What is it? fireplace.

[Jeff Norwell]

Yes.. the Market is here is truly insane. Fordaholic is quite correct.
We live outside a small town that has tripled in size since 2004.The Population in 2004 was roughly 7800 ... last year the count was 29000.
Point in case.. a builder local here planned on 80 units.... Townhouses.... not big at all...the weekend they were to be released ...folks were sleeping in their cars from the Thursday before the Saturday opening.The builder was only going to release 45 units for the first phase.Only 1 hour after the opening ALL 45 units were gone and people were flipping them for as much as $300,000 more than they cost(the basic model was about 3 hundred K.)
The builder at noon released another 20 units andante they were all gone by 3 pm that same day.
These are TOWNHOUSES!!!!!!

The average single family home in the little town next to us goes for $550,000......It's truly ridiculous.
The average single detached home in Toronto is now 1.2 mill to 1,5 mill.

When we lived in Toronto--20 years ago..A decent 2 bedroom apt was $1600 plus plus a month.Now its about $2500 a month,

I have no idea have people survive.

Yes... you can sell and make(what you think is mega bucks....) but you will never find a home you can afford...... Unless it's in Baffin Island.

[fordaholic]

     Jeff, before you make the move to the Island you better check on internet service, you might be out of business up there.  (  Email me if you still want to look at the tray again before it goes in the car. )

[Jeff Norwell]

     Jeff, before you make the move to the Island you better check on internet service, you might be out of business up there.  (  Email me if you still want to look at the tray again before it goes in the car. )

Ok Gary..I need to go see Don VERY soon......Or just call me,..I am working all weekend

[djfordmanjack]

It's terrible in Europe also. prices have doubled in 20 years. Latest trend is tearing down 100 yrs old Art Noveau houses. They are rock solid and well built brick buildings and beautiful historical. reason is because those buildings were  owned by wealthy people back then who could afford to have large properties. nowadays there will be 6 to 12 appartments per property, where once only a family of 3 generations lived. profit is the only thing they think of. those mansions can never be replaced again.
Who is tearing down solid 110 year old houses? talking about culture in the old world.... ....they could as well be scrapping '32 Ford roadsters to make tin cans out of them....

[Ford Blue blood]

Rich where are we (I use "we" because we all have been with you on this move from the beginning) with the house adventure.  Hard to get all excited by the prospect of a purchase only to have it be dashed by bad reports followed by a sense of relief of the near miss.

Keep the faith buddy, there is a match out there just waiting.  Have to believe the first one fell for a reason, just not apparent at this time!

[RICH MUISE]

We've already found one that may work. The  inside was very similar to the pic I posted of the fireplace, except the owners had horrible taste in Decor and painted all the inside brickwork, beams, and kitchen cabinets. You have to look past the colors. My wife asked what I thought after we were looking a while, and I told her I could make this house beautiful. She asked if I was up to it. 
The neighborhood setting isn't quite as good only because this particular house is on the very edge of the otherwise nice tract facing a commercial area. LOL.I guess somebody has to be on the edge. This new house is 300 sq ft bigger than the one I talked about, and has a big front yard with a circular drive and one of the biggest back yards we've seen. (great for our dogs, which will number 7 when my wife's cousin arrives this week.)  It's the same asking price as what we had negotiated on the house we gave up on. I'm not sure why, but it has a drive thru garage.
One thing we learned, if we make an offer on it, we'll have the inexpensive termite inspection done before spending the 400 on the full house inspection.

[fordaholic]

   Rich, I think this home may have your name on it. About that drive through garage. Time to dream a little. Maybe when the painting is done ask the family if they would mind if you used up part of the big back yard for your new workshop / mancave. Something like 30 x 40. Now the drive through garage will have a real purpose. Good luck on this one.    Gary

[RICH MUISE]

Well, As Fordaholic said, it looks like it is meant to be. We made an offer on it last night, and since it is owned by a properties company, no bs'ing around. within an hour our realtors had worked an agreement out verbally, got ok'd both sides with signatures from both. The big thing for us this time, being a properties company they have guaranteed they will fix anything that may be wrong with it, and will purchase a ($500 cost) home warranty. After our past two experiences, that's great. Their realtor told ours when we first contacted them this home was in great shape all around.
They are paying 100% of all the closing costs.
We made the offer before My wife's cousin (now living with us) saw it....which was only an hour later...she loved it.
The reason it was meant to be....this new home for my '57 was built in 1957!!!

[terry_208]

It looks nice but...where's the shop?
Congratulations.

[djfordmanjack]

It's beautiful!! and must have been a very fashionable place to own in 1957!
Is this a brick building ?

[RICH MUISE]

It looks nice but...where's the shop?
Congratulations.

The 2 car garage is my shop. Room for one in the back yard if I want one.

[RICH MUISE]

DJ.......the front area under the porch is a beautiful stone. I'm not sure if the wear patterns in the stone are natural or man made, but whatever it is I love the texture.(I walked off that porch last night and it's about 49.5 feet long.) Everything else is brick, except where they enclosed a covered patio in the back with siding. We're trying to decide on leaving the enclosure or opening it back up.......we all love sitting outside. It's gonna take me a while to make this house beautiful again.......I guess this is gonna be my next "restoring a '57 project". What's really weird about that is I told my wife I wanted to start checking (architectural) salvage yards for some really neat porch railings. We don't have any here, so Dallas, OKC,Denver....sound familiar??

[fordaholic]

Congratulations Rich! Patience is a virtue; I was always told. You just proved that. You won`t have to worry about termites tonite, instead you can dream about that future shop in the back.

[djfordmanjack]

Rich, I am a huge fan of 20th up to late mid century architecture (1900-1967). When I look at your new place it looks like a dream come true. They must have spent a fortune back then with the natural stone and brick construction. The rotary driveway is  too good to be true ( I can already picture the 57 parked in front of the porch). loving the old trees all around the property. are these oak ? Do you have oak trees in Texas ?
Judging from the shadows this pic must have been taken in fall and the side we see is probably facing west. so you have the morning sun coming in east on the enclosed part of the property and evening sun when you come home from work ( you don't anymore). Is that just me dreaming up a story or is it true ?
I think somebody gave a lot of thought to this home and it looks the part as well. love the attached 2 car garage. That would also be something unheard of in 1957 Europe.
congratulations. I have no idea how you are going to remodel it, but it's never a bad idea to get some vintage touch back in an old house.

[rmk57]

I'm a big fan ranchers, there easy to paint.