Two in the bush . . . I hope (Rant)

[Danny Thompson]

No sooner did I unload the SUV from my trip to the Woodcraft 10% off sale (Birmingham), than "the CFO" decided it was time to start looking for bigger digs. This, of course, means that we have to get our house ready to sell. "Staging" they call it.

The realtor about croaked when she saw the gar-shop. And now everything that takes up floor space is headed to storage.

This is especially painful given that my brand-spanking-new Rikon Model 10-325 Deluxe 14" Bandsaw--the one I've been pondering and yammering about all these many months--is still in the box!

Consolation: 1) Said Rikon was a gift from said boss. 2) A real heated/cooled workshop is high on the list of new dig criteria (It's free to dream).

Until then, it's all hand tools all the time. I guess that's not all bad. Who knows? Maybe I'll finally learn to saw straight and square.

[Tim Thomas]

Good luck on the move, I'm betting that is going to be a LOT of work to shift all of that heavy iron. I hope that your new shop space is bigger and better to make up for all of the trouble.

By the way, if you came to the Woodcraft in Birmingham (which is actually in Pelham, but whatever...) then you were only about 1 mile from my house. I haven't bought a whole lot of stuff there, but it certainly is convenient when I'm stuck in the middle of a project and don't want to wait on a mail order. I was going to go down there on Saturday just to meet some fellow woodworkers, but I was scared that I might wind up buying something I didn't need. :)

[Mark Engel]

Good luck on the move. And keep us informed.

We are planning to move ourselves come spring. :rolleyes:

[Ben Martin]

Good luck with selling your house. If you were here in the Chicago Area, that would mean about 1+ years without your (power) tools. Hopefully the housing market is better in your area...

[Richard M. Wolfe]

At least part of the stuff (Rikon) is already boxed.

If you do learn how to cut straight and especially without making a bevel using a handsaw if you would teach classes I'd be one of the first to sign up. (It would probably help if I'd use a sharp saw with the right set to the teeth :rolleyes: ).

Good luck with the move.....and all things leading up to it and after it.

[Don Bullock]

I feel your pain. Putting all your power tools in storage will be worth it if you can move to a place with a bigger/better shop.

I may be facing the same problem fairly soon. Hopefully we'll be able to buy a place and move them before I have to move them out. That's our plan for now anyway.

[jason lambert]

Did that last year it killed me, my house sold in 3 days but the buyer played games so I could not bring my machines back for 6 months because we never knew if we had to put it back on. Really crimped my style. Also I still had all my tools in the gurage along the wall and you could fit a car but severl people would not beleve a car would fit in there. Funny how clearing things out makes it look bigger.

The thing is one reason I was moving was for a bigger gurage I had a one car. Now I have a two car and it is still not big enought :( I plan to build another two car in the back yard if I can find someone resonable in NJ here to do it.

[Danny Thompson]

The market here is a bit unstable. A few houses go in a few days; about half of the remaining sell in 6 months, and the other half stay on forever. Many of the houses in our neighborhood are stuck in the 80's, so we hope the renovations we have done, and the money we are putting into it in preparation for the sale will make the difference.

If that doesn't work, I may regress back to total Neander.

Jason, You are on the right track. I want to do like another Creeker I visited recently, and reserve Workshop Bays 4-6 for the cars.

Tim, Just curious. I've always bemoaned not having a local Woodcraft. What keeps you from going there more often? Are there other/better options in Birmingham? You mentioned mail-order. Is it price?

[Peter Quadarella]

The nice thing about a local Woodcraft is you can actually browse the items and touch and feel the equipment. But if you know what you want, it is usually cheaper to go mail order.

[Bob Aquino]

I dont know that I would be that quick to want to "stage" the garage. Sure, make the interior look pretty and work on the curb appeal, but empty the garage out for what? I would think if the shop was kept neatly it might be a selling enhancement to the right buyer.

Selling in this market is going to be interesting. Sure, you are going to see some really good deals on the buying end, but you are selling your house at the low point of the cycle. Not really sure that makes up for the deals. What about renting the house out for a year or two till the market improves? Is that an option you have thought about? Finally I would tell you to look at being a FSBO. That gives you a 3-6% advantage over everybody else selling with an agent. My last two houses have been selling and buying as a fsbo. Its not rocket science and you can probably market your house as well as any "professional". Good Luck.

[Rod Sheridan]

[quote=Danny Thompson;792829] the realtor about croaked when she saw the gar-shop.



Danny, didn't you know that you're not suposed to actually do anything in a garage? How else is it going to look like Architectural Digest if you actually work in a garage?

Poor Real Estate Agent, you've probably driven her to therapy with your actions!

regards, Rod.

[Eric Haycraft]

I dont know that I would be that quick to want to "stage" the garage. Sure, make the interior look pretty and work on the curb appeal, but empty the garage out for what? I would think if the shop was kept neatly it might be a selling enhancement to the right buyer.


I'll agree with this. I see absolutely no reason that a shop in the garage would deter someone from buying a place. You definitely want to stage the house and keep the exterior in good shape, but I can't see any reason for yanking all power tools. Worst case, no one cares, best case, the buyer is a woodworker and it gives them a better impression of the place. It could also signal to the buyer that the place is well maintained.

[Rick Moyer]

... Finally I would tell you to look at being a FSBO. That gives you a 3-6% advantage over everybody else selling with an agent. My last two houses have been selling and buying as a fsbo. Its not rocket science and you can probably market your house as well as any "professional". Good Luck.

That's fine if your willing to put in the time, show your house (and personal possessions) to those people who are not even qualified to purchase your home but are rather just nosing around, fill out all the required forms (settlement sheets, disclosures, etc.), take on the liability, etc. You certainly can market your own house but it would be at YOUR expense, not the "Professional"'s. Additionally your market options are more limited than a Realtor's who has a network of other Realtors who have prospective buyers.

It can work, but isn't a cakewalk unless you get lucky.

[jason lambert]

Everything matters in todays market there are just to many choices and yours need to be the best. As I said with my house above I moved all the big machines and just had some paint wood and hand tools and people still commented the gurage looked small when in fact it was fairly big for a one car.

Don't forget the house wifes (at least in NJ here) have to be able to fit there hummers and suburbans in.

[Tyler Howell]

I feel your pain. I've been gradually moving to a new place and I only have enough time to unload on the far end and collapse before it's time to come back to the city.
Not a lot of time to set up shop and play.
At least my stuff is at it's final destingation
I have found that i'm very dependant on Neander tools for a lot of my fix up projects.

[Tim Thomas]

Tim, Just curious. I've always bemoaned not having a local Woodcraft. What keeps you from going there more often? Are there other/better options in Birmingham? You mentioned mail-order. Is it price?

A couple of things keep me from going to the Woodcraft too often. One is price. Unless they are running a sale I can usually get a much better price on the exact same item if I'm willing to buy it online and wait for it to be shipped. Sometimes I can even get a better price from Woodcraft's own website! I don't think that the corporate headquarters has control over the price of every item in the store, and I have definitely noticed quite a few of the smaller things that are anywhere from $5 to $15 over the online prices. But I don't begrudge them the higher prices on some of their wares. I don't think the markup is extreme, and it is to be expected as it is surely more costly to run a brick and mortar store than an online one. However, I am on a budget (like I'm sure everyone else is) and that means that I have to be a good steward of my limited woodworking funds and stretch every dollar that I can.

The other thing that keeps me out of Woodcraft is that I just don't have a need for a lot of the stuff they sell. I'm a beginning woodworker and have only done a few projects, and I think a lot of the items they carry are geared more towards people who know what the heck they are doing. I am not going to buy $100 worth of exotic bookmatched veneers because I would just ruin them. :)

One thing that they do have that I am excited about and will probably take advantage of soon, is a decent selection of many different types of wood. I added a jointer to my shop a couple of weeks ago, so I can finally start milling up my own stock. They don't have a large volume of any one type of wood, usually just a couple of boards, but they have enough that I can try my hand at experimenting with different species on small projects. I've had my eye on some Makore for a while that I think would be perfect for a few items I have in mind. Their wood prices may be a little higher, but this is one place where a physical store has a big advantage over mail order. I can go pick up one or two boards from Woodcraft a lot cheaper than online because of the savings in shipping. Now, when I get to the level of skill where I have the confidence to order 100 BF of QSWO, I'll probably be picking that up somewhere else...

I don't know if there are any other/better woodworking store options in Birmingham since I've only lived here for 2 years, but I suspect not. Stores like this seem to be pretty rare and I do feel lucky to have it close by, even if I don't take advantage of it much. I'm sure I will be in there a lot more in the near future and I am looking forward to it. The staff there have always been very courteous and they seem knowledgeable.

One last thing: Last year I bought my table saw from Redmond Machinery in Atlanta. They are only about 2 hours from here, and I go through Atlanta often on trips to visit family in Augusta. I got a killer deal on a Shop Fox contractor style saw that they were going to stop carrying. Redmond is an AWESOME place and everyone I have encountered that works over there was top notch. I sure do wish that I had one of those here in Birmingham, even if just to go walk around and drool on the tools. I don't think I will need to buy any more large machines for at least a few years, but when I do I hope the folks at Redmond are still there because they would be my first choice.
http://www.redmond-machinery.com

[Bob Aquino]

That's fine if your willing to put in the time, show your house (and personal possessions) to those people who are not even qualified to purchase your home but are rather just nosing around, fill out all the required forms (settlement sheets, disclosures, etc.), take on the liability, etc. You certainly can market your own house but it would be at YOUR expense, not the "Professional"'s. Additionally your market options are more limited than a Realtor's who has a network of other Realtors who have prospective buyers.

It can work, but isn't a cakewalk unless you get lucky.

Rick
If you sell with an agent, whose paying their fee, the buyer? Not hardly. It comes out of your pocket off the top. So spending some time to market and show your house is probably one of the more lucrative part time jobs a homeowner can have. Networking? Check to see how many FSBO websites there are out there lately? Last house I sold went to a couple with an agent. They added their 3% to the price no quibbles. Prequalify buyers? Ya, sure they do that. :rolleyes:

Cakewalk? No, never said or even implied it. Something for everybody to do? No, some folks will never get past the though of anybody other than an agent selling the house. But when you figure that a 200k house has a commission of 12 grand based on the common 6% and 300k is 18 grand, thats a lot of coin for honestly, not that much work. Split the difference with the buyer and you can still save anywhere from 6 to 9 grand. I threw it out as an option that he might want to consider.

[Danny Thompson]

The garage is an issue at my house because the driveway is on an incline. We park on the incline, but we want potential buyers to see that they can easily park 2 cars in the garage.

The realtors in Memphis pretty much have the FSBO market locked out. There have been 3 FSBO houses on my street in the last year. None sold until they switched to an agent. I've talked to several friends in the business about this and they have confided that they won't show FSBO houses to their clients, and actively discourage their clients from buying FSBO, even if the seller is offering to pay the buyer's agent. It simplly isn't in their best long-term interest to encourage or reward FSBO sellers.

The realty companies are pretty disciplined here. In fact, the going rate here has been pushed by a leading local agency from 6 up to 7%. Now, even if you don't got with that agency, you have to offer the buying agent 4% or more to get them to bring their clients to your house. It's nuts and, in my opinion, corrupt. But what are you gonna do?

It is clearly NOT the best time to sell, but we are looking to move to a bigger house, so as long as the house we buy is discounted roughly the same percentage as the one we are selling, we should come out ahead.

We'll see.

Tim, good luck with the Makore. I recently bought some and found it a pleasure to work, but I have read that it is tough on blades due to a high silica content. Also, I found that water-based products really raised the grain, so be sure to take care of that in your finishing process.