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SpartanIV posted:I had a friend who bought a house many years ago and when he moved in, he found out the previous owner had taken not only all the appliances, but also the venthood, light fixtures, and light bulbs. Oh man time to add on to the ridiculous poo poo about the folks who sold me my house. Was going around checking the smoke detectors today and neither of them were working which was surprising because I distinctly remember them being tested by the inspector when I bought the house. Pull them down and it isn't just a dead battery. There weren't batteries in either of them at all... Since they aren't wired up to power there had to be batteries there when the inspection happened and sometime between the inspection and closing I guess the sellers decided to pack up their smoke detector batteries to take along with them. 
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Apr 24, 2016 18:49
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novamute posted:Oh man time to add on to the ridiculous poo poo about the folks who sold me my house. Was going around checking the smoke detectors today and neither of them were working which was surprising because I distinctly remember them being tested by the inspector when I bought the house. Pull them down and it isn't just a dead battery. There weren't batteries in either of them at all... Since they aren't wired up to power there had to be batteries there when the inspection happened and sometime between the inspection and closing I guess the sellers decided to pack up their smoke detector batteries to take along with them. They might have just never replaced the batteries once they started getting low enough to do the annoying chirp. I've seen that quite often.
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Apr 24, 2016 21:36
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My inspector didn't even bother testing the detectors, he just advised that we replace them regardless. He was right, of the two that were installed one had a dead battery, the other was missing everything inside - it was just an empty shell 
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Apr 24, 2016 22:07
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minivanmegafun posted:He was right, of the two that were installed one had a dead battery, the other was missing everything inside - it was just an empty shell Was the empty shell right next to the kitchen?
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Apr 24, 2016 23:00
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In the kitchen. Hanging from a nail in a mesh bag that once held oranges.
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Apr 24, 2016 23:06
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So we're closing on Thursday, and we're going to have a few immediate repairs to do. We have some wood rot to take care of (just a couple spots), the steps on the front porch are tilted (concrete landing sank a bit, just need to level out the bottom somehow). And then we are also looking in to venting the microwave outside (backs to the garage, so easy to run some duct outside). Is this all Handyman work? Or should we call a general contractor for any of this? I'm not used to this whole home repair thing...never had to hire a handyman for anything. Not sure where to draw the line between what they do versus what a GC would do.
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Apr 25, 2016 16:18
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DaveSauce posted:So we're closing on Thursday, and we're going to have a few immediate repairs to do. The wood rot can be handled by a handyman or house painter. The steps need to be mudjacked (they'll try to sell you polyjack, just do mud) and you'll need a concrete repair company for that. Not sure about the microwave venting. I'd use a licensed and insured person for all of this rather than a handyman.
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Apr 25, 2016 16:22
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hooah posted:No. Her cousin bought her (small) house here in Michigan (not Detroit) for around that much, and her great-grandma's house sold for under $50k. I don't think you'll find anything like that in San Antonio within a reasonable drive of where you want to be. My brother bought a little 2 bedroom/1bath 1940's post war place in Topeka for 42K years ago. It's probably worth 50K now, but that stuff doesn't exist in SA really. You shouldn't have trouble finding a place to rent though.
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Apr 25, 2016 17:38
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Pryor on Fire posted:I don't think millennials can use the tough job market as an excuse anymore when the labor market hasn't been this strong since the 70s. It's not perfect for everyone everywhere (predictably boom and bust jobs like working the oil fields are going through their predictable cycles) but it's arguably easier to find a job right now that it has ever been, at least in the USA. Umm I moved to Colorado in January, have a Master's, and can't find a job. Hire me?
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Apr 25, 2016 17:47
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The microwave venting is something that's inspectors point out for no reason IMO. Almost no microwaves are actually vented to the outside, ask your friends and family to check theirs. It's not in the realm of repairs, it's an upgrade, so make sure you're appropriately evaluating how much it's worth to you.
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Apr 25, 2016 17:50
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You are supposed to replace detectors every 10 years anyway. They are $9 each on amazon. Throw in a couple carbon monoxide combo ones when you do it. Also some microwaves are vented to outside, just not many. Most are just a cheap carbon filter that does nothing same as 99% of all range hoods.
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Apr 25, 2016 18:37
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No Butt Stuff posted:The wood rot can be handled by a handyman or house painter. The steps need to be mudjacked (they'll try to sell you polyjack, just do mud) and you'll need a concrete repair company for that. Not sure about the microwave venting. I left out an important detail: The steps are wood; it's just the landing that is concrete. The posts for the hand rails are embedded in the dirt so they're fine, but the stringers for the steps just rest on the concrete landing. So it should just be a matter of "shimming" the stringers with something that won't get eaten by termites and can support the load. Shouldn't be more than 2-3 inches at the most, and that's probably way more than it actually requires. Probably need to re-secure the steps to the porch, since the existing nails/screws/whatever are probably bent...that'll probably be the hardest part. Andy Dufresne posted:The microwave venting is something that's inspectors point out for no reason IMO. Almost no microwaves are actually vented to the outside, ask your friends and family to check theirs. It's not in the realm of repairs, it's an upgrade, so make sure you're appropriately evaluating how much it's worth to you. To clarify: the microwave is not currently vented; we would be adding a microwave vent. We do a lot of cooking and are constantly setting off the smoke alarm when frying/searing/etc. Since the microwave backs up to the garage, it should be pretty easy to run the vent line to the outside world. We know it's an upgrade, but we wanted to get this done right off the bat if it's going to be easy. DaveSauce fucked around with this message at 19:16 on Apr 25, 2016 |
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Apr 25, 2016 19:10
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DaveSauce posted:I left out an important detail: The steps are wood; it's just the landing that is concrete. The posts for the hand rails are embedded in the dirt so they're fine, but the stringers for the steps just rest on the concrete landing. So it should just be a matter of "shimming" the stringers with something that won't get eaten by termites and can support the load. Shouldn't be more than 2-3 inches at the most, and that's probably way more than it actually requires. Probably need to re-secure the steps to the porch, since the existing nails/screws/whatever are probably bent...that'll probably be the hardest part. I ran a range hood vent outside in my old house. I had a roofer install the vent cap but I did the rest. It's really easy, all you need is a drywall hand saw, some duct work, screws, duct tape and maybe some straps or hangers to support the duct work.
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Apr 25, 2016 19:26
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Is it hard to get a good real estate agent? I've been reaching out to them in my area, but my budget is below the median sale price in my area, and agents haven't been giving me much attention. The most attention I've gotten is a couple of emails about what I'm looking for, but no one has sent me properties to look at. I follow Redfin pretty closely and houses are being listed in my price range (median is around $850k, but my budget is closer to $750k, but hey median implies 50% of the houses are sold below $850k so I figure I'll have a shot), but whenever I try to visit the properties via Redfin, they have several offers already and I'm just not competitive (I'm going to be using financing, some of these offers are cash). By finding a decent agent in my area, I was hoping to get some intel on these houses before they hit Redfin or other sites. Is that even a thing? Should I just keep emailing agents trying to find one that will work with me?
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Apr 25, 2016 19:40
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chupacabraTERROR posted:Is it hard to get a good real estate agent? I've been reaching out to them in my area, but my budget is below the median sale price in my area, and agents haven't been giving me much attention. The most attention I've gotten is a couple of emails about what I'm looking for, but no one has sent me properties to look at. I follow Redfin pretty closely and houses are being listed in my price range (median is around $850k, but my budget is closer to $750k, but hey median implies 50% of the houses are sold below $850k so I figure I'll have a shot), but whenever I try to visit the properties via Redfin, they have several offers already and I'm just not competitive (I'm going to be using financing, some of these offers are cash). Real estate agents are very hungry, there are far too many of them for the market to support. At your price I would expect any agent you contact to be kind of spamming you. Is there anything in your initial contact that might be putting them off? If you are using an agent referral service like Redfin that might be it.
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Apr 25, 2016 19:59
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DaveSauce posted:To clarify: the microwave is not currently vented; we would be adding a microwave vent. We do a lot of cooking and are constantly setting off the smoke alarm when frying/searing/etc. Since the microwave backs up to the garage, it should be pretty easy to run the vent line to the outside world. We know it's an upgrade, but we wanted to get this done right off the bat if it's going to be easy. Cooking / fire alarm tip: buy a photoelectric smoke alarm for your kitchen area. They are way less susceptible to going off due to vapors created during frying/searing/etc. If you don't want to do this for some reason, then buy a shower cap and put that over your ionization fire alarm whenever you're worried about it going off The NFPA actually suggests having both photoelectric and ioniziation fire alarms, since each one is better at detecting different kinds of smoke (ionization is really sensitive to flaming fires, photoelectric is really sensitive to smouldering fires, both kinds are about equally likely to occur in the home)
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Apr 25, 2016 20:07
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chupacabraTERROR posted:Is it hard to get a good real estate agent? I've been reaching out to them in my area, but my budget is below the median sale price in my area, and agents haven't been giving me much attention. The most attention I've gotten is a couple of emails about what I'm looking for, but no one has sent me properties to look at. I follow Redfin pretty closely and houses are being listed in my price range (median is around $850k, but my budget is closer to $750k, but hey median implies 50% of the houses are sold below $850k so I figure I'll have a shot), but whenever I try to visit the properties via Redfin, they have several offers already and I'm just not competitive (I'm going to be using financing, some of these offers are cash). IIRC realtor.com has listings the day that they're created It's hard to find a good real estate agent, there are plenty out there and it's difficult to ascertain which ones are good. Most of them are lovely. I think word of mouth is probably your best bet
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Apr 25, 2016 20:10
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QuarkJets posted:IIRC realtor.com has listings the day that they're created But you also aren't supposed to use family friends as agents, right? My parents bought a house a few years ago and had a family friend act as a realtor, and everything went well, but now that I'm looking into purchasing I honestly am not sure what I should do
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Apr 25, 2016 21:45
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DaveSauce posted:I left out an important detail: The steps are wood; it's just the landing that is concrete. The posts for the hand rails are embedded in the dirt so they're fine, but the stringers for the steps just rest on the concrete landing. So it should just be a matter of "shimming" the stringers with something that won't get eaten by termites and can support the load. Shouldn't be more than 2-3 inches at the most, and that's probably way more than it actually requires. Probably need to re-secure the steps to the porch, since the existing nails/screws/whatever are probably bent...that'll probably be the hardest part. If you live somewhere with cold winters be sure to get a backdraft damper for the vent(s), it really helps keeping cold air from hammering down from the roof. It also stops hot air a bit as well in the summer. I live in California and had them installed on the range vent, laundry room vent and even on my bathroom vents and it made those rooms a bit warmer and the during our 2 month long brutal "winter" were it get's below 40 about 20 times at night. 
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Apr 25, 2016 22:23
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Drunk Tomato posted:But you also aren't supposed to use family friends as agents, right? My parents bought a house a few years ago and had a family friend act as a realtor, and everything went well, but now that I'm looking into purchasing I honestly am not sure what I should do You probably shouldn't use family friends. It can work out fine (kind of like how using your realtor's recommendation for an inspector could work out fine) but it could also work out really badly (likewise).
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Apr 25, 2016 23:59
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We bought our house and moved in on Christmas eve of 2015. So far, we've: * Had a new main shutoff installed ($500 by a plumber, it didn't fully shut off, and I didn't want to touch that) * Replaced outdoor spigot * Replaced burst pipe leading to outdoor spigot (PO didn't bother draining the pipe that runs through the poorly insulated attic, so it burst at some point) * Replaced toilet supply + toilet * Replaced kitchen sink shutoffs and faucet (turns out the PO thought only half screwing the spigot to the sink was good enough) * Replaced washing machine shutoffs and supply hoses (valves were terribly corroded, hoses were ancient rubber. Replaced with this awesome thing and braided supply lines) * Replaced bathroom sink shutoffs Whoever invented gate valves needs to be shot. I have installed all ball valves to ensure I don't have to do this again. Oh, and the shower's decided to start dripping now. Our home inspection indicated there were no plumbing issues, despite our bathroom shutoffs looking like this: 
devicenull fucked around with this message at 02:38 on Apr 26, 2016 |
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Apr 26, 2016 02:26
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A timer shutoff valve for washing machines? That's actually a really good idea
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Apr 26, 2016 06:27
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Drunk Tomato posted:But you also aren't supposed to use family friends as agents, right? My parents bought a house a few years ago and had a family friend act as a realtor, and everything went well, but now that I'm looking into purchasing I honestly am not sure what I should do I lost a good friend when I told her to remove the rip off pay her agency $75 electronic document fee from an offer. I had to fire her when she wouldn't. People can't keep business business. She is still mad. What kind of demented agency will kill a $16k commission for some scam $75 fee for scanning my closing docs. Oh well use an agent you hate so at the slightest bad service, you are happy to fire them. That is what I do. On a plus note I am going to be very BFC and pay off my new homes mortgage if my old house closes instead of buying the white and orange camaro I have been wanting since I was 10 years old. Don't tell AI they will kick me out.
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Apr 26, 2016 15:12
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The other side of the coin is representation from friends who actually prioritize friendships over their business. The only person I know non-professionally I'd have represent me charges a bottle of scotch as his entire commission for buyer's representation. Lagavulin 16 finally seems like a good deal!
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Apr 26, 2016 15:45
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drat man, if that' s not worth Johnnie Walker Blue what is?
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Apr 26, 2016 15:52
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Nail Rat posted:drat man, if that' s not worth Johnnie Walker Blue what is? He wants to keep the friendship, I imagine
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Apr 26, 2016 16:54
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So we found a serviceable house in an area we want to live. The price seems great...probably because it's a short sale. We will probably be forging ahead with this but are there any horror stories anyone can share about the process? Our realtor seems generally competent. My wife's Aunt was a realtor for 20-some years. She recommended him to us (former colleague), and he says he has plenty of experience with short sales, so we at least have that going for us.
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Apr 26, 2016 16:57
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LogisticEarth posted:So we found a serviceable house in an area we want to live. The price seems great...probably because it's a short sale. We will probably be forging ahead with this but are there any horror stories anyone can share about the process? Short sales can take months, or years, for the lender to approve. Or they can close in a month.
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Apr 26, 2016 17:30
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mastershakeman posted:Short sales can take months, or years, for the lender to approve. Or they can close in a month. Yeah, I'm preparing for that. Luckily we're not in a rush to buy (we're month-to-month renting from family) and the area where we're looking seems to have pretty low inventory. So we'd be waiting for "the right house" regardless if this didn't go through.
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Apr 26, 2016 18:48
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DaveSauce posted:To clarify: the microwave is not currently vented; we would be adding a microwave vent. We do a lot of cooking and are constantly setting off the smoke alarm when frying/searing/etc. Since the microwave backs up to the garage, it should be pretty easy to run the vent line to the outside world. We know it's an upgrade, but we wanted to get this done right off the bat if it's going to be easy. OTR microwave vents are pretty much garbage. If you care enough to want to spend on a venting upgrade, get a proper hood and a countertop microwave. QuarkJets posted:A timer shutoff valve for washing machines? That's actually a really good idea Buying good quality hoses instead of the cheap hardware store poo poo is an effective alternative approach.
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Apr 26, 2016 20:16
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Zhentar posted:Buying good quality hoses instead of the cheap hardware store poo poo is an effective alternative approach. From what it sounds like he actually did buy good quality hoses, he just also bought a timer. Seems like a reasonable approach, even good quality poo poo can fail
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Apr 26, 2016 20:28
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Most braided stainless steel hoses supply hoses still fall far short of "good" quality, they're just not a bad as the rubber ones.
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Apr 26, 2016 20:54
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LogisticEarth posted:So we found a serviceable house in an area we want to live. The price seems great...probably because it's a short sale. We will probably be forging ahead with this but are there any horror stories anyone can share about the process? This was a short sale. The consequence of it taking a long time while they still live in the house is that chances are they will treat it like poo poo and they probably ain't dealing from a full deck to begin with. One mistake we made was offering to buy the appliances etc. so he wouldn't strip the house bare, but we should have saved our money and just bought new. Also the waiting isn't as much of a problem as the sudden hurrying up when the short seller's bank approves. They only give a 30 day window to close, and you have to be really, really on top of your lending bank to make it. Banks are stupid organizations full of stupid people that don't know what they are doing. And you better hope the selling attorney is good at short sales because otherwise you are wasting your time.
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Apr 26, 2016 21:44
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Sounds like a lot of headaches. I'm guessing short sales are waaaay easier with all cash offers?
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Apr 26, 2016 22:01
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Nail Rat posted:drat man, if that' s not worth Johnnie Walker Blue what is? FYI, Johnny Walker is a blended whisky. Blue is a hideously overpriced (~$200) blended whisky. Occasionally a real Scotch Drinker will have a bottle in his or her cabinet anyway, but it'd be more of a completionist thing after they've picked up a hundred or so single malts and just feel like they need to have it. Anyone who actually enjoys scotch is much better served by spending half the price on an extremely nice single malt, or between a quarter and a third of the price on a still excellent single malt. Or if you must buy a blend, there's not much reason to spend over $40. Lagavulin 16 is fantastic, and at $90, an expensive but very nice gift for someone who appreciates fine scotch.
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Apr 26, 2016 22:39
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Bozart posted:This was a short sale. The consequence of it taking a long time while they still live in the house is that chances are they will treat it like poo poo and they probably ain't dealing from a full deck to begin with. One mistake we made was offering to buy the appliances etc. so he wouldn't strip the house bare, but we should have saved our money and just bought new. Also the waiting isn't as much of a problem as the sudden hurrying up when the short seller's bank approves. They only give a 30 day window to close, and you have to be really, really on top of your lending bank to make it. Banks are stupid organizations full of stupid people that don't know what they are doing. And you better hope the selling attorney is good at short sales because otherwise you are wasting your time. Thanks for the tip about being on top of getting the bank lined up. I'm generally comfortable with the process and our credit and finances are pretty solid. However we haven't actually had the chance to go through with a mortgage application due to just having an overall lovely and intermittent housing search. As for the house getting gutted, I'm really kinda hoping that won't be the case for this one. It's been floating around for a while, on and off the market for a couple years, and it isn't trashed yet. I took a moderately thorough walk and the electrical, HVAC, plumbing, etc. weren't obviously hosed. The roof and decking seemed ok. The house is occupied, clean, and as such I'm crossing my fingers a septic issue doesn't come up. The one obvious problem was that the masonry mantle for the fireplace was coming away from the wall. Big red flag, but it didn't appear to be actually linked to the structure or the chimney itself, and the exterior of the chimney looked perfectly fine. I could fix that myself. Other than that, furnace was old, AC was old, etc. but at the price they were offering I wouldn't have a problem replacing those. From looking at the house, I'm hoping I found one of those lucky homeowners who mortgaged the crap out of their house and are now trying to "do the right thing" and pay the mortgage off without stripping or trashing the property.  So, basically, yeah, look for my inevitable disaster story in about 4-6 months, and my bankruptcy/divorce thread in E/N in two years or so.
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Apr 26, 2016 23:09
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LogisticEarth posted:So, basically, yeah, look for my inevitable disaster story in about 4-6 months, and my bankruptcy/divorce thread in E/N in two years or so. I would get a lender that you are very comfortable with, but you won't be able to lock in a rate because they only do that for a limited amount of time, and you could be waiting for months. Basically, get all of your ducks in a row and sit tight. Also, expect a whole lot of deferred maintenance, even if they are unicorns. Pryor on Fire posted:Sounds like a lot of headaches. I'm guessing short sales are waaaay easier with all cash offers? Almost certainly. And we did it before new dodd frank lending laws, and those only extend the amount of time it takes to do a mortgage. ALSO! Update on my house: turns out prior owners were not making meth in the basement! 
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Apr 27, 2016 01:42
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House hunting is frustrating. We were supposed to go see a house today that I was super excited about. It had everything I wanted in a house. But turns out, the owners pulled it from the market. No longer selling. Most of the houses we've seen don't have much for backyards, and backyards are really important to me. One of them didn't even have any yard, cause the whole back was paved and a massive garage took up most of the space. I wish my mom would just win the lottery so I could get the cute house a couple blocks away. It's in a perfect location, but it's way above our price range. Our price range is mostly keeping us to sketchy neighbourhoods, or places without good transit, or both.
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Apr 27, 2016 04:59
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UCS Hellmaker posted:Our sewer main has an outside clean out. Buried a foot underground. With no marking to show where it is Lol my house doesn't even have one. They had to scope my sewer via the vent stack on the roof.
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Apr 27, 2016 05:49
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So I finally found a realtor who is helpful and responsive, and we're going to look at our first house tonight. What can I expect for a first walkthrough? Is it typically very salesy and high-level, or do buyers sometimes bring a flashlight and look for red flags (e.g. looking in the attic for water or roof damage, etc.)? I'm assuming the detail work usually comes on a subsequent visit, but offers in my area have been flying within days of a house being listed, so I'm curious if I'll offend the seller by showing up at a first viewing with a flashlight and being ready to get a little dirty.
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Apr 27, 2016 20:52
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