251 replies to this topic

[Tony]

i didn't used to be all home deco dork until we bought our house and started watching the home and garden channel 13hrs a day. ha

we should form a support group.

[jeremx]

i didn't used to be all home deco dork until we bought our house and started watching the home and garden channel 13hrs a day. ha

we should form a support group.

but.. but.. i don't have a problem.

[Mary]

Wood fences are rather vulnerable to the elements here -- at some point when I can sink the cash I definitely want a block wall at least on the alley side. My current backyard fence is frame and stucco, no joke, and the outside side on the back is not even stuccoed over. It's a combo of a very old wood fence and some scraps and a disabled plywood RV gate. We are the middle house of 3 the seller bought, remodeled oddly, and flipped, so my two neighbors have the stucco fence on the sides, too. A healthy tree can tip it over. But I still love my house.

[John MFer]

Wouldn't a fence made with a frame and stucco (like a house built in the last 10 years, right?) last in the elements? Our house has a wood gate which has seen better days. I think a good karate kick would take it out completely. The guy who did our pool fence said he could do a new one using a metal frame with composite wood slats. The composite wood samples we have look like wood but feel like a hard plastic, cool stuff.

[glitterbot]

If we were looking in S. Phx, we would buy your house, John. However, we are looking in Arcadia...cause we've lived here 4+ years and love it...isn't your house in Arcadia, Tony?

We wanted to live in Arcadia too but there was nothing that suited our needs and desires in our price range. We're pretty stoked with the new part of town we live in, I don't know what you call the area around cactus and the 51 but that's it.

that is totally cool! that area was one of the main neighborhood matt and I looked in during our 10 month search for a house. there are a lot of nice houses there. we actually made an offer on a house on cactus right next to roadrunner park, but it didn't pan out. we ended up in a totally different place, as it turned out, but we love it here. just east of the I17, just north of Tbird.

[John MFer]

Yeah! I really like the fact that despite the fact that the houses are mostly 30+ years old, for the most part they're really well cared for. That's not the case in many parts of town of the same age. There seems to be a sense of self-respect in our neighborhood, and it's contagious. Where you live is cool too. We might have considered it if my commute wouldn't have been so bad.

[The Real Jeffrey Lebowski]

Anyone bother with purchasing a "Home Warranty" when buying? For general plumbing, utility replacement, etc.

Seems like a rip off (especially after checking out some customer reviews thanks to the google), but my realtor is recommending I get one. She's seemed pretty honest and on top of things thus far, but something she wrote in an email seems to indicate she doesn't even have one for her condo...

Shit, the A/C and water heater are already busted, so this won't help with either of those anyways.

I think the seller is paying for the first year, so I may just pick a plan for now and not renew when the time comes.

[Jacki O.]

i had one for the first year i had my house and it actually came in handy when one of the old pipes to my bathtub burst under the floor and i had to have peeps come out and fix it. It was free or almost free (if i remember correctly) because of the warranty i had. I dont know how much that warranty cost me initially, for some reason i think it was included in the title stuff but i cant remember.

anyways it worked out for me but i have an old shitty house.

[The Real Jeffrey Lebowski]

Word. My buddy also had it come in handy too... Sounds like it's definitely worth it. I'll just have to focus on finding a company that not overtly evil.

Thanks!

[Jacki O.]

Word. My buddy also had it come in handy too... Sounds like it's definitely worth it. I'll just have to focus on finding a company that not overtly evil.

Thanks!

word.

i only had mine for the 1st year. i wouldn't recommend getting one after the initial year. i mean shit is gonna constantly be breaking down on you but most of it you can DIY. I've honestly never been like "damn i wish i had that warranty now!"

the only time was when i first moved in and the pipe burst and i was like "wahhh i dont know what i am doing! this was the biggest mistake of my life!"

now when that shit happens i'm all "get me the wrench"

[Tony]

Word. My buddy also had it come in handy too... Sounds like it's definitely worth it. I'll just have to focus on finding a company that not overtly evil.

Thanks!

word.

i only had mine for the 1st year. i wouldn't recommend getting one after the initial year. i mean shit is gonna constantly be breaking down on you but most of it you can DIY. I've honestly never been like "damn i wish i had that warranty now!"

the only time was when i first moved in and the pipe burst and i was like "wahhh i dont know what i am doing! this was the biggest mistake of my life!"

now when that shit happens i'm all "get me the wrench"

totally. i think first year is key, mostly because you can negotiate it into the cost of the house. beyond that and you're paying for it out of pocket. might as well roll the dice and pay for it only if it breaks. it probably works out in your favor, unless the house is a piece of shit. in which case, why buy it?

plus, if you get the coverage the first year you're sort of saying "i want this to cover the stuff you knew wasn't 100% but didn't fix because you knew you were moving", or maybe stuff they put a band aid on to sell it even though they knew it might need more work done. after that, if it's an old home stuff's going to happen. you just deal with it.

[John MFer]

Word. My buddy also had it come in handy too... Sounds like it's definitely worth it. I'll just have to focus on finding a company that not overtly evil.

Thanks!

word.

i only had mine for the 1st year. i wouldn't recommend getting one after the initial year. i mean shit is gonna constantly be breaking down on you but most of it you can DIY. I've honestly never been like "damn i wish i had that warranty now!"

the only time was when i first moved in and the pipe burst and i was like "wahhh i dont know what i am doing! this was the biggest mistake of my life!"

now when that shit happens i'm all "get me the wrench"

totally. i think first year is key, mostly because you can negotiate it into the cost of the house. beyond that and you're paying for it out of pocket. might as well roll the dice and pay for it only if it breaks. it probably works out in your favor, unless the house is a piece of shit. in which case, why buy it?

plus, if you get the coverage the first year you're sort of saying "i want this to cover the stuff you knew wasn't 100% but didn't fix because you knew you were moving", or maybe stuff they put a band aid on to sell it even though they knew it might need more work done. after that, if it's an old home stuff's going to happen. you just deal with it.

Word. We've lived in our house six weeks and have had 3 claims to the home warranty people. A bunch of stuff was wrong that the home inspector didn't find. We're hoping (c'mon!!) the water heater goes out before the warranty expires.

Sadly, they don't do anything outside the house. So, the valve to turn the water off to the house, that was busted and we had to pay out of pocket. Also, the irrigation system leaks all over the place, once again, out of pocket.

[The Real Jeffrey Lebowski]

So, today is my closing day! Sounds like a great time to have my underwriter come back and say "oh, I know we told you 3% down was ok, but really, we're going to need 10%"

Why my application would be anywhere near underwriting ON CLOSING DAY is beyond me. Luckily for me, I also happen to work for the same company I'm trying to get my financing through, so I've been able to escalate all over the place. God help anyone that doesn't have access to people's supervisor's contact information...

Unfuckingbelievable.

PM me if you want my two cents on which company you should not use for your home mortgage. I'd post it here, but I'm not looking to get fired (unless I've got two beers and an emergency chute.)

TOO BIG TO FAIL!

[John MFer]

No shit... It was the underwriters who fucked up the deal selling my old house, the day before closing. The company who fucked it up?

NOVA HOME LOANS

and that place sucks. Anyone who works there sucks. Anyone who goes to them for a mortgage sucks.

[dharma_bum]

We might end up just renting out our old place.

are both yer loans FHA?