More evidence of the economic downturn (from my back yard)
When my wife told me that she had agreed upon a price with our gardeners to fix the sprinkler system in the back yard, I said, “WHAT? WHY? We’re probably putting in a pool!” Then she told me the price: $500. I said, “Oh, okay then.”
Previous estimates on their generously fixing the system so ungenerously broken by the contractors who put a second story on our home but nearly ruined our family and definitely killed the lawn in the process ran in the three-thousand-dollar range. Since then, we’ve alternated between using either the sprinkler-hose-attachment system characterized here as utterly baffling me, and just saying the hell with it and watching the grass wither and die. When I recommitted to the “manual” sprinkler system a few months ago and succeeded in revitalizing the lawn — to some degree — I began to appreciate its possibilities: croquet and the like. So, until or unless we do put in a pool, I’m happy to have the “actual” underground sprinkler system repaired — and even happier not to be doing it myself.
So why the amazing discount on this repair job? My wife thinks it’s because of the writers’ strike, now in its xth week and unlikely to end soon; while it’s the writers who are striking, it’s the service-industry people who are suffering most immediately. She says the lead gardener in the family, Ismail, related that he’d discussed our project with his father and they wanted to reward our loyalty. “Others come and go, but you’ve been with us a long time.” Almost 12 years, in fact, and given what they’ve been charging us — very little, I think, especially for weekly service — I haven’t seen a reason to switch. But I think the writers’ strike is only part of it. The mortgage meltdown is hitting Los Angeles like it’s hitting the rest of the nation, although Burbank less so because of pent-up demand. So while I’m happy to get a huge discount on this job, I’m sure I’m not happy about the underlying causes, which are sure to grow worse.
November 25th, 2007 at 5:14 pm
So you WANT your lawn to live? To thrive? I can’t seem to kill mine with neglect. Or do anything to discourage the trees from flourishing. Today I spent hours with my Craftsman mulcher-mower, chopping up leaves and grass to dump into our compost. And croquet is more of a challenge with a spotty lawn and dead leaves.
As far as the mortgage meltdown, I still have people on my mail route buying houses with the intention of flipping them. I did have one seller lamenting that no one would buy his property, but I wonder if he was simply asking too much. The other homes seem to be turning over quickly. Of course, we’re outside Atlantic City, so it may not hit us as hard.
November 26th, 2007 at 6:39 pm
The house next to mine has been up for sale two times this year. The first time it was on the market for about six or seven months but didd not get any takers. It’s now been back on the market for about two months. The listing price is $499,900, down from the original price of $525,000. Houses in Margate have not been selling as well as they did two years ago.
Anyone interested in purchasing a house in Margate can click on the link. The white house with green shutters that can be seen in some of the pictures is mine.
http://www.prufoxroach.com/search/search_results_profile.cfm?propID=7b057f6e-c655-42e8-95c7-2af2dc76086f&propNo=15&sortby=1&pagestart=1&startrow=1
Paul