Rodrigo

You need to get a bid on PERMIT work to replace the wiring. It's a fire hazard to have substandard wiring, so you shouldn't trust the contractor. You need to make sure the contractor bids how much it will cost to do the work with a permit. Depending on how many contractors are hungry for work where you are, it could be very expensive to replace all the wiring in a house to code.

As for real estate agent Bruce Lynn, "you might as well go to a plumber's forum" - what do real estate agents do besides try to close deals with their tacky portrait photo business cards? Let's see, the title company does the transfer paperwork, the mortgage lender does the loan paperwork, and the real estate agent does... nothing. You'd be better off hiring a cab driver to show you properties.

And they all talk about "expertise" and "professionalism" yet getting a real estate license requires only a 40 hour class and not even an AA degree. Beauticians face tougher education and training standards than real estate agents (not kidding, they require more education and training to get a license). Maybe the national beautician's association should devise some new payment method where when you get a haircut, the price is equal to some percentage of your annual income.

The only silver lining in the mortgage meltdown is that a lot of real estate agents are going to have to find other work. I know people who went from waiting tables, working as securities guards, etc. to getting big bucks scamming people into taking risky loans to buy over priced real estate. With sales down 50% year over year and the bottom of this thing a couple of years off, perhaps I'll see Mr. Lynn on my next visit to Denny's. But I am not going to tip unless he apologizes for participating in this sad debacle. - Wed May 7 2008, 17:55