Have you ever eaten commercial Pemmican from a tiny gourmet cat food-sized can? It feeds a dozen people and tastes DISGUSTING.
On Sat, Jun 4, 2016 at 4:11 PM, Joel Cairo <buggeredbenzm...@gmail.com> wrote: > And sometimes a bit salty > > --JC > > On 6/4/16 1:40 PM, Andrew Strasfogel wrote: > > I wish I could narrate like you. Your prose is like pemmican - all > nutrition, no filler. > > This is meant to be a compliment, BTW. > > On Sat, Jun 4, 2016 at 11:18 AM, Joel Cairo via Mercedes < > <mercedes@okiebenz.com>mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: > >> When we bought our house in Melrose (outside of Boston) it was a complete >> wreck. The old Irish couple had 9 or 10 kids of their own and had kept >> 20some foster kids over the years. They were all pretty much losers. 4 or >> 5 of them were still living in the house with them, 18-31yo. The daughter, >> who was a real prize, lived in an upstairs back bedroom with a piece of >> plywood hinged at the top for a door, like a dog door. Ol Frank had warned >> us she was up there when we went to look at the house, "She's a f'n pig" >> was how he described her. Nice. (He was correct BTW) >> >> So anyway we buy the place, I knew what I was getting in to, would be a >> good fixer-upper, good price for the town and neighborhood. So we do the >> closing one afternoon, it is a stormy day, thunderstorms and raining hard. >> Frank tells us that one of the kids left some furniture on the front porch, >> will pick them up in a day or two. Fine. Frank and his prize wife (who >> could peel paint with her screeching) got a small apt nearby, out from >> under the kids finally after 35 years or whatever. >> >> So we get to the house, raining like hell. Walk onto the (closed-in) >> front porch, and there is a kid passed out on a couch. hmmmm. So I go >> over and kick the couch, trying to stir him up, no motion. Do that a >> couple more times, shake him by the shoulder, nothing. Holy shiite we are >> thinking the kid has ODed and is dead or something but he finally starts to >> stir, his eyes open and the pupils are blown, very clearly high as a kite. >> We keep trying to stir him, he finally sits up and looks around, kinda >> woozie and unstable, then manages to stand and stumble out into the storm >> and off down the street. OK, Frank left the youngest there, no place to >> go. Nice. >> >> We go inside and some of his crap is in there, sleeping bag and a few >> clothes and a candle, he had managed to climb into a window and was camping >> out. I put all of it on the porch, I guess they came and got it the next >> day or two. Never saw that kid, but Frank had owned the cab company in >> town for quite awhile until the kids ran it into the ground (and took a >> brand new cab to a lake in NH to go ice fishing, the cab crashed through >> the ice and sunk), but the oldest one, who was actually sorta decent, still >> drove a cab and he would take me to the airport occasionally and I would >> get stories about Frank and the fam from him which were always >> entertaining. He had no idea what had happened to the one left behind. >> >> --JC >> >> >> On 6/4/16 9:54 AM, Kaleb C. Striplin via Mercedes wrote: >> >>> The only thing I see that could have been a problem is letting the buyer >>> store their cars there. It can be a bad idea to let buyers move stuff in >>> before closing because in general you would be responsible for their items. >>> Most common thing is buyers will sometimes want to store furniture or >>> something in the garage before close. Probably not a problem most of the >>> time but could potential turn into one. >>> >>> Sent from my iPhone >>> >>> On Jun 3, 2016, at 11:08 PM, Craig via Mercedes < >>>> <mercedes@okiebenz.com>mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: >>>> >>>> On Fri, 3 Jun 2016 21:41:24 -0500 "Kaleb C. Striplin via Mercedes" >>>> <mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: >>>> >>>> Holy crap, what is the commission rate on listings there? Its usually >>>>> 6% here. >>>>> >>>> Commission rate here is 3%/3%. We had the house listed on Zillow for >>>> $364,500. >>>> >>>> The first agent who brought someone by started her presentation by >>>> saying, "You're not going to be happy about this." She ended up >>>> presenting an offer for $310,000 from some people who needed to move in >>>> quickly so they could get set up to foster children. The things she >>>> related they said just didn't make sense, so we hesitated. Then the >>>> husband of the couple who wanted to buy it contacted me directly. His >>>> contacts put us off even more. We finally told him we did not want to >>>> sell to him. >>>> >>>> The second couple who wanted to buy our house found it by the sign I had >>>> put out in front. They were a Chinese couple who came through the house >>>> three times with her parents, who spoke no English. The four of them >>>> walked through the house jabbering to each other in Chinese. One time, >>>> the husband asked me what was the lowest price I would take. I told him >>>> if they didn't use a real estate agent, I would require $330,000. If >>>> they >>>> used an agent, I would require $340,000. >>>> >>>> Their agent brought their offer over for $310,000, with a 3% commission, >>>> plus the gross receipts tax on top of that. We said no. >>>> >>>> The couple came over again, this time to present their sob story and >>>> plead with us to sell it to them for their price. The wife said she was >>>> a >>>> light sleeper and the forced-air heat system made too much noise, so >>>> they >>>> would have to change it to a hydronic system, which would cost more than >>>> $25,000. She really tried to put a guilt trip on us. Note, though, that >>>> the house is built on a slab. We again said, "NO!" >>>> >>>> A few months later, an older couple stopped by to inquire about the >>>> house. When I showed them around the house, the husband remarked how >>>> quiet the heating system was. They lived down the mesa about a mile from >>>> us and were scouting for their daughter and son-in-law. The son-in-law >>>> was possibly going to get a job offer from the Lab, thus needing to move >>>> from Texas, and they were scouting for them. The older couple were quite >>>> taken with the house and the remodel I had done and said they would tell >>>> their son-in-law and daughter about it. >>>> >>>> A while later I got a call from the daughter. She said her husband had >>>> gotten the job offer and that the Lab wanted him there quickly, so he >>>> was >>>> going to come look at houses the next weekend. >>>> >>>> He was brought to our house by his mother-in-law. As I was showing him >>>> around the house and the 0.6 acre yard, the mother-in-law sat at the >>>> dining room table and talked with Shirley. She told Shirley her >>>> son-in-law had another house to look at, but that she was going to push >>>> ours. >>>> >>>> A couple of days later, I got a call from the son-in-law. He wanted to >>>> come over and talk with me about making an offer. When he came over, we >>>> discussed whether he should use an agent, since it was his first time >>>> buying a house. I told him we had done it many times and that the title >>>> company was the center of the transaction. He agreed to not use an agent >>>> and offered $335,550. Shirley and I accepted. >>>> >>>> The next day, he and I met at the lobby of the local bank and walked >>>> into >>>> the title company's office. Motioning to him, I told the lady there, >>>> "This young man wants to buy my house." She responded, "And you're here >>>> because you don't know what to do ..." I replied, "Yes, it's not like we >>>> do this every day." She said, "Well, we do do this every day and we will >>>> help you through the process." >>>> >>>> She was true to her word. She got us a contract form and, with her >>>> guidance, he and I worked through each item of it, haggling about who >>>> would pay what and coming to agreement. >>>> >>>> It was such a pleasure working directly with the buyer! At one point in >>>> the process, he remarked that it was a pleasure working directly with >>>> the >>>> seller. For example, he and his family arrived in Los Alamos about a >>>> week >>>> before closing (staying at her parent's house). He was having some cars >>>> shipped from Texas to Los Alamos and called up to ask if he could have >>>> them put out of the way at the back of our lot before closing. I said, >>>> "Sure, no problem." I found out they were not going to move into the >>>> house >>>> until two days after closing, so I asked him if we could stay until >>>> then. >>>> He said, "Sure, no problem." Can you imagine the difficulty of getting >>>> those things done with going through two agents? >>>> >>>> Anyway, that's how it went ... >>>> >>>> >>>> Craig >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> On 6/3/2016 9:37 PM, Craig via Mercedes wrote: >>>>>> On Fri, 3 Jun 2016 20:49:16 -0400 Dan Penoff via Mercedes >>>>>> <mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>> This is also why, for many years, we have often forgone the use of a >>>>>>> realtor and used a good real estate attorney and a home inspection >>>>>>> company, along with doing our due diligence. >>>>>>> >>>>>> We sold our house in Los Alamos without a realtor involved in the >>>>>> transaction and netted $25k more than selling to those buyers realtors >>>>>> brought by. >>>>>> >>>>> _______________________________________ >>>> http://www.okiebenz.com >>>> >>>> To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ >>>> >>>> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: >>>> http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com >>>> >>>> >>> _______________________________________ >>> http://www.okiebenz.com >>> >>> To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ >>> >>> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: >>> http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com >>> >>> >> -- >> --BB >> >> _______________________________________ >> http://www.okiebenz.com >> >> To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ >> >> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: >> http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com >> >> > > -- > --BB > > _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
