Satellite Question

[Shirley]

Good luck 99. Downsizing sucks, because you inevitably have to get rid of stuff you kept for a reason.

Closed on our house Thursday. Had 3 offers in the first 4 days after we listed it.

[DrPepper]

I could see hot housing markets sucking for buyers. You emotionally settle on a house, but then find out they didn’t take your offer.
In my area, there are lots of inquiries on Facebook where people are asking for friends if they know of houses POTENTIALLY being for sale... trying to get in early on a house.

[pdub]

It's soul crushing trying to buy right now.

[ousdahl]

If you think buying a house is soul crushing, then I couldn’t even imagine what it would be like to realize you’re never gonna be able to afford your own house, like, ever.


Wait a sec! *checks bank account* yeah, I can imagine.

but for reals hit me up if you guys ever wanna like rent a room in your basement.

[pdub]

So if i'm closing on a house and I have to prepay for 8 months of property tax I don't get why my mortgage payment, which includes money that goes into escrow to pay for said property tax, shouldn't be cheaper for those months.

Say property tax is 100 bucks a month.
And my mortgage payment is 200 bucks a month.
I pay 800 bucks in closing for property tax which is paid every six months - for eight months of taxes.
Over those six months, I pay 100 bucks each month into the mortgage, so that when it comes time to pay for my property tax, the money is there.

Paying in advance and then paying the full 200 seems like i'm double paying.
Is this just the banks going, 'haha fuckers we own you now'?

I've googled it and no one explains it very well.
Not even Michael.
https://www.trulia.com/voices/Home_Buyi ... mon-906430

[ousdahl]

Leaving this here then goning fishing til late night:

Damn you guys fuck this! We gots radder shit to discuss!

I shit you not Beaverfever’s 19yo girlfriend just texted:




















“I’ll give you head if you take me to Olive Garden.”

[Mjl]

Property taxes seem like a scam.
Ours magically went up about 45% overnight. We pay as much every month for property taxes as we do for mortgage and interest combined.

[defixione]

I owned a large lot in Lawrence which I subdivided (it was almost an acre in size), sold one of the lots to build a custom home for a client. The house is finished and I just received my new appraisal of the remaining lot. That's right, It's $50/year more in taxes and, . . . . half the size!!

[pdub]

I understand now.
You have to pay your property tax in advance, six months.
"You haven't lived here for this time period yet but HEY give us money so that you can live here."

OK, so I don't have enough money in the escrow yet because we haven't started saving - so here's eight months ( six months + the two months to pay the seller for the time they didn't live there ).

Going to inspection tomorrow.
Any tips for a first time homeowner?

[jhawks99]

Hire your own inspector and check references.

[pdub]

We did hire our own inspector - highly recommended by friends/family - and through the first time homeowner course we took.
We paid extra for thermal imaging - though I don't know if that's just a scam to get more money.

[defixione]

Fixer upper or not going to change a thing?
Make sure the foundation has no cracks and is not settling, basement floor should show no signs of water puddling, check each exterior door threshold and windowsill for signs of rot or decay, are any window panes broken, find out how old the roof is and look at it to see that it is relatively flat. Are wiring and plumbing up-to-date? Hairline cracks in the walls indicate the house is shifting. What's the condition of the chimney if it's used for venting the HVAC and water heater. Is the floor of the house springy? does the grade outside move the water away from the house when it rains? is there any record of insulation that is in the house or blown in above the ceiling in the Attic? Does the house have a HERS rating?

[pdub]

Changing things but more cosmetic ( new floors in sections, painting walls/cabinets ).
I imagine the things you are listing are things that a good inspector will detect in our walk through?

[defixione]

He should pick those things up and look for even more things which I didn't have the time to type. you should also be checking to make sure that your house is compliant with whatever IRC code that community uses.

[Deleted User 89]

just move into DC’s basement

[pdub]

Too much water puddling in DC's basement.
And he's certainly not up to IRC code.

[pdub]

Roof great shape. Boiler. Siding. No evidence of water leakage.

1. Small amount of mold in attic. Gonna have to have them figure out why it's there, get rid of it, and find out where the moisture could be coming from.
2. Fix the sonotube set up under one side of the house - something with it needing to be fully attached to a beam that runs the whole house and for the sonotubes to be set deeper
3. Garage door don't work

Suggested gutters on the garage and extending gutters. Cutting some trees/bushes so they are away from the house for moisture sake. All in all checks out if seller takes care of those main issues.

[jhawks99]

Black mold?

[pdub]

Yup.
Super minor traces but they'll have to pay for removal and then figure out why it was up there.
Venting or insulation.
It's not the roof.

Won't be cheap but that isn't our cost - it wasn't disclosed.

[pdub]

I think a number of people would flip out and back out of a sale at any traces of mold.
We aren't those people - as long as it's fixed or we get the money to fix it.