The Home Ownership Thread

[JohnGalt]



I'm guessing this wasn't in Colorado?

My wife and I are beginning the process of looking at homes, having looked at 5 so far. The market is kind of crazy, at least around Boulder...

CT, PA and now in TX

 

[Fueco]

CT, PA and now in TX

My bad... I forgot about the Ouray connection to John Galt.

 

[Mr. Moo]

Guys - we are putting up a replacement retaining wall. Original thought is to replace the old, ****** 25+ year old pressure-treated wall with new pressure-treated wood, and veneer it with some nice redwood. Second thought is to put up a cement wall and veneer that with redwood. Price difference is about $5k. Thoughts?

Wall is holding up part of one side of a hillside driveway. The wall will be about 20 feet long with heights ranging from 3 to 6 feet.

 

[MrG]



G, my house is sound and that has happened to me to some extent.

Spoiler

After some time and plenty of settling on the part of the lumber used to construct the house, the drywall seems can show. This is also, in no small part, due to the fact that it's typical to use nails instead of screws to apply the drywall and also the installers rarely build up the coatings to a proper level.

I've spent quite a good amount of time fixing that and the worst place for it was in my stairwell. The walls were also showing plenty of unevenness.

The fix, for me, was to remove all of the popped nails and replace them with screws, then apply joint compound to all of the joints along the wall, drawing them out to about 12" or more on either side of the joint. I haven't had any re-appear and some of my work is now about 2-3 years old, and some of it a few months old (or weeks old) which is also still looking good.

I also *********** drywall in a few areas just to add some integrity to the connection between the drywall and studs.

I had a few cracks where the original installed omitted the use of joint tape, and so I had to tape those joints.

FWIW the difference between good joint compound and bad is very little, in terms of price, so buy the good stuff which makes life slightly easier.

It's alot of work, almost all of the expense is labor....so I use my own labor....which is free to me.

I'm a little behind on the thread (I guess I have to remember to pay attention to it again since I'm a homeowner again!), but thanks for the thoughts. What you're describing seems to match pretty well with the other reading I've done on it, and it's reassuring to hear firsthand that someone else had this issue and it wasn't a huge deal. I think I'm going to keep an eye on it to see how it changes with the seasons and go from there. One thing I will say is that it seems to have stopped changing, at least noticeably, so I can't help but wonder if the changes I saw were because people were living in it again (e.g. more humidity).

 

[Piobaire]



I'll buck the trend then. First purchase in 2006. Took a new job in 2009 and couldn't sell due to market nosedive. Still have it as a rental property that's cash flow negative (it evens out after principle) and still off by about 20% from purchase price. Second property is on the market right now and will likely take a loss. A neighbor sold last year and fucked up the comps. They had an offer at a good price, turned it down, sat on the market, put in a ton of money and then sold significantly below their original offer. It's a small town so comps are few. My new employer will cover 50% loss on sale.

Our prior house was similar. Rented it out for nearly four years, a light cash flow negative, sold about flat but then this year's tax return was ginourmous due to accumulated deprecation and passive loss (that was the plan). Factor in buying our current house way under even what the deflated market of early 2012 was and we wash out way, way ahead. Sometimes the whole picture is far more positive than just an isolated snap shot.

 

[Find Finn]



Sort of true. If we wanted there is much equity we could tap and we also get to live here so it fulfills a utilitarian purpose. In addition we also get to enjoy living here so there's a qualitative benefit too. But yeah, that gain is unrealized until sold. As we bought well under the appraised market value at the time it was like exercising a stock option to buy "in the money."

The equity could potentially create a deficit if the bottom falls out of the market, I have seen a lot of people becoming technically insolvent doing that.

 

[Piobaire]



The equity could potentially create a deficit if the bottom falls out of the market, I have seen a lot of people becoming technically insolvent doing that.

I didn't say it was necessarily wise to do just pointed out the possibility. Also, per your original comment, the loss would not be realized unless a sale happened in that situation.

 

[Find Finn]

Which is why it's called technically insolvent, as you are only insolvent upon selling.

 

[Mr. Moo]

Redfin estimates are kind of funny where I live...

$500,000 difference between price paid and what RedFin thinks it's worth, 6 months after buying.

 

[brokencycle]

Redfin estimates are kind of funny where I live...

$500,000 difference between price paid and what RedFin thinks it's worth, 6 months after buying.

Well, when you're buying $5M houses, that's only 10%

 

[GreenFrog]

Buncha BSD ballas up in dis joint.

 

[Mr. Moo]



Well, when you're buying $5M houses, that's only 10%

If only.

 

[dcg]

What amount of land is the minimum where you can get away with a riding mower without looking like a jackass? 1.05 acres and about to mow tomorrow for the first time; will be using a push mower and feel like it's gonna suck.

 

[JohnGalt]



What amount of land is the minimum where you can get away with a riding mower without looking like a jackass? 1.05 acres and about to mow tomorrow for the first time; will be using a push mower and feel like it's gonna suck.

that's plenty enough for a riding mower. light up a cigar while you're at it.

 

[ramuman]

I'm curious, how did you guys view purchasing a home as exactly what you wanted versus an invevestment, or a blend?