I'd care less about tax value, and more about comps in the area. I also wouldnt be willing to buy a house where I know I'd be out of pocket a lot for repairs (unless it is really special) since there is so much inventory on the market that doesnt need repair.

10/15/2010 2:38:03 PM

^ Agree - the tax values are a bit wonky now. I just had my house appraised for a refi and it came in 65k under the tax value. Now I need to see about appealing the value. I need to read the Wake County tax website about the details though. Anyone have any luck with an appeal recently?

10/15/2010 2:46:54 PM

that is a couple more things. it's a 70's style split level so there are almost zero comps in the area. as far as the inventory, in this area i've scoured almost everything it seems like and have turned down better homes for missing some of the things this one actually has. i dunno, it's weird...there is just something i really like about it.

10/15/2010 2:48:38 PM

Is it in an area where the property is more valuable than the home?

10/15/2010 2:51:11 PM

yomamma... I investigated the process of getting a tax value reassessed in Chatham, and was dissapointed. This was their approach (probably the same everywhere):

'We base our values on the average price of a home in your area for 4 years preceding the official revaluation. even if the economy has tanked, and your home may actually be worth half of the appraised tax value, the current value will only be adjusted if you can get supporting evidence that the official value for the 4 years preceeding was incorrect'

In my case, it was going to make a huge difference (2500 a year in taxes) for the house I was looking at.

10/15/2010 3:25:53 PM

Quote :

"Anyone have any luck with an appeal recently?"

I had to appeal when my home was reaccessed. My first one was denied, but a did a second one in front of a board and they agreed to lower the value by 20K.

10/15/2010 3:26:22 PM

^ That is also the process in Chatham. Appeal to the city, then if you dont like their decision, you can appeal to a citizen board.

10/15/2010 3:46:47 PM

So, yeah, State Farm isnt budging on the insurance. All told, they get right around $3000 a year from me, and my wife's car is not even on the policy. After the rate hikes, that was going to add about $900 a year.

After doing research, it appears Amica is the best that is out there. They have already quoted all my policies, and they are at rates around what I currently pay for State Farm.

So, in the State Farm commercials, they ask you to 'Ask a neighbor.' If you ask me, they suck.

10/15/2010 4:30:10 PM

So I just had my house attached carport converted into an enclosed garage complete with heat/air from the house unit. Do I need to get the house appraised again?

10/15/2010 5:24:47 PM

Not if you're smart.

10/15/2010 6:30:50 PM

lol, unless you are going to sell the house soon, I wouldn't want the government to know my house is now worth more. That's "free" tax dollars yo.

10/16/2010 12:39:42 AM

ncsuapex, was it properly permitted? If so, then the permitting office will let the appraisal office know, and they'll probably come visit.

Otherwise, you'd be an idiot to call them.

10/16/2010 11:53:17 AM

here's a woe. sorta.

Took a transfer, and put my condo in delaware up for sale.

It was purchased in 2008, for ~$145k. The broker's market analysis came in around 135-140, score!

However, the market in the area the house is in, has been kinda weird the last year or so. All the houses are super duper old (my condo was in a victorian that was built in 1882, on the national historic registry, etc) and some are falling apart. This style of condo is very common, older mansions split into 6-12 units. There have been a lot of foreclosures in the condo market, mostly due to the building assessments through the building HOAs. Walls falling down, massive structural issues, etc. Some of the comparable condos have plummeted to around 50k, but with a year's worth of back assessments and $1500+ / month hoa payments. Skewing the market like crazy.

However, my building has no problems. If I was a buyer, that' be a huge plus obviously.

Been on the market for like 3 weeks, only three showings.

In my relo package, there's a guaranteed buyout. The company sends out their appraisers, and determine the buyout price. Obviously, they're going to go low. The company appraisals came back shockingly low however, at an average (and buyout value) of $112k. All the compatible properties were like, 3-4 bedroom flats. wtf?

What also sucks is that now the buyout value has been established I MUST adjust my asking price to within 7% of the buyout price. So basically, at the buyout price, my place will be listed at 77% of what i purchased it at, 30 months before.

I'm realizing the most important part of the relocation package... Loss protection is the tits. So, if I find a buyer at the low price, they'll give me a 4% cash incentive to sell the house so the company doesn't have to buy it from me. so, fuck the neighbors. they wont be happy about the price change, but it wont effect me financially.

Will this affect my taxes for this year? It'd fucking suck to have to pay taxes on that.

Just for lols, the ZEstimate on zillow.com is $221k.

So either way, I'm closing on a new construction in Texas next week. Just bought a sweet fridge this morning.

[Edited on October 16, 2010 at 4:00 PM. Reason : oops]

10/16/2010 3:51:43 PM

Quote :

"Just for lols, the ZEstimate on zillow.com is $221k. "

not sure why people even look at this site... it has my home @ $203k. smaller renovated homes in the neighborhood have sold for $50k more than that... we just sold our for $305k

10/16/2010 6:07:35 PM

So I was assembling my plastic lego shed today and found out that the foundation wasn't nearly as level as I had hoped it was. So, a few fantastic cuts on my hand later I got it level enough that I could force the side panels together and screw it into place. It actually is going to look pretty nice when it's done and I throw a little landscaping around it. Right now, however, it's hilariously incomplete.

Oh the hundreds of projects this house has in its future...

10/17/2010 12:05:21 AM

^^^ i would check out rental ads in your area and try to find a good management company to handle renting it for you, assuming you can rent it for roughly breakeven with your mortgage payment.

10/17/2010 4:17:40 PM

^^Had the same problem with mine...took a friend and some well-placed 2x4's to get that thing together. A slight pain in the ass, but it looks great tucked into the corner of my yard surrounded by a saplings. Sounds like we have similar plastic sheds.

10/18/2010 8:09:20 AM

So this isn't really a woe, but we're starting to get estimates to have maybe half of our condo's floors replaced with wood. Any tips or things to watch out for?

10/18/2010 6:34:48 PM

slab or crawl space?

10/18/2010 7:58:53 PM

^^^ Lifetime brand? I liked how most of the shed went together and the quality of the final product, it just needed more thought put into those doors. Those pansy ass little cotter pins they had me pop into the plastic supports for the rods going through the doors just sheared when I was installing the plastic bit that went above/supported the doors.

Still, it's nice and all that's left now is to apply a couple million dabs of silicon to the thing. Because I anchored the bastard into the ground with a mini sledge and 1/2" allthread rods (not recommended by the manufacturer, I might mention ) the corners don't exactly line up, so I am gonna need to seal those extra well before putting anything valuable in that shed.

10/18/2010 9:01:50 PM

^Yep. This one I think:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_299053-75128-60015_4294816523_4294937087_?productId=1243515&Ns=p_product_prd_lis_ord_nbr|0||p_product_quantity_sold|1&pl=1¤tURL=%2Fpl_Storage%2BBuildings_4294816523_4294937087_%3FNs%3Dp_product_prd_lis_ord_nbr|0||p_product_quantity_sold|1

10/19/2010 7:27:53 AM

Does anyone have Amica insurance? I have done my research, and it appears it is considered the best of the best. State Farm has forced my hand in having to switch, and Amica has given me good quotes.

10/19/2010 12:09:19 PM

I don't because I got a great rate from Allstate where I am at but I did look at that. My father-in-law has used them for years in NC and highly recommended them. He said they have always been the best rates for him and he has had 0 problems.

10/19/2010 12:24:53 PM

I use allstate as well. No problems thus far.

10/19/2010 1:35:56 PM

^^^^ I think that's the newer version of the one I got. BJ's had a sale on this shed, and I am imagining that they were the dumping ground for the older model. Did yours come with a light and some other stuff? Mine was the shed by itself. I'm trying to find solutions besides that damn british guy's touch lamp.

10/19/2010 7:35:17 PM

CalledToArms, i went out and looked for the tonnage, but every label on the thing had whatever text it used to have rubbed/worn off a long time ago

10/19/2010 10:18:00 PM

^^Nah...no light. Don't really need or want one. Just use it to store yard stuff and my bikes. It's worked out perfectly and really blends in with the back of my yard...doesn't stick out one bit. Couldn't have been happier with the purchase.

10/20/2010 8:47:36 AM

^^ no worries, not a big deal. . Thanks for looking though. It was more out of curiosity just to see if it was grossly oversized or something and also to have something to compare to what a contractor quotes for a replacement system. You should be fine if you get quotes from 3 different contractors though.

10/20/2010 9:00:00 AM

If the rest of TWW acted the way people act in this thread, it would be a better site.

10/20/2010 10:05:51 AM

i work for a commercial HVAC company and what CalledToArms said was spot on.

highly likely that you have a 2.5 ton unit. You can also look on the compressor(s) to see what your tonnage is.

*also* If you are in Raleigh, i highly recommend using Blinson. Extremely efficient, great people, family run company, and they make sure to do every calculation and give you a copy, as well as get you every rebate/tax credit you are eligible for (depending on the system you go with)

[Edited on October 20, 2010 at 3:06 PM. Reason : .]

10/20/2010 2:59:04 PM

so this morning my roomate found water coming from the ceiling of her bathroom. I know it is from my shower above her. I am b/c we had all this replaced and redone 4years ago (new shower, shower pan, 2x4s, ceilings, gutted both bathrooms and redid them)

Now I am going to have to take the ceiling down to see where the water is leaking from

10/20/2010 2:59:42 PM

Tax value is ~60k more than we bought the house for. *not sure which smiley to insert here*

10/20/2010 3:29:42 PM

Quote :

"so this morning my roomate found water coming from the ceiling of her bathroom. I know it is from my shower above her. I am b/c we had all this replaced and redone 4years ago (new shower, shower pan, 2x4s, ceilings, gutted both bathrooms and redid them) Now I am going to have to take the ceiling down to see where the water is leaking from "

I wouldnt do that, just yet. It could be a bad seal between the shower drain and the sewer pipe. I had to repack mine, and I actually added a rubber seal down there as well and cleared my problem up. If it isnt tight enough, and if the plummers putty wasnt put in well, water will leak around the drain and onto your ceiling.

I wish I could remember the process, but it was easy to reverse engineer and correct. You can find guides on youtube.


[Edited on October 20, 2010 at 4:11 PM. Reason : .]

10/20/2010 4:02:22 PM

Mindstorm ...
FUCK those doors.

10/20/2010 10:22:42 PM

Quote :

"*also* If you are in Raleigh, i highly recommend using Blinson. Extremely efficient, great people, family run company, and they make sure to do every calculation and give you a copy, as well as get you every rebate/tax credit you are eligible for (depending on the system you go with)"

i'm in rocky mount

10/21/2010 10:03:10 AM

Not sure if anyone is doing any landscaping at the moment but I have five 6' Green Giant Arborvitaes that I can not use.

Here is a picture if you are not familiar:

10/21/2010 1:38:39 PM

dang, If I was anywhere near Raleigh I'd pick them up as I've been wanting to grab a few of those and I only need about that many haha.

10/21/2010 1:46:00 PM

Bummer - just bring a trailer and pick them up.

To anyone thats interested - I'll sell them for $25 a piece or if you want to take them all then I'm sure we can work out a better deal.

10/21/2010 1:49:34 PM

What steps would I need to take to transplant them into my yard?

10/21/2010 2:10:14 PM

They're in 7gal buckets so all you would need to do is dig a hole and drop them in with some pine-bark mulch. The picture I posted was just a reference - I will get some tonight of the ones I have. They are not as full as the one in the picture but these grow very quickly, usually a foot or more a year.

10/21/2010 2:15:39 PM

How deep? My yard is almost all clay

10/21/2010 2:27:29 PM

Its supposed to do well in clay. One of the reasons I bought them.

Quote :

" Site Requirements: Sun to partial shade; moist well drained soil but does well in clay; needs protection from wind."

Here is a link to the NCSU info:
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/factsheets/trees-new/thuja_plicata.html

10/21/2010 2:51:24 PM

Would they fit into a standard pickup truck?
How much pine-bark mulch do you think I'd need for each tree?

10/21/2010 8:40:19 PM

Quote :

"Mindstorm ... FUCK those doors."

Thanks again for the help.

I plan on buying some big fat screw hooks and some tools to actually put into said shed this weekend. I need lawn maintenance tools, starting with a rake, a leafblower, and some of those weed assault tools.

I love this month because I have an "extra" paycheck as far as my budget is concerned.

Edit: As a side note, Honkeyball had to rescue me from the damn doors because I ran out of hands to deal with the shed's assembly. It's still not assembled 100% correct but it works, and fuck salt.

[Edited on October 21, 2010 at 8:57 PM. Reason : ffff]

10/21/2010 8:56:24 PM

By when do you need to get rid of said trees?

10/21/2010 10:10:42 PM

This is from my state farm agent, after learning I am leaving:

CarZin,

I agree with you that the rate increase is in excess. However, as a small branch of State Farm, there is little we can do about corporate policies except explain their reasoning. That is, due to the economic downturn, State Farm, along with all other insurers, has experienced an abnormally high volume of burglary claims across the state of NC. To offset this cost, the company is charging a small surcharge against all property insurers in the state.
Regardless of the reason, I, and many other agents, have personally contacted corporate several times about the increase on behalf of our clients. However, the company's adjusted operating profit results are well short for the year and the increase remains effective.
I am very sorry that you want to cancel your policies with us. If there is anything that I can do to convince you to stay with my agency, please let me know.

Thank you for insuring with me these last 10 years, please keep in mind the service we have provided you over this time!

END

I wrote her back stating that I consider a small surcharge to be 5%. Not 40%. All of you best be checking your renewals. Also, apparently if you have your home insured by State Farm, you are going to be burglerized, and possibly raped, since that is would the increase would seem to intimate.

[Edited on October 22, 2010 at 2:45 PM. Reason : .]

10/22/2010 2:43:48 PM

crawlspace moisture issues:

the crawlspace is the main source of our house's major humidity problems. my house was built in 1964 & has no floor insulation. i'd love to seal the crawlspace but it's $texas (last quote i was given a couple of years ago was around $8000 & this seems to be on par with typical quotes according to the intarwebs)...and i'm pretty all the wood in my house would separate from whatever it's attached to once it dried out. my parents had theirs sealed on their house built in 2000 & a bunch of the molding separated, wood floors creaked, etc. i really only plan on being here 2ish more years, so i don't want to spend that much money sealing then reattaching all the wood in the house.

my question is: would just laying down plastic sheeting on the ground under the house be beneficial at all? i could get my unemployed construction management major brother to do that. maybe foam up the vents too (?). is there anything cheap i could do to the crawlspace to help?

10/23/2010 9:21:54 AM

put down a 6 mil plastic moisture barrier, close up your vents with 2" blue board and set up a dehumidifier in the crawl.

I think the building code is going to change very soon and eliminate the vents because of problems like yours.

10/23/2010 6:17:54 PM

moisture barriers are standard in a case like yours. I'm about to put one down in my crawlspace.

10/23/2010 6:25:48 PM

I had a pretty bad moisture problem in the house. Moisture on the windows/etc. I layed down some plastic barrier in the crawl space and the moisture almost immediately went away. I can't remember what mil it was but its helped.

10/23/2010 8:01:28 PM