NFR How's the housing market where you live?

Non-fishing related
I've been back to the same house twice for plumbing leaks from a remodel job done by someone 8 years ago. The second time the plumber came out he started talking about UV exposure to his pex fittings because they were discolored. Total BS. The homeowner had some unused fittings in a drawer from the same time period and they are the same color!

First thing I do when I have to mess around with plumbing that involves shutting off the water under the sink is install new shutoffs under the sink I'm working on. That way I can sleep at night trouble free.

When I give someone a price and they come back with "so and so says he'll do it for less" I tell 'em to hire him and leave.
Drywall mudding is an art. I can do patches but there is no way I'll do an entire room anymore. The hardest part of doing patches is trying to match the texture of the existing wall that may have 7 or 8 coats of paint on it. And you don't really know if you succeeded until it's painted.
Pro tip: always use primer or the new paint will flash even if it comes from the same bucket as the old paint. Best to paint corner to corner if you can.

I get all of my work from referrals. Being mostly retired I have to pass on quite a bit or ask them if they'll wait until my work season which is November through February and maybe a couple of quickies in the summer. I'm surprised by how many folks will wait on me. The trade off is that it gives them plenty of time to get everything figured out, ordered and delivered. Especially in these supply problem times. One guy I know is having to drywall a new spec home without having the windows installed because he just can't get them. 6 mil plastic in all the holes and moving on as best he can.

Crazy out there! Maybe things will be better come November...
 
Worked as a construction superintendent/project manager in commercial construction for many years, had a dry wall taper show up on a job one day dressed to the nines, thought he was the owner the dry wall company, nice ironed shirt, designer jeans, nice shoes, when he started getting set up, I thought this will be fun, most subs in commercial construction ( union ) know what there doing, usually have been through an apprenticeship in what ever trade they are in, I have watched a lot of people do there work, it was my job, usually you can tell how good someone is, at what they do, is how easy they make it look. Steve hit the job a little bit early, and by the time starting time began, not a minute sooner, or later, he was in constant movement, and every succeeding movement built upon the last, he could tape and lay mud, faster than two or three other tapers could easily, and it was flawless, his smooth wall was unmatched, and if there was a flaw I could not see it, it was just beautiful work, no talk except at break time, or lunch, he was all in, total concentration till quitting time, and when he walked at the end of the day, there was no mud on the floor, or splatters here and there, it always looked perfect, and Steve looked just like he walked in that morning, clean shirt, clean pants, clean shoes, not a drop of mud on him, it was like a magic show with Steve, there are some craftsman that are so good at what they do… they make it look easy… learned a lot from Steve, just watching his work, he was on every job I had there after, till I left that field.

It is unfortunate that everything these days is a production line mentality clusterfuck, and not craftsmanship and art.
 
WW is correct,It’s “tape and texture” and it is a skill best left to professionals. I served a drywall apprenticeship before becoming an ironworker; when I built my house I let my friend who was a drywall contractor tape and texture. Not a job for the handyman if you want good results.
 
_WW_ said:
I've been back to the same house twice for plumbing leaks from a remodel job done by someone 8 years ago. The second time the plumber came out he started talking about UV exposure to his pex fittings because they were discolored. Total BS. The homeowner had some unused fittings in a drawer from the same time period and they are the same color!

First thing I do when I have to mess around with plumbing that involves shutting off the water under the sink is install new shutoffs under the sink I'm working on. That way I can sleep at night trouble free.

When I give someone a price and they come back with "so and so says he'll do it for less" I tell 'em to hire him and leave.
Drywall mudding is an art. I can do patches but there is no way I'll do an entire room anymore. The hardest part of doing patches is trying to match the texture of the existing wall that may have 7 or 8 coats of paint on it. And you don't really know if you succeeded until it's painted.
Pro tip: always use primer or the new paint will flash even if it comes from the same bucket as the old paint. Best to paint corner to corner if you can.

I get all of my work from referrals. Being mostly retired I have to pass on quite a bit or ask them if they'll wait until my work season which is November through February and maybe a couple of quickies in the summer. I'm surprised by how many folks will wait on me. The trade off is that it gives them plenty of time to get everything figured out, ordered and delivered. Especially in these supply problem times. One guy I know is having to drywall a new spec home without having the windows installed because he just can't get them. 6 mil plastic in all the holes and moving on as best he can.

Crazy out there! Maybe things will be better come November...
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Most of the work I've had done has been by contractor's that were referred by friends, coworkers or family. That's how I've acquired the services of electrical, plumbing, and HVAC contractors...the same family owned outfits I've used for many years. They're not cheap, but I know I'll get a very decent job done by professionals that know what they're doing. The kind of contractors that inspectors come in, look at the permit to see who did the work, and state that they know the job was done right.

I did, however, have a roofing job done by a prominent local roofing contractor that I became aware of through trusted excellent referrals. I hadn't let the 30 year old three-tab deteriorate to the point there were any problems, so I was fine waiting a few months for them to start. I've found that a contractor who can start on a job immediately is most likely not very good...especially when home construction is booming.

I went with today's much superior architectural shingles, and premium underlayment. It was definitely not a low-end bid, nor did I expect it to be.

They did a superb job, including fascia replacement with Hardie board and new gutters. Complicated roof, with many ridges and valleys. Lots of shrubbery around the perimeter of the house, and they shielded every bit of it with tarps...no damage. So we were very happy. Wonderful crew.

Since they did an excellent job I had no problem providing references to acquaintances....and that's where things went south.

With the extreme housing boom the contactor, apparently unable to pass up a chance to get in on all the action, started subbing out his work to small startup roofing contractors who didn't know their ass from a hole in the ground. Serious water damage and other assorted glaring deficiencies (like 1"+ gaps between the bottom of the drip edge and top of fascia) on some of the roofs that I provided references.

At this point, under the current extreme demand on contractor's (as well as their difficulties finding competent employees) I am very reluctant providing references for anyone, unless I know they're essentially 'one man operations' with perhaps a few helpers.
 
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Just watched an realtor ad that popped up in my newsfeed. She was showing a condo in the Miami area.
This caught my ear……”and low HOA fees at about $950.00 per month”….
OK, sign me up! ;)
SF
 
JayB said:
Is everyone earning vastly more money than the median income/wage stats would have you believe?
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It definitely doesn't seem like the median is representative at all. I've heard in Seattle that 1 out 5 people have a household income over $250k. If that's the case, there just might be a huge discrepancy in the mean and median, and only those 20% are actually buying real estate now.
 
ThatGuyRyRy said:
It definitely doesn't seem like the median is representative at all. I've heard in Seattle that 1 out 5 people have a household income over $250k. If that's the case, there just might be a huge discrepancy in the mean and median, and only those 20% are actually buying real estate now.
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Agree. The most affluent/motivated buyers on the top end set the price on the way up, and the most desperate/broke sellers at the bottom set the price on the way down. Especially when there's very little inventory available and the volume being bought and sold is thin. Folks in either category of these categories are well outside the median in either scenario.

Having said that, if we are in a situation where only the people in the top half of the top-decile of the wealth/income distribution can afford to buy a home without borrowing 3X their gross or less, it makes me wonder what everyone else is resorting to in order to buy in this region.

I love it here - but I told my wife that if we were in the market for a home now our choices would be to rent or leave the state. There are variety of benefits that can come with home ownership, such as being virtually the only inflation-hedge that's accessible to all but the highest net worth families - but there's a hard limit to the amount I'm willing to borrow to obtain them. I suspect that we're way outside the median in that regard.
 
For a couple Mil, you can get a house in Charleston that is leaning just a touch
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... but can you paint, or is there a 10 year permit process?
 
These two realtors have an office in my neighborhood and seem to list a lot of homes here. They send out a monthly newsletter which I always find interesting regards sales, listing and price per square foot.
SF

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