Your irrational pet peeves

[slappybrown]

i'll probably get around what i paid for my house.

the only problem is that we've spent $50-60 grand in improvements since we bought it. it's going to be a painful experience whenever we decide to sell.

We're making money on ours. It paid to buy new.

Wait, so you sold your house? Where did you wind up buying in PGH?

[Pavel Bure]

It's funny how the market in Pittsburgh is divided. Selling your house in Upper St. Clair, Aspinwall, North Huntingdon? No problem. White Oak, Dormont, Turtle Creek? Good luck! We usually get really good feedback from the few showings, and from the multiple realtors we interviewed. We've already dropped the price 3 times. It's now below what I bought it for in 2005.

We did look into firing our realtor. I wanted to find a top notch realtor in the area, so we brought a guy in who was top 5 in the area. Thinking our realtor's issues were with marketing, I grilled the guy on how he would market our house differently. He basically told me they hardly do anything to market the house. 95% of houses, he says, are sold by people looking online. I guess the realtors have their worth in all the contract paperwork. Seems like a crock to me. But I sure as heck am not going to do the paperwork myself, so I guess they are worth something.

I know when my wife and I were looking there were some very nice houses in White Oak but it was McKeesport school district. School district seems to dictate if people want to buy.

[PensFanInDC]

i'll probably get around what i paid for my house.

the only problem is that we've spent $50-60 grand in improvements since we bought it. it's going to be a painful experience whenever we decide to sell.

We're making money on ours. It paid to buy new.

Wait, so you sold your house? Where did you wind up buying in PGH?

No...didn't sell yet. It's not even on the market until next week. If my house doesn't sell for within 5-10K of asking price within 2 months then the market is in SERIOUS trouble. The longest a home in neighborhood was on the market before contract was 62 days and that home was overpriced. It went under contract 4 days after reducing the price to something reasonable. An identical home to mine, with no upgrades, was under contract for asking price in 6 days back in October.

Nobody can predict the future but all signs point to a quick sale. We've spent the last 2 weeks getting it ready to show and the home looks amazing. Nothing in the home is older than 3 years.

[slappybrown]

Yea, sounds like your house will be sold imediately.

So if you sell are you just getting an apt in PGH while you hunt?

[skullman80]

It's funny how the market in Pittsburgh is divided. Selling your house in Upper St. Clair, Aspinwall, North Huntingdon? No problem. White Oak, Dormont, Turtle Creek? Good luck! We usually get really good feedback from the few showings, and from the multiple realtors we interviewed. We've already dropped the price 3 times. It's now below what I bought it for in 2005.

We did look into firing our realtor. I wanted to find a top notch realtor in the area, so we brought a guy in who was top 5 in the area. Thinking our realtor's issues were with marketing, I grilled the guy on how he would market our house differently. He basically told me they hardly do anything to market the house. 95% of houses, he says, are sold by people looking online. I guess the realtors have their worth in all the contract paperwork. Seems like a crock to me. But I sure as heck am not going to do the paperwork myself, so I guess they are worth something.

My MIL's house is in Irwin/North Huntingdon. It's pretty up to date too. Just had a new roof recently, she had the whole interior of the house re-painted, put down new carpet in most of the rooms. New AC/Furnace within the last 10 years. She listed for comparable of other houses in her area, but no offers. Only drawbacks I can see is the driveway is a pretty big slope which is a pain in the winter and the backyard is really big... so if an older person moves in they might have a hard time maintaining it. Those are honestly the main reasons she is looking to move out. She is looking to downsize.

[dodint]

My house was on the market for three summers. I offered $3K below asking and they accepted that day. It's a nice house but the split level with the bedrooms being downstairs seems to throw people. If we can't sell it in a few years we plan to turn it over to a property management agency and let them rent it out. There were literally zero places to rent in this town that allowed dogs and have a fence, so we plan to fill that niche. Already put in a nice secure fence.

[eddysnake]

Pens game in Columbus in April is Easter weekend, total bummer for traveling out there this spring

[Jim]

I was going to come in here and yap about people that don't wipe the snow off of their cars and therefore drive around with the back window completely covered, the side windows covered and just the area that the wipers cover "cleared" on their windshield. Then I got closer to work and saw something more annoying. I saw 3 cyclists on my commute in today. ... Cars are sliding around because there is a layer of ice in many areas, and the MORONS are out and about. If only bicycle seats made you sterile so that there would not be any moron jrs running around as well...

[stopper40]

I was going to come in here and yap about people that don't wipe the snow off of their cars and therefore drive around with the back window completely covered, the side windows covered and just the area that the wipers cover "cleared" on their windshield. Then I got closer to work and saw something more annoying. I saw 3 cyclists on my commute in today. ... Cars are sliding around because there is a layer of ice in many areas, and the MORONS are out and about. If only bicycle seats made you sterile so that there would not be any moron jrs running around as well...

There's nothing irrational about this

[shmenguin]

On my road trip last weekend I saw a pickup truck swerving around up ahead. Cool, someone's texting and driving 70mph. I get beside him and look over, and yes - he's texting...WITH BOTH F***ING HANDS! Seriously dude, go run off the road and break both legs. And your thumbs.

[Idoit40fans]

Pens game in Columbus in April is Easter weekend, total bummer for traveling out there this spring

That actually makes it more appealing to me.

[eddysnake]

Pens game in Columbus in April is Easter weekend, total bummer for traveling out there this spring

That actually makes it more appealing to me.

less idiots? I know we had plans to go out and watch the game at a bar and just make a day/night out of it, but now we will just be doing that some random weekend. Columbus is a cool city.

[Idoit40fans]

Reason to be out of town during a family event.

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

I hate the phrase "color me _____". I can't really tell you why, because it's irrational


yes, this is in direct reference to PFiDC's post in the INTODD thread.

[Idoit40fans]

I blue myself.

[blackjack68]

Flexible

[dodint]

Having to pay for stuff you break. I dropped an elliptical onto the motor cover of my treadmill. $89.21 to replace it. Boo. Wonder what my renters insurance deductible is.

[mikey287]

[tifosi77]

"<sport> is better when <team> is good."

Yeah, if you are a bandwagon fan from back when that team was good. Otherwise, screw them.

There are some sports where that's legitimately the case. Formula One, for example, always gains TV viewers and fans (and with them, increased cash flow to the other teams) when Ferrari is winning. And the sport's overlords recognize that and pay Ferrari an annual honorarium to keep them motivated to stay in F1.

Of course, when they had a period of extended domination (five consecutive drivers championships and six consecutive constructors championships) those numbers started to wane dramatically.

[tifosi77]

95% of houses, he says, are sold by people looking online. I guess the realtors have their worth in all the contract paperwork. Seems like a crock to me. But I sure as heck am not going to do the paperwork myself, so I guess they are worth something.

That sounds totally believable.

There is no way in great green Hades I'd ever go into a home purchase without the guidance of a Realtor. Our guy's great; thirty years in the L.A. market (mostly in the South Bay), actually got us the first house we bought through a connection in his office (REO that was not listed on the MLS), trekked into the San Fernando Valley from Redondo Beach (~30 miles outside of his stomping grounds) to rep the purchase of our current house, and really did some yeoman's work steering us away from a couple of potential problem properties early in our search when he could have just as easily said, "Right, my job's done". It had to have been a hassle coming up to the SFV every weekend. So it was a little eye opening when we learned during the home inspection/walkthrough on the current house that he's a raving conspiracy theorist stockpiler whackjob that believed Hillary Clinton was going to sign a treaty with the UN to take our guns.

[Jim]

KDKA news this morning everyone was blue, even commercials. Apparently their RGB scale was way off.

[Mango Salsa]

The over the top bacon love fest. Seriously, its not that great, and it stopped being funny a long time ago

[PensFanInDC]

Liking bacon was funny? News to me.

What is funny is that last night I was reading this thread and had a feeling someone was going to post something anti-bacon. You did not disappoint.

[dodint]

I drew the line somewhere around bacon flavored toothpaste.

[44windmill]

Liking bacon was funny? News to me.

What is funny is that last night I was reading this thread and had a feeling someone was going to post something anti-bacon. You did not disappoint.

I know I'm speaking for Mango here, but it was to the point where people's obsession with bacon was bringing it to ludicrious levels. It had gone plaid. Jim Gaffigan does a bit on bacon in one of his comedy routines.

I like bacon, don't get me wrong, but it's not all that it's cracked up to be.