Come to my [house], be one of the comfortable people

Knight_

Dixon wrote: »

Indie Winter wrote: »

it tells you a lot about who I am when I look at sex house and go "huh, that is a phenomenally cheap price for that kind of property"

I was thinking the same...that kitchen looked really nice...I just bought a place for that exact amount and it's like half the amount of house on a third the land.

it's really far from anything. they got nothing but space that far in the suburbs.

AngelHedgie

Knight_ wrote: »

Dixon wrote: »

Indie Winter wrote: »

it tells you a lot about who I am when I look at sex house and go "huh, that is a phenomenally cheap price for that kind of property"

I was thinking the same...that kitchen looked really nice...I just bought a place for that exact amount and it's like half the amount of house on a third the land.

it's really far from anything. they got nothing but space that far in the suburbs.

And not much to do either.

Dixon

I guess it just really shows how inexpensive it is to build a nice house, and how much you are paying just for location.

I'm even an hour outside the city and that would be a 1.5-2 mil house easy

stimtokolos

I am trying to own a house.
I have pre approval and all that jazz.
Buying at auction is freaking me the fuck out though.
Need to get my stuff sorted with a cheque book because who even has those.

I'm going to miss the auction on a place I'd really like because I'm just way to stressed with work to deal right now. Which is a bit crap, but at least gives some time for a bunch of things t sell this year to help calibrate mynprices.

(In Sydney so everything is bonkers right now)

SharpyVII

Downstairs bathroom update!



Another comparison shot showing the old bathroom and the renovation as of today.

Father in law has put in the blind and we've had the towel rail installed. Having heating in the bathroom now makes the whole house so much warmer.

We're getting a cabinet soon to go over the toilet and he's still got to add trim on top of the tiles near the ceiling then fit the bath panel.

MichaelLC

Help Please!

Please let me know how bad this is. In Chicago, so had several freeze & thaw cycles.

Went outside, saw front faucet dripping. Checked inside at shutoff valve and completely closed it. Back outside and faucet open or closed water is still coming out. So thinking inside valve s busted.

No water inside yet, but assume that's next when it freezes? How quick so I need to call plumber?

Xaquin

I'd always call sooner rather than later

Fortunately, replacing an exterior valve that already has a shutoff is probably about the cheapest possible plumbing problem to have!

MichaelLC

Thanks. Gave them a call, $160 just for the emergency visit. We'll see what the total is.

Probably something silly like ice in the pipe like Jebus314 suggested but thinking having the water moving is better than shutting the main line and it freezing in the pipe.

Janson

Welp.

We have been without power now for five hours. Night is falling and temps are set to drop to 14 13 Fahrenheit/-10 celcius.

We also got 13” of snow with more expected over the next week. We only have a regular shovel (we still managed to clear a decent amount) and no salt, and no sleds for the kids. Also no winter tires for our cars.

Our neighborhood:



What I cleared before breakfast; Mori and I cleared some more after that.



Hopefully power is back soon! I have four lanterns and plenty of batteries, but the cold won’t be fun, and I wish Mori had fully charged our battery packs as asked.

Blake T

Good luck guys! It doesn't sound like an awful lot of fun!

tynic

power loss mid-winter is a nightmare scenario imo

N1tSt4lker

The only times we've lost power during a deep cold spell we were houses with a fireplace and a wood-burning stove respectively. I currently do not have those things, so the idea of having no power and it being very cold is...not cool.

SharpyVII

Christ, never gonna complain about the snow in my part of England again!

This winter has been relatively mild so far.

Janson

Some predictions have the winter storm coming Mon/Tues being even worse, bringing 12-28”... the weather app is constantly changing, but some predictions having the snowfall changing to rain as it moves south towards us, which could be good!

There’re so many trees over here that over 50,000 houses continue to be without power as trees and branches have been felled by the heavy snow all over the place.

We did manage to light our gas stove with a match, and we used that to heat up some soup. So we can cook!

We also have hot water.

webguy20

tynic wrote: »

power loss mid-winter is a nightmare scenario imo

This is one of those times that living in a early 50's house with a wood stove comes in real handy. Back in february 2014 we were out of power for 6 days with temps in the single digits Fahrenheit during an ice storm. The stove at least kept the house warm and let us melt snow to keep the toilets working and for boiling.

I had a friend who had a newborn and were out of power for 3 days during that storm. They ended up going to a hotel with power so they could keep their baby warm.

Edit: Panorama from my front porch after about an hour of snow. It's slowing down but we're hoping we get more. Give me a snowed in Sunday.

Blake T

Are most heaters gas powered or electricity powered in those areas?

Jedoc

Janson wrote: »

Some predictions have the winter storm coming Mon/Tues being even worse, bringing 12-28”... the weather app is constantly changing, but some predictions having the snowfall changing to rain as it moves south towards us, which could be good!

There’re so many trees over here that over 50,000 houses continue to be without power as trees and branches have been felled by the heavy snow all over the place.

We did manage to light our gas stove with a match, and we used that to heat up some soup. So we can cook!

We also have hot water.

When I was living in a tiny quadplex apartment in grad school, we had an ice storm that knocked out the power to Norman, Oklahoma for like a week straight.

I grew up on a farm with well water, so it wasn't until the last day of the outage that I realized that I still had water pressure. Not only that, but since I had a gas water heater, I had hot water.

Long story short, do yourself a favor and have a bathroom sauna if it gets too cold.

webguy20

It's a mix but most folks I know have electric heat around here (West Coast Oregon, USA). Usually gas is for the water heaters and stove/oven/dryer when there is access to it. Not sure if it's due to the ages of the houses (older) that my friends have or what. I'm out in the country though so everything is electric unless I wanted to install a big gas tank and plumb the house.

tynic

I've had gas in the last two places, electricity in the one before that (new England). Tbh US power infrastructure is such a regionalized shitshow that I don't think there's much coherence or efficiency-based consideration to it.

I think we're getting a small snow storm on Tuesday but should be well inside normal Boston parameters.

Janson

Yeah, our heater is electric but our water heater is gas.

We have one really awesome lantern which lights up a room relatively normally. Wish I had bought another of the same kind! But we also have some cheap LED ones that are ok.

MichaelLC

Xaquin wrote: »

I'd always call sooner rather than later

Fortunately, replacing an exterior valve that already has a shutoff is probably about the cheapest possible plumbing problem to have!

Well, he quoted just under $1,000. That's plus the call fee.
Said he'd have to cut out before the water meter inside and all the way out to the faucet, then put in a new no-freeze faucet line and add sone additional shutoff valves. Need to call City, have them shut off at the street. Hmm.
So I put a bucket out so it wouldn't seep through the foundation.

Good luck, Janson! I'd send you my water, but I don't think that would help...

Psykoma

Power loss is a horrible scenario in winter.

I was still in edmonton, thankfully because I can't imagine what living through the 1998 eastern canada ice storm would have been like, being without power in january for 3-4 weeks.

Xaquin

MichaelLC wrote: »

Xaquin wrote: »

I'd always call sooner rather than later

Fortunately, replacing an exterior valve that already has a shutoff is probably about the cheapest possible plumbing problem to have!

Well, he quoted just under $1,000. That's plus the call fee.
Said he'd have to cut out before the water meter inside and all the way out to the faucet, then put in a new no-freeze faucet line and add sone additional shutoff valves. Need to call City, have them shut off at the street. Hmm.
So I put a bucket out so it wouldn't seep through the foundation.

Good luck, Janson! I'd send you my water, but I don't think that would help...

for an external hose fixture!?

none of that sounds right

why would he want to install before the water meter? there is no way any city should have to be contacted for replacing an existing fixture. I'd get a second opinion.

Shadowfire

When I read Janson's thing about shoveling I was like "yeah, that's no fun but at least shoveling 13" is doable."

Then I saw the picture of the shovel used and... nope, you're tougher than me.

Blake T

I dunno, but for whatever reason I just assumed that all of the heating systems in the US where it actually got cold were gas.

I mean, my house has a gas hookup for heating, we've never even bought a heater to use it, but we have it.

Janson

Shadowfire wrote: »

When I read Janson's thing about shoveling I was like "yeah, that's no fun but at least shoveling 13" is doable."

Then I saw the picture of the shovel used and... nope, you're tougher than me.

Haha! I did all of that before breakfast. It definitely was tough; the shovel’s heavy, too. I will absolutely be buying a snow shovel at the next availability.

More storms are hitting late tomorrow afternoon, so our plan for the morning is to swap houses with Mori’s parents. They’d look after our kids here while we use their sauna (assuming power holds!).

Blackbeard7

So I survived my first week in my first solo apartment without burning the place down or anything.

Doesn't quite feel like home yet vs like I'm staying at some weird hotel that has all the stuff I like in it but, getting there

Jedoc

Sometimes it occurs to me that I own a house, and it's really weird. Like, there's this whole building and a square of ground and some fences and a tree and stuff, and that all belongs to me. And that's pretty crazy.

webguy20

It took me about 4 years before my house felt like home.

Janson

Yeah, every now and then I think, ‘gee, I would love to change this about the house’ then, ‘oh wait, I’m the owner! I can’ followed by ‘oh wait, I have no money’.

Getting curtains up will make things seem a little more homely.

We’re using Mori’s parents sauna right now and I wish we could get one! We’d have nowhere to put it, though. They have this handy extra 8 x 10 ft workshop area as part of their garage which is where their sauna sits.

Shazkar Shadowstorm

My goal this year is to live alone

I’m looking into both renting or buying though renting seems like maybe it makes more sense

It would have been nice had I listened to my parents and bought a place (with some financial support) in my neighborhood like 6 years ago when prices were nearly half what they are now, but also back then I wasn’t sure if long term plans, was immature, and didn’t make a ton to cover mortgage costs etc

Maybe renting alone is a good first step
Been popping into open houses to get a feel for things though

Supposedly a lot of things up for sale in NYC in the last year have had trouble being sold and there’s a glut, which is good for future prospects though...

Owning in NYC with taxes and maintenance fees is a still pricey endeavor, and renting often makes sense though

I’ve never lived alone! And I want to! I wanna be able to host people and have my own space decorated as I want. I’ve never even really done that and I’ve been out of school nearly 10 years because all housing situations felt mildly temporary (even if I was in my last place for over 6 years)

Currently a big factor is my apartment now has a washer dryer... and rental apartments with those are not easily come by at a good price

pimento

Outside of about 8 months between moving here and buying my place, I've lived alone for 11 years now. It's quite good, in a lot of ways, though now that it's a house that's all me there's rather more upkeep than when I was renting an apartment. Still, fancy/pants free living and all that.

Elbasunu

So My kitchen is always freezing cold. It has one heat vent in the ceiling, and that vent has always had a filter on it. I assume it's got a filter because it's above a place with a stove, and the filter keeps the greasy air from getting up in the vents junking stuff up?

Well I got sick of it, removed it, and now my kitchen is noticeably warmer. Am I putting my system at risk? I asked some folks and they'd never heard of a filter on a vent like that.

Psykoma

Are microwaves a thing you have to research? Mine stopped working - the clock and timer still worked and the dish still spun inside, but I guess the magnetotron thing probably just broke because that part wouldn't turn on.

Jedoc

The Wirecutter is where I go for houseware reviews these days. You can either just buy the microwave they tell you to at the top of the page and be confident of getting a solid product, or you can keep reading to get as in-depth as you want on how they picked the best microwave and what features/performance issues to look out for.

webguy20

Jedoc wrote: »

The Wirecutter is where I go for houseware reviews these days. You can either just buy the microwave they tell you to at the top of the page and be confident of getting a solid product, or you can keep reading to get as in-depth as you want on how they picked the best microwave and what features/performance issues to look out for.

I love the cheese melt they use to test the heating pattern. Its so cool.

a5ehren

Jedoc wrote: »

The Wirecutter is where I go for houseware reviews these days. You can either just buy the microwave they tell you to at the top of the page and be confident of getting a solid product, or you can keep reading to get as in-depth as you want on how they picked the best microwave and what features/performance issues to look out for.

We just used the WC towels guide. The Target runners-up they have are actually $13 each for normal human-sized towels, not $20 like the link says.

Juggernut

Do people actually own homes? People who aren't billionaires? I feel like homeownership is a massive joke perpetuated by the Boomers to amuse themselves when they all got too old to go fight empire building wars.

I'm looking at places in the area I want to move and rent is absurd (by Southern standards I guess, it would probably be reasonable for others but my state's income is like, $10-12 grand less than the national average so). Buying a home or condo or apartment is way cheaper IF you can drop the 20% downpayment. Where the fuck do I get $30k?

What are the logistics of living in a dumpster?

Xaquin

I feel like if you don't have kids, you'd be better off building a tiny house on an acre of land and getting a membership at the Y for showers and stuff

it's too damn expensive

Shazkar Shadowstorm

20% downpayments here are like

over 100k
for a 1br apartment

lmao

x_x