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Grill Redux

The Marcy Grill was in bad shape. The lava rocks were falling through, the gas distributors were shot. Buy a new grill? Forget it! That would be somewhere north of $1300. We need a functional grill for now though! We're looking at a hardscape reno soon, and want to keep our options open as far as what kind of grill we want to get at that point. Hence, grill redux! This very dirty job involved tearing everything out of the girll, vacuuming, patching (again!) the lower grate, adding ceramic stones in with the lava rock, cleaning the grilling surface and staining the wood handle. I went through three pairs of disposable gloves! In the end, the grill is working amazingly well, and it was all done at a fraction of the cost of a new one!

May 27, 2011

Photos: 17

Dutch Haven Marina

Our Huntington Beach rental needed rehab after five years of some rough tenants! Who's the man for the job? I am! Patching holes, retouching paint, new carpet, and updating the place is the key to getting a good new renter in who's going to pay for a quality home. This 3 bed, 1.75 bath home is just under 1200 sqft. Built in 1967 by the General, it's held up well and hopefully will for much longer. Pictures are not in chronological order! They're order roughly to show progress on a variety of projects.

Apr 4, 2011

Photos: 103

Remodel

May 28, 2009

Photos: 9

Knott's Kit Car Show 2009

My Sixth year in a row going!

Apr 25, 2009

Photos: 41

Real Estate Fun

When people talk about real estate and whether it's going to go up or go down, their arguments usually boil down to nothing more than their feelings about the trajectory of the market. So, why is real estate at bottom? Because "look how much prices have gone down!" That kind of support (or lack thereof) is not good enough for me, maybe it is for you. Fundamentals (wages and rents) in an area determine real estate values. Period. These values can get inflated because of loose credit and things like 100% financing, but they always return to their fundamental values. (About 4x median income in Southern CA). At this point, we are coming down from the biggest bubble in real estate history and we have a long way down to the fundamental values.

Dec 10, 2008

Photos: 4

Irvine Real Estate Graphs

Yes, these maps pertain to Irvine. Yes, they apply to the other markets in Southern CA. Time is just shifted. Corona is about a year closer to bottom, Newport Coast is about 6 months behind. SD's a little closer, and LA is about the same. Remember, the real estate bottom of the 1990's happened in 1996-7. That was years after the recession of 1991 was over. If you think we're at the real estate bottom now because the economy is bad, think again. It takes time for people to get down payments together, for confidence to improve and for credit to be available once again. I wish it were different, I'm sorry, it's not.

Dec 10, 2008

Photos: 3

Knott's Kit Car Show 2008

Knott's Kit Car Show 2008. Rich and I met up there and checked out this year's inventory. Lots of one-off kits based on Lambo Merc's, Vettes and even a Ferrari F50 thing. He was blown away by the quality just like I was and continue to be. (Note: My camera phone did not exactly perform amazingly well. . . looks like the pictures were taken in about 1965!)

Apr 26, 2008

Photos: 18

Knotts Kit Car Show 2007

Cars from this year's Knott's show. (My 4th year going!). Very entertaining stuff. When you consider that they're better built, and indistinguishable from the original + cheap to maintain, that's a pretty strong argument. Those Porsches? Under 20K.

Apr 28, 2007

Photos: 18

Irvine Condo

The new place in Irvine. . .

Apr 6, 2007

Photos: 11

Random

It's random. Some of the stuff I've posted to show specific people. Some of the stuff, non-specific people. Some of it I'm selling, some of it, I'm keeping. Some is is of my weird projects, some are my normal projects. If you like it, good. If not, I wasn't shooting for your validation anyway! Thanks!

Feb 8, 2007

Photos: 102

Items for Sale

Jan 25, 2007

Photos: 6

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	Johnny C photos
	Margaret Curnutte photos

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