patrick.net

astrid,

That stuff was da bomb! I thought I had seen over the top in the P.I but that it just plain insane. My wife's cousin worked for years in Ohio for an auto parts supplier. She worked hard and saved her money and built what I like to call a "P.I Peso Palace". Good for her, she earned it. But it looks ridiculous. There are bamboo huts, fishing boats and swaying palm trees and then there's her cousin's monstrosity in the middle of all this tranquility. Oh, and she has a "mini dish" bolted to the side so she won't miss TV for the two weeks every other year she visits. When sge was "fishing" for a compliment from my wife, Mrs. DinOR asked her why she didn't build a hospital instead. That kind of took the wind out her sails.

DinOR Says:

When sge was “fishing” for a compliment from my wife, Mrs. DinOR asked her why she didn’t build a hospital instead. That kind of took the wind out her sails.

That is f-ing hilarious! Sounds like a line from a Filipino version of Pride and Prejudice, or something.

The other pictures on the thread are also very nice, some of them illustrate what Chinese countryside used to look like. Decrepit, but quite picturesque.

"Mrs. DinOR asked her why she didn’t build a hospital instead"

Mrs. DinOR rocks!

NAR's desperate spin: Check.

http://tinyurl.com/fb9af

Some highlights:

But based on those projections for 2006, both the new home and existing home sectors would see their third-best year, following the booming markets of 2005 and 2004, the trade group said.

Wow. "Third best". Is that the NAR's way of saying "sequential decline"? :-)

"Economic growth and job creation are providing a favorable backdrop for the housing market, but rising interest rates have an offsetting effect," David Lereah, NAR's chief economist, said.

Oh shit. Damn the rising interest rate poking on the bubble. Poking -- it sounds just so violent. Sometimes I wish it were more like a souffle. Delicious.

But don't worry. Although your ARM will adjust from 4% to 7%, you can still handle the $900 increase in your monthly mortgage payment. After all, with commodity cost increases and the flatline salary and stock market, we'll get over it just fine.

Houses in the Bay Area will go up another 10% this year! (25% if not for the soft-landing).

nomadtoons2,

Going nuts? Oh, I'm there man! An old friend just moved to LV (with no intention of buying anytime soon) and he gives me a daily update on their weather. Bastard. I had no idea though that NASA had confirmed the possibility of the PDO! I'll have to check NOAA's ? website. As far as I knew it was the weather guessers at "U Dub" (Univ. of WA) that had made the observation. Years back I had a client that was a hydrologist? and he said that in effect LA had been turned from a desert into an oasis b/c of Mullholland and this may have changed weather patterns there.

newsfreak, (re: 2-story living rooms)

I know! you could put platforms at different levels, with stairs going up and down, like those 3D Star Trek chess sets.

(Would be intersting to see, though it'd be of more use for parties than for anything else.)

"Economic growth...are providing a favorable backdrop for the housing market"

BrightC, good point. What does direct economic growth even have to do with the housing market? I understand if economic growth can be linked to higher household income, but otherwise, there's no reason why economic growth would lead to higher property value. And you're absolutely right, what higher economic growth does directly contribute to is a rising commodities market.

DinOR,

How did you even close off your two floor living room? At least for McMansions, the 2 floor foyers and 2 floor living rooms are arranged in a manner that make it impossible to isolate from the rest of the house.

Thanks all!

I think Mrs. DinOR rocks too! It's just that we have seen so many of the "ex-patriots" return with an ugly display of wealth when what is really needed is at the very least a clinic. Many of their relatives are all hunky dory (healthwise) and then they just keel over b/c they have NEVER been seen by a medical professional of any sort in their lives. It's only after they are "critical" that these long term issues surface. If there was some sort of way to tell these people that they had diabetes or high blood pressure (or whatever) then at least the family could make some home health care preparations rather than pumping money into what SFWoman describes as the 1/3 of health care dollars being spent in the last 30 days of life. You know, basic preventative stuff.

I'm usually very antimate about keeping my beautiful 1996 toyota pizza delivery model truck nice and sqeaky clean. I haven't cleaned it since December because there hasn't been any point. It'lll take me all day to scrape all the accumulated grime off. NASA hasn't definantly confirmed the PDO, but all the evidence and info they gave matches the patterns from this and last year's unusual patterns. It pisses me off to talk to my folks. It was in the 60's most of the winter, and they actually had a drought. I will say that with all the rain, our yard looks amazing. I haven't been able to get grass to grow in the back since I've lived there. Now I can't keep up with it and my lawn mower gets clogged with the thatch. Amazing!

"McMansioneers"

I have a great idea. Let's sell 2 floor tall rock climbing walls into these 2 floor living rooms. Come on, it'll be a great conversation piece and I bet the Jones don't have it yet!

I kind of wonder how many deaths have been attributed to people accidentally falling from upstairs railings down to the first floow in some of the open air high ceiling models.

Robert, DinOR (and others),

RE: McMansions, what's pathetic is these structures are built so close together that if your neighbor farts, you can smell it. It would be that much more energy efficient to build side-by-side, town house style residences instead, but builders are merely satisfying these people's need to feel like they actually have a single, detached house.

astrid,

For us to be able to "close off" our vaulted living room was actually fairly easy. It had been added as an "after thought" some years before so it was already segregated except for a "bi-fold" door to the dining room which was simple enough to tighten up and then a door was installed toward the back bedroom entrance. The plants seemed to love it so just left well enough alone. This was not standard by any means so I'm not sure how one would make it work in today's McMansion.

Anyone driven through Sacremento lately? I was in Lincoln, right outside of Sac about 2 months ago.Looks like a weird alien planet. There are THOUSANDS of these hige houses, right next to each other, all the same style, size, color, and all. Even the gas stations, wal-mart, Mcdonalds and other shopping centers around it are styled in the same spanish villa tera cota roof style. It was really odd.
As for me, I want a log cabin. A real one. There are companies in NC that will sell you a kit to make your own.Apparently the resale value is bad. So what. That's what I like.

Wow. “Third best”. Is that the NAR’s way of saying “sequential decline”?

Wait until they say 57th best since 1950.

As for me, I want a log cabin. A real one. There are companies in NC that will sell you a kit to make your own.Apparently the resale value is bad. So what. That’s what I like.

I want a glide house from Michelle Kaufmann.

To me, the view is more important than the house. I must feel comfortable where I am located.

newsfreak,

Thank you and it just goes to show you that everything is "in bounds" here! One of the many reasons we sold our old place was that the vault created what the MANY roofers that came to bid described as a "dead valley" We always had problems with that area of the roof and I don't want to tell you how much extra we paid to correct that. It was a mess.

Nomadtoons2,

Depending on how real you want to get, log homes are fairly easy to build with wood cords and insulation. They'll last forever and the main problem is that most people don't know how to take care of them properly.

astrid, newsfreak, and others,

The vaulted living room climbing wall idea won't fly - those walls probably won't be able to hold up a normal rock climber's weight, much less that of a fat FB and their fat kids.

Peter P,

Have you looked into recycled shipping container structures? You can fit a lot of floor length windows into one and there's no termite problems.

skibum,

I was thinking of one of those climbing rocks like you'd find at REI...unless the poorly poured foundation won't support that either...

nomad,
Instead of a log cabin (a little to Abe Lincoln for my tastes), have you ever considered a post-and-beam home? These can be do-it-yourself setups too, and they are NICE. Probably along the lines of what I'd do if I could ever custom build a home someday. That, or complete modern w/ all the energy efficiency stuff built in. I'm torn between the two.

Actually, the coolest thing I saw recently was a company in NC buying up retired passenger jets, gutting the innards, engines, etc, and offering for around 250k to deliver it to your property. You have to do the interior, but can you imagine? Those planes have a lot of interior space, plus being made of alluminum, the maintence would be zilch. You could freak out the neighbors too.

re: last post,
- to
+ too

Post and Beam? Actually, a friend of ours makes those. They don't come cheap either. But they still have that rustic feel. A family friend is putting his father's house up for sale in TN. It is a vintage 1860's log cabin, 2 stories, a built on garage, and other collection of hodge-podge add ons that makes it look sort of charming and unusual for 130k. I'm so tempted. If anything, it would probably make a nice bed and breakfast.

nomad,
Ironic post given this thread topic (bubble flight plan)!!

Have you looked into recycled shipping container structures? You can fit a lot of floor length windows into one and there’s no termite problems.

Hmm... I rather have a wood or concrete home. The idea of living in a container feels uncomfortable to me.

nomadtoons2,

I believe they call it the world's 7th largest air force, Monthan-Davis Air Base just outside of Tucson, AZ. You can see abandoned airplanes from space! I think you could get one alot cheaper!

Actually, the coolest thing I saw recently was a company in NC buying up retired passenger jets, gutting the innards, engines, etc, and offering for around 250k to deliver it to your property.

With or without wings?

Peter P,

Yeah, uh huh, 57th best year since back in 1950! I hear ya! 2007 just around the corner.

Btw, what is a "glide house" and who is Michelle Kaufman?

The vaulted living room climbing wall idea won’t fly - those walls probably won’t be able to hold up a normal rock climber’s weight, much less that of a fat FB and their fat kids.

Too funny!

Btw, what is a “glide house” and who is Michelle Kaufman?

http://www.mkd-arc.com/whatwedo/glidehouse/index.cfm

Nomad,

Watch out, aliens probably single out redneck houses for abductions1

Peter P,

I do find her Breeze house to be even nicer. Too expensive though. The QuikHouse gives similar space with about half the cost.

I do find her Breeze house to be even nicer. Too expensive though. The QuikHouse gives similar space with about half the cost.

Somehow I am more attracted to the simplicity of the glide house. Need to find a lot with a good view though.

Peter P,

What I really love (and can't afford) are the LA study houses from the 1950s/60s. They have the most beautiful bones + amazing views.

One other way to approach the high density housing problem is to look at how the Japanese deal with it. They build beautiful interior courtyards to let in light.

What I really love (and can’t afford) are the LA study houses from the 1950s/60s. They have the most beautiful bones + amazing views.

Don't worry, make more money and buy two!

I formerly really liked Arts And Crafts style homes..until I moved out here. Every other home in the Bay Area is an arts and crafts home, and it seems that all of them have the same front doors, little alcoves, and interiors. I like the simple clapboard farmhouses I saw a lot of in my region. They are fairly straightforward and functional inside and out. I also like the old school car garages seperate from the house with the 2 large front doors. That's the style of garage we have at our rental, and it is nice to work in there on a sunny day with both doors swung open.
For some reason I also like the work of IM Pei, and his all-glass house from the 50's.