Huh. Guess no one plays with trains any more.
I'm trying to model 1956, not live in it.
We have some friends who own a 250 acre piece of land with a creek running through it. Nice century old brick 2 1/2 storey home and two outbuildings on it. About 10 years ago they had a real estate appraisal done which showed the value assesssed at $400,000. Because the city boundary has crept ever closer to their end that value has shot up to over $1.25 million. Why?
Real estate speculators-------
Coupled with Developers----
Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry
I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...
http://modeltrainswithmusic.blogspot.ca/
Ulrich, it looks like Hamburg to me. I ate a Hess hamburger opposite the Rathaus pictured, took a similar boat ride there, and ate curry-flavored french fries along the wharf.
Mark
markpierce How I "picture" Germany: A country full of villages. Mark
How I "picture" Germany:
A country full of villages.
... and this is "my" Germany:
Driline rrebellI would not go down that road or we will start discussing WW2 and you know what can of worms that would open up, we don't want to get locked! 1919 is WW1 not WW2. Just so we're clear here
rrebellI would not go down that road or we will start discussing WW2 and you know what can of worms that would open up, we don't want to get locked!
1919 is WW1 not WW2. Just so we're clear here
Sir Madog Mark, isn´t it nice, what you can do with some innocent little figures?
Mark,
isn´t it nice, what you can do with some innocent little figures?
Das macht nicht.
Aaahh, Germany, where the trains are often convenient and the conductors speak English.
But if you scale it by the cost itself, we're saving tons of money!
550,000/87=6,321.84
So if you buy a model house for say, $25, you're paying 1/253 of what you should be paying!
Another example. A $2M locomotive should cost us $22,988.51!
So if you do it that way, we're paying tiny fractions of what we should be!
My Model Railroad: Tri State RailMy Photos on Flickr: FlickrMy Videos on Youtube: YoutubeMy Photos on RRPA: RR Picture Archives
Driline ATLANTIC CENTRALPS - the pool boy position has been filled (by me, see us poor people wash our own cars and clean our own pools and cut our own grass). Sheldon....cool looking house. We have quite a few of those in Davenport in the McClellan Heights area. (Named after Major General George McClellan of the Union Army 1861). He organized the famous Army of the Potomac. As pool boy I get to play with your trains....right?
ATLANTIC CENTRALPS - the pool boy position has been filled (by me, see us poor people wash our own cars and clean our own pools and cut our own grass).
Sheldon....cool looking house. We have quite a few of those in Davenport in the McClellan Heights area. (Named after Major General George McClellan of the Union Army 1861). He organized the famous Army of the Potomac.
As pool boy I get to play with your trains....right?
Thank you for the compliment. We live in the Village of Forest Hill, once a stop on the Ma & Pa. In fact the tracks went right behind our house and we know that materials to build the house came to town on the railroad.
We bought the house 15 years ago and began a complete restoration and rehabilitation which took about 3 years. I did much of the work myself.
How are your gardening and painting skills? The pool boy position includes a number of such jobs but does have good fringe benifits including layout room access and an extensive workshop.
Sheldon
Driline Sir MadogIf Germany had the density of population of the US, we would be having "only " 11,4 million people living here, instead of the 81,8 million we have.If you had ours, the US would be populated by 2.2 billion people - where would your real estate prices be then? I am also German. Our family emigrated from the Alsace-Lorraine area. Perhaps if Germany annexed that area again we would have more room and people could afford housing? After all we won that piece of land in 1871. Then those darn Frenchmen had to take it away in 1919
Sir MadogIf Germany had the density of population of the US, we would be having "only " 11,4 million people living here, instead of the 81,8 million we have.If you had ours, the US would be populated by 2.2 billion people - where would your real estate prices be then?
I am also German. Our family emigrated from the Alsace-Lorraine area. Perhaps if Germany annexed that area again we would have more room and people could afford housing? After all we won that piece of land in 1871. Then those darn Frenchmen had to take it away in 1919
I agree that figuring the cubic foot isn't a valid comparison. Perhaps better would be square foot of all the surfaces like interior and exterior walls, floor roof etc. One could calculate the cubic footage of each and every component but...
Land values and location? Hmm interesting, I suppose one could calculate how much the benchwork and scenery cost and see how that compares to land values. As for location yes it definitly is a factor in pricing so: how much extra would you pay for land located along the main line in an area with a nice steady climate year round, no rain, no snow always sunny with grass, shrubs and trees that never need trimming?
Modeling the Cleveland and Pittsburgh during the PennCentral era starting on the Cleveland lakefront and ending in Mingo junction
markpierceGot desserts (or even semi-arid regions) in Germany? I don't think so. U.S. deserts are larger than Germany. Populations in deserts are spare for good reason. Land prices in deserts (except where is a gold mine or similar anomaly) are very low. Mark
Got desserts (or even semi-arid regions) in Germany? I don't think so.
U.S. deserts are larger than Germany. Populations in deserts are spare for good reason. Land prices in deserts (except where is a gold mine or similar anomaly) are very low.
Of course when you bring in roads. water, sewer, electricity, telephone, cable, etc. so you can build a house, the price goes up quite a bit.
Enjoy
Paul
isn´t it nice, what you can do with some innocent little figures? You know the bloke, who´s feet are stuck in a campfire, putting a bag of ice on his head, claiming to feel well in average?
Btw, we have some semi-arid areas with little vegetation, but of course not to the extent you guys over the Big Pond have it. These are more local patches, sometimes used for Army training
Got deserts (or even semi-arid regions) in Germany? I don't think so.
You guys don´t know how lucky you are!
Real estate prices in our neck of the woods are double, triple and quadruple of what you have stated in your posts. Sheldon´s house ( a dream place!) would go for $ 3 - 4m in Hamburg and even the $ 550k Mark mentioned appear to be a bargain. Unless you are in the unpopular and unpopulated east of Germany, close to the Polish border, living in your own house remains a dream for most people.
If Germany had the density of population of the US, we would be having "only " 11,4 million people living here, instead of the 81,8 million we have.If you had ours, the US would be populated by 2.2 billion people - where would your real estate prices be then?
I guess you are far enough from Chicago when the big one hits there, you do know that when the fault rips there (it is overdue) it will make the San Francisco 1906 quake look like a little shake! The earth has so many faults and usually if you have smaller quakes you avoid the big one. The Loma quake caused me a little inconvenience and the picture of the structure you showed was bad construction on top of bad land (used to be a dump in the bay).
Mike, you need to subtract the value of the land from the prototype. I'd bet the majority of the value of the home is the land, not the improvements. As for the model, you need to add the cost of labor and extras like glue, paint, and amortization of tools too.
.....
The President took his minions for dinner at a classy restaurant. When he received the bill, he was shocked at the total. He called the waiter over and questioned the bill. The waiter said the high meal charges were because of the ambiance. The President accepted this explanation a bit reluctantly, but paid the bill.
Once outside, he called his minions to gather. "Boys" he said, "who ordered the ambiance?"
Yeah, but he hardly gets to see this either..
That's what happens when you build on landfill. We were living in Santa Clara at the time and suffered no damage whatsoever. Not even anything flying off the shelf. We had a few hours without power. That's all.
BTW, how far are you from the New Madrid fault? Sooner or later that one will let go again.
Andre
andrechapelonI see why people are moving in droves out of California. 550K 1,200 square feet is a good size garage in Iowa. Cost here ~ $150,000. Here's what 550K will get you in Bettendorf. They are? Then how come our population exceeds that of Canada? There's are several problems with the house you pictured. 1. It's a McMansion, which basically means it's more of an attempt to engage in conspicuous consumption than to actually provide shelter. 2. It would cost an arm and a leg to heat even allowing for excellent insulation. 3.It would be a royal pain to keep clean. 4. The architecture sucks. 5. It's in Iowa. NOTE: I have nothing against Iowa, but you have to drive about 2,000 miles to see stuff like this: Andre
I see why people are moving in droves out of California. 550K
1,200 square feet is a good size garage in Iowa. Cost here ~ $150,000.
Here's what 550K will get you in Bettendorf.
They are? Then how come our population exceeds that of Canada?
There's are several problems with the house you pictured.
1. It's a McMansion, which basically means it's more of an attempt to engage in conspicuous consumption than to actually provide shelter.
2. It would cost an arm and a leg to heat even allowing for excellent insulation.
3.It would be a royal pain to keep clean.
4. The architecture sucks.
5. It's in Iowa. NOTE: I have nothing against Iowa, but you have to drive about 2,000 miles to see stuff like this:
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
tatans One big mistake in costing house prices is using $/square foot, this method was used by people talking to "contractors" and saying "I'll pay you - - - $/per square foot. as his eyes light up he agrees, who wouldn't, if a contractor or realtor tries to sell you a house by the square foot, walk away fast. Ask a contractor for his labor cost and a bill of materials list and see what he does, I quoted out the cost of a "1200" foot house, to lock-up, all the lumber, nails, windows,shingles, trusses,floor, etc. no interior, guess how much these materials cost? $12,000. now how does the cost get from this to $500,000 ? ? house prices are priced 750% above actual construction, also ask just how much your contractor charges for labor? House prices are the biggest rip since used cars, but I must admit, I checked the prices in London, England for a 2 bedroom apartment 2nd floor, they want 345,000 pounds(514,000 U.S. dollars) Housing is certainly is not a supply and demand product.
One big mistake in costing house prices is using $/square foot, this method was used by people talking to "contractors" and saying "I'll pay you - - - $/per square foot. as his eyes light up he agrees, who wouldn't, if a contractor or realtor tries to sell you a house by the square foot, walk away fast. Ask a contractor for his labor cost and a bill of materials list and see what he does, I quoted out the cost of a "1200" foot house, to lock-up, all the lumber, nails, windows,shingles, trusses,floor, etc. no interior, guess how much these materials cost? $12,000. now how does the cost get from this to $500,000 ? ? house prices are priced 750% above actual construction, also ask just how much your contractor charges for labor? House prices are the biggest rip since used cars, but I must admit, I checked the prices in London, England for a 2 bedroom apartment 2nd floor, they want 345,000 pounds(514,000 U.S. dollars) Housing is certainly is not a supply and demand product.
Only $12,000? That's interesting. The roofing material for our re-roof cost us a bit over $3600 and that was just material to replace an existing roof and we didn't hire a contractor. The OSB alone (60 sheets) was nearly $600 as there was no solid sub-roof. We also replaced all the windows and 3 of the doors (one a large French door) a couple of years ago and IIRC, the material cost for that was around $2500 and we didn't go for upscale windows.
I realize you're speaking only of materials for the shell, but I'm a bit skeptical about your quoted material price. In any case, there's more to the price of a house than materials and labor. Land costs can have a big impact. In our case, the land represents nearly 50% of the estimated market value. In any case, we couldn't rebuild the structure with anything approaching the quality of the original material as all the framing and siding except for the added on family room and carport is heart of redwood.
And, with that, we're getting way off topic.
andrechapelon There's are several problems with the house you pictured. 1. It's a McMansion, which basically means it's more of an attempt to engage in conspicuous consumption than to actually provide shelter. 2. It would cost an arm and a leg to heat even allowing for excellent insulation. 3.It would be a royal pain to keep clean. 4. The architecture sucks. 5. It's in Iowa. NOTE: I have nothing against Iowa, but you have to drive about 2,000 miles to see stuff like this:
Andre,
Is this also "conspicuous consumption"?
Again, my detached garage is 1200 sq ft, with my 800 sq ft layout room above it (the corner of which is visible in the lower left of the photo).
You are more than welcome to only live in 1200 sq ft if it suits you. Personally, I would rather not.
Less is not more. I don't want more than I need for my purposes, but that is not for others to judge, as long as I am paying the heating bill and the taxes.
I'm sure you are quite happy where you are and that's fine. Not everyone is even remotely interested in ocean views.
But in my case I can be on the Atlantic coast in two hours, or in the mountains in two hours, not to mention the beautiful Piedmont country side right here where we live. Lush and green in summer, beautiful colors in the fall, and this year a very white winter.
All without piped in water.
We have wonderful and interesting things all around us. The Strasburg Rail Road is only 1 hr away, The B&O museum only 45 min, the Victorian splender of Cape May about 2 hours away.
All the wonders of the Chesapeake Bay right around the corner, it is called "The Land of Pleasant Living".
I'm sure where you live is very nice, to you, but nothing I have seen or heard would motivate me to pay $500,000 for a 1200 sq ft house ANYWHERE.
And if I am a "conspicious consumer" because I live in 3750 sq ft of 1901 Queen Anne style splender, than so be it.
I spent 3-1/2 years and a sum of money I won't mention carefully restoring this house for myself, my wife, my family and to preserve it for the community. I am more than entitled to enjoy it.
Even when we do "downsize", 2000 sq ft of living space, all on one floor (with 2000 sq ft of layout space below, and 800-1200 sq ft of garage/shop, but no more pool) is as small as we are likely to be comfortable with.
To each their own.
PS - the pool boy position has been filled (by me, see us poor people wash our own cars and clean our own pools and cut our own grass).
Gee, only around $500,000 for a house, that's cheap. Here on the peninsula 30 miles from San Francisco, a three bedroom two baths will run you $1,500,000 or more. Next town over, add a million!
I must have missed something. While I understand that your points could justify buying a 1200 sq ft house instead of a 3500 sq ft house, I do not understand how they support the notion that the 1200 sq ft house is WORTH as much as a 3500 sq ft house.
Location, location, location.
In any case, I wasn't justifying anything. Real estate prices vary all over the place. That's just the way things are. Try pricing a condo in downtown Tokyo.
Here's a cheap piece of crap for $346,000 in Davenport Iowa. It only has one in ground pool. I mean.....how embarrassing.
Driline andrechapelonOur house is roughly 1200 sq ft in size in 1:1 scale. With 8 foot ceilings, that works out to 9600 cubic feet of liveable volume. In HO scale, that works out to .0146 cubic feet (9600/658503 - HO occupies 1/658503 of the volume of the prototype). That 9600 cubic feet is worth roughly $550k in the current depressed real estate market in Monterey, CA, or about $57.29/cubic foot. I see why people are moving in droves out of California. 550K 1,200 square feet is a good size garage in Iowa. Cost here ~ $150,000. Here's what 550K will get you in Bettendorf. That's over 6,000 square feet, 6 bathrooms, and a theater room.
andrechapelonOur house is roughly 1200 sq ft in size in 1:1 scale. With 8 foot ceilings, that works out to 9600 cubic feet of liveable volume. In HO scale, that works out to .0146 cubic feet (9600/658503 - HO occupies 1/658503 of the volume of the prototype). That 9600 cubic feet is worth roughly $550k in the current depressed real estate market in Monterey, CA, or about $57.29/cubic foot.
That's over 6,000 square feet, 6 bathrooms, and a theater room.
Interesting. This place is selling at approximately $475,000 here in London. There are a number of new developments in the works here
andrechapelonThey are? Then how come our population exceeds that of Canada?
Do you know how cold it gets in Canada? Brrrrrrrrr. That's not a surprise. The only reason your population is booming is because of the illegal immigrant migration.Without the inflow of illegals, I think California's population would be about 2, or something close to that. California will be annexed soon as Mexico's Northern Frontier.