gotta love threads like these, and gotta love the people that need to convince themselves that their $3,000 honda generator was made by GOD himself and since they bought one, - everyone else should buy one too. especially had to laugh when someone suggested buying a generac over a another brand with a real honda engine. let me remind everyone that pride of ownership is a huge factor here, and if you ever take a trip to a honda dealer, you will find a long line of equipment in the back room waiting for repairs. so just because you bought one of the most expensive generators around, doesnt mean they dont break. so seriousy - get over yourself. i know this is an old thread but the issue will go on forever. my personal feeling if i were to buy another generator, is to buy the same deal the OP described. many suppliers offer generators with real honda engines for about $200 more than a similar sized unit with a honda clone. AND - even the honda clones these days are extremely reliable if broken in and maintained properly. what many people dont know, is the clone engines are designed using expired honda patents, and have come a long way in recent years. the karting world even has a separate racing class for them, and a 6.5 hp engine can be modified to push almost 20hp and rev up to 9000 rpm. that being said, a clone motor will have NO PROBLEM running a generator at 3600 for the occasional black out and power loss so long as you use common sense to maintain it. i dont care if JESUS HIMSELF built your honda generator, if you leave the same gas in it for 4 years - your carb will need to be cleaned. now - i am not saying that honda and honda clones are of equal quality and reliability, but something has to be said for a $650 ETQ generator with a pure sign wave, that makes more power (7250 cont) and will keep my lights on just as well as a $3,000 Honda with 5000 cont watts.. furthermore, after your 2 year warranty expires on your $3,000 honda, you can enjoy the $100 an hour labor rate, and $1200 repair bill god forbid you ever need to bring it to a dealer for repair - THAT YOU WILL DO since you spent so much money for the "best" me on the other hand - if my $650 generator gets used 3 times in years, i will feel i got my moneys worth out if it, and it it dies - i will toss it the garbage or sell it for parts, and buy another brand new generator with another 2 yr warranty for less than you paid for the labor alone on your repair bill.. - unless your a contractor using the thing on remote jobsites for 30 weeks out of the year, you have no need for a $3,000 portable generator anyway, because this is who these things are made for. for $2400 you can buy a 12kw whole house standy unit at costco made by generac, thats completely automatic, runs off natural gas, and is big enough to run 2 central air units along with most of your home. lastly - I hate to break the news to all the honda guys, but honda is not the "top of the line" when it comes to reliable generators. i work for a major utility company, and you will not find ONE honda generator on ANY utility truck.

"Maybe CL is having a undesirable effect on our local charities." I do think CL has cut down on donations. With a free ad a seller has nothing to loose if it does not sell. I swear I have seen things in Goodwill that I had seen running for weeks on CL. It looks like only after something has not attracted a buyer on CL it gets donated. Both CL and eBay has had an effect also by broadening the market field. An eBay ad can reach many more people than an ad in the local paper or on a bulletin board at the laundromat ensuring a better chance of sale. I feel that people are just not as materialistic these days and are less likely to succumb to pressure to throw out (AKA donate) perfectly good items just because the color is out of style, or there is a new and improved version released in the stores. The Goodwill stores in my area look rather bare lately. I don't know if it is due to people not donating things and hanging onto items, or due to more people opting to buy secondhand than new. I also notice, (since I have been a regular shopper there for decades) that it is more crowded with shoppers than ever before. ----------- That looks like a big tear (to me) in the close-up photo of the couch leg. It also looks like another tear on the right side below the cushion in the long shot photo. No Goodwill would accept that to sell.

We are in California, and as far as I know there are actually no restrictions on installing vintage ranges. (Definitely never came up in any of our inspections--we have one!) Ours (1954 O'Keefe and Merritt) does have a safety valve, but no one ever asked or checked for one. The reason they're tough to sell in the Bay Area is just that they're all over the place, and a PITA to move. Either way, though, I'm pretty sure a 1950 stove should have been built with a safety valve anyway (but you can have them retrofitted if not). The main thing I would check is that it's actually restored and not just rehabbed (but for that price, it doesn't really matter). I do see them advertised as "restored" in the Bay Area frequently when people really mean "clean and in mint condition" (which does not have the same price tag as actual restoration--that involves replacing or recalibrating thermostat, rechroming or re-enameling as needed, checking safety, repairing rust and corrosion and replacing parts as needed, replacing glass or doors if needed, etc.) Wedgewoods are super easy to work with, though--they're very mechanical--so even if something is wrong with it, you could likely fix it relatively easily and for far less than a restored stove would run you. If by chance you're in California (where they were made) there are still many stove repair shops that specialize in them. I had one in a rental once and they're terrific stoves (as are the O'Keefe and Merritts). I'd definitely go check it out, assuming your state has no restrictions on their installation!

Have you already applied and been approved for the new construction loan? 60 days to close a new construction loan may be pushing it... yeah, they say "45 days, blah blah blah...". Call your banker and ask why they need the land in your name to do this? Can you just give the owner a deposit and a contract to purchase? We had a similar issue, we got a great deal on land so we bought it quickly. It took almost a year to get house plans/builders lined up and the land continued to increase in value so that when we applied for the construction loan, the land value was higher than our cost to build and we were turned away by many banks before even applying because of the ratio. However, we were told by more than one local credit union that if we had not been applying for a jumbo loan then this would not have been an issue at all. It was a real bummer considering we had 20% down even without considering any equity from the land value. If the land appraised value is 125 and the house build is 275 ( 125/275 = 45% land value to house build cost. I am sure someone will correct me if this is wrong. We found that some banks used the appraised value while others used the amount paid if it was purchase date was < 1 year. Call around to multiple banks/credit unions and talk to them before you sign a contract for 60 days It is a really crazy process and we had 10 different banks give us 10 different answers.