Earthquake bolting and foundation repair: $3,000
Initial yardwork, to clear out the weeds that consumed our house: $250
Electrical work, to install an outlet for our dryer; also, to fix our phone lines and correct a non-functioning wall outlet: $667
Plumbers, to hook the vent on our water heater, snake out the pipes* and other misc.: Waiting for the invoice. But it ain't gonna be cheap.
Fence, to be installed around house: Probably in the $2,000 range
Kitchen cabinets: A little over $1,000
Odds and ends: More than $1,000
Owning a new home: No. I'm not gonna say "priceless." Oh, there's a price tag all right. And it keeps growing. Welcome to the craziness of a seller's market, where you buy a house knowing full well it needs repairs -- because the seller knows full well that he has all the leverage. I've heard from quite a few repairmen: "Didn't you have an inspection done?" Why, yes I did. "And they didn't catch this problem?" Well, they did... but the owner couldn't have cared less. You want the house? Dance, monkey, dance!
I know, this is what they mean by "house poor." But it doesn't help when I think about how the 2004 price tag for our house would have scored us a home two or three times its size in 2000. (And so concludes Mike's venting of the day!)
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