Royal Caribbean Cruisers -- How Are Things Where You Are? (was "Routine" ​ 😁 ​day in lockdown... how was yours?)

[island lady]

5 hours ago, cruise wizard said:

Unfortunately.................yes.

 

😜

[derorim]

4 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

I have to locate and dig the top off of my mom’s septic tank. Tomorrow all three tanks are getting pumped. Crappy job, but better than the alternative.

 

 

Just look for the greener grass 🙃

[Sunshine3601]

1 hour ago, George C said:

I feel sorry for people who currently do not own a home and are looking to buy . 

Yes it is very difficult for first time buyers to compete in this market as most of them just dont have the extra cash to compete so alot are turning to new construction homes where you dont necessarily enter into multiple offers.

[island lady]

18 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Our scientists have been experimenting with  Covid Sniffer Dogs and the dogs have detected 90% of covid positive cases taking odours off donors socks and face masks.

The dogs would be excellent for testing passengers getting on and  off planes and cruise ships in a very short time.

 

Just my luck they would probably smell my granola bar in my carry on bag.  😄

 

 And with the limited service now on flights, watched a couple pull two burgers they bought in the terminal out of their bags, and that was in first class!  Smelled of onions and french fries in close quarters for an hour!.   Bet the dogs would love to "light" on that!  😉 

Edited May 24, 2021 by island lady

[Tree_skier]

So today is vaccine shot #2 day.  Hopefully, no side effects. I've got a busy week and really don't have time to be shut down for any length of time.  I've got to have everything wrapped up by Saturday. This is my last week in SoCal and much to my wife's happiness we are heading home and will be there for at least 6 weeks. I have to head to WA for a week but DW is staying behind. Hopefully a nice Memorial Day picnic with friends and family on Monday and then on a flight to Seattle on Tuesday.  

[FamilyCruiserUK]

1 hour ago, grapau27 said:

We called at a retail park this morning and went to McDonald's but they were closed.

Animal rights activists had stopped delivery trucks leaving their distribution depots so we went home for lunch.

After lunch we went to the beach for an hour then to the eye hospital.

The consultant was delighted with the results of my eye op and has put me on the list hopefully 2 months for a cataract op on my other eye.

Hope everyone is well.

Graham.

It annoys me these activists. I eat meat and i do not force or stop people from eating veggies. What right  do they have to stop people having the choice in what they eat. 

To top it off they post all over social media using phones where the materials (mostly for the batteries) are strip mined causing a huge ammount of natural devastation.......

 

Good news about eye op though, glad all ok

[grapau27]

16 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

So today is vaccine shot #2 day.  Hopefully, no side effects. I've got a busy week and really don't have time to be shut down for any length of time.  I've got to have everything wrapped up by Saturday. This is my last week in SoCal and much to my wife's happiness we are heading home and will be there for at least 6 weeks. I have to head to WA for a week but DW is staying behind. Hopefully a nice Memorial Day picnic with friends and family on Monday and then on a flight to Seattle on Tuesday.  

Good luck today with your second vaccine jab.

Hopefully no side effects afterwards.

[Sea Dog]

@Tree_skier Good luck today. Take it easy you will have a sore arm but everything else will be fine and the relief you will have=Priceless.

[bobmacliberty]

5 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

Only a few jobs today on this Canadian Holiday Monday for me.  I have to locate and dig the top off of my mom’s septic tank. Tomorrow all three tanks are getting pumped. Crappy job, but better than the alternative.  -  Boooooo. 🙄

 

Yesterday Lisa and I got some buttermilk fried chicken for dinner after I did some work around the farm.  It had a maple aioli. After dinner we enjoyed watching the Leafs in game 2.  We would have liked the Oilers to have won as well, but alas the Winnipeg Jets have appeared to have shot Edmonton down.  - Boooooooooo again. 🙄
 

We booked Owen’s shot yesterday. It just opened for 12-18 year olds in our area. He goes Monday May 31st.  😃 👍

 

 

Cruise Critic really needs a boo button for bad puns and Dad jokes.  Congrats on getting Owen scheduled!

 

[A&L_Ont]

1 minute ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

Cruise Critic really needs a boo button for bad puns and Dad jokes.  Congrats on getting Owen scheduled!

 

We had one booked for him but came across one a week sooner than the original one, and a bit closer to home. We already know that it is Pfizer as it’s the only one approved for 12-18 year olds. 
 

As for a “Boo”… I couldn’t locate the tank at moms. I had a photo with some dimensions on it but I had not luck. I’ve dug it out before as well so I have to be practically right on top of it. I just stopped wasting my time. 
 

It has risers on the cement lid but mom didn’t want them visible. So they are supposedly a few inches between the surface. After probing the ground for an hour with a steel rod, and some trial digging I had no luck. They will locate it tomorrow as they have been the same company that has cleaned it out for decades. It just would have been faster if it was ready for them when they arrived. At least two of the three will be easier.

[bobmacliberty]

3 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

 

Excellent news, Bob, happy for you !!

 

Just curious, since your "system" in the US is so much different from here -- you had 4 offers, I assume all of them with same "conditions" and same amount?

 

What does your agent say? She goes back to their agent and says: "if you add 2K, the house is yours"? Someone goes the right of "first refusal"?

 

In short -- how does the "upping the offer" works 😁

 

The formal process is that buyers make an official offer using a standard legal form that contains several places that the buyer can customize the offer (purchase price, buying with cash vs. a loan, how long they have to make an inspection, etc.).  Some will include an escalation clause that for example could say that their offer is $100K and they will escalate in amounts of $5K up to $120K.  This means that if someone else offers $110, their offer would become $115K.  If someone offers $125K, they won't go any higher.  This gives the seller an idea of the initial upper end of all offers.

 

There are 2 formal ways to respond to offers.  First, you can make a counter offer to one and only one person.  The counter offer is a legal contract and if the buyer accepts the counter, it's a done deal.  If the sellers were to make multiple counter offers at the same time, they could end up selling the same house to more than one person.  The other option is to tell all buyers who made an offer to come back with another offer, giving their best and highest offer.  The seller then chooses from the second round of offers.  The risk is that some buyers may not want to get into this situation  and may then cancel their offer.  Not likely, but possible, is the situation where all buyers cancel their offers.

 

Informally, the seller's agent can ask buyer's agents questions for information, including how much flexibility their buyers have with their offer.  This can give you a sense of who would be best to make a counter offer to.  Buyer's agents may choose to submit a new, improved offer.  There's a fine line here where the agents need to keep things fair for all buyers.  Several buyer's agents asked our agent what would be good enough to be a winning offer...essentially asking what price and terms they should submit.  Our agent would not give any info like this partly because she values her reputation of having integrity (agents are wary of other agents who they know will bend the rules a lot), and partly because if an agent does cross the line they can be fined...sometimes fined large amounts.  Our agent did some sensing for the 4 best offers and we chose one to make a counter offer, which was accepted.  

 

I'm not a realtor so I don't know what is formally allowed and what is against the rules. I also don't know exactly what our agent did...just that she made a point (several times) of saying that her fiduciary responsibility is to get the best deal for us, but that she would not do anything wrong in the process and risk losing her job or being fined.  We fully supported her in this.   @Sunshine3601 or  realtors here may be able to better comment on this.  The rules may also vary by state.

[island lady]

2 hours ago, grapau27 said:

We called at a retail park this morning and went to McDonald's but they were closed.

Animal rights activists had stopped delivery trucks leaving their distribution depots so we went home for lunch.

After lunch we went to the beach for an hour then to the eye hospital.

The consultant was delighted with the results of my eye op and has put me on the list hopefully 2 months for a cataract op on my other eye.

Hope everyone is well.

Graham.

 

Fantastic news about your follow up appointment for the eye surgery!  I know you will do well with the other eye! 🙂 

 

Yeah, your "anti meat" people made me think of one day when I was fishing.  I  felt sorry for the nice size fish wiggling around when we had to "put it to the knife" to turn it into dinner.  Then I remembered the fish was caught by eating another smaller live fish that was on my hook.  😉  The dinner fish wasn't a vegetarian either.  😄 

[Tree_skier]

 

 

 

in keeping with the direction of this thread. 

Edited May 24, 2021 by Tree_skier

[island lady]

2 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

The formal process is that buyers make an official offer using a standard legal form that contains several places that the buyer can customize the offer (purchase price, buying with cash vs. a loan, how long they have to make an inspection, etc.).  Some will include an escalation clause that for example could say that their offer is $100K and they will escalate in amounts of $5K up to $120K.  This means that if someone else offers $110, their offer would become $115K.  If someone offers $125K, they won't go any higher.  This gives the seller an idea of the initial upper end of all offers.

 

There are 2 formal ways to respond to offers.  First, you can make a counter offer to one and only one person.  The counter offer is a legal contract and if the buyer accepts the counter, it's a done deal.  If the sellers were to make multiple counter offers at the same time, they could end up selling the same house to more than one person.  The other option is to tell all buyers who made an offer to come back with another offer, giving their best and highest offer.  The seller then chooses from the second round of offers.  The risk is that some buyers may not want to get into this situation  and may then cancel their offer.  Not likely, but possible, is the situation where all buyers cancel their offers.

 

Informally, the seller's agent can ask buyer's agents questions for information, including how much flexibility their buyers have with their offer.  This can give you a sense of who would be best to make a counter offer to.  Buyer's agents may choose to submit a new, improved offer.  There's a fine line here where the agents need to keep things fair for all buyers.  Several buyer's agents asked our agent what would be good enough to be a winning offer...essentially asking what price and terms they should submit.  Our agent would not give any info like this partly because she values her reputation of having integrity (agents are wary of other agents who they know will bend the rules a lot), and partly because if an agent does cross the line they can be fined...sometimes fined large amounts.  Our agent did some sensing for the 4 best offers and we chose one to make a counter offer, which was accepted.  

 

I'm not a realtor so I don't know what is formally allowed and what is against the rules. I also don't know exactly what our agent did...just that she made a point (several times) of saying that her fiduciary responsibility is to get the best deal for us, but that she would not do anything wrong in the process and risk losing her job or being fined.  We fully supported her in this.   @Sunshine3601 or  realtors here may be able to better comment on this.  The rules may also vary by state.

 

Wow...buying and selling a house is getting a whole lot more complicated now!  😮 

 

Congrats once again on the final result, and soon to be signed closing papers!  🙂 

[island lady]

2 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

 

 

 

in keeping with the direction of this thread. 

 

 

ROTFLMAF!!!   Great post!  😄 

[h20skibum]

Not exactly a house, but maybe a mobile house.  I know some on here have camping vehicles.  

 

This is one I saw on our walk around the campground this morning. 

 

$175K for this model.  For that kind of money, I would expect a heck of a lot more room than you can fit in this one.  I read that Mercedes partnered with Airstream to do a high end one of this size for $245K. 

 

My wife just said “You know how many nice hotel stays we could have for that price?”

 

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, island lady said:

 

Wow...buying and selling a house is getting a whole lot more complicated now!  😮 

 

Congrats once again on the final result, and soon to be signed closing papers!  🙂 

When we sold my late mam and dad's house 9 years ago house sales in our city were slow but the Estate agents got plenty of viewings but Pauline and I conducted about 20 viewings ourselves and sold the house.

We spent a lot of money modernising and we painted every room and got a new bathroom fitted and replaced all the carpets.

My late mam liked Artexing so I had to get a plasterer in to skim all the walls.

[Ourusualbeach]

2 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

and then on a flight to Seattle on Tuesday

Talk about being early.🤣😉

[dani negreanu]

1 hour ago, bobmacliberty said:

There are 2 formal ways to respond to offers. 

 

Thank you, Bob. I really appreciate the time you took to reply in detail.

 

What can I say - we sold 2 apartments, and, beside, every one of us sold the apartment we inherited from our parents -- without agents. We just needed a good lawyer to draw the contracts.

 

We had agents contacting us, and we made them sign a contract that we'll not pay any commissions, since we didn't contact them. Just for reference: they charge 2% +17% VAT on top of that.

 

We did pay an agent when we badly wanted our previous apartment, and he was the sole option....

 

Then, the lawyer is supposed to charge as the agents, but you can reach an agreement, and pay as less as 0.4% + 17% VAT. This fee includes what you call in US "title company".

 

Amazing how the whole procedure is so very different ....

 

[Ourusualbeach]

1 hour ago, A&L_Ont said:

I couldn’t locate the tank at moms. I had a photo with some dimensions on it but I had not luck.

Perhaps a decorative sundial as a lawn ornament to mark the location. 

[cruise wizard]

1 hour ago, Tree_skier said:

 

 

 

in keeping with the direction of this thread. 

 

For Sale..............Energy efficient studio style "Tiny Home" home with maintenance free exterior. Complete open concept includes 1 bathroom, sleeping loft and outdoor dining. This L'Trine model is portable and maybe potable. There is usually a line to sell the home but would suggest making an appointment and bringing an aerosol spray can fully enjoy the experience.

[dani negreanu]

4 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Animal rights activists had stopped delivery trucks leaving their distribution depots so we went home for lunch.

 

The consultant was delighted with the results of my eye op

 

Graham, that's marvelous that your vitrecto went so well. The cataract op will be a piece of cake after the vitrecto....

 

In no time at all you'll be seeing 6/6 🥰

 

And boo to the animal rights activists -- they should know where to draw the line....

[Arzeena]

Talking about the vaccinated and not, this afternoon I saw a woman in Publix flashing something under her sweatshirt. First I thought uh oh, but it was a T shirt that said "Don't Get Vaccinated". Everytime anyone would pass her, she would flash open her sweatshirt and display her t shirt right in thier face. 🥴

[grapau27]

1 minute ago, dani negreanu said:

 

Graham, that's marvelous that your vitrecto went so well. The cataract op will be a piece of cake after the vitrecto....

 

In no time at all you'll be seeing 6/6 🥰

 

And boo to the animal rights activists -- they should know where to draw the line....

Thanks Dani.

For the first time in almost 20 years I can drive without wearing glasses but I do need glasses for reading.

The eye I had the vitrectomy on was my strong eye.

My weak eye is a lazy eye with poor vision and I'm hoping the cataract op on that eye with IOL fitted will make a big difference.

[Sunshine3601]

2 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

The formal process is that buyers make an official offer using a standard legal form that contains several places that the buyer can customize the offer (purchase price, buying with cash vs. a loan, how long they have to make an inspection, etc.).  Some will include an escalation clause that for example could say that their offer is $100K and they will escalate in amounts of $5K up to $120K.  This means that if someone else offers $110, their offer would become $115K.  If someone offers $125K, they won't go any higher.  This gives the seller an idea of the initial upper end of all offers.

 

There are 2 formal ways to respond to offers.  First, you can make a counter offer to one and only one person.  The counter offer is a legal contract and if the buyer accepts the counter, it's a done deal.  If the sellers were to make multiple counter offers at the same time, they could end up selling the same house to more than one person.  The other option is to tell all buyers who made an offer to come back with another offer, giving their best and highest offer.  The seller then chooses from the second round of offers.  The risk is that some buyers may not want to get into this situation  and may then cancel their offer.  Not likely, but possible, is the situation where all buyers cancel their offers.

 

Informally, the seller's agent can ask buyer's agents questions for information, including how much flexibility their buyers have with their offer.  This can give you a sense of who would be best to make a counter offer to.  Buyer's agents may choose to submit a new, improved offer.  There's a fine line here where the agents need to keep things fair for all buyers.  Several buyer's agents asked our agent what would be good enough to be a winning offer...essentially asking what price and terms they should submit.  Our agent would not give any info like this partly because she values her reputation of having integrity (agents are wary of other agents who they know will bend the rules a lot), and partly because if an agent does cross the line they can be fined...sometimes fined large amounts.  Our agent did some sensing for the 4 best offers and we chose one to make a counter offer, which was accepted.  

 

I'm not a realtor so I don't know what is formally allowed and what is against the rules. I also don't know exactly what our agent did...just that she made a point (several times) of saying that her fiduciary responsibility is to get the best deal for us, but that she would not do anything wrong in the process and risk losing her job or being fined.  We fully supported her in this.   @Sunshine3601 or  realtors here may be able to better comment on this.  The rules may also vary by state.

 I am not sure about federal regulations for Realtors but I can tell you us mortgage lenders are heavily regulated.     We go thru compliance reviews/audits on a regular basis.   As an Underwriter I am not permitted to speak with Realtors, Sellers or Buyers but I hear all the stories from the loan officers/mortgage originators in my office.    A lot of Seller's Realtors will call the LO and ask questions about the buyer's pre-approval.    Always good for them to do their homework and speak with the lender as there are some really crappy lenders out there that give out "pre-quals" and not full pre-approvals.     That doesn't happen where I work, the LO would be fired if they did that.