and some waterproofing under that mess. That’s also the problem with the retaining walls, they were built without any weep holes so water/ice pressure is pushing them over. They would have to be rebuilt with drain holes and gravel filled in the back.

Money pit.

I'll keep you in mind for the Mercury should I decide to sell. Unlike Jmonroe, I won't back out of the deal. ;-)

That isn't a mold line, I think it's just a paint line. There's about an inch of pea gravel from the new wall to the 6" s wide of new concrete of basement floor, next to the gravel.

I thought about dropping down in that trench to see what all was in it. But, thought Mrs Jip might hit me in the head with a rock, and bury me. The drain line wasn't in it. It was sitting unused about 6 feet up from the hole. I saw no signs of gravel. ...Contractors walked away I'm guessing.

News Alert! Sorry to make all of this anti-climatic, but daughter liked the house she looked at today and has a contract accepted already. (Owners countered her offer, she countered, they accepted)

Daughter said the owners of blue crumbly concrete house (my words) would not pay for a structural engineer, or pay anything towards the repair of the retaining walls. She said, "I loved that house". I am so thankful she did not buy it. She came very close to making an offer.

The new house is also older, though not as old as the prior house. Looks nice both inside and.out (photos). Haven't seen in person yet. Located in Newport a couple miles from the downtown area. More in the way of the stereotypical suburban neighborhood. A little more elbow room. Mostly flat land. Down payment forgivable loan assistance of $5k has really helped. I'm driving up Monday for the home inspection. Fingers crossed! :