I can only speak for myself and my situation. After buying two houses and two commercial properties in China, I consider myself one of the lucky ones. I have not been ripped off or lied to (…yet), but I would say:
Do not by any property that is not built yet.
I did, and while the house was constructed without any major problems, I had an advantage. Specifically, we have a family friend who owns the real estate company, therefore, small problems we encountered were easily fixed. I assume most expatriates do not have this luxury.
This GoKunming.com interview sums it up quite well.
One, don’t invest in forward delivery housing - buying property before it’s finished or even begun to be built - the price may be a little cheaper, but the risk is much higher.
Why? Because you could end up with a house you cannot live in — you could lose your entire investment. Just last night, I watched a CCTV story about some Chinese families who bought into a new development and once the keys were delivered, they opened the door to their new house to see two inches of water flooding the living room, and the cement floor crumbled if you walked over it. They said no one will help them. (Where is the government agency to protect homeowners? Why do they have to resort to calling a television station to put pressure on these fraudulent companies?)
Tags: Chuxiong House Home Improvement China Chuxiong
ENLARGE
They love to play music of the Yi People at our little community 20 hours a day. It’s nice for tourists, but it’s driving us crazy.
We have spoken with the management and they have avoided our requests. Now we’re taking matters into our own hands.
The question is, how do we disable this speaker? I think if I unscrew it and clip the wires, that would turn it off. But we’re looking a more inconspicuous way to accomplish our goal. Of course, we would have to do this in the early hours of the night when the rent-a-cops are sleeping on duty.
Please advise. We don’t care that this is childish, I’m a recording musician and I can’t have that bleed into my mix anymore.
Would these ways work?
- pouring water into the speaker
- some sort of magnet
- Tom, is there a toxin I could dump all over it?
All ideas are welcome, thank you, this is not a joke!
-BOB-
Tags: Chuxiong House Home Improvement Chuxiong
VIEW GALLERY
I’ll post a video of the entire house soon. We won’t sleep in this house for a few more weeks because of all the fumes, but tomorrow (!!!) I will move all my music gear and computer equipment in my 430 square foot office on the third floor. Internet will soon follow.
Before I get a chance to pick up the violin, I’ll finish scrubbing the first floor. I have a special technique with involves many tools. We have literally (really, no exaggeration) scrubbed every inch of this house for the last four days (bathroom walls, floors, kitchen, walls, balconies, window sills, stairs, ceilings, everything, my whole body is sore).
By the way, the Leatherman Wave wins in the “Most Used and Best All-around Tool” category. It gets passed around constantly, so I have two strapped to my belt. Two Waves. One is not enough. Only thing is, when you gotta us the squatter Chinese toilet, they hang precariously on my belt, inching down to that hole in the ground. Small price to pay for the best quality tool. It’s like an entire tool shed on my person.
The Italian tripod hasn’t been used yet, but I assure you there will be a photo shoot soon, after the move, and when things slow down.
Bob
Tags: Home Improvement Chuxiong
VIEW MOVIE [????]
Contains the word “sh*t” in case there are little ones around.
Another great video by Bob. If anyone wants a tutorial on how to make fast, homemade, low budget (and low quality) movies, I’d be more than happy to show you.
Tags: Home Improvement Chuxiong Movies
VIEW MOVIE [????]
See the inside of our house that is currently being redesigned. 5 minutes.
Don’t forget to turn off your pop-up blocker software.
Bob
Tags: Home Improvement China Chuxiong General Movies
I just heard on KGO that if you install an electric attic fan it can 1) cool your house by about 10° and 2) “save your roof”. I know you have vents, but their point electric fans on a thermostat.
Would this help with the power bill at Knowland? I remember the upper half of Knowland (or, the 1979 add-on to the house) was always warmer than the cool lower half.
Perhaps this doesn’t apply to anyone since you never use air conditioning. They’re talking about this on KGO because, I guess it’s pretty hot in the Bay right now (just heard, right now, it is 85° in Oakland.)
-BOB-
Tags: Home Improvement
ENLARGE