Studio fixtures sells house!!

RICK FITZPATRICK

RICK FITZPATRICK

New member
New studio comin up!! Hello all. Well, I sold my house today. I put it on the market exactly 11 days ago. We've had 14 people look. Now my little ole tract house isn't much. Built in 58'. Nothing special except the beatiful park that is on the other side of my backyard fence. And my bedroom studio. It blew everybodys mind that came through. But most people are not interested in the same things I am. So it was definitely not a selling point. Untill today. A real estate agent had heard from my agent about the studio. I posted pics of it here a couple of weeks ago. Mind you, this is only a one bedroom studio. Except for the equipment, I built everything. Not too shabby though. For a DIY. Especially the console.

When the buyer came to look, he was not very interested, as I still have cabinets to finish, and lots of little details to finish. HE is not DIY oriented. The "tour" of the house ended at the studio. He was immedietly speechless, as he looked around in my little room. The pics I posted here cannot show the cozyness and vibe of the room. Its very vibe oriented. I mean, lava lamps are vibe city arn't they?:p

He asked me if I would sell the studio fixturing with the house, and I responded that I couldn't ever replace what I had, and therefore I would have to ask a fair replacement price. And no equipment would be included. He said he was a DJ and just thought it would be great for a VIDEO GAME ROOM. Oh well, to each his own. He thanked me and they left. One hour later my agent called with exciting news. He had received an offer on the house. I thought that was fantastic seeing how I only have about 45 days left, but what was the offer?
My agent asked if I was sitting down. I was. He said, "the offer was for $6k MORE than the asking price. SIX THOUSAND DOLLARS for my little ole home made studio fixtures!!!!! :eek: :cool: :cool: :cool:And they were made from SCRAPS and cutoffs from the mill.

YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

My wife even said I can buy a new mixer!! Mixer hell, John, Knightfly, get your pencils ready. I leave in two weeks to find my new home. It has taken almost a year to get this show on the road. Pretty quick, I'll load my circus up and head north.

Well Steve, here I come! :D (ps Steve, I really hope your feeling much better.:)
 
Hey, Rick - That's fantastic about the house - looking forward to seeing you up here, man -

I'm slowly gettin' well enough to die, which is a definite improvement - Whatever this germ is, I gladly relinquish it to all those crazy suicide bombers and psycho-dictators over in sand city - if it can kick ass on somebody as ornery as I am, it might be a viable weapon.

Anyway, congrats again - I know we'll be talkin' more soon... Steve
 
Whatever this germ is, I gladly relinquish it to all those crazy suicide bombers and psycho-dictators over in sand city - if it can kick ass on somebody as ornery as I am, it might be a viable weapon.
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You might not be too far off Steve. Last night, I watched a biological weapon report thats going to be on tv 3 more nights. It showed that big religious cult in Oregon in the 80's that tried to make people sick with salmonella(my spelling sucks:rolleyes:)germs spread on the salad bars of the city. Maybe theres still some of them around :eek: I'm surprised there wasn't a vigilante justice event. Maybe there was and we never heard about it huh? Lot of wilderness up there to..........oops. I'll shut my mouth.
Anyway, I'm glad your doing better Steve. Damn, I wouldn't have anyone to spar with if it got the better of ya!(I know, ...."when did I become man enough to spar with you?") Ha!!:D

And thanks guys, I woke up this morning with the best attitude I've had in months. Cause now I know I can leave this state. For good.
fitz:)
 
This is something that hits me very positive at the moment. I took over half of my two car garage for my studio and even though it's still being setup, one can make a truly vibeful yet classy small space. I couldn't but help feel guilty and worried that I was sucking some resale value out of my home by doing this though. Then I got to thinking that what I'm doing is really creating another living space in there, a very nice living space. For instance, the control room is a perfect home office. The control room window allows you to watch the baby playing in the playroomm (tracking room) and the iso booth would certainly be a welcome storage closet or extra pantry. Even a home theater would work. All this without eating up one of the four bedrooms in my house, like I've been doing previously. So now I'm comfortable with what I've done in that a buyer could be sold on those ideas, or maybe find a musician that would die for the space, or hell, it can be reconverted back to a garage space in a flash, perish the thought!

Dan
 
The fun thing about the religious cult is, its now a summer camp type thing(the space they owned). Its a really large property that takes 14 miles of road just to get to the main buildings. My school went there no more than a month ago for a little bonding experiance(not my cup o' tea). Its totally erie walking through the abandoned cabins where the crazy cult people lived. I would have been totally bored had me and a friend not discovered that one of the meeting rooms was outfitted with a pretty damn big PA sytstem. It had a huge mackie board and i got some experiance with live sound for once. Good times.
 
Hello Dan, your right. There are many people like us:eek: Ha! Just gotta connect when it comes time to sell. Now that I think about it, I should have put it in the ad, as an extra for musicians!!.

Ok, I've got one more little dig for California today. I had to go to DMV:rolleyes: today to register my old Chevy stepside thats been sitting for a year, because of rusted out muffler, tailpipes and catalytic converter.(damn smog laws). Went to the discount auto place and bought the stuff, and welded it up myself finally, and voila! Ready to smog.
I only could find my previous notice of registration renewal, which had a total fee of $172. You know California just tried to raise the fees THREE TIMES THE AMOUNT OF LAST YEAR. The court laughed. You also have to show proof of insurance before you can get your moving permit. I decided to go online and see if I could find out what the actual fees this year would be, cause I didn't want to pay too much, since I'll be moving to in about 6 weeks and didn't want to insure it if I wasn't going to register it. I'd trailer it to Oregon if I had to. But I couldn't get the info on line. However, right next to the DMV site in the list, was a web site claiming there is a class action suit going on against DMV for overcharging people for the last 10 yrs or so. Hmmmmmm. I decided to drive to DMV and stand in line.

Now I don't know about your DMV situation, but there are 5 offices around Sacramento, and all of them have an average wait of 1 1/2 hrs or longer. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: . So I did it. Took an hour and 10 minutes. When I got to the window, I explained to the clerk(a old crabby woman)that I wanted to find out my fees before I paid them. She took my paper and punched in the numbers and said it would be $316. She handed me the registration paper and I handed her the money, but before getting my change, I said "are you aware that there is a web site that will AUDIT my DMV paperwork for free? :eek: (I lied:D )

She immedietly excused herself for a moment, and shortly returned with another person who sat down at the computer, punched in some numbers, reached over and took the previous paper out of my hand and exclaimed "$169 please. I said "can I have that paper you just took from me, and I have already paid the other clerk"
He said "No, I can't give that to you, here is your change and registration."
I responded," Hmmm, thats a big difference between $169, which is $3 less than the original renewal said, and $316 which the other clerk was going to charge me. What gives?" He said, "People make mistakes". I laughed and remarked, " Yea, but theres a class action suit against DMV, for all your MISTAKES. You must have a lot of real careless people working for DMV". He didn't appreciate me. Well, now for the smog test. I rebuilt the carb six months ago, so it should pass now.

Thank god for the net.

Crabby ole fitz;) :rolleyes:
 
where the crazy cult people lived.
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Hahahahahah!! By what I saw in the films last night, crazy is an understatement. It looked like they were all on acid. And mushrooms. And peyote. And, and and.:D
Plus they all were dressed in PINK clothing.:p Looked like a pussy parade. Not my cup of tea:rolleyes:
fitz
 
cool - are we getting a say in the new home??
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:eek: :eek: :eek: I would be HONORED.:D TRULY.

John, Steve, I've waited a long time for this. And through the last 3 yrs of participation in HR, you guys put up with me through rants, insidious questioning and assinine books . Not once, even though I deserved it, did you flame me or make me feel inept. Which looking back now, has allowed me to learn the value of experience, knowledge and trust. It is the trust that enables me to say you have mine completely.

Soon I will embark on a journey. A scary, bewildering, and hopefully joyfull journey. I have but one destination. Happiness. Not only mine, but my significant others too!:D
If shes happy, I'm happy. Which brings me to the following outline that will define our search.

1. Find an environment that we can live the rest of our life in happily.
2. See #1

As to the house. Well, it could be one of many interpretations. The primary goal, is to find a home that allows us freedom of expression.:D I've lived for so long in little old tract homes, my creativity has almost been extinguished. I said almost. Painting your house a different color than the neighbors is not what I call creativity. And anything other than that just makes people here scratch their head. Even at the color. Which considering my studio ceiling is wine red, they wouldn't like my choice in house color either. I've yet to paint it. but now I will. But not my choice of color.

One of the first things the property must satisfy, is financial. DOH!! I doubt if I will ever work for anyone or company ever again. So our living must be made on the property. Therefore, the utility side of the property MUST have a fairly large shop or two, as I will be eventually be starting a fabrication business of some kind. But NOT KITCHEN CABINETS Pwewie! Not only that, but my wife has a small printing and bindery business here, which she will reinvent again. Shes had it for 25 yrs here. It will need a space. No huge, but large enough for 2 press's, cutter, 2 collators, 2 book makers, darkroom, and graphics area. Probably divide off my shop. If large enough.

Also, she sells on ebay, which will demand a storage area, and her own shop. Small. Probably in a garage or outbuilding.
Then comes her family :rolleyes: I won't go there, except to say, the property MUST also have a second small living quarters. For her daughter, whom we take care of. She is on disability.
AND, another area, for a Mobile home for her son, and girlfriend who are packing in Michigan as I speak. To meet us in Oregon, where they will search for their new life also.
Which now brings me to the final criteria. The Studio. Ha. The studio. Thats what makes me real happy. It too is a journey, at least for me. Only this time I'll have a map. Yours. The destination is not set. It is the journey that is important. All I can say at this point, is ...............Fuck bedrooms. It will be in its own building or nothing.
Whether I build it, or utilize an existing building remains to be seen. It may even turn out to be a commercial space. I don't know yet. What I do know is IT WILL BE REAL.
However, IF it turns out that I will build it from the ground up, then the property must have that type of space and codes, zoning etc etc. The first thing I am doing is searching the net for local ordinances, in the areas I will be searching.
Which now brings up the #1 question I have been DIEING to ask for a long time, but had no business wasting other peoples time as well as my own. Untill such time came where it was feasable to even dream about it. And at this point it still is kind of a dream. Needless to say, this is where you guys come in. But I've already written another book, and time to get ready for tomorrow.
Today we signed the offer papers, and everything looks good. Except one thing.

TIME!!!! :eek: :eek: :eek: I have to finish everything in ONE MONTH. ............AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

I have to be out of here on May 23. HOLY SHIT!! Probably won't hear from me for a while now. Its time gentleman. Time for the big push.

Oh yes, there is one other thing. The buyer decided he didn't need my studio fixtures. But he still is offering the same amount!!! FANTASTIC. I get to keep my shit.
Well, all I can say regarding your question John is:

YES, YES, YES!!! . Maybe not the house directly, cause you would have to see the boss. And she has her own criteria. Its called "shabby chic" Ha! But the studio.........DEFINITELY It will be your design totally....and before I leave, I will post a list of questions that will help me define space requirements in the studio etc. And anything else you care to offer.
Once I know certain things, then I will have my critera requirements in a space to look for.
And once I have found the right space, then I will contact you on a professional level. I'm looking forward to it. Thanks guys. Just remember. This is still a HR project. It will be fun. And DIY, except for your design. But big enough to record bands. A lot remains to be seen, and I have no idea how things will ultimately turn out. But that's what will make it fun. Its a journey. As always.
OK, I'm done. For now.
fitz:)
 
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All I can say is I built my garage studio myself and it was exhausting work that fractured me, and that was doing some things wrong! If I would have done everything right, I'd be dead right now! Hats off to those of you who do it for a living.

Dan
 
wow - that sounds great mate - nothing like heading off to a new life somewhere ;) love it. Maybe you could make acoustic panels instead of kitchens?

cheers
john
 
OK, I forgot my manners.:rolleyes: Steve, I will be contacting you personally. At your convienence. I'm looking forward to meeting you.

I failed to mention "Thanks a million" to everyone here who has also put up with my personality, and for your kind help, suggestions, ear, and most of all, forgiveness:D
Ha! Lord knows I need as much as I can get.

Well anyway, It may turn out that I may have to employ other professional help and consultations. Michael, Barefoot, and others here have professional skills that I would employ in a new york second, should it become necessary. I don't know what I am ultimately dealing with so it is hard to say. Anyway, its cool to keep it in the family, right? Cool. Cheers
fitz:D
 
Cool, Rick - did you say the magic words, "free standing" ?

Check this site out - I've talked to them at a home show, and the 6" walls, with only a single 1/2" sheet rock layer inside, are rated at STC 52 - When my new studio finally happens I intend to use this for walls, and possibly use the panel deck for roof panels. the price, if DIY, is competitive with 2x6 stud construction with about 20 dB better STC, at least 25% better heat retention, and Class 4 earthquake rating. Add 2x6's on edge, RC, and 3 layer inner wall leaf, and you're hearing your own heartbeat...

http://www.polysteel.com/

That's my own plan, haven't solidified the floor plan yet. I've probably got at least two years to concern myself with that part though... sounds like you're quite a bit closer than that... Steve
 
Hey Steve

I went out to the Polysteel site. Pretty cool stuff. On their technical data page though it that the the Sound Class was 48 with 1/2" drywall. That's not quite 52 so you may want to talk to them about that. It's not THAT big of a difference but if the dealer starts BSing about that where else might he go?
 
I hear ya Mike - the 52 # was tossed out there by the guy in the booth, who had already surprised me by knowing what STC even was - turned out, he has an architectural engineering degree, and his parents were the area reps.

In my case, even 48 is fine. First, I'll be using the 8" instead of 6" so I can have 14' walls, plus I'm planning on a couple layers of 5/8 wallboard laminated inside, then 3-4" air space and a 6" studwall with 3 more layers on RC inside that. Combined with a good soundlock entry, I think I'll be able to hear my heartbeat in there when I'm not breathing... Steve
 
Yo ..... Rick -

I just wanna say, that I am really, really happy for you, man. Sounds like your life is full, and about to get even fuller.

We moved to our current home after 15 years in one place... what a nightmare packing to getout of there !!

so, Good Luck !! and go get to work - you're gonna need all of that month !!!

best regards

b-h
 
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