Decided not to pay anyone to mow my lawn this year and now doing it myself for the first time in a couple years. Boy I forgot how much this sucks.
Also my yard has gotten really uneven with lots of bumps and divots. Any way to fix that?
Aerating and rolling
Oh, shit, is that what aerating does?
Aerating (especially plug aeration) let’s oxygen get into the ground and ultimately makes for a healthier lawn. It also helps to decompress the soil, and let’s water penetrate better (especially for lawns with a lot of thatch). It’s a great thing to do.
You can rent the machine from Home Depot, go in with a friend or two if you don't have big lawns.
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AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
Are there any good rules of thumb for how much house you should buy based on your income?
Are there any good rules of thumb for how much house you should buy based on your income?
I think it's still 3-4x your annual income, but super low interest rate change that math. It also doesn't matter what the number is, it all comes down to what you're comfortable with on a monthly basis.
The bigger issue is usually how much down payment you have.
AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
That's what I was afraid would still be the answer.
Mom's pushing me to buy a house right behind hers that is currently being built. And I have to admit, it's a nice house! But it is going for $325,000. I currently make 70k gross, but closer to 53k net if I calculate based on my paychecks per month. It seems that's way above my price range, and that's before I even consider down payment, my current debts that I'm trying to pay off, and everything else. I was hoping for something closer to my current 800-1000 a month rent, but this place estimates at a 1700/mo home costs.
Yeah I'd say paying down your current debts (assuming they're not student debt) should be priority one, since if you don't already have the 20% down payment the whole thing gets more expensive.
AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
thanks. my parents keep mentioning first time homeowner credits. I have no clue how those could be good enough to get me in some place decent. Guess I just keep on here in the apartment....
thanks. my parents keep mentioning first time homeowner credits. I have no clue how those could be good enough to get me in some place decent. Guess I just keep on here in the apartment....
I'm not sure what kind of first time homeowner credits are being offered, and realistically they should be a bonus or something to get you more easily settled, not a real / serious consideration.
Probably the best thing to do would be to consult with an accountant or financial planner on your specific debt / savings / income situation as well as your personal goals to see if buying this house makes sense. If your mom is willing to spring for a portion of your downpayment or something, that certainly should be a consideration too. I don't know the specifics of your family or financial situations, and if you are carrying substantial credit card debt working on paying that down first is a good bet.
But as Doodman noted, buying the house and leasing to a roommate or two can easily defray a lot of the added expenses while you build equity in the property and potentially your income grows so you can more easily afford payments on your own. It's a tradeoff having roommates but if you can find good one(s) it might be a good choice.
don't forget though, if you start mathing out leasing, that you have to pay taxes on the rental income
I've known multiple people who seemed to think it was just free money and had a rude awakening when they went to file taxes
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
Are there any good rules of thumb for how much house you should buy based on your income?
I think it's still 3-4x your annual income, but super low interest rate change that math. It also doesn't matter what the number is, it all comes down to what you're comfortable with on a monthly basis.
The bigger issue is usually how much down payment you have.
Also depends on taxes in your area. 3-4x income for us would have been a 360k home at the time we purchased, but that would have been 7-8k in taxes which would push it way out of our range.
Is dandelion wine a thing? Maybe I've just been playing too much Genshin Impact, but they keep mentioning it in the game, and I keep thinking "hey... I've got dandelions...".
"The sausage of Green Earth explodes with flavor like the cannon of culinary delight."
Is dandelion wine a thing? Maybe I've just been playing too much Genshin Impact, but they keep mentioning it in the game, and I keep thinking "hey... I've got dandelions...".
Is dandelion wine a thing? Maybe I've just been playing too much Genshin Impact, but they keep mentioning it in the game, and I keep thinking "hey... I've got dandelions...".
Anybody use the Eufy security cams? Thinking of getting the 2C that is on sale. I specifically don't want a cam with a cloud subscription.
:so_raven:
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zepherinRussian warship, go fuck yourselfRegistered Userregular
dandelion wine, I don't really like it. I've tried to a few times, because I really want to like it. I love the concept, but it always felt like a really dry meade, that didn't taste as good as dry meade (which is pretty good). Like each time I just wished I had meade.
So, our landlord has informed us that he is selling our house either to us or otherwise.
Problem is, valuation in our area (semi-detached townhouse in a condo community in the east end of Ottawa, Ontario) is going crazy right now! We recently spoke to a mortgage broker, who did a credit check on us, and is pretty confident she can get us approved for a mortgage of up to 302 grand, which would have been more than enough to buy our current place out once upon a time, but now is less likely.
So now, we're at a crossroads. Landlord has given us until September to either make him an offer or prepare to move out. Good news is that, in his words, he doesn't want to "give the house away", but he is sympathetic to our plight and is willing to consider a reasonable offer below market value if it means a straight-up property transfer from him to us. (i.e, he doesn't need to worry about renovations or putting it up on the market or anything like that. Basically, if we can make him a fair price, he can just hand us whatever the house equivalent of ownership papers are and we part ways).
Problem is, we have no experience in homeownership. Napkin math tells us that we can probably afford payments on a $300k mortgage based on my salary and what we have on hand for a downpayment, and, assuming our landlord accepts our offer, not having to move is a very attractive prospect, but I fear that there are a bazillion things we aren't considering. Not to mention, of course, that we would now be responsible for condo fees, which are a HUGE bummer (to the tune of approx. $440 a month), meaning that, realistically, we would have to bring the mortgage down closer to $250k if we want to be able to reasonably maintain our current month to month lifestyle.
Anyways, don't want to go on much longer, just stressing out a bit and would appreciate any advice out there.
You need the strata minutes, and assuming Ontario does this, the depreciation report for the strata. You need to know if there are big communal expenses coming up for common infrastructure like roofs, boilers, elevators, etc.
You should get a home inspection from a reputable home inspector, even though you already live there.
So, our landlord has informed us that he is selling our house either to us or otherwise.
Problem is, valuation in our area (semi-detached townhouse in a condo community in the east end of Ottawa, Ontario) is going crazy right now! We recently spoke to a mortgage broker, who did a credit check on us, and is pretty confident she can get us approved for a mortgage of up to 302 grand, which would have been more than enough to buy our current place out once upon a time, but now is less likely.
So now, we're at a crossroads. Landlord has given us until September to either make him an offer or prepare to move out. Good news is that, in his words, he doesn't want to "give the house away", but he is sympathetic to our plight and is willing to consider a reasonable offer below market value if it means a straight-up property transfer from him to us. (i.e, he doesn't need to worry about renovations or putting it up on the market or anything like that. Basically, if we can make him a fair price, he can just hand us whatever the house equivalent of ownership papers are and we part ways).
Problem is, we have no experience in homeownership. Napkin math tells us that we can probably afford payments on a $300k mortgage based on my salary and what we have on hand for a downpayment, and, assuming our landlord accepts our offer, not having to move is a very attractive prospect, but I fear that there are a bazillion things we aren't considering. Not to mention, of course, that we would now be responsible for condo fees, which are a HUGE bummer (to the tune of approx. $440 a month), meaning that, realistically, we would have to bring the mortgage down closer to $250k if we want to be able to reasonably maintain our current month to month lifestyle.
Anyways, don't want to go on much longer, just stressing out a bit and would appreciate any advice out there.
Remember also that the math on your current month to month lifestyle is slightly different when you first purchase because that thing you were saving for is now the thing you're putting equity into.
SummaryJudgmentGrab the hottest iron you can find, stride in the Tower’s front doorRegistered Userregular
edited April 2021
Hey, could I solicit some advice on this bathroom drawing I got back from our contractor?
Currently: sink and vanity in SE corner, tub in SW corner, toilet adjacent to sink, closet in NE corner. This whole space is currently a walk in closet and then the bathroom proper behind a door; we wanted to move the toilet into the other space and extend the countertop since it's currently not much more than a pedestal sink
We were gonna knock the walls out but the one wall is the plumbing for the tub and the other wall he's just extended the closet to, and he's moved the toilet to the other side of the tub wall
Idk, I was hoping to open the space up but with the walls still there its as confined as it ever was.
We're going to tile the bathroom and rip iur the current fiberglass shower enclosure and glass it in, so that'll help open the space, and do a huge mirror over the larger vanity. Dunno what to do with those walls though.
SummaryJudgment on
Some days Blue wonders why anyone ever bothered making numbers so small; other days she supposes even infinity needs to start somewhere.
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zepherinRussian warship, go fuck yourselfRegistered Userregular
So, our landlord has informed us that he is selling our house either to us or otherwise.
Problem is, valuation in our area (semi-detached townhouse in a condo community in the east end of Ottawa, Ontario) is going crazy right now! We recently spoke to a mortgage broker, who did a credit check on us, and is pretty confident she can get us approved for a mortgage of up to 302 grand, which would have been more than enough to buy our current place out once upon a time, but now is less likely.
So now, we're at a crossroads. Landlord has given us until September to either make him an offer or prepare to move out. Good news is that, in his words, he doesn't want to "give the house away", but he is sympathetic to our plight and is willing to consider a reasonable offer below market value if it means a straight-up property transfer from him to us. (i.e, he doesn't need to worry about renovations or putting it up on the market or anything like that. Basically, if we can make him a fair price, he can just hand us whatever the house equivalent of ownership papers are and we part ways).
Problem is, we have no experience in homeownership. Napkin math tells us that we can probably afford payments on a $300k mortgage based on my salary and what we have on hand for a downpayment, and, assuming our landlord accepts our offer, not having to move is a very attractive prospect, but I fear that there are a bazillion things we aren't considering. Not to mention, of course, that we would now be responsible for condo fees, which are a HUGE bummer (to the tune of approx. $440 a month), meaning that, realistically, we would have to bring the mortgage down closer to $250k if we want to be able to reasonably maintain our current month to month lifestyle.
Anyways, don't want to go on much longer, just stressing out a bit and would appreciate any advice out there.
what are you currently spending on rent, and how much down payment do you have available to you?
So, our landlord has informed us that he is selling our house either to us or otherwise.
Problem is, valuation in our area (semi-detached townhouse in a condo community in the east end of Ottawa, Ontario) is going crazy right now! We recently spoke to a mortgage broker, who did a credit check on us, and is pretty confident she can get us approved for a mortgage of up to 302 grand, which would have been more than enough to buy our current place out once upon a time, but now is less likely.
So now, we're at a crossroads. Landlord has given us until September to either make him an offer or prepare to move out. Good news is that, in his words, he doesn't want to "give the house away", but he is sympathetic to our plight and is willing to consider a reasonable offer below market value if it means a straight-up property transfer from him to us. (i.e, he doesn't need to worry about renovations or putting it up on the market or anything like that. Basically, if we can make him a fair price, he can just hand us whatever the house equivalent of ownership papers are and we part ways).
Problem is, we have no experience in homeownership. Napkin math tells us that we can probably afford payments on a $300k mortgage based on my salary and what we have on hand for a downpayment, and, assuming our landlord accepts our offer, not having to move is a very attractive prospect, but I fear that there are a bazillion things we aren't considering. Not to mention, of course, that we would now be responsible for condo fees, which are a HUGE bummer (to the tune of approx. $440 a month), meaning that, realistically, we would have to bring the mortgage down closer to $250k if we want to be able to reasonably maintain our current month to month lifestyle.
Anyways, don't want to go on much longer, just stressing out a bit and would appreciate any advice out there.
what are you currently spending on rent, and how much down payment do you have available to you?
We are currently paying $1200 a month in rent, this includes condo fees and property taxes but not utilities. That is way below current market value. Most other renters in similar houses to ours are paying closer to 1600. I think the reason our landlord has not been raising our rent it’s because he acknowledges that he’s been basically an absentee landlord. He’s a Snowbird and lives in Arizona during the winter, which means that when emergencies come up, we basically have to handle them ourselves, and just bill him afterwards or take the balance out of the rent.
The house absolutely needs multiple renovations. We’ve been living here for over 10 years, and hardly any major work has been done on it since we’ve moved in. Most appliances will require updating, and we know for sure that the upstairs bathroom flooring probably needs to be completely re-done, among any number of other things.
For comparison, a neighbor of ours just sold their house, which is the exact same floor plan as ours, albeit completely renovated and with a finished basement, which we do not have, for around 350 grand. Ours is not worth that much for sure, but the question is how do we evaluate it?
The other question that comes up is that, for the type of mortgage that we can get/afford, we might still be able to get a nice standalone home in the outskirts. With my job being work from home for the foreseeable future, commute is much less of a concern for us now. There’s no guarantee that I’ll be able to continue working from home in the long term, but still. Our family is myself, my wife, our seven-year-old, a dog and two cats, for what it’s worth.
Hey, could I solicit some advice on this bathroom drawing I got back from our contractor?
Currently: sink and vanity in SE corner, tub in SW corner, toilet adjacent to sink, closet in NE corner. This whole space is currently a walk in closet and then the bathroom proper behind a door; we wanted to move the toilet into the other space and extend the countertop since it's currently not much more than a pedestal sink
We were gonna knock the walls out but the one wall is the plumbing for the tub and the other wall he's just extended the closet to, and he's moved the toilet to the other side of the tub wall
Idk, I was hoping to open the space up but with the walls still there its as confined as it ever was.
We're going to tile the bathroom and rip iur the current fiberglass shower enclosure and glass it in, so that'll help open the space, and do a huge mirror over the larger vanity. Dunno what to do with those walls though.
Yeah, I don't really see the point. I feel a surface-level redecoration would give just as good results for less money. (Light colors, extra mirrors, and see what you can do about storage/counter space.)
A realtor could give you an educated guess on what it's worth, based on other comps in the area. Or you could hire an appraiser if you wanted to be really official. That could be risky though if the appraisal comes back at $350k. Also an inspector would help identify areas that need work and can probably ballpark values. Then you could use those with your neighbor as a comp for negotiations. Include anything even stuff like a new roof or windows that might need to be replaced in the next 5-10 years. Also reach out to the neighbors who just sold and see if they'd be willing to ballpark how much some of their renovations.
Origin ID\ Steam ID: Warder45
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zepherinRussian warship, go fuck yourselfRegistered Userregular
So, our landlord has informed us that he is selling our house either to us or otherwise.
Problem is, valuation in our area (semi-detached townhouse in a condo community in the east end of Ottawa, Ontario) is going crazy right now! We recently spoke to a mortgage broker, who did a credit check on us, and is pretty confident she can get us approved for a mortgage of up to 302 grand, which would have been more than enough to buy our current place out once upon a time, but now is less likely.
So now, we're at a crossroads. Landlord has given us until September to either make him an offer or prepare to move out. Good news is that, in his words, he doesn't want to "give the house away", but he is sympathetic to our plight and is willing to consider a reasonable offer below market value if it means a straight-up property transfer from him to us. (i.e, he doesn't need to worry about renovations or putting it up on the market or anything like that. Basically, if we can make him a fair price, he can just hand us whatever the house equivalent of ownership papers are and we part ways).
Problem is, we have no experience in homeownership. Napkin math tells us that we can probably afford payments on a $300k mortgage based on my salary and what we have on hand for a downpayment, and, assuming our landlord accepts our offer, not having to move is a very attractive prospect, but I fear that there are a bazillion things we aren't considering. Not to mention, of course, that we would now be responsible for condo fees, which are a HUGE bummer (to the tune of approx. $440 a month), meaning that, realistically, we would have to bring the mortgage down closer to $250k if we want to be able to reasonably maintain our current month to month lifestyle.
Anyways, don't want to go on much longer, just stressing out a bit and would appreciate any advice out there.
what are you currently spending on rent, and how much down payment do you have available to you?
We are currently paying $1200 a month in rent, this includes condo fees and property taxes but not utilities. That is way below current market value. Most other renters in similar houses to ours are paying closer to 1600. I think the reason our landlord has not been raising our rent it’s because he acknowledges that he’s been basically an absentee landlord. He’s a Snowbird and lives in Arizona during the winter, which means that when emergencies come up, we basically have to handle them ourselves, and just bill him afterwards or take the balance out of the rent.
The house absolutely needs multiple renovations. We’ve been living here for over 10 years, and hardly any major work has been done on it since we’ve moved in. Most appliances will require updating, and we know for sure that the upstairs bathroom flooring probably needs to be completely re-done, among any number of other things.
For comparison, a neighbor of ours just sold their house, which is the exact same floor plan as ours, albeit completely renovated and with a finished basement, which we do not have, for around 350 grand. Ours is not worth that much for sure, but the question is how do we evaluate it?
The other question that comes up is that, for the type of mortgage that we can get/afford, we might still be able to get a nice standalone home in the outskirts. With my job being work from home for the foreseeable future, commute is much less of a concern for us now. There’s no guarantee that I’ll be able to continue working from home in the long term, but still. Our family is myself, my wife, our seven-year-old, a dog and two cats, for what it’s worth.
I don’t know about mortgages in Canada. In the US we have FHA loans, it looks similar in Canada with Canada lakes FHA.
So assuming a good interest rate with 3.5% down an offer for 350,000 house will likely have a 1400-1600 mortgage with 24500 for down payment and closing.
325000 mortgage is 1300-1500 22750 for down payment and closing.
300000 mortgage is 1200-1400 with 21,000 for down payment and closing.
Canada has different rules and customs. And the internet threw up their hands on if the home owner can help with closing costs or down payment. Or what down payment assistance and rebates the providence offers I tried to figure those out, you may want to talk to a mortgage broker.
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zepherinRussian warship, go fuck yourselfRegistered Userregular
Honestly use a compatible price per square foot multiply it by the sq/ft of the house and that gives a fair price.
See what they can qualify you for if it’s equally to or greater than a fair price off the fair price, if not offer what you qualify for.
A realtor could give you an educated guess on what it's worth, based on other comps in the area. Or you could hire an appraiser if you wanted to be really official. That could be risky though if the appraisal comes back at $350k. Also an inspector would help identify areas that need work and can probably ballpark values. Then you could use those with your neighbor as a comp for negotiations. Include anything even stuff like a new roof or windows that might need to be replaced in the next 5-10 years. Also reach out to the neighbors who just sold and see if they'd be willing to ballpark how much some of their renovations.
An appraiser works for you, so you don't need to disclose anything about the value that came back. If it comes back at $350k or more you can use that as your personal ceiling for negotiations, and if it comes back at $220k you can reveal that and use that as leverage. I would probably get both an inspection and appraisal before making any decisions and also find out what the landlord thinks is 'fair'. It may turn out it's not a fair price at all.
But yes, getting the condo associations minutes / reports of upcoming costs is definitely something you should be getting for due diligence as well.
So I was supposed to be closing on my new house tomorrow. Yesterday my lender told me yep, everything is cool! Apparently not. My loan officer was dropping balls and is now fired. My loan didn't actually even get submitted to underwriting until yesterday. Now the former-loan officer's manager says the fastest they can get it done is two weeks. Theoretically that's within the grace period of the purchase contract, provided they can actually get it done in two weeks. Whee.
So I was supposed to be closing on my new house tomorrow. Yesterday my lender told me yep, everything is cool! Apparently not. My loan officer was dropping balls and is now fired. My loan didn't actually even get submitted to underwriting until yesterday. Now the former-loan officer's manager says the fastest they can get it done is two weeks. Theoretically that's within the grace period of the purchase contract, provided they can actually get it done in two weeks. Whee.
Press them on compensating you for jerking you around despite your patience. The new loan officer probably has some wiggle room on your interest rate and you might be able to get them to drop it slightly.
When we did our refinance in 2012 they messed up the paperwork twice when we were meeting to sign and to make it up dropped us .25%. Worst case you get nothing.
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zepherinRussian warship, go fuck yourselfRegistered Userregular
So I was supposed to be closing on my new house tomorrow. Yesterday my lender told me yep, everything is cool! Apparently not. My loan officer was dropping balls and is now fired. My loan didn't actually even get submitted to underwriting until yesterday. Now the former-loan officer's manager says the fastest they can get it done is two weeks. Theoretically that's within the grace period of the purchase contract, provided they can actually get it done in two weeks. Whee.
That sucks, we got lucky with our guy and we had underwriting done weeks before closing. Although for some strange ass reason they had to estimate our closing costs until we closed so I ended up with a $450 check for overpayment.
So I was supposed to be closing on my new house tomorrow. Yesterday my lender told me yep, everything is cool! Apparently not. My loan officer was dropping balls and is now fired. My loan didn't actually even get submitted to underwriting until yesterday. Now the former-loan officer's manager says the fastest they can get it done is two weeks. Theoretically that's within the grace period of the purchase contract, provided they can actually get it done in two weeks. Whee.
Press them on compensating you for jerking you around despite your patience. The new loan officer probably has some wiggle room on your interest rate and you might be able to get them to drop it slightly.
When we did our refinance in 2012 they messed up the paperwork twice when we were meeting to sign and to make it up dropped us .25%. Worst case you get nothing.
I'm still waiting on them to answer my lawyer on whether they can even close the loan in time for us to be within the contract period. Once they do that (assuming they do) I'll see about pressing for some compensation.
Thanks for the advice on the ice maker, I’ll thaw it tomorrow and see the damage.
As an FYI, what an old riding mower saves in money it will cost you blood. Drive pulley fell off the engine and shredded the lower drive belt. Multiple fingers were stubbed and an appropriate amount of blood was drawn as sacrifice. Replaced the upper drive belt for good measure as well. But it works again for about $60 in belts, so no complaints from me.
And the damage appears to be a broken feed tube. Unfortunately it requires replacement of the entire feed tube assembly to repair it. Got a new one on the way and the ice maker turned off right now. As long it doesn’t run, it shouldn’t leak now. I’m guessing it developed a small leak inside the freezer and freezing water provided the final kick to failure.
Thanks again for the advice.
Steam - Synthetic Violence | XBOX Live - Cannonfuse | PSN - CastleBravo | Twitch - SoggybiscuitPA
Thanks for the advice on the ice maker, I’ll thaw it tomorrow and see the damage.
As an FYI, what an old riding mower saves in money it will cost you blood. Drive pulley fell off the engine and shredded the lower drive belt. Multiple fingers were stubbed and an appropriate amount of blood was drawn as sacrifice. Replaced the upper drive belt for good measure as well. But it works again for about $60 in belts, so no complaints from me.
And the damage appears to be a broken feed tube. Unfortunately it requires replacement of the entire feed tube assembly to repair it. Got a new one on the way and the ice maker turned off right now. As long it doesn’t run, it shouldn’t leak now. I’m guessing it developed a small leak inside the freezer and freezing water provided the final kick to failure.
Thanks again for the advice.
I am consistently amazed by this thread's ability to nail such obscure how-to questions.
Thanks for the advice on the ice maker, I’ll thaw it tomorrow and see the damage.
As an FYI, what an old riding mower saves in money it will cost you blood. Drive pulley fell off the engine and shredded the lower drive belt. Multiple fingers were stubbed and an appropriate amount of blood was drawn as sacrifice. Replaced the upper drive belt for good measure as well. But it works again for about $60 in belts, so no complaints from me.
And the damage appears to be a broken feed tube. Unfortunately it requires replacement of the entire feed tube assembly to repair it. Got a new one on the way and the ice maker turned off right now. As long it doesn’t run, it shouldn’t leak now. I’m guessing it developed a small leak inside the freezer and freezing water provided the final kick to failure.
Thanks again for the advice.
I am consistently amazed by this thread's ability to nail such obscure how-to questions.
Collectively we're like farmers insurance - we've seen a few things!
Thanks for the advice on the ice maker, I’ll thaw it tomorrow and see the damage.
As an FYI, what an old riding mower saves in money it will cost you blood. Drive pulley fell off the engine and shredded the lower drive belt. Multiple fingers were stubbed and an appropriate amount of blood was drawn as sacrifice. Replaced the upper drive belt for good measure as well. But it works again for about $60 in belts, so no complaints from me.
And the damage appears to be a broken feed tube. Unfortunately it requires replacement of the entire feed tube assembly to repair it. Got a new one on the way and the ice maker turned off right now. As long it doesn’t run, it shouldn’t leak now. I’m guessing it developed a small leak inside the freezer and freezing water provided the final kick to failure.
Thanks again for the advice.
Another update: woke up this morning to a puddle of water in the floor. I'm pretty sure the real culprit is actually that the feed valve for the freezer is leaking even when the ice maker is off, which slowly fills the feed tube which leaks into the freezer and freezes. Still busted the feed tube, but now I had to order another $70 of parts.
When will my misery end?
Steam - Synthetic Violence | XBOX Live - Cannonfuse | PSN - CastleBravo | Twitch - SoggybiscuitPA
Thanks for the advice on the ice maker, I’ll thaw it tomorrow and see the damage.
As an FYI, what an old riding mower saves in money it will cost you blood. Drive pulley fell off the engine and shredded the lower drive belt. Multiple fingers were stubbed and an appropriate amount of blood was drawn as sacrifice. Replaced the upper drive belt for good measure as well. But it works again for about $60 in belts, so no complaints from me.
And the damage appears to be a broken feed tube. Unfortunately it requires replacement of the entire feed tube assembly to repair it. Got a new one on the way and the ice maker turned off right now. As long it doesn’t run, it shouldn’t leak now. I’m guessing it developed a small leak inside the freezer and freezing water provided the final kick to failure.
Thanks again for the advice.
Another update: woke up this morning to a puddle of water in the floor. I'm pretty sure the real culprit is actually that the feed valve for the freezer is leaking even when the ice maker is off, which slowly fills the feed tube which leaks into the freezer and freezes. Still busted the feed tube, but now I had to order another $70 of parts.
Thanks for the advice on the ice maker, I’ll thaw it tomorrow and see the damage.
As an FYI, what an old riding mower saves in money it will cost you blood. Drive pulley fell off the engine and shredded the lower drive belt. Multiple fingers were stubbed and an appropriate amount of blood was drawn as sacrifice. Replaced the upper drive belt for good measure as well. But it works again for about $60 in belts, so no complaints from me.
And the damage appears to be a broken feed tube. Unfortunately it requires replacement of the entire feed tube assembly to repair it. Got a new one on the way and the ice maker turned off right now. As long it doesn’t run, it shouldn’t leak now. I’m guessing it developed a small leak inside the freezer and freezing water provided the final kick to failure.
Thanks again for the advice.
Another update: woke up this morning to a puddle of water in the floor. I'm pretty sure the real culprit is actually that the feed valve for the freezer is leaking even when the ice maker is off, which slowly fills the feed tube which leaks into the freezer and freezes. Still busted the feed tube, but now I had to order another $70 of parts.
When will my misery end?
The misery ends when you sell the house.
My understanding is that icemakers/water dispensers in fridges are the component most likely to fail, for exactly the reasons you might think. So the actual solution is to get a fridge that doesn't have that feature.
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You can rent the machine from Home Depot, go in with a friend or two if you don't have big lawns.
I think it's still 3-4x your annual income, but super low interest rate change that math. It also doesn't matter what the number is, it all comes down to what you're comfortable with on a monthly basis.
The bigger issue is usually how much down payment you have.
Mom's pushing me to buy a house right behind hers that is currently being built. And I have to admit, it's a nice house! But it is going for $325,000. I currently make 70k gross, but closer to 53k net if I calculate based on my paychecks per month. It seems that's way above my price range, and that's before I even consider down payment, my current debts that I'm trying to pay off, and everything else. I was hoping for something closer to my current 800-1000 a month rent, but this place estimates at a 1700/mo home costs.
I'm not sure what kind of first time homeowner credits are being offered, and realistically they should be a bonus or something to get you more easily settled, not a real / serious consideration.
Probably the best thing to do would be to consult with an accountant or financial planner on your specific debt / savings / income situation as well as your personal goals to see if buying this house makes sense. If your mom is willing to spring for a portion of your downpayment or something, that certainly should be a consideration too. I don't know the specifics of your family or financial situations, and if you are carrying substantial credit card debt working on paying that down first is a good bet.
But as Doodman noted, buying the house and leasing to a roommate or two can easily defray a lot of the added expenses while you build equity in the property and potentially your income grows so you can more easily afford payments on your own. It's a tradeoff having roommates but if you can find good one(s) it might be a good choice.
I've known multiple people who seemed to think it was just free money and had a rude awakening when they went to file taxes
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
You do have to pay taxes on the rental income, but you also get to deduct a lot of things.
Also depends on taxes in your area. 3-4x income for us would have been a 360k home at the time we purchased, but that would have been 7-8k in taxes which would push it way out of our range.
Yes but it takes a long time. Like, years.
Very much so! Tons of recipes on the internet.
Problem is, valuation in our area (semi-detached townhouse in a condo community in the east end of Ottawa, Ontario) is going crazy right now! We recently spoke to a mortgage broker, who did a credit check on us, and is pretty confident she can get us approved for a mortgage of up to 302 grand, which would have been more than enough to buy our current place out once upon a time, but now is less likely.
So now, we're at a crossroads. Landlord has given us until September to either make him an offer or prepare to move out. Good news is that, in his words, he doesn't want to "give the house away", but he is sympathetic to our plight and is willing to consider a reasonable offer below market value if it means a straight-up property transfer from him to us. (i.e, he doesn't need to worry about renovations or putting it up on the market or anything like that. Basically, if we can make him a fair price, he can just hand us whatever the house equivalent of ownership papers are and we part ways).
Problem is, we have no experience in homeownership. Napkin math tells us that we can probably afford payments on a $300k mortgage based on my salary and what we have on hand for a downpayment, and, assuming our landlord accepts our offer, not having to move is a very attractive prospect, but I fear that there are a bazillion things we aren't considering. Not to mention, of course, that we would now be responsible for condo fees, which are a HUGE bummer (to the tune of approx. $440 a month), meaning that, realistically, we would have to bring the mortgage down closer to $250k if we want to be able to reasonably maintain our current month to month lifestyle.
Anyways, don't want to go on much longer, just stressing out a bit and would appreciate any advice out there.
You should get a home inspection from a reputable home inspector, even though you already live there.
Remember also that the math on your current month to month lifestyle is slightly different when you first purchase because that thing you were saving for is now the thing you're putting equity into.
Hey, could I solicit some advice on this bathroom drawing I got back from our contractor?
Currently: sink and vanity in SE corner, tub in SW corner, toilet adjacent to sink, closet in NE corner. This whole space is currently a walk in closet and then the bathroom proper behind a door; we wanted to move the toilet into the other space and extend the countertop since it's currently not much more than a pedestal sink
We were gonna knock the walls out but the one wall is the plumbing for the tub and the other wall he's just extended the closet to, and he's moved the toilet to the other side of the tub wall
Idk, I was hoping to open the space up but with the walls still there its as confined as it ever was.
We're going to tile the bathroom and rip iur the current fiberglass shower enclosure and glass it in, so that'll help open the space, and do a huge mirror over the larger vanity. Dunno what to do with those walls though.
We are currently paying $1200 a month in rent, this includes condo fees and property taxes but not utilities. That is way below current market value. Most other renters in similar houses to ours are paying closer to 1600. I think the reason our landlord has not been raising our rent it’s because he acknowledges that he’s been basically an absentee landlord. He’s a Snowbird and lives in Arizona during the winter, which means that when emergencies come up, we basically have to handle them ourselves, and just bill him afterwards or take the balance out of the rent.
The house absolutely needs multiple renovations. We’ve been living here for over 10 years, and hardly any major work has been done on it since we’ve moved in. Most appliances will require updating, and we know for sure that the upstairs bathroom flooring probably needs to be completely re-done, among any number of other things.
For comparison, a neighbor of ours just sold their house, which is the exact same floor plan as ours, albeit completely renovated and with a finished basement, which we do not have, for around 350 grand. Ours is not worth that much for sure, but the question is how do we evaluate it?
The other question that comes up is that, for the type of mortgage that we can get/afford, we might still be able to get a nice standalone home in the outskirts. With my job being work from home for the foreseeable future, commute is much less of a concern for us now. There’s no guarantee that I’ll be able to continue working from home in the long term, but still. Our family is myself, my wife, our seven-year-old, a dog and two cats, for what it’s worth.
Yeah, I don't really see the point. I feel a surface-level redecoration would give just as good results for less money. (Light colors, extra mirrors, and see what you can do about storage/counter space.)
So assuming a good interest rate with 3.5% down an offer for 350,000 house will likely have a 1400-1600 mortgage with 24500 for down payment and closing.
325000 mortgage is 1300-1500 22750 for down payment and closing.
300000 mortgage is 1200-1400 with 21,000 for down payment and closing.
Canada has different rules and customs. And the internet threw up their hands on if the home owner can help with closing costs or down payment. Or what down payment assistance and rebates the providence offers I tried to figure those out, you may want to talk to a mortgage broker.
See what they can qualify you for if it’s equally to or greater than a fair price off the fair price, if not offer what you qualify for.
An appraiser works for you, so you don't need to disclose anything about the value that came back. If it comes back at $350k or more you can use that as your personal ceiling for negotiations, and if it comes back at $220k you can reveal that and use that as leverage. I would probably get both an inspection and appraisal before making any decisions and also find out what the landlord thinks is 'fair'. It may turn out it's not a fair price at all.
But yes, getting the condo associations minutes / reports of upcoming costs is definitely something you should be getting for due diligence as well.
Press them on compensating you for jerking you around despite your patience. The new loan officer probably has some wiggle room on your interest rate and you might be able to get them to drop it slightly.
When we did our refinance in 2012 they messed up the paperwork twice when we were meeting to sign and to make it up dropped us .25%. Worst case you get nothing.
I'm still waiting on them to answer my lawyer on whether they can even close the loan in time for us to be within the contract period. Once they do that (assuming they do) I'll see about pressing for some compensation.
And the damage appears to be a broken feed tube. Unfortunately it requires replacement of the entire feed tube assembly to repair it. Got a new one on the way and the ice maker turned off right now. As long it doesn’t run, it shouldn’t leak now. I’m guessing it developed a small leak inside the freezer and freezing water provided the final kick to failure.
Thanks again for the advice.
I am consistently amazed by this thread's ability to nail such obscure how-to questions.
Collectively we're like farmers insurance - we've seen a few things!
It's haunted by the ghost of Andy Griffith. You'll need an exorcist to flush him out.
It’s the only one that enjoys its job?
Another update: woke up this morning to a puddle of water in the floor. I'm pretty sure the real culprit is actually that the feed valve for the freezer is leaking even when the ice maker is off, which slowly fills the feed tube which leaks into the freezer and freezes. Still busted the feed tube, but now I had to order another $70 of parts.
When will my misery end?
The misery ends when you sell the house.
My understanding is that icemakers/water dispensers in fridges are the component most likely to fail, for exactly the reasons you might think. So the actual solution is to get a fridge that doesn't have that feature.