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C-Euro posted:Wife and I just went under contract for what will hopefully be out first purchased home together If your home has an HOA, the violations for residents are almost always publicly available and you should look to see if they have any violations that they should repair, otherwise you will get a notice as a new resident. I noticed shingles missing, and a violation for it, and they fixed it before we came in.
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Feb 27, 2021 06:08
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I have the inspection scheduled for early next week, what's one thing you wish you had asked when getting your current/former house inspected?
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There is a lot I adore about Japan and as sane and rational as the Japanese Zoning system is, I gotta say...the cities there always struck me as super dull and dreary. Kinda had that soviet bloc brutalism feel to them.
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Feb 27, 2021 06:14
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totalnewbie posted:I would love to live in the middle of super high density housing, like central Tokyo. It is absolutely a different way of life but I really, really enjoy it. Pilfered Pallbearers posted:As someone who’s lived it the passed 10 years, it’s kinda a drag because it’s America. People are nosy as gently caress. And they can’t keep their weird rear end comments to themselves. Asking me how late my child was up last night isn’t the thing I want to hear from my neighbor I speak to once every two weeks in pleasantries. I haven't lived in small housing outside the USA, but I can understand the American desire for single-family homes after living in small apartments here for a pretty long time. One, I feel like builders do the bare minimum to meet the building codes without any consideration for livability in their buildings for smaller, "efficiency" apartments. I've lived in anything from 350-900 sq ft apartments in the past and only one of them would be suitable to raise a child in (not the 900sqft, actually, but a 714 sqft thing in Connecticut). Two, there's some weird-rear end cultural thing in the states where everyone feels like they have the right to never have to be inconvenienced by anything, ever. This both means filing complaints against you for existing (or your baby existing and crying), or simply ignoring that you exist and playing the bagpipes at 3AM because why not. (I'm exaggerating on the bagpipes, but that happened to me in college with a midnight neighbor bagpipe-playing.) There is no cultural perspective that hey, I'm in an apartment, I need to both respect that I have neighbors and expect that I'm going to hear them every now and then. Three, renters might as well be considered subhuman in many states. Your landlord gets bailed out and you get nothing. Your landlord gets an eviction/foreclosure moratorium, and you get a rent deferral if you're lucky. Your landlord has property protections, and you get to deal with him showing up by surprise whenever he wants. Your landlord gets tax breaks for owning the place, and you get (surpriiiise) nothing as the renter. On top of that, he doesn't have to give any shits about you whatsoever, and odds are that rental code will be completely ignored if you try to file any dispute / complain (state/locale dependent). I understand wanting a SFH with an acre+ of lawn and trees between you and the next house, because your time as an apartment-dweller was a miserable experience. 
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Feb 27, 2021 06:28
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totalnewbie posted:I think there's also a lot of zoning differences in the US and my experiences overseas (not just Japan) that make high density residential in the US seem really stupid/dull - and I'm sure a lot of other factors - but I think it can be done well and I wish it would be more accepted in the US. Suburbia is the loving worst. From my observations, it seems that the US used to be way better at mixed zoning in general, including integrating SFHs and multi-units. My 125-year-old neighborhood is majority SFH but has plenty of multi-unit buildings thrown in, including duplexes, quadplexes, a few 6-8 unit buildings, and rowhouse terraces. Most of these are quite old and likely original to the development of the neighborhood, so it’s not like they came later (a few did - there are a couple ugly weird low-slung 70s apartment complexes with parking lots that embody the failed urban architectural philosophy of mid-century and probably decreased density compared to whatever they replaced but those aren’t the ones I’m talking about). And it’s lovely - great mix of demographics and affordable apartment units on the same block as higher end SFHs. I think one thing that helps is that everything is to a similar scale - the SFHs are mostly three stories with tall pointy roofs so you can plop a six-unit next to it and it fits right in. I think it’s a good intermediate state for achieving better housing density - it’s not hyper dense inner city highrises but still a hell of a lot better than a sprawling hellscape of McMansions. But no one does it anymore. But it seems like in new development you mostly just see extremes - either sprawling SFHs that waste a ton of space or huge condo/apartment blocks that of course no one wants in their backyard. Or even if you do see some more moderately sized apartment buildings in new construction it’s still segregated via separate zones of multi-units and SFHs so no one has to live next to the poors or have their ~*property values*~ compromised. Also I’m guessing that building smaller multi-unit buildings with fewer than 8 or so units generally isn’t worthwhile for developers when they could be making bank on luxury SFHs in the suburbs or huge apartment blocks where they can take advantage of economies of scale.
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Feb 27, 2021 07:34
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That is also where the fight about single family only zoning comes in, making it legal again to build those smaller apartments. If you have the zoning to allow a large apartment building, you will generally build that if you have a big enough site, but on smaller lots you could see more granular development if zoning allowed for if.
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Feb 27, 2021 08:07
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The problem is that most large apartment buildings these days have paper thin walls. I’ve also noticed in the DC area that all of the new apartment buildings going up right now near me are completely wood framed for 10+ story buildings. Concrete slab floors make a huge difference in sound traveling between units. I really liked apartment living in the before COVID times. But my partner and I place a huge emphasis on being able to walk everywhere. If we have to drive to a grocery store then we probably don’t want to live there.
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Feb 27, 2021 12:52
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Pilfered Pallbearers posted:I’ve seen so many clearly lovely flips pop up. They all have the the exact same bathroom tile accents. Cruising real estate listings in Denver and finding a ton of this. I’m starting to get triggered by the same identical lovely dark bathroom faucets that I’ve seen in flips before.
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Feb 27, 2021 12:59
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Residency Evil posted:Is the entire neighborhood actually located on top of a river? Oh no! And you and I post in the same city-specific LAN thread so that's a double oh no (unless you moved)! Shammypants posted:If your home has an HOA, the violations for residents are almost always publicly available and you should look to see if they have any violations that they should repair, otherwise you will get a notice as a new resident. I noticed shingles missing, and a violation for it, and they fixed it before we came in. I'm pretty sure it's not part of one but I will double check, thanks.
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Feb 27, 2021 15:51
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Got to look at a nice brick house with concrete walls built in the pre-war years. Awesome house. Hasn't been ruined my renovators or flippers "opening it up" or adding terrible finishes. Also has a basement, which is pretty unusual for Texas. The foundation looked above board, but I did see some old knob and tube wiring, but it didn't look connected, though from what I could see it may have been to this box     Red flags? Also, it was dark down there and didn't realize some of my photos turned out to be poo poo until after I left. I'm assuming this is probably a partial rewire and there's still active K&T. I probably just need to talk to an electrician. I'd be up for paying for a rewiring of this place given how loving solid and high quality the rest of it was biceps crimes fucked around with this message at 02:29 on Feb 28, 2021 |
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Feb 28, 2021 02:14
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That there is a fuse box. Looks like two circuits. Test/have it tested to see if it’s actually live. But yeah if the house is otherwise good just rewire. That’s just the price of an old house that hasn’t been hosed up by remuddling. Otherwise that is a surprisingly good looking basement for an old house, at least superficially. Edit: Here’s the fuse box from my old apartment, which was 1915 original and very much live and in use: 
Queen Victorian fucked around with this message at 02:35 on Feb 28, 2021 |
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Feb 28, 2021 02:28
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Wow those are cool. I just realized I only have been in houses that have circuit breakers for the most part so I haven't seen a fuse box in real life. Just people calling circuit breakers fuse boxes, lol.
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Feb 28, 2021 03:04
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Does it have lead water pipes?
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Feb 28, 2021 03:48
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I don't know, I wouldn't be surprised as the house was built in the 1920s
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Feb 28, 2021 04:36
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GoGoGadgetChris posted:City-level government will try and put some little taxes and incentives out there to encourage builders to stray from McLuxury Product, but builders don't even care what STATE they build in so they just head on down to a more profit-friendly metro and throw down some more high priced trash on their latest superfund site/opportunity zone Even the big corporate builders hire local guys.
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Feb 28, 2021 13:09
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laxbro posted:Am I understanding correctly that people that are people hoping to make money on their houses will be hosed if rates rise? Are housing prices inversely correlated to mortgage rates? *Mortgage prices aren't arbitrary and there are a lot of macroeconomic things that impact them. Many of the macroeconomic things that cause mortgage prices to go up also have an impact on wages. Wages are the fundamental driver of housing prices in a location. So, like everything else in macroeconomics, it is really hard to disentangle what's going on to discriminate cause from effect from correlation.
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Feb 28, 2021 13:11
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Got an accepted offer on a house and in the course of the lending process (getting a home insurance quote) found out it sits in a high fire severity risk zone (in California) so our usual home insurance company (as well as many other ones online) will not insure it. Our options as I understand it are to find a private home insurance policy, or apply and try for a CA FAIR policy and then an additional wraparound policy for the non-fire comprehensive coverage. Anyone smart on how I would even start looking for private insurers? online google results in a ton of companies that go through the entire "get a quote, enter your personal info and address" process before kicking back to "not eligible for coverage."
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Mar 1, 2021 01:49
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Stop wasting your time filling out your info on direct insurer websites. Call an independent insurance agent in your local area and have them chase down the quotes. They have access to dozens of insurers, many who don’t have a direct/retail presence.
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Mar 1, 2021 03:14
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Just looked at two more houses tonight. We liked both and will likely put offers in. One is 600 and will likely go for 700 which is the absolute top of our budget but much further north than we want. The other is 550 and closer to where we want to be but slightly smaller and near a busier road and has a small garage. Both are move in ready and come with a thorough preinspection which makes me feel much better. It's all pretty low hanging fruit on the inspection vs the foundation issues, leaky roof, and moldy crawlspace and attic issues we had in the house we backed out of. Went to a few open houses this weekend and didn't even stop for one because there were 30 people in a line outside waiting to get in.
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Mar 1, 2021 07:18
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Queen Victorian posted:That there is a fuse box. Looks like two circuits. Test/have it tested to see if it’s actually live. Actually.... looks like a single circuit. And unless that fuse on the right is a dummy, then they're fusing the neutral which is generally not legal. (edit: if this is actually 2 circuits, then there's no neutral, and that's a bigger problem). But I'm not an electrician and I don't know anything about those old-school fused disconnects. That said, that looks wrong to me, and in any case a house with old wiring like that you should absolutely get an electrician to check all that out before you close. If the old K&T looks disconnected, definitely get the electrician do poke around and see if it was done right. Maybe dig for permits. The more I look at it, that looks like new wiring on an old box. Someone probably kept it around because it's "vintage." Those fuses will get harder and harder to get, and that's a very dangerous box to work in, so IMO just replace it with a modern breaker box. edit: thinking about it some more, if that box wasn't replaced at the same time as the wiring, this may have been a DIY job. I can't imagine it's legal to leave that around like that; IIRC you're usually required to update anything that's out of code if you touch it. That plus the fact that the neutral is apparently fused makes me nervous. Again, not an electrician, but this doesn't look right to me. DaveSauce fucked around with this message at 13:24 on Mar 1, 2021 |
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Mar 1, 2021 13:12
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DaveSauce posted:
Do people seriously do that? I mean, I get it if it's a quaint hand pump out by the well (and you have modern plumbing running to the kitchen) or keeping a dumb waiter or something because it's kitchy but . . . loving electrical panels? Even if you were all about maximum pinterest points wouldn't you disconnect everything giong to the box, leave it up for your sepia-toned selfies, and have a normal one around the corner? 
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Mar 1, 2021 14:45
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Cyrano4747 posted:Do people seriously do that? I mean, I get it if it's a quaint hand pump out by the well (and you have modern plumbing running to the kitchen) or keeping a dumb waiter or something because it's kitchy but . . . loving electrical panels? fukin lol if your breaker boxes aren't bespoke.
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Mar 1, 2021 14:51
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Cyrano4747 posted:Do people seriously do that? I mean, I get it if it's a quaint hand pump out by the well (and you have modern plumbing running to the kitchen) or keeping a dumb waiter or something because it's kitchy but . . . loving electrical panels? I have literally no idea. I'm making wild guesses, because unless I'm missing something you could modernize it with parts from LowesDepot for less than $50. So there's no reason to keep this thing around unless you just like the look of it.
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Mar 1, 2021 14:53
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My grandma’s house had a Federal Pacific panel that was disconnected but not removed, so it was just hanging out in the finished part of the basement on a wall. The real panel was back in the unfinished area, but it probably scared a home inspector when she sold the house.
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Mar 1, 2021 16:11
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Yeah if I was going to leave a fuse box around for shits and giggles I’d not have any convincing wiring hooked up to it and put the modern breaker box next to it (I don’t remember if there was one, or maybe it wasn’t pictured). Anyhow, I have a cool old timey light fixture in the hall closet that involves exposed K&T (cloth-insulated wires and knobs, but no tubes) and a neato Bakelite switch. It’s much more unusual than a fuse box, and my plan is to keep it, but put modern wiring behind it in the wall and leave the old stuff for show because it looks super cool and is also functional as a light fixture (unlike a disconnected fuse box). Overall I like the idea of keeping around hints of oldness - stuff like that light fixture, the push-button light switches with mother of pearl and brass face plates, the original doorbell, etc. as long as they serve a useful purpose. A fuse box in a basement that no one sees isn’t one of those things.
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Mar 1, 2021 16:15
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Hey, my inspection went well (like only 3 minor things, and absolutely nothing to renegotiate for), our offer is accepted, and the seller wants to close in 30 days! Seller's clearly paranoid about rising rates, and that's driving his want to close in 30 days. But looks like this may work?
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Mar 1, 2021 18:13
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Cool another house we arranged to look at tonight sold within hours of going up.
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Mar 1, 2021 18:15
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Pilfered Pallbearers posted:Hey, my inspection went well (like only 3 minor things, and absolutely nothing to renegotiate for), our offer is accepted, and the seller wants to close in 30 days! Our inspection is tomorrow and I'm deeply hoping for a similar outcome.
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Mar 1, 2021 18:15
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DaveSauce posted:I have literally no idea. The old one is good to get everyone’s two cents about as a conversation piece. Also better than 50/50 that two cents is what’s behind those fuses we see.
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Mar 1, 2021 18:29
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C-Euro posted:Wife and I just went under contract for what will hopefully be out first purchased home together Not a question I would have asked them, but something I'd recommend; home inspectors are not liable for any mistakes they make on their inspections, and certain repairs that are critical can be super pricey AND not be covered by home insurance unless you have a specialty policy. That being said; get the sewer line inspected by a plumber, not a home inspector. I had mine inspected by the home inspection company and they assured me it was okay. It was not. I got "lucky" that it only cost 23 grand to fix but anything marginal might be worth having a specialist look at first if you can arrange it.
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Mar 1, 2021 19:05
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Sounds like the offer we made yesterday of 7% over ask is not competitive.
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Mar 1, 2021 22:14
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DaveSauce posted:Actually.... looks like a single circuit. And unless that fuse on the right is a dummy, then they're fusing the neutral which is generally not legal. (edit: if this is actually 2 circuits, then there's no neutral, and that's a bigger problem). The house was pretty great otherwise, electrical fire death aside. I almost put an offer in for it but was too late, it was under contract less than 8 hours after getting relisted, though it was already under contract once before. Went on more house tours, I've been crawling into crawl spaces on my own.  oh more pier and beam    looks wet
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Mar 2, 2021 00:36
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I'm working with a mortgage broker and was asked whether I, "prefer to have impounds on your loan, where your property tax payments and homeowner’s insurance payments are combined with your monthly mortgage payments?" I've been in touch with my insurance agent and was planning on paying that separately. Are there any pros/cons to combining my property tax with my mortgage payments?
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Mar 2, 2021 02:01
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spf3million posted:I'm working with a mortgage broker and was asked whether I, "prefer to have impounds on your loan, where your property tax payments and homeowner’s insurance payments are combined with your monthly mortgage payments?" I've been in touch with my insurance agent and was planning on paying that separately. Are there any pros/cons to combining my property tax with my mortgage payments? We did this for our first house and I'll probably unbundle them when we purchase our new one. The major benefit, obviously, is that you can't really "mess up" a critical expense for the house-- taxes and insurance are guaranteed paid for. The downside is that it feels like a lot of hassle to shop around your insurance after getting it setup, so depending on your want to do that you might be potentially overpaying depending on what different insurers could potentially offer you.
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Mar 2, 2021 02:13
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Yeah, I was thinking that I'd rather pay for the insurance out of pocket and let the property taxes come out of escrow.
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Mar 2, 2021 02:20
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spf3million posted:I'm working with a mortgage broker and was asked whether I, "prefer to have impounds on your loan, where your property tax payments and homeowner’s insurance payments are combined with your monthly mortgage payments?" I've been in touch with my insurance agent and was planning on paying that separately. Are there any pros/cons to combining my property tax with my mortgage payments? You have to keep a buffer in your escrow account, so your closing costs/payment will be slightly higher. It also makes refinancing a little more complicated because they will fudge the numbers around your escrow refund and new impound costs. Sometimes they make incorrect assumptions on future costs, your mortgage payment will be higher for about a year until the refund the extra, or there will be a shortage you need to make up. Sometimes they forget to pay your taxes, but then they are liable for any late fees so this is rare. The big benefit is you just need to remember to pay your mortgage, and you pay the same amount the whole year instead of making 1-2 large tax payments. Sometimes you get a discount on closing costs.
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Mar 2, 2021 02:27
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spf3million posted:I'm working with a mortgage broker and was asked whether I, "prefer to have impounds on your loan, where your property tax payments and homeowner’s insurance payments are combined with your monthly mortgage payments?" I've been in touch with my insurance agent and was planning on paying that separately. Are there any pros/cons to combining my property tax with my mortgage payments? I love one bill to rule them all. If you make a change your insurance company just tells your mortgage processor. Helps that California has 2% statutory interest on the amount in escrow.
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Mar 2, 2021 02:28
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H110Hawk posted:I love one bill to rule them all. If you make a change your insurance company just tells your mortgage processor. Helps that California has 2% statutory interest on the amount in escrow. Is there a limit to how much you can have in escrow in CA? 
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Mar 2, 2021 03:00
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I gave up trying to pay my Prop Ins and Taxes separately as the lenders make it a pita and are continually asking for PROOF PROOF PROOF WE DONT TRUST YOU!!!
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Mar 2, 2021 03:01
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FWIW I didn't have an option to have taxes not collected in escrow.
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Mar 2, 2021 03:02
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Residency Evil posted:Is there a limit to how much you can have in escrow in CA? I tried, wells Fargo won't let me put in more than they estimate. Maybe if I just mailed them a check...
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Mar 2, 2021 03:02
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