WELP I was going to try replacing two outlets in my apartment for the first time, but this thread has me spooked.
Ah you got some of those loose apartment outlets that haven't been replaced in 40 years? Get a voltage tester and cut the power, they're pretty easy to DIY.
Snag some insulated gloves too if you're super worried. A lot of the idiots who kill/hurt themselves literally do none of these steps because they've worked with it all their lives and become complacent.
Those are not insulated gloves
unless they're linemen gloves any insulation is not going to be designed to protect you from shock.
Yeah you're right I had a few open and copied the wrong one, there's some rubber gloves in the other/see-also section, the klien lineman gloves aren't actual lineman gloves don't buy those.
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
Unlike others in their boomer and Generation X cohort — who every day wage the epic family battle of what to do with Mom and Dad’s old house and copious belongings, while split-level suburban ramblers are sold as teardowns and thrift stores bulge with unwanted yet meaningfully meaningless mid-century bric-a-brac — the original actors who played the six stepsiblings on the ultimate ’70s sitcom “The Brady Bunch” have returned to TV to perform this emotional ritual in reverse.
That house doesn't seem to have a restroom on the groundfloor that is reachable without going outside? In addition to that the 4 upstairs bedrooms share a single bathroom.
edit: That is not how you layout ground plans! the 1st floor plan is turned 180°
yeah that one's gonna be a tough sell. People in the 1800s had weird ideas about house layout
also it doesn't really get very cold in that part of the country in winter, so I guess covered access to the ground floor bathroom never made it on their to-do list. I bet everyone just ends up fighting over the top floor bathroom in the morning, though.
Indie Winterdie KräheRudi Hurzlmeier (German, b. 1952)Registered Userregular
edited September 2019
just signed a lease for my own apartment! no roomates, three rooms, 750 square feet and an absolutely stunning view
I can only afford it because the apartment building is undergoing renovations and that means workers starts hammering on the facade every morning at six am...
now to spend a bunch more money on getting the place cleaned, installing an internet connection, moving stuff from my old apartment, buying a bunch of new stuff; but I finally feel like a goddamn adult, not being confined to a single room in a house or a flat. Gonna have a LIVING SPACE
I just turned in all my stuff for my new apartment downtown and checked out the unit and its nice as hell and then I just walked across the street to one of my favorite places and I feel like I'm cheating
I am a metropolitan mother fucker now. All walkin and not looking for parking spots for 20 minutes
WELP I was going to try replacing two outlets in my apartment for the first time, but this thread has me spooked.
Ah you got some of those loose apartment outlets that haven't been replaced in 40 years? Get a voltage tester and cut the power, they're pretty easy to DIY.
Snag some insulated gloves too if you're super worried. A lot of the idiots who kill/hurt themselves literally do none of these steps because they've worked with it all their lives and become complacent.
That is exactly why I'm replacing them, yeah haha.
i need to figure out how this house buying thing works
i should get a broker to do the work for me?
my friend also said he could be my agent and give me the kickback on his fee
poo
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MichaelLCIn what furnace was thy brain?ChicagoRegistered Userregular
edited September 2019
Yeah, you can do it yourself, but if you get a good agent, they are very much worth the money.
Real estate sites are good for getting an idea of the size and location you want, but an agent has access faster and can give you areas you may not have thought of.
Not sure about the friend thing, seems like that could easily go sideways. If they're all licenced then go for it.
we did a family friend for our realtor, but she's licensed and everything. honestly was probably better because she put up with my shit much longer than a rando probably would have, i was very picky about houses.
without a realtor i don't think i ever would have found my house since all the ones in the area i was looking would sell so fast that i would have had a hell of a time been able to get in fast enough without one. ymmv on that though depending on the market.
i need to figure out how this house buying thing works
i should get a broker to do the work for me?
my friend also said he could be my agent and give me the kickback on his fee
So, the first step in buying a house doesn't start with a realtor. It's starts with the bank, and securing your loan. You want to get pre-approval - this is where the bank gives you a document saying "for the following window (usually 90 days) we will lend you up to $X at Y% interest." This gives you your budget, and will help you narrow down what you are looking for.
Then, you want to get a realtor. As was pointed out, realtors have access to systems that you don't (not just MLS - for example, there's a lockbox system they use to get into houses to show.) A good realtor will know their market, and be able to suggest options for you given your stated needs.
3cl1ps3I will build a labyrinth to house the cheeseRegistered Userregular
A good realtor will also generally know a good mortgage company, and maybe even specific broker, to work with, as well as a competent real estate attorney which you will very much want. You absolutely want a realtor.
It's also a decent bellwether for if you're in the right spot to buy a house, ironically. If you don't think you can afford a realtor, then you probably don't want to buy just yet. Wiping yourself out financially with closing costs + down payment is a good way to end up in really big trouble if something happens before you've rebuilt your savings.
i need to figure out how this house buying thing works
i should get a broker to do the work for me?
my friend also said he could be my agent and give me the kickback on his fee
So, the first step in buying a house doesn't start with a realtor. It's starts with the bank, and securing your loan. You want to get pre-approval - this is where the bank gives you a document saying "for the following window (usually 90 days) we will lend you up to $X at Y% interest." This gives you your budget, and will help you narrow down what you are looking for.
Then, you want to get a realtor. As was pointed out, realtors have access to systems that you don't (not just MLS - for example, there's a lockbox system they use to get into houses to show.) A good realtor will know their market, and be able to suggest options for you given your stated needs.
Just to add I'd say, get the highest pre-approval you can from the bank. And then adjust down to what you want your budget to actually be.
Tell your agent what your personal max budget is assuming it's below or at the pre-approval. Get the actual letter for the amount you offer to sellers.
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3cl1ps3I will build a labyrinth to house the cheeseRegistered Userregular
i need to figure out how this house buying thing works
i should get a broker to do the work for me?
my friend also said he could be my agent and give me the kickback on his fee
So, the first step in buying a house doesn't start with a realtor. It's starts with the bank, and securing your loan. You want to get pre-approval - this is where the bank gives you a document saying "for the following window (usually 90 days) we will lend you up to $X at Y% interest." This gives you your budget, and will help you narrow down what you are looking for.
Then, you want to get a realtor. As was pointed out, realtors have access to systems that you don't (not just MLS - for example, there's a lockbox system they use to get into houses to show.) A good realtor will know their market, and be able to suggest options for you given your stated needs.
Just to add I'd say, get the highest pre-approval you can from the bank. And then adjust down to what you want your budget to actually be.
Tell your agent what your personal max budget is assuming it's below or at the pre-approval. Get the actual letter for the amount you offer to sellers.
Oh, this is the other thing I forgot to mention!
Any realtor worth their salt will actually know the real estate market in the area (and generally) in a way that simply looking at house prices won't tell you, and they'll be able to advise you on what your offers should look like. We went in with an offer far below the asking price of the house, to the point where I was worried it would get rejected, but our realtor's advice was dead on for the market and how long the house had been listed.
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BroloBroseidonLord of the BroceanRegistered Userregular
so the first step to negotiation is POWER PLAY
1) you want to turn the majority of your assets into cold hard cash, it's the only thing that gets you respect
next start staking out houses
what you DON'T want is open houses, they're already going to be swarmed by other buyers! classic noob mistake
instead walk up to a closed house that looks good and start knocking on the door until somebody comes out (if nobody comes out you can just let yourself in with a brick to the window, the house is yours now)
when someone comes to the door, TAKE THE INITIATIVE: slap them in the face with your wad of cash that you have from step 1
BAM you've got their attention now
then before they can recover start screaming "THIS IS MINE NOW! I LIVE HERE! I LICKED THE DOOR NO TAKE BACKSIES"
and then wrap a limb or something in the doorway, this is the hardest part because they'll probably try to slam the door on you and yes you will get bruised or permanently injured with this technique but real estate is a hard market
eventually someone will probably try to call the cops, but that's when you employ your next trick: stealth
hide in the house until the old owners forget you were ever in there
eventually they'll pass away or at least move because they think the house is haunted (somewhat true) and then the house is yours
anyway the rest of my real estate guides are posted on wikihow, but you can also download my audio book
whoops the forums accidentally searched yahoo answers for how do i buy a house
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Descendant XSkyrim is my god now.Outpost 31Registered Userregular
I don’t know why the rest of you are still talking when Brolo already has this shit figured out.
I, for one, will be consulting him in all my difficult decisions in the future.
Garry: I know you gentlemen have been through a lot, but when you find the time I'd rather not spend the rest of the winter TIED TO THIS FUCKING COUCH!
Yes my friend is a licensed agent and used to do closings at a law firm before he got out of that to become a clerk
My parents did the thing just recently where their friend acted as their agent with the condo they bought but they also knew exactly what they wanted to buy etc etc
But yeah finding an experienced broker in the neighborhood is probably a worthwhile thing to do in this instance
We have owned our place for nearly an entire year!
Which reminds me I should:
- replace the lightbulb in our closet (I even have a bulb, just being lazy)
- contract a plumber to fix the kids’ bathroom sink and check on a couple of other minor things for us
- get curtains for our bedroom
I bought lights for the computer / TV nook of my loft. When I was running the wires I couldn't be bothered trying to get a clean feed to that area as it's just three wooden beams and it would've involved either a lot of drilling or routing a channel somewhere and I didn't have time. So instead I just planned on getting some plug-in lights and stringing them up
I say bought, though, because we bought them over a month ago and they've been sat in the box ever since. Maybe one day I'll get them up
I also started painting the last of the downstairs windows. Something I started just after they were installed, two years ago. Now I need an evening free of rain so I can finish them off ready for winter. It's been two days and I've only got two of them done because it keeps raining
I've still got to get the handrail installed for the stairs, lay the carpet off-cut I got for the boiler room and paint the doors up here. And I need to frame out a new block of ceiling to cover up the old loft hatch, then get plasterers in. Then I can paint the hallway and the dressing room. And get and install new light fittings for the hallway, our bedroom, upstairs landing. Oh, and get someone to rebuild the front wall and move the gatepost back. But first I need to rent a skip to dump all the bricks that the previous owner left in a nice pile in the back garden. Oh, and replace the back gate because it's rotting to pieces
Sigh
The one about the fucking space hairdresser and the cowboy. He's got a tinfoil pal and a pedal bin
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JedocIn the scupperswith the staggers and jagsRegistered Userregular
OR you could use all those bricks to build a handy back yard pizza oven. Then you still have a bunch of chores, but you also have delicious wood-fired pizza.
OR you could use all those bricks to build a handy back yard pizza oven. Then you still have a bunch of chores, but you also have delicious wood-fired pizza.
It's a cube of bricks that's about a metre and a half on each side. Thing is enormous
Going off a rough estimate there's about 750 bricks in it, which I could use to make many, many ovens
The one about the fucking space hairdresser and the cowboy. He's got a tinfoil pal and a pedal bin
Sounds like a good craigslist "Free if you pick them up" situation. Probably won't get one person to take all of them but whittle down the pile a bit at least.
It'd have to be something like that wonderfully sweary cinder-block advert that went round a while back. "Come get your shit bricks. Guaranteed to probably last the trip home without cracking in two"
The one about the fucking space hairdresser and the cowboy. He's got a tinfoil pal and a pedal bin
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BroloBroseidonLord of the BroceanRegistered Userregular
It'd have to be something like that wonderfully sweary cinder-block advert that went round a while back. "Come get your shit bricks. Guaranteed to probably last the trip home without cracking in two"
So the "freight elevator" you're supposed to use to load your stuff at my apartment is just a regular elevator ass elevator and it stays open all of 3 seconds before it's like FUCK YOU IM CLOSING FUCK YOUR SHIT ITS MINE NOW
After a few rebuffs the elevator goes into aggro mode, let's off a continuous, enraged beeping and proceeds to push whatever the fuck it is that's propping the door open right the hell out of the way.
After a few rebuffs the elevator goes into aggro mode, let's off a continuous, enraged beeping and proceeds to push whatever the fuck it is that's propping the door open right the hell out of the way.
So the "freight elevator" you're supposed to use to load your stuff at my apartment is just a regular elevator ass elevator and it stays open all of 3 seconds before it's like FUCK YOU IM CLOSING FUCK YOUR SHIT ITS MINE NOW
So this sucks a big ole bag of weens.
Have you tried wedging some cinderblocks in there? I know a guy
Posts
Yeah you're right I had a few open and copied the wrong one, there's some rubber gloves in the other/see-also section, the klien lineman gloves aren't actual lineman gloves don't buy those.
just have a priest and the authorities run through it first and I'd be good to go
yeah that one's gonna be a tough sell. People in the 1800s had weird ideas about house layout
also it doesn't really get very cold in that part of the country in winter, so I guess covered access to the ground floor bathroom never made it on their to-do list. I bet everyone just ends up fighting over the top floor bathroom in the morning, though.
I can only afford it because the apartment building is undergoing renovations and that means workers starts hammering on the facade every morning at six am...
now to spend a bunch more money on getting the place cleaned, installing an internet connection, moving stuff from my old apartment, buying a bunch of new stuff; but I finally feel like a goddamn adult, not being confined to a single room in a house or a flat. Gonna have a LIVING SPACE
I am a metropolitan mother fucker now. All walkin and not looking for parking spots for 20 minutes
That is exactly why I'm replacing them, yeah haha.
i need to figure out how this house buying thing works
i should get a broker to do the work for me?
my friend also said he could be my agent and give me the kickback on his fee
Real estate sites are good for getting an idea of the size and location you want, but an agent has access faster and can give you areas you may not have thought of.
Not sure about the friend thing, seems like that could easily go sideways. If they're all licenced then go for it.
without a realtor i don't think i ever would have found my house since all the ones in the area i was looking would sell so fast that i would have had a hell of a time been able to get in fast enough without one. ymmv on that though depending on the market.
Assuming they are actually legit, are you prepared to lose this friend? If so by all means proceed.
i'd become their client as normal rather than asking for freebies
you can trust they'll take care of you and they get paid so very low risk of ruining a friendship
So, the first step in buying a house doesn't start with a realtor. It's starts with the bank, and securing your loan. You want to get pre-approval - this is where the bank gives you a document saying "for the following window (usually 90 days) we will lend you up to $X at Y% interest." This gives you your budget, and will help you narrow down what you are looking for.
Then, you want to get a realtor. As was pointed out, realtors have access to systems that you don't (not just MLS - for example, there's a lockbox system they use to get into houses to show.) A good realtor will know their market, and be able to suggest options for you given your stated needs.
It's also a decent bellwether for if you're in the right spot to buy a house, ironically. If you don't think you can afford a realtor, then you probably don't want to buy just yet. Wiping yourself out financially with closing costs + down payment is a good way to end up in really big trouble if something happens before you've rebuilt your savings.
Just to add I'd say, get the highest pre-approval you can from the bank. And then adjust down to what you want your budget to actually be.
Tell your agent what your personal max budget is assuming it's below or at the pre-approval. Get the actual letter for the amount you offer to sellers.
Oh, this is the other thing I forgot to mention!
Any realtor worth their salt will actually know the real estate market in the area (and generally) in a way that simply looking at house prices won't tell you, and they'll be able to advise you on what your offers should look like. We went in with an offer far below the asking price of the house, to the point where I was worried it would get rejected, but our realtor's advice was dead on for the market and how long the house had been listed.
1) you want to turn the majority of your assets into cold hard cash, it's the only thing that gets you respect
next start staking out houses
what you DON'T want is open houses, they're already going to be swarmed by other buyers! classic noob mistake
instead walk up to a closed house that looks good and start knocking on the door until somebody comes out (if nobody comes out you can just let yourself in with a brick to the window, the house is yours now)
when someone comes to the door, TAKE THE INITIATIVE: slap them in the face with your wad of cash that you have from step 1
BAM you've got their attention now
then before they can recover start screaming "THIS IS MINE NOW! I LIVE HERE! I LICKED THE DOOR NO TAKE BACKSIES"
and then wrap a limb or something in the doorway, this is the hardest part because they'll probably try to slam the door on you and yes you will get bruised or permanently injured with this technique but real estate is a hard market
eventually someone will probably try to call the cops, but that's when you employ your next trick: stealth
hide in the house until the old owners forget you were ever in there
eventually they'll pass away or at least move because they think the house is haunted (somewhat true) and then the house is yours
anyway the rest of my real estate guides are posted on wikihow, but you can also download my audio book
I, for one, will be consulting him in all my difficult decisions in the future.
https://www.facebook.com/richepreston/posts/10216857879656733
I’ll start by getting preapproval
Yes my friend is a licensed agent and used to do closings at a law firm before he got out of that to become a clerk
My parents did the thing just recently where their friend acted as their agent with the condo they bought but they also knew exactly what they wanted to buy etc etc
But yeah finding an experienced broker in the neighborhood is probably a worthwhile thing to do in this instance
I took notes
I am semi adding that to my reboot of the money pit
I am getting hype as a motherfucker for this move-in, I cannot wait to live In this place.
Which reminds me I should:
- replace the lightbulb in our closet (I even have a bulb, just being lazy)
- contract a plumber to fix the kids’ bathroom sink and check on a couple of other minor things for us
- get curtains for our bedroom
I say bought, though, because we bought them over a month ago and they've been sat in the box ever since. Maybe one day I'll get them up
I also started painting the last of the downstairs windows. Something I started just after they were installed, two years ago. Now I need an evening free of rain so I can finish them off ready for winter. It's been two days and I've only got two of them done because it keeps raining
I've still got to get the handrail installed for the stairs, lay the carpet off-cut I got for the boiler room and paint the doors up here. And I need to frame out a new block of ceiling to cover up the old loft hatch, then get plasterers in. Then I can paint the hallway and the dressing room. And get and install new light fittings for the hallway, our bedroom, upstairs landing. Oh, and get someone to rebuild the front wall and move the gatepost back. But first I need to rent a skip to dump all the bricks that the previous owner left in a nice pile in the back garden. Oh, and replace the back gate because it's rotting to pieces
Sigh
Though I guess that's what big brick wants you to think.
Also could build a built in bbq thing as well!
It's a cube of bricks that's about a metre and a half on each side. Thing is enormous
Going off a rough estimate there's about 750 bricks in it, which I could use to make many, many ovens
wish list
Steam wishlist
Etsy wishlist
email and ask him what you think you should build with the cinderblocks
So this sucks a big ole bag of weens.
After a few rebuffs the elevator goes into aggro mode, let's off a continuous, enraged beeping and proceeds to push whatever the fuck it is that's propping the door open right the hell out of the way.
Up to and including me, a 205 pound man.
Have you tried wedging some cinderblocks in there? I know a guy