We will be selling our house in 3 or so years as the kids will (hopefully)
be gone. We are now looking at some fix-ups that will add value to the
house. One includes repainting the garage and doing something with the
concrete floor.

If I remember your carriage house you garage your auto collection had an
epoxy finish on the floor. If I am right, did you do this yourself and was
it difficult?

"JimH" wrote in message
...
We will be selling our house in 3 or so years as the kids will (hopefully)
be gone. We are now looking at some fix-ups that will add value to the
house. One includes repainting the garage and doing something with the
concrete floor.

If I remember your carriage house you garage your auto collection had an
epoxy finish on the floor. If I am right, did you do this yourself and
was it difficult?


Originally, I simply applied a couple of coats of regular (latex) epoxy
concrete floor paint which was cheap and easy. At the time we were not using
the garage to store cars however. When I started to use it for cars I put
down 18" x 18" tiles ... black and white.

I wouldn't recommend latex epoxy floor paint as a permanent finish. It just
doesn't wear well when driving cars on it. I have another, smaller 2 car
garage that I plan to finish using one of the epoxy kits that you can add
speckles or other decorative color designs to. I've seen them done and,
when applied properly, are very tough and durable. They are also much more
expensive. Lowe's and the Home Depot carry the kits. There are also
commercial companies that apply them.

Eisboch

"Eisboch" wrote in message
. ..

"JimH" wrote in message
...
We will be selling our house in 3 or so years as the kids will
(hopefully) be gone. We are now looking at some fix-ups that will add
value to the house. One includes repainting the garage and doing
something with the concrete floor.

If I remember your carriage house you garage your auto collection had an
epoxy finish on the floor. If I am right, did you do this yourself and
was it difficult?


Originally, I simply applied a couple of coats of regular (latex) epoxy
concrete floor paint which was cheap and easy. At the time we were not
using the garage to store cars however. When I started to use it for cars
I put down 18" x 18" tiles ... black and white.

I wouldn't recommend latex epoxy floor paint as a permanent finish. It
just doesn't wear well when driving cars on it. I have another, smaller 2
car garage that I plan to finish using one of the epoxy kits that you can
add speckles or other decorative color designs to. I've seen them done
and, when applied properly, are very tough and durable. They are also
much more expensive. Lowe's and the Home Depot carry the kits. There are
also commercial companies that apply them.

Eisboch


The epoxy kits are what I was referring to. I think I would need to buy 2
kits at/around $250/kit. Not a bad price when applied DIY and if it adds a
*wow* factor.

Thanks for your feedback and let us know how your epoxy kit application
goes.

Has

JimH wrote:
We will be selling our house in 3 or so years as the kids will (hopefully)
be gone. We are now looking at some fix-ups that will add value to the
house. One includes repainting the garage and doing something with the
concrete floor.

Speaking of selling real estate:

I had a really interesting afternoon. We decided to sell a couple of
our rental properties. One of our tenants is very hot on purchasing the
home they've lived in for a couple of years. To make a long story
short, when they first rented from us, we cut them some slack on the
rent because they were just getting started - she was 19 at the time an
LPN working on her RN and he was a student working on his BSEE and
painting houses part-time. We charged them about two hundred dollars
less than the going rate. The upstairs was rented to another young
couple - he is a rookie cop - a friend of our kids and she was a
Teacher Assistant working on her BS in education - cut these kids slack
at about the same rate as the downstairs. Hey, everybody needs help
when you get started.

Well, as things happened, we had the house evaluated by a real estate
agent and came up with a market value range. We discounted the lowest
value by 15% and told them we would absorb the closing costs. All they
needed to do was get the loan. We were still making a ton of money on
the place - didn't hurt at all.

They went to three banks and all turned the mortgage down for the
following reason.

The rents were too low.

Can you believe that? I couldn't so I went to these banks this
afternoon, one of which we've done business with for 35 years, and got
on the loan officers for being really stupid. Apparently, they take the
average value of the intended rental and work that against the couple's
income. If the rental value is lower than the average, that counts
against granting the mortgage. The reasoning is that if the rental is
significantly lower than the average for the area, that is an indication
of property value regardless of tax assessment or sale price.

At this point, I'm working with the loan committee at our bank to see
the light. If they don't see the light, they won't be seeing our
accounts as I will move them just for spite.

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
. ..


Speaking of selling real estate:


They went to three banks and all turned the mortgage down for the
following reason.

The rents were too low.

Can you believe that? I couldn't so I went to these banks this afternoon,
one of which we've done business with for 35 years, and got on the loan
officers for being really stupid. Apparently, they take the average value
of the intended rental and work that against the couple's income. If the
rental value is lower than the average, that counts against granting the
mortgage. The reasoning is that if the rental is significantly lower than
the average for the area, that is an indication of property value
regardless of tax assessment or sale price.

At this point, I'm working with the loan committee at our bank to see the
light. If they don't see the light, they won't be seeing our accounts as
I will move them just for spite.



Banks and their policies are the most miserable things in life to deal with
in IMHO.
They don't take any risks, are highly profitable, are very willing to lend
when you don't need it and near impossible when you do.

Depending on your goals have you considered owner financing? We hold a
mortgage on a property that we purchased as an investment several years ago.
A young family came along who we knew (friend of my son). They were trying
to purchase their first house but were having problems obtaining a mortgage
commitment due to lack sufficient credit history and the fact that he is
self-employed. We talked to our accountant and attorney and ended up "being
the bank". If you don't need the cash from the sale it's a heck of a deal
for both parties. They got a house and we get monthly payments at 6 percent
interest. The terms are exactly like those of a regular bank mortgage,
including a provision that we have the right to sell the mortgage to a bank
or commercial mortgage company should we decide to receive the remaining
principle in full.

Eisboch

Eisboch wrote:
"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
. ..


Speaking of selling real estate:


They went to three banks and all turned the mortgage down for the
following reason.

The rents were too low.

Can you believe that? I couldn't so I went to these banks this afternoon,
one of which we've done business with for 35 years, and got on the loan
officers for being really stupid. Apparently, they take the average value
of the intended rental and work that against the couple's income. If the
rental value is lower than the average, that counts against granting the
mortgage. The reasoning is that if the rental is significantly lower than
the average for the area, that is an indication of property value
regardless of tax assessment or sale price.

At this point, I'm working with the loan committee at our bank to see the
light. If they don't see the light, they won't be seeing our accounts as
I will move them just for spite.

Banks and their policies are the most miserable things in life to deal with
in IMHO.
They don't take any risks, are highly profitable, are very willing to lend
when you don't need it and near impossible when you do.

Depending on your goals have you considered owner financing? We hold a
mortgage on a property that we purchased as an investment several years ago.
A young family came along who we knew (friend of my son). They were trying
to purchase their first house but were having problems obtaining a mortgage
commitment due to lack sufficient credit history and the fact that he is
self-employed. We talked to our accountant and attorney and ended up "being
the bank". If you don't need the cash from the sale it's a heck of a deal
for both parties. They got a house and we get monthly payments at 6 percent
interest. The terms are exactly like those of a regular bank mortgage,
including a provision that we have the right to sell the mortgage to a bank
or commercial mortgage company should we decide to receive the remaining
principle in full.

Great minds think alike - that's what we're going to end up doing
assuming that the bank doesn't come to their collective senses. It's
the right thing to do because they've really taken care of the place - I
had to cut the lawn once last year and the minor maintenance things
they do and don't even tell us. They are great tenants and we really
want them to have it.

On the other hand, it's fun to make the bank sweat a little. I know the
President of the bank really well and he owes me. :)