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Pool had been a real money drain for me, especially considering I'm not using it as much... Definitely go for a proper inspection, probably going to save you money in a long run :D
Funny story house I bought has a pool we specifically wernt looking for a house with a pool because of added running costs.

We decided to check this place out on a whim to fill in time between our next inspection. 2 hours later we were signing the contract :confused:
Life is Ironic sometimes even when we don't want something we end up with it :rolleyes:
 
@RoadRoach , nice find!
As the others have said, a home inspection is invaluable, but one on your existing home can be a double edged sword.
Good luck with everything in your retirement home and plans.
 
Funny story house I bought has a pool we specifically wernt looking for a house with a pool because of added running costs.

We decided to check this place out on a whim to fill in time between our next inspection. 2 hours later we were signing the contract :confused:
Life is Ironic sometimes even when we don't want something we end up with it :rolleyes:
It's nice when it's blazing hot outside, this year probably was the most I've used it :D Still not sure if it's worth the time cleaning it, but when it's good - it's really good :D On the offnote - small ice bath was an absolute saver this year, probably the best investment I've made
 
It's nice when it's blazing hot outside, this year probably was the most I've used it :D Still not sure if it's worth the time cleaning it, but when it's good - it's really good :D On the offnote - small ice bath was an absolute saver this year, probably the best investment I've made
Amen!
When the weather is steamy and your chilling in the pool with a coldie not much else beats that feeling :)
 
I just harvested some Pak Choy seeds and will replant them next week.
I'll have to see if they need a cold spell prior to that though.
 
Funny story house I bought has a pool we specifically wernt looking for a house with a pool because of added running costs.

We decided to check this place out on a whim to fill in time between our next inspection. 2 hours later we were signing the contract :confused:
Life is Ironic sometimes even when we don't want something we end up with it :rolleyes:

As I said before, I put myself through college with pool construction and service, and know very well how much work they can be and how much it can cost. If this one was just a little bit worse, it would be very close to a deal breaker. Then I realized, I have a tractor with a front end loader. If it turns into that much of a money pit, I'll fill it with crusher run and build a tractor shed on top of it. :cool: The missus would not be very happy with me if she had to swim in the pond, though. She lived within a rock's throw from Spencer Gulf in Port Pirie, but NEVER went swimming there. Two reasons: 1.) She couldn't see the bottom nor anything between the surface and the bottom. 2.) Spencer Gulf is Jaws' living room. The local museum had a 6-meter great white (Shaka) in it, which was caught very near Port Pirie.

I'd much rather have a nice workshop/tractor shed than a pool. If I ain't in it doing something, it doesn't cost anything. A pool costs money year round. Costs a lot more in the summer, but to keep the plumbing from freezing and the water from going green, have to run the pump year round and move the chemicals. Fortunately,, the pool (and a few outside security lights) has it's own power meter. I can show exactly how much more it will cost to run. That pool is gonna be my bargaining chip for a LOT of things, LOL.;)
 
As I said before, I put myself through college with pool construction and service, and know very well how much work they can be and how much it can cost. If this one was just a little bit worse, it would be very close to a deal breaker. Then I realized, I have a tractor with a front end loader. If it turns into that much of a money pit, I'll fill it with crusher run and build a tractor shed on top of it. :cool: The missus would not be very happy with me if she had to swim in the pond, though. She lived within a rock's throw from Spencer Gulf in Port Pirie, but NEVER went swimming there. Two reasons: 1.) She couldn't see the bottom nor anything between the surface and the bottom. 2.) Spencer Gulf is Jaws' living room. The local museum had a 6-meter great white (Shaka) in it, which was caught very near Port Pirie.

I'd much rather have a nice workshop/tractor shed than a pool. If I ain't in it doing something, it doesn't cost anything. A pool costs money year round. Costs a lot more in the summer, but to keep the plumbing from freezing and the water from going green, have to run the pump year round and move the chemicals. Fortunately,, the pool (and a few outside security lights) has it's own power meter. I can show exactly how much more it will cost to run. That pool is gonna be my bargaining chip for a LOT of things, LOL.;)
Tell me about it cus of covid shortages I couldn't get salt for my pool so my bloody salt cell broke it'll be 500$ for me to get a new cell.

I been nursing it along adding chlorine manually now for a year:confused::oops:.

It's worth the money though the littlie is a little fish :)
 
Tell me about it cus of covid shortages I couldn't get salt for my pool so my bloody salt cell broke it'll be 500$ for me to get a new cell.

I been nursing it along adding chlorine manually now for a year:confused::oops:.

It's worth the money though the littlie is a little fish :)
Yeah. with 12 grandkids and 1 great grandkid, I can see them getting a lot of enjoyment out of it. Much more controlled environment to teach 'em to swim, too.

One of the things on my punch list already is a fence around the pool. It's required by most local laws, but this place is unincorporated (not in any city limits), and I'm not sure that there are any county regulations. I hope there are some to back me up, because fencing ain't cheap. Dunno WHY they took it down, but there was a fence around it like 4 years ago according to Google Earth Street View. Not now. Maybe a tree fell on it, dunno. That'll be Priority 1 on the pool. If the littles can't swim yet, damn sure don't want 'em anywhere near that pool without supervision. Disaster/Tragedy waiting to happen. Gonna be bad enough monitoring them to keep 'em out of the pond, but it's far enough away from the house with a 'barrier' of the road between. I don't think they'll roam that far unless one of us is down there. Gotta start shopping for high gate latches to keep the little ones from sneaking in there when grownups aren't watching. Loved the ones around school yards and pools in Oz. They were actually easier to open than the standard stuff we have here, for adults anyway. Little tackers can't reach the latch to undo it. I'm sure something's available here too, though.
 
Tell me about it cus of covid shortages I couldn't get salt for my pool so my bloody salt cell broke it'll be 500$ for me to get a new cell.

I been nursing it along adding chlorine manually now for a year:confused::oops:.

It's worth the money though the littlie is a little fish :)
BTW, tell me about the salt system. How would it break because of lack of salt? What was the failure?

They pretty much didn't exist when I was building pools in the 70's, perhaps because chlorine was a lot cheaper than it is now, and the accepted means of sterilizing pools. You could write a book about what I don't know about salt chlorinators, but I'm a fast study. Made pretty good marks in chemistry in college too. I'm pretty determined to convert this one to salt because it's a lot cheaper than granulated chlorine, never mind stabilized chlorine tablets. Salt is almost as cheap as dirt here. I didn't see any chlorination equipment on it, so it'll be easy to roll it over. Pretty much a matter of just installing a new salt chlorinator.

Strange that salt wasn't available down there, considering most of Australia is salt desert. Dry yes, but so much salt that it wouldn't matter if there was any water. You should see the huge salt lakes and excavations just north of Adelaide, and the salt rings on the 'foot paths' (we call 'em sidewalks here) when there's enough rain to puddle (for about 15 minutes). Port Pirie and Port Augusta are pretty much the last vestiges of civilization before you get to the Big Red Waste.
 
BTW, tell me about the salt system. How would it break because of lack of salt? What was the failure?

They pretty much didn't exist when I was building pools in the 70's, perhaps because chlorine was a lot cheaper than it is now, and the accepted means of sterilizing pools. You could write a book about what I don't know about salt chlorinators, but I'm a fast study. Made pretty good marks in chemistry in college too. I'm pretty determined to convert this one to salt because it's a lot cheaper than granulated chlorine, never mind stabilized chlorine tablets. Salt is almost as cheap as dirt here. I didn't see any chlorination equipment on it, so it'll be easy to roll it over. Pretty much a matter of just installing a new salt chlorinator.

Strange that salt wasn't available down there, considering most of Australia is salt desert. Dry yes, but so much salt that it wouldn't matter if there was any water. You should see the huge salt lakes and excavations just north of Adelaide, and the salt rings on the 'foot paths' (we call 'em sidewalks here) when there's enough rain to puddle (for about 15 minutes). Port Pirie and Port Augusta are pretty much the last vestiges of civilization before you get to the Big Red Waste.
Yeah because of lock downs and such supply chain Sh!t itself.
I know West Aus have big salt mines around Dampier Port headlands I remember seeing all the salt lakes and a massive pile of salt with a tinie tiny buldozer sitting on top pushing that carosive stuff around.

Not really sure why the cell requires salt not being sarcastic but it is a salt cell lol.

Uses electrolysis to split the Sodium Chloride into Chlorine and such you've done chemistry....

Anyhow it's crappped out my pool went green a month or two ago I thought it was working a bit but my salt levels were high on the 5000ppm and my Chlorine and free Chlorine levels were on the nere zilch level.

I know through talking to pool stores and such I was supposed to switch the cell off with the low salt levels in the pool which I found out after the fact ;).

Anyhow yeah pools are expensive people get real friendly round summer time actually my neighbours across the road pay me to swim in it while I'm at work o_O yup!

The poor old ducks got a real bad back that causes her chronic pain well long story short floating around in the pool takes the pressure off her back and she gets some relief.

Me and the Mrs said knock ya selves out were not using it during the day someone might as well enjoy it :confused::p!
 
Late summer cleanup yesterday.
I got about 1/2 of my garden pruned, weeded, harvested, beds prepped and ready for early fall plantings.

I also addressed all of my mulch beds by edging, weeding and fluffing up the mulch. That is the entire perimeter of the house and additionally 21 individual beds!

Let's just say the sauna feels great this morning and I'll enjoy how everything looks throughout fall.

This week I'll plant Lettuce, Pak Choy, Peas, Cucumbers, Garlic, Kale and whatever else I can fit in and still harvest before the frost hits.
Cheers
Brian
 
Late summer cleanup yesterday.
I got about 1/2 of my garden pruned, weeded, harvested, beds prepped and ready for early fall plantings.

I also addressed all of my mulch beds by edging, weeding and fluffing up the mulch. That is the entire perimeter of the house and additionally 21 individual beds!

Let's just say the sauna feels great this morning and I'll enjoy how everything looks throughout fall.

This week I'll plant Lettuce, Pak Choy, Peas, Cucumbers, Garlic, Kale and whatever else I can fit in and still harvest before the frost hits.
Cheers
Brian
Photos? Sounds quite the place you have.

We're thinking about a fall garden too but it looks like it's gonna be right here where we are. It's still too hot for fall/winter greens here. If they bother to sprout, the heat's gonna kill 'em. Everything but the cucumbers and egg plant has died off, either because of heat, or nematodes. Nematode attacked some begonias that the missus put in a bed by our driveway. They were thriving, then it looks like the root system just rotted. She put both white and pink ones in, and ONLY the white ones died that way. Whatever got the white ones doesn't like the pink ones. All of the soil in the bed is compost from yard waste I've been dumping in a hole for 20 years and some more from a pit we set up for kitchen waste. I'm thinking we may have inadvertently spread the nematodes by putting garden waste in the pit last year. Who knows. Gonna till up the beds soon, and do what I can to treat them for nematodes. Hate to use pesticides, but the garden isn't giving me much choice in the matter.

Doesn't look like we're going to be able to come to terms for the new place. Neglect and some bubbafied construction practices have run the costs for repairs out through the roof (almost literally). I could probably deal with $25K or so on top of what we anticipated for redecorating, but this one's gonna take at least $100K just to get it inhabitable, not including the redecorating. That would completely destroy our plans for being debt free next year not to mention wiping out any cash reserves. If we stay put, two checks would clear all our debt, and still leave us with a pretty good chunk of cash in the bank, never mind a whole lotta monthly budget reductions ramping it up pretty quickly. It's pretty scary to see what the builder got away with on this house, but none of it can't be corrected. Worse yet is what the previous owners let happen. All it takes is money to fix the problems, but money I think the seller should take off his asking price, which I would then consider. If he'd agree to all of the major items (not including the 24 year old HVAC system), we would probably move on it. I'm not holding my breath, though.
 
Photos? Sounds quite the place you have.

We're thinking about a fall garden too but it looks like it's gonna be right here where we are. It's still too hot for fall/winter greens here. If they bother to sprout, the heat's gonna kill 'em. Everything but the cucumbers and egg plant has died off, either because of heat, or nematodes. Nematode attacked some begonias that the missus put in a bed by our driveway. They were thriving, then it looks like the root system just rotted. She put both white and pink ones in, and ONLY the white ones died that way. Whatever got the white ones doesn't like the pink ones. All of the soil in the bed is compost from yard waste I've been dumping in a hole for 20 years and some more from a pit we set up for kitchen waste. I'm thinking we may have inadvertently spread the nematodes by putting garden waste in the pit last year. Who knows. Gonna till up the beds soon, and do what I can to treat them for nematodes. Hate to use pesticides, but the garden isn't giving me much choice in the matter.

Doesn't look like we're going to be able to come to terms for the new place. Neglect and some bubbafied construction practices have run the costs for repairs out through the roof (almost literally). I could probably deal with $25K or so on top of what we anticipated for redecorating, but this one's gonna take at least $100K just to get it inhabitable, not including the redecorating. That would completely destroy our plans for being debt free next year not to mention wiping out any cash reserves. If we stay put, two checks would clear all our debt, and still leave us with a pretty good chunk of cash in the bank, never mind a whole lotta monthly budget reductions ramping it up pretty quickly. It's pretty scary to see what the builder got away with on this house, but none of it can't be corrected. Worse yet is what the previous owners let happen. All it takes is money to fix the problems, but money I think the seller should take off his asking price, which I would then consider. If he'd agree to all of the major items (not including the 24 year old HVAC system), we would probably move on it. I'm not holding my breath, though.

I'll get some pics later tonight after work and a beer!
On the new place, if the current owner is negotiable, it may be worth exploring.
Remember now that an inspection is done, it has to be disclosed to and and all future interested parties. This will make the property less desirable and of less value.
If the seller is listening to compromise as they should be, then you can structure a deal that'll pay you cash out of closing to pay for repairs and you will come out without any out of pocket costs and cash at the end to do repairs as you choose to do them.
Sorry if this is confusing, but it can work as long as the house appraises for the total amount.
There are other ways to do a deal like this as well, but this will give you a clean transfer.
Good luck,
Brian
 
I'll get some pics later tonight after work and a beer!
On the new place, if the current owner is negotiable, it may be worth exploring.
Remember now that an inspection is done, it has to be disclosed to and and all future interested parties. This will make the property less desirable and of less value.
If the seller is listening to compromise as they should be, then you can structure a deal that'll pay you cash out of closing to pay for repairs and you will come out without any out of pocket costs and cash at the end to do repairs as you choose to do them.
Sorry if this is confusing, but it can work as long as the house appraises for the total amount.
There are other ways to do a deal like this as well, but this will give you a clean transfer.
Good luck,
Brian
Not sure it works the same way down here in Alabama as it does up north. Inspections are usually the responsibility of the buyer, not the seller, and it is up to the buyer to decide if the property is worth the asking price. I already knocked him down $30K off list (to give us some wiggle room on aging fixtures), so that pretty much signals someone else has told him the same things I have. If it were in move-in condition, I could possibly even see my way to go as high as list. But, there are some extreme problems that I simply cannot absorb.

We haven't heard a peep today. We're aware of some background info that might get them to sell (hopefully to us) at a much lower price, but all we can do now is wait. As far as any disclosure to the next potential buyer, that isn't required nor will it happen. The information given is actually the property of the buyer (me) and cannot be used by the seller for disclosure (not that they would anyway). Stupid rules, but the way it works.
 
Not sure it works the same way down here in Alabama as it does up north. Inspections are usually the responsibility of the buyer, not the seller, and it is up to the buyer to decide if the property is worth the asking price. I already knocked him down $30K off list (to give us some wiggle room on aging fixtures), so that pretty much signals someone else has told him the same things I have. If it were in move-in condition, I could possibly even see my way to go as high as list. But, there are some extreme problems that I simply cannot absorb.

We haven't heard a peep today. We're aware of some background info that might get them to sell (hopefully to us) at a much lower price, but all we can do now is wait. As far as any disclosure to the next potential buyer, that isn't required nor will it happen. The information given is actually the property of the buyer (me) and cannot be used by the seller for disclosure (not that they would anyway). Stupid rules, but the way it works.
I meant on your current house. Inspect it yourself. Talk to a real estate agent, you may be surprised. Or maybe not!
 

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