Buying a House!

[Belsnickel]

I'm bucking that Millennial trend and becoming a homeowner!

My wife and I are buying a home with her father, who wanted to move closer to us, and we decided that this is the most economical option. So we are getting a 4 bed, 3 full bath, single level house in my city. We got the signed contract in, today, after much negotiating. So closing is still a ways off, but it's an exciting (and stressful) thing!

[CKwi88]

Congrats! I became a homeowner last year and hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

[fredtoast]

No indoor pets.

[reuben.ahmed]

Good for you! I've been in a house for maybe 11 years now and you might start to see you have secret hobbies you never knew about. Mine were I apparently like to garden and landscape more than the normal person.

My parents have gotten older (70s) and I'm thinking of building a new one/moving that has an in-law suite.

Although they annoy me when I visit, I think I can survive if it's a separated suite basically (locked door, they have their own garage etc). how does your wife feel about it (edit it's her father, so apparently she's fine with it). I feel like I won't be able to get married if people think I'm "living with my parents". Privacy lost....

I also prefer ranch homes. I find I rarely go into my half finished basement and only upstairs to shower/sleep anyway. Put them all on the 1st floor.

My dog isn't allowed to use stairs anymore (spine deterioration although she's only 7) - she had back surgery, so that also leans towards single floor flat level housing, if possible.

My biggest mistake with my first house is only 0.25 acres. You need wide acreage, you really have no idea how shitty neighbors can be until you get "that one" like one side of mine. You name it. Called the cops on me at 2AM (thinking I illegally parallel parked my car on the street, about 1ft off the curb - it wasn't even my car). Seriously, who does that?

Their dog shits in my yard and they don't pick it up (I go out there with a shovel and throw it 20ft back into their lawn, lol).

Opens my backyard gate/fence, walks into my backyard and looks inside my back windows to see if I'm home.

Then the slightly less annoying things, constantly tries to talk to me (initiates 100 out of 100 conversations) even though I have my headphones on and I'm not looking at them.

Sitting on their deck 15 ft away, drinking beer the whole night, burping, and singing. Latter would be OK if they had a singing voice.

Also dumb people can accidentally be racist and you forgive them because they're just stupid.

[fredtoast]

(12-13-2018, 07:28 PM)reuben.ahmed Wrote: Good for you! I've been in a house for maybe 11 years now and you might start to see you have secret hobbies you never knew about. Mine were I apparently like to garden and landscape more than the normal person.

My parents have gotten older (70s) and I'm thinking of building a new one/moving that has an in-law suite.

Although they annoy me when I visit, I think I can survive if it's a separated suite basically (locked door, they have their own garage etc). how does your wife feel about it (edit it's her father, so apparently she's fine with it). I feel like I won't be able to get married if people think I'm "living with my parents". Privacy lost....

I also prefer ranch homes. I find I rarely go into my half finished basement and only upstairs to shower/sleep anyway. Put them all on the 1st floor.

My dog isn't allowed to use stairs anymore (spine deterioration although she's only 7) - she had back surgery, so that also leans towards single floor flat level housing, if possible.

My biggest mistake with my first house is only 0.25 acres. You need wide acreage, you really have no idea how shitty neighbors can be until you get "that one" like one side of mine. You name it. Called the cops on me at 2AM (thinking I illegally parallel parked my car on the street, about 1ft off the curb - it wasn't even my car). Seriously, who does that?

Their dog shits in my yard and they don't pick it up (I go out there with a shovel and throw it 20ft back into their lawn, lol).

Opens my backyard gate/fence, walks into my backyard and looks inside my back windows to see if I'm home.

Then the slightly less annoying things, constantly tries to talk to me (initiates 100 out of 100 conversations) even though I have my headphones on and I'm not looking at them.

Sitting on their deck 15 ft away, drinking beer the whole night, burping, and singing. Latter would be OK if they had a singing voice.

Also dumb people can accidentally be racist and you forgive them because they're just stupid.

Lots of times single people buy much more house than they need just because nice new houses are mostly large.

[*bfine32*]

(12-13-2018, 06:13 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: I'm bucking that Millennial trend and becoming a homeowner!

My wife and I are buying a home with her father, who wanted to move closer to us, and we decided that this is the most economical option. So we are getting a 4 bed, 3 full bath, single level house in my city. We got the signed contract in, today, after much negotiating. So closing is still a ways off, but it's an exciting (and stressful) thing!

The provided picture looks beautiful and it sounds very nice. Just remember; as a home owner you are NEVER done. It's either repairs or upgrades. Learn to do as much as you can on your own. YouTube is your friend.  

[SunsetBengal]

Congrats! I remember being so proud, when I bought my "shack by the sea". Now, I don't live there, and am just looking to unload it.. But, becoming a homeowner is huge, much more than just paying the rent to deal with.

[jfkbengals]

(12-13-2018, 08:24 PM)bfine32 Wrote: The provided picture looks beautiful and it sounds very nice. Just remember; as a home owner you are NEVER done. It's either repairs or upgrades. Learn to do as much as you can on your own. YouTube is your friend.  

This is very true.

HOWEVER, keep in mind two things with each project you undertake.

First, if the project can become costly if it isn't done correctly the first time, leave it to an insured professional.  Often repairing a part of something done poorly costs as much or more than just having a professional do it from the get go.

Second, remember to calculate your the value of your own time and sanity when you consider which projects to undertake yourself.  It is easy to say "I can do that myself and save money", but sometimes the amount of time required to do the job in off work hours can either take up all of your time for a significant period, leave daily life upside down for an extended period, or both.  These things can ultimately bring the stress level for you or family members to a very high level.

[Belsnickel]

(12-13-2018, 08:24 PM)bfine32 Wrote: The provided picture looks beautiful and it sounds very nice. Just remember; as a home owner you are NEVER done. It's either repairs or upgrades. Learn to do as much as you can on your own. YouTube is your friend.  

(12-13-2018, 09:32 PM)jfkbengals Wrote: This is very true.

HOWEVER, keep in mind two things with each project you undertake.

First, if the project can become costly if it isn't done correctly the first time, leave it to an insured professional.  Often repairing a part of something done poorly costs as much or more than just having a professional do it from the get go.

Second, remember to calculate your the value of your own time and sanity when you consider which projects to undertake yourself.  It is easy to say "I can do that myself and save money", but sometimes the amount of time required to do the job in off work hours can either take up all of your time for a significant period, leave daily life upside down for an extended period, or both.  These things can ultimately bring the stress level for you or family members to a very high level.

I am fortunate in that I grew up the son of a carpenter. My father wired houses for a living, then was a maintenance supervisor in a retirement community when we moved to Virginia. Everything short of a full-blown extension on the house was done by my father. My brother-in-law did build his own extension on his house, and my uncle just outright built his house. So while I am not as handy as my male relatives, I have picked up quite a bit along the way.

I do also know my limitations, though. I know when to call for help. Probably the most important lesson learned growing up as I did.

[sandwedge]

Congrats!

[George Cantstandya]

Congrats on the new house.  From your picture it looks nice.  It's a great feeling having a place you can call your own that you can do whatever you want with it, within applicable laws of course :) .  My advice if you need something done you can't do yourself do a lot of research first and if you are friendly with your neighbors ask them if they can recommend someone.  In fact I'd suggest researching local plumbers, electricians, HVAC repair, handymen etc. in advance and keep a list handy for when you need it.  It gets a lot more anxiety provoking if you have an urgent problem you can't fix and have to find someone quick as opposed to knowing who to call already.  

The last thing you want for example, say your heat goes out in the middle of winter, is to call one of those emergency 24/7 HVAC services first because they know you are screwed and charge you a premium.  I've had some bad luck over the last year with my house and not being very handy I'm glad I had made a list of home repair services before I needed them.

One thing I looked for when I made my list were the local family owned businesses that are licensed and insured.  They won't always show up as an early Google search because the bigger companies buy the higher Google listings.  However, for that local family business person, their work is their bread and butter and they often offer lower prices since they don't usually spend their income, if any, on advertising, office expenses, etc.  Plus they depend more on word of mouth to get more business.  Personally if I need something done I'd rather hire someone like that to do the work because less material costs the rest of the money goes to that person.  

For example I recently replaced my gas furnace and AC unit and hired a local guy that has been doing it for over 25 years with no office, receptionist, etc.  He is just a hard working guy that knows what he is doing, licensed and insured.  He only billed me for the actual cost of the the equipment and materials plus his time in labor.  I know this because he gave me the invoice for the equipment and materials he purchased to do the job. As opposed to a bigger business that often add a mark up on the equipment and materials plus time in labor where most the money doesn't go to the person doing the actual work.  The work I had done had to be permitted and the inspector told me he was very impressed by the quality of the job done.

Anyway, I'm wandering off here.  Congrats on the house.  Enjoy your house and the added bonus of home equity.  Hopefully you do not need the advice I provided.  As someone that rented almost half of my adult life before buying my first home I can appreciate the excitement and joy.  I hope you make it your own, a place you find comfort in for you and your family and most importantly a place you are glad to call home.  It is always nice after a long day at work or even after returning from a vacation to step through that front door and think, "I'm glad I'm home, my home."

[HarleyDog]

(12-13-2018, 09:32 PM)jfkbengals Wrote: This is very true.

HOWEVER, keep in mind two things with each project you undertake.

First, if the project can become costly if it isn't done correctly the first time, leave it to an insured professional.  Often repairing a part of something done poorly costs as much or more than just having a professional do it from the get go.

Second, remember to calculate your the value of your own time and sanity when you consider which projects to undertake yourself.  It is easy to say "I can do that myself and save money", but sometimes the amount of time required to do the job in off work hours can either take up all of your time for a significant period, leave daily life upside down for an extended period, or both.  These things can ultimately bring the stress level for you or family members to a very high level.

This is 90% of my life. I youtube it and measure time vs abilities vs. difficulty. If it’s not something I know I can complete in a very short time with ease, I call a professional. Ain’t nothing worse than an uncompleted project more worse than the wife nagging when your going to finish. Not to mention when completed she finds something wrong with. I would rather pay a pro and let her complain about him.

[XenoMorph]

(12-13-2018, 06:13 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: I'm bucking that Millennial trend and becoming a homeowner!

My wife and I are buying a home with her father, who wanted to move closer to us, and we decided that this is the most economical option. So we are getting a 4 bed, 3 full bath, single level house in my city. We got the signed contract in, today, after much negotiating. So closing is still a ways off, but it's an exciting (and stressful) thing!

Congrats on the home dude...  I don't know about the inlaw part  but congrats..

[XenoMorph]

(12-13-2018, 06:49 PM)fredtoast Wrote: No indoor pets.

if your pets cant go indoors you shouldn't have any.

[fredtoast]

(12-17-2018, 06:07 PM)XenoMorph Wrote: if your pets cant go indoors you shouldn't have any.

Right, because animals evolved to their current state while living indoors.

[XenoMorph]

(12-17-2018, 06:29 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Right, because animals evolved to their current state while living indoors.

fred I don't think you understand the word PET not wild animal...

[fredtoast]

(12-18-2018, 11:38 AM)XenoMorph Wrote: fred I don't think you understand the word PET not wild animal...

Pets are animals.  Animals live outside.  I provide them with shelter, but I don't let them mess up my house.


I am going to drop it here.  I don't want to trash Bels thread about his house.

[Belsnickel]

Welp, we've moved in. There are still some things in our apartment we need to bring over, but we have most of it here. We're even mostly unpacked. Now we're just enjoying a Friday morning snowfall and some coffee in our new home. This is our second morning here, but yesterday morning we hadn't slept well the night before and we were still exhausted and had a ton to do.

[fredtoast]

Congrats.

Hope there is not a lot of work/painting stuff that still needs to be done. I painted the interior of my house before I sold it. I had been there 15 years and raise dkids so the walls had to be painted. Of course I painted them a neutral off-white color. After I sold it I went back to drop off some stuff for the new homowners and they were re-painting everything in their own colors. I was not suprised. I knw a lot of people want their own colors. I wish I had nto gone to the trouble and expense to paint, but I honestly think it would have hurt the price. Even if people are going to re-paint in new colors the interior of a house looks so much better with fresh painted walls.

[Belsnickel]

(03-08-2019, 12:27 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Congrats.

Hope there is not a lot of work/painting stuff that still needs to be done. I painted the interior of my house before I sold it. I had been there 15 years and raise dkids so the walls had to be painted. Of course I painted them a neutral off-white color. After I sold it I went back to drop off some stuff for the new homowners and they were re-painting everything in their own colors. I was not suprised. I knw a lot of people want their own colors. I wish I had nto gone to the trouble and expense to paint, but I honestly think it would have hurt the price. Even if people are going to re-paint in new colors the interior of a house looks so much better with fresh painted walls.

Definitely not a ton that had to be done. We're okay with the colors, but they really did a shit job painting it. I just don't care enough to go through the hassle. I did have to do some plumbing work in the main bathroom, and I'll have some to do in the second main, but my father-in-law won't be moving in for a bit so that is a low priority.