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$16.7k/yr for a 3yo here. I saw a daycare teacher post that around June the families with kids aging into actual school would start pulling up in new cars.
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Feb 23, 2024 14:49
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Yeah $16k/year here. This summer is the end of it though! Aging into kindergarten!!!
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Feb 23, 2024 15:25
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Depending on where you live "Why was the lot not built" could be as simple as "There is a lot of land around here". Especially if you're in the midwest, there is no shortage of perfectly reasonable buildable land within reasonable distance of urban areas. It's not like parts of California or the East coast, there's lots of space. Even east coast isn't bad if you get out of the dense parts. However I've known probably a half dozen people in the last 10 years who built their own including a close collegue who just moved in 2 weekends ago. It's going to be 1. More expensive than they tell you. Some of this is because you're going to go "Yeah, actually we should change this thing", some of it will be because contractors always think things will be simpler than they are, some of it is because prices are really volatile. Add at least 20% to what they tell you, it could go above that. Everyone of those people I know started the project thinking it was going to be cheaper than buying a comparable, maybe 2 were right but all spent way over what they originally thought. 2. It's going to take longer than they say. The last guy's was 18+ months late and he had to live at an in-laws family cabin for almost 3 years. I've never even heard of someone who knows someone who had a new build finish on time. 3. It'll be a giant pain in the rear end. In my sample of 6, 3 of them had to either bring their contractors to court or hire a lawyer to write up a credible threat. They all had to go through months of fiddly poo poo to get their CoO and none of them were building in areas that were known to be particularly picky (no historical areas or anything). If you don't stay on top of it and do the work from your side it's going to take longer or you'll end up unhappy with the finished result. 4. Of those 6, 3 of them ended up selling (at least 1 at a big loss, the other 2 were probably close) within ~5 years. There's various reasons but I think people sometimes get themselves psyched that this custom house is going to be perfect and then when they have to inevitably compromise on stuff they get deflated really quickly. I don't think this applies to OPs situation but even the outcome of building can be disappointing. I'm not saying it might not be the way to do it, but if you have 3-5 years I would be shocked if "save money and just buy a house that comes up in that neighborhood even if I need to spend more on some remodel" wouldn't be the easier/cheaper route. Again, not trying to dogpile but just making sure you're thinking through all options.
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Feb 23, 2024 15:25
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Cyrano4747 posted:My BIL did the math once on how much he's saved living near his mother and being able to drop his daughter off with her. Just child care expenses, not even getting into poo poo like having a reliable baby sitter. It was loving insane. Like, they're putting a serious dent into college savings by just auto-depositing a fraction of the annual costs in their area for the child care they aren't shelling out for. full time infant for us is $34K/yr
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Feb 23, 2024 15:36
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Yeah, the 2yo is just shy of $400/wk, at least her older brother is in kindergarten now. She has two more years before kindergarten. Except he's T1D, so we're hitting that out of pocket max every year. Really glad we bought pre pandemic, and lucked into an amazing school district with everyone on board for his 504 for his diabetes care. Our nurse didn't have experience with having a T1D kid, so they brought a nurse over from another school to get her up to speed on it (she's been a nurse for like 20 years, just not in the school).
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Feb 23, 2024 15:53
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Sure am glad the Dependent Care FSA limits have kept track with rising childcare costs, going from $5,000 in 1986 to $5,000 in 2024.
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Feb 23, 2024 15:58
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Shifty Pony posted:Sure am glad the Dependent Care FSA limits have kept track with rising childcare costs, going from $5,000 in 1986 to $5,000 in 2024. It would / should be $14k in 2024.
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Feb 23, 2024 16:41
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Lockback posted:. Again, not trying to dogpile but just making sure you're thinking through all options. No, thank you, this kind of post is extremely helpful. It's a weird rear end time to want to move. My wife and I have top level credit scores, decent salaries for the state we are in, and a fair bit if equity for the area but loan rates are absolute dogshit and most of the houses I see for sale near us are either mcmansiony plastic junk species houses or . . .let's say extremely "as is." We've got to move though at some point because when I bought our current place years and years ago kids weren't in the picture so I took advantage of the "great house in bad school zone" premium. Now there's a six month old though and I'd sure as hell rather be in a good school zone than pay for private schools. So, exploring my options. Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at 17:46 on Feb 23, 2024 |
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Feb 23, 2024 17:39
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:It's a weird rear end time to want to move. My wife and I have top level credit scores, decent salaries for the state we are in, and a fair bit if equity for the area but loan rates are absolute dogshit and most of the houses I see for sale near us are either mcmansiony plastic junk species houses or . . .let's say extremely "as is." It's important to realize that the current "dogshit" rates are still very low, historically. Everyone got used to near-zero Fed rates meaning cheap loans and mortgages, but that phenomenon is unique to the past ~15 years of US history. While everyone is expecting the Fed to drop interest rates sometime in 2024, there's no obligation for them to do so, and it's always possible something will come up that makes them decide not to. Plus, they may not drop them by much, maybe only .05% or something. In other words, I wouldn't necessarily expect to be able to get a better mortgage (cheaper monthly payment, or larger loan size for the same payment) if you wait.
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Feb 23, 2024 17:51
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Some school advice too (which, don't take this as gospel but just a guy who has kids 9 and 13 in an urban area): You have a little more time than you think. Depending on how bad the schools are, most of the time K-2 mostly doesn't matter and your own engagement at home is WAY more important than school quality. When you get past 2nd grade it starts to matter more and more. Outside of "This school is not safe" I feel like you might have more flexibility than you think. Depends on the area but I'd personally would feel better having my kid in a sub-par Kindergarten or First grade then feel like I need to make a panic move. Also, do the math. New construction or regular loan, you might spend more money per year on this new loan than you'd spend on a private school. I knew a couple people who got penny wise and pound foolish on that too. While I personally don't like the institution of private schools you also need to do the right things for you and your family.
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Feb 23, 2024 18:02
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:In other words, I wouldn't necessarily expect to be able to get a better mortgage (cheaper monthly payment, or larger loan size for the same payment) if you wait. Oh absolutely! Which is why I'm beginning to look now. But it's weighing a 3% and nearly paid off mortgage vs . . . Oww Lockback posted:Some school advice too (which, don't take this as gospel but just a guy who has kids 9 and 13 in an urban area): Unfortunately the schools are really genuinely awful. Southern state . Different parts of my town have some of the best ranked schools in the country and some of the worst in the country, just an absolutely massive divide. And there ate various diversion and honor school type programs but you have to start young; other parents have been telling me about them but it's all absurdly complicated. I'm not wholly against private schools in the abstract but a house is a much more concrete investment. Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at 18:09 on Feb 23, 2024 |
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Feb 23, 2024 18:04
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:either mcmansiony plastic junk species houses or . . .let's say extremely "as is." Exciting opportunity rare dream you will love
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Feb 23, 2024 20:01
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Epitope posted:Exciting opportunity rare dream you will love quote:Discover the allure of history in this pre-Civil War mansion! . . .Immerse yourself in culture and history while enjoying modern conveniences like a new roof and replaced windows.
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Feb 23, 2024 20:23
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I saw a neat video of someone who found an old border "fort" (not like actual fortifications, it was a house-shaped building that the military used as a base of operations) that had been in continual inhabitation since its creation close to 200 years ago. They put a poo poo-ton of effort into restoring it while preserving as much of the original structure as possible. In the process they found a ton of Civil War-era relics, and noted that you could go digging basically anywhere in the yard and find something from a century+ ago. I'm sure any Europeans reading this thread will think "only 200 years?" but that's pretty drat legit history for this country.
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Feb 23, 2024 21:21
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Reminds me of this snippet from a listing in my area I saw yesterday... as I imagine a bathroom taking up the full basement with separate entrance access.Redfin listing posted:The unfinished basement has a separate entrance and options for additional living space, potential rental, or second bathroom?!
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Feb 23, 2024 21:23
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I am doing due diligence again on another potentially massive money pit. The facts: Asking price: $250k Built in 1892 4000 sq ft main house ~2000 sq ft carriage house, includes second floor apartment. Listing doesn't give exact measurements for carriage house. Third floor ballroom was converted to an apartment at some point. County has it listed as multi family, but that may be an artifact of the carriage house and the home occupying multiple lots. Or the ballroom apartment. In historic district, good location. Safe, near a magnet school, businesses moving in, etc. Most of the roof replaced 6 years ago. Old mechanicals I think the PO died partway through renovation, but the name is hard to google. Neighborhood sales prices in the past two years with square footage greater than 3000: 210k, 3100 sqft 260k, 3200 sqft 305k, 11500 sqft (was a church, I suspect the footage has something up with it making it an outlier) 325k, 3300 sqft 335k, 4500 sqft My main goals are to find out exactly how much work is still undone and get estimates. If the work is mostly cosmetic, I'll consider buying. If not, I'll find something cheaper. This appears to be in better condition than the previous, but that is a very low bar. Question: Has anyone disputed a property valuation before and how much of a nightmare is it? I've looked up the process in my state and it seems like an uphill battle. On the other hand, the property is valued by the county at close to 500k and lowering that to close to market value will save a lot of money. Nothing in the neighborhood can support that valuation, despite the recent upswing. And, of course, I welcome any potential problems anyone finds. You all have been very helpful in general.
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Feb 24, 2024 02:20
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pointlesspart posted:I am doing due diligence again on another potentially massive money pit. This will be a massive money pit, beginning and end of story, as are all houses of this and older vintage. If you are into renovating old properties to their former glory / enjoy un-loving 132 years of Garys sins / have a burning desire to gut and rebuild the place in order to insulate, rewire, modernize generally, then I strongly suggest you buy it. The likelihood that the work is "mostly cosmetic" is vanishingly unlikely and unless you are literally The Most Handy Person Alive you will be best friends with your local tradesmen, to the point of getting invited over for Christmas and serving as the godparent to their children. Some things that are guaranteed to be present in varying amounts:
It will cost an absolute fortune to keep at a comfortable temperature assuming it is in a place that gets cold. Honestly, I would consider the property valuation the least of your concerns, your best bet to get an answer there is to give the local government a call and find out what the process looks like.
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Feb 24, 2024 03:54
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skybolt_1 posted:
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Feb 24, 2024 04:08
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pointlesspart posted:I am doing due diligence again on another potentially massive money pit. Let me put it this way: yesterday we discovered a very nasty problem with the plumbing in our house that is going to require something between high four figures and low five figures to fix. The sort of work that will likely require jackhammers and gutting a bathroom. The reason? Because plumbers in the 60s, when our house was built, thought it was good and awesome to bury copper pipe in cement. Our house is 70 years old. The house you are thinking of buying is almost twice that. So, you know, hope you like expensive surprises.
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Feb 24, 2024 04:10
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skybolt_1 posted:This will be a massive money pit, beginning and end of story, as are all houses of this and older vintage. If you are into renovating old properties to their former glory / enjoy un-loving 132 years of Garys sins / have a burning desire to gut and rebuild the place in order to insulate, rewire, modernize generally, then I strongly suggest you buy it. I have committed to nothing and not yet viewed the property. I have also noped out of other properties for being too expensive to fix, but you don't know they'll be too expensive without looking. It has only been on the market for a week, worth checking out. The neighborhood also provides a ballparkish estimate on costs to get a historic home in livable condition in this area, since some of those homes are fix and flips. Of course, conditions in those homes may be different, this one could have unsalvageable problems, etc. But on a more specific note, asbestos may not be an issue here. Large scale asbestos mining and construction only started in the 1880s and didn't really pick up till the 1900s, after 1910 for the middle classes. Granted, this was a rich man's home and asbestos was a fancy material, so he may have sprung for the good (bad) stuff. But it may still have been too early for that. Lead based paint and knob and tube are far more likely and I will still get everything tested for asbestos, if I even get that far. Later renovations can introduce it. Arsenic Lupin posted:You forgot "ancient plumbing that is at least 70 years past its expected lifespan". Bonus option: steam radiators that are *also* connected to plumbing 70 years past. Fortunately, I am friends with two plumbers. Unfortunately, neither can see through the walls.
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Feb 24, 2024 04:33
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Cyrano4747 posted:Let me put it this way: yesterday we discovered a very nasty problem with the plumbing in our house that is going to require something between high four figures and low five figures to fix. The sort of work that will likely require jackhammers and gutting a bathroom. The reason? Because plumbers in the 60s, when our house was built, thought it was good and awesome to bury copper pipe in cement. I've owned a 1894 house since 2007 (a smaller victorian style but still 130 years old). Honestly I haven't done anything more than people I know who had houses that were built in the 60s and even 80s have had to do. Old houses don't have to be bad because it's likely at various points things were updated. One of the positives is how well built the "permanent" things are. I'd be more concerned with the "4000 sqft" and historic district major renovation more than I would be about the age. No one here will be able to tell you anything, but as an owner of an old house I wouldn't let the age by itself scare you away. I did replace a bunch of horizontal plumbing with pex (the vertical stuff is still fine), but if stuff is accessible that isn't terribly expensive. Given the age you may want to check if the main water line is lead or not. Most of that has been mitigated away over time but its worth checking. Also see if you can find any covered features. I have an entire original brick little side wall covered in cheap drywall. A couple hundred in sealing and finishing and it's an amazing "pop".
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Feb 24, 2024 06:35
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poo poo, my house is that old, 1/4 the size, and cost a bit more than that. It's definitely on the cheap side of this neighborhood and most of the houses are in that age range. A similar place a block away sold for like $100k more a couple of months ago (granted, it has an updated interior). No regrets so far (I've only been here for half a year).
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Feb 24, 2024 13:01
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pointlesspart posted:I am doing due diligence again on another potentially massive money pit. Why are you, someone who doesn't have the skill to do manjor rennovations, still looking at houses like this? It was a terrible idea last time, and it's even more terrible this time. This house is undoubtedly worth $500k in good shape, but it's just about $600k away from being a $500k house. Not counting the purchase price. The old guy likely died after getting an estimate for fixing the foundation or replacing all the plumbing. pointlesspart posted:you don't know they'll be too expensive without looking. Yes, you absolutely can. Like when a very old house is being sold this far under market. pointlesspart posted:But on a more specific note, asbestos may not be an issue here. Large scale asbestos mining and construction only started in the 1880s and didn't really pick up till the 1900s, after 1910 for the middle classes. Granted, this was a rich man's home and asbestos was a fancy material, so he may have sprung for the good (bad) stuff. But it may still have been too early for that. Lead based paint and knob and tube are far more likely and I will still get everything tested for asbestos, if I even get that far. Later renovations can introduce it. Asbestos is absolutely an issue in every home that existed during the time asbestos materials were avilable and this house <checks notes> was around for the entire time. It doesn't matter who you're friends with unless your budget is "restoration level". Looking at homes like this is for wealthy people who can afford toburn several hundred thousand dollars more than any conceivable resale value over the course of several years as their passion project - while they live elsewhere. It doesn't seem that's the budget you have.
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Feb 24, 2024 15:43
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4000sqft on its own would be enough to scare me off, because that's a loving gigantic house. Not only will it cost more to heat/cool, but it's simply excessive volume that, for me, would just be 75+% empty. Do you have a plan to actually use that much space? And I don't mean the "oh we'll have three guest bedrooms and a theater room that we'll use once a year" kind of plan.
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Feb 24, 2024 16:19
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Unless that house is in San Diego, my gods the heating/cooling bills on a 19th century mansion
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Feb 24, 2024 17:23
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Just don't heat or cool the thing bing bong so simple
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Feb 24, 2024 17:40
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George H.W. oval office posted:Just don't heat or cool the thing bing bong so simple I could of course retrofit something in, but it's waaaaay below fixing the @#$@#$ septic system, the roof, and putting in solar.
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Feb 24, 2024 18:20
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Eric the Mauve posted:Unless that house is in San Diego, my gods the heating/cooling bills on a 19th century mansion Can confirm. My sister in law has a ~3,000 sqft, beat-up house from 1830 in Rhode Island. Her heating bill is $800 every three weeks.
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Feb 24, 2024 18:56
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Arsenic Lupin posted:This is actually the solution the people who built my home came up with. Okay, there used to be a pot-bellied stove in the kitchen as well as the fireplace. Now there's just a fireplace. We live in a super-moderate climate, but there are a few 40-degree days in the winter where you really feel it. It only gets really cold at night, and we all have fluffy comforters. if you mostly need it to sleep a mini split in the bedroom is the way to go.
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Feb 24, 2024 19:03
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spwrozek posted:if you mostly need it to sleep a mini split in the bedroom is the way to go. Yeah, those are pretty reasonable to install and even if your local electricity prices are high it's usually still really efficient/cost effective because you're heating/cooling locally. They are almost always a good bet for those situations.
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Feb 24, 2024 19:21
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quote:Fortunately, I am friends with two plumbers. Unfortunately, neither can see through the walls. quote:I still keep in touch with the plumber and the HVAC guy, they both go to my church. Not the others, I will have to give them a call to check availability before bidding. Which is a bit away, I have not viewed the property yet and will not until next Friday (the first day the GC was available). Ah, you're one of those guys
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Feb 24, 2024 19:55
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ikr, guys that go to church just to meet plumbers, uhg
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Feb 24, 2024 20:17
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Motronic posted:This house is just about $600k away from being a $500k house. Good thread title candidate Might have to use this over in the Nautical Insanity thread next time sometime brings up "hey I found this 50yo wooden sailing boat and it's FREE"
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Feb 24, 2024 20:25
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Is it acceptable to leave exposed drywall screws in my sold house? I don’t have matching paint, so don’t really see what else can be done about them To be fair we specifically included in the exclusions that this bathroom should would be removed and it’ll just be covered up if they replace the shelf
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Feb 24, 2024 21:36
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I'm honestly curious if it took more time for you to write this post than it would have to just apply drywall spackle
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Feb 24, 2024 21:38
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Well, everybody's freaking out but I gave this a low chance of being viable and, after viewing it, it is nonviable. The floor plan will not be easily subdividable and I don't need 3000+ square feet of personal space. You act like I already bought the place, instead of just doing a first pass look. Other fun facts: The lady who owns it broke her hip, she is still alive. Her husband died recently, unfortunately. There is a shaft from the second floor to the basement, without any intermediary stairs or door to the first floor. No idea how that happened. Asbestos free since 2003, according to the disclosures. I'll go back to my normal property search. Most of the properties I've looked at in the past 6 weeks have not been construction projects, the construction projects are the ones which generate questions that I can't answer just from internet searches.
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Feb 24, 2024 21:43
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Hadlock posted:I'm honestly curious if it took more time for you to write this post than it would have to just apply drywall spackle I would have to go get the spackle hadlock And is a bunch of non matching spackle really better then a potentially useable drywall anchor anyway
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Feb 24, 2024 21:58
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hobbez posted:I would have to go get the spackle hadlock At least here in California you have to mud/spackle the drywall seams to meet fire code, unless you use the magic-loophole tape. Or maybe I'm wrong
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Feb 24, 2024 22:27
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spwrozek posted:if you mostly need it to sleep a mini split in the bedroom is the way to go.
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Feb 24, 2024 23:03
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It should be exactly 72 at all times.
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Feb 24, 2024 23:44
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