I got an extension till June 30th on the weeds. Apparently so many people complained and requested extensions the HOA gave an extension.
Like everyone was so mad. Because they hit every single house in the neighborhood.
This gives me a lot of time to procrastinate.
Sounds like you've got a willing electorate for a campaign to disband the HOA
Aioua on
life's a game that you're bound to lose / like using a hammer to pound in screws
fuck up once and you break your thumb / if you're happy at all then you're god damn dumb
that's right we're on a fucked up cruise / God is dead but at least we have booze
bad things happen, no one knows why / the sun burns out and everyone dies
+17
Options
zepherinRussian warship, go fuck yourselfRegistered Userregular
I got an extension till June 30th on the weeds. Apparently so many people complained and requested extensions the HOA gave an extension.
Like everyone was so mad. Because they hit every single house in the neighborhood.
This gives me a lot of time to procrastinate.
Sounds like you've got a willing electorate for a campaign to disband the HOA
It’s an HOA within an HOA, so we’d still be in an HOA, and we’d have to mow our lawns which I don’t think anyone wants to do :eh:
Also I think all the lawns are technically common areas so that would have to get figured out. As much as I would like it, I think everyone is just going to bitch and moan and weed and pressure wash.
If you're considering the Atomic line for tight quarters work, take a look at the Bosch and Milwaukee offerings that have the battery in the handle.
I've got DeWalt for the major project tools but I have the Bosch kit for small jobs for just that reason. Even with its own batteries, it's worth the purchase. Plus toolkits are on sale again.
I use my Bosch 12v drill/driver combo for 98% of my projects. I absolutely adore the form factor. The only time I've actually needed to bust out the 18V is when I needed something with the larger chuck for the really big drill bits. Plus the combo kit with 2 batteries is only like $100, and is regularly on sale a few times a year for $80.
If you have any inkling you might need to remove it later, disposal is impossible because of asbestos concerns. I had a whole bunch of stuff tested, and it's all clean but nobody will trust testing, so functionally I've still got to get rid of it as asbestos waste. It's just way less stressful for me personally to handle.
If you have any inkling you might need to remove it later, disposal is impossible because of asbestos concerns. I had a whole bunch of stuff tested, and it's all clean but nobody will trust testing, so functionally I've still got to get rid of it as asbestos waste. It's just way less stressful for me personally to handle.
We are doing concrete counters with no chance it'll get removed for at least 20-30 years. Not worried.
And even then, it is modern construction and materials so nobody would give a hard time on the demo.
As someone who just disposed of about two thousand square feet of honest to god asbestos exterior tiles renovating our other house the past few years...throw them in contractor bags and chuck them at the dump. Nobody cares unless you bring it up or want someone to do the demo for you.
I'm renovating my bathroom.
And with "I'm renovating my bathroom" I mean "Someone else is renovating my bathroom, and I just keep pouring money into this here bucket until they say 'that's enough'"
But the price, although unfortunate, is not a problem: I knew that going in.
In fact, turns out, this has probably saved me a lot of headaches:
There was a leak inside my walls, behind the stone tiles in the plasterboard (gypsum? not sure about the English name) interior wall, slowly rotting away the plaster and isolation.
When they started removing the tiles, they all fell down in one rotten heap, including the plaster and whatever else they use in walls.
Turns out that when the previous owner had the bathroom installed, they incorrectly connected the water supply, and it was very slowly leaking out of the joints. So, sooner or later, this plaster would've decayed so much that it wouldn't hold up the tiles and the water repelling plate thing. So, no disaster, but now they need to redo the whole wall and the piping.
I'm very happy it was found now, but it's still a hit to the ol' wallet.
Dibbit on
+10
Options
zepherinRussian warship, go fuck yourselfRegistered Userregular
Our mortgage broker just emailed and said our home has appreciated 60k since we purchased it last year and we may want to refinancing out of an FHA and into a conventional mortgage. I wonder if we can get out of our PMI.
I guess the builder intended to put them down over most/all of the attic space for storage? Currently there's just 3 sheets actually on the floor - one to access the HVAC unit, one next to it, and then the one at the bottom of the pile of another 25 or 26 sheets. It's the loose cellulose insulation up there, up to probably an inch or two above the (I'm guessing; I didn't have a tape measure on me at the time) 2x12 joists. I've heard various things about putting boards down over cellulose - either you shouldn't do it at all ever or you shouldn't compress the stuff. Either because it lowers the R value of the insulation or because it will cause condensation on the underside of the boards or both. The condensation thing concerns me more than the R value, though I haven't actually seen a month's bill yet here so maybe I'll change my mind on that point.
I'm not sure I could actually fit the sheets through the attic's pull-down ladder opening. It'd definitely be difficult. So: how bad an idea would it be to spread them out and use the (fairly significant amount of) attic space for storage? Do I need to put down some 2x4's across the joists to avoid compacting the insulation? I know to watch out for wires tacked across/to the tops of the joists.
Hey guys, what's a reasonable charge for lawyer closing costs these days (note: I'm in Canadia)
The lawyer office my dad recommended to me just got back to me with a quote of close to $2000, which seems a bit high based on our earlier projections. Thoughts?
Hey guys, what's a reasonable charge for lawyer closing costs these days (note: I'm in Canadia)
The lawyer office my dad recommended to me just got back to me with a quote of close to $2000, which seems a bit high based on our earlier projections. Thoughts?
I believe we paid around US$6-8k in closing costs to the title company for our house.
Hey guys, what's a reasonable charge for lawyer closing costs these days (note: I'm in Canadia)
The lawyer office my dad recommended to me just got back to me with a quote of close to $2000, which seems a bit high based on our earlier projections. Thoughts?
I believe we paid around US$6-8k in closing costs to the title company for our house.
right, sorry, to clarify: I mean only the lawyer fees. I know that transfers and title fees are on top of that.
Hey guys, what's a reasonable charge for lawyer closing costs these days (note: I'm in Canadia)
The lawyer office my dad recommended to me just got back to me with a quote of close to $2000, which seems a bit high based on our earlier projections. Thoughts?
I believe we paid around US$6-8k in closing costs to the title company for our house.
right, sorry, to clarify: I mean only the lawyer fees. I know that transfers and title fees are on top of that.
In the US, title firms tend to be one stop shops, handling all of the matters involved. It's not common to need a separate lawyer.
I'm renovating my bathroom.
And with "I'm renovating my bathroom" I mean "Someone else is renovating my bathroom, and I just keep pouring money into this here bucket until they say 'that's enough'"
But the price, although unfortunate, is not a problem: I knew that going in.
In fact, turns out, this has probably saved me a lot of headaches:
There was a leak inside my walls, behind the stone tiles in the plasterboard (gypsum? not sure about the English name) interior wall, slowly rotting away the plaster and isolation.
When they started removing the tiles, they all fell down in one rotten heap, including the plaster and whatever else they use in walls.
Turns out that when the previous owner had the bathroom installed, they incorrectly connected the water supply, and it was very slowly leaking out of the joints. So, sooner or later, this plaster would've decayed so much that it wouldn't hold up the tiles and the water repelling plate thing. So, no disaster, but now they need to redo the whole wall and the piping.
I'm very happy it was found now, but it's still a hit to the ol' wallet.
Similar story: we had a contractor redo our bathroom a year ago, and part of the renovation involved moving the toilet over a foot to allow for a bigger vanity.
When they jackhammered through the slab to move the toilet drain, they discovered a leak in the old cast iron drain pipe which had created a 5' deep sinkhole under the side of our house. It was expensive to fix, but I'm very glad to have avoided the possibility of sitting on the toilet one day and suddenly dropping six feet straight down.
Hey guys, what's a reasonable charge for lawyer closing costs these days (note: I'm in Canadia)
The lawyer office my dad recommended to me just got back to me with a quote of close to $2000, which seems a bit high based on our earlier projections. Thoughts?
I believe we paid around US$6-8k in closing costs to the title company for our house.
right, sorry, to clarify: I mean only the lawyer fees. I know that transfers and title fees are on top of that.
In the US, title firms tend to be one stop shops, handling all of the matters involved. It's not common to need a separate lawyer.
Right, yes, I understand all of that and am prepared for it. However, a portion of the fees charged will be legal fees to the lawyer's firm. My question is: Is 2k a reasonable charge for legal fees, because our original research suggested it should be closer to 1k. Before I go shopping around for alternatives, I'm just looking to find out if I'm being reasonable in questioning this amount or not.
Both times we've closed on houses we hired a lawyer and it was between $500-750 USD.
:edit: That would be in 2009 and then again in 2020.
matt has a problem on
+1
Options
MichaelLCIn what furnace was thy brain?ChicagoRegistered Userregular
Finally getting our patio!
Started the contact last July. Called us the week of Thanksgiving to say they were ready but we passed on that temping offer.
It's a two-part project; we're adding a concrete patio (replacing the tiny crummy piece that's there) and separately building out the "back deck" a little. Really just a small step-out that will be big enough for two chairs.
Got to use my Sawzall to remove the old back steps:
I'm renovating my bathroom.
And with "I'm renovating my bathroom" I mean "Someone else is renovating my bathroom, and I just keep pouring money into this here bucket until they say 'that's enough'"
But the price, although unfortunate, is not a problem: I knew that going in.
In fact, turns out, this has probably saved me a lot of headaches:
There was a leak inside my walls, behind the stone tiles in the plasterboard (gypsum? not sure about the English name) interior wall, slowly rotting away the plaster and isolation.
When they started removing the tiles, they all fell down in one rotten heap, including the plaster and whatever else they use in walls.
Turns out that when the previous owner had the bathroom installed, they incorrectly connected the water supply, and it was very slowly leaking out of the joints. So, sooner or later, this plaster would've decayed so much that it wouldn't hold up the tiles and the water repelling plate thing. So, no disaster, but now they need to redo the whole wall and the piping.
I'm very happy it was found now, but it's still a hit to the ol' wallet.
Similar story: we had a contractor redo our bathroom a year ago, and part of the renovation involved moving the toilet over a foot to allow for a bigger vanity.
When they jackhammered through the slab to move the toilet drain, they discovered a leak in the old cast iron drain pipe which had created a 5' deep sinkhole under the side of our house. It was expensive to fix, but I'm very glad to have avoided the possibility of sitting on the toilet one day and suddenly dropping six feet straight down.
I'm super glad you found and fixed that, although there is a certain gallows-humor to sitting on the toilet, going "hyelp?" and disappearing into the void.
Hey guys, what's a reasonable charge for lawyer closing costs these days (note: I'm in Canadia)
The lawyer office my dad recommended to me just got back to me with a quote of close to $2000, which seems a bit high based on our earlier projections. Thoughts?
I believe we paid around US$6-8k in closing costs to the title company for our house.
right, sorry, to clarify: I mean only the lawyer fees. I know that transfers and title fees are on top of that.
In the US, title firms tend to be one stop shops, handling all of the matters involved. It's not common to need a separate lawyer.
Right, yes, I understand all of that and am prepared for it. However, a portion of the fees charged will be legal fees to the lawyer's firm. My question is: Is 2k a reasonable charge for legal fees, because our original research suggested it should be closer to 1k. Before I go shopping around for alternatives, I'm just looking to find out if I'm being reasonable in questioning this amount or not.
I think I paid around 1200 for my lawyer fees? I don't remember exactly, it sounds high but not like screw you fees. It doesn't hurt to call around and get some other quotes though, it might be an easy 1k to save on.
*Also, some lawyers will quote you a maximum price, and end up charging less depending on how much time they actually spent on your case. At least mine did.
Design question. We just finished our design session for our new build townhome. For the bathroom on the 1st floor, 3rd floor, and 4th floor, we have to have the same hardware, counters and vanity's. However we can have different floor and wall tile. Initially we picked the same darker graphite flooring and marble title for all 3. But after talking to folks, they mentioned we may want different tile for different bathrooms so they don't look all the same. Only had 1 bath in my last house and our apartment is the same for both.
What do folks think? Should we change 1 bath to something different or 2 baths to something different so all 3 are something different?
Hey guys, what's a reasonable charge for lawyer closing costs these days (note: I'm in Canadia)
The lawyer office my dad recommended to me just got back to me with a quote of close to $2000, which seems a bit high based on our earlier projections. Thoughts?
I believe we paid around US$6-8k in closing costs to the title company for our house.
right, sorry, to clarify: I mean only the lawyer fees. I know that transfers and title fees are on top of that.
In the US, title firms tend to be one stop shops, handling all of the matters involved. It's not common to need a separate lawyer.
Right, yes, I understand all of that and am prepared for it. However, a portion of the fees charged will be legal fees to the lawyer's firm. My question is: Is 2k a reasonable charge for legal fees, because our original research suggested it should be closer to 1k. Before I go shopping around for alternatives, I'm just looking to find out if I'm being reasonable in questioning this amount or not.
Hey fellow Canadian, this seems high to me.
Things may vary by province, but in BC you can have a Notary Public do the legal stuff for property transfer which may well be cheaper than a lawyer and I don't recall it being that high either of the two times I've bought.
:so_raven:
0
Options
ShadowfireVermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered Userregular
Both times we've closed on houses we hired a lawyer and it was between $500-750 USD.
:edit: That would be in 2009 and then again in 2020.
We pay $15/month to get what amounts to "lawyer insurance" where we can get free or discounted legal help. Three years ago it entirely covered our housing paperwork, and two years ago we wrote wills for free.
Working on getting lawyers for bankruptcy and disability help right now, but that coverage has been huge.
Design question. We just finished our design session for our new build townhome. For the bathroom on the 1st floor, 3rd floor, and 4th floor, we have to have the same hardware, counters and vanity's. However we can have different floor and wall tile. Initially we picked the same darker graphite flooring and marble title for all 3. But after talking to folks, they mentioned we may want different tile for different bathrooms so they don't look all the same. Only had 1 bath in my last house and our apartment is the same for both.
What do folks think? Should we change 1 bath to something different or 2 baths to something different so all 3 are something different?
I mean it depends on the floors outside of the bathroom. I would do a different bathroom for carpets than hardwood. I would also consider a bolder bathroom for an en-suite and more neutrals for guest and half baths. Also if one of the bathrooms is huge I might go with an accent wall to break up the pattern.
Hey guys, what's a reasonable charge for lawyer closing costs these days (note: I'm in Canadia)
The lawyer office my dad recommended to me just got back to me with a quote of close to $2000, which seems a bit high based on our earlier projections. Thoughts?
I believe we paid around US$6-8k in closing costs to the title company for our house.
right, sorry, to clarify: I mean only the lawyer fees. I know that transfers and title fees are on top of that.
In the US, title firms tend to be one stop shops, handling all of the matters involved. It's not common to need a separate lawyer.
Right, yes, I understand all of that and am prepared for it. However, a portion of the fees charged will be legal fees to the lawyer's firm. My question is: Is 2k a reasonable charge for legal fees, because our original research suggested it should be closer to 1k. Before I go shopping around for alternatives, I'm just looking to find out if I'm being reasonable in questioning this amount or not.
Hey fellow Canadian, this seems high to me.
Things may vary by province, but in BC you can have a Notary Public do the legal stuff for property transfer which may well be cheaper than a lawyer and I don't recall it being that high either of the two times I've bought.
Yep, turns out my instincts were right! I shopped around a found a smaller firm recommended to me by my realtor who quoted me a much more reasonable $900. Thanks!
I remember we had a list of probably 25 items making up our closing costs and 15 of them were ones that we could find a different party to use if we wanted. Problem was none of those were more than like $250 and while I knew we were probably getting overcharged the numbers were low enough that there was no way the money I'd potentially save would be worth the time finding different vendors for them.
Hey guys, what's a reasonable charge for lawyer closing costs these days (note: I'm in Canadia)
The lawyer office my dad recommended to me just got back to me with a quote of close to $2000, which seems a bit high based on our earlier projections. Thoughts?
I believe we paid around US$6-8k in closing costs to the title company for our house.
right, sorry, to clarify: I mean only the lawyer fees. I know that transfers and title fees are on top of that.
In the US, title firms tend to be one stop shops, handling all of the matters involved. It's not common to need a separate lawyer.
Right, yes, I understand all of that and am prepared for it. However, a portion of the fees charged will be legal fees to the lawyer's firm. My question is: Is 2k a reasonable charge for legal fees, because our original research suggested it should be closer to 1k. Before I go shopping around for alternatives, I'm just looking to find out if I'm being reasonable in questioning this amount or not.
Hey fellow Canadian, this seems high to me.
Things may vary by province, but in BC you can have a Notary Public do the legal stuff for property transfer which may well be cheaper than a lawyer and I don't recall it being that high either of the two times I've bought.
Yep, turns out my instincts were right! I shopped around a found a smaller firm recommended to me by my realtor who quoted me a much more reasonable $900. Thanks!
It averages about $700 here in NB so it sounds like you're in the right ballpark now.
0
Options
zepherinRussian warship, go fuck yourselfRegistered Userregular
I just looked at my loan docs. They didn't line item the attourney's fees, but the total closing costs were 29k. Mortgage Insurance Premium was so much of that.
I just looked at my loan docs. They didn't line item the attourney's fees, but the total closing costs were 29k. Mortgage Insurance Premium was so much of that.
This is why being able to put 20% down if possible is so valuable. So much gooseshit goes away.
I'm renovating my bathroom.
And with "I'm renovating my bathroom" I mean "Someone else is renovating my bathroom, and I just keep pouring money into this here bucket until they say 'that's enough'"
But the price, although unfortunate, is not a problem: I knew that going in.
In fact, turns out, this has probably saved me a lot of headaches:
There was a leak inside my walls, behind the stone tiles in the plasterboard (gypsum? not sure about the English name) interior wall, slowly rotting away the plaster and isolation.
When they started removing the tiles, they all fell down in one rotten heap, including the plaster and whatever else they use in walls.
Turns out that when the previous owner had the bathroom installed, they incorrectly connected the water supply, and it was very slowly leaking out of the joints. So, sooner or later, this plaster would've decayed so much that it wouldn't hold up the tiles and the water repelling plate thing. So, no disaster, but now they need to redo the whole wall and the piping.
I'm very happy it was found now, but it's still a hit to the ol' wallet.
Similar story: we had a contractor redo our bathroom a year ago, and part of the renovation involved moving the toilet over a foot to allow for a bigger vanity.
When they jackhammered through the slab to move the toilet drain, they discovered a leak in the old cast iron drain pipe which had created a 5' deep sinkhole under the side of our house. It was expensive to fix, but I'm very glad to have avoided the possibility of sitting on the toilet one day and suddenly dropping six feet straight down.
I'm super glad you found and fixed that, although there is a certain gallows-humor to sitting on the toilet, going "hyelp?" and disappearing into the void.
I just looked at my loan docs. They didn't line item the attourney's fees, but the total closing costs were 29k. Mortgage Insurance Premium was so much of that.
Yeah, FHA sucks. I think the up-front MIP premium is like 7% of the buy price. And after paying all that garbage, you have to pay the monthly MIP which is typically 3x what PMI would be on a conventional loan of the same amount. And worst of all MIP is permanent for the life of the loan, so you have to refi to get out of it. Even if you do get stuck with PMI in a refi to conventional, you should still be coming out ahead since it should be half to 1/3rd of your current MIP, and it should auto-drop off at 80% LTV.
If you're considering the Atomic line for tight quarters work, take a look at the Bosch and Milwaukee offerings that have the battery in the handle.
I've got DeWalt for the major project tools but I have the Bosch kit for small jobs for just that reason. Even with its own batteries, it's worth the purchase. Plus toolkits are on sale again.
Quick tip for an easy way to store drills (assuming they have a belt clip, at least) if you still have exposed framing; just whack a nail in sideways, and you can hang the drill off the nail by the belt clip. The smaller one just about fits in a random bit of offcut pipe I had sitting around, too. (this assumes that your existing "shelf where tools go" is as messy as mine is and you need to keep things quarantined away from it, admittedly, but I use the drill/drivers a lot more often than, say, the hand plane or the drywall saw, so it's helpful to keep them easily available)
We put like 3% down and our closing costs were paid by my FiL but IIRC it was about $6,000 total.
I'm guessing it's because of the nature of the transaction? The fees you guys are rattling off seem wild to me but I'm also in the midwest where houses are barely worth more than cars and some of them aren't worth more than cars.
Any recommendations for a cordless string trimmer? The corded weed whacker we have sucks ass and I'm tired of doing the cord management dance.
We got one of the Dewalt ones that uses their standard 20v packs. Got the one with the cordless leaf blower combo. I hate extension cords and my wife hates gas so this was our compromise.
It is pretty good as far as string trimmers go, we have about a half acre with quite a bit to trim and pretty much use a full 4 amp battery to get it done. Cord is no better or worse than any corded trimmer.
Only real complaint is that it doesn't convert over for edging like most of the corded trimmers do which is a bit of a pisser. It probably wouldn't be great for heavy duty stuff but for just cleaning up a suburban lawn I'd recommend it if the edging issue isn't a deal breaker and especially if you already have dewalt battery tools.
+2
Options
zepherinRussian warship, go fuck yourselfRegistered Userregular
I just looked at my loan docs. They didn't line item the attourney's fees, but the total closing costs were 29k. Mortgage Insurance Premium was so much of that.
Yeah, FHA sucks. I think the up-front MIP premium is like 7% of the buy price. And after paying all that garbage, you have to pay the monthly MIP which is typically 3x what PMI would be on a conventional loan of the same amount. And worst of all MIP is permanent for the life of the loan, so you have to refi to get out of it. Even if you do get stuck with PMI in a refi to conventional, you should still be coming out ahead since it should be half to 1/3rd of your current MIP, and it should auto-drop off at 80% LTV.
Luckily it wasn’t that high, it’s just that our house is 500k so a even 2% up front is just huge.
Any recommendations for a cordless string trimmer? The corded weed whacker we have sucks ass and I'm tired of doing the cord management dance.
I've got a Black & Decker (BESTE620FF on the Amazoms). It's a good trimmer for your normal weeding and edging. The battery doesn't last very long but I got a 4Ah battery for it (also on Amazon), compared to the 1.5Ah standard battery. With that it lasts long enough for all the weeding/edging I needed at my old place. Have not actually located it yet amongst the garage boxes so dunno about the new place...
Posts
Like everyone was so mad. Because they hit every single house in the neighborhood.
This gives me a lot of time to procrastinate.
Sounds like you've got a willing electorate for a campaign to disband the HOA
fuck up once and you break your thumb / if you're happy at all then you're god damn dumb
that's right we're on a fucked up cruise / God is dead but at least we have booze
bad things happen, no one knows why / the sun burns out and everyone dies
Also I think all the lawns are technically common areas so that would have to get figured out. As much as I would like it, I think everyone is just going to bitch and moan and weed and pressure wash.
I use my Bosch 12v drill/driver combo for 98% of my projects. I absolutely adore the form factor. The only time I've actually needed to bust out the 18V is when I needed something with the larger chuck for the really big drill bits. Plus the combo kit with 2 batteries is only like $100, and is regularly on sale a few times a year for $80.
If you have any inkling you might need to remove it later, disposal is impossible because of asbestos concerns. I had a whole bunch of stuff tested, and it's all clean but nobody will trust testing, so functionally I've still got to get rid of it as asbestos waste. It's just way less stressful for me personally to handle.
We are doing concrete counters with no chance it'll get removed for at least 20-30 years. Not worried.
And even then, it is modern construction and materials so nobody would give a hard time on the demo.
As someone who just disposed of about two thousand square feet of honest to god asbestos exterior tiles renovating our other house the past few years...throw them in contractor bags and chuck them at the dump. Nobody cares unless you bring it up or want someone to do the demo for you.
And with "I'm renovating my bathroom" I mean "Someone else is renovating my bathroom, and I just keep pouring money into this here bucket until they say 'that's enough'"
But the price, although unfortunate, is not a problem: I knew that going in.
In fact, turns out, this has probably saved me a lot of headaches:
There was a leak inside my walls, behind the stone tiles in the plasterboard (gypsum? not sure about the English name) interior wall, slowly rotting away the plaster and isolation.
When they started removing the tiles, they all fell down in one rotten heap, including the plaster and whatever else they use in walls.
Turns out that when the previous owner had the bathroom installed, they incorrectly connected the water supply, and it was very slowly leaking out of the joints. So, sooner or later, this plaster would've decayed so much that it wouldn't hold up the tiles and the water repelling plate thing. So, no disaster, but now they need to redo the whole wall and the piping.
I'm very happy it was found now, but it's still a hit to the ol' wallet.
In the modern currency of OSB sheets, that is.
I guess the builder intended to put them down over most/all of the attic space for storage? Currently there's just 3 sheets actually on the floor - one to access the HVAC unit, one next to it, and then the one at the bottom of the pile of another 25 or 26 sheets. It's the loose cellulose insulation up there, up to probably an inch or two above the (I'm guessing; I didn't have a tape measure on me at the time) 2x12 joists. I've heard various things about putting boards down over cellulose - either you shouldn't do it at all ever or you shouldn't compress the stuff. Either because it lowers the R value of the insulation or because it will cause condensation on the underside of the boards or both. The condensation thing concerns me more than the R value, though I haven't actually seen a month's bill yet here so maybe I'll change my mind on that point.
I'm not sure I could actually fit the sheets through the attic's pull-down ladder opening. It'd definitely be difficult. So: how bad an idea would it be to spread them out and use the (fairly significant amount of) attic space for storage? Do I need to put down some 2x4's across the joists to avoid compacting the insulation? I know to watch out for wires tacked across/to the tops of the joists.
The lawyer office my dad recommended to me just got back to me with a quote of close to $2000, which seems a bit high based on our earlier projections. Thoughts?
I believe we paid around US$6-8k in closing costs to the title company for our house.
right, sorry, to clarify: I mean only the lawyer fees. I know that transfers and title fees are on top of that.
In the US, title firms tend to be one stop shops, handling all of the matters involved. It's not common to need a separate lawyer.
Similar story: we had a contractor redo our bathroom a year ago, and part of the renovation involved moving the toilet over a foot to allow for a bigger vanity.
When they jackhammered through the slab to move the toilet drain, they discovered a leak in the old cast iron drain pipe which had created a 5' deep sinkhole under the side of our house. It was expensive to fix, but I'm very glad to have avoided the possibility of sitting on the toilet one day and suddenly dropping six feet straight down.
Right, yes, I understand all of that and am prepared for it. However, a portion of the fees charged will be legal fees to the lawyer's firm. My question is: Is 2k a reasonable charge for legal fees, because our original research suggested it should be closer to 1k. Before I go shopping around for alternatives, I'm just looking to find out if I'm being reasonable in questioning this amount or not.
:edit: That would be in 2009 and then again in 2020.
Started the contact last July. Called us the week of Thanksgiving to say they were ready but we passed on that temping offer.
It's a two-part project; we're adding a concrete patio (replacing the tiny crummy piece that's there) and separately building out the "back deck" a little. Really just a small step-out that will be big enough for two chairs.
Got to use my Sawzall to remove the old back steps:
I'm super glad you found and fixed that, although there is a certain gallows-humor to sitting on the toilet, going "hyelp?" and disappearing into the void.
I think I paid around 1200 for my lawyer fees? I don't remember exactly, it sounds high but not like screw you fees. It doesn't hurt to call around and get some other quotes though, it might be an easy 1k to save on.
*Also, some lawyers will quote you a maximum price, and end up charging less depending on how much time they actually spent on your case. At least mine did.
What do folks think? Should we change 1 bath to something different or 2 baths to something different so all 3 are something different?
Hey fellow Canadian, this seems high to me.
Things may vary by province, but in BC you can have a Notary Public do the legal stuff for property transfer which may well be cheaper than a lawyer and I don't recall it being that high either of the two times I've bought.
We pay $15/month to get what amounts to "lawyer insurance" where we can get free or discounted legal help. Three years ago it entirely covered our housing paperwork, and two years ago we wrote wills for free.
Working on getting lawyers for bankruptcy and disability help right now, but that coverage has been huge.
But start with. Are all of your floors the same?
The only carpet will be for the stairs, since apparently choosing Oak was a structural option we missed.
Yep, turns out my instincts were right! I shopped around a found a smaller firm recommended to me by my realtor who quoted me a much more reasonable $900. Thanks!
It averages about $700 here in NB so it sounds like you're in the right ballpark now.
This is why being able to put 20% down if possible is so valuable. So much gooseshit goes away.
In Hedgethorn's house, toilet flush you!
Yeah, FHA sucks. I think the up-front MIP premium is like 7% of the buy price. And after paying all that garbage, you have to pay the monthly MIP which is typically 3x what PMI would be on a conventional loan of the same amount. And worst of all MIP is permanent for the life of the loan, so you have to refi to get out of it. Even if you do get stuck with PMI in a refi to conventional, you should still be coming out ahead since it should be half to 1/3rd of your current MIP, and it should auto-drop off at 80% LTV.
Quick tip for an easy way to store drills (assuming they have a belt clip, at least) if you still have exposed framing; just whack a nail in sideways, and you can hang the drill off the nail by the belt clip. The smaller one just about fits in a random bit of offcut pipe I had sitting around, too. (this assumes that your existing "shelf where tools go" is as messy as mine is and you need to keep things quarantined away from it, admittedly, but I use the drill/drivers a lot more often than, say, the hand plane or the drywall saw, so it's helpful to keep them easily available)
I'm guessing it's because of the nature of the transaction? The fees you guys are rattling off seem wild to me but I'm also in the midwest where houses are barely worth more than cars and some of them aren't worth more than cars.
We got one of the Dewalt ones that uses their standard 20v packs. Got the one with the cordless leaf blower combo. I hate extension cords and my wife hates gas so this was our compromise.
It is pretty good as far as string trimmers go, we have about a half acre with quite a bit to trim and pretty much use a full 4 amp battery to get it done. Cord is no better or worse than any corded trimmer.
Only real complaint is that it doesn't convert over for edging like most of the corded trimmers do which is a bit of a pisser. It probably wouldn't be great for heavy duty stuff but for just cleaning up a suburban lawn I'd recommend it if the edging issue isn't a deal breaker and especially if you already have dewalt battery tools.
Luckily it wasn’t that high, it’s just that our house is 500k so a even 2% up front is just huge.
I've got a Black & Decker (BESTE620FF on the Amazoms). It's a good trimmer for your normal weeding and edging. The battery doesn't last very long but I got a 4Ah battery for it (also on Amazon), compared to the 1.5Ah standard battery. With that it lasts long enough for all the weeding/edging I needed at my old place. Have not actually located it yet amongst the garage boxes so dunno about the new place...