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Highbrow Slick posted:Bought a condo last September 2018 for 158k This hurts me somehow. Is choosing to live in one of the nicest parts of the country a mistake?
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Dec 1, 2019 05:50
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Steve Yun posted:Anyone know how to find a good air conditioner and installer for a townhouse condo in Los Angeles? My natural instinct is to go to Costco but I wanted to see if there’s anything better Costco/Lennox in my area (Central Coast) is not the cheapest, but most of my quotes seemed very high. Ranging from $7000 for Airtemp 3 ton Seer 14 to $12000 for Trane 2.5 ton SEER 14. Costco Lennox fell in at $8000 (after costco rebates) for Seer 16 4ton. I called about 10 places, 7 answered or returned calls, 4 bid, 1 wasn't interested in the job, 1 wasn't available for bids and 1 I passed on but may still have come out for another bid. I'd probably go with the Trane install if I could get them down to $8000, otherwise it will probably be Costco/Lennox. There is an HVAC thread in DIY https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3761260&pagenumber=38#lastpost
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May 10, 2020 04:09
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Sundae posted:I put out a refinance loan info request through Better (god, that was a mistake), and my current lender (Rocket Mortgage) reached out to me about running numbers on a refinance. They literally just tried to grab free money for nothing. I'm at 3.5% right now, and they came back offering 2.75%, for the low low price of $51K. They proposed a massive point buy-down from a starting interest rate of 4.25% (six loving points) as if that was going to convince me that it was worth it to save... $350 per month. What went wrong with Better? I spent the 10 minutes needed to get a competitive quote on my refi on friday and they beat my local lender by ~$4k. 2.75% on both but Better was offering $2200 in credits and $1800 lower apples to apples closing costs. I'm at 3.75% now so either way I'll be knocking ~$300 off my P&I.
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Jan 10, 2021 07:40
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Tezer posted:It's not a perfect way to judge, but installers will have a 'rating' from the manufacturer - I think it's based on completing training and sales volume, but I'm not 100% sure. Fujitsu i think calls it 'elite' and Mitsubishi calls it 'diamond' I think. So that's a good first pass to find a contractor if you have a particular brand in mind. Mistubishi recently signed some sort of deal with the devil (Trane) which seems like it might destroy their existing dealer network and presence in the US.
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Mar 25, 2021 19:07
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Anonymous Zebra posted:Hey guys, I have somewhat of an interior design question. Please let me know if there would be a better place to ask this. My wife and I have been thinking about renovating our kitchen, and we are in the "planning & budgeting" phase (a.k.a. we are sitting pretty waiting to see if the huge jump in contractor costs starts to drop off at some point). There is a home that showed up on Zillow that my wife looked at the photos of and mentioned that she really loves the kitchen aesthetic**. In the normal times I'd go to an open house so I could actually look closely at the materials and appliances they used to try to figure out what it all is, but we are unable to gain access to the home and I only have the pictures from Zillow to work with. Queen Victorian posted:To be brutally honest, the only thing I think is good about this kitchen in particular is the stove, which looks like a vintage O'Keefe & Merritt from the 40's or 50's (please get a vintage stove and let me live vicariously through you (my husband wants a modern one Do not get a vintage stove. If you do get ready for all guest's first words in your house to be 'gas leak?'. They are inaccurate, they have six to ten pilot lights, the ovens are tiny, the stove top burners are amazing. No really those side by side ovens are tiny and you will hate it. Looking closely at the picture, the stove has a center griddle, which you will likely never use (they're a bitch to clean). There are six burner variants, at least from Wedgewood, which are far more useful. Try to figure out if the vintage look is what caught your eye, or the white enamel, or it not looking like every other mid range stainless steel six burner stove. Besides that, if that style of kitchen is your thing go for it. In the particular example I noticed a bit of clash between the marble or synthetic stone countertop and the faux redbrick backsplash and hideous floor. Commit to one or the other, hideous faux brick, or hideous synthetic stone. I think that's a farmhouse sink, very popular of late. Can be inconvenient for normal sized things, if you're not regularly dressing whole turkeys you may not need such a big single basin. I mean, at this point the need for a sink is minimal since the dishwasher cleans everything. I'd recommend talking alot with your spouse about the parts you/they really like in those photos. Reference those things against design magazines, manufacturer websites, etc, until you can easily say "I want x, with y, in z color". Leave out anything you don't care about. Keep in mind those are shot with a very wide angle lens, that kitchen is not that big, and they've likely taken steps to minimize the presence of the normal black fridge, though I don't think that's a bad thing, it goes with the black cabinets. edit: considered leaving a note on their door or writing them a letter asking who their contractor is? Just a few minutes of your time and maybe you'll get all the info you ever wanted. edit2: just read your post in the home buying thread: lol Aquila fucked around with this message at 06:12 on Apr 18, 2021 |
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Apr 18, 2021 06:01
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BigPaddy posted:In other news was quoted $40k for a solar system with a battery that covers 100% of my expected usage. It is a lot but considering this is Phoenix and I will be running the AC all the time it should pay for it self several times over especially once I take the tax credits into account. Any thoughts? I am shopping solar right now too and there appears to be no solar thread. $40k is going to be a large system, what are the specs? I have been quoted between $11k and $16.5k for 2.9-4.2kWh systems from various contractors. This is without storage. 8-12 panels, 295-370 Watt panels, string and micro inverters, I've run the gamut of options and can't decide if I want it at all. I'm on the California central coast, so my sunlight is good but not great. I have AC, but overall my usage is low, at least compared to Arizona. In California I'll have to go onto a net metering plan, but I do get grandfathered in to the current rate policies for 20 years from system turn on. Financing seems like a huge scam, look out for fine print.
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Apr 29, 2021 00:39
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BigPaddy posted:The prices are before any tax credits so the system with a battery would get me $10k back in federal this year as well as some AZ credits/exemptions. I am in APS and their export rate is 10.45 per KWH sent back to the grid. This is through Sunrun via Costco so I would get a 15% Costco card as well reducing the overall cost. I will get some more quotes and see what I get. Sunrun/Costco was the highest bid ($/kWh) I got and the panels selected seemed to be midrange at best. When I called them out on this their response was "we're the best, Costco, biggest, Costco, the panels are the best on the market, Costco, our roof penetration warranty is the best, Costco"  In California we have this useful site that lists recent solar installs by zipcode: https://www.californiadgstats.ca.gov/find_installer/ it helped me get a handle on expected range of $/kWh and find another installer who's active in the area to get a quote from.
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Apr 29, 2021 20:37
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Pilfered Pallbearers posted:Anyone have good recommendations to shop for bed frames? I want something that’s solid and nice, and not garbage sawdust wood. Sadly I have restrictions that make this hard. I have the perfect thing for you, but it may be impossible to find. https://www.pacificmfg.com/platform-beds.html This brand has a bunch of nice hardwood bed frames in several styles for very reasonable prices. I got the Solstice Cal-King Size in the Cherry finish for about $1000 from a local furniture store. You can add storage for not too much more. The furniture store doesn't even list this brand on their website, so you'd probably have to call the manufacturer to find a local dealer (unless you're in SLO, then https://www.shoprandr.com/).
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May 6, 2021 20:29
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Zarin posted:*glances at thread title* Apparently the Harbor Freight ones are fine. I have a Home Depot Husky one and I like ithttps://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3823532&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=26#post511384499 . Milwaukee are also fine.
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Oct 10, 2021 09:04
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PageMaster posted:This may be more of a business/finance question, but since it's home specific I figured I'd ask here. Early last year I was considering solar due to the upcoming NEM changes, some of the installers offered financing, but it ended up being much more expensive then paying cash. I can only assume rates have gone up to make it worse right now. If you're really interested I can try to find some of the offers to see what the terms were.
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Apr 12, 2022 05:34
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