Calgary Snow….

Good morning Graham,

An interesting suggestion. I'm not sure how well that would go over, to either not make a counter offer or to reduce my last one! I'm sure that the real estate agent's response would be to simply tell me that if he rejected my last offer he wouldn't take a lower one. As well, the seller pays the real estate fees so he doesn't get a dime directly from me.

I am disappointed to be sure but as well I have a good amount of stubbornness in me as well.

My tongue in cheek position is that I had to suffer in the world when there was a flood of money being paid to people who didn't deserve it when it came to things like buying vehicles and so forth, people who couldn't be bothered to negotiate and payed asking prices cash. So while the seller in this case is not one of those, I'm enjoying the fact that I struggled through those days, saved my money and unlike a lot of other people in Alberta (not all of course who deserve to be in the position that they find themselves) I've saved a bit of money so I can go house shopping without the need to involve a bank.

So I get to do things on my terms. Especially as the purchase of a house is not on a timeline, is it not a need but a want so I will be waiting people out as things worsen yet further.................

Or so I've told myself is the situation currently.

I've walked away from one other house I made an offer on with this agent and so by doing so again I hope he'll tell his clients next time I'm serious when I take a position.

Cheers,

Garry
 
Garry..
If the Realtor will cut their fees the seller gets more money yet the buyer doesn't pay any more!
If you approached this house purchase on your own then the seller-realtor will be "double-ending' the deal.
This fee can be negotiated... it is not a fixed take-it-or-leave-it amount.
If a realtor found you this house then you now have two people that want money.
Of course this is a much higher negotiating value for houses here on the Coast where real estate fees are $30K-$40K-$50K+
I'm not an expert but I stayed in a Holiday Inn once.

Graham
 
Good afternoon Graham,

I love my Sentra sedan but in the winter when it gets stuck and it has NO towing points or places to connect a tow rope without damaging bodywork, it sort of takes the gloss away. I haven't switched to winter tires yet and so got stuck yesterday in my driveway twice. Removal consists of carefully adding a tow rope to a spoke of the tire on one side and gentling skidding the car on the ice back into place. Next car I might be willing to give up yellow for tow hook mountings!

Anyway..........

The seller pays the whole fee in this case, I pay nothing as I am not using a realtor per se.

I was going to go in person and tell the realtor I was not interested but in the end just sent him an email.

Maybe the seller wakes up in a month or two. Maybe he'll be lucky enough to sell it and good for him if so. And in the meantime I continue to look and to save my $ and slowly move up the purchase price ladder every month.

While I may not have stayed at a Holiday Inn to have gotten my smarts, I did once stay at a Holiday Inn EXPRESS...................!

One notable event, tomorrow is new Mustang convertible clutch day. I have been looking forward to this for a few weeks and while the weather sucks, at least it has towing points so I can drag it onto the driveway and then zip into town.

Wow, what a treat that will be, to be able to put the transmission into neutral at a stop sign or red light and then into gear without having to shut the engine off first or holding the clutch down the whole time!

Cheers,

Garry
 
Not to argue Garry but Graham has a point. The realtor commission is always negotiable and can make a difference. You do not have a realtor shopping for you so the only fees will be paid to the sellers realtor and he will not have to share with any other realtor. I have stayed at both Holiday Inns and Holiday Inn Express but the selling and purchasing of a few houses and property has given me a better grasp on real estate than motel living. Their realtor will look for a commission of 7% on the first $100,000.00 and 3% on the remainder. In a tight market, it is not uncommon for a realtor to adjust to a 3% across the board for a commission. On a $250,000.00 deal, this would equate to a reduction from a fee to the seller from $11,500,00 to an adjusted fee of $7,500.00. It's not the $15,000 spread you are sitting at but it does make it $4,000.00 more attractive to you with the same return to the owner. So discuss with the realtor. he drops the $4,000.... the owner drops another $5,000.00 and you come up $6,000 to meet the seller's price. Voila`.... new home... with a garage...... sheesh.... so easy when I'm spending someone else's money..... Good Luck whatever you decide...
 
And THAT ladies and gentlemen is how the game is played! Thanx Eric.

If that realtor wants to double-end the deal and scarifice a sale he/she is not representing the seller very well..
He/She is only in it for themself. But that is what they do.
I sold my own homes in the past.... I also sold my mom's place when she passed....
I was approached by many realtors to list. I had a realtor bring a possible client and said she would charge 'full' commision.. I sent her away. She called back that afternoon and we settled on a flat fee. <$half.
The deal was done the next day.

Graham
 
One of the reasons I like this place is that it wanders and no one seems to care nor complain.

We go from snow in Calgary to realtors and Holiday Inn motels/hotels. And best of all the conversation makes absolute sense.:D

Garry, I agree with Eric and Graham on this. Although it did not happen on our last home, the realtor did offer to take a different route with commissions to get the deal done. If it is what you want it is worth exploring. If they say no again then walk away.:Beatdeadhorse:
 
Gentlemen,

My hotel comment was that I thought the commercial actually was about the Holiday Inn Express and not for the regular Holiday Inn. Maybe I was wrong as those commercials were a few years back.

As for wandering, ya, it's sort of a whole life approach. not only our shared love of Corvettes but all things sundry with our lives as well. Cancer, buying homes, pets and whatever else we feeling like talking/sharing about. Sort of like my "mistress" on the side, I talk with members here things that I may not talk with my gf about. Maybe a gender angle involved??

Sort of people who have a problem with women breastfeeding or going topless. Like the judges have said in the topless at the pool cases they've sat over, "look in the other direction if it bothers you". If there are some who don't like the subjects in this thread, click somewhere else!

The breast feeding in public one I find funny. I would expect, historically, that breasts, long before their use in foreplay, they were used for nourishing babies. Other than a successful media campaign by formula manufacturing companies in the 1950's and 60's breast feeding would probably be the norm. That is no one glaces sideways if a baby is bottle fed. But latch them on a breast and it is an issue? How could anyone think that a man-made product would be better than a few 100,000 years of evolution by Mother Nature??

Anyway..................

My gf was able to steel a glimpse of one of the agreement forms by accident left for viewing on the desk and they are taking a flat rate of 3% on the sales at the moment. My only real complaint with the deal was that the last offer included that I was to pay for the real property report ($1500) which normally the seller pays. But had my offer been accepted no biggie. And I'd have paid the counter offer price or perhaps increased my offer if the house didn't appear to need the weeping tile replaced. My position was if the seller based his asking price on the municipal assessment, this for me would assume that things like the foundation drainage were functioning. As it appears to be blocked, it is a large investment to have it dug up and replaced therefore the asking price is too high. If the seller had adjusted the price to take this into account I'm sure we'd have closed the deal. But the house has only been on the market for 12 days now and maybe he thinks having had an offer this soon that he'll have others. And perhaps he will and I wish him all the luck! But I am in the position of not having to buy a house as I have not needed to be living in Fairview for the past six years already. So I wait patiently for the right house at the right price and then I will make an offer on it. The current situation makes it something that I can wait on and undertake on my terms only. This doesn't happen often and so I'm going to make the most of it. Not that I wouldn't be happy to be moving but I'm not going to pay more for a house than I feel it is worth since there is no deadline or pressure to be moving..................

So I continue to peruse listings until then..................

And arrange for the oil change in the Z06 and to put it back in the sea-can. Poor Mustang might be facing a cold winter outside though. Might have to consider winter storage elsewhere..............

Cheers,

Garry
 
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I think it just goes to show what well-rounded individuals we are here and not just a bunch of slobbering car nuts that we can discuss in a rational and productive way other subjects of substance.

Having so much fun with this forum is what keeps me on it day in and day out. It's a great sounding board for everything under the sun.
 
Garry, who you calling "slobbering" "rational" and "productive"? I am not at least two of those things.:D
 
Snow is slowly disappearing here. Suppose to be up in the 7 degree range tomorrow and for the next few days so here's hoping the white stuff will be gone til Xmas. I have an appointment for the Vette tomorrow for her hibernation oil change. Not looking forward to driving into town at +1 or +2 morning temps.... Anyone have any experience with the Pilot Super Sport tires at that temperature. I know what they say, but if I drive like a sane person and stay under 1g or so corner maneuvers, will I be able to stay on the road? I know you have those tires Graham. Have you ever driven them at colder temps?
 
I could lend you some tire chains if you like. Shouldn't be any trouble with them flailing around at 250 km/hr...................I sure wish they fit the Mustang tires.

I spent a few minutes packing down the snow with my pickup with the hopes I can make an easy escape from where the car is currently parked to the driveway. Like the Sentra there seems to be a lack of towing points on the Mustang..............

And shoveled the snow off the tilt trailer and tilted it so that it can melt in the sun. Since it doesn't look like I'll have a garage to store it in I need to put the car on the deck to easily get it into the sea can.

Or you could go with studded tires perhaps, some nice pavement ripping 3/8" protruding ones maybe? Wouldn't need the traction control then!

Forecast changed here, now 3,5,4,4,5,4...............hard to say what this will result in.
 
And Mustang just delivered. I may even have it back for tomorrow! I'll spend time driving around looking for stop signs just to take the car out of gear and to be able to go back into gear without shutting the engine off first! Oh Joy!

Got to pick up an oil filter for the Z06 too. I was really surprised when I learned that it is the same tiny filter that the pickup trucks use too. For some reason I expected some sort of specialized filter.

Only 17's for tire chains. Yep that would be a problem!

I really got a good education on winter tires. I used to be a non-believer. Then with my ex's Echo I bought a set and was stunned at the difference. Sort of like my studded shoes for winter running. As a result got a set for the Sentra. Always an eye-opening experience when I just went through the past two weeks plus of snow on all season M + S tires and going through stop signs, getting stuck etc. Put the winters on this morning, even backed out of the garage which is uphill to the road and in virgin snow and never had any slippage. I can see why Quebec and parts of BC require winter tires by law between certain dates. It just makes all the difference in the world.............

Good luck with a gentle drive to town tomorrow for the oil change. I hope to get mine done during this "heatwave" myself!

Cheers,

Garry
 
Speaking of snow and crops, it is insanely wet in NE Saskatchewan. There is still water in all the ditches, you can see water in all the fields were tractors tires left a path. The creeks and rivers are running like it's Spring run off. Just crazy. And similar to Alberta, there is a lot of crop on the fields!

What happens to the crop still on the fields? Do the farmers wait until it freezes up and run it through the combine just to get rid of it or wait until Spring and disk it under or what? I can see getting the swaths off maybe but the matted wheat and barley???
 
Sounds like us here too Riley. Black ruts full of water on each side of the swaths... That's just the crops that are swathed... We don't have a lot of barley left in the fields but there is a fair amount of wheat and canola standing and laying in swaths. It really depends on the weather now. This latest snow hurt us. The fear is if we don't get some drying weather, that anything swathed will either mold or sprout before we can get it combined. Neither of which is good. If the crops dry or freeze dry, there is still a chance for salvaging at least something, albeit some quality reductions will be realized. We need cooperation from Mother Nature and we need it PDQ. I'm really glad I lease my land but still feel sorry for the farmers nonetheless... Insurance helps but still gonna be a tough year.....
 
Water?! You lucky SOB's! But no really, I don't think snow is any better. We're due to start 5 or 6 days of above zero highs but I don't think it will be enough. I've seen it end up with when it re-freezes the swath is solidly fixed to the ground.

Maybe it will be nice enough to do things like take the canvas's off the swathers and store them for the winter. And I'm still trying to solve a combine cylinder speed problem too. And I'll be able to replace a table auger bearing on one header in a more comfortable temperature but I don't think I'll be returning to the fields until spring.

As for the left out crops, cereals don't seem to fair too well, sprouting etc. which downgrades it to probably sample and it will be a bear to get off the field in the spring as the snow will pack it flat as a pancake. I suspect we'll see some burning. Canola will be more recoverable but grade is up in the air, plus there are always problems with deer poop, sometimes you have to get it cleaned before anyone will buy it.

RD, I didn't pay attention enough to know you'd farmed at one time? How long have you been renting your land for? Bet you don't miss harvests like this!

But as always with farming, when it is good it is great, when it is bad it is the worst! Thankfully it is more often the former.

Mustang in the shop, the claim it may only take 4 to 5 hours, hopefully with no surprises so I'll have it back late afternoon.
 
lol....I manage a civil engineering company Garry. Other than helping out a bit, I have never been a farmer. I own an 11 acre acreage and bought the rest of the quarter it's on 14 years ago. I lease 120 acres of cropland to my neighbor and 35 acres of pasture to another neighbor who raises Watusi/Brahma cross bulls for rodeo stock. I know only enough about either to talk the talk.... lol....

Oh yeah.... cancelled the oil change for today.... Friday looks better with an expected high of 10 so hopefully the weatherman is right....

Hope all goes well with the Mustang...

Eric
 
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