rbarz

Gulf & Basco solid mahogany 1/2 or 3/4 lite for $700

I would certainly follow and be interested in any of the updates...

I have been thinking about it... I think you should ignore your neighbor and figure a plan based on what you want. All you need for a permit to remodel is a drawing and it can pretty much be on a napkin. But if you really want to be safe, make a copy of your survey, draw the plan you want and take it to the Permit office, if they are OK with the idea, they will issue the permit and charge $35 to $75 depending on how much you estimate the project to cost. The worst they could say is no, and then you could pursue all those other options, like requesting variances... Cheers

I watched firemen pound on newly installed windows for 3 or 4 min with axes before they could break them... They are not easy to get through. If I was going to do anything, I would prefer the roll down metal screens, that way you can have security and hurricane protection.

Do you have your survey? It should have a set back line on it. When the builder built your house he probably got a variance to move the setback line. If the move was for the entire property then I would guess that you have a fighting chance that you can add on your room at the 1 foot line. I certainly would not go forward with some rigged plan because a neighbor said your set back is 3 feet.

I finally have an update... The title policy has no strict language limiting their liability to a certain value and the Texas Board of Insurance clearly states fraud is covered by the policy. The title company's higher-ups decided that their liability was going to be determined by an appraisal of the property valued at the time of loss. The appraisal came back at more than what I was requesting from the title company (which was the HUD price and fees, plus renovation costs) and the title company paid it! Even though it took way to long to get this done, I no longer hate Fidelity Now I can focus on the other house I was scammed on... Lawyer's Title sucks

As long as some sort of direction is online too, I would say DIY. There is probably at least an exploded view diagram... Also you could visit a scratch n' dent for some deeply discounted replacements... maybe the one you wanted for the remodel is within your budget at 50% off.

5050 Woodway has a large fee because it is all bills paid, including Electricity. The fee is something like $0.65 per SF. The buildings averaging $0.40 a SF do not include electricity

I sure wish Intexure and Strasser Ragni's websites worked. Intexure's site hasn't worked correctly for months... You can't view the photos of the projects. Intexure http://www.intexure.com/ Strasser Ragni http://www.strasserragni.com/

Threading pipe is really easy, and certain Home Depot/Lowes have the machine permanently setup... I just wish I could remember which ones?

There is no key at the property to enter the house and the showing instructions ask that no one try to enter the house since it is a "lot only" sale. Else, I would meet you over there to take a look.

Cost plus is more common.

Since when does polyvinyl cloride look better than wood? And $20 a linear foot only gets you the materials for Vinyl fencing, you then need to install it, so go ahead and tack on another $12 to $14 to that number. (Of course that beautiful redwood fence pictured above is probably $100/LF!)

It sold for $495k in May of '08 and there was really no "mod" left on the inside.

Is the area it is leaking from corroded?

I found it... It's by McIntyre/Robinowitz at 621 E. 8 1/2 St. Although I don't know what their website address is... google didn't turn up anything in the first 4 pages.

Who did the house that was on the most recent AIA home tour, located in the heights on ? 1/2 Street, on a huge lot? Anyone know?

Queens did a good job for me. There is a coupon on their website too.

The short answer is that is way too expensive. Who'd you call, Auschan? How many piers are they leveling? Are they installing any new piers? Are they replacing that beam you mention? Leveling pier and beam homes is really easy and almost a DIY job if you owned a zip level... Well maybe not that easy, but to give you an idea of the work involved your entire house could be leveled by four or five guys in one day (as long as there is plenty of craw space).

This is one of the greatest pictures I have ever seen posted on HAR.com I personally think the Realtor knows exactly what he's got, I place no one wants to buy, but he did a magnificent job with the description "Wonderful Bohemian retreat. 3-1.5-1 plus an outdoor shower. Ceiling fan. Imagine a forest in the middle of the city. Amazing privacy is provided by this urban forest. No wasted space. The outdoor shower provides hot-and-cold water secluded from neighbors by countless trees and foliage. Easy access to Southwest Freeway. Walk to Houston Baptist University across the street." You know its a tough one when one of the highlights of the entire house is "ceiling fan". Judging from the photos a more fitting description would be: "Nightmare. Caveat Emptor. Investor's Only."

The Associated Press reported that "The area around Beijing's massive Bird's Nest stadium will be turned into a shopping and entertainment complex in three to five years, a state news agency said Friday.Officially known as the Beijing National Stadium, the showpiece of the Beijing Olympics has fallen into disuse since the end of the games. Paint is already peeling in some areas, and the only visitors these days are tourists..."

Co-signers don't work for mortgages. The bank will take one guy with good credit before it takes two with bad or even one with good and one with bad credit. In other words, the bad credit person will just bring down the good credit person, so that only the good credit person will be on the mortgage. Hard money loans are pretty easy to get. You have to go through a special appraisal process with an appraiser like Brown's or the Hard Money company's guy coming out and looking at it themselves. They go through the house and determine how much it is to fix it and what the ARV (After Repaired Value) will be and they will lend you up to 70% of the ARV. That means that they will pay for the house and the fix up costs, but they normally charge around 4 or 5 points up front with 14 or 15% interest! I have even heard of hard money charging interest on your down payment that goes into the construction draw! The best construction loans are through banks with local branches, but you need sterling credit, a lot of cash flow, and plenty of liquidity. The banks are close to loaning money only to people who don't need it. The rates of 7% are incredible when compared to hard money and there are few if any upfront points.

In the last year

Only tax foreclosures have a right of redemption. 2 years if it was your homestead otherwise you only have 6 months. You don't have to pay for improvements, but you do have to pay interest on the tax amount paid.

Bank appraisers go inside all the time now. Unfortunately, "liveable" means almost perfect now (at least with the financing I usually use). There can be no mold, not even discoloration, no sheet rock missing, no evidence of termites, etc. etc. The biggest problem is that most foreclosing banks won't let you go in and fix anything before closing so that your bank will loan on it. There are a few construction loans that are pretty good deals out there as long as you avoid hard money loans