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My understanding of the air quality issue is that the harmful particles are caused by the actual cooking process, not the combustion of your fuel. Like frying indoors or searing a steak. lovely way to start a page. Have a dog. 
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Jan 23, 2021 13:36
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Queen Victorian posted:Now I’m wondering about the effect of layout on indoor air quality. If you have a traditional closed kitchen with doors that can be shut, would that sufficiently mitigate air quality decline elsewhere in the house? As opposed to an open concept, where the kitchen is completely uncontained. If your house has butler stairs, I really wouldn’t worry about makeup air There’s a reason the state of California slaps cancer warning labels on everything because as it turns out, yeah, basically everything we touch or interact with in our modern daily lives carries some minuscule degree of risk, and in excessive concentrations (eg daily occupational interaction) there may be unanticipated side effects or cancer. I mean hell, we ingest a credit card’s worth of microplastics on a weekly basis and we don’t really know what that’ll mean long term, but I’m not particularly worried because my sedentary lifestyle, horrible diet, and lack of meaningful social interaction is going to kill me wayyyy before the plastic does. Or I’m going to drop my credit card while paying for a parking garage, lean over to pick it up, let my foot off the gas, and inadvertently decapitate myself on the booth. Or I’ll do everything right and then get T-Boned in an intersection because cars are by far and away the most dangerous thing we interact with on a day to day basis and we’ve just grown comfortable with the risk and accepted it. Modern life is full of accepted risks, and on the list of things to be worried about, this is very near the bottom imho. If you have a functional monoxide detector, I’d consider the problem mitigated.
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Jan 23, 2021 14:24
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:Is there a particular dishwasher that goons recommend? Ours is dying and needs replacing and I ask goons every other "what should I spend money on" question Motronic posted:Bosch 800 series. The Bosch 800 series has been backordered for months now -- any other highly recommended alternatives? Maybe one of the lower tier Bosches? Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at 16:38 on Jan 23, 2021 |
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Jan 23, 2021 16:26
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:The Bosch 800 series has been backordered for months now -- any other highly recommended alternatives? Bosch Benchmark Series? (yes, they're expensive)
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Jan 23, 2021 16:38
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NomNomNom posted:My understanding of the air quality issue is that the harmful particles are caused by the actual cooking process, not the combustion of your fuel. Like frying indoors or searing a steak. That's only a small part of it. You also have nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and other byproducts of the fuel combustion. You never get perfect combustion or perfectly pure methane in the natural gas supply. There's quite a bit of research out there on this e.g. https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/ehp.122-a27 https://qz.com/1941254/experts-are-sounding-the-alarm-about-the-dangers-of-gas-stoves/
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Jan 23, 2021 16:57
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Motronic posted:Bosch Benchmark Series? (yes, they're expensive) What's the difference between the low end (300, 500) and high end bosch series?
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Jan 23, 2021 16:59
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We bought a Bosch 100-series due to most everything else being on back order as well. It cleans better than any dishwasher we’ve had and the 3rd rack is great, but we have to remember to open the door to let the steam out so it dries well. If we run it over night, everything needs a wipe down. 48-decibel is also quieter than anything we’ve had before so we don’t mind running it during the day or in time before we go to sleep. Granted we were always in apartments, but it works well enough for us for $600. Hopefully the next time we redo a kitchen, there won’t be a pandemic on.
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Jan 23, 2021 17:07
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The main thing the 800 gets you is the crystaldry system which is v cool for no wet plastic etc, but iirc some of the 300/500 open the door automatically which helps drying, too. Anyway, fine dishwashers, anywhere in the line.
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Jan 23, 2021 17:10
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:What's the difference between the low end (300, 500) and high end bosch series? There's a feature comparison on the bosch site. It's enough stuff that you should take a look and decide if those particular features mean anything for you.
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Jan 23, 2021 17:12
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Hah, well, we figured out how to make the front panel stay on the model we have, so we don't need to replace it quite yet after all (just needed to find the right screws). So just signed up to get notified about the backorder :P
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Jan 23, 2021 17:44
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Also you can try calling all the local retailers if you live in a big-ish city. We were able to find a single Bosch 800 in LA by calling every single store listed on their site.
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Jan 23, 2021 18:06
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OSU_Matthew posted:If your house has butler stairs, I really wouldn’t worry about makeup air Oh I wasn’t one of the folks concerned about makeup air - due to decent size and extra high ceilings in our house, there’s a good volume of air inside and because it’s super old, it’s not airtight. Also haven’t specced a fan yet, and I don’t know if we need or want a commercial grade one. I was just wondering in general about the air quality differences between cooking in a closed kitchen vs cooking in an open concept and if it would make an impact on non-kitchen air, especially for someone with asthma or other respiratory issues. Right now, we have nothing and our lovely old stove runs on pilot lights (which is great during power outages but not great the rest of the time). Also all the (interior) doors to the kitchen are missing, so the smells and fumes of whatever we cook get everywhere. Case in point, when we were refinishing our attic floors with polyurethane (before moving in), the day after we started, we go over and the entire house reeks of kerosene. Turns out it was caused by the polyurethane reacting to the burning pilot lights in the stove. We had to turn off the gas supply to the stove to make the smell go away. Goes to show that poo poo gets everywhere. Can’t wait to have an extractor fan and doors for my kitchen. But until then, I’m not overly concerned.
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Jan 23, 2021 18:08
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Tezer posted:Lame. The only reason to have a make-up air requirement in my opinion is to prevent people from back drafting their lovely appliances. I'm not familiar with CA code, if they require makeup air in houses without drafting appliances I'm not sure I understand the point. If you want to depressurize your house for fun and it won't back draft anything, go for it, this is the land of the free. Sewer gas? I'm pulling a lot more than a kitchen hood, but I'm getting some from the garage floor drain, even after pouring water in. Maybe it just has a bad/non-existent trap
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Jan 23, 2021 20:52
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Epitope posted:Sewer gas? I'm pulling a lot more than a kitchen hood, but I'm getting some from the garage floor drain, even after pouring water in. Maybe it just has a bad/non-existent trap I'm reasonably sure there is no way to pull sewer gas through a trap that is full of water (under the pressure conditions you could create with a typical depressurization fan). If there was a way to do it, there would be a requirement to seal off traps during airtightness testing - instead the guidance is just to make sure they are properly filled with water. Drains can get gross between the drain entrance and the trap though, maybe you just have some nasty build-up in that area that you are smelling, or perhaps the floor drain doesn't have a trap like you theorized.
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Jan 23, 2021 21:31
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Lawnie posted:Speaking of kitchen exhaust, I currently have a very crappy, unvented microwave. I can’t realistically put a microwave anywhere else, but it does need replacing and I’m probably going to have someone out to run an external duct. Any recommendations for over-the-range microwaves with the best exhaust performance? 2.1-cu ft Over-the-Range Microwave with Sensor Cooking (Fingerprint-Resistant Stainless Steel) Item #: 878061|Model #: WMH53521HZ (Bought at Lowes) I'm a little behind in the thread, but we swapped our lovely one to this lovely one, and it's a world of difference. Be careful, there are a dozen subtly different models, you have to make sure you're in the right "line" of appliances. Our old one was loud as hell and barely exhausted anything. This one on low I can barely hear it being on, to the point I sometimes turn it off on accident, and you can actually watch smoke and vapors waft towards it. On "high" it's quieter than our old one and actually sucks smoke out, especially if I crack a window. It's no dedicated unit, but I am amazed by its performance. I generally use it on low or medium-low.
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Jan 23, 2021 21:53
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I was looking at getting a doorbell cam like everyone else. The inside of my doorbell chime says 10 volt and it’s one of those old style ones that bangs on a piece of metal. It looks like it might be the original Fromm the house being built in the 50s https://imgur.com/a/EH3nt1R Is there a way to up the voltage? I assume I have to find the transformer somewhere, presumably my attic if it’s not buried behind dry wall. Is this a reasonable thing to do myself or a call an electrician / buy a battery powered one And what happens if I run 24v into a 9v chime? I assume I have to keep the circuit complete. Can I just bypass the chime? EwokEntourage fucked around with this message at 05:55 on Jan 24, 2021 |
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Jan 24, 2021 05:34
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Doorbell wires are like the tiniest wires they make, I wouldn't trust, nor would it be feasible to power a cam with audio/networking. Edit: didn't see the picture, your copper cable is thicker than modern doorbell wire. You can go battery, I think, but that would be a pain in the rear end, you're probably looking at running basically romex, standard electrical and possibly network cable.
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Jan 24, 2021 06:00
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Quaint Quail Quilt posted:Doorbell wires are like the tiniest wires they make, I wouldn't trust, nor would it be feasible to power a cam with audio/networking. Huh? Like a gazillion people have Ring cam doorbells.
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Jan 24, 2021 06:20
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Guhhh the missus got me a Ring doorbell for Christmas and has been annoyed that I haven't taken it out of the box yet. I'm just barely handy enough to plug in a lamp so this is rocket science to me. The chime box has no labels on any of the wiring, and the wires are all white cables with no markings. And there's only 2 terminals instead of the REAR FRONT TRANS I see in the guide And hey, once I figure this part out I get to buy a drill so I can make holes in the masonry!! Thinking about pretending to care that they give video to cops or whatever so I can be done with this
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Jan 24, 2021 07:28
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Return it. They serve no purpose. "some adult male medium height and build in a baseball hat and sunglasses stole my package and drove off in a late model Japanese econobox that I couldn't read the plate on" is the basic summary of those cameras.
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Jan 24, 2021 07:39
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H110Hawk posted:Return it. They serve no purpose. "some adult male medium height and build in a baseball hat and sunglasses stole my package and drove off in a late model Japanese econobox that I couldn't read the plate on" is the basic summary of those cameras. I don't have a ring cam, but do have a nest cam set in my living room window that sent me an alert once that enabled me to watch someone steal a package from my stoop in real time. And then I got to see her drive away...to her driveway at the house across the street, which is also in view of the camera. That camera also gave me a pretty sweet video of my mail carrier bending a box with two vinyl records in it over his knee so he could shove them in the mailbox. Those two clips alone have made it with the cost from an entertainment perspective. But it was also easier than a ring cam because there was no installation.
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Jan 24, 2021 09:13
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GoGoGadgetChris posted:Guhhh the missus got me a Ring doorbell for Christmas and has been annoyed that I haven't taken it out of the box yet. I'm just barely handy enough to plug in a lamp so this is rocket science to me. The chime box has no labels on any of the wiring, and the wires are all white cables with no markings. And there's only 2 terminals instead of the REAR FRONT TRANS I see in the guide IIRC the voltage range on the ring is pretty wide. Is yours fine? The wiring for most doorbells is 28V AC so it’s literally as simple as charge, follow the set up from the App/QR code, be done. Extremely easy 5 minute thing. I quite like our ring and two cameras on max privacy settings. The idea that it won’t be good enough to trivially identify the perp is missing the point of “I/my wife know there’s a perp before I get home”
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Jan 24, 2021 14:01
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Ghostnuke posted:Huh? Like a gazillion people have Ring cam doorbells. Yeah it worked just fine on my doorbell wiring. No idea why that guy is talking about running Romex to power a tiny camera. You may need a new transformer in order to have the Ring handle a beefier chime.
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Jan 24, 2021 14:19
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Fallom posted:Yeah it worked just fine on my doorbell wiring. No idea why that guy is talking about running Romex to power a tiny camera. They use your current chime. That’s the whole appeal they just bolt on and work. (And allow police warrant less surveillance on an opt out basis)
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Jan 24, 2021 14:22
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CarForumPoster posted:They use your current chime. That’s the whole appeal they just bolt on and work. (And allow police warrant less surveillance on an opt out basis) There’s a big variety of chimes and I’ve definitely seen people talk about having issues operating certain ones. Ring sells transformer upgrades that may help with that kind of thing (I edited stuff out of this post because I really don’t know enough about the issue to recommend anything) Tiny Timbs fucked around with this message at 14:33 on Jan 24, 2021 |
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Jan 24, 2021 14:23
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CarForumPoster posted:They use your current chime. That’s the whole appeal they just bolt on and work. (And allow police warrant less surveillance on an opt out basis) https://www.buzzfeednews.com/amphtml/salvadorhernandez/home-security-camera-hacked-adt And don't forget inside threats. (Never ever point one of these things inside your house.) I am mostly channeling my community Facebook feed where I see people posting stuff like that all the time. If you want a camera buy one that's a real standalone camera and doesn't require an internet connection to work. Certainly not something Google or Amazon can remotely brick.
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Jan 24, 2021 17:38
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Queen Victorian posted:
My plaster ceiling started to sag so I had to get it repaired. The house was coal when it was built in 1905, the plaster was gross, you could scrape the dust off of the wood, and the whole house smelled like coal for a few days. Also I had to bathe my dirtbag cat after he rolled in the mess.   There was a stove in what is now the dining room (the kitchen was added on in the 20s), I can't even imagine how dirty the whole place was -or is under the plaster and 200 layers of wallpaper. And I'm not going to find out because I sold this money pit and am moving to a new money pit! 
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Jan 24, 2021 18:13
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What fixed rate helocs are out there these days?
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Jan 24, 2021 20:23
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H110Hawk posted:Return it. They serve no purpose. "some adult male medium height and build in a baseball hat and sunglasses stole my package and drove off in a late model Japanese econobox that I couldn't read the plate on" is the basic summary of those cameras. We’ve never had any issues with package theft, but our doorbell cam has been especially useful on a number of occasions. Recently used it to figure out which of neighborhood kids walked off with some tools the concrete contractors had left sitting beside the truck, so I could go talk to their parents and recover them, also used it to figure out some rear end in a top hat had moved the survey pins on our property and confront him after he denied doing so. It’s also a decent deterrent, and useful to figure out whether whoever rang your doorbell was dropping off a package, is soliciting, or a neighbor asking about something. Honestly I’ve gotten more and better use out of the doorbell cam than my NVR IP camera system, though I think both are important and fulfill different roles.
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Jan 24, 2021 23:31
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H110Hawk posted:https://www.buzzfeednews.com/amphtml/salvadorhernandez/home-security-camera-hacked-adt Ehh - even with a standalone camera, who knows what they're doing internally. This is probably too technical for most people, but my cameras are all on their own VLAN and can only talk to the NVR software. They can't reach the rest of my network or the internet at large. Biggest advantage of cameras: not having to get the door when it's just someone dropping off a package.
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Jan 25, 2021 01:12
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devicenull posted:Ehh - even with a standalone camera, who knows what they're doing internally. This is probably too technical for most people, but my cameras are all on their own VLAN and can only talk to the NVR software. They can't reach the rest of my network or the internet at large. 100% the right way to do this. And yeah, unfortunately too complicated for the average person who just wants their poo poo to work.
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Jan 25, 2021 02:36
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Seriously considering buying an outdoor camera if only to catch the shithead that keeps leaving their dog poo poo in the hell strip out front of my house.
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Jan 25, 2021 12:48
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Slate Slabrock posted:My plaster ceiling started to sag so I had to get it repaired. The house was coal when it was built in 1905, the plaster was gross, you could scrape the dust off of the wood, and the whole house smelled like coal for a few days. Also I had to bathe my dirtbag cat after he rolled in the mess. I have almost exactly the same problem. A stove and chimney was removed from my kitchen ~30 years ago, my bedroom ceiling is sagging and the previous owners put a false ceiling in. Because they did this up to the fitted wardrobes which I want to remove, I'm going to have to either replace the false ceiling or drop the original ceiling and replace it. The original ceiling has a layer of black soot on it in the attic several mm thick which is gonna be a huge mess to deal with 
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Jan 25, 2021 14:38
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Welp, I subscribed to this thread with the hopes of eventually getting our first house. Today it happened. We just started seriously looking in November, saw about a dozen or more homes and finally put an offer on one. The Seattle market is such a seller's paradise that I had zero faith our offer would be competitive but we got confirmation today that our offer was accepted. It was surprisingly easy given the horror stories we've heard. After renting for 17 years, it is finally cool to know we won't have to move unless we want to and I can fix/alter things as I wish but the thought of not just calling a landlord to fix things is kind of a bummer. Nice thing is all this money we typically spend on rent isnt just going into paying someone's else's mortgage.
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Jan 26, 2021 07:48
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Escrow chat: how many of you use escrow? How many of you have gotten rid of it? Last year my servicer refunded me $400, stating they did not anticipate a projected increase in escrow disbursements for the year. Perhaps it was my job to tell them this, but since the house was reassessed after I bought it, taxes went way up and now they are wanting me to cover the shortage of about $2600. I knew I would get this bill months and months ago, so that's not really my gripe. It's more than they double billed me for insurance and didn't notice, and always use the previous year's taxes to estimate what I'll need in the coming year without bothering to adjust for, at a minimum, inflation-- meaning it will always be too low and I'll always end up having to cut them a check at the end of the year and readjust my mortgage payment. I guess I'm just vaguely annoyed. Trying to decide if it's worth the (admittedly, small) effort to discontinue escrow or just continue to be lazy and get annoyed 1x a year.
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Jan 26, 2021 15:37
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I use Escrow, the mortgage company pretty much requires it. The first 2 years of escrow are going to be wonky, that's just the way it is. I'm surprised they didn't over project the property taxes though. Mine did and I got a 6K refund the first year. Year 3 should be smooth sailing. Property taxes here are high (TX) so I understand while most lenders require it. Not many folks have the financial discipline to save the 7K a year I pay in property taxes, so bundling it into the monthly payment into a forced savings account works better. I mean I could get rid of escrow and deal with it myself, but honestly it's easier to let them deal with it. Not like I'd make more than a couple dollars in a savings account over the course of the year.
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Jan 26, 2021 16:06
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 I just tick the box that let's them adjust my monthly payment and ignore it. California pays statutory 2% interest too. It's super dumb but once you get past the 2nd year it levels out thanks to prop 13.
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Jan 26, 2021 16:37
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Yeah I didn't think we had an option not to and have had no issues with it. Our total sum of taxes paid ends up being around $10k and I don't want to talk or think about it.
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Jan 26, 2021 18:21
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I didn’t use escrow because I’m a turbonerd control freak. In year 1 I ended up with several thousands saved over what I needed for property taxes and insurance because I challenged my assessment and won and I was pessimistic. On the IRS income taxes side of the coin I got over “prepaying money to the other party” when I hosed up the withholding and almost had to do quarterly filing the following year. I guess what I’m saying is sometimes you win sometimes you lose. Trade offs in simplicity are everywhere.
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Jan 26, 2021 18:59
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I was allergic to the idea of yet another third party involved in my bills so I never did it.
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Jan 26, 2021 19:40
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