Obviously this is a future concern, but when they finally get to it –
There are plastic or vinyl fences that look just like wood but never need painting and can simply be hosed off. And there are also plastic or vinyl planters that can be hung.
So they can get the look without the maintenance.
Regarding the vinyl. One of our final tasks is to build a large deck off the french doors in the back of the house. They have a large back yard (full of high weeds) and an open canyon in the back. That is a big selling point in the neighborhood… open space. Currently the house is not taking advantage of this key feature. I am fighting hard for them to spend a little extra money right now and put down Trex/composite deck boards and a white vinyl railing because I can see that they are not the maintenance types.
Just like all the house hunting shows… I have a husband that keeps selecting industrial/contemporary items and a wife that wants the coastal cottage look. The whole house is going towards the coastal cottage look (he keeps getting overruled on the design selections!) but he wants to DIY a stainless cable railing on the deck. I gently point out that it is a contemporary look but if that is what he wants… So, to save money they are insisting that they are going to do the cable install themselves and we just need to build the base structure. I hope I can at least convince them to do Trex deck boards because I just do not see them out sealing and restaining the deck in a couple of y ears.
Flip #7
Late last night I received a short text from the listing agent. “Sorry I was really busy today. Sellers are still reviewing offers. They are overwhelmed right now”. I don’t know if the sellers are overwhelmed with the offers or overwhelmed in their personal lives right now (two sisters who inherited house).
Since the house has been completely vacant for over a year, I"m guessing they are not in a big hurry. They will probably take one of the high offers and see if they can make it through a home inspection. They will not make it through any kind of home inspection… the investor will come back asking for a huge credit (part of their standard operating plan). Then they will end up selling the house for about what the other offers were because they will figure ‘we are already in contract now, don’t want to start all over again’.
^^Don’t give up. Austin is a very hot market at the moment, DH’s co-worker found a house he really liked and knew it was fixer, which was fine with him. He put in his best offer, well over asking. He was beat out by an all cash offer. Turns out the all cash offer came back and wanted $30K off for ‘repairs’ and seller was offended and the co-worker was contacted and asked if he was still interested at his original offer. Looks like he’s going to get it and he’s very happy.
“Sorry I was really busy today.” Sounds like BS to me. Oh well. Nothing to be done but wait. And keep on searching!
You never know when someone can become “in a hurry” - when the tax bill comes or god knows what. Keep on looking, but who knows if the sellers will reject the repairs demand and come back to you.
Around here, the rail must be on the deck when the house is occupied. They would not be able to wait for safety reasons.
Sounds like a pretty lame agent, but you have the ability to keep looking to see if there’s anything better out there for your services.
“Around here, the rail must be on the deck when the house is occupied. They would not be able to wait for safety reasons.”
Only if it gets inspected, but I agree - for liability cya reasons, I would put it on ASAP.
The deck is less than 3ft from the ground. A permit is not required for decks less than 36" inches and, believe it or not, a railing is not required by code less than 30 or so off ground. Either way there is no permit or inspection involved
Deck is far away from edge of property/canyon
Texted agent that I would like a phone call to discuss status and strategy. He responded that he is meeting with them again today. I asked for phone call before meeting. Let’s see if he calls.
I don’t think the fence is awful. Its weathered look is reminiscent of driftwood, which is kind of “coastal!”
It does look ok in small pix on my phone. But, as my grandpa used to say, even a dilapidated outhouse looks charming in photos. 
I bet it is hideous IRL or CB would not have recommended painting or ripping it out.
This is something I’ve been curious about for ages. Why not just install flooring over entire kitchen? It’s not going to cost THAT much more, and would make future changes a lot easier.
Here is my logic. Flooring usually goes when the rest of the kitchen goes… Plus, if you have tongue and groove boards partially under a cabinet, when you need to remove one or two such damaged boards, it could be a pain.
What about white washing that fence? That might give it a nicer “driftwood” sort of look. I would still put planters on it…with colorful flowers.
Consolation… it is an excellent question and one I have gone back and forth on for 8 years.
Laying floor around cabinets:
Saves money on flooring, but labor gets a little harder to do cuts and corners around the cabinets
Allows cabinets to be adjusted higher or lower, depending on objective of owners (in this case… the owners wanted the cabinets higher so we were able to put in plywood to raise cabinets. But we will have to come up with some nifty trim techniques because the toe kick only comes in 4 1/2" height.
Most often… flooring is changed out before cabinets are replaced. Flooring can be easily pulled out and replaced if it is cut around cabinets. Pain in the butt to pull out and replace if it is running under the cabinets
Laying floor across entire kitchen before cabinets:
Higher flooring material cost
Easier to replace flooring if you are using cabinets on legs (such as IKEA)
Potential issue if there are leaks under sink or dishwasher… leaks onto plywood are OK, but leaks onto wood flooring or something like that could be sucked up to visible portions of the floor
One time I asked a bunch of contractor friends and they all had a different answer
I just loaded some more photos as we move along with our kitchen and flooring installation.
BTW… gorillas have walked all over the floors. Plus, today it was raining and we had to cut flooring inside the house - huge amount of dust all over the house.
These magical floors do not even look dirty!! If you get down at an angle you can see that they are filthy but they do not look dirty walking or standing in the area.
Flip #7
No phone call from the agent. He assured me, via text, that he would call me today before his meeting with the Sellers. It is now 5pm and I’m guessing he has already h ad meeting with SEllers or is in the middle of the meeting with Sellers. He is really getting low marks in my book. If the offer is too low and is not even close, just tell me and I will back off. He just keeps stringing me along.
Either way, my offer expired Monday 5pm so I’m not on the hook if Sellers do accept it sometime in the future. My biggest fear is making too many offers on different properties and getting two signed contracts that I could legally be on the hook for.
For some reason my agent is really excited about this property because of location and views and she wants me to all in. But, since the listing agent is not communicating with me in any way, I have no chance to have a discussion about possibly raising my offer or exploring strategies.
Another possibility going through my mind is that the Sellers told him they will not allow him to represent a buyer in the transaction (which is their right, but they are supposed to tell you when you sign the listing agreement) and he wants to try to keep stringing me along.
I only share all this so you can all learn that there are bad agents out there and so you can see the other side if you go to sell your house. Make sure that you emphasize to agents that you insist on seeing every single offer made. Some agents will down play perfectly good offers if they aren’t in their best interest.
I am rather surprised that this agent is not communicating. He came into the last project during the Broker’s Open and spent a lot of time talking to me. He wanted me to come look at some houses I might be interested in. He was chomping at the bit to be my Buyer’s agent in the area and he has called me several other times with potential properties… when I didn’t have any money to buy.
Honestly…I think the agent sounds like a jerk.
Our wood floors were installed in the whole house. Cabinets were placed on top. If we ever want to change the cabinet configuration…at least the wood floors are all there. BUT ours was new construction.