When was the last time anyone offered to buy your mineral rights?

[jk]

Re: When was the last time anyone offered to buy your mineral rights?

i love this thread.

jim, my advice, fwiw, is to let your wife decide. tell her you'd be happy to live with the formica and bank the money, but if she really wants the countertops, go for it. what's money for?


to console yourself, tell yourself that the amount involved is [probably] much less than the daily noise in your portfolio's value.

[Andreuccio]

Re: When was the last time anyone offered to buy your mineral rights?

Thanks, Jimmy, for your opinion on this most important financial topic.

Actually wife has only tolerated me for a bit less that 10 years. Formica lasts a long time too and is cleansible and doesn't pick up stains. I don't wish to argue heatedly over this, but just how are granite or play-like granite improvements over formica, other than you can put a hot skillet on them--I guess you can do that? As far as adding value, if the prices of homes are going down, what is it in the homes that is maintaining value? I think if one looks at the "value-added" aspect now there is probably nothing that one can put into a home that will return the expenditure anytime soon.

Other than from some social point of view for her, or anyone like her, being able to tell acquaintances or show them that "I have granite or something like it." I see NO value to spending good money to replace something that is perfectly functional and in good repair.

The importance of this, if anyone reads it, is people need to seriously consider why they may buy things besides the fact that the Joneses have something with which one would like to keep up, the marketers say "everyone should have this," or my thinking the only way I can make my wife believe I love her is to give her something--reasonably expensive?

Just so no one necessarily thinks I am a total curmudgeon, wife gets to do a lot of things for her own pleasures and has gotten to do a lot of things in regard to "decorating" our house.

A few questions:

How long do you plan to stay in the house? I'd forget about cost/payoff. I agree with you about dropping home prices, but if you'll be there a while it's more a fuction of cost vs. utility combined with comfort factor/beauty. Only you (and your wife) can make that calculation.

Have you gotten other bids? One place you might try, if they have these in your area in Texas, is independant tile/granite supply houses. Here in L.A. there is a whole area of these. You can get a better price on the materials, and they'll have business cards from contractors they can recommend. You might find the price for real granite to be lower than the "play-like granite" your being quoted on now.

Consider materials other than granite. We went to a tile supply place and found an outdoor porcelain tile with coloring that looks like granite. With a colored grout, it's a really nice look. It's indestructable, and was relatively inexpensive. The tile itself was a closeout, so we got it for less than $1/square foot. The other materials are minimal (grout, backing board, etc.), and it sounds like you're fairly handy, so you could do the install yourself. If you're curious, let me know and I'll email you pictures.

[Jim Nickerson]

Re: When was the last time anyone offered to buy your mineral rights?

i love this thread.

jim, my advice, fwiw, is to let your wife decide. tell her you'd be happy to live with the formica and bank the money, but if she really wants the countertops, go for it. what's money for?


to console yourself, tell yourself that the amount involved is [probably] much less than the daily noise in your portfolio's value.

jk, you guys are all too easy. If wife decides, its a done deal.

The question of "what is money for?" is an excellent question, almost on the level of "what is the value of anything?" and "why is there a universe?"

The answer to the question that I have heard my entire life is that "money is to be spent." Certainly that is true, but the important questions should be "on what?" and then "why?".

On these fora it seems some are worried about their retirement. How are they going to achieve the "American Dream"? I think I have opined that the only way to get to retirement with anything if you are an average worker is not to spend every cent one makes along the way. i.e. consume less. Wife has life expectancy of 30 more years which, of course, she may or may not make, or alternatively she could exceed that. She is not highly educated and has no unique skills, so if along her way push comes to shove, she is not going to go out and earn much.

We also talk or at least read about the lack of savings in the US. If one buys stuff one does not need then it is hard to save, assuming one is not obscenely wealthy.

Andreuccio, I am handy, and I could put in tile. I put in a play-like Jacuzzi with nice tile (and which we never use) for probably 2K vs. a quote of ~7K. Still I'd have to cover up or take out a perfectly functional contertop and the top of an island and do a good bit work to get back to where I started functionally, but it would look different. I lived in a big condo once that had tile countertops. I don't remember that I was any happier there nor did that wife seem to be.

I'll tell you what I am going to do. I am going to put up a retractable awning over our back deck, assuming I can figure out how to get it stably attached to our house. In the summer mornings that will have some value in lessening the heat penetration into the house. We have one of these on the travel trailer, and it almost is like adding a room to the trailer.

And, yes, jk, I do have days were I lose more than we are talking about, but that does not circumvent the issue of doing away with something that has nothing wrong with it and replacing it with something primarily because it is "in." Before granite countertops became "in" I don't recollect anyone I ever knew complaining about their countertops and in the same breath saying "I wish granite countertops existed."

I think this dead horse is dead.

[jimmygu3]

Re: When was the last time anyone offered to buy your mineral rights?

i love this thread.

jim, my advice, fwiw, is to let your wife decide. tell her you'd be happy to live with the formica and bank the money, but if she really wants the countertops, go for it. what's money for?


to console yourself, tell yourself that the amount involved is [probably] much less than the daily noise in your portfolio's value.

jk, as usual, has the right idea. Let her decide.

If you just blew the money on a vacation, a party, a limo ride, etc., you would have nothing left to show for it. With the countertops, it is something your wife will enjoy for a long time, and that will add value to your house.

I wasn't saying that you'll get every penny back out when you sell the house, only that it is a home improvement that will provide some perceived added value over formica at the time of sale. Maybe it helps you sell the house faster to avoid carrying costs or maybe you actually get more for the house than you would have with formica. Whether home prices rise or fall is irrelevant. To a home buyer, granite or quartz-composite countertops are a premium feature that makes a house more desirable.

We had stuff called Silestone in our last house. Basically crushed quartz with some sort of binder holding it together, making it stronger than granite, according to the brochure. My wife loved it and I thought it looked 100% better than our scratched-up, painted-over formica. You could put hot things on it, cut vegetables on it, and it has the look and feel of stone instead of plastic on plywood.

Not that formica isn't completely functional and decent looking, but so are faux wood paneling, linoleum, push mowers, cars without air conditioning, etc. I have had times in my life when I would have been thrilled to have any of the above, because I had no money and I lived within my means. But for those with the money, there are upgrades available, and they should not simply be dismissed as frivolous. As jk said, "what's money for?"

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with the Silestone company or the kitchen renovation industry. ;)

[GRG55]

Re: When was the last time anyone offered to buy your mineral rights?

jk, you guys are all too easy. If wife decides, its a done deal.

The question of "what is money for?" is an excellent question, almost on the level of "what is the value of anything?" and "why is there a universe?"

The answer to the question that I have heard my entire life is that "money is to be spent." Certainly that is true, but the important questions should be "on what?" and then "why?".

On these fora it seems some are worried about their retirement. How are they going to achieve the "American Dream"? I think I have opined that the only way to get to retirement with anything if you are an average worker is not to spend every cent one makes along the way. i.e. consume less. Wife has life expectancy of 30 more years which, of course, she may or may not make, or alternatively she could exceed that. She is not highly educated and has no unique skills, so if along her way push comes to shove, she is not going to go out and earn much.

We also talk or at least read about the lack of savings in the US. If one buys stuff one does not need then it is hard to save, assuming one is not obscenely wealthy.

Andreuccio, I am handy, and I could put in tile. I put in a play-like Jacuzzi with nice tile (and which we never use) for probably 2K vs. a quote of ~7K. Still I'd have to cover up or take out a perfectly functional contertop and the top of an island and do a good bit work to get back to where I started functionally, but it would look different. I lived in a big condo once that had tile countertops. I don't remember that I was any happier there nor did that wife seem to be.

I'll tell you what I am going to do. I am going to put up a retractable awning over our back deck, assuming I can figure out how to get it stably attached to our house. In the summer mornings that will have some value in lessening the heat penetration into the house. We have one of these on the travel trailer, and it almost is like adding a room to the trailer.

And, yes, jk, I do have days were I lose more than we are talking about, but that does not circumvent the issue of doing away with something that has nothing wrong with it and replacing it with something primarily because it is "in." Before granite countertops became "in" I don't recollect anyone I ever knew complaining about their countertops and in the same breath saying "I wish granite countertops existed."

I think this dead horse is dead.

Jim: I can hardly wait to follow all the advice you're about to get on awnings...

[dbarberic]

Re: When was the last time anyone offered to buy your mineral rights?

Mistake #1 was telling the wife that you're receiving a windfall of $3K.

It was already spent before the ink was dry on the check.

[Jim Nickerson]

Re: When was the last time anyone offered to buy your mineral rights?

Greg, I lead a low-level life in regard to social interaction--iTulip being the exception. I am surprised anyone replied to this tread especially about the countertops. I have garnered some value from the discussion.

dbarberic, acutally she got the estimate for the countertops before she knew the amount of the actual mineral rights lease, so she is not guilty of having money that is burning a hole in her pocket, so to speak.

Wife is completely, and I do perceive completely, over whatever was her disappointment with my position on what to do to our house. Wife is a good woman and not prone to sulking beyond about 24-36 hours.

I appreicate you guys' thoughts.

[GRG55]

Re: When was the last time anyone offered to buy your mineral rights?

Greg, I lead a low-level life in regard to social interaction--iTulip being the exception. I am surprised anyone replied to this tread especially about the countertops. I have garnered some value from the discussion.

dbarberic, acutally she got the estimate for the countertops before she knew the amount of the actual mineral rights lease, so she is not guilty of having money that is burning a hole in her pocket, so to speak.

Wife is completely, and I do perceive completely, over whatever was her disappointment with my position on what to do to our house. Wife is a good woman and not prone to sulking beyond about 24-36 hours.

I appreicate you guys' thoughts.

IMHO this community is much the richer for it Jim.