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LogisticEarth posted:Noise, break dust, road dust, general property value...living near a highway is pretty annoying. Don't forget Jake breaks too! In Seattle, most housing areas adjacent to the freeway have a "no compression/unmuffled brakes" law in place.
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Nov 28, 2016 23:10
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HEY NONG MAN posted:Where'd you end up? Ended up in Everett. While I love our house, the block is cute and the neighborhood is decent, the city is locally infamous for being grungy and crime-ridden. It is an urban city. Not much violence, but car prowls and home burgleries. And general drug mischief, according to neighbors on the next door app. I knew all this going in, of course. I thought the pros far outweighed the cons. The crime map shows that nothing has happened on my block in the past year, but a three block radius shows some events. And a really nice family lived in my house for the past ten years and loved it, so... I just gotta get over it. I'm sure I would be just as paranoid anywhere. Yeah I blame this stupid app.
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Nov 28, 2016 23:33
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We are supposed to hear back from the appraisal guy today and it's KILLING me waiting.
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Nov 28, 2016 23:44
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We heard back from our appraisal dude the other day. Apparently he had to do some reaching so that he could appraise it at our offer price, as the value he kept coming up with was 50k or so above. I'm told it's good to be appraised at the offer price for some reason.
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Nov 28, 2016 23:53
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Exactly the info we were looking for. Gonna look at the numbers in those studies to try to get a feel for things. It is around 100 meters from the highway but is a great deal (obviously due to these drawbacks). There is some evidence that a sound barrier will also push the particulates up over it to be distributed at lower levels farther away from the highway, but I'm not a physics person though so who knows what the percentages are on that. Highway is on a flat area with no exits so no brake noises, and it is in a city that has the braking law in effect anyway. Thanks for the advice. Chances are we won't go with this particular property, but I just wanted to know my facts going into that decision.
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Nov 29, 2016 00:06
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marchantia posted:Anyone have experience living next to a highway? It's a three lane interstate with a decent sound barrier. Cul de sac backs up to the sound barrier. The house we are looking at is not against the barrier, but one over. Sound is not really an issue (we went around rush hour and stood in different parts of the yard and it wasn't any more noticeable than a white noise machine - could still have conversations at normal volume and hear each other across the yard.) but I do have some pollution concerns? Not sure if those are valid or not. Anyone with experience? I lived right on a 4/3 lane (they changed it from 4 lane to 2 lane + turning lane and bike lanes about halfway through) arterial and maybe 1/2mi from a major freeway for 6 years until we moved this summer. I hated it. Jake brakes aren't great, but I prefer them over the fart can civics and Harleys since they at least serve a purpose. The improvement since moving somewhere quieter is amazing. If the discount for houses close to the freeway was significant (25%, say) over their non-noisy counterparts I could see it being worth it, but in my experience it tends to be much less than that and not worth the limited amount you save. Drunk Tomato posted:Ended up in Everett. While I love our house, the block is cute and the neighborhood is decent, the city is locally infamous for being grungy and crime-ridden. It is an urban city. Not much violence, but car prowls and home burgleries. And general drug mischief, according to neighbors on the next door app. I knew all this going in, of course. I thought the pros far outweighed the cons. Everett is so varied. I suspect that most of it is okay, but there are definitely areas that are fine, but certain spots (Casino Rd.) have ended up with a really concentrated amount of crime. Not bad in comparison to places in other parts of the country, but bad for the Seattle metro area. It goes through cycles though. Hopefully this current heroine epidemic improves, which would do an awful lot to make things better in the whole county. BeastOfExmoor fucked around with this message at 04:08 on Nov 29, 2016 |
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Nov 29, 2016 04:00
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The soil levels in most of the bay area are pretty bad. Lead levels especially. I would get a soil sample before gardening. Even places not by a highway can be well above the epa or state standards. Any place with a lot of people before the 70s could have lead paint in the soil, or lead from old gas. Most people in cities really should test the soil. If the noise is not an issue you are probably far enough that most of the other things are manageable. Don't grow leafy or root vegetables and get a good filter for your home vents and you are probably fine.
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Nov 29, 2016 05:27
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lampey posted:The soil levels in most of the bay area are pretty bad. Lead levels especially. I would get a soil sample before gardening. Even places not by a highway can be well above the epa or state standards. Any place with a lot of people before the 70s could have lead paint in the soil, or lead from old gas. Most people in cities really should test the soil. If your soil is suspect, just build raised beds. Getting a real comprehensive sample of the soil that means anything can be relatively pricey. And of course if you find anything you should be reporting it to any potential buyers in the future.
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Nov 29, 2016 11:44
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Rated PG-34 posted:I'm told it's good to be appraised at the offer price for some reason. If nothing else, it smooths the way because no one can be too upset at not getting their money's worth - the seller doesn't think he could have gotten more and the buyer doesn't think they are overpaying.
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Nov 29, 2016 12:41
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Team_q posted:I might be the owner of a nice 3 bedroom bungalow on a corner lot on a quiet street with a weird 70's swinger bar underneath. Creepy, I just got the keys for my first house and it fits this very description. Mostly a smooth process, just a lot of waiting. Now I get to enter the cycle of updating the place by: gawking at estimates, deciding to diy, loving things up, resigning to even higher estimates... I only read the OP and back a few pages, so apologies if this has already been covered, but does anyone have advice on fencing in a backyard? I looked up some surveyors, but then someone told me to "call the county" (whatever that means - although maybe there are straightforward department numbers on the county's webpage?) and they might be able to reveal property markers for free. Does this seem legit?
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Nov 29, 2016 17:45
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marjorie posted:Creepy, I just got the keys for my first house and it fits this very description. Mostly a smooth process, just a lot of waiting. Now I get to enter the cycle of updating the place by: gawking at estimates, deciding to diy, loving things up, resigning to even higher estimates... Yeah, if you look at the edges of your property there may be property markers slightly buried. You can usually find them with a metal detector. Otherwise you need a surveyor and like 400 bucks. The city/county should have a copy of your plat, which should give you a rough estimate of where the markers should be. Then you get to get bids and wait forever to have a fence installed!
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Nov 29, 2016 17:56
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Drunk Tomato posted:Ended up in Everett. While I love our house, the block is cute and the neighborhood is decent, the city is locally infamous for being grungy and crime-ridden. It is an urban city. Not much violence, but car prowls and home burgleries. And general drug mischief, according to neighbors on the next door app. I knew all this going in, of course. I thought the pros far outweighed the cons. North everett? I kind of miss it but dont...i liked the house i lived and the neightborhood (lived right by the alfy's on broadway) but the higher than average ratio of lovely people really drag the area down.
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Nov 29, 2016 20:04
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Pryor on Fire posted:Unfortunately Californians are treated very poorly out here, we don't take kindly to a single one of them. Also we all walk around carrying AR15s every day, it's basically the wild west and also the food is terrible hope that doesn't freak you out because we're not loving changing. Goddammit please stay there. Replying to this again from a while ago, but you'll probably be happy to hear that we've dropped plans to move to Denver and will instead be moving in with my parents in San Diego and using the house sale money to help fully pay off their house (so they don't have to sell the condo they already fully own to pay off the house, and eventually pass both on to me). Your state is safe from 2 more transplants!
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Nov 30, 2016 17:30
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Appraisal came back like 12k over what we are paying for it, yay!  It's so nice being able to get over that last hurdle and focus on closing.
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Nov 30, 2016 19:07
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Had a guy knock on my door who claimed to have known the previous owners and had worked out some hypothetical plans for them to split my lot. He says he works with a local builder in town, and was wondering if I'd be interested in exploring splitting the lot. He said I could clear 100-150K so I am interested, but I don't really trust guys who knock on my door. He said I should look into it with the city and he'd stop by in a couple weeks. It actually would not be that inconvenient for me to lose that side of the lot (especially for 150K), but I have literally no idea where to start on something like this. I have 0.4 acres with the last land-only assessment at $155K, and the split probably wouldn't be in half, more like 60/40. Is this something I should seriously consider or will it be an enormous pain in the rear end? Any advice?
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Dec 6, 2016 23:54
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Sounds like a great way to get some lovely mcmansion you can't control built in your backyard. I guess if you need the money and don't value your quality of life at that spot much anymore? poo poo man times get tough, you gotta do what you gotta do. Also why would anyone ever answer their door anymore, it's almost 2017 ahahahah Pryor on Fire fucked around with this message at 23:58 on Dec 6, 2016 |
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Dec 6, 2016 23:55
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I thought it was the UPS guy!
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Dec 7, 2016 00:00
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What? You didn't get notified that the UPS guy turned onto your street by the app and then notified by your camera that there was movement on your property then notified by your smart doorbell that uses machine learning to recognize strangers so you can intercom with them? Are you some sort of stone age man who pushes his car around with his feet? LOL
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Dec 7, 2016 00:26
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weas posted:Had a guy knock on my door who claimed to have known the previous owners and had worked out some hypothetical plans for them to split my lot. He says he works with a local builder in town, and was wondering if I'd be interested in exploring splitting the lot. He said I could clear 100-150K so I am interested, but I don't really trust guys who knock on my door. He said I should look into it with the city and he'd stop by in a couple weeks. It actually would not be that inconvenient for me to lose that side of the lot (especially for 150K), but I have literally no idea where to start on something like this. Are they a GC? Because you should look at this like a business venture. You will need a lawyer to handle the contracts. I would include the plans in the contract for the sale so you get to dictate exactly what happens. If the "clearing price" is $100k then that guy is looking to make at least that much.
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Dec 7, 2016 01:57
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Just got an offer from an investor on our house... 630K! That's basically what I expected and hoped for - I was worried that even after doing 10k+ in repairs I might still only get that amount. Not having to spend that would be awesome. My wife's dad signed it, so all worries about him blocking the sale are gone. Now I just need to survive the 4 day contingency period... I really hope they don't back out - in my mind every single issue with this place is a red flag now that I know it so well. I don't know if they're going to send an inspector or what at this point. But if this goes through, in 4 days, our long, stressful journey will be at an end. I'm still going to be a home owner someday, but it will be of 2 well-maintained San Diego properties worth 700k and 480k instead of my overpriced ramshackle San Jose house. I should have stuck to that to begin with. Rotten Red Rod fucked around with this message at 15:18 on Dec 7, 2016 |
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Dec 7, 2016 14:57
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So after three years of searching for a house, we finally closed yesterday. It was a very interesting experience and I was surprisingly comfortable handing over tens of thousands in savings for a down payment, whereas usually I've got a pit in my stomach whenever I have to shell out cash. We're now the Do you normally end up hugging the sellers at closing? Because that happened.
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Dec 7, 2016 15:31
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Nice y'all!LogisticEarth posted:Do you normally end up hugging the sellers at closing? Because that happened.
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Dec 7, 2016 15:56
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Rotten Red Rod posted:Just got an offer from an investor on our house... 630K! That's basically what I expected and hoped for - I was worried that even after doing 10k+ in repairs I might still only get that amount. Not having to spend that would be awesome. My wife's dad signed it, so all worries about him blocking the sale are gone. Just re-read your saga and man, wishing you so much luck.
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Dec 7, 2016 16:11
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Don't sweat it too much Rotten, every property has a hundred problems (even the new ones), sometimes you knock a few grand off for the big items, usually not. You'll be fine congrats.
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Dec 7, 2016 16:33
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LogisticEarth posted:Do you normally end up hugging the sellers at closing? Because that happened.
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Dec 7, 2016 16:35
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When I bought my first house I met the sellers at closing. Which was unfortunate because then I had a face to put with the name I wanted to punch for all the poo poo work he'd done around the house. This house I met them multiple times because they didn't understand how real estate transactions work.
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Dec 7, 2016 16:51
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We close on FRIDAY and get to move in on Saturday, and I can't even stand it with how excited I am. This work day is going sooooo slow.
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Dec 7, 2016 18:04
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We didn't hug our sellers because they were a split couple who had been communicating with each other via lawyers yet both felt obligated to show up in person to closing. The tension in the room was palpable.
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Dec 7, 2016 18:36
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I stalk my sellers on Instagram because they are photographers that took a bunch of nice pictures of my house
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Dec 7, 2016 20:02
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The seller of my house was a bank. I don't even remember which bank. Would not have hugged them even if I'd met them.
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Dec 7, 2016 21:22
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Today I learned that sometimes houses don't have mail service, even in the middle of a town, and getting the post office to start servicing your address isn't necessarily quick or cheap. "Most people use PO boxes" what the actual gently caress?! I guess only the newer houses typically get mailboxes.
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Dec 7, 2016 21:31
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Alereon posted:Today I learned that sometimes houses don't have mail service, even in the middle of a town, and getting the post office to start servicing your address isn't necessarily quick or cheap. Wow that sucks. Can you still get UPS and Fedex deliveries?
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Dec 7, 2016 21:42
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Alereon posted:Today I learned that sometimes houses don't have mail service, even in the middle of a town, and getting the post office to start servicing your address isn't necessarily quick or cheap.
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Dec 7, 2016 21:48
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Sigourney Cheevos posted:Do you have a cluster mailbox, or just nothing at all? A lot of newer homes have a centralized 'cluster mailbox' to cut down on costs for the USPS(they mandated them, not home developers being nice).
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Dec 7, 2016 21:59
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Yeah every day I find a new and amazing way to be disappointed in the USPS. At some point I expect them to just charge me money to get punched in the face, probably only 30 years out.
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Dec 7, 2016 22:39
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Don't blame USPS, blame Congress for defunding it and putting crazy restrictions on it to this point.
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Dec 8, 2016 00:49
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So the appraisal from the bank came back to me the other day. Should I be suspicious since the appraisal came back as exactly what I offered for the property? The property was listed as $90k originally, dropped to $87.5k and I offered $83k and the seller accepted my first offer. Gives me the impression that the appraiser went there, took a quick look and said "yeah, that's about right." I'll be honest in that I don't care that much about it since it has lots of room for improvement, plus I just really like the property regardless of how much it's worth. Place is a townhome, if that's important. Closing is estimated to be on the 23rd of this month. I hope this doesn't get bogged down with the holidays coming up.
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Dec 8, 2016 02:00
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I don't blame you for not reading back pages in a 475 page thread, I'm just quoting myself to save time. Leperflesh posted:Oh are we having this conversation again for the thousandth time?
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Dec 8, 2016 02:03
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I didn't end up hugging my seller, though half way through signing documents she unceremoniously dumped a baggie full of keys and garage door openers on the desk and informed us that the pipes freeze and to let the faucets drip if the ambient temp drops below 20 outside.
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Dec 8, 2016 02:05
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Rurutia posted:Don't blame USPS, blame Congress for defunding it and putting crazy restrictions on it to this point. It's fairly SOP to hobble the gently caress out of public institutions to generate the hatred necessary to privatize it. And if you think USPS is bad now.
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Dec 8, 2016 02:06
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