so, would you call it a thankless water heater?

2/16/2016 8:30:24 PM

long lead times is a complaint I've seen a lot, too. oh well.


On another topic, do any of you get regular HVAC system checks/maintenance? AK&C just sent me their information since I've used them for repairs in the past. Seems like a waste of money, but I don't know a lot about HVAC maintenance.

2/17/2016 12:22:44 PM

I never have. I think it is a total waste, like almost all maintenance packages. They could vacuum your coils, and make sure they are clean, but other than that, I am fine for waiting for shit to break before I fix it.

2/17/2016 12:42:28 PM

'twas my thought. and i can vacuum coils, check electrical connections, and drain lines. I can't check the refrigerant and I don't know about lubrication or proper amperages, but it still doesn't seem worth it.

2/17/2016 12:50:38 PM

I pay 125 for a yearly hvac check. Seemed worth it to me.

2/17/2016 1:33:27 PM

Quote :

"I never have. I think it is a total waste, like almost all maintenance packages. They could vacuum your coils, and make sure they are clean, but other than that, I am fine for waiting for shit to break before I fix it."

2/17/2016 7:09:29 PM

I never have in the past, but in the new house (and two hvac repair calls in 2 months and 20 year old units) I plan on getting it serviced before switching over to AC.

My repair guy also said that people who do the maintenance get priority for service calls in the busy season, and although I hope I don't need it, I have a feeling these units will need additional service.

ON A SEPARATE NOTE

The new hot water heater is awesome. I didn't realize how bad my old unit was until the new one was installed and I took my first shower. Hot water is glorious! (and now I don't have to hear the wife complain about running out of hot water when shaving her legs)

2/17/2016 11:04:17 PM

What I have learned the past few weeks is that there is absolutely nothing fun about trying to sell a house or moving. I am praying the money I am putting into fixing things and making the house look better pays off and we get close to the asking price otherwise its just gonna feel like a bunch of wasted money and I should have just put it on the market as is.

2/18/2016 8:45:43 AM

HVAC companies sell service plans mainly to lock you in as a customer. Other than check the refrigerant levels, any idiot can do all the other things they do.

2/18/2016 2:08:27 PM

Well put in an offer on a house and after pulling the whole this much or we walk they accepted so now I am buying and selling a house at the same time so thats enough woes to last me for a while haha

2/23/2016 10:34:06 AM

good luck and congratulations! it's a stressful time for sure. I just went through the same thing 6 months ago, but damn it feels good now that we are getting more settled in the new house.

2/23/2016 10:44:32 AM

Yeah we are having the third story finished so that is gonna give us nearly 3 good months to get our house sold so keeping our fingers crossed that goes smoothly. Hoping to get it listed here in about a week and a half.

2/23/2016 10:53:11 AM

I've been thinking about the whole "moving while I already have a house" idea off and on for a bit now. I guess there are only two options:

1) Put your house on the market, keep it in immaculate condition at all times in case people want to come take a look, then move into a temporary apartment and put most of your stuff in storage until you find a new house.

2) Find a new house first, move in, pay two mortgages and hope you can sell the old house fast enough.

Neither options seem ideal.

2/23/2016 1:39:12 PM

or...
3) put your house on the market and place a contingent offer on the house you want to buy.
4) put your house on the market and set some overlap in the closing dates if your realtor can get your house sold quickly enough so you can move into your new home while getting your old home ready to go (pass inspection, etc.)

I did option 4.

2/23/2016 1:43:07 PM

We are doing option 4 new home will take 75 days to finish up with additions so that gives us time to sell the house. Only problem comes if our current house doesnt sell in that time frame.

We were originally looking at option 1 when we were thinking of building from scratch and it didnt seem fun.

[Edited on February 23, 2016 at 2:33 PM. Reason : .]

2/23/2016 2:29:27 PM

we did option 4 as well...

...but our house sold the first weekend and the seller of our new house pushed closing back 2 weeks and then exercised a clause in the contract that allowed her to move closing an additional 2 weeks without our consent (because she couldn't find a place to move to). That forced us to have to move our stuff twice (once into storage and then into the new house), live with my parents, and causing my original loan to default because the closing date missed our lock period. I realize now that mortgage companies can get a loan ready within 2 weeks when motivated to do so, and mortgage companies can be real dicks when you miss your rate lock period (especially when the rates go down).

I said it earlier in this thread, but fuck the whole buying/selling/moving process.

2/23/2016 3:46:39 PM

New house, current house, half my shit in a storage locker. 3 locations that have to dodge the weather today. Fun! haha

2/24/2016 9:18:10 AM

Yeah but those other options are entirely dependent on your house being sold very quickly which isn't necessarily reliable.

2/25/2016 11:59:53 AM

Indeed the way it looks now I wont get hit with double payments as long as we get our current house closed by the end of may. There is some risk involved but it is what it is I guess.

2/25/2016 12:15:25 PM

^^get a good realtor
listen to your good realtor's advice
fix your shit up
be flexible and open to home showings

it's all up to you on minimizing your risk (albeit with a bit of luck too...but that comes with selling anything).

luckily, our house sold in one day (multiple offers above list price) and we were able to set the closing date for 13 days after our closing date on the house we bought.

[Edited on February 25, 2016 at 2:06 PM. Reason : ]

2/25/2016 2:03:08 PM

Pretty much exactly what he said is what we are trying to do. Two week overlap on closings hopefully so we can be flexiible with moving.

2/25/2016 2:35:01 PM

I can sell pretty much any house in Raleigh, Cary, or Apex in less than a week right now...probably with multiple offers.

2/25/2016 10:09:36 PM

Quote :

"luckily, our house sold in one day (multiple offers above list price)"

I'm wayyyyy far from an expert here, but doesn't that mean you set the price too low?

2/26/2016 1:10:47 AM

Quote :

"I can sell pretty much any house in Raleigh, Cary, or Apex in less than a week right now...probably with multiple offers."

This is what everyone has been saying which makes me assume its gonna take months haha

2/26/2016 8:35:27 AM

So when looking for a new house you pretty much have to fix your house up at the same time? Do you start looking for a new one and only put your house on the market when you've found one you like and put an offer in?

2/26/2016 10:14:59 AM

I put a non-contingent offer on a house, then listed my current house the next day.
We were in the financial position that we could float two mortgages if the first house didn't sell before we moved into the new house. Building gave us a 3 month window that would not have existed buying an existing house.
We did not have overlap, as the first house sold, as we moved into a rental house for two months.

2/26/2016 12:05:43 PM

We were planning to build after we sold our house but then came across a new built house that had everything we wanted at a great price as they needed to move it and had dropped the price nearly 50k over the past 6-9 months. We are having 3rd floor finished so like above we got a nice 3 month period to sell our house and we were able to get the loan non contingent which gave us even more leverage on the new house. Only issue comes if we sell way too early and have to move like above or if it doesn't sell by then. Pretty much if they want to move in super early we arent gonna be very flexible on price versus someone who can wait until June so we dont have to move twice.

2/26/2016 2:04:38 PM

Anyone have opinions on wainscoting in bedrooms? I'd like to do our master bedroom. It's about 15'x15', 3 windows, 2 doors, and 9' ceilings. If I remember my research correctly, standard wainscoting height is generally 1/3 of the ceiling height for ceilings above 8'. I've also seen a general rule of thumb for higher wainscoting, that being 2/3 of the ceiling height. Though it seems a lot are closer to 1/2 the ceiling height (or right around 4').

For bedrooms, I think I prefer the higher wainscoting. But I don't know if that's going to make the room feel like it's closing in on you. And it seems to screw up picture hanging is it's right at the height where the top portion of art/pictures may be located. I like board and batton with a divider (so the top forms a small rectangle and the bottom is a larger rectangle.

2/27/2016 6:16:31 PM

I'm not really a fan of the higher kind anywhere

2/28/2016 6:30:42 PM

Found our perfect lake house, a geodesic dome, and I think it will be unfinancable.

2/28/2016 9:51:25 PM

hah, made me think of this dome home that's now been swallowed by the sea (though still accessible during low tide)

http://www.messynessychic.com/2013/06/12/the-mysterious-dome-homes-marching-into-the-sea-before-after/

2/29/2016 12:20:28 AM

Quote :

"doesn't that mean you set the price too low? "

No....it definitely was not worth more than listed and the comparable sales in the neighborhood as well as other competing houses on the market in the area reflected that.

2/29/2016 7:26:32 AM

not to be argumentative, but the fact that you got offers above asking would imply that it was too low-- the rapid pace of Raleigh real estate appreciation probably outpaces the comps.

That said, as long as you're satisfied with the outcome, there's nothing to complain about!

I'm jealous that I was unable to take advantage of the rebound when we moved out of the area ~4 years ago and I took a $30k loss on my home.

2/29/2016 9:56:38 AM

Mine will go up this weekend according to everyone else I have seen talk it should be sold by Sunday right? Hell if we get asking price we would be extremely happy I am not sure what I will do if people get in a bidding war and we got over haha.

2/29/2016 10:43:02 AM

the comps were as high as they could possibly go and a 1500 sq ft home built in '99 in Southeast Raleigh (off Rock Quarry Rd.) is only depreciating in value ATM. other homes at the same list were on the market for months, even a year. there were new construction homes with similar square footage in the same area going for the same amount as I listed. so we were competing with new houses, houses in the same neighborhood, and a pretty "bad" (read...depreciating) location. really the only difference was the home's appearance doing the aforementioned steps above.

here's the old house for reference:
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2917-Mark-Oak-Ct-Raleigh-NC-27610/50118345_zpid/
how 'bout that staging?

listed at 133, sold it for 140 when it really wouldn't go for more than that. current value is around 128-130 now. Southeast Raleigh...where home values go to plummet.

[Edited on February 29, 2016 at 1:23 PM. Reason : ]

2/29/2016 1:17:29 PM

We finally got approval from the Board of Architectural Review to go through with our addition...8 fucking months after we initially applied.

Now we get to go through the financing process....YIPPEEE! Only silver lining is that housing prices continue to soar in our area, so the "comp" part should make it pretty easy. When we started, we had pretty much the exact replica of what our house will be (3 br/3ba, 1,800 sq ft), sell for $550k just a few streets from us. We thought that was high...but were definitely going to use it as a comp. Now we just had a house with the same specs go on the market for $720k!

I doubt it sells for that, but the bank loves to see that shit.

2/29/2016 2:47:24 PM

We've got a lot of work to do on the boathouse (reshingle and a lot of dressing up), we have a ton of trees to remove, but this 'could' be our new vacation home. It has a tram, but based on the lot, the tram really isn't an option.

3/3/2016 1:55:21 PM

It's looking like we've got mice in our attic (unfinished with blown insulation). Is this something I can deal with on my own most likely or something it'd be better to call a professional exterminator and insulation expert for? Looking around online, I found sites that suggested that insulation's basically contaminated now and needs to be replaced. Anyone else dealt with this?

3/3/2016 3:01:27 PM

^^ is that gaston? what part?

my in-laws have a place in lizard creek

3/3/2016 3:54:48 PM

It is. In an area called Six Pound Creek (or just outside in the main channel). I've always liked this part with the homes way up on cliffs. The water is super deep and the water has less traffic. It is about 10 minutes on plane west of Eaton's Ferry Bridge. We've looked at a lot of homes in Lizard Creek. We still may end up east of the bridge. Ultimately that is my preference, but beggars cant be choosers.

3/3/2016 4:15:40 PM

nice! Honestly, I don't know most other areas of the lake by name other than my in-laws area, but we definitely spend a lot of weekends there every summer.

Congrats!

3/3/2016 4:30:25 PM

Well, we aren't there yet. I have a few things that I am waiting on with work to see if I'll be committing to the area. If things don't go my way at work (hopefully will find out in the next month), my wife and I are probably bailing the country.

3/3/2016 4:48:37 PM

My due diligence is over in a week and the appraisal still hasn't come back, home inspection or septic still hasn't been done and the sellers already extended DD for week. Ugh this is stressful as shit

3/3/2016 10:30:18 PM

Not your fault. Most people would be tolerant of that as long as you're being transparent.

3/3/2016 11:27:02 PM

Sign went up yesterday, people across the street immediately threw up a coming soon sign and priced theirs so much lower per square foot its gonna force me to take a loss on the house just to be in line. Gotta hope its in shit shape or something otherwise

3/4/2016 8:45:10 AM

Wow, crap timing, especially as it might jack with your comps. Hopefully yours has nicer finishes/features or theirs is badly mantained. Plus staging is your friend.

3/4/2016 9:27:45 AM

Yep I dont think they were planning to list for another week or two according to my neighbor beside me but as soon as our sign showed up they threw one up that says coming soon. Hoping my agent can contact theirs and find out why they are listing so low or convince them to at least start a little higher. We listed just a bit higher, like 2%, than the last few comps in the neighborhood figuring that was a good starting point. They are coming in like 14% below

I would post the listing here but TWW has made me learn that is a terrible idea haha. Dont feel like hearing all the your house sucks its overpriced etc comments.

[Edited on March 4, 2016 at 11:17 AM. Reason : .]

3/4/2016 11:16:40 AM

Hey CarZin, how are your solar panels working out? Would you recommend them? My power bill was $500 last month and has never been lower than $350.

3/4/2016 11:33:19 AM

^^ try not to stress, as difficult as that is.

The two most recent comps when I sold my house 6 months ago was the home across the street that had been foreclosed on because the dude did a huge tax scam and fled the country. The other was two houses over that had been listed for over 6 years that finally sold (shitty lot at the bottom of a giant hill, and they had 7 people living in a 3BR house while trying to show it).

My house still sold in a couple days, for almost asking price (although I did receive some major lowball offers including the initial bid for the eventual owners). Every realtor I talked to wanted me to list for 20-40k less on a 240k house, but I held my ground against the realtors and offers. I put together a spreadsheet justifying my price based on the upgrades I had done for the house and put the comps I used for my price justification for the appraiser. Everything worked out.

3/4/2016 11:48:07 AM

Already scheduling showings for tomorrow so at least the price cant be too crazy haha

3/4/2016 1:02:11 PM