dimensional…

I’m enjoying the many Easter Eggs I find as each item is checked off the list of tasks I finish in the house. Take a look at the image. I really don’t care how smart you are, you may own a company, be licensed by the state to perform some task for lots of money, you might be a C.P.A. or a pilot, maybe you watched every episode of “This Old House” but until you have repaired the damage caused by the insidious penetration of water 50 times in numerous places in different homes you might not appreciate the manufacturers’ instructions for windows, siding and any product installed in a hole in your wall for what they are. It’s pointless to do things wrong when fighting water. You will be discovered by the universal solvent.

The fit and finish in the space I’m going to live in is a challenge simply because I want it a certain way – just like you. The $1 per foot floor covering looks like crap while the one I like is about $5 per foot. I think you know what will happen…I told the thrifty Scandinavian genes to sit in the backseat and keep quiet. I’ve observed some people practice self-deprivation. It’s a thin disguise for some level of self-loathing and becomes a compulsion.

While in the bayou I have read about the Acadian heritage. I follow rabbit trails and came upon a song by The Band – “Acadian Driftwood” – a great tale (not exactly history). The guitar chord voicings are just enough and Richard, Levon and Rick do it right.

Meanwhile, work in the bayou is following a known path.

Mars out.

Googledee goop…

On my latest eponymous vanity search I found I’m not the delinquent child in the Ohio appeals court case history, I’m not the musician nor am I the guy in who has left odd comments about what  is/is not art, I’m not in the farm business, I’m not a web page designer living in the Great Northwest (but he did buy the eponymous website after I let it lapse during an illness a few years ago), and so on…

4-11

Images are my building 4-11 and 5-13 – first trim and paint inside; primaries, stucco and brick outside.

Mars out.

SWM (and taxes)…

There are very few government entitlement programs or tax benefits designed specifically for the single white male with no kids and an income above the poverty level. Actually, I’m not aware of a single one. One thing is certain John, Hillary and Barack will turn to dust before they even think of introducing anything of the sort. So, my fellow tax payers, I rely upon you to carry the load for a tax break I can get and as of 11:30 this morning I got it – the mortgage interest deduction.

The parcel also has a rental unit on it so I am a landlord again. Wonderful…

As these things go (buying/owning real estate) you think of this and that to fix, improve, change, make more efficient or green, etc. I’m reading myself to sleep with the tax guide to organize which expenses affect basis, can/must be depreciated or written off in current year as “cash expense” etc. Projects for safety, utility and deferred maintenance are first then a mix of others based on time available.

What if Home Depot had another shelf tag by the carpet which had the depreciation schedule for purchases in increments of $1,000? What if Lowe’s had a shelf tag describing the concepts of cash expense and an improvement as a change in basis as they relate to adding a 150 square foot concrete patio out back? That would be interesting.

I know one thing a ton of money is spent on rental property and is not accounted for properly.

An interesting footnote is throughout the entire process of finding, making the offer, closing, dealing with documents, etc I never talked to the seller on the phone or in person once – every conversation was done via email. And, of course, it was done without a Realtor.

Mars out.