2107 Rubens was built in 1963. It has the living room, kitchen,
breakfast nook, den, and master bedroom/bathroom on the first floor.
The fireplace opens on the living room and the den. Upstairs is two
bedrooms, bathroom, and three huge closets. Dallas County Appraisal
District (DallasCAD.org) lists it as 1625 square feet. However the
upstairs is about 3 1/2 ft wider than the appraisal, so we estimate
around 1780 square feet. The house has been unoccupied for about
five years. The neighbors refer to it as the "squirrel house".
Squirrels have chewed large holes in all the soffits and run in and
out all the time.
The pictures were taken with a small digital camera which I bought
about a year ago for $29. The camera is rated at .1 megapixels.
That is why the resolution is low, the color is poor, and sometimes
the pictures are streaky.
"Big Box" Stores
We priced everything at Lowe's and Home Depot. Home Depot seems to be
more contractor friendly (bulk packaging, etc.) but Lowe's is getting
more competitive. Most things are priced about the same. It is fun
watching the price of OSB (oriented strand board, also known as wafer
board). Last year or so the price varied from $4.50 a sheet to
$17.00. In the last couple of months it has ranged from $8.50 to
$12.50. The two stores stay pretty close. Down lights and the
kitchen light were much cheaper at Home Depot. I bought the windows
at Lowe's. The price was better, they were more flexible on pricing,
and they were delivered free when they were late.
Habitat for Humanity
We know of two in the Dallas area. One is on Hampton several blocks
north of I30, the other behind Denny's at I30 and Beltline. They
sell off the excess that has been donated and not needed for houses.
The have tile, laminate flooring, cabinet hardware, lights, etc.
Selection and prices change almost weekly. We bought tile there.
And last week the Hampton store had grout.
"Speed Bumps"
Zig Ziglar tells of a cheerful waitress he talked to over breakfast.
"Don't you have to deal with grouches?" he asked.
"Oh yes," she responded, "but I watch for them. I know I'll have
three every morning, so when I serve one, I can say "That's one" and
keep on going."
I have heard that a hundred things can go wrong with
a real estate deal, and usually twenty will. But it is a different
twenty each time. Watch for them and count them off.
There have been "speed bumps" with this project. For instance, some
of the
windows
took six weeks to arrive, the
foyer tile and mortar
had to be chiseled up, and the
kitchen cabinet hinges
had to be taken out with a drill and screw extractor.
