All Forum Posts by: Jim Hamrick

Allure progress: bathroom, bedroom and kitchen area left to do...about 3 to 4 hundred square feet.
Allure technique...if you have a piece of Allure which does not lay down in the glued position then try this. Take a piece of scrap, pry the piece into position if required (areas along the wall are especially difficult to align)...once the piece is in position place the piece of scrap Allure over the joint and smack the scrap with a hammer...this seems to reset the adhesion and sets the piece in place. The Allure is not damaged using this technique. As I mentioned before I had "flappers"...joints that would not remain set even after using a heat gun.. The technique described above seemed to have resolved this issue about 90 % of the time.
Allure doublestick tape, mentioned earlier, will be used to "refresh" the grip stip on any remaining "flappers".

Walking with my site manager ( wife :>) we discussed pricing and minimum stays....for anyone unfamiliar...my place will be a short term rental. My wife wanted to set the minimum at 1 week. I said 2 days (aiming for weekends. MW wants to charge more than the local hotel... http://hamptoninn3.hilton.com/en/hotels/north-carolina/hampton-inn-and-suites-swansboro-OAJSWHX/index.html
the link is for the hotel which is located about .5 miles from my rental...how does one establish a price for a furnished 3 bed/2 bath 1900 +/- square foot house? What would you charge?

Went to the grand opening of the Swansboro, NC rec center today...walking distance...in the park with tennis, walking trails, skate park, awesome playground ( to be 8 years old again...sigh). The rec center has exercise equipment @10 bucks a day for non residents.

Allure oak going down fairly well..for all you DIY folks...nice product to work with. The product is simple to cut. I have ordered double sided tape, strips for reversing direction, and cleaner (for satin finish). All of this was ordered online. I purchased the Allure off the shelf at HD. 10 to 20 boxes at a time....I'm putting down about 1500 sq ft.

I am laying the Allure over a concrete subfloor which was in places very rough. I learned that I am not a trowel man...and that I like leveling compound better than skim coat. (6 bags...I think...kinda lost count) Using my best amateur effort I managed to get a reasonably level surface with a few imperfections. Hence the double sided tape.

My wife ( onsite manager) loves the Allure and wishes we had used it in our residence rather than Pergo....we have dogs and wood was not in the cards.

So I have a couple of flappers due to an imperfect subfloor...but this is transparent to my onsite manager. Nice product.

Made an offer of about 25% of the tax assessed value due to no deeded access (prescriptive easement), half wetlands, won't perc and building demolition clean up cost. Rejected. The absentee owner has a much inflated view of the property value...So, now it is wait and see.

I've removed all of the carpet and linoleum, tack strips, base molding and quarter round. Used some nice expensive two part epoxy to repair a larger crack in the slab. Did some skim coating...which in addition to the cracks helped me decide pretty quickly to try the allure.

I bought the oak allure....just under a 100 square foot to start with...it is 20 cents per square foot less...is a light color which I like because it won't show scuffs and dust like the darker colors will.

To all: Appreciate all the advice and will post every once in a while with newbie highs and lows.

@Dan S - The owner is does not live in the local area, she approached me one time asking for access through my land so I believe she has problems with her relatives. I'll be taking your advice about the offer.

Hi Dwayne, I'd keep listening to your Grandpa and your heart. Real estate may be a great way to teach and help. There is a guy named Dave Ramsey who is a buisiness man one can listen to on the radio who combines ministry and financial education. He seems to be heavily into real estate. Just google his name.

Find this article on his site. "Where Does Real Estate Investing Fit in the Baby Steps? Find out who makes a good real estate investor"

Hope this helps.

Thanks Joel. How fast is undeveloped land moving in your area...it is moving quite slow here.

What kind of discount would one apply to land which has only a prescriptive easement, won't perc, half wetlands, has a derelict house and has city water but no sewer. I know :>) but it does have some good land for growing trees, a nice ephemeral pond and adds to my acreage (it ajoins my property). I'm thinking half of the tax assessment price for the land as an initial offer.