Damn I hear all this talk of expensive markets and it just sounds crazy to me, I can't imagine how anyone affords that! I have a decent 3 bedroom house I bought for 160,000 in a nice town in Vermont, and I can afford the 1200 a month mortgage + taxes easy. The last apartment I rented cost more than my house, considerably so. I think people just like cities too much.
Our house was $105,000 but it needs a ton of work. Still livable, but I doubt we could sell it today. And the taxes are 4k/yr which isn't tremendous in Vermont, but it's still a lot.
I assume the assessed value must be higher, and you got a good deal because it needed work? Cause that's about what I pay in taxes... unfortunately they aren't cheap, but hey gotta pay to have good things. Why wouldn't it sell? Most of the state has a shortage of housing.
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ShadowfireVermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered Userregular
Damn I hear all this talk of expensive markets and it just sounds crazy to me, I can't imagine how anyone affords that! I have a decent 3 bedroom house I bought for 160,000 in a nice town in Vermont, and I can afford the 1200 a month mortgage + taxes easy. The last apartment I rented cost more than my house, considerably so. I think people just like cities too much.
Our house was $105,000 but it needs a ton of work. Still livable, but I doubt we could sell it today. And the taxes are 4k/yr which isn't tremendous in Vermont, but it's still a lot.
I assume the assessed value must be higher, and you got a good deal because it needed work? Cause that's about what I pay in taxes... unfortunately they aren't cheap, but hey gotta pay to have good things. Why wouldn't it sell? Most of the state has a shortage of housing.
Pretty much. But we've also found a lot more work than we knew about beforehand. I've talked about it in the thread before, but there's messed up plumbing, bullshit wiring, and a whole host of little things that add up to a big annoyance. The plumbing issues have also added some things like needing new ceilings in a couple rooms. So even with the windows we installed, we wouldn't break even.
Damn I hear all this talk of expensive markets and it just sounds crazy to me, I can't imagine how anyone affords that! I have a decent 3 bedroom house I bought for 160,000 in a nice town in Vermont, and I can afford the 1200 a month mortgage + taxes easy. The last apartment I rented cost more than my house, considerably so. I think people just like cities too much.
Our house was $105,000 but it needs a ton of work. Still livable, but I doubt we could sell it today. And the taxes are 4k/yr which isn't tremendous in Vermont, but it's still a lot.
I assume the assessed value must be higher, and you got a good deal because it needed work? Cause that's about what I pay in taxes... unfortunately they aren't cheap, but hey gotta pay to have good things. Why wouldn't it sell? Most of the state has a shortage of housing.
Pretty much. But we've also found a lot more work than we knew about beforehand. I've talked about it in the thread before, but there's messed up plumbing, bullshit wiring, and a whole host of little things that add up to a big annoyance. The plumbing issues have also added some things like needing new ceilings in a couple rooms. So even with the windows we installed, we wouldn't break even.
If your assessed value is significantly higher than what you paid you should appeal it with the assessor. Not sure about Veromont, but in most states you can use the sale price (as long as it's an arm's length transaction) as a huge piece of evidence in a tax appeal. Usually the assessor will go down to what was actually paid. In Illinois you can use a sale price from the last three years to appeal.
I've been dealing with house anxiety for a long time now, starting when I bought my house. The initial house inspection said there was some deflection along the basement wall that was concerning, and the bank wouldn't sign off on the loan unless they installed carbon fiber straps. These straps are basically a cheaper, more modern fix than putting in steel beams. While waiting for the owner to come back, I decided to look up in the install process on YouTube to see if it was something I could do myself, in case the owner didn't want to fork over for it.
They did though, and on one of my walkthroughs, I found myself thinking that the straps weren't installed the way I expected. They weren't anchored at the top and bottom. But we got a letter saying they'd been installed correctly, so I didn't think too much of it.
Over the first year, we started getting a lot of water coming through that wall when it rained. Particularly in the spots where the straps were, since they'd sanded away all the paint. It got so bad we decided to have a sump put in. The install company came out, jackhammered through the floor along that wall, and put in a drain. They told me I had a monolithic foundation, which meant the walls actually sit on top of the foundation.
But cutting up the floor isn't really recommended for monolithic foundations. So I've been really worried ever since that my house was structurally sound. And every time it rains hard, my anxiety goes nuts, like the house is just gonna collapse under me.
So I called a structural engineer, and he came out to my house to look at things. He really put my mind at ease, he validated that the straps were doing their job and that their strength comes from the curing of the epoxy, not necessarily the anchor points at the top/bottom. He let me know that while the drain system wouldn't be his first choice for water mitigation, it wasn't making the wall likely to collapse.
So that's a huge load off my mind. And he didn't even charge me for coming out.
I need to get a guy to come in for our place, too. I have some questions about how our sump is plumbed, and we are planning to knock down part of a (perceived, but most likely) structural wall in the relative near future (2-3 years?).
Hm, heard back from the blinds place. Looks like they'll replace 2 of them out of 9? So I'm probably still out $350+. Damn. Probably look into getting that done on Wednesday because I just really don't wanna think about it right now.
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AbsoluteZeroThe new film by Quentin KoopantinoRegistered Userregular
I'd like to get my basement finished but I've got water intrusion and I'll be damned if I'm going to tear up the landscaping that I just put in myself to let someone waterproof the basement walls from the outside. So, leaky unfinished basement it is for me. Le sigh.
I think we talked with you about it previously. You have two options:
1) seal basement to prevent water intrusion
c) allow water intrusion, but handle it once it makes its way in (french drains + sump pump)
Both are options for handling basement water in general, and if installed properly can handle water while still allowing you to finish the basement.
For the second option, you'll likely still need some sort of vapor barrier or general mold prevention on the back side of the walls. You can also do something like a partial finish, where some fraction of the basement is left unfinished behind a door.
My wife's grandmother is moving out of her house and we were planning on buying a place in the next year so you'd think this would be a great opportunity but this is California.
The nice (but small) house in a good neighborhood that my wife's grandmother owns looks like it'd go for 2.6m. We have the savings for a large downpayment and family help for the mortgage but the property taxes alone would be 17k yearly even if we could afford the mortgage. It's not even that nice of a house and it just boggles the mind that that house is worth roughly 26 years of average wages for this area.
Battlenet ID: NullPointer
+1
AbsoluteZeroThe new film by Quentin KoopantinoRegistered Userregular
I think we talked with you about it previously. You have two options:
1) seal basement to prevent water intrusion
c) allow water intrusion, but handle it once it makes its way in (french drains + sump pump)
Both are options for handling basement water in general, and if installed properly can handle water while still allowing you to finish the basement.
For the second option, you'll likely still need some sort of vapor barrier or general mold prevention on the back side of the walls. You can also do something like a partial finish, where some fraction of the basement is left unfinished behind a door.
Hmmm can you do french drains + sump along only one wall? Or does it need to go around the full perimeter? Only the south side of the basement has water intrusion issues and there actually is a finished bathroom on the north side that was there when we bought the house. Would hate to tear into that if drain needs to go all the way around.
Most basement/water people will come do a quote for free. I didn't end up doing the french drain approach (did an extra exterior wall instead), but they were only going to do one wall for our drain if we did it.
My wife's grandmother is moving out of her house and we were planning on buying a place in the next year so you'd think this would be a great opportunity but this is California.
The nice (but small) house in a good neighborhood that my wife's grandmother owns looks like it'd go for 2.6m. We have the savings for a large downpayment and family help for the mortgage but the property taxes alone would be 17k yearly even if we could afford the mortgage. It's not even that nice of a house and it just boggles the mind that that house is worth roughly 26 years of average wages for this area.
I feel like you could negotiate a sale within the family and not have to pay market value. I'm not sure what the details are surrounding that. Also does her grandmother need any of that money from the sale? (i.e. is the intent to use the sale of the house to pay for wherever she's moving?)
Or is this more related to the fact that you'd have to reassess the property after being off the market for so long?
My wife's grandmother is moving out of her house and we were planning on buying a place in the next year so you'd think this would be a great opportunity but this is California.
The nice (but small) house in a good neighborhood that my wife's grandmother owns looks like it'd go for 2.6m. We have the savings for a large downpayment and family help for the mortgage but the property taxes alone would be 17k yearly even if we could afford the mortgage. It's not even that nice of a house and it just boggles the mind that that house is worth roughly 26 years of average wages for this area.
I feel like you could negotiate a sale within the family and not have to pay market value. I'm not sure what the details are surrounding that. Also does her grandmother need any of that money from the sale? (i.e. is the intent to use the sale of the house to pay for wherever she's moving?)
Or is this more related to the fact that you'd have to reassess the property after being off the market for so long?
I thought you got a one time transfer without reassessment, but 2.6 might be too high a market value to be covered by that.
I think we talked with you about it previously. You have two options:
1) seal basement to prevent water intrusion
c) allow water intrusion, but handle it once it makes its way in (french drains + sump pump)
Both are options for handling basement water in general, and if installed properly can handle water while still allowing you to finish the basement.
For the second option, you'll likely still need some sort of vapor barrier or general mold prevention on the back side of the walls. You can also do something like a partial finish, where some fraction of the basement is left unfinished behind a door.
Hmmm can you do french drains + sump along only one wall? Or does it need to go around the full perimeter? Only the south side of the basement has water intrusion issues and there actually is a finished bathroom on the north side that was there when we bought the house. Would hate to tear into that if drain needs to go all the way around.
You absolutely can do a drain along one wall. Also, there's something called Drytrak that's worth looking into - it's what I wish my basement people had installed. It's like a drain, but it doesn't require busting up the foundation.
If you do seal, don't seal the inside, seal the outside. You don't want to encourage the water to sit in your foundation's boundaries in a basement because that just encourages erosion.
You'll want to seal the outside with sealant and membrane then put in a weeping tile system. That's the best way to handle it.
If you don't want to spend that kind of money to excavate and regrade, french drain and sump pump isn't a bad solution. But you won't be able to finish the basement in most cases.
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
So, we looked at more houses this weekend and really liked one and were seriously considering it. The seller's disclosure said two things that are making us basically say no now (and are incredibly bummed about it). When there is a torrential downpour, there is a part of the basement that gets water (but it supposedly just goes in one little stream that it makes and into the drain). They said it is less than a bucket of water. And then that there is a carpenter bee issue, likely on the one side of the house that is wood.
The house is priced nice and the taxes are pretty low, so it would kind of put our mind as ease money wise right now. But then what if we have to pay for installing a French drain? And having the side of the house resided? Also on the disclosure, they didn't have how old the roof is. ARG.
We are out of our current place at the end of May, so that isn't helping with stress either when we thought we finally found a place to try for. I assume we should just move on?
So, we looked at more houses this weekend and really liked one and were seriously considering it. The seller's disclosure said two things that are making us basically say no now (and are incredibly bummed about it). When there is a torrential downpour, there is a part of the basement that gets water (but it supposedly just goes in one little stream that it makes and into the drain). They said it is less than a bucket of water. And then that there is a carpenter bee issue, likely on the one side of the house that is wood.
The house is priced nice and the taxes are pretty low, so it would kind of put our mind as ease money wise right now. But then what if we have to pay for installing a French drain? And having the side of the house resided? Also on the disclosure, they didn't have how old the roof is. ARG.
We are out of our current place at the end of May, so that isn't helping with stress either when we thought we finally found a place to try for. I assume we should just move on?
We didn't get it.
They had 6 offers total.
That's a little surprising considering the worries you had were potentially huge problems
If you do seal, don't seal the inside, seal the outside. You don't want to encourage the water to sit in your foundation's boundaries in a basement because that just encourages erosion.
You'll want to seal the outside with sealant and membrane then put in a weeping tile system. That's the best way to handle it.
If you don't want to spend that kind of money to excavate and regrade, french drain and sump pump isn't a bad solution. But you won't be able to finish the basement in most cases.
Wait... you can't finish if you do a drain and sump without sealing the outside of the basement walls? Now I'm confused.
My wife's grandmother is moving out of her house and we were planning on buying a place in the next year so you'd think this would be a great opportunity but this is California.
The nice (but small) house in a good neighborhood that my wife's grandmother owns looks like it'd go for 2.6m. We have the savings for a large downpayment and family help for the mortgage but the property taxes alone would be 17k yearly even if we could afford the mortgage. It's not even that nice of a house and it just boggles the mind that that house is worth roughly 26 years of average wages for this area.
I feel like you could negotiate a sale within the family and not have to pay market value. I'm not sure what the details are surrounding that. Also does her grandmother need any of that money from the sale? (i.e. is the intent to use the sale of the house to pay for wherever she's moving?)
Or is this more related to the fact that you'd have to reassess the property after being off the market for so long?
It's not impossible for us to end up there but the house is part of the future inheritance for my wife's uncle/aunt/mother. I could see them letting us live there on a temporary basis or renting it out to us but probably not selling it to us at significantly under market rates. Thankfully my wife's grandmother doesn't need the money as she's moving in with her son who is well off and able to take care of her.
It's not a horrible situation and we'll still planning to start serious house hunting this summer but it was a bit of a shock to look up how much grandma's place was actually valued at and realize that it was way out of our price range.
So, we looked at more houses this weekend and really liked one and were seriously considering it. The seller's disclosure said two things that are making us basically say no now (and are incredibly bummed about it). When there is a torrential downpour, there is a part of the basement that gets water (but it supposedly just goes in one little stream that it makes and into the drain). They said it is less than a bucket of water. And then that there is a carpenter bee issue, likely on the one side of the house that is wood.
The house is priced nice and the taxes are pretty low, so it would kind of put our mind as ease money wise right now. But then what if we have to pay for installing a French drain? And having the side of the house resided? Also on the disclosure, they didn't have how old the roof is. ARG.
We are out of our current place at the end of May, so that isn't helping with stress either when we thought we finally found a place to try for. I assume we should just move on?
We didn't get it.
They had 6 offers total.
That's a little surprising considering the worries you had were potentially huge problems
I think part of me downplayed them in my head. It was weird because I was indifferent if we lost this, but wound up being sad and my wife was the complete opposite where she was super sad about those issues, but in the end was meh about the place. She also brought up the fact that we don't know where we would hang our laundry with how the place is laid out.
We are moving out of our rental at the end of May, so we are both just stressed and eager to GTFO. We are very much over neighbors on the other side of our walls and no parking. And not being able to deal with basic household things right away instead of waiting on a landlord to do anything. *flips table*
If you do seal, don't seal the inside, seal the outside. You don't want to encourage the water to sit in your foundation's boundaries in a basement because that just encourages erosion.
You'll want to seal the outside with sealant and membrane then put in a weeping tile system. That's the best way to handle it.
If you don't want to spend that kind of money to excavate and regrade, french drain and sump pump isn't a bad solution. But you won't be able to finish the basement in most cases.
Wait... you can't finish if you do a drain and sump without sealing the outside of the basement walls? Now I'm confused.
Potentially you could. The issue is french drain and sump pump pull the water inward so there's a chance of flooding. But if you use weeping tile and a waterproof membrane the chances of water coming in is almost 0.
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
My wife's grandmother is moving out of her house and we were planning on buying a place in the next year so you'd think this would be a great opportunity but this is California.
The nice (but small) house in a good neighborhood that my wife's grandmother owns looks like it'd go for 2.6m. We have the savings for a large downpayment and family help for the mortgage but the property taxes alone would be 17k yearly even if we could afford the mortgage. It's not even that nice of a house and it just boggles the mind that that house is worth roughly 26 years of average wages for this area.
I feel like you could negotiate a sale within the family and not have to pay market value. I'm not sure what the details are surrounding that. Also does her grandmother need any of that money from the sale? (i.e. is the intent to use the sale of the house to pay for wherever she's moving?)
Or is this more related to the fact that you'd have to reassess the property after being off the market for so long?
I thought you got a one time transfer without reassessment, but 2.6 might be too high a market value to be covered by that.
The grandparent-grandchild transfer reassment exemption is available only if both of the grandchild's parents are deceased, but is limitless for the primary residence of the grandparent. $1m cap per grandparent otherwise, identical to parent-child.
I do wonder if there is a legal loophole to do a grandparent->parent->child two step process using the parent-child exclusion. Way beyond my knowledge what the rules for that would be. Might be worth asking a lawyer about it if parties are amenable.
From State Tax Board FAQ, it seems this should be permitted, but I am not a lawyer.
Question: Can a transfer from grandparent to parent, followed by a transfer from parent to
child, each qualify for the parent-child exclusion?
Answer: Yes, as long as each transfer is unrestricted. Chapter 48 of the Statutes of 1987
states that it is the intent of the Legislature to liberally construe section 63.1 to carry out the
purpose of Proposition 58. Therefore, as long as each transfer is unrestricted and is
otherwise eligible (e.g., between parents and children), the exclusion is applicable. However,
if the parents were required to transfer the property to their child (that is, the grandchild),
then the step transaction doctrine would apply and these steps would be collapsed into one
transaction, i.e., a transfer from grandparent to grandchild. Since the parents are living, the
grandparent-grandchild exclusion would not apply, and this transaction would not be
excluded from change in ownership. The assessor can collapse the steps together under the
step transaction doctrine if evidence exists that proves that the intent was for the grandchild
to have the property.
Hello again house thread! I'm going back on the market for a new house at some point this year after 9+ years improving my farm. Not really something I want to do but broken relationships end up here.
Positives - My original purchase at $220,000 is now in the appraisal range of $750,000-800,000 which means after sale and paying the bank back I should have close to $200K to start fresh and pay off my loans. When I bought the place all I had was debts so that will be a good change. I'll also be buying something closer to work which will cut down at least an hour of travel each day if I get in the right area.
Negatives - Feeling like I wasn't even close to having this place where I wanted it to be before I was done here, having to give up on my grand plans really sucks. I'll also be going out into a sellers market, the cheapest place I can find is in the $350K range and that's for a townhouse or semi-detached. I might just sit on the sale money and rent for a while to see where the market goes, at 2% interest I'd bank $3-4K a year.
Because if you're going to attempt to squeeze that big black monster into your slot you will need to be able to take at least 12 inches or else you're going to have a bad time...
Hello again house thread! I'm going back on the market for a new house at some point this year after 9+ years improving my farm. Not really something I want to do but broken relationships end up here.
Positives - My original purchase at $220,000 is now in the appraisal range of $750,000-800,000 which means after sale and paying the bank back I should have close to $200K to start fresh and pay off my loans. When I bought the place all I had was debts so that will be a good change. I'll also be buying something closer to work which will cut down at least an hour of travel each day if I get in the right area.
Negatives - Feeling like I wasn't even close to having this place where I wanted it to be before I was done here, having to give up on my grand plans really sucks. I'll also be going out into a sellers market, the cheapest place I can find is in the $350K range and that's for a townhouse or semi-detached. I might just sit on the sale money and rent for a while to see where the market goes, at 2% interest I'd bank $3-4K a year.
Congratulations! Get paid! Also that sucks I'm sorry.
With 200k down shouldn't you be looking in the 450-500k range? or are local taxes enough to keep you from doing that?
Also don't time the market.
Also it's becoming a buyers market in my estimation, start lowballing people on stuff that's been on the market for 1-3 months.
Hello again house thread! I'm going back on the market for a new house at some point this year after 9+ years improving my farm. Not really something I want to do but broken relationships end up here.
Positives - My original purchase at $220,000 is now in the appraisal range of $750,000-800,000 which means after sale and paying the bank back I should have close to $200K to start fresh and pay off my loans. When I bought the place all I had was debts so that will be a good change. I'll also be buying something closer to work which will cut down at least an hour of travel each day if I get in the right area.
Negatives - Feeling like I wasn't even close to having this place where I wanted it to be before I was done here, having to give up on my grand plans really sucks. I'll also be going out into a sellers market, the cheapest place I can find is in the $350K range and that's for a townhouse or semi-detached. I might just sit on the sale money and rent for a while to see where the market goes, at 2% interest I'd bank $3-4K a year.
Congratulations! Get paid! Also that sucks I'm sorry.
With 200k down shouldn't you be looking in the 450-500k range? or are local taxes enough to keep you from doing that?
Also don't time the market.
Also it's becoming a buyers market in my estimation, start lowballing people on stuff that's been on the market for 1-3 months.
Congrats! Sounds like you've done well! Make sure you account for capital gains tax. I believe single people have a 250k exemption, and you can also deduct the costs of improvements you've made... but still something to consider.
Hello again house thread! I'm going back on the market for a new house at some point this year after 9+ years improving my farm. Not really something I want to do but broken relationships end up here.
Positives - My original purchase at $220,000 is now in the appraisal range of $750,000-800,000 which means after sale and paying the bank back I should have close to $200K to start fresh and pay off my loans. When I bought the place all I had was debts so that will be a good change. I'll also be buying something closer to work which will cut down at least an hour of travel each day if I get in the right area.
Negatives - Feeling like I wasn't even close to having this place where I wanted it to be before I was done here, having to give up on my grand plans really sucks. I'll also be going out into a sellers market, the cheapest place I can find is in the $350K range and that's for a townhouse or semi-detached. I might just sit on the sale money and rent for a while to see where the market goes, at 2% interest I'd bank $3-4K a year.
Congratulations! Get paid! Also that sucks I'm sorry.
With 200k down shouldn't you be looking in the 450-500k range? or are local taxes enough to keep you from doing that?
Also don't time the market.
Also it's becoming a buyers market in my estimation, start lowballing people on stuff that's been on the market for 1-3 months.
Congrats! Sounds like you've done well! Make sure you account for capital gains tax. I believe single people have a 250k exemption, and you can also deduct the costs of improvements you've made... but still something to consider.
I thought Capital Gains only kicks in over 500k and if you did not live in it as your primary residence or for under 2 years, but that might be a California thing.
So, my board gaming table is kind of tucked in the corner of my large basement and doesn't really have good lighting. There's a ceiling boob light a couple feet away from one of the corners of the table, so it's not like, dark, but it is kinda dim and less than ideal. I'm trying to think of some good ways to light it. Obviously, installing some sort of drop down light from the ceiling over the middle of the table is an option (though probably more expensive and permanent than I'm thinking for the meantime), but I also wanna avoid direct lighting on the table to prevent glare and whatnot. I was thinking I could get a floor lamp that points up and use that reflected/indirect light, but I don't know if that's my best option. Plus, I think most floor lamps that throw light at the ceiling are kinda ugly. Another option is maybe some China balls strung from the ceiling and plugged into an outlet somewhere? I don't know how effective they'd be at lighting, though, and I'd need to figure out mounting, running the wire, and finding LED's that are spaced properly between the balls (unless I got something that came wired together already, I guess). I wanna strike that balance between a harsh, overly bright light and something that doesn't really help light at all.
So, my board gaming table is kind of tucked in the corner of my large basement and doesn't really have good lighting. There's a ceiling boob light a couple feet away from one of the corners of the table, so it's not like, dark, but it is kinda dim and less than ideal. I'm trying to think of some good ways to light it. Obviously, installing some sort of drop down light from the ceiling over the middle of the table is an option (though probably more expensive and permanent than I'm thinking for the meantime), but I also wanna avoid direct lighting on the table to prevent glare and whatnot. I was thinking I could get a floor lamp that points up and use that reflected/indirect light, but I don't know if that's my best option. Plus, I think most floor lamps that throw light at the ceiling are kinda ugly. Another option is maybe some China balls strung from the ceiling and plugged into an outlet somewhere? I don't know how effective they'd be at lighting, though, and I'd need to figure out mounting, running the wire, and finding LED's that are spaced properly between the balls (unless I got something that came wired together already, I guess). I wanna strike that balance between a harsh, overly bright light and something that doesn't really help light at all.
Anyway, any thoughts or suggestions?
I'd see what bulbs you have installed in the ceiling light. We live in a age of really powerful lightbulbs, so you might be able to get a noticeable increase in light just by heading down to the store and seeing what's available with high lumens. Also, if the ceiling fixture only has 1-2 bulbs, you could replace it with something that has space for 3. Replacing a ceiling light fixture isn't that hard.
Hello again house thread! I'm going back on the market for a new house at some point this year after 9+ years improving my farm. Not really something I want to do but broken relationships end up here.
Positives - My original purchase at $220,000 is now in the appraisal range of $750,000-800,000 which means after sale and paying the bank back I should have close to $200K to start fresh and pay off my loans. When I bought the place all I had was debts so that will be a good change. I'll also be buying something closer to work which will cut down at least an hour of travel each day if I get in the right area.
Negatives - Feeling like I wasn't even close to having this place where I wanted it to be before I was done here, having to give up on my grand plans really sucks. I'll also be going out into a sellers market, the cheapest place I can find is in the $350K range and that's for a townhouse or semi-detached. I might just sit on the sale money and rent for a while to see where the market goes, at 2% interest I'd bank $3-4K a year.
Congratulations! Get paid! Also that sucks I'm sorry.
With 200k down shouldn't you be looking in the 450-500k range? or are local taxes enough to keep you from doing that?
Also don't time the market.
Also it's becoming a buyers market in my estimation, start lowballing people on stuff that's been on the market for 1-3 months.
Congrats! Sounds like you've done well! Make sure you account for capital gains tax. I believe single people have a 250k exemption, and you can also deduct the costs of improvements you've made... but still something to consider.
I don't mind having a small place and while I could afford a mortgage in the $1200-1500 monthly range the lower the better. I'd likely only drop $75-100K on the down payment anyway to leave myself some emergency cash, maybe finally take a damn trip that I've been wanting to do for years!
Because if you're going to attempt to squeeze that big black monster into your slot you will need to be able to take at least 12 inches or else you're going to have a bad time...
So, my board gaming table is kind of tucked in the corner of my large basement and doesn't really have good lighting. There's a ceiling boob light a couple feet away from one of the corners of the table, so it's not like, dark, but it is kinda dim and less than ideal. I'm trying to think of some good ways to light it. Obviously, installing some sort of drop down light from the ceiling over the middle of the table is an option (though probably more expensive and permanent than I'm thinking for the meantime), but I also wanna avoid direct lighting on the table to prevent glare and whatnot. I was thinking I could get a floor lamp that points up and use that reflected/indirect light, but I don't know if that's my best option. Plus, I think most floor lamps that throw light at the ceiling are kinda ugly. Another option is maybe some China balls strung from the ceiling and plugged into an outlet somewhere? I don't know how effective they'd be at lighting, though, and I'd need to figure out mounting, running the wire, and finding LED's that are spaced properly between the balls (unless I got something that came wired together already, I guess). I wanna strike that balance between a harsh, overly bright light and something that doesn't really help light at all.
Anyway, any thoughts or suggestions?
I'd see what bulbs you have installed in the ceiling light. We live in a age of really powerful lightbulbs, so you might be able to get a noticeable increase in light just by heading down to the store and seeing what's available with high lumens. Also, if the ceiling fixture only has 1-2 bulbs, you could replace it with something that has space for 3. Replacing a ceiling light fixture isn't that hard.
Yeah check out Crees or any of the better LED bulbs with a high Color Rendering Index (CRI) - basically the quality of the light; 90 or so is the target. Thinking around 4000K color temp, since you may not want full daylight 5K?
Other option that requires more work is a good LED shoplight. If you look for one with a good shade/diffuser, it shouldn't be too much glare. Maybe not super-stylish though. Plus slide is some have BT speakers for added ridiculousness.
Hello again house thread! I'm going back on the market for a new house at some point this year after 9+ years improving my farm. Not really something I want to do but broken relationships end up here.
Positives - My original purchase at $220,000 is now in the appraisal range of $750,000-800,000 which means after sale and paying the bank back I should have close to $200K to start fresh and pay off my loans. When I bought the place all I had was debts so that will be a good change. I'll also be buying something closer to work which will cut down at least an hour of travel each day if I get in the right area.
Negatives - Feeling like I wasn't even close to having this place where I wanted it to be before I was done here, having to give up on my grand plans really sucks. I'll also be going out into a sellers market, the cheapest place I can find is in the $350K range and that's for a townhouse or semi-detached. I might just sit on the sale money and rent for a while to see where the market goes, at 2% interest I'd bank $3-4K a year.
Congratulations! Get paid! Also that sucks I'm sorry.
With 200k down shouldn't you be looking in the 450-500k range? or are local taxes enough to keep you from doing that?
Also don't time the market.
Also it's becoming a buyers market in my estimation, start lowballing people on stuff that's been on the market for 1-3 months.
Congrats! Sounds like you've done well! Make sure you account for capital gains tax. I believe single people have a 250k exemption, and you can also deduct the costs of improvements you've made... but still something to consider.
I thought Capital Gains only kicks in over 500k and if you did not live in it as your primary residence or for under 2 years, but that might be a California thing.
My quick googling says it's 500k for a married couple. 250k/person for your primary residence.
True, though there are a couple of higher end latex paints that are formulated to be able to paint over oil, or on glass or anything you want. I used to work at an interior decorating store and General Paint's Kitchen and Bath paint was able to go over oil paint so I imagine every brand has something similar.
I'm actually not mad at this at all, because I realized that even after painting them white, I still don't like them at all. They're from the 1960s and solid wood, so it'd be silly to rebuild them, so what I'm gonna do is convert them to shaker cabinets by adding stiles/rails and filling out the beveled edge with wood putty. I'm gonna sand them and repaint them as part of that, so if anything the fact that it's peeling means I can take off a layer of paint with ease.
Drilling question: I need to mount a safe to a wall stud. If I'm using, say, a 1/4" lag screw, should the pilot hole I drill in the stud also be 1/4", or should it be slightly smaller diameter?
Yes, definitely smaller. The nominal size is the size of the shank before they cut the threads into it. If you drill a 1/4" pilot you won't have any material into the threads. You'd have a slip fit safe mount.
AbsoluteZeroThe new film by Quentin KoopantinoRegistered Userregular
I always just eyeball it holding the screw or bolt against different drill bits until I find one that hides the shank but not the threads. Figure that's close enough. I'm sure there's a "right way" to do it.
+7
That_GuyI don't wanna be that guyRegistered Userregular
Ehh, pre drilling holes is overrated. I just use self tapping screws.
I always just eyeball it holding the screw or bolt against different drill bits until I find one that hides the shank but not the threads. Figure that's close enough. I'm sure there's a "right way" to do it.
I do this, too. In this case, a 1/4" lag screw would probably use a 3/16" or 1/8" drill bit. You just want to get a good percentage of the material out of the way so the threads are doing most of the work.
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I assume the assessed value must be higher, and you got a good deal because it needed work? Cause that's about what I pay in taxes... unfortunately they aren't cheap, but hey gotta pay to have good things. Why wouldn't it sell? Most of the state has a shortage of housing.
Pretty much. But we've also found a lot more work than we knew about beforehand. I've talked about it in the thread before, but there's messed up plumbing, bullshit wiring, and a whole host of little things that add up to a big annoyance. The plumbing issues have also added some things like needing new ceilings in a couple rooms. So even with the windows we installed, we wouldn't break even.
If your assessed value is significantly higher than what you paid you should appeal it with the assessor. Not sure about Veromont, but in most states you can use the sale price (as long as it's an arm's length transaction) as a huge piece of evidence in a tax appeal. Usually the assessor will go down to what was actually paid. In Illinois you can use a sale price from the last three years to appeal.
They did though, and on one of my walkthroughs, I found myself thinking that the straps weren't installed the way I expected. They weren't anchored at the top and bottom. But we got a letter saying they'd been installed correctly, so I didn't think too much of it.
Over the first year, we started getting a lot of water coming through that wall when it rained. Particularly in the spots where the straps were, since they'd sanded away all the paint. It got so bad we decided to have a sump put in. The install company came out, jackhammered through the floor along that wall, and put in a drain. They told me I had a monolithic foundation, which meant the walls actually sit on top of the foundation.
But cutting up the floor isn't really recommended for monolithic foundations. So I've been really worried ever since that my house was structurally sound. And every time it rains hard, my anxiety goes nuts, like the house is just gonna collapse under me.
So I called a structural engineer, and he came out to my house to look at things. He really put my mind at ease, he validated that the straps were doing their job and that their strength comes from the curing of the epoxy, not necessarily the anchor points at the top/bottom. He let me know that while the drain system wouldn't be his first choice for water mitigation, it wasn't making the wall likely to collapse.
So that's a huge load off my mind. And he didn't even charge me for coming out.
1) seal basement to prevent water intrusion
c) allow water intrusion, but handle it once it makes its way in (french drains + sump pump)
Both are options for handling basement water in general, and if installed properly can handle water while still allowing you to finish the basement.
For the second option, you'll likely still need some sort of vapor barrier or general mold prevention on the back side of the walls. You can also do something like a partial finish, where some fraction of the basement is left unfinished behind a door.
The nice (but small) house in a good neighborhood that my wife's grandmother owns looks like it'd go for 2.6m. We have the savings for a large downpayment and family help for the mortgage but the property taxes alone would be 17k yearly even if we could afford the mortgage. It's not even that nice of a house and it just boggles the mind that that house is worth roughly 26 years of average wages for this area.
Hmmm can you do french drains + sump along only one wall? Or does it need to go around the full perimeter? Only the south side of the basement has water intrusion issues and there actually is a finished bathroom on the north side that was there when we bought the house. Would hate to tear into that if drain needs to go all the way around.
I feel like you could negotiate a sale within the family and not have to pay market value. I'm not sure what the details are surrounding that. Also does her grandmother need any of that money from the sale? (i.e. is the intent to use the sale of the house to pay for wherever she's moving?)
Or is this more related to the fact that you'd have to reassess the property after being off the market for so long?
I thought you got a one time transfer without reassessment, but 2.6 might be too high a market value to be covered by that.
You absolutely can do a drain along one wall. Also, there's something called Drytrak that's worth looking into - it's what I wish my basement people had installed. It's like a drain, but it doesn't require busting up the foundation.
I also just found a DIY version here: http://basementwaterproof.com/
Worth looking into if you want to control the water and not necessarily put in a pump.
You'll want to seal the outside with sealant and membrane then put in a weeping tile system. That's the best way to handle it.
If you don't want to spend that kind of money to excavate and regrade, french drain and sump pump isn't a bad solution. But you won't be able to finish the basement in most cases.
We didn't get it.
They had 6 offers total.
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That's a little surprising considering the worries you had were potentially huge problems
Wait... you can't finish if you do a drain and sump without sealing the outside of the basement walls? Now I'm confused.
*sigh*
It's not impossible for us to end up there but the house is part of the future inheritance for my wife's uncle/aunt/mother. I could see them letting us live there on a temporary basis or renting it out to us but probably not selling it to us at significantly under market rates. Thankfully my wife's grandmother doesn't need the money as she's moving in with her son who is well off and able to take care of her.
It's not a horrible situation and we'll still planning to start serious house hunting this summer but it was a bit of a shock to look up how much grandma's place was actually valued at and realize that it was way out of our price range.
I think part of me downplayed them in my head. It was weird because I was indifferent if we lost this, but wound up being sad and my wife was the complete opposite where she was super sad about those issues, but in the end was meh about the place. She also brought up the fact that we don't know where we would hang our laundry with how the place is laid out.
We are moving out of our rental at the end of May, so we are both just stressed and eager to GTFO. We are very much over neighbors on the other side of our walls and no parking. And not being able to deal with basic household things right away instead of waiting on a landlord to do anything. *flips table*
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Potentially you could. The issue is french drain and sump pump pull the water inward so there's a chance of flooding. But if you use weeping tile and a waterproof membrane the chances of water coming in is almost 0.
The grandparent-grandchild transfer reassment exemption is available only if both of the grandchild's parents are deceased, but is limitless for the primary residence of the grandparent. $1m cap per grandparent otherwise, identical to parent-child.
I do wonder if there is a legal loophole to do a grandparent->parent->child two step process using the parent-child exclusion. Way beyond my knowledge what the rules for that would be. Might be worth asking a lawyer about it if parties are amenable.
From State Tax Board FAQ, it seems this should be permitted, but I am not a lawyer.
Positives - My original purchase at $220,000 is now in the appraisal range of $750,000-800,000 which means after sale and paying the bank back I should have close to $200K to start fresh and pay off my loans. When I bought the place all I had was debts so that will be a good change. I'll also be buying something closer to work which will cut down at least an hour of travel each day if I get in the right area.
Negatives - Feeling like I wasn't even close to having this place where I wanted it to be before I was done here, having to give up on my grand plans really sucks. I'll also be going out into a sellers market, the cheapest place I can find is in the $350K range and that's for a townhouse or semi-detached. I might just sit on the sale money and rent for a while to see where the market goes, at 2% interest I'd bank $3-4K a year.
Congratulations! Get paid! Also that sucks I'm sorry.
With 200k down shouldn't you be looking in the 450-500k range? or are local taxes enough to keep you from doing that?
Also don't time the market.
Also it's becoming a buyers market in my estimation, start lowballing people on stuff that's been on the market for 1-3 months.
Congrats! Sounds like you've done well! Make sure you account for capital gains tax. I believe single people have a 250k exemption, and you can also deduct the costs of improvements you've made... but still something to consider.
I thought Capital Gains only kicks in over 500k and if you did not live in it as your primary residence or for under 2 years, but that might be a California thing.
Anyway, any thoughts or suggestions?
I'd see what bulbs you have installed in the ceiling light. We live in a age of really powerful lightbulbs, so you might be able to get a noticeable increase in light just by heading down to the store and seeing what's available with high lumens. Also, if the ceiling fixture only has 1-2 bulbs, you could replace it with something that has space for 3. Replacing a ceiling light fixture isn't that hard.
I don't mind having a small place and while I could afford a mortgage in the $1200-1500 monthly range the lower the better. I'd likely only drop $75-100K on the down payment anyway to leave myself some emergency cash, maybe finally take a damn trip that I've been wanting to do for years!
Yeah check out Crees or any of the better LED bulbs with a high Color Rendering Index (CRI) - basically the quality of the light; 90 or so is the target. Thinking around 4000K color temp, since you may not want full daylight 5K?
Other option that requires more work is a good LED shoplight. If you look for one with a good shade/diffuser, it shouldn't be too much glare. Maybe not super-stylish though. Plus slide is some have BT speakers for added ridiculousness.
My quick googling says it's 500k for a married couple. 250k/person for your primary residence.
True, though there are a couple of higher end latex paints that are formulated to be able to paint over oil, or on glass or anything you want. I used to work at an interior decorating store and General Paint's Kitchen and Bath paint was able to go over oil paint so I imagine every brand has something similar.
I do this, too. In this case, a 1/4" lag screw would probably use a 3/16" or 1/8" drill bit. You just want to get a good percentage of the material out of the way so the threads are doing most of the work.