But seriously. Those housing prices! How do you do it?

[gmbteach]

Anastasia alphabet has built heaps of housing and using old hospital and the quarantine barracks for affordable housing. Not sure how to qualify for it though?

Can you really nor spell her surname?

I don’t even try and spell it, saying it is hard enough….

 

[Tigers!]

My daughter and her husband have finally had the final inspection for their house! They can move in from the week of 21/11. That is the week shwhmubo and I go to Africa for a nieces' wedding. . 14 months it has taken.

Despite the company going into voluntary administration in June it is going to be finished. They will be free of the bunch of clowns masquerading as a building company.
The company managed to restructure itself to begin again in August but at a slower pace.
They have lived with us since March. It had been an interesting 8 or so months. I told my daughter that her living with us at the start of her marriage was very common for my grandparents and earlier.
For those who are interested in the geography of other places it is located to the west of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. They are the red cross and we are the blue cross. About 40kms away.
When I was growing up in the late 60s, 70s when someone told us they lived in Lara we said "Poor you". Now my daughter is there.

 

[lostone]

My Dad and Mom lived with my Grandmother all of their lives until she died. 1940s-1960s

 

[gmbteach]

My daughter and her husband have finally had the final inspection for their house! They can move in from the week of 21/11. That is the week shwhmubo and I go to Africa for a nieces' wedding. . 14 months it has taken.

Despite the company going into voluntary administration in June it is going to be finished. They will be free of the bunch of clowns masquerading as a building company.
The company managed to restructure itself to begin again in August but at a slower pace.
They have lived with us since March. It had been an interesting 8 or so months. I told my daughter that her living with us at the start of her marriage was very common for my grandparents and earlier.
For those who are interested in the geography of other places it is located to the west of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. They are the red cross and we are the blue cross. About 40kms away.
When I was growing up in the late 60s, 70s when someone told us they lived in Lara we said "Poor you". Now my daughter is there.
View attachment 44602

Not far at all, what 25 mins up the M1?

 

[bilby]

Anastasia alphabet has built heaps of housing and using old hospital and the quarantine barracks for affordable housing. Not sure how to qualify for it though?

Can you really nor spell her surname?

I don’t even try and spell it, saying it is hard enough….

It's easy. Palaszczuk. Pronounced "Palashay".

Pala, Sydney Zoo, Canberra Zoo, United Kingdom.

 

[Tigers!]

My daughter and her husband have finally had the final inspection for their house! They can move in from the week of 21/11. That is the week shwhmubo and I go to Africa for a nieces' wedding. . 14 months it has taken.

Despite the company going into voluntary administration in June it is going to be finished. They will be free of the bunch of clowns masquerading as a building company.
The company managed to restructure itself to begin again in August but at a slower pace.
They have lived with us since March. It had been an interesting 8 or so months. I told my daughter that her living with us at the start of her marriage was very common for my grandparents and earlier.
For those who are interested in the geography of other places it is located to the west of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. They are the red cross and we are the blue cross. About 40kms away.
When I was growing up in the late 60s, 70s when someone told us they lived in Lara we said "Poor you". Now my daughter is there.
View attachment 44602

Not far at all, what 25 mins up the M1?

35 mins, 3 traffic lights, 7 roundabouts

 

[gmbteach]

My daughter and her husband have finally had the final inspection for their house! They can move in from the week of 21/11. That is the week shwhmubo and I go to Africa for a nieces' wedding. . 14 months it has taken.

Despite the company going into voluntary administration in June it is going to be finished. They will be free of the bunch of clowns masquerading as a building company.
The company managed to restructure itself to begin again in August but at a slower pace.
They have lived with us since March. It had been an interesting 8 or so months. I told my daughter that her living with us at the start of her marriage was very common for my grandparents and earlier.
For those who are interested in the geography of other places it is located to the west of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. They are the red cross and we are the blue cross. About 40kms away.
When I was growing up in the late 60s, 70s when someone told us they lived in Lara we said "Poor you". Now my daughter is there.
View attachment 44602

Not far at all, what 25 mins up the M1?

35 mins, 3 traffic lights, 7 roundabouts

My parents are 55 km away and its 35 minutes, 1 roundabout, 5 sets of lights and a couple of turns. Not too bad.

 

[southernhybrid]

I've noticed that prices are starting to come down a little bit in my area, apparently due to rising interest rates. The thing I find strange is that realtors are still putting homes on the market at prices that aren't realistic and then they start lowering the prices gradually. I once obtained a real estate license, when I was so burned out on nursing that I considered changing careers. While I never did that, I do remember being told in class, that the worst thing a realtor could do is to over price a home when they put it on the market. Either that has changed or the local realtors aren't that smart or they are still pricing homes at last year's prices. There is one house that has been up for sale for a couple of months on one of the most "desirable" streets in town. It was initially priced at 379 and it's now down to 319. IMO, it's not worth more than maybe 275 and that's only due to the location. It's a nice renovated home, but it has no garage or anything special. Nicer homes on my street have been sitting on the market for months for under 250K. The real estate market is like nothing I've ever seen before. Interest rates are normal, but because they were so unusually low for several years, it's had a weird impact on the market. And rents are so high, I don't know how people are managing to avoid being homeless.

 

[lostone]

The corporate home buyers drive up prices, too. I get mail every day or two from those corporate home buyers, wanting to buy my house. So often that it is as annoying as robocalls.

 

[gmbteach]

I've noticed that prices are starting to come down a little bit in my area, apparently due to rising interest rates. The thing I find strange is that realtors are still putting homes on the market at prices that aren't realistic and then they start lowering the prices gradually. I once obtained a real estate license, when I was so burned out on nursing that I considered changing careers. While I never did that, I do remember being told in class, that the worst thing a realtor could do is to over price a home when they put it on the market. Either that has changed or the local realtors aren't that smart or they are still pricing homes at last year's prices. There is one house that has been up for sale for a couple of months on one of the most "desirable" streets in town. It was initially priced at 379 and it's now down to 319. IMO, it's not worth more than maybe 275 and that's only due to the location. It's a nice renovated home, but it has no garage or anything special. Nicer homes on my street have been sitting on the market for months for under 250K. The real estate market is like nothing I've ever seen before. Interest rates are normal, but because they were so unusually low for several years, it's had a weird impact on the market. And rents are so high, I don't know how people are managing to avoid being homeless.

The house next to us is a bog-standard 3 bedroom single story bungalow type dwelling. It has two massive sheds, on around 850m of land, does have a pool and a 2 room outbuilding that doesn't have any plumbing. It sold for $550... way more than it is worth. Ours is a 2 story 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom dwelling on 725m. Similar properties are currently selling for around $650 - twice what we paid for it 10 years ago. But again, I don't think its worth that much - yet. Maybe when the renovations are done downstairs it will be.

 

[Toni]

My daughter and her husband have finally had the final inspection for their house! They can move in from the week of 21/11. That is the week shwhmubo and I go to Africa for a nieces' wedding. . 14 months it has taken.

Despite the company going into voluntary administration in June it is going to be finished. They will be free of the bunch of clowns masquerading as a building company.
The company managed to restructure itself to begin again in August but at a slower pace.
They have lived with us since March. It had been an interesting 8 or so months. I told my daughter that her living with us at the start of her marriage was very common for my grandparents and earlier.
For those who are interested in the geography of other places it is located to the west of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. They are the red cross and we are the blue cross. About 40kms away.
When I was growing up in the late 60s, 70s when someone told us they lived in Lara we said "Poor you". Now my daughter is there.
View attachment 44602

Congratulations!

 

[Toni]

I've noticed that prices are starting to come down a little bit in my area, apparently due to rising interest rates. The thing I find strange is that realtors are still putting homes on the market at prices that aren't realistic and then they start lowering the prices gradually. I once obtained a real estate license, when I was so burned out on nursing that I considered changing careers. While I never did that, I do remember being told in class, that the worst thing a realtor could do is to over price a home when they put it on the market. Either that has changed or the local realtors aren't that smart or they are still pricing homes at last year's prices. There is one house that has been up for sale for a couple of months on one of the most "desirable" streets in town. It was initially priced at 379 and it's now down to 319. IMO, it's not worth more than maybe 275 and that's only due to the location. It's a nice renovated home, but it has no garage or anything special. Nicer homes on my street have been sitting on the market for months for under 250K. The real estate market is like nothing I've ever seen before. Interest rates are normal, but because they were so unusually low for several years, it's had a weird impact on the market. And rents are so high, I don't know how people are managing to avoid being homeless.

The house next to us is a bog-standard 3 bedroom single story bungalow type dwelling. It has two massive sheds, on around 850m of land, does have a pool and a 2 room outbuilding that doesn't have any plumbing. It sold for $550... way more than it is worth. Ours is a 2 story 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom dwelling on 725m. Similar properties are currently selling for around $650 - twice what we paid for it 10 years ago. But again, I don't think its worth that much - yet. Maybe when the renovations are done downstairs it will be.

For our house, I think we might get between $300-320K for it, based on what the house next door just sold for. They have a slightly larger lot and nicer garage. We have a better layout and a much nicer kitchen. I'm not entirely certain how they have managed to NOT be required to have exterior staircase for the 3rd floor as that is code. If those bedrooms are not counted, we have more bedrooms/baths PLUS a basement that is accessible from inside the house. The house down the street had an offer but it got pulled, probably because either the lender balked at the price or the buyer didn't qualify. It's a nice property, large lot, but the house has not been updated in decades. DECADES worth of old carpet.

But if our house were in a large metropolitan area, it would easily command at least twice that price. At least. Around here, more recently built modern houses that look exactly like the one two doors down are selling for a lot more than the nice, older homes that have been updated and restored and are in a walkable neighborhood.

 

[gmbteach]

I've noticed that prices are starting to come down a little bit in my area, apparently due to rising interest rates. The thing I find strange is that realtors are still putting homes on the market at prices that aren't realistic and then they start lowering the prices gradually. I once obtained a real estate license, when I was so burned out on nursing that I considered changing careers. While I never did that, I do remember being told in class, that the worst thing a realtor could do is to over price a home when they put it on the market. Either that has changed or the local realtors aren't that smart or they are still pricing homes at last year's prices. There is one house that has been up for sale for a couple of months on one of the most "desirable" streets in town. It was initially priced at 379 and it's now down to 319. IMO, it's not worth more than maybe 275 and that's only due to the location. It's a nice renovated home, but it has no garage or anything special. Nicer homes on my street have been sitting on the market for months for under 250K. The real estate market is like nothing I've ever seen before. Interest rates are normal, but because they were so unusually low for several years, it's had a weird impact on the market. And rents are so high, I don't know how people are managing to avoid being homeless.

The house next to us is a bog-standard 3 bedroom single story bungalow type dwelling. It has two massive sheds, on around 850m of land, does have a pool and a 2 room outbuilding that doesn't have any plumbing. It sold for $550... way more than it is worth. Ours is a 2 story 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom dwelling on 725m. Similar properties are currently selling for around $650 - twice what we paid for it 10 years ago. But again, I don't think its worth that much - yet. Maybe when the renovations are done downstairs it will be.

For our house, I think we might get between $300-320K for it, based on what the house next door just sold for. They have a slightly larger lot and nicer garage. We have a better layout and a much nicer kitchen. I'm not entirely certain how they have managed to NOT be required to have exterior staircase for the 3rd floor as that is code. If those bedrooms are not counted, we have more bedrooms/baths PLUS a basement that is accessible from inside the house. The house down the street had an offer but it got pulled, probably because either the lender balked at the price or the buyer didn't qualify. It's a nice property, large lot, but the house has not been updated in decades. DECADES worth of old carpet.

But if our house were in a large metropolitan area, it would easily command at least twice that price. At least. Around here, more recently built modern houses that look exactly like the one two doors down are selling for a lot more than the nice, older homes that have been updated and restored and are in a walkable neighborhood.

If our house was 5km towards the CBD and in Brisbane city rather then Logan, our house would be twice the value again!

 

[Tharmas]

Our house is on the older side, at least for this city, which specializes in tearing down structures that are the least bit dated. It was constructed in 1940 to be exact. It’s in a historical conservation district, or “overlay” they call it, which means you can still do any remodeling you want on the interior, and even add on, but the street view must remain original. Sometimes that creates problems, like when we wanted to replace the front steps leading up to the porch, it took three months and a public hearing to get permission, then one day to do the work.

The house has a whimsical design, both interior and exterior, and we discovered it was designed by a local architect who was well-known in the thirties through the fifties, designed many of our local treasures, and whose houses are in great demand today. All told, our initial investment has increased to at least five times what we paid. After thirty years, that’s about the equivalent to what a good mutual fund would have produced had we invested the money thusly.

 

[Elixir]

My house is worth less than it cost to build. In fact it might have negative value, though the tax assessor begs to differ.
The foundation design was wrong for the alluvial plain it sits in and it has moved several inches over its 27 year lifespan. We spent an extra 60k on piering to stabilize it, and it is hardly moving any more. But there are still sticky windows and doors, and some floors out of level.
That said, the land it sits on is … unique. When we bought it, it was like an extension of a multi-thousand acre historical ranch, but part of the ranch sold off and has been developed. That leaves our 15 acres and 700’ of river frontage as the last virgin stretch of river before development. Last year a developer offered 7 figures for it, defective house and all. I turned him down because it’s too much brain damage to find anything functionally equivalent anywhere near here. My animals like it here. But some day they’ll be gone and I will hopefully still be around. The land will be our fallback when we run out of money. The 1m offer is more than 10x what we paid for it, and despite lack of comps I think it’s worth that and maybe more.
We’re not rich or smart with money but we are - or at least I am - outlandishly lucky, all else considered. If that luck holds we won’t be living hand-to-mouth like we were in the 80s, ever again. But it’s sad that the house - which I love - is such a wreck.

 

[Toni]

My house is worth less than it cost to build. In fact it might have negative value, though the tax assessor begs to differ.
The foundation design was wrong for the alluvial plain it sits in and it has moved several inches over its 27 year lifespan. We spent an extra 60k on piering to stabilize it, and it is hardly moving any more. But there are still sticky windows and doors, and some floors out of level.
That said, the land it sits on is … unique. When we bought it, it was like an extension of a multi-thousand acre historical ranch, but part of the ranch sold off and has been developed. That leaves our 15 acres and 700’ of river frontage as the last virgin stretch of river before development. Last year a developer offered 7 figures for it, defective house and all. I turned him down because it’s too much brain damage to find anything functionally equivalent anywhere near here. My animals like it here. But some day they’ll be gone and I will hopefully still be around. The land will be our fallback when we run out of money. The 1m offer is more than 10x what we paid for it, and despite lack of comps I think it’s worth that and maybe more.
We’re not rich or smart with money but we are - or at least I am - outlandishly lucky, all else considered. If that luck holds we won’t be living hand-to-mouth like we were in the 80s, ever again. But it’s sad that the house - which I love - is such a wreck.

I’d guess that the $1M was a low ball offer—very low ball.

 

[southernhybrid]

We have lost so much money on homes in the past that I was surprised when our current home finally began to increase in value. So, here's my little house story. When I was dating Mr. Sohy, he made the mistake of buying a cute little house out in the boonies, about 20 miles from Greenville, SC, for about 45K. I knew it was a very bad idea because I'm pretty good when it comes to choosing real estate, but I didn't feel since like it was my place to tell him that, so. he bought the house. WE moved in together and I got my favorite job, just a ten minute drive away. He got pissed off a this boss one day and got fired. I didn't want to move but I felt sorry for him, so when he found a job in Raleigh, I agree to move. The house sat on the market for almost 2 years and finally sold for 39K.

Next....we decided to buy a condo in Raleigh because interest rates were in the teens and that's all we could afford. We found a nice condo for 65K and lived there with the son for about 5 or 6 years. Then, Mr. Sohy begged me to move again. Since I always wanted to live near the water, I agreed. It took several years to sell the condo and we rented it out while waiting for it to sell. I don't remember what we got for it, but it was less than 65K. It might have been around 50K, but at least we had never put much money into fixing it up.

Next....We lived in Destin for about 2 and half years in a very cute little house about half a mile from the Gulf of Mexico. I loved living there, but I hated working with a bunch of total bitches, when I was the QA supervisor and later the nursing supervisor in a home health agency. I hated being supervisor, but was forced to take the position. I've worked with nurses where we all got along well, but it's very common for the opposite to be the case. But, I digress. Mr. Sohy had a great job with a long commute, but he didn't like his boss, so once again he convinced me to move. That was a huge mistake. But, we actually made about 20K on the house that I picked out.

Next....another mistake. He went to work for a total asshole, who he had known for a long time, but this time the guy owned the company and he was horrible to work for. Sprawl was crazy in the Atlanta metro area during the early 90s, and I wanted to back out of buying a new house, but I couldn't convince Mr. Sohy. I knew there were areas closer to the city that would be better buys. Mr. Sohy immediately started looking for a new job within weeks or months after starting the new one, and it took two years to find one. That time, I couldn't wait to move, but the house was on the market for a long time and he had a horrific 75 mile commute. We finally found an honest investor, after being ripped off by one who was arrested for creating a Ponzi scheme, who agreed to rent out our house in exchange for selling it to him for what we owed on it. It took about two more years to sell the house, but at least the rent we got, more than covered the mortgage. Meanwhile, we bought our current house and I fell in love with my small city, as I hated living North of Atlanta in a congested, transient mess. Plus, after working with another set of religious nuts in North Atlanta, who gave me a hard time, I asked for a transfer. I liked the new office but the commute was hell. I worked part time for the rest of my working life, partly in home health and partly as the only nurse in a small long term care community.

For years, our current home didn't increase in value, but we only paid 125K for it. It's a brick ranch built in the 60s with almost an acre and a large swimming pool and drive under basement garage. We've been here for about 25 years and about a year ago, the house was finally worth about 300K or so. But, we've spent over 50K having the primary bathroom and kitchen remodeled among other things. The house is about 2000 sq. ft, more than we need. Inspire of that, I love this house and it will be hard to leave it behind. It's a beautiful design, imo, with a circular drive out front, great landscaping and another drive that leads to the basement. It's just getting to be more than I care to manage.

We also had a small vacation condo across the street from the Gulf, which sold in two days for twice what we paid for it. We had lots of fun there for about 18 years, but due to the beach becoming filled with high rise condos and big box stores, we decided it was time to move on. To be honest, although I certainly don't want to live in Florida any longer, I'd be happy to have a tiny home with no clutter that is easy to clean.

Eventually, if we live long enough, we will move to Indy to be near the son. I look at condos online all the time. They are very affordable but at least twice the price they were a few years ago. I blame myself for not buying one about 5 years ago, after we sold the beach condo. If I wasn't so afraid to collect real estate, I could have made a small fortune by buying up condos in Atlanta during the Great Recession, when prices were insanely low, but I missed the chance, mostly because while I've always been a real estate nut, I hated the idea of having to deal with more than two pieces of real estate. I've been tempted to buy a nice condo near my son for about 110 that I saw online, but I'm not quite ready to do it. I think it got sold or was rented out recently. We have enough money to live comfortably, assuming neither of us ever need long term care, the greatest fear of most older adults.

I forgot to add that my ex and I had bought two small homes that we ended up selling for what we paid for them, but we only had each one for a year or two.

So, the moral of my story is that you can lose or gain money on real estate depending on where it is and the economy at the time you try and sell it.

My parents made their wealth from real estate. But, they lived in NJ, very close to New York City, where prices and taxes have always been insane.

 

[Toni]

Our house is on the older side, at least for this city, which specializes in tearing down structures that are the least bit dated. It was constructed in 1940 to be exact. It’s in a historical conservation district, or “overlay” they call it, which means you can still do any remodeling you want on the interior, and even add on, but the street view must remain original. Sometimes that creates problems, like when we wanted to replace the front steps leading up to the porch, it took three months and a public hearing to get permission, then one day to do the work.

The house has a whimsical design, both interior and exterior, and we discovered it was designed by a local architect who was well-known in the thirties through the fifties, designed many of our local treasures, and whose houses are in great demand today. All told, our initial investment has increased to at least five times what we paid. After thirty years, that’s about the equivalent to what a good mutual fund would have produced had we invested the money thusly.

View attachment 44614

It’s a cool house. Ours is a Victorian, sitting in a neighborhood that is almost all Victorians. Unfortunately for us, that part of town is considered ‘old’ not ‘cool,’ even though the homes in our neighborhood are much better built compared with the newer construction out in the ‘burbs. Example: More than 20 years ago, there was a terrific wind storm, with wind speeds of >80mph ( no rotation so not a tornado) that felled thousands of trees—including a huge 6 ton tree that fell on our house. The tree broke the ridge beam of our roof and cracked a little plaster, and left a hole about 3 ft in diameter to be repaired when they re-roofed it. That’s it. A newer built house would have been cleaved in half, down to the ground. I am still amazed at how little damage was actually done to the structure of our house.

 

[Elixir]

My house is worth less than it cost to build. In fact it might have negative value, though the tax assessor begs to differ.
The foundation design was wrong for the alluvial plain it sits in and it has moved several inches over its 27 year lifespan. We spent an extra 60k on piering to stabilize it, and it is hardly moving any more. But there are still sticky windows and doors, and some floors out of level.
That said, the land it sits on is … unique. When we bought it, it was like an extension of a multi-thousand acre historical ranch, but part of the ranch sold off and has been developed. That leaves our 15 acres and 700’ of river frontage as the last virgin stretch of river before development. Last year a developer offered 7 figures for it, defective house and all. I turned him down because it’s too much brain damage to find anything functionally equivalent anywhere near here. My animals like it here. But some day they’ll be gone and I will hopefully still be around. The land will be our fallback when we run out of money. The 1m offer is more than 10x what we paid for it, and despite lack of comps I think it’s worth that and maybe more.
We’re not rich or smart with money but we are - or at least I am - outlandishly lucky, all else considered. If that luck holds we won’t be living hand-to-mouth like we were in the 80s, ever again. But it’s sad that the house - which I love - is such a wreck.

I’d guess that the $1M was a low ball offer—very low ball.

I don’t know, and really don’t want to know right now. I just hope it’s still worth a lot when the time comes.

the moral of my story is that you can lose or gain money on real estate depending on where it is and the economy at the time you try and sell it.

My first RE venture began when I was 18, and managed to scrape together a few thousand. I think the down payment was 4k, and the nice old lady who owned it financed the rest, which was about 10k.
It was in a canyon west of Boulder, and had 3 ramshackle “dwellings” on less than 3 acres. About 25 years and a lot of labor plus negotiations with Boulder County later, it sold for more than 20x what I had paid. That and a couple of quick flips let us buy this current property, build a bridge over the river, run about a half mile of underground electrical and build the house.
That left us pretty broke, so it was very lucky to be enlisted as a partner in a startup in 2007 after leaving radio, which had been barely feeding us for almost 8 years. I did acquire a cheap property a half hour away, which was paid off with rental income. We sold it last year at a decent profit, which we are now living on along with the proceeds from selling the “startup” in 2018. I have never lost money on any real estate transaction

Probably should have tried to hang on to my share of the Company anyway - I think it’s between 20 and 25m in sales today …
No complaints though.

 

[southernhybrid]

One of our problems with real estate is that we moved too many times, so we didn't give our properties enough time to increase in value or we moved when the market was down. That is all on Mr. Sohy who was always looking for the perfect job. While I always had veto power over a move, I always gave in as I felt sorry for him. He finally found his favorite job, but the plant were he worked as a manufacturing engineer closed down about 8 years after he started working there. There are very few perfect jobs, but I found a part time job that I really enjoyed. There was no "icky" nursing involved, just a lot of assessments, documentation, reviews of medications, a little bit of giving iservices to the staff etc. The people who owned the place were mean to their employees, which is why I stayed as a contractor, even though it meant I had to pay my entire SS tax. It was worth it for my mental health. As long as I did all of the Medicaid requirements and got good reviews from the state, they left me alone. I worked the days I wanted. I dressed in jeans. I was my own boss, and it was the type of nursing that I enjoyed. Plus, my patients loved me, shared all kinds of secrets with me and appreciated what I did for them. I miss that aspect of work, but I don't miss working.

I love mid century modern styles. My house isn't quite that, but it does have some elements of it, like large rooms, and lots of windows. Plus, while almost all of the homes on my street are brick, my house is different from the rest.

My two parrots live in the large, all glass sunroom during the day. We just had our favorite workers patch up the woodwork they had chewed up. The birds are older now, so when they are out of their huge cages, one sits on top of her cage and the other one sits on a stand and looks out the windows or laughs and makes silly noises. They seem happy and I'm hoping I will at least be able to care for the little cockatoo until she dies. She's 32, with a life expectancy of 30 to 40. I've had her since she was 3 months old. The other parrot was a rescue. We probably shouldn't have taken her in, but she wan't being properly cared for, so she's better off with us, even if she hates me. I know how to handle her and I know how to get her to say silly things. She's just a biter, so I have to be careful. Sorry for derailing, but real estate is related to life style and this house is perfect for pet birds. In fact, the previous owner also had a pet parrot who lived in the sunroom. My dogs love sitting in the formal living room, so they can look out the windows when we are out, and watch for us to get home.

I think my little city is suffering from Atlanta sprawl. It's grown a lot over the years and the traffic can be congested, especially downtown. Atlanta became too expensive, so people started moving further away. The traffic heading to ATL is a nightmare, which is why we haven't been there in about 5 years.