2003-10-16 8:15 a.m.
Magpie's Gift Guides: The First Time Homeowner
First in a series of Magpie's Gift Guides for the holidays, this will help you choose a gift for first-time homebuyers. You might think that the new homeowner in your life has other interests and that you might want to buy him or her a gift related to those interests, but you'd be wrong. This year, anyway, there are no other interests. Instead of just letting your eyes glaze over as they chatter excitedly about drywall and gutter-cleaning, meet them halfway with one of these swell obsession-related gifts:
- Ugly wood paneling? An outdated vanity? Tacky vinyl flooring? Odds are
your new homeowner has something heinous that needs to be ripped out,
and this will help them do it.
- Your homeowner has probably lost a lot of nights of sleep wondering how
to pay for fixing that holey roof or pesky drainage problem. If you can't
subsidize that expensive home repair, get them
the next best thing.
- You thought duct tape was the magic substance that holds the world together?
Nope -- it's spackle. For those extra-holey walls, the ones where your new homeowner is convinced the previous owners were putting holes in the wall just for the hell of it, give them a gallon size.
- It's a useful tool! It's an icebreaker at parties! It's two gifts in one!
- Best drill ever. Check out the swell action shots at the bottom of the
page and the cute little drill icon that pops up in your navigation toolbar.
- For the female homeowner: a Power Tools Are A Girl's Best Friend t-shirt. Because they are. Because
she's already bored the snot out of her other best friends talking about
drywall.
There will probably be more than one of these under my tree this year, because yesterday I found out that I GOT THE HOUSE. In Bay Area terms this is like winning the lottery, because you have to bid and bid and bid before you even get the opportunity to buy. Assuming the inspection goes well and I can get a few repairs taken care of (being a huge geek, upgraded electrical is first on my list), I'll be in well before the end of the year.
I! GOT! THE! HOUSE! Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
I'll try to shut up about the drywall, but I can't make any promises.