Rant: Home ownership

[pioneer98]

I found some pictures on this computer from when that retaining wall was brand new, 1.5 years ago. The first picture is a panorama of the whole thing. These pics are from before we planted anything in the "tier" area so it is pretty bare. Now on the far left side we usually plant a vegetable garden that covers about 20% of it, and the rest of it has rosebushes, pine bushes and other things the landscaper planted.

[SHOW]

Somewhere I have some "before" pictures. It was basically the same setup, except it was all railroad ties that had all rotted. The left side by the garage was buckling outward and railroad ties had crumbled into the alley in one place. The only other difference was the staircase went all the way to the alley with the old setup. It would have added a lot of cost to get all those steps. We never go to the alley, anyway, so we skipped that part.

[mikechamp]

..., but it seems like my utility bills are too high.

That's what I was thinking, but without knowing all the details, it's hard to say definitively.

[Arthur Dent]

I don't believe I've ever paid more than $270 in one month, and the lowest I've paid is around $135. Been living in the house 2 yrs, 11 months.

That's about what my bills look like at less than half the square footage. But I have old windows and my house was built in 1924.

edit - plus I live in the downstairs portion of a two-family unit and I've always felt like I'm helping to heat or cool the upstairs. I really don't know what I'm talking about, but it seems like my utility bills are too high.

Are your bills worst in the summer or winter?

When I lived in Illinois, I had a top floor apartment in a old, cheap building, and despite the bitter cold in the winter, I virtually never had to turn on the heat expect when I would stay in town over a school break. In those times, I got less free heat from the units below. I don't know if that exactly balances the reverse effect in the summer as electric heat seems to be much more costly than air conditioning.

[Diddy]

I own three houses. The first one was a HUD house that was my first house. The second I bought cheep to fix and flip. The third is on a farm I bought and I don't figure I have hardly anything for. We currently live in the house that we bought to flip. I took it down to the studs and is basically a new house. My wife decided shed rather live in it then the first house so we moved to it. Unfortunately by the time we made some upgrades she wanted and refinanced it we don't have much equity in it. We hope to sell it in the next year, it'll sell because of how nice it is but I doubt we come away with much. The first house is now a rental. When we moved out we had a good renter approach us about it before we put it on the market so we rented to her. In the three years she's lived there I've had to do very little, in fact she remodeled the bathroom, so not much in the way of maintenance. Even so we make very little off of it. Rent pays the mortgage, taxes, and insurance but little is left after that. We're making the principle off of the note but that's not much. We don't owe alot on it so
Do have equity there. The farm house I'm slowly fixing to move into. It's smaller then our currant house and will have to be added onto at some point, but its where we want to raise our kids and I'm tired of living in town. I'm basically taking it down to the studs also but for a 90 year old house its in decent shape. I'm glad we don't have to worry about permits. I understand some of their value but everything I've done on all three houses I've done with the intent to live there and I've done right and better then alot of contractors work I've seen.

I was told by a contractor not to take anything down to the studs. I know from problems I've found that doing so would eat up all the profits in a flip. He doesn't want to find anything so he doesn't look, permits and inspections aren't going to help you there so its abit of a hoax and a money grab. I really question the value in an inspection. I've talked to to many people that had issues that an inspector didn't uncover, ever blatant issues.

[IMADreamer]

I think home inspectors are just another racket. A good buddy of mine bought a house last year and when they started remodeling the kitchen they found a ton of water damage and mold. They had the home inspected and everything.

[jim]

I think home inspectors are just another racket. A good buddy of mine bought a house last year and when they started remodeling the kitchen they found a ton of water damage and mold. They had the home inspected and everything.

They are. The entire real estate market is designed so a bunch of people providing zero value get a cut.

[Sutter'sBeard]

I think home inspectors are just another racket. A good buddy of mine bought a house last year and when they started remodeling the kitchen they found a ton of water damage and mold. They had the home inspected and everything.

I think you are right about 99% of home inspectors. I think the last one I used when I bought my house last May was a good one. He spend 6 hours in the house I was buying and basically handed me an encyclopedia of his findings-good and bad.

As far as the other 99% goes, the guy who inspected the house I was selling was a joke. I knew my old house was going to pass with flying colors when the buyer's realtor came along with him on the inspection and I found out at closing that he was hand picked by the realtor. Unless the realtor is a saint, he is going to do everything possible to make sure the deal goes through so he gets his 4%.

I would never hire a home inspector that a realtor recommends.

[Diddy]

Of couse I post I've had little maintence cost yesterday and my renter calls
To tell me the heater is going out today.

[haltz]

I don't believe I've ever paid more than $270 in one month, and the lowest I've paid is around $135. Been living in the house 2 yrs, 11 months.

That's about what my bills look like at less than half the square footage. But I have old windows and my house was built in 1924.

edit - plus I live in the downstairs portion of a two-family unit and I've always felt like I'm helping to heat or cool the upstairs. I really don't know what I'm talking about, but it seems like my utility bills are too high.

Are your bills worst in the summer or winter?

Winter. But they're pretty bad in the summer too. I like to really crank up the AC though.

[Diddy]

Thought I'd share this here. We removed the kitchen cabinets so that we could refinish the floors and replace the drywall behind them in our farm house. My wife saw me cut the pipes and helped me move them into the dining room. Hours after doing this she decides to empty a bucket full of water. Of course she doesn't go out and dump it on the ground, no she goes and dumps it in the kitchen sink. Which is in the dining room, dumping the all the water in the dining room floor.

I don't know why I didn't stop her. I watched her do it thinking the entire time she's not really doing that is she.