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Motronic posted:Living in a rental like that is really solid motivation for learning and understanding why you should spend the time and money to do things right. Yup. It didn’t directly affect me more than once cause I was on the second floor, but my previous landlords basement flooded with sewage every time it rained because she refused to pay a plumber to properly clean out the roots in the pipes, and just kept having it snaked over and over. When I heard gurgling in the basement toilet I immediately forked over the $1200 to fix it right.
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Dec 29, 2021 04:21
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I just clicked on this thread for the first time since page three and had a few moments of extreme confusion before looking at the post date.Cheesemaster200 posted:The fed currently has the discount rate at .25% right? That is a historical low because they want private (non-government) banks to lend, increasing the amount of credit available to the entire system. This is also because the fed wants to help the housing industry by making low-interest loans available to the general public with the thought that if interest rates are at sub-5%, more people can afford a house (which is correct), and more people will subsequently buy. This works out for the banks as well as the housing market as the banks are originating more loans and making more money, and more houses are being sold.
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Dec 30, 2021 19:48
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Got my house keys today. Yay. Only noticed today that non-master bedrooms have no lights. Lol.
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Dec 31, 2021 02:04
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pokie posted:Got my house keys today. Yay. Only noticed today that non-master bedrooms have no lights. Lol. Switched outlet bedrooms were pretty common prior to the.... 80s? Anyway, most ceiling lights are awful so just get some good floor/table lamps and put 'em on the switched outlets!
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Dec 31, 2021 02:12
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GoGoGadgetChris posted:Switched outlet bedrooms were pretty common prior to the.... 80s? We were thinking of getting some track lights. The kitchen has them and they seem neat. It's all vaulted ceilings so they seem to make more sense than more traditional lights.
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Dec 31, 2021 02:20
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GoGoGadgetChris posted:Switched outlet bedrooms were pretty common prior to the.... 80s? Lamps are bullshit, I just spent the money to get actual civilized ceiling lights installed.
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Dec 31, 2021 03:13
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Tell me about refinancing? I'm 3 years into my 30 year at 4.5%. I want to take advantage of the low rates and not gently caress up. We hope to sell and move eventually, so I'm looking at options that say I have a lower interest rate and payment and give me a bunch of cash. Is that the best way to do this? edit- I figure "buying" has more money questions but now I'm realizing home ownership thread may be better. But this is the kind of poo poo you are buying into people!
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Dec 31, 2021 03:32
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Current rates for people with great credit are around 3%. At 4.5% you should probably refi ASAP, unless you plan to sell within two years. There are calculators online you can punch your exact numbers into to find out how long it will take to break even on the refi.
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Dec 31, 2021 05:45
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Thoughts on how or whether to split property title rights with an unmarried partner? I am planning to buy a home in the next year or so and my partner has said she will not be able contribute to the deposit or be a signatory on the mortgage. However she will be contributing to the mortgage payments, I guess 50%, and I guess also contributing to upkeep. Mortgages in Switzerland are interest-only so paying half the payments seems fair for half the use of the property. When we buy the property we will have to designate who owns what share of it. I kinda think if she is not on the hook for the mortgage or initial equity then the ownership would be 100% me, but that does also seem a bit unfair if it increases in value. Any advice on what would be reasonable? For additional info we do already own a holiday home together, I put in 3/4 of the deposit which is 50% of the value, and she put in 1/4. We are both on the mortgage and pay 1/2 each. The title is split 3/4 me and 1/4 her. I've paid for 3/4 of big expenses like a new terrace. Because of the interest-only mortgages and low interest rates we would pay approximately half of our current rent if we bought. Swiss tax makes it optimal to keep property roughly 66% mortgaged as the payments are tax deductible. Property is expensive here so I feel we need to get this right. We're pretty tight and not likely to split up, but also not intending to get married.
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Dec 31, 2021 11:37
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knox_harrington posted:Thoughts on how or whether to split property title rights with an unmarried partner?
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Dec 31, 2021 13:35
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knox_harrington posted:Thoughts on how or whether to split property title rights with an unmarried partner? Talk to an attorney. Only they can help you navigate the vagaries of Swiss law on these topics.
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Dec 31, 2021 14:11
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I have a lawyer, which is unusual for Swiss property transactions, but as with the last time we bought they'll just ask how we want to split it - and that's what I'm mulling over. Not what's legally possible, but what's fair?
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Dec 31, 2021 16:21
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knox_harrington posted:I have a lawyer, which is unusual for Swiss property transactions, but as with the last time we bought they'll just ask how we want to split it - and that's what I'm mulling over. Not what's legally possible, but what's fair? I think folks' point with the lawyer is not just to figure out what is legally possible, but to work with them to understand all of the legal consequences of your options. As long as you stay together and\or your financials are aligned, it probably doesn't matter, so what you need to find out from the lawyer is what the consequences are if you don't stay together or your financials are no longer aligned. In other words, if you're trying to be fair, then figure out what position you'll both be in with your various options of split ownership, and whether that reflects the contributions and risk you have respectively taken on for this asset. One of the things that can be most challenging is if one person wants to sell and the other doesn't - how would that be navigated there in the case of split ownership? If you don't know, that's something to walk through with the lawyer.
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Dec 31, 2021 17:01
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If you were in the USA I would beg you to get married. The laws are all setup to help you out if you sign two sheets of paper down at the clerks office. If you don't want to do that you need to go an attorney and have them draft up 10's to 100 of sheets of paper to recreate all of the nuance of the law. If I were you? Contract that you get get the down payment back dollar for dollar and you split any remainder 50/50. Title is divided 50/50 with what amounts to a lien by you. But Swiss. Don't forget you have to draw out what conditions can force a buy out, how to value that buy out, can one party force a sale if they can't afford to buy you out, the list goes on. Are you selling the chalet?
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Dec 31, 2021 17:47
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knox_harrington posted:I have a lawyer, which is unusual for Swiss property transactions, but as with the last time we bought they'll just ask how we want to split it - and that's what I'm mulling over. Not what's legally possible, but what's fair? IANAL, but In the US, it doesn’t matter what you think is fair. If the judge thinks it’s sufficiently unfair, they can modify the contract on the back end. Hence why I’d suggest an attorney who knows what the local judge thinks. To actually answer your question, I’d say each party gets dollar for dollar what they put in initially and split whatever’s left either in half or proportionate to income earned while holding the property.
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Dec 31, 2021 18:56
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H110Hawk posted:If you were in the USA I would beg you to get married. The laws are all setup to help you out if you sign two sheets of paper down at the clerks office. If you don't want to do that you need to go an attorney and have them draft up 10's to 100 of sheets of paper to recreate all of the nuance of the law. Cohabitation ownership agreements are not that complicated. On both our our properties they are 3 pages. Could be more complicated in other states but it is pretty straight forward to define the upfront ownership, payment split, equity gain, etc. and have the court completely understand it. If it isn't a 50/50 split marriage actually would screw over the party bringing more to the table.
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Jan 1, 2022 03:03
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House built in 1920, on the extreme low end of the scale, probably a rental for the last 50+ years, in Wilmington, NC, what are the chances it even has insulation, let alone asbestos insulation? Looks like they maybe put new paneling in the front room in the 70s, and I guess asbestos should be suspected in any house not built after 1990 Want to toss two much larger windows in the front room, bay window to replace another window. If there's asbestos in the exterior walls that means I need to remove it when adding new bracing etc Of suspect is the fact that the exterior siding and roof look like they've not been touched (besides a coat of paint) since asbestos regulations went into effect
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Jan 2, 2022 14:09
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At that age off the top of my head things I would want to clear in that house before messing with them: drywall/plaster, flooring tile and mastic, siding, roofing and mastic, wiring, ventilation ducting, boiler/furnace insulation, attic insulation. Basically unless it was wood or metal I would consider it asbestos until proven otherwise.
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Jan 2, 2022 16:19
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I'm finally at the point in my life when buying a place makes sense but goddamn it seems it's at the worst possible time. Are listings "as-is" giant red flags? I have my eye on a place that looks like a recent remodel but I'm wary on that note in the listing. Of course I wouldn't waive inspection on it, but are slapdash cover-up-the-problem renos typical for those kinds of listings?
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Jan 4, 2022 17:34
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Not a Children posted:I'm finally at the point in my life when buying a place makes sense but goddamn it seems it's at the worst possible time. Could be a red flag, could be someone who doesn't want to mess around with repairs and punch lists and would prefer to simply negotiate a price and be done with the place.
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Jan 4, 2022 17:37
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Not a Children posted:Are listings "as-is" giant red flags? I have my eye on a place that looks like a recent remodel but I'm wary on that note in the listing. Of course I wouldn't waive inspection on it, but are slapdash cover-up-the-problem renos typical for those kinds of listings? I looked at a lot of flipper refurbs last year and some of them were shockingly bad. One being listed "as is" would make me think they were trying to refurb it and found problems that were not economic to fix and want to make it someone else's problem.
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Jan 4, 2022 18:34
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Not a Children posted:I'm finally at the point in my life when buying a place makes sense but goddamn it seems it's at the worst possible time. There's a lot of reasons why a house could be as is. Another common reason is the previous owner died and whoever is selling the house doesn't want to mess around with repairs. We did see a ton of horrible flipped houses during our search but they wern't typically listed As Is.
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Jan 4, 2022 18:45
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Is there a resource online to see the historic times a train passes a given set of railroad tracks? Typing that out makes me realize how sketchy that could be... Just window shopping right now but near downtown there's a new community of houses popping up a few blocks from a set of train tracks.
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Jan 4, 2022 19:15
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Aexo posted:Is there a resource online to see the historic times a train passes a given set of railroad tracks? Typing that out makes me realize how sketchy that could be... Just window shopping right now but near downtown there's a new community of houses popping up a few blocks from a set of train tracks. If you figure out who owns the line they will publish schedules. IIRC the last time I researched this I was able to find a CSA route schedule pretty easily.
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Jan 4, 2022 19:20
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Aexo posted:Is there a resource online to see the historic times a train passes a given set of railroad tracks? Typing that out makes me realize how sketchy that could be... Just window shopping right now but near downtown there's a new community of houses popping up a few blocks from a set of train tracks. Only for scheduled service; most trains are freight and the companies don't publish that stuff that I'm aware of.
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Jan 4, 2022 19:20
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Not a Children posted:Are listings "as-is" giant red flags? I mean technically, all houses are "as-is." Unless they lie on the disclosures, you're buying the house and all the problems that come along with it. Most markets are still pretty hot seller's markets right now, so "as-is" might just mean they don't want to gently caress around with people bickering over little things. Also could mean that they would favor offers that waive inspections/other contingencies. Could also mean that there are a poo poo-ton of problems and they know it, but you wouldn't know until you start digging in to it. Not a Children posted:I have my eye on a place that looks like a recent remodel but I'm wary on that note in the listing. Of course I wouldn't waive inspection on it, but are slapdash cover-up-the-problem renos typical for those kinds of listings? Eh, could be a few reasons. If it's a flip, it means they've done a half-assed job. This is the rule, not the exception. Flippers make money by cutting corners and doing things that look passable on the surface but are poo poo-shows underneath. If it was done recently by the current long-time owner, could be they just never updated it and did it because they knew they had to in order to sell the place. Won't be great, but probably won't be as bad as a flipper. If it was done a while ago by the current owner, they probably did a good job knowing they were going to live with it for a while. If the renovations were enough to require a permit, you could probably look it up to find out when it was done (if the listing isn't clear about when they did the work).
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Jan 4, 2022 19:53
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I would not even bother with an "as is" house that I believed was being flipped. As part of an estate sale, perhaps, but not a flipped house.
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Jan 4, 2022 20:14
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You should absolutely check the following: 1. When was it last sold? 2. Who is (or was) the owner, and if you google their name + town, did you find an obituary? Or perhaps did you find they work in real estate? 3. When was the renovation done, and if it was significant, were permits pulled where necessary? Basically all houses here are effectively sold as-is anyways, the difference being whether the buyer states it or if it's part of an offer. I didn't see a flip that has listed as-is when I was looking--they've all been either estate sales or gut/demolish jobs.
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Jan 4, 2022 20:47
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Picking up the keys tomorrow, time to find everything wrong that I missed 
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Jan 5, 2022 03:04
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Aexo posted:Is there a resource online to see the historic times a train passes a given set of railroad tracks? Typing that out makes me realize how sketchy that could be... Just window shopping right now but near downtown there's a new community of houses popping up a few blocks from a set of train tracks. The closer you are to the tracks and the more frequent the trains are the faster you get completely desensitized to it. AMA about living within 100 yards of a railroad and a fire station and sleeping like a dead man.
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Jan 5, 2022 03:11
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RoyalScion posted:Picking up the keys tomorrow, time to find everything wrong that I missed Congrats on your new money sink. We got our keys on the 30th, and I am estimating about 30-40k of work at this point.
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Jan 5, 2022 03:51
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pokie posted:Congrats on your new money sink. We got our keys on the 30th, and I am estimating about 30-40k of work at this point. And what do you have planned after remodeling the half bathroom?
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Jan 5, 2022 03:54
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Not a Children posted:I'm finally at the point in my life when buying a place makes sense but goddamn it seems it's at the worst possible time. Read the disclosure carefully. Note jobs that are not specifically described as having been done by a professional, and assume you'll need a professional to fix what they did wrong. Our basement "was sealed". but that seal was a layer of putty over dirt that popped during the first big storm and turned it into a river.
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Jan 5, 2022 03:58
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GoGoGadgetChris posted:And what do you have planned after remodeling the half bathroom? lol, i am only adding fart vents to the 3 bathrooms. The major list is like: 15k for the drainage/crawlspace job ~11-12k on hvac maybe 2k electric, 1k dishwasher, 2k garage stuff
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Jan 5, 2022 04:04
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The main things I have planned are repainting the living room, then fixing whatever weird rear end hack job the previous owner did to the old cabinetry there; they tore a bunch out to put in a w/d unit but the last remaining cabinet there is a mess so I need to fix up the area. Also fix the cooking exhaust tubing.
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Jan 5, 2022 07:22
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Thanks all for input re: the as-is clause. Looks like the previous buyer purchased the house for $145k last January. They listed it for $365k this year - a clear flip. They redid the kitchen and bathrooms, new appliances, central A/C and a roof deck. No pictures of the basement so I have to assume that's a disaster. Went from being on my short list to "meh" when I thought it all through. I mostly don't want to give this investment firm the pleasure of a $220k profit
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Jan 6, 2022 16:07
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Our agent kept suggesting we list our place that just sold "as-is" but we were very resistant to that because it seemed like it would throw up a red flag. We'd done some work on it when we moved in because we intended to live in it for at least a few years, and then my husband got orders. In our case, we knew the deck needed some work but not the extent of it, and had neither the time nor inclination to get into it since we'd already moved out of the country. I imagine most of the people who are brave enough to put "as-is" in their listing are just those who don't want to screw around with fixing things, but drastic price increases are a pretty good sign of flippers regardless of what the listing says.
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Jan 6, 2022 16:18
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When I sold my place last year I didn't even have to list it as is if I didn't want to mess around fixing stuff because all the offers waived inspection contingencies.
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Jan 6, 2022 16:44
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Not a Children posted:Thanks all for input re: the as-is clause. Looks like the previous buyer purchased the house for $145k last January. They listed it for $365k this year - a clear flip. They redid the kitchen and bathrooms, new appliances, central A/C and a roof deck. No pictures of the basement so I have to assume that's a disaster. Went from being on my short list to "meh" when I thought it all through. I mostly don't want to give this investment firm the pleasure of a $220k profit Yup, classic signs of a flip. Bought for cheap a short while ago, updated a bunch of stuff, listed for a shitload. I would keep clear of it. Best case you're spending time/money fixing the flipper's half-assed work and replacing the cheap poo poo they installed, worst case there's a bunch of un-permitted work with serious code violations hidden underneath the veneer that will make the place dangerous to live in.
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Jan 6, 2022 16:46
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BigPaddy posted:When I sold my place last year I didn't even have to list it as is if I didn't want to mess around fixing stuff because all the offers waived inspection contingencies. Same. Of course, when we bought we had some requests. 
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Jan 6, 2022 16:50
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