The Home Ownership Thread - Page 42

Not all DIY is bad, but some people really are not qualified for it. Sounds like you really got in deep with this house? What redeeming qualities does it have?

agreed but this guy was not qualified. basement just has cheap, poorly assembled walls and power setup. Basement is big and finishing it would be a nice thing to do down the road, but foundation and structure are in great shape, desirable neighborhood at a great price, walk to parks, close to "downtown", 4br plus finished attic, 2 bath with plumbing ready for another half we'll put in right away. 

Sounds like it will be nice after you discard all of the old owners work

has anyone appealed a property tax assesment? ours just went up about 6% which seems a bit high.

Yep, although we have a firm that does that for us on a contingency basis. Generally they're former employees of the appraisal district and know the system. Some years we get savings, other years nothing, but it beats just taking the increases.

Any one bought a HUD home or other house that needed repairs? Worried about my ability to get financing on it

PSA, thought this was a good spot:

Had to stop at Home Depot yesterday, they have a nice DeWalt drill for 1/2 price @ $99. Online you can even get free shipping...


http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202019943/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053


I picked one up, seems to work really well. I doesn't have the hammer feature, but I have a Bosch hammer drill anyway so it didn't matter.

I have a big project I plan to do in a couple of years to finish this house off right. Thinking of adding a whole house generator onto the list.

has anybody made the switch to a tankless water heater recently. We'll be putting in a new one and moving to a tankless seems like a no-brainer as far as energy/cost savings and lifespan of the equipment. I know to get something with a proper GPM for my household but can anyone speak to a certain brand to purchase or avoid?

Pio, Generator is a beautiful thing to have in place when the need arises. Great idea.

You might consider an AO Smith Vertex:

that is an intense promo

This is just another water tank system, which is the dumb and wasteful idea. Sort of like top-loading washers.
Definitely go tankless.
The idea that they are selling that without tank you cannot have enough hot water during peak demands is simply baseless marketing lie.

Last I checked, tankless water heaters took a decade or more (often two decades) to pay for themselves. But in the meantime you get to enjoy water that's not consistently hot and doesn't flow enough to shower while washing dishes. A guy I know swears by them--but he has three in his house.

Around here the attics are so damn hot most of the year, water heaters don't have much work to do to keep their tanks hot.

 tank style water heaters are $350-1000 with a lifespan of 12 years, tank-less are $800-1400 with a 20 year lifespan and energy cost savings of 30% or about $100/yr for a 2 person home, savings seem substantial enough for me. Price varies with volume for tank-style and output (gpm) for the tank-less. If your friend has 3 it's because he probably bought multiple lower priced units small outputs,