We've put in a offer that's going unconditional around this time next week, pending a builder's inspection.
This one is in Hastings though (which is close enough honestly), Quater acre for $370k which is impossible anywhere near Auckland.
Should be able to pay off the mortage in like 4 years.
One problem is that I probably wont be able to move down there anytime soon, current time table is 5 years
I know people in Napier! And yeah if you went anywhere near Auckland you'd be 2-3 times that price.
Both the problem and charm of that whole country is it refuses to build up so cities sprawl absurdly and residential areas even sort of near the city skyrocket.
This is the first time I've heard of radon danger. Great, something new to worry about.
The worst part? Not only can things like mattresses absorb radon that's in the air, as it decays (halflife is about 4 days) it attaches to dust particles in the air and those become radioactive as well and are just as dangerous as the actual radon, if not more so.
not a doctor, not a lawyer, examples I use may not be fully researched so don't take out of context plz, don't @ me
True, but the remediation is relatively stupid simple: you have a small fan pulling air out if the basement and venting out above the roofline. It's still 2k because houses but those people just want a check so they can walk away.
This is an example of where some sort of intermediary (not the agent) would get this done and let everyone walk away relatively pleased.
True, but the remediation is relatively stupid simple: you have a small fan pulling air out if the basement and venting out above the roofline. It's still 2k because houses but those people just want a check so they can walk away.
This is an example of where some sort of intermediary (not the agent) would get this done and let everyone walk away relatively pleased.
The sense I'm getting is they also have an aggressive agent who thinks that "playing hardball" (case in point - when we got the counter, he made sure to point out that he had several showings lined up) will get them the maximum return on their house.
This house has been on the market for almost a year now.
True, but the remediation is relatively stupid simple: you have a small fan pulling air out if the basement and venting out above the roofline. It's still 2k because houses but those people just want a check so they can walk away.
This is an example of where some sort of intermediary (not the agent) would get this done and let everyone walk away relatively pleased.
The sense I'm getting is they also have an aggressive agent who thinks that "playing hardball" (case in point - when we got the counter, he made sure to point out that he had several showings lined up) will get them the maximum return on their house.
This house has been on the market for almost a year now.
hahahahaha, you have all the cards and he's trying to bluff with a deuce.
not a doctor, not a lawyer, examples I use may not be fully researched so don't take out of context plz, don't @ me
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DemonStaceyTTODewback's DaughterIn love with the TaySwayRegistered Userregular
edited December 2018
Alright.. so I guess I have to go back to the house 1 more time. There was a bit of a miscommunication on the amount of smoke detectors needed. But at least this time the CO guy says he won't charge me a 3rd time to come out and said everything else was good. So I just need to run over there, slap an extra smoke detector in and we're good!
We have a ranch house in my neighborhood that was on the market for a year. It looked like a "grandma" house, with lots of paneling and fairly involved renovations in every room.
It finally sold about two weeks ago and there is now a rather large dumpster outside. I'm mostly curious whether they are going to flip it or stay in it.
Conversely, there's a house at the end of our street that supposedly sold in like 6 days, if you believe the previous owners (who I have some biased opinions based on both of their posts on the neighborhood FB page in the past). The house sold back in ~June and has yet to have anyone living in it, or a car in the driveway. I'm now curious whether there were some sort of difficulties with the closing, or if the new owner can't sell their old place, or WTF else is happening. It's.....it's just odd. I would have expected activity of some sort by now. They don't even appear to be painting anything.
For real though it seems like if you’ve got the money to get into the NZ housing market, it’s a solid investment. Your prices are crazy-trending-toward-ludicrous. If you can buy in at crazy, might as well.
This is like advising someone to buy bitcoin back when it was $12k and climbing.
New Zealand's housing market is just as overinflated as Australias, prices will drop hard, soon.
The alternative to buying a residence is renting a residence (or living in a residence provided by another I guess). When you rent you get little to nothing back for your rent. When you buy, you get to keep a big chunk of that money in the form of property.
Its more complicated than that because of down payments and closing costs or if you will need a residence elsewhere in the next few years. But by and large its the choice between effectively saving a substantial part of your shelter money in the form of real estate or paying towards someone else's real estate payments.
A crash may or may not come but assuming its just around the corner rarely works out.
1) New Zealand's housing market has been overheated for nearly two decades at this point (think Vancouver or NYC), to the point where even wealthy international investors are cooling on it, a crunch is coming, and soon. That's not me making pie in the sky claims, that's me paraphrasing renowned NZ economists and realtors.
2) Most renters simply cannot "just buy a house", or else surprise, they would. Getting approval for even a small mortgage is orders of magnitude harder than saving up a rental deposit and passing a basic criminal background and credit check.
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MortiousThe Nightmare BeginsMove to New ZealandRegistered Userregular
Okay builder report came in and couple of minor things with the house, the garage is in poor condition so that's going to be expensive, sheds have to go, oh and the house is cladded with asbestos fiber.
We have a ranch house in my neighborhood that was on the market for a year. It looked like a "grandma" house, with lots of paneling and fairly involved renovations in every room.
It finally sold about two weeks ago and there is now a rather large dumpster outside. I'm mostly curious whether they are going to flip it or stay in it.
True, but the remediation is relatively stupid simple: you have a small fan pulling air out if the basement and venting out above the roofline. It's still 2k because houses but those people just want a check so they can walk away.
This is an example of where some sort of intermediary (not the agent) would get this done and let everyone walk away relatively pleased.
I don't have a basement.
I didn't have the house tested before I bought it. Nobody, including my agent and the inspector, told me that this is a thing I should have done. I'm wondering if I should get it tested now.
Marty81 on
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AbsoluteZeroThe new film by Quentin KoopantinoRegistered Userregular
A year, damn. Seller's market in my area. My house was on the market for 2 days before we had an accepted offer.
I put an offer in on the house I'm currently in within 6 hours of the house being on the market.
A year, lol. There's a reason why the house has been on the market for a year and it's because the owners are dicks.
When we bought our house we put our offer in the same day it went on the market, and there were 8 other offers that same day. Our offer was accepted because we were the only ones who didn't lowball them.
Now this year the shithole next door (seriously the place looks like it should be condemned) somehow sold for 40k more than we bought our house for. I do not understand the housing market. On the upside though our new neighbor is fixing up that dump.
True, but the remediation is relatively stupid simple: you have a small fan pulling air out if the basement and venting out above the roofline. It's still 2k because houses but those people just want a check so they can walk away.
This is an example of where some sort of intermediary (not the agent) would get this done and let everyone walk away relatively pleased.
I don't have a basement.
I didn't have the house tested before I bought it. Nobody, including my agent and the inspector, told me that this is a thing I should have done. I'm wondering if I should get it tested now.
My understanding is that these are not quite as precise as the more expensive test, but it does offer a cheap way to see if this is something you should worry about or not.
True, but the remediation is relatively stupid simple: you have a small fan pulling air out if the basement and venting out above the roofline. It's still 2k because houses but those people just want a check so they can walk away.
This is an example of where some sort of intermediary (not the agent) would get this done and let everyone walk away relatively pleased.
The sense I'm getting is they also have an aggressive agent who thinks that "playing hardball" (case in point - when we got the counter, he made sure to point out that he had several showings lined up) will get them the maximum return on their house.
This house has been on the market for almost a year now.
True, but the remediation is relatively stupid simple: you have a small fan pulling air out if the basement and venting out above the roofline. It's still 2k because houses but those people just want a check so they can walk away.
This is an example of where some sort of intermediary (not the agent) would get this done and let everyone walk away relatively pleased.
I don't have a basement.
I didn't have the house tested before I bought it. Nobody, including my agent and the inspector, told me that this is a thing I should have done. I'm wondering if I should get it tested now.
My understanding is that these are not quite as precise as the more expensive test, but it does offer a cheap way to see if this is something you should worry about or not.
It's much less of an issue if you don't have a basement. Still may be worth checking just to be safe.
True, but the remediation is relatively stupid simple: you have a small fan pulling air out if the basement and venting out above the roofline. It's still 2k because houses but those people just want a check so they can walk away.
This is an example of where some sort of intermediary (not the agent) would get this done and let everyone walk away relatively pleased.
I don't have a basement.
I didn't have the house tested before I bought it. Nobody, including my agent and the inspector, told me that this is a thing I should have done. I'm wondering if I should get it tested now.
My understanding is that these are not quite as precise as the more expensive test, but it does offer a cheap way to see if this is something you should worry about or not.
Yeah, put down that, and if it shows elevated levels, contact a home inspector to do a 48 hour test - this is about $75-100 to do. The max limit by the EPA is 4 picoCuries per liter of air.
True, but the remediation is relatively stupid simple: you have a small fan pulling air out if the basement and venting out above the roofline. It's still 2k because houses but those people just want a check so they can walk away.
This is an example of where some sort of intermediary (not the agent) would get this done and let everyone walk away relatively pleased.
I don't have a basement.
I didn't have the house tested before I bought it. Nobody, including my agent and the inspector, told me that this is a thing I should have done. I'm wondering if I should get it tested now.
My understanding is that these are not quite as precise as the more expensive test, but it does offer a cheap way to see if this is something you should worry about or not.
I didn't know about that. I thought you had to call someone to get a test done. Thanks!
This is a conundrum. The light fixture in our downstairs bathroom isn't working. I used a multimeter to check and the light switch is working properly. WE are getting 120V to the fixture. It's a three-light fixture. The lights should be wired in parallel, but when I checked, each of the three light sockets was only receiving ~61V. I'm not about to tear apart the fixture, so I guess we will be putting in a new fixture today. I also haven't thrown out the idea that a replacement fixture won't fix the problem; but it's the easiest solution.
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That_GuyI don't wanna be that guyRegistered Userregular
This is a conundrum. The light fixture in our downstairs bathroom isn't working. I used a multimeter to check and the light switch is working properly. WE are getting 120V to the fixture. It's a three-light fixture. The lights should be wired in parallel, but when I checked, each of the three light sockets was only receiving ~61V. I'm not about to tear apart the fixture, so I guess we will be putting in a new fixture today. I also haven't thrown out the idea that a replacement fixture won't fix the problem; but it's the easiest solution.
When you take out your old fixture, make sure you check the leads coming out of the ceiling. If you're only getting 60v there you likely have a break in the cable somewhere in the wall. In all likelihood the original builder just stapled Romex to the joists instead of running conduit. You will probably need to run a new cable if voltage is low.
Mortious ooohhhh Napier!! I'm super excited to see the house. I've always wanted to visit down there!
Very excited for you!
lonelyahava
We've put in a offer that's going unconditional around this time next week, pending a builder's inspection.
This one is in Hastings though (which is close enough honestly), Quater acre for $370k which is impossible anywhere near Auckland.
Should be able to pay off the mortage in like 4 years.
One problem is that I probably wont be able to move down there anytime soon, current time table is 5 years
I know people in Napier! And yeah if you went anywhere near Auckland you'd be 2-3 times that price.
Both the problem and charm of that whole country is it refuses to build up so cities sprawl absurdly and residential areas even sort of near the city skyrocket.
To be fair, there are so many cranes around here now due to the building of new apartment blocks, we should really be the City of Cranes instead of Sails.
There are at least 4 new luxury apartment blocks going up in the area I work in. And that's just the ones that I can see on my drive in.
Main problem being they're still luxury apartments in an ocean side suburb and easily going for at least a million, if not more
ApogeeLancks In Every Game EverRegistered Userregular
So I had a furnance tech in this weekend, and lo and behold my furnace is a deadly bomb and must be replaced pronto. Glad I bought a house with a fireplace and the weather has been mild for December...
Next step (after replacing it) is finding out if insurance will cover it, and failing that, if the seller will be on the hook; my gut says yes, given that I was promised appliances in 'working order' and this appears to have been neglected for years.
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ShadowfireVermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered Userregular
So I had a furnance tech in this weekend, and lo and behold my furnace is a deadly bomb and must be replaced pronto. Glad I bought a house with a fireplace and the weather has been mild for December...
Next step (after replacing it) is finding out if insurance will cover it, and failing that, if the seller will be on the hook; my gut says yes, given that I was promised appliances in 'working order' and this appears to have been neglected for years.
The inspector should have picked up on it. You might be fucked. Worth checking though.
So I had a furnance tech in this weekend, and lo and behold my furnace is a deadly bomb and must be replaced pronto. Glad I bought a house with a fireplace and the weather has been mild for December...
Next step (after replacing it) is finding out if insurance will cover it, and failing that, if the seller will be on the hook; my gut says yes, given that I was promised appliances in 'working order' and this appears to have been neglected for years.
The inspector should have picked up on it. You might be fucked. Worth checking though.
Yup. My first house I bough even came with a useless home warranty. Inspector told me the AC was older but fine. It died like 2 months after purchase, and the home warranty company denied the repair b/c the unit "hadn't been maintained properly"......
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AbsoluteZeroThe new film by Quentin KoopantinoRegistered Userregular
Our furnace died immediately after purchasing our house too. Sounds like it's not all that uncommon for hvac shit to go overlooked in inspections.
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ApogeeLancks In Every Game EverRegistered Userregular
So I had a furnance tech in this weekend, and lo and behold my furnace is a deadly bomb and must be replaced pronto. Glad I bought a house with a fireplace and the weather has been mild for December...
Next step (after replacing it) is finding out if insurance will cover it, and failing that, if the seller will be on the hook; my gut says yes, given that I was promised appliances in 'working order' and this appears to have been neglected for years.
The inspector should have picked up on it. You might be fucked. Worth checking though.
Inspector noted that it looked poorly maintained, but otherwise OK. However, that was in October and it did (does) run, it just also might catch fire given it has water damage all over the circuitry (condensation tubes were just hanging out inside). The extent of the water damage wasn't obvious until we pulled the side off it after running for a week and found a few inches of water inside.
Does anyone have experience insulating hvac ducting in an already finished space? The heat coming out of the vents on one side of the house is nice and toasty because it is near the furnace, but the vents on the opposite side of the house have good air flow but they are about 1/3rd to 1/4 as warm. The ducting runs through a small dropped ceiling in a finished basement. I've been considering throwing some insulation on that ducting in an attempt to have the air coming out on that one side of the house be warmer.
Do you guys think that will help out or do you think it is a waste of money?
No, I am not really communist. Yes, it is weird that I use this name.
It'll help a bit. You might want to grab some of that foil tape meant to seal seams in ducts too (not duct-tape), sealing those seams and then insulating it will probably help, but I'm not sure if it'll be as drastic as you're hoping.
not a doctor, not a lawyer, examples I use may not be fully researched so don't take out of context plz, don't @ me
You're naturally going to lose heat as the air travels along the duct. The drop ceiling itself is acting as minor insulation, since it's keeping the air in that space relatively stagnant.
I agree, taping the seams may help, but I don't expect you'll see a noticeable difference if you wrap the duct in insulation.
You could try buying a wrap kit, though, and wrap a portion of the duct to see if you get a marked increase at the far end.
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I know people in Napier! And yeah if you went anywhere near Auckland you'd be 2-3 times that price.
Both the problem and charm of that whole country is it refuses to build up so cities sprawl absurdly and residential areas even sort of near the city skyrocket.
The worst part? Not only can things like mattresses absorb radon that's in the air, as it decays (halflife is about 4 days) it attaches to dust particles in the air and those become radioactive as well and are just as dangerous as the actual radon, if not more so.
This is an example of where some sort of intermediary (not the agent) would get this done and let everyone walk away relatively pleased.
The sense I'm getting is they also have an aggressive agent who thinks that "playing hardball" (case in point - when we got the counter, he made sure to point out that he had several showings lined up) will get them the maximum return on their house.
This house has been on the market for almost a year now.
hahahahaha, you have all the cards and he's trying to bluff with a deuce.
I wouldn't budge a single dollar.
I put an offer in on the house I'm currently in within 6 hours of the house being on the market.
A year, lol. There's a reason why the house has been on the market for a year and it's because the owners are dicks.
It finally sold about two weeks ago and there is now a rather large dumpster outside. I'm mostly curious whether they are going to flip it or stay in it.
Conversely, there's a house at the end of our street that supposedly sold in like 6 days, if you believe the previous owners (who I have some biased opinions based on both of their posts on the neighborhood FB page in the past). The house sold back in ~June and has yet to have anyone living in it, or a car in the driveway. I'm now curious whether there were some sort of difficulties with the closing, or if the new owner can't sell their old place, or WTF else is happening. It's.....it's just odd. I would have expected activity of some sort by now. They don't even appear to be painting anything.
I really want to have a walk in tub, because I don't fit in normal tubs (I'm 6' 3".)
1) New Zealand's housing market has been overheated for nearly two decades at this point (think Vancouver or NYC), to the point where even wealthy international investors are cooling on it, a crunch is coming, and soon. That's not me making pie in the sky claims, that's me paraphrasing renowned NZ economists and realtors.
2) Most renters simply cannot "just buy a house", or else surprise, they would. Getting approval for even a small mortgage is orders of magnitude harder than saving up a rental deposit and passing a basic criminal background and credit check.
That sounds like a pass unfortunately.
It’s not a very important country most of the time
http://steamcommunity.com/id/mortious
I kinda want to make some pretty big changes to the layout of the house, i.e. moving an external door and attaching the garage.
Expensive under normal circumstances, and from a quick google, even more so if it involves asbestos.
I am in no rush, I'd rather wait for the "perfect" house.
It’s not a very important country most of the time
http://steamcommunity.com/id/mortious
I would bet money they're flipping it.
I don't have a basement.
I didn't have the house tested before I bought it. Nobody, including my agent and the inspector, told me that this is a thing I should have done. I'm wondering if I should get it tested now.
When we bought our house we put our offer in the same day it went on the market, and there were 8 other offers that same day. Our offer was accepted because we were the only ones who didn't lowball them.
Now this year the shithole next door (seriously the place looks like it should be condemned) somehow sold for 40k more than we bought our house for. I do not understand the housing market. On the upside though our new neighbor is fixing up that dump.
I mean, you can get a test kit for $14:
https://www.amazon.com/First-Alert-RD1-Radon-Test/dp/B00002N83E/ref=asc_df_B00002N83E/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=198096709148&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1240773505028078276&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9033271&hvtargid=pla-381855685342&psc=1
My understanding is that these are not quite as precise as the more expensive test, but it does offer a cheap way to see if this is something you should worry about or not.
Ahhhahaha yeah walk away from that bro
It's much less of an issue if you don't have a basement. Still may be worth checking just to be safe.
Yeah, put down that, and if it shows elevated levels, contact a home inspector to do a 48 hour test - this is about $75-100 to do. The max limit by the EPA is 4 picoCuries per liter of air.
I didn't know about that. I thought you had to call someone to get a test done. Thanks!
Glad you're happy with the decision!
Does that mean you lost the earnest money?
No. We invoked the inspection clause, so we get the money back.
When you take out your old fixture, make sure you check the leads coming out of the ceiling. If you're only getting 60v there you likely have a break in the cable somewhere in the wall. In all likelihood the original builder just stapled Romex to the joists instead of running conduit. You will probably need to run a new cable if voltage is low.
After I replaced that receptacle, everything was working properly again.
Protip: replace all your receptacles if your house is older than 10-15 yrs old and they haven't been touched.
Also if you're putting in new fixtures anywhere, take the extra time and replace the switch.
To be fair, there are so many cranes around here now due to the building of new apartment blocks, we should really be the City of Cranes instead of Sails.
There are at least 4 new luxury apartment blocks going up in the area I work in. And that's just the ones that I can see on my drive in.
Main problem being they're still luxury apartments in an ocean side suburb and easily going for at least a million, if not more
Democrats Abroad! || Vote From Abroad
Next step (after replacing it) is finding out if insurance will cover it, and failing that, if the seller will be on the hook; my gut says yes, given that I was promised appliances in 'working order' and this appears to have been neglected for years.
The inspector should have picked up on it. You might be fucked. Worth checking though.
Yup. My first house I bough even came with a useless home warranty. Inspector told me the AC was older but fine. It died like 2 months after purchase, and the home warranty company denied the repair b/c the unit "hadn't been maintained properly"......
Inspector noted that it looked poorly maintained, but otherwise OK. However, that was in October and it did (does) run, it just also might catch fire given it has water damage all over the circuitry (condensation tubes were just hanging out inside). The extent of the water damage wasn't obvious until we pulled the side off it after running for a week and found a few inches of water inside.
Do you guys think that will help out or do you think it is a waste of money?
I agree, taping the seams may help, but I don't expect you'll see a noticeable difference if you wrap the duct in insulation.
You could try buying a wrap kit, though, and wrap a portion of the duct to see if you get a marked increase at the far end.