Meh. I really like that cute house you posted the other day!
It ended up being bad I LOVED that house from photos, but there was a weird addition on it and certain parts of it were crooked/uneven on the floors when you walked. There was two bathrooms (the listing only said one, so bonus!) but there were some neighbors that had junk all in their backyards. And the structural concerns and a few other DIY things, such as a window from dining room to kitchen that was cut crookedly...just made us wonder what else wasn't done correctly behind the scenes (if anything).
I got one because I'm unable to get dressed some days and I don't have the time to manage my own money. I really, really wanted to manage it because my husband did and he wouldn't have wanted to pay for someone to manage our money. But I am beyond stressed and needed someone to take the burden off me.
SaraJoy here really seems so wonderful and knowledgeable that after reading her posts, I was like "Yeah, I'm getting someone like that" to take things over for me.
AD&D---it pays money if you lose a finger (there are amounts in there, like $30,000 for the loss of a dominant hand, etc) and it can be a "multiplier" on the life insurance, so if you pass in an accident (especially important in workplaces where there are risks such as construction, etc), you get 2x the life insurance amount.
Looking at townhouses, I start to get worried about the HOA fees. I'm currently a renter, but my current apartment, the HOA covers all outside maintenance plus water and cable.
The places I'm looking, it covers *only* snow removal, grass cutting, and outside lighting. It's $115 a month, some communities it was $220 a month.
I am just surprised by this since that seems high to me for the services.
It's just an expense I'd like to avoid if it doesn't include any utilities.
From a MM standpoint, is it better to avoid a community with HOA fees? Or at least higher HOA fees?
What amount of HOA fees were you personally comfortable with?
I think this would be a really great choice for you. After looking at some of the other places you've posted, this is one of the nicest, both inside and out. Plus, it has 2 bedrooms, the 2 bathrooms you were looking for, and it looks like the basement would be perfect place for your office. You could even have clients over your house!
The only thing I don't know about is the neighborhood (not that it's good or bad, just that I don't know Pittsburgh). Only you can know if that is a fair price for that location.
It's a GREAT school district (Pittsburgh ladies can chime in, I feel Franklin Regional is good, right?) in a county where taxes are lower.
It's a bit far from Pittsburgh, but this county has lower taxes.
It's in a boring townhouse neighborhood.
Jenny1980, I'm still waiting to see that little house. I still like it and it's less money, closer in to town, less good area.
I'm confused by the room with the bed and what appears to be a back door, but it is otherwise fine looking, if boring.
That confused me to,, but I think it's a walk out basement?
The paint won't be that hard to cover. We repainted our master which was a dark maroon and with a light gray this summer and it wasn't a problem. Just some primer and paint and definitely better than the wallpaper you were discussing yesterday.
I think it's boring as shown, it lacks character, but it seems fine enough to me.
The listing on another site says that they are using the basement (with closet and walk out door) as a third bedroom. I would use it as an office and gameroom.
I too like more natural light though.
I don't know about selling it...I'd like to eventually rent it out, actually, someday.
As far as how long I'd stay, I definitely invision 5+ years, probably closer to 8-10.
As far as kids/family/dog that someone asked about above, being recently widowed, I honestly have no idea if that's in the cards for me or even if I ever want it to be. But I see no reason why I couldn't live in the space with even 2 kids and a dog someday.
I think I'm drawn to this because my husband would have loved this house---clean, new, less maintenance, good area. All around boring, sure, but stress-free and we always talked about getting a townhouse.
I don't normally go for newer houses and it's more than I wanted to spend, but it might be worth a look. Does anyone see any obvious problems with the photos to start off with?
I'd suggest another behaviorist, and if that doesn't work, trying to just keep the dog and children separated completely until the dog naturally passes (I realize this could be another 5+ years).
Or try to find a place that takes and works with vicious dogs. I would NOT rehome to any one individual family or person.
I say this as someone that was bitten as a kid pretty badly by a family dog with no warning. It still scares me to this day. I will not personally have a dog and young children because of what happened to me.
I would only see the obligation to disclose a death if the death had a potential impact on the physical structure (so therefore on the value/future value), I think: all I can come up with is a CO death, which might indicate ventilation troubles that would need repair, or something along those lines. Kind of similar to how meth houses, even if they're not meth houses anymore, still have potential to affect the home value because of meth lingering in the environment (and the clientele who didn't get the former owner's change of address announcement!) Does that make sense? I am not a night person. 94 year old grandma dies in her sleep, no.
This I agree with---bad ventilation and caused carbon dioxide poisoning, car crashed into the structure and killed someone inside (structural damage), the garage door was unsafe and came crashing down, killing someone, etc.
I'm torn on this. My husband passed of suicide. He was not at home, but I think often about what if he was and how I would feel about that.
People pass in homes all the time, whether it's illness, suicide, murder, and even horrific accidents. I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a home where something sad hasn't happened.
I saw probably 40-50 over two days (I was in town for a relocation/house-hunting trip). On the third day, I revisited my top 5 as well as an additional 2 that my realtor had just found. The same day, I made an offer on one of the "new" ones. My realtor was amazing at reading my body language and listening to me, and after a day or so she added and subtracted houses that she'd already seen to/from the list. She had my style absolutely nailed, and that helped. I had a small number of "musts" on my list (2+ bedrooms, 1.5+ bathrooms, yard, basement) and a million "wants" (hardwood floors, a fenced yard, a fireplace . . . ). Can you eliminate any from your list based only on your wants? Also, how long are you expecting to live there? Is resale value a consideration? If so, being in a good school district would be a big plus.
I can't eliminate based on my wants because I only have 10 things I want or need in a home. They are (in order):
1. Curb Appeal - no flat fronts, no awkwardness, a great looking exterior, no weird windows/placement, no crappy back view 2. Style - old style houses preferred with old details inside 3. Location - prefer XYZ County, has to be on a non-crowded street, no crappy neighbors
4. 1.5 actual bathrooms - one preferred on main living area and one on bedroom level 5. Updating - kitchen and bathroom are not total gut jobs 6. General Condition - no major issues readily apparent such as sloped floors, bad roof, something needs replaced right now
7. Decor - some rooms are livable as-is (not every room needs paint, carpet/floor, light fixtures replaced) 8. Layout - rooms are sized appropriately, no weird/awkward spaces 9. Price - in range relative to amount of work needed/how much we like it
There are two bathrooms in a potential house. They are full bathrooms except the upstairs bathroom, where my roommate's bedroom would be (there's a downstairs master), there's only a tub and not a shower.
I don't know why this is except it's an older house.
Is this something hard to change? Is it possible to fix this or is it a mess?
Obviously roommate prefers not to shower downstairs if possible.
I was like "Oh, I can fix this" with the wallpaper but it's every single room including the bathrooms. Seriously. And then I started worrying about the wall underneath.
Okay, I don't feel bad saying that I might look at 60+ houses. I have heard other ppl say they looked at 5 or 10.
Did you get discouraged? Did you end up changing your budget?
I have a lot of houses I'm trying to see. How many did you see in person?
Is there any way to narrow down the choices online without going to so many?
I'm afraid to pass up something good so I'm being really open.
There's too many houses for me to see though, and some are just really, really overpriced. Any tips to narrow this down before I get there?
The reason I have so much to see is that I have no kids (school district is not a huge concern to me), I work from home (so I can go to any number of places in the city if the price is right), and I'm willing to do some work on a house, so I have trouble eliminating anything. I'm not that picky.
Lastly, off-topic, if you found an immaculately-cared for home but it was *covered,* every room, with wallpaper...would you consider it or is that a heck no?
I had two independent contractors work for me this year on a one time, one day contract basis. I did gather their information on a W-9 and they both have their own individual businesses. They each received $400 from me for the entire year.
Do I need to issue them a 1099? How would I go about even creating one? I wasn't sure if I didn't have to do it since it was under $600 or if I *should* still do it, even if it wasn't required.
Sorry for the dumb question...I didn't have the same issue the past three years because I didn't have any IC's at all before.
Do you think it would be worth it to get a contractor in there if I'm seriously interested in the house prior to making an offer?
There's also an unfinished basement but I prefer a main level bath, but I know a lot of people do basement baths because it's easier.
Is the basement going to be finished? Putting a bathroom in a finished basement or a to be finished basement wouldn't bother me, but having a finished bathroom in an unfinished basement would strike me as odd. If you have a contractor friend who would be willing to take a look at the house for you it couldn't hurt.
Ideally, yes, someday. But more on an 8 year plan than right now.
My first preference would be a bathroom upstairs in that long toy room that's on the listing right now. I think it would fit well there, but I'm no contractor.
I don't know any contractors but could ask around for one to come with me for another showing if I get serious about this place.
I don't think you can make an educated guess until you figure out exactly where you would add it and what would have to be moved to make it happen. Moving plumbing around can get very expensive and since it looks like you're working with an entirely finished space there would also be demo and patch work to be done afterwards that you'd need to factor in.
Do you think it would be worth it to get a contractor in there if I'm seriously interested in the house prior to making an offer?
There's also an unfinished basement but I prefer a main level bath, but I know a lot of people do basement baths because it's easier.
I'm widowed and I'm young, and I have no desire to date or marry again. Losing someone hurts so badly and, given that women generally outlive men, I never want to go through it again---not when I'm 37, or 57, or 97.
That said, you can never say never and you never know what life will hold. So I don't want to and I'll work to make my life complete without someone, but I reserve the right to change my mind someday too.
I have a wishlist of things for a home. I would really like 1.5 bathrooms, having grown up sharing with 5 ppl. Also, I have clients in my home and will have a roommate and so a clean, nice bathroom is a perk, I think.
But in my price range, it is hard to find a 1.5+ bathroom home that doesn't need a ton of work. We all have to make compromises when homebuying. I'd like a bathroom on the bedroom level so I don't have to come downstairs in a towel to shower, etc.
So I am interested in a house that only has one bathroom. The options for me homebuying REALLY open up if I'm open to a one bathroom place.
My uncle got seven years when he picked up two female hitchhikers, he didn't know they had robbed a bank. He was named an accomplice in the crime but he still maintains his innocence. He was a truck driver at the time, so picking up hitchhikers wasn't too unheard of, especially back in the 70's.
I've had plenty of family spend a year or less in jail, but none in prison.
I remember you saying this before and it scares the crap out of me...innocent ppl convicted of something---this happening to me is one of my worst nightmares. I had a friend falsely accused of child abuse and arrested as a child care provider. There was videotape evidence that she did nothing wrong. The charges were dropped but it was a total mess. She's the sweetest person and would never, ever do anything like that. Not one person thought she was guilty---false accusations ruin lives.
As you know, unfortunately, I'm in a very similar situation to you.
People might think it's weird that all my husband's things are exactly where he left them the day he died. I mean, I washed clothing and sheets and I put a little bag on his dresser for some of the sentimental items I had of his.
I'm not doing it on purpose--I just have no reason to remove anything and also, I have no help to do so.
I'm keeping everything. We don't own a lot, though...but I am very visual and memories come back to me when I see or use certain items.
I too lived in a rural area for my husband's job and most things were his before we married---but I stayed here the whole year after he died---I wish I could actually stay longer, to tell you the truth. I have no desire to start over and I liked it here and I loved our life here. I don't like the furniture. But I'm too practical to get rid of things that are still perfectly usable.
I'm hiring movers. They'll box Steve's things in tupperware and it will go in my garage in my new place and I can go through it one box at a time when I want to.
I drive my husband's car, I now know there was a place in the house where he was self-injuring, and he died in a public place that I do have to go by and be near from time to time--I just try really, really hard to be strong and have mind over matter. Time definitely helps that.
Don't be hasty and take your time on your decision.
Whatever you decide is right for you...I personally would have no problem using almost everything and keeping everything---that's just me. Every single person is different, though.
Hmm, what about finding a caterer in your area that does weddings and does *not* do cakes currently? And they do on-site catering (food is made in their kitchen and then transported). Could you try offering them free wedding cakes in exchange for the use of their kitchen?
Or what about buying (this might be crazy) a mobile truck, like a cupcake truck, and cooking out of there?
1. Can you use a local firehall or church? Their kitchens may already be licensed and they're likely to let you use it for less money, especially if maybe you also made some treats for them. Also, try a local soup kitchen too in exchange for some baked goods.
2. My cake baker for my wedding---she purposely lived *just* over the border into another state where regulations were totally lax. Perhaps that's something you could look into, another county?
3. Use a relative's house.
4. Use a local bakery's kitchen. Or a local grocery store.
5. My cake baker eventually had a commercial kitchen built in her basement. There's a separate entrance and everything.
6. Contract for wedding cake with hotels---you can then use THEIR kitchen if you cut a deal--I'll provide all the cakes for weddings here for just X if I am also allowed to use your kitchen to make them and my other orders.