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Hadlock posted:Trap sprung, kid-haver spotted Nah, former landscaper. I used to walk (commercial walk behind) 3/4 acre at the old place. New place is a couple acres so I got a zero turn. Zero VGS posted:My new house came with quite a few mystery features in it. The nozzle in your last pic is definitely a steam shower nozzle and goes along with that panel. The wire is just.......yikes. No idea.
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Jul 13, 2020 14:44
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Grass chat in the other thread reminded me, a house we balked on in the option period had a $1000 water bill in the summer, because it had a big dumb grass lawn. Ask for 1 year worth of utility bills! I would guesstimate at least 5000 sq ft of lawn. Oh by the way this is in El Paso TX where no one should have a loving grass lawn. (we were going to desert landscape it but the house had too many other issues)
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Jul 13, 2020 17:08
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That really sounds like a water leak of some sort.
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Jul 13, 2020 17:27
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Bioshuffle posted:What's the best move for getting the best electricity rates in the middle of the summer?
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Jul 13, 2020 17:28
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Andy Dufresne posted:That really sounds like a water leak of some sort. 5k sq ft of grass in el paso summer could easily add up to $1000.
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Jul 13, 2020 19:07
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... people irrigate their lawns with potable city water? I’ve never seen that, it’s always been from a dedicated well or a retention pond. Not that my sample size is very big.
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Jul 13, 2020 19:43
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WithoutTheFezOn posted:... people irrigate their lawns with potable city water? I’ve never seen that, it’s always been from a dedicated well or a retention pond. Not that my sample size is very big. Yes? I thought water scarcity is local -- most areas I've seen (non-drought areas) irrigate with city water.
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Jul 13, 2020 19:47
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Ok then.
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Jul 13, 2020 19:49
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I am under contract for a house in Charleston that is generally a seller's market, it is coastal and has frequent rain for humidity issues are fairly common down here. I found a house built in 2014 which is pretty rare in this neighborhood. Inspection showed about 40% humidity under the crawlspace as well as about an inch of standing water (inspection done right after a rain). The inspector also found mold on some of the floor beams as well as an active leak in the master bedroom shower contributing to this. We are under a repair process contract. We talked to a crawlspace expert who recommended a 4k fix (install sump pump, redo the moisture barrier, as well as install a drainage system). In our city, every house needs a termite inspection called a CL100 to ensure the house is structurally sound to proceed with the deal. However the seller doesn't want to do all the fixes and feels the quote was overkill, they are attributing the inspection to having a heavy rain and possibly the shower leak- they are trying to get their own contractor to give them a quote. They did agree to pay for the shower leak and mold treatments, but they think installing a fan will lower the humidity levels to an acceptable level (around <21%) so it will pass the inspection and proceed with the deal. I get that the seller wants to lower costs as much as possible. To me, putting a fan down there seems like a bandaid approach just to proceed with the sale. I already offered to pay asking price and closing costs which is 7k extra and it seems like they wan't to do the bare minimum to fix the issue. My realtor said if I had future humidity problems I can pay to have a pump put down there, but wouldn't the seller not being cheap and paying for this fix the problem in the first place? I am concerned blaming it on the shower leak is a scapegoat, the inspection showed an inch of standing water I think it is silly to attribute all of it just to a leak. As you can tell, Charleston is a seller's market, houses tend to have multiple offers and some sell in 1-2 days in this area. Should I just walk away from this and say fix it or we will be leaving it or try to work it out?
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Jul 13, 2020 19:59
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you mentioned a termite inspection but nothing related to them -- were there also termites?
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Jul 13, 2020 20:05
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pmchem posted:you mentioned a termite inspection but nothing related to them -- were there also termites? It's called a termite inspection but also looks for moisture, fungus issues.
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Jul 13, 2020 20:08
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I've got another house for you all: https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/22014148/6035-falaise-road-duncan-z3-west-duncan My wife is getting worried about timing and I think this viewing is a result of it. Neither of us really like any certain thing about it, but nothing that can't be changed. It's an awful colour inside and out, and there's no pictures of the bathroom or 2 out of three bedrooms. The yard is workable but there's a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that there's a lot wrong with the converted garage, and a random oil tank for an oil furnace that's not listed anywhere in the listing. Despite all this, it is in our budget, off-putting enough that it will go under asking, and getting it would fit in our very arbitrary timeline. We look at it Friday.
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Jul 13, 2020 20:12
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lollybo posted:It's called a termite inspection but also looks for moisture, fungus issues. well, don't mess with either water or termite issues. fix it right, the first time. lol @ just a fan. as for negotiation, that's between you and the sellers and the market. maybe your agent, too, if he'll give up a % to close the deal. but yeah, this could blow things up if you all are 3k apart and nobody will budge.
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Jul 13, 2020 20:15
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I'm trying to figure out if refinancing makes sense. I bought about 1 year ago with a 30 year fixed loan at %4.0 and I'm looking to apply for a new 30 year fixed at %3.25 and it's saying lender fees will come out to around $1800. But I will be saving over $100 per month. Is there some other fees I'm forgetting or will I really be coming out ahead after less than 2 years?
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Jul 13, 2020 20:17
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Dropping a full percentage point for less than $2k is gonna save you a lot of money pretty quickly, yeah.
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Jul 13, 2020 20:18
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Popete posted:I'm trying to figure out if refinancing makes sense. I bought about 1 year ago with a 30 year fixed loan at %4.0 and I'm looking to apply for a new 30 year fixed at %3.25 and it's saying lender fees will come out to around $1800. But I will be saving over $100 per month. Is there some other fees I'm forgetting or will I really be coming out ahead after less than 2 years? try this and let us know what it says? https://www.zillow.com/mortgage-calculator/refinance-calculator/
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Jul 13, 2020 20:26
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When is it too late to change mortgage brokers? Mine is being really bad about getting back to me and we have less than a month to close. She's picked a lender for me, but I'm getting nervous as she keeps on getting some of the details wrong. I have already signed some of the paperwork. We keep finding errors on some of the paperwork, and we have to keep correcting her. Is it a stupid idea to switch at this point?
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Jul 13, 2020 20:34
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Bi-la kaifa posted:I've got another house for you all: https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/22014148/6035-falaise-road-duncan-z3-west-duncan I don't know why you would even look at a house like this. Not only aren't you particularly excited about it, it's a pit of deferred maintenance, has a poor layout and you know for drat sure it's one of those "what you aren't seeing pictures of is truly horrible" type situations. Just look at the general state of the yard and what you can see of the outbuildings. Not a drat thing has been done to this place in the last 15 years other than a builder grade kitchen remodel and a $650 Home Depot gazebo on a deck that looks like it's past it's prime. To get into it further, one of the residents in in one of the photos. And look at the chairs in the living room. It's owned by a couple of morbidly obese old people who probably weren't capable of keeping the place up or even using all of it with that horrible split level things it's got going on. I can tell exactly what it smells like from the photos. E: also, don't buy a 3/1. Just don't. Unless the other two bedrooms are going to be for goon cave use and not actual people. Motronic fucked around with this message at 20:47 on Jul 13, 2020 |
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Jul 13, 2020 20:43
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...I'm still getting more friends and co-workers from the SF Bay Area talking about re-locating to Sacramento area....and the house purchases out here are all reflecting that based on RE people we've talked to (all bay area buyers). They are all gonna get horribly burned (not only by the summer heat if they live through that) but more so when their jobs (not all in tech but big companies) make them go back every day again. Even worse if they lose their job as there are no replacements for them out here. At least they get to enjoy 3 parking spots for a while. 
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Jul 13, 2020 20:58
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Bioshuffle posted:When is it too late to change mortgage brokers? Mine is being really bad about getting back to me and we have less than a month to close. She's picked a lender for me, but I'm getting nervous as she keeps on getting some of the details wrong. I have already signed some of the paperwork. We keep finding errors on some of the paperwork, and we have to keep correcting her. I would say 2 weeks out is too late. Unless you can move closing.
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Jul 13, 2020 21:59
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Popete posted:I'm trying to figure out if refinancing makes sense. I bought about 1 year ago with a 30 year fixed loan at %4.0 and I'm looking to apply for a new 30 year fixed at %3.25 and it's saying lender fees will come out to around $1800. But I will be saving over $100 per month. Is there some other fees I'm forgetting or will I really be coming out ahead after less than 2 years? If your only costs are $1800 then yeah you'll be ahead in under 18 months. Ask the refi agent what other costs and fees there are. That sounds cheap but then again mortgages are cheap right now. That or just wait till you get the disclosures sheet that lists all the extra $150 fees for title insurance and escrow fees and a new appraisal and all that poo poo. I'd expect it to be more like $4000 to $6000 for a refi. But even if it is, you'll also save massive amounts of interest if you stay there a long time. like around $18k per $100k of loan amount over the life of the loan. And since you're super early in the loan, MOST of that payment difference will be to interest right now. So even if you stay in it 5 years, you'll save around $4000 in interest per $100k of loan. Might make it worth it even if the fees are larger. Find a website that explains mortgage calcs in simpler terms and make a spreadsheet for running these numbers, it's not too hard at all.
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Jul 13, 2020 22:11
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H110Hawk posted:I would say 2 weeks out is too late. Unless you can move closing. I'm just annoyed at how my phone calls seem to go to voicemail now that we have an accepted offer. I managed to lock in at 3.25, but I still wince any time I see someone else get rates below 3.
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Jul 13, 2020 22:19
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Motronic posted:I don't know why you would even look at a house like this. Not only aren't you particularly excited about it, it's a pit of deferred maintenance, has a poor layout and you know for drat sure it's one of those "what you aren't seeing pictures of is truly horrible" type situations. Yeah, 2 of the bedrooms and the bathroom are not in any of the dozens of pictures listed there. You can imagine how bad it must be for them to include so many pictures of that backyard and not a single one of the bathroom.
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Jul 14, 2020 03:07
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My wife's logic is that it can't hurt to just look and see. I'm certain that the kitchen and paint were done in preparation for selling, and nothing else has ever been done. We had a big talk about why she wanted to see it and it's more or less because she's bored and worried that nothing we really want will be accessable or on the market long enough for us to make a sound decision about it. I really don't like it but I'm kinda bored too and I'll post the bathroom pics if it's awful.
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Jul 14, 2020 03:31
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joepinetree posted:Yeah, 2 of the bedrooms and the bathroom are not in any of the dozens of pictures listed there. You can imagine how bad it must be for them to include so many pictures of that backyard and not a single one of the bathroom. The downsides could potentially be offset if the seller is willing to convey the Cinderella castle on the kitchen island.
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Jul 14, 2020 03:33
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pmchem posted:try this and let us know what it says? LloydDobler posted:If your only costs are $1800 then yeah you'll be ahead in under 18 months. Ask the refi agent what other costs and fees there are. That sounds cheap but then again mortgages are cheap right now. That or just wait till you get the disclosures sheet that lists all the extra $150 fees for title insurance and escrow fees and a new appraisal and all that poo poo. I'd expect it to be more like $4000 to $6000 for a refi. Thanks! Overall it makes sense, it's a good chunk of savings monthly. But mortgage estimates are always misleading and I was mostly wondering if $1800 for lender fees is about right or are there going to be a bunch of other fees not being shown to me yet. It'll likely still be worth it if even if it ends up costing me $4k.
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Jul 14, 2020 06:38
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Popete posted:Thanks! Is it an actual Loan Estimate or just back of the napkin at this point? Once you get an LE you will know what you're dealing with because it should list all the fees and finance charges.
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Jul 14, 2020 07:49
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So uh I found a reasonably priced new development- but being a geologist I went and looked up the area and it seems they’re building on top of smectite clay. I guess in building language it’s called expansive clay? Which, to me, makes me think there will be horrible foundation problems. If I have my realtor badger the builder about this will they give me anything, or should I just move on? It’s DR Horton, if that makes a difference.
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Jul 14, 2020 12:32
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wolfs posted:
After having a house built by DR Horton and all the problems that came with it because DR Horton uses the cheapest labor/cheapest building materials and churns out houses as fast as they can, I'll never consider a DR Horton house again. The biggest issue I had with them. In a brand new hundred+ house development they used the wrong type of exterior paint on EVERY SINGLE HOUSE and as soon as we had a weather cycle of hot -> cold the paint more or less failed and after the first big rain storm almost every house in the subdivision had water intrusion. DR Horton had to repaint everyone's and fix any water intrusion issues. They failed to use paint that expanded/contracted in the weather which caused nothing but issues. In my house alone they had to replace 750sq ft of carpet and multiple walls of drywall and everything associated with replacing said drywall.
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Jul 14, 2020 12:59
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So I'm under contract to buy a house, and need advice. The house is at the higher end of our budget but checks lots of boxes for us. Dead end road, right near schools, in a great school district, etc. The inspection turned up no major issues, basically a roof that will need replacing within 10 years, a central A/C unit that will need to be replaced soon, but nothing catastrophic. We wanted to make sure that the roof had no active leaks so we scheduled a visit to the property on a day we know it was supposed to rain. We get to the house just as it starts pouring rain, perfect. Go up in the attic and wouldn't you know it find an active leak. Nothing crazy just a steady drip. Seller's agent insists the homeowner will patch/remedy. Ok so then my partner has the idea to go check out the basement just in case. This is a fully finished and drywalled basement mind you. Tiled floors in every room. Well, we notice that in the basement bathroom there is what looks like the equivalent of 2 cups of water on the floor. Bathroom is adjacent to an outside wall. Then we notice the room next to the bathroom has water starting to collect in the floor edge where it meets the wall. No pooling or anything there but it was definitely visibly damp. For what it's worth it didn't look like there was any water damage on the drywall in either room. We are within our right to terminate the contract according to my attorney based on other issues in the inspection, however my in laws seem to think this is no big deal and that all basements are damp and can be remedied. That I'm being too risk averse. We can't get an estimate to fix this or really even know what's going on since we can't rip out drywall to see behind. To make matters worse our current living arrangements are not going to be available in 6 months or less so we will need to find something relatively quickly. Our market, like many others right now is crazy hot and properties are going above ask and super quickly. Thoughts? I'm kind of at a loss. This could be a matter of fixing gutters and water downspouts, or something much worse I guess. Edit: here's a picture of the water on the bathroom floor. Sorry hard to see due to white tile. I have videos of it that illustrate it better. https://imgur.com/a/tzGUn28 youd for i fucked around with this message at 13:31 on Jul 14, 2020 |
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Jul 14, 2020 13:17
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hope you got pictures, and get a specialist in that basement immediately to figure out what's what and how much it will cost to fix roof has to be fixed too, by a real contractor (get the receipts and warranty of the work), but the basement freaks me out because the finished walls/floors may be hiding a lot of damage
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Jul 14, 2020 13:23
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1 active leak and 1 intruding water in finished space (also known as a leak) means that you need professionals to give opinions. In laws can foot the bill if they think it's no big deal but drywall and paint hide a lot of sins. Including sins which happened just last week.
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Jul 14, 2020 15:58
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They went with a full price offer. I’m apparently #1 backup which is a nice way of saying I didn’t get it.
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Jul 14, 2020 16:05
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The house we're under contract for was built in 1999, should we get an oil tank sweep done during inspection even though it's a natural gas install in the house? I feel like the $220 will be peace of mind and also good coverage for when we want to do backyard reno. We're definitely doing radon test. Are there any other optional things we should get done during inspection for a two family house in NJ?
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Jul 14, 2020 16:10
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wolfs posted:So uh They should have a soil report for the lot which you can check out. My last house was built on expansive clay soil, and the house had a floating post tension foundation. It's important to keep moisture levels in the ground under control, literally had to "water the house", but I never had any problems at all.
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Jul 14, 2020 16:14
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KidDynamite posted:The house we're under contract for was built in 1999, should we get an oil tank sweep done during inspection even though it's a natural gas install in the house? I feel like the $220 will be peace of mind and also good coverage for when we want to do backyard reno. We're definitely doing radon test. Are there any other optional things we should get done during inspection for a two family house in NJ? When we got our inspection we sprung for the oil tank sweep, radon, and sewer line scope as extras. I hear not many people do the sewer scope but it gave me piece of mind finding out that it was clear and had been well maintained. youd for i fucked around with this message at 16:35 on Jul 14, 2020 |
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Jul 14, 2020 16:32
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youd for i posted:Thoughts? I'm kind of at a loss. This could be a matter of fixing gutters and water downspouts, or something much worse I guess. That's not an issue with just fixing downspouts. This is a house you should walk away from.
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Jul 14, 2020 17:01
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youd for i posted:So I'm under contract to buy a house, and need advice. The house is at the higher end of our budget but checks lots of boxes for us. Dead end road, right near schools, in a great school district, etc. FLY, YOU FOOLS!
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Jul 14, 2020 17:16
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pmchem posted:hope you got pictures, and get a specialist in that basement immediately to figure out what's what and how much it will cost to fix Yeah, unless this is the "there are no alternatives" dream house I'd ask them if can get a third-party opinion on the water intrusion so you can find out how bad it is and walk away if you can't get that. You honestly don't want to live in a place that might have been leaking for months and now has black mold in the walls causing health issues for your family.
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Jul 14, 2020 17:32
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Basement leaks might be easy fixes*. But they might need $10k to fix before you get to the interior. You can't know without ripping out drywall. Walk on this one. You're getting tired of searching, and this will cost some actual money to walk away from, but don't knowingly buy a problem of unknown scope just so you can be done looking at houses. *Was going to write 'nothing' here, but there's clearly something.
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Jul 14, 2020 17:37
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