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Do you think that's a good deal? Goto page 1, 2  Next

Way to Russia Talk Lounge Forum Index -> Polls

Should I do it? Take it  0%  [ 0 ] Leave it  20%  [ 1 ] I am not sure  80%  [ 4 ] Total Votes : 5
Author	Message
RusskiCanadian23 Lounge Wizard Joined: 27 Mar 2007 Posts: 1104 Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada/Ванкувер, Британская Колумбия, Канада	Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 9:22 pm    Post subject: Do you think that's a good deal? Here's the case. I, until yesterday afternoon, didn't think I ever needed, or wanted, any kind of renovations/maitenance/restorations etc. in my home. Then, a neighbour of mine, this guy from Belarus, named Misha (Mikhail), and yes, that is why we know each other, we both speak Russian, I knew someone would ask, anyway, he owed me a favour helping him out before, and so he offered to (oh, I forgot to mention there, Misha is a professional home renovator/ interial designer) do a complete renovation of my apartment, like he did his and it does look awesome BTW, this includes repairing any piping problems, window leakes, repainting the walls, possibly changing the carpet, or putting in a different floor covering instead, maybe laminant or something, plus putting new cranes and plumbing everywhere, and also BRAND NEW appliances among other things. This is going to bring the price of my "cave" as I call it, up $10, 000, from $285, 000 all the way to $295, 000. However, this is all going to cost me some $30, 000 (and, apparently this is the cheaper deal, that he is giving me, only as a friend!). Now, I don't want to pay 30 grand for something, if it's not going to be worth it in the long run. He keeps telling me it's a good deal, and to take it... What do you guys think: is he really trying to just return a favour as a friend, or is he simply selling me his company's services here? Help me out here, I am not a specialist in these types of things...
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5_Zvehzda Just Starting Joined: 30 Mar 2010 Posts: 1	Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 9:37 pm    Post subject: What is the size of your apartment, Victor? I'm not a specialist in home renovation either, but 30k sounds kind of steep - especially if this is your friend helping you with the work. It shouldn't cost this much. You should try and negotiate a lower fee on the condition the two of you do some of the jobs equally. Just an idea. This reminds me of some home improvements I've done with my condo this year, but they were very basic upgrades. I do need a leaking pipe fixed, though. The water is turned off and I'm tired of fetching buckets of water.
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RusskiCanadian23 Lounge Wizard Joined: 27 Mar 2007 Posts: 1104 Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada/Ванкувер, Британская Колумбия, Канада	Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 9:45 pm    Post subject: 5_Zvehzda wrote: What is the size of your apartment, Victor? I'm not a specialist in home renovation either, but 30k sounds kind of steep - especially if this is your friend helping you with the work. It shouldn't cost this much. You should try and negotiate a lower fee on the condition the two of you do some of the jobs equally. Just an idea. This reminds me of some home improvements I've done with my condo this year, but they were very basic upgrades. I do need a leaking pipe fixed, though. The water is turned off and I'm tired of fetching buckets of water. The size is something around 1,000 square feet. It's a two bedroom, two bathroom "cave". And, I know what you mean abouth the buckets of water: had a flood here last summer, a water pipe blew right in my ceiling, it was like Niagara Falls in here...
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krasatulya VIP Joined: 29 May 2005 Posts: 590	Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 10:47 pm    Post subject: I would tend to agree with Zvehzda that if you're buying the appliances and materials, and he's doing to work, I would think you should be able to cut a better deal. More importantly, this doesn't seem to be a very good return on your investment if you're adding $30,000 and the value of your property is only going to go up by $10,000.
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Yuri-s-Girl WayToRussified Joined: 01 Jul 2007 Posts: 371 Location: Ontario	Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2007 1:54 am    Post subject: Re: Do you think that's a good deal? RusskiCanadian23 wrote: Here's the case. I, until yesterday afternoon, didn't think I ever needed, or wanted, any kind of renovations/maitenance/restorations etc. in my home. Then, a neighbour of mine, this guy from Belarus, named Misha (Mikhail), and yes, that is why we know each other, we both speak Russian, I knew someone would ask, anyway, he owed me a favour helping him out before, and so he offered to (oh, I forgot to mention there, Misha is a professional home renovator/ interial designer) do a complete renovation of my apartment, like he did his and it does look awesome BTW, this includes repairing any piping problems, window leakes, repainting the walls, possibly changing the carpet, or putting in a different floor covering instead, maybe laminant or something, plus putting new cranes and plumbing everywhere, and also BRAND NEW appliances among other things. This is going to bring the price of my "cave" as I call it, up $10, 000, from $285, 000 all the way to $295, 000. However, this is all going to cost me some $30, 000 (and, apparently this is the cheaper deal, that he is giving me, only as a friend!). Now, I don't want to pay 30 grand for something, if it's not going to be worth it in the long run. He keeps telling me it's a good deal, and to take it... What do you guys think: is he really trying to just return a favour as a friend, or is he simply selling me his company's services here? Help me out here, I am not a specialist in these types of things... Hmmmm, if your really serious, then I would get at least two more quotes. I've heard that a washroom installation in a house runs at least $15,000 and that's not necessarily a fancy washroom either. At work we get painting jobs done in classrooms and offices, geeze, the invoices run into the thousands. It can cost some big bucks. You live out west right? The costs of housing has gone through the roof, it's more expensive than here in Toronto, all that waterfront making it quite lucrative. Well, he may be your friend but, he isn't doing the work for free and labour costs anywhere are usually costly. Good work, costs good money. Have you seen any work he has done previously? I mean you are making an investment in your real estate, you have to be careful. I mean you are spending hard earned money, you have a right to be cautious. Go with your gut feeling, as it's usually right on the money. No pun intended. LOL Ever seen that show with Mike Holmes on HGTV? Well he stresses doing your homework. Getting quotes, checking referrals, seeing other work contractors have done. Protect yourself first! YG
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RusskiCanadian23 Lounge Wizard Joined: 27 Mar 2007 Posts: 1104 Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada/Ванкувер, Британская Колумбия, Канада	Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2007 2:06 am    Post subject: Re: Do you think that's a good deal? Yuri's Girl wrote: You live out west right? The costs of housing has gone through the roof, it's more expensive than here in Toronto, all that waterfront making it quite lucrative. Well, he may be your friend but, he isn't doing the work for free and labour costs anywhere are usually costly. Good work, costs good money. Have you seen any work he has done previously? I mean you are making an investment in your real estate, you have to be careful. I mean you are spending hard earned money, you have a right to be cautious. Go with your gut feeling, as it's usually right on the money. No pun intended. LOL Ever seen that show with Mike Holmes on HGTV? Well he stresses doing your homework. Getting quotes, checking referrals, seeing other work contractors have done. Protect yourself first! YG I am a frequent guest at his apartment, next door to mine, and I saw the kind of things he did there. Looked awesome, really... In fact he is thinking about making a pro-style photo-shoot album of the place and showing it off that way, maybe putting it on the internet. No, like I said, I have no complaints as far as his skill, I mean I saw photos of his work. This guy knows what he is doing. I am just not sure about the price.
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Yuri-s-Girl WayToRussified Joined: 01 Jul 2007 Posts: 371 Location: Ontario	Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2007 2:10 am    Post subject: Re: Do you think that's a good deal? RusskiCanadian23 wrote: Yuri's Girl wrote: You live out west right? The costs of housing has gone through the roof, it's more expensive than here in Toronto, all that waterfront making it quite lucrative. Well, he may be your friend but, he isn't doing the work for free and labour costs anywhere are usually costly. Good work, costs good money. Have you seen any work he has done previously? I mean you are making an investment in your real estate, you have to be careful. I mean you are spending hard earned money, you have a right to be cautious. Go with your gut feeling, as it's usually right on the money. No pun intended. LOL Ever seen that show with Mike Holmes on HGTV? Well he stresses doing your homework. Getting quotes, checking referrals, seeing other work contractors have done. Protect yourself first! YG I am a frequent guest at his apartment, next door to mine, and I saw the kind of things he did there. Looked awesome, really... In fact he is thinking about making a pro-style photo-shoot album of the place and showing it off that way, maybe putting it on the internet. No, like I said, I have no complaints as far as his skill, I mean I saw photos of his work. This guy knows what he is doing. I am just not sure about the price. Well, it's a lot of money and if you are ready to have that sort of work done, I would ask for at least one other quotation from another company, just to use as a comparison. Ask around family and other friends who have had renovations done and like the results. Then ask one of those companies to quote the work. Doesn't hurt to ask. Buyer beware eh! I have also heard that if you going to sell, the kitchen is number one area to fix up to help sell the place. Heard that on at least one of those renovating shows on tv. If you get the work done, show us the before and after so we can ooh and aah about how great your reno looks! Good luck! YG Last edited by Yuri-s-Girl on Sun Jul 29, 2007 2:13 am; edited 2 times in total
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RusskiCanadian23 Lounge Wizard Joined: 27 Mar 2007 Posts: 1104 Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada/Ванкувер, Британская Колумбия, Канада	Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2007 2:11 am    Post subject: krasatulya wrote: I would tend to agree with Zvehzda that if you're buying the appliances and materials, and he's doing to work, I would think you should be able to cut a better deal. More importantly, this doesn't seem to be a very good return on your investment if you're adding $30,000 and the value of your property is only going to go up by $10,000. True... I don't know... Maybe this isn't such a good idea... Spending 30 big ones on some renovations that I probably could live without... I mean if it at least paid off in the future...
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Daria Lounge Wizard Joined: 16 May 2005 Posts: 1146 Location: Canada	Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2007 7:26 pm    Post subject: Re: Do you think that's a good deal? RusskiCanadian23 wrote: Here's the case. I, until yesterday afternoon, didn't think I ever needed, or wanted, any kind of renovations/maitenance/restorations etc. in my home. Then, a neighbour of mine, this guy from Belarus, named Misha (Mikhail), and yes, that is why we know each other, we both speak Russian, I knew someone would ask, anyway, he owed me a favour helping him out before, and so he offered to (oh, I forgot to mention there, Misha is a professional home renovator/ interial designer) do a complete renovation of my apartment, like he did his and it does look awesome BTW, this includes repairing any piping problems, window leakes, repainting the walls, possibly changing the carpet, or putting in a different floor covering instead, maybe laminant or something, plus putting new cranes and plumbing everywhere, and also BRAND NEW appliances among other things. This is going to bring the price of my "cave" as I call it, up $10, 000, from $285, 000 all the way to $295, 000. However, this is all going to cost me some $30, 000 (and, apparently this is the cheaper deal, that he is giving me, only as a friend!). Now, I don't want to pay 30 grand for something, if it's not going to be worth it in the long run. He keeps telling me it's a good deal, and to take it... What do you guys think: is he really trying to just return a favour as a friend, or is he simply selling me his company's services here? Help me out here, I am not a specialist in these types of things... Русский, ты уверен, что твой товарищ из Беларусии, а не из Одессы? Похоже, он тебе навязывает, то что тебе не надо или то , что по крайней мере, ты не собирался делать в ближаишем будущем. Не торопись, в конце концов, ты его об этом не просил. А то что он тебе хочет ответить добром за твою помощь, так это можно сделать другими путям, без зарабатывания на тебе денег.
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jo-jo-7 Just Starting Joined: 16 Mar 2010 Posts: 6	Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2007 7:42 pm    Post subject: RusskiCanadian23 wrote: krasatulya wrote: I would tend to agree with Zvehzda that if you're buying the appliances and materials, and he's doing to work, I would think you should be able to cut a better deal. More importantly, this doesn't seem to be a very good return on your investment if you're adding $30,000 and the value of your property is only going to go up by $10,000. True... I don't know... Maybe this isn't such a good idea... Spending 30 big ones on some renovations that I probably could live without... I mean if it at least paid off in the future... Russki, I have to agree with Krasatulya on this. It is too much. He is only updating by fixing and repairing, putting in a new rug, replacing appliances which does not even come close to $30,000. The only bigger job that might cost you is if you were having new window replacements that would at least cost $10,000, all new cabinets in the kitchen is about $5,000 plus all the labor cost, but replacing rugs and fixing windows, painting, small jobs does not cost $30,000 ect....too much. He is only replacing things. I think he is asking too much.
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surfguy Lounge Wizard Joined: 13 Apr 2006 Posts: 6979	Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2007 7:45 pm    Post subject: well that stuff does cost...but the end result has to also be improvement to the over all value...which at this time isn't there
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Daria Lounge Wizard Joined: 16 May 2005 Posts: 1146 Location: Canada	Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2007 7:47 pm    Post subject: jo jo 7 wrote: RusskiCanadian23 wrote: krasatulya wrote: I would tend to agree with Zvehzda that if you're buying the appliances and materials, and he's doing to work, I would think you should be able to cut a better deal. More importantly, this doesn't seem to be a very good return on your investment if you're adding $30,000 and the value of your property is only going to go up by $10,000. True... I don't know... Maybe this isn't such a good idea... Spending 30 big ones on some renovations that I probably could live without... I mean if it at least paid off in the future... Russki, I have to agree with Krasatulya on this. It is too much. He is only updating by fixing and repairing, putting in a new rug, replacing appliances which does not even come close to $30,000. The only bigger job that might cost you is if you were having new window replacements that would at least cost $10,000, all new cabinets in the kitchen is about $5,000 plus all the labor cost, but replacing rugs and fixing windows, painting, small jobs does not cost $30,000 ect....too much. He is only replacing things. I think he is asking too much. This is an interesting way of returning a favor: making someone to pay supposedly, "less money" for something they didn't even need. I'm telling ya, this friend of yours is not from Belarus, he is from Odessa.
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Fire_Goddess Guest	Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2007 7:57 pm    Post subject: I say do not fix it, if it is not broken. Also if you have no intention of selling your "cave" in the near future, there is no point in sprucing it up like your friend is suggesting. You would be better off just doing one thing at a time (if thats what you really wanted). You should definitely get quotes for that kind of work, to see how much money you would really need to cough up for basic renovation.
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RusskiCanadian23 Lounge Wizard Joined: 27 Mar 2007 Posts: 1104 Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada/Ванкувер, Британская Колумбия, Канада	Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2007 9:52 pm    Post subject: Re: Do you think that's a good deal? Daria wrote: RusskiCanadian23 wrote: Here's the case. I, until yesterday afternoon, didn't think I ever needed, or wanted, any kind of renovations/maitenance/restorations etc. in my home. Then, a neighbour of mine, this guy from Belarus, named Misha (Mikhail), and yes, that is why we know each other, we both speak Russian, I knew someone would ask, anyway, he owed me a favour helping him out before, and so he offered to (oh, I forgot to mention there, Misha is a professional home renovator/ interial designer) do a complete renovation of my apartment, like he did his and it does look awesome BTW, this includes repairing any piping problems, window leakes, repainting the walls, possibly changing the carpet, or putting in a different floor covering instead, maybe laminant or something, plus putting new cranes and plumbing everywhere, and also BRAND NEW appliances among other things. This is going to bring the price of my "cave" as I call it, up $10, 000, from $285, 000 all the way to $295, 000. However, this is all going to cost me some $30, 000 (and, apparently this is the cheaper deal, that he is giving me, only as a friend!). Now, I don't want to pay 30 grand for something, if it's not going to be worth it in the long run. He keeps telling me it's a good deal, and to take it... What do you guys think: is he really trying to just return a favour as a friend, or is he simply selling me his company's services here? Help me out here, I am not a specialist in these types of things... Русский, ты уверен, что твой товарищ из Беларусии, а не из Одессы? Похоже, он тебе навязывает, то что тебе не надо или то , что по крайней мере, ты не собирался делать в ближаишем будущем. Не торопись, в конце концов, ты его об этом не просил. А то что он тебе хочет ответить добром за твою помощь, так это можно сделать другими путям, без зарабатывания на тебе денег. Дык он же недавно к семье ездил, в Гомель. А Гомель, это самая шо ни на есь Беларусь!
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RusskiCanadian23 Lounge Wizard Joined: 27 Mar 2007 Posts: 1104 Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada/Ванкувер, Британская Колумбия, Канада	Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2007 9:55 pm    Post subject: Daria wrote: jo jo 7 wrote: RusskiCanadian23 wrote: krasatulya wrote: I would tend to agree with Zvehzda that if you're buying the appliances and materials, and he's doing to work, I would think you should be able to cut a better deal. More importantly, this doesn't seem to be a very good return on your investment if you're adding $30,000 and the value of your property is only going to go up by $10,000. True... I don't know... Maybe this isn't such a good idea... Spending 30 big ones on some renovations that I probably could live without... I mean if it at least paid off in the future... Russki, I have to agree with Krasatulya on this. It is too much. He is only updating by fixing and repairing, putting in a new rug, replacing appliances which does not even come close to $30,000. The only bigger job that might cost you is if you were having new window replacements that would at least cost $10,000, all new cabinets in the kitchen is about $5,000 plus all the labor cost, but replacing rugs and fixing windows, painting, small jobs does not cost $30,000 ect....too much. He is only replacing things. I think he is asking too much. This is an interesting way of returning a favor: making someone to pay supposedly, "less money" for something they didn't even need. I'm telling ya, this friend of yours is not from Belarus, he is from Odessa. And i am telling ya, he's from Gomel! At least that's where he says he's from, I don't know anymore...
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