Otis in the Suburbs (1 Viewer)

[The Commish]

Need a grill. I know you guys liked the Weber 310, but it's a little small (and a bit on the expensive side). Looking for a 4-5 burner, and would like to keep it near/under $500 if possible.

The only catch: it has to be from Sears, since my in-laws gave us a gift card there for the grill. Personally, I want to buy a nice JennAir they have at Costco for like $700 and use the GC elsewhere, but I'm not the boss on this one.

Also fairly urgent, need it for Father's Day since we were volunteered to host

Leaning towards this one: http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_07116658000P?prdNo=15&blockNo=65&blockType=G65

Or this: http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_07116136000P?prdNo=19&blockNo=19&blockType=G19

FWIW...I have a four burner JennAir from Lowes and it's crap. I hate it. Burners are not NEAR big enough for the surface area. All four going at full blast gets me to 350ish. If I were you, I'd look at one of the infrared grills or go charcoal.

 

[Chaos Commish]

The money shtick is funny and all, but would you guys really do your own siding job? Fabricate iron railings to spec and install them? Resolve electrical problems?

All of these just depend on the urgency and how much time I have. Being under diy construction for 4-5 months when the pros would have wrapped up in a couple weeks has it's own costs regardless of savings. I'm single so that other cost doesn't bother me because no one nags me.

 

[The Commish]

The money shtick is funny and all, but would you guys really do your own siding job? Fabricate iron railings to spec and install them? Resolve electrical problems?

You must have some sweet tool sheds.

Of all these things, I suppose the one I could have done myself is the masonry work, but given the size and complexity of the job, that's something that even brit and his camera might have struggled with. And I could have painted, but then it would have looked like crap and never gotten it done.

I'm not so sure painting the shutters would have resolved all our issues.

I'm happy to take on the smaller jobs I have the time for and some knowledge about, but for the rest of this, don't most people hire a professional?

I wouldn't do my own siding. I would have my railing fabricated and install it myself though. I'd also do electrical work too, depending on the specific issue. If I have to rewire a box or something, that goes to the pros.

Oh and, regarding basic math principles, who cares if you pour 55k into an old house in disrepair if you can sell it for 100-150k more than you paid for it after the fact? (Not that I'm in this to sell it, but the point is I think every cent we've put in thus far has gone directly into the value of the house).

On that note, our mortgage has PMI attached. Maybe if all of this work will increase the value enough, we could get it re-assessed and perhaps be above the 22% threshold to get the PMI removed? Anyone have experience with that?

We did a refinance on our house a year after we moved in. We came into the house on 100% loan at 7 1/8% (long story), but in the year, it gained approx 8% in value and appraised at enough where we could do a 80/20 loan with 4.875% on the first and 6% on the second. You could easily get to that with renovations. Catch is, you gotta fork out the dough for the appraisal, close again etc.

 

[BroncoFreak_2K3]

Oh and, regarding basic math principles, who cares if you pour 55k into an old house in disrepair if you can sell it for 100-150k more than you paid for it after the fact? (Not that I'm in this to sell it, but the point is I think every cent we've put in thus far has gone directly into the value of the house).

On that note, our mortgage has PMI attached. Maybe if all of this work will increase the value enough, we could get it re-assessed and perhaps be above the 22% threshold to get the PMI removed? Anyone have experience with that?

Good luck with that one in todays market...

 

[Otis]

The money shtick is funny and all, but would you guys really do your own siding job? Fabricate iron railings to spec and install them? Resolve electrical problems?

You must have some sweet tool sheds.

Of all these things, I suppose the one I could have done myself is the masonry work, but given the size and complexity of the job, that's something that even brit and his camera might have struggled with. And I could have painted, but then it would have looked like crap and never gotten it done.

I'm not so sure painting the shutters would have resolved all our issues.

I'm happy to take on the smaller jobs I have the time for and some knowledge about, but for the rest of this, don't most people hire a professional?

I wouldn't do my own siding. I would have my railing fabricated and install it myself though. I'd also do electrical work too, depending on the specific issue. If I have to rewire a box or something, that goes to the pros.

Oh and, regarding basic math principles, who cares if you pour 55k into an old house in disrepair if you can sell it for 100-150k more than you paid for it after the fact? (Not that I'm in this to sell it, but the point is I think every cent we've put in thus far has gone directly into the value of the house).

On that note, our mortgage has PMI attached. Maybe if all of this work will increase the value enough, we could get it re-assessed and perhaps be above the 22% threshold to get the PMI removed? Anyone have experience with that?

We did a refinance on our house a year after we moved in. We came into the house on 100% loan at 7 1/8% (long story), but in the year, it gained approx 8% in value and appraised at enough where we could do a 80/20 loan with 4.875% on the first and 6% on the second. You could easily get to that with renovations. Catch is, you gotta fork out the dough for the appraisal, close again etc.

I don't have to close again -- our mortgage is fine. The PMI requirement phases out when we hit 22% loan to value, and that can be accomplished by improvements/market increase in value. So I think it's just a matter of getting the appraisal. I'm wondering, though, if the bank appraisers have an incentive to under-value your place, or rather no incentive to raise the value, so that they can continue to collect the PMI. Seems the incentives work against us here.

 

[Otis]

Oh and, regarding basic math principles, who cares if you pour 55k into an old house in disrepair if you can sell it for 100-150k more than you paid for it after the fact? (Not that I'm in this to sell it, but the point is I think every cent we've put in thus far has gone directly into the value of the house).

On that note, our mortgage has PMI attached. Maybe if all of this work will increase the value enough, we could get it re-assessed and perhaps be above the 22% threshold to get the PMI removed? Anyone have experience with that?

Good luck with that one in todays market...

The house was just appraised 2 months ago and it will have 50k dumped into it in the meantime. Why is this so ridiculous?We're also in one of the most resilient real estate markets in the country. This isn't a home in some undesirable neighborhood in Florida.

 

[fatguyinalittlecoat]

Oh and, regarding basic math principles, who cares if you pour 55k into an old house in disrepair if you can sell it for 100-150k more than you paid for it after the fact? (Not that I'm in this to sell it, but the point is I think every cent we've put in thus far has gone directly into the value of the house).

On that note, our mortgage has PMI attached. Maybe if all of this work will increase the value enough, we could get it re-assessed and perhaps be above the 22% threshold to get the PMI removed? Anyone have experience with that?

Good luck with that one in todays market...

The house was just appraised 2 months ago and it will have 50k dumped into it in the meantime. Why is this so ridiculous?We're also in one of the most resilient real estate markets in the country. This isn't a home in some undesirable neighborhood in Florida.

Wasn't the house sitting on the market for a long time before you guys bought it?

 

[Otis]

Oh and, regarding basic math principles, who cares if you pour 55k into an old house in disrepair if you can sell it for 100-150k more than you paid for it after the fact? (Not that I'm in this to sell it, but the point is I think every cent we've put in thus far has gone directly into the value of the house).

On that note, our mortgage has PMI attached. Maybe if all of this work will increase the value enough, we could get it re-assessed and perhaps be above the 22% threshold to get the PMI removed? Anyone have experience with that?

Good luck with that one in todays market...

The house was just appraised 2 months ago and it will have 50k dumped into it in the meantime. Why is this so ridiculous?We're also in one of the most resilient real estate markets in the country. This isn't a home in some undesirable neighborhood in Florida.

Wasn't the house sitting on the market for a long time before you guys bought it?

Yup. List price was dropped 100k and then we got it for more than 50k off that lowest asking price (knowing full well we would have to put some money into it to bring out its "potential").

 

[belljr]

The money shtick is funny and all, but would you guys really do your own siding job? Fabricate iron railings to spec and install them? Resolve electrical problems?

You must have some sweet tool sheds.

Of all these things, I suppose the one I could have done myself is the masonry work, but given the size and complexity of the job, that's something that even brit and his camera might have struggled with. And I could have painted, but then it would have looked like crap and never gotten it done.

I'm not so sure painting the shutters would have resolved all our issues.

I'm happy to take on the smaller jobs I have the time for and some knowledge about, but for the rest of this, don't most people hire a professional?

I wouldn't do my own siding. I would have my railing fabricated and install it myself though. I'd also do electrical work too, depending on the specific issue. If I have to rewire a box or something, that goes to the pros.

Oh and, regarding basic math principles, who cares if you pour 55k into an old house in disrepair if you can sell it for 100-150k more than you paid for it after the fact? (Not that I'm in this to sell it, but the point is I think every cent we've put in thus far has gone directly into the value of the house).

On that note, our mortgage has PMI attached. Maybe if all of this work will increase the value enough, we could get it re-assessed and perhaps be above the 22% threshold to get the PMI removed? Anyone have experience with that?

We did a refinance on our house a year after we moved in. We came into the house on 100% loan at 7 1/8% (long story), but in the year, it gained approx 8% in value and appraised at enough where we could do a 80/20 loan with 4.875% on the first and 6% on the second. You could easily get to that with renovations. Catch is, you gotta fork out the dough for the appraisal, close again etc.

I don't have to close again -- our mortgage is fine. The PMI requirement phases out when we hit 22% loan to value, and that can be accomplished by improvements/market increase in value. So I think it's just a matter of getting the appraisal. I'm wondering, though, if the bank appraisers have an incentive to under-value your place, or rather no incentive to raise the value, so that they can continue to collect the PMI. Seems the incentives work against us here.

You need to check your loan documents. Each lender has a standard they follow. SOme require you keep PMI for 1-2 years before it can be removed.

 

[fatguyinalittlecoat]

Wasn't the house sitting on the market for a long time before you guys bought it?

Yup. List price was dropped 100k and then we got it for more than 50k off that lowest asking price (knowing full well we would have to put some money into it to bring out its "potential").

What was the house appraised for as compared to what you paid for it?

 

[Otis]

Wasn't the house sitting on the market for a long time before you guys bought it?

Yup. List price was dropped 100k and then we got it for more than 50k off that lowest asking price (knowing full well we would have to put some money into it to bring out its "potential").

What was the house appraised for as compared to what you paid for it?

Appraised for 5k or 10k more than the sale price. (I always wondered whether the appraisers try and make it match, so as not to disrupt a deal -- the incentive is probably to play ball and keep both buyer and seller happy, right?)For what little I'm sure it's worth, Zillow, even with the record of our sale now factored in, estimates the value of the house at over $150k more than we paid. And that obviously doesn't account for the ~50k of work that is now being put into it.

 

[urbanhack]

keep all your receipts.

 

[Drifter]

Wasn't the house sitting on the market for a long time before you guys bought it?

Yup. List price was dropped 100k and then we got it for more than 50k off that lowest asking price (knowing full well we would have to put some money into it to bring out its "potential").

What was the house appraised for as compared to what you paid for it?

Appraised for 5k or 10k more than the sale price. (I always wondered whether the appraisers try and make it match, so as not to disrupt a deal -- the incentive is probably to play ball and keep both buyer and seller happy, right?)For what little I'm sure it's worth, Zillow, even with the record of our sale now factored in, estimates the value of the house at over $150k more than we paid. And that obviously doesn't account for the ~50k of work that is now being put into it.

No offense GB, but show up at your bank with your Zillow assessment in hand and see how far it gets you. Zillow is crap.

 

[ODoyleRules]

Wasn't the house sitting on the market for a long time before you guys bought it?

Yup. List price was dropped 100k and then we got it for more than 50k off that lowest asking price (knowing full well we would have to put some money into it to bring out its "potential").

What was the house appraised for as compared to what you paid for it?

Appraised for 5k or 10k more than the sale price. (I always wondered whether the appraisers try and make it match, so as not to disrupt a deal -- the incentive is probably to play ball and keep both buyer and seller happy, right?)For what little I'm sure it's worth, Zillow, even with the record of our sale now factored in, estimates the value of the house at over $150k more than we paid. And that obviously doesn't account for the ~50k of work that is now being put into it.

This seems like a long shot. If I was the bank, I would say, "why didn't you just give me the 50K towards the loan amount to eliminate the PMI?"

 

[squidrope]

The money shtick is funny and all, but would you guys really do your own siding job? Fabricate iron railings to spec and install them? Resolve electrical problems?

You must have some sweet tool sheds.

Of all these things, I suppose the one I could have done myself is the masonry work, but given the size and complexity of the job, that's something that even brit and his camera might have struggled with. And I could have painted, but then it would have looked like crap and never gotten it done.

I'm not so sure painting the shutters would have resolved all our issues.

I'm happy to take on the smaller jobs I have the time for and some knowledge about, but for the rest of this, don't most people hire a professional?

I would paint, clean up my tree cutting mess, refinish bathroom, grass,install railings, masonry work, landscaping, electrical. The money shtick is funny. You're spending a lot of money trying to get your place perfect in a very short time.

Being a homeowner is like running a marathon, not a sprint. Slow and steady wins the race. Unless you have tons of

As for the re-appraisal. You've increased your homes curb appeal, but you haven't increased living space or added things like central air, granite counters, etc. The siding should help, but I doubt it'll increase the appraisal value by 100k-150k.

 

[Otis]

The money shtick is funny and all, but would you guys really do your own siding job? Fabricate iron railings to spec and install them? Resolve electrical problems?

You must have some sweet tool sheds.

Of all these things, I suppose the one I could have done myself is the masonry work, but given the size and complexity of the job, that's something that even brit and his camera might have struggled with. And I could have painted, but then it would have looked like crap and never gotten it done.

I'm not so sure painting the shutters would have resolved all our issues.

I'm happy to take on the smaller jobs I have the time for and some knowledge about, but for the rest of this, don't most people hire a professional?

I would paint, clean up my tree cutting mess, refinish bathroom, grass,install railings, masonry work, landscaping, electrical. The money shtick is funny. You're spending a lot of money trying to get your place perfect in a very short time.

Being a homeowner is like running a marathon, not a sprint. Slow and steady wins the race. Unless you have tons of

As for the re-appraisal. You've increased your homes curb appeal, but you haven't increased living space or added things like central air, granite counters, etc. The siding should help, but I doubt it'll increase the appraisal value by 100k-150k.

We're adding granite!!!!

Actually, to eliminate PMI, we just need an increase in value of ... wait for it .. about 55k.

ZOMG

 

[Otis]

keep all your receipts.

Good call.

 

[The Commish]

keep all your receipts.

Good call.

and all the permits for all the code type work being done (like the railing and electrical...there's electrical right?).

 

[The Big Guy]

The money shtick is funny and all, but would you guys really do your own siding job? Fabricate iron railings to spec and install them? Resolve electrical problems?

You must have some sweet tool sheds.

Of all these things, I suppose the one I could have done myself is the masonry work, but given the size and complexity of the job, that's something that even brit and his camera might have struggled with. And I could have painted, but then it would have looked like crap and never gotten it done.

I'm not so sure painting the shutters would have resolved all our issues.

I'm happy to take on the smaller jobs I have the time for and some knowledge about, but for the rest of this, don't most people hire a professional?

I would paint, clean up my tree cutting mess, refinish bathroom, grass,install railings, masonry work, landscaping, electrical. The money shtick is funny. You're spending a lot of money trying to get your place perfect in a very short time.

Being a homeowner is like running a marathon, not a sprint. Slow and steady wins the race. Unless you have tons of

As for the re-appraisal. You've increased your homes curb appeal, but you haven't increased living space or added things like central air, granite counters, etc. The siding should help, but I doubt it'll increase the appraisal value by 100k-150k.

We're adding granite!!!!

Actually, to eliminate PMI, we just need an increase in value of ... wait for it .. about 55k.

ZOMG

Sorry to say Otis, that I have looked at a lot of refi appraisals and the reality is pretty close to what squidrope is saying. The things that they are looking for are not the things that you are doing and spending money on, even if you could now sell your house for more. The only hope that you would have is that the reappraisal uses a higher level class of comp houses and that you had at least one foreclose house on your purchase appraisal that really dragged that number down on you.I know it sucks, since you know that you could probably resell the house for a probably a good 100K more after you do all these home improvements and upgrades that you are doing, but there is not much room on an appraisal anymore for upgrades to give you that boost in value you need. Plus--all the appraisers are running scared now and are being very conservative with their numbers now too.

 

[the moops]

Remember that other thread where Otis tried to convince everyone that he was just some hard-working, middle class working shlub. I mean, it is a fairly common working class thing to buy a house and immediately dump 60 grand of repairs into it. Right?

 

[Mr. Pickles]

For what little I'm sure it's worth, Zillow, even with the record of our sale now factored in, estimates the value of the house at over $150k more than we paid. And that obviously doesn't account for the ~50k of work that is now being put into it.

n00b.

 

[ODoyleRules]

For what little I'm sure it's worth, Zillow, even with the record of our sale now factored in, estimates the value of the house at over $150k more than we paid. And that obviously doesn't account for the ~50k of work that is now being put into it.

n00b.

Otis should send his list of projects completed to Zillow. pictures too.

 

[Sarnoff]

The money shtick is funny. You're spending a lot of money trying to get your place perfect in a very short time. Being a homeowner is like running a marathon, not a sprint. Slow and steady wins the race. Unless you have tons of

Somewhere in the last dozen or so pages, Oat mentioned that this was the dream... find a place and spend a few years making it what he and wifey wanted.I still don't know why he's throwing so much cash at apparently getting the whole thing done in the next two weekends.

 

[Aaron Rudnicki]

why does zillow even exist? seems completely worthless.

 

[ODoyleRules]

The money shtick is funny. You're spending a lot of money trying to get your place perfect in a very short time. Being a homeowner is like running a marathon, not a sprint. Slow and steady wins the race. Unless you have tons of

Somewhere in the last dozen or so pages, Oat mentioned that this was the dream... find a place and spend a few years making it what he and wifey wanted.I still don't know why he's throwing so much cash at apparently getting the whole thing done in the next two weekends.

In some ways, I think he's doing the right thing. If you're going to do the project eventually and you have the cash, might as well get it done and enjoy the house. Personally, I'd probably live in the house for a little while to prioritize what's going to make an impactable difference. Guarantee that winter will expose some other problems and it's good to have cash ready for those.

 

[Mister Martie]

The money shtick is funny and all, but would you guys really do your own siding job? Fabricate iron railings to spec and install them? Resolve electrical problems?

You must have some sweet tool sheds.

Of all these things, I suppose the one I could have done myself is the masonry work, but given the size and complexity of the job, that's something that even brit and his camera might have struggled with. And I could have painted, but then it would have looked like crap and never gotten it done.

I'm not so sure painting the shutters would have resolved all our issues.

I'm happy to take on the smaller jobs I have the time for and some knowledge about, but for the rest of this, don't most people hire a professional?

I would paint, clean up my tree cutting mess, refinish bathroom, grass,install railings, masonry work, landscaping, electrical. The money shtick is funny. You're spending a lot of money trying to get your place perfect in a very short time.

Being a homeowner is like running a marathon, not a sprint. Slow and steady wins the race. Unless you have tons of

As for the re-appraisal. You've increased your homes curb appeal, but you haven't increased living space or added things like central air, granite counters, etc. The siding should help, but I doubt it'll increase the appraisal value by 100k-150k.

We're adding granite!!!!

Actually, to eliminate PMI, we just need an increase in value of ... wait for it .. about 55k.

ZOMG

The ole $1 in = +$1 in home value equation.

 

[desert rose]

Otis, how much was the house per square foot?

 

[Otis]

For what little I'm sure it's worth, Zillow, even with the record of our sale now factored in, estimates the value of the house at over $150k more than we paid. And that obviously doesn't account for the ~50k of work that is now being put into it.

n00b.

Welcome to the thread title. I thought you stormed out of here anyway?

 

[Otis]

Otis, how much was the house per square foot?

Around $ 380. We got a little more value though in that the plot is a little bigger than most in the area.

 

[squidrope]

The money shtick is funny and all, but would you guys really do your own siding job? Fabricate iron railings to spec and install them? Resolve electrical problems?

You must have some sweet tool sheds.

Of all these things, I suppose the one I could have done myself is the masonry work, but given the size and complexity of the job, that's something that even brit and his camera might have struggled with. And I could have painted, but then it would have looked like crap and never gotten it done.

I'm not so sure painting the shutters would have resolved all our issues.

I'm happy to take on the smaller jobs I have the time for and some knowledge about, but for the rest of this, don't most people hire a professional?

I would paint, clean up my tree cutting mess, refinish bathroom, grass,install railings, masonry work, landscaping, electrical. The money shtick is funny. You're spending a lot of money trying to get your place perfect in a very short time.

Being a homeowner is like running a marathon, not a sprint. Slow and steady wins the race. Unless you have tons of

As for the re-appraisal. You've increased your homes curb appeal, but you haven't increased living space or added things like central air, granite counters, etc. The siding should help, but I doubt it'll increase the appraisal value by 100k-150k.

We're adding granite!!!!

Actually, to eliminate PMI, we just need an increase in value of ... wait for it .. about 55k.

ZOMG

Sorry to say Otis, that I have looked at a lot of refi appraisals and the reality is pretty close to what squidrope is saying. The things that they are looking for are not the things that you are doing and spending money on, even if you could now sell your house for more. The only hope that you would have is that the reappraisal uses a higher level class of comp houses and that you had at least one foreclose house on your purchase appraisal that really dragged that number down on you.I know it sucks, since you know that you could probably resell the house for a probably a good 100K more after you do all these home improvements and upgrades that you are doing, but there is not much room on an appraisal anymore for upgrades to give you that boost in value you need. Plus--all the appraisers are running scared now and are being very conservative with their numbers now too.

Suck it Oats!

 

[The Big Guy]

why does zillow even exist? seems completely worthless.

Hate to say it, since there is a lot of Zillow hate out there, but in Central Jersey, it is usually pretty close to reality. I use it all the time to grab an idea of what value I will get from my Underwriting depts desktop appraisal system. I'm not saying that is a reality or even close to it, but it has been pretty decent for real appraisal closeness too, in my experience.

 

[Garrett]

The money shtick is funny and all, but would you guys really do your own siding job? Fabricate iron railings to spec and install them? Resolve electrical problems?

You must have some sweet tool sheds.

Of all these things, I suppose the one I could have done myself is the masonry work, but given the size and complexity of the job, that's something that even brit and his camera might have struggled with. And I could have painted, but then it would have looked like crap and never gotten it done.

I'm not so sure painting the shutters would have resolved all our issues.

I'm happy to take on the smaller jobs I have the time for and some knowledge about, but for the rest of this, don't most people hire a professional?

I wouldn't do my own siding. I would have my railing fabricated and install it myself though. I'd also do electrical work too, depending on the specific issue. If I have to rewire a box or something, that goes to the pros.

Oh and, regarding basic math principles, who cares if you pour 55k into an old house in disrepair if you can sell it for 100-150k more than you paid for it after the fact? (Not that I'm in this to sell it, but the point is I think every cent we've put in thus far has gone directly into the value of the house).

On that note, our mortgage has PMI attached. Maybe if all of this work will increase the value enough, we could get it re-assessed and perhaps be above the 22% threshold to get the PMI removed? Anyone have experience with that?

We did a refinance on our house a year after we moved in. We came into the house on 100% loan at 7 1/8% (long story), but in the year, it gained approx 8% in value and appraised at enough where we could do a 80/20 loan with 4.875% on the first and 6% on the second. You could easily get to that with renovations. Catch is, you gotta fork out the dough for the appraisal, close again etc.

I don't have to close again -- our mortgage is fine. The PMI requirement phases out when we hit 22% loan to value, and that can be accomplished by improvements/market increase in value. So I think it's just a matter of getting the appraisal. I'm wondering, though, if the bank appraisers have an incentive to under-value your place, or rather no incentive to raise the value, so that they can continue to collect the PMI. Seems the incentives work against us here.

You need to check your loan documents. Each lender has a standard they follow. SOme require you keep PMI for 1-2 years before it can be removed.

Yes, and others can go as high as 5 years.

 

[Getinthemix]

Oh and, regarding basic math principles, who cares if you pour 55k into an old house in disrepair if you can sell it for 100-150k more than you paid for it after the fact? (Not that I'm in this to sell it, but the point is I think every cent we've put in thus far has gone directly into the value of the house).

On that note, our mortgage has PMI attached. Maybe if all of this work will increase the value enough, we could get it re-assessed and perhaps be above the 22% threshold to get the PMI removed? Anyone have experience with that?

Good luck with that one in todays market...

The house was just appraised 2 months ago and it will have 50k dumped into it in the meantime. Why is this so ridiculous?We're also in one of the most resilient real estate markets in the country. This isn't a home in some undesirable neighborhood in Florida.

You gain a lot of equity with home improvements when YOU do the work, i.e, save a ton of money off the cost of the project. You have outsourced everything, including the TV mount. I highly doubt you are going to see a percent of return that does not make you sick. You are severely overestimating what you have done, because it is your and yours is better than everyone else's.

 

[BroncoFreak_2K3]

The money shtick is funny and all, but would you guys really do your own siding job? Fabricate iron railings to spec and install them? Resolve electrical problems?

You must have some sweet tool sheds.

Of all these things, I suppose the one I could have done myself is the masonry work, but given the size and complexity of the job, that's something that even brit and his camera might have struggled with. And I could have painted, but then it would have looked like crap and never gotten it done.

I'm not so sure painting the shutters would have resolved all our issues.

I'm happy to take on the smaller jobs I have the time for and some knowledge about, but for the rest of this, don't most people hire a professional?

I would paint, clean up my tree cutting mess, refinish bathroom, grass,install railings, masonry work, landscaping, electrical. The money shtick is funny. You're spending a lot of money trying to get your place perfect in a very short time.

Being a homeowner is like running a marathon, not a sprint. Slow and steady wins the race. Unless you have tons of

As for the re-appraisal. You've increased your homes curb appeal, but you haven't increased living space or added things like central air, granite counters, etc. The siding should help, but I doubt it'll increase the appraisal value by 100k-150k.

Exactly true ..you're doing basic maintenance that every home needs over time..not really improvements that increase value.

 

[BroncoFreak_2K3]

The money shtick is funny. You're spending a lot of money trying to get your place perfect in a very short time. Being a homeowner is like running a marathon, not a sprint. Slow and steady wins the race. Unless you have tons of

Somewhere in the last dozen or so pages, Oat mentioned that this was the dream... find a place and spend a few years making it what he and wifey wanted.I still don't know why he's throwing so much cash at apparently getting the whole thing done in the next two weekends.

Very good question.

 

[The Commish]

why does zillow even exist? seems completely worthless.

Hate to say it, since there is a lot of Zillow hate out there, but in Central Jersey, it is usually pretty close to reality. I use it all the time to grab an idea of what value I will get from my Underwriting depts desktop appraisal system. I'm not saying that is a reality or even close to it, but it has been pretty decent for real appraisal closeness too, in my experience.

So how is it dead on in some places but completely wrong in others?

 

[fatguyinalittlecoat]

Remember that other thread where Otis tried to convince everyone that he was just some hard-working, middle class working shlub. I mean, it is a fairly common working class thing to buy a house and immediately dump 60 grand of repairs into it. Right?

You just don't understand what it's like to live in the NY metropolitan area. He needs to spend that money just to make it habitable. Frankly he should be able to get food stamps.

 

[Otis]

why does zillow even exist? seems completely worthless.

Hate to say it, since there is a lot of Zillow hate out there, but in Central Jersey, it is usually pretty close to reality. I use it all the time to grab an idea of what value I will get from my Underwriting depts desktop appraisal system. I'm not saying that is a reality or even close to it, but it has been pretty decent for real appraisal closeness too, in my experience.

I know it's sort of worthless, but I would think that, at least in terms of relative values (to other homes in the area), it may actually be somewhat useful. One thing I really liked about the price we got our house at was that it was the only one locally that had a zillow value way higher than the asking price. For most of the rest, the ask was around the zillow price or higher. So, at least based on whatever metrics and comparables they use, it was a good deal. Maybe that's not worth a whole lot, or maybe it is. In some respect I like to think that we saw the potential in this house, and that once we put in the 50k we are putting in now, it would be every bit as valuable as the homes in our area selling for hundreds of thousands more. Maybe I'm wrong, and it doesn't matter much since we are looking at this long time, but I liked the fact that the zillow was a bunch higher.

 

[Otis]

The money shtick is funny. You're spending a lot of money trying to get your place perfect in a very short time. Being a homeowner is like running a marathon, not a sprint. Slow and steady wins the race. Unless you have tons of

Somewhere in the last dozen or so pages, Oat mentioned that this was the dream... find a place and spend a few years making it what he and wifey wanted.I still don't know why he's throwing so much cash at apparently getting the whole thing done in the next two weekends.

Very good question.

I feel like I'm on another planet. Why is this a "very good question"?The question is "Otis, why are you doing so many improvements to your home right now, and not waiting to do them until some unknown point in the future?" ??

 

[Otis]

This thread makes me feel like some parts of the country are really bizarre. This goes beyond city vs. burbs shtick.

 

[NutterButter]

Once you buy a house and have to live with the flaws, the excitement of fixing those flaws overtakes you. The only thing that holds you back is cash flow.

 

[Otis]

Once you buy a house and have to live with the flaws, the excitement of fixing those flaws overtakes you. The only thing that holds you back is cash flow.

Can definitely relate to this feeling after just a few weeks.The bright side is that after going through our initial home improvement budget, we actually feel really good about how many things we will have covered, and the place will be a TREMENDOUS improvement over where it was. The big ticket items beyond those are long term, more pie-in-the-sky type things -- big$100k+ extension projects, massive backyard overhauls (retaining walls and leveling out slopes, etc.). But otherwise the place will now be in great shape. So we're pretty freaking excited about where we are coming out of all this.

 

[squidrope]

Once you buy a house and have to live with the flaws, the excitement of fixing those flaws overtakes you. The only thing that holds you back is cash flow.

Can definitely relate to this feeling after just a few weeks.The bright side is that after going through our initial home improvement budget, we actually feel really good about how many things we will have covered, and the place will be a TREMENDOUS improvement over where it was. The big ticket items beyond those are long term, more pie-in-the-sky type things -- big$100k+ extension projects, massive backyard overhauls (retaining walls and leveling out slopes, etc.). But otherwise the place will now be in great shape. So we're pretty freaking excited about where we are coming out of all this.

I'd be excited too. The place looks great.

 

[mr roboto]

The money shtick is funny. You're spending a lot of money trying to get your place perfect in a very short time. Being a homeowner is like running a marathon, not a sprint. Slow and steady wins the race. Unless you have tons of

Somewhere in the last dozen or so pages, Oat mentioned that this was the dream... find a place and spend a few years making it what he and wifey wanted.I still don't know why he's throwing so much cash at apparently getting the whole thing done in the next two weekends.

Very good question.

I feel like I'm on another planet. Why is this a "very good question"?The question is "Otis, why are you doing so many improvements to your home right now, and not waiting to do them until some unknown point in the future?" ??

If you have the money, great. Here is one problem that you have either already ran into, or will. This amount of renovations to a home, without a very specific plan or a GC, usually results in doing something out of order, or one thing being ruined by another contractor, or making a decision in haste only to regret it etc. Huge renos like this need to be done intentionally, and in a specific order. I have a friend who bought a cool old stone house on the North Shore (Chicago equivalent of your hood - old-money area). He went nuts. But I had remodeled several homes recently, and almost acted as his GC via phone (never got paid though, good buddy of mine). Several times he and the wife were all gung-ho about adding heated floors, outside lighting, cans etc. I had to convince him he had to upgrade the electric panel to do all this. He fought me till I sent an electrician over who confirmed it. If I hadn't told him, he would have been in some trouble. Go at it. Just don't be surprised when one of the 5k jobs you have had done gets redone because of another 5k job you had done that messed it up/made it look ugly/caused problems with the original job.

 

[desert rose]

Otis, how much was the house per square foot?

Around $ 380. We got a little more value though in that the plot is a little bigger than most in the area.

I don't understand how normal people can make ends meet in the NYC area. My house is only 5 years old, is energy star from everything from windows, appliances and insulation. It's in a really nice neighborhood and has so many upgrades and is in really great shape. I hunted for over a year and leaped on it before it even hit the MLS. It was only $85/square foot. But even if I paid market value, it would only be around $125/square foot. If I taught in New York, I'd probably have to rent a bedroom.

 

[The Big Guy]

why does zillow even exist? seems completely worthless.

Hate to say it, since there is a lot of Zillow hate out there, but in Central Jersey, it is usually pretty close to reality. I use it all the time to grab an idea of what value I will get from my Underwriting depts desktop appraisal system. I'm not saying that is a reality or even close to it, but it has been pretty decent for real appraisal closeness too, in my experience.

I know it's sort of worthless, but I would think that, at least in terms of relative values (to other homes in the area), it may actually be somewhat useful. One thing I really liked about the price we got our house at was that it was the only one locally that had a zillow value way higher than the asking price. For most of the rest, the ask was around the zillow price or higher. So, at least based on whatever metrics and comparables they use, it was a good deal. Maybe that's not worth a whole lot, or maybe it is. In some respect I like to think that we saw the potential in this house, and that once we put in the 50k we are putting in now, it would be every bit as valuable as the homes in our area selling for hundreds of thousands more. Maybe I'm wrong, and it doesn't matter much since we are looking at this long time, but I liked the fact that the zillow was a bunch higher.

You do have a point, because the programming behind Zillow does use neighborhood sales and listings to help determine pricing and if you are in a classic neighborhood of relatively comparable housing and you take a run down one and bring it up to the rest of the neighborhood level, you can most certainly improve the value. Big problem with Zillow is when people swear by it and don't take into consideration that it doesn't really know how big one house is compared to another or how fixed up one is vs another.Plus, I think that the better the area is for public records that the site pulls from, the tighter the info will be. Tax records, sales records etc, all the things that can help it try to figure things out. Some areas are just better at that then others, I would imagine.

 

[The Big Guy]

Otis, how much was the house per square foot?

Around $ 380. We got a little more value though in that the plot is a little bigger than most in the area.

I don't understand how normal people can make ends meet in the NYC area. My house is only 5 years old, is energy star from everything from windows, appliances and insulation. It's in a really nice neighborhood and has so many upgrades and is in really great shape. I hunted for over a year and leaped on it before it even hit the MLS. It was only $85/square foot. But even if I paid market value, it would only be around $125/square foot. If I taught in New York, I'd probably have to rent a bedroom.

Well, if you are like the teachers that I know around here, you would be married or renting. But no worries, we have more then our fair share of bad to mediocre neighborhoods nearby that have more affordable housing, if you would like home ownership.

 

[OC Zed]

I'm in socal, so I have no clue if this will work for you. It has for me. No clue if your weather or grass type will be an issue. I could do this at this time of year if I needed to. Put those huge hands to work, get your ### out there and pull the weeds, by the roots. Spray for weeds. Seed and fertilize the whole area. Cover thoroughly with topper. Rope off area to keep people off it. Water daily. Don't over water. Should be looking pretty good in 2 weeks or so. Be proactive about the weeds from here on out. Or pay 4k a year for someone to do it for you, with a 500 start up cost to do what I said above.

You've got to be the only non-Mexican working a lawn south of Pt. Conception.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

I'm in socal, so I have no clue if this will work for you. It has for me. No clue if your weather or grass type will be an issue. I could do this at this time of year if I needed to. Put those huge hands to work, get your ### out there and pull the weeds, by the roots. Spray for weeds. Seed and fertilize the whole area. Cover thoroughly with topper. Rope off area to keep people off it. Water daily. Don't over water. Should be looking pretty good in 2 weeks or so. Be proactive about the weeds from here on out. Or pay 4k a year for someone to do it for you, with a 500 start up cost to do what I said above.

You've got to be the only non-Mexican working a lawn south of Pt. Conception.

Some things I just can't farm out. The lawn is so ####### easy. Water. Mow. Add some love here and there. Voila. You'll have to come check out the pad this summer, you can judge my latino-ness for yourself.

 

[Otis]

Otis, how much was the house per square foot?

Around $ 380. We got a little more value though in that the plot is a little bigger than most in the area.

I don't understand how normal people can make ends meet in the NYC area. My house is only 5 years old, is energy star from everything from windows, appliances and insulation. It's in a really nice neighborhood and has so many upgrades and is in really great shape. I hunted for over a year and leaped on it before it even hit the MLS. It was only $85/square foot. But even if I paid market value, it would only be around $125/square foot. If I taught in New York, I'd probably have to rent a bedroom.

Whats crazy is that on a per square foot basis, that seems cheap compared to the city. Even my place in Brooklyn is fetching around $600 per square foot. Keep in mind NYC teachers probably make a little more in salary. But you're right, they aren't picking up and buying a house. My wife rented an apartment (not a great one either) with two other girls, and spent what she made each month.