For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

[bigeastbumrush]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

A lot of times...these agents are just negotiating with a buddy/colleague of theirs on the other side. It's all about their cut.

Or they'll work harder for a buyer who is in better financial position. That is understandable..but it is wrong.

Best to use an agent that has been recommended by someone you know.

[seasprite]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

A lot of times...these agents are just negotiating with a buddy/colleague of theirs on the other side. It's all about their cut.

Or they'll work harder for a buyer who is in better financial position. That is understandable..but it is wrong.

Best to use an agent that has been recommended by someone you know.

My wife has been a Realtor for 12 years and she would probably give you the same advice. Word of mouth is the best indication of a Realtor's worth.

[Phobia]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

It will be worth it when complete, though once you own a home, it is never complete...as you said, there is just a new list.

With that being said, you will have a lower interest rate with lower payments and your house is going to look awesome. Post some pictures of the floors if you don't mind. We are still not sure what we want to put in our new house and are looking for ideas.

I will try and get some pictures taken this weekend of all the remodels. Here is couple posts of mine from the remodeling going on in another thread. The last picture is the real floors in the house. The top parkay floors are the exact floors that were there before. All pictures look pretty damn close to what I had and what I got now.

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I spray the entire house twice a year. A bottle of this last around 2 years for me.

Steps
1) I spray around entire outside foundation of house
2) Spray around all windows and doors on outside of house
3) Lastly spray around any openings on outside such as ducts, air entry spaces, soffit vents, etc

Then
4) I move inside and spray all doors and windows
5) Spray around baseboards of every room
6) 6 Months repeat process

I have no issue with insects and I live in a very wooded area with a lot of trees. My road is called "Live Oak" for a reason lol

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On home ownership it is really like Dave said it separates men of the boys. You can get by paying people to do all your work for you. Such as paying a yard man, paying a general handy man to do things around house, etc. But if you expect to save money and really learn to maintain your house. Learn to do things on your own.

For instance I can give some back story on my home ownership. I purchased me a "fixer upper". It was built in 1964, appraised for 174,000, I purchased the house for 98,000. So I have 50,000+ in equity and came away with a good deal. Square footage is 1,600. But this house had some updating to be done.

Kitchen was this orangey pink formica counter tops, also it lacked counter space. Entire house was also hard wood parkay floors, which needed updating. The master bath was also in dire need of remodeling.



So to save money on the remodel I decided to do everything myself.

1) First I installed ceramic tiles and extended the countertops with a bar


Then I installed ceramic tiles in the floors for the kitchen & living room


2) Next I redid the master bath by installing ceramic tiles on the floors & counters. Also installed one of those raised bowl sinks.


This took me around 8 months to a year to complete. Because like mentioned in here earlier, when you do it yourself expect it to take longer than you intend. Life gets in the way.

Then I installed all new windows in the house to replace those cheap single pane windows. I went with the low E argon filled double paned windows to save big time on electric bill.


This is still not complete but I am steady knocking out windows and installing one when I get a free weekend.

Lastly I am installing all new wood floors at the moment to cover those parkay floors. I have the hall done, spare room, and computer room done. I have just the master bedroom left which I plan on completing in the next couple weeks.

Here is pic of floors in the spare room


So roughly couple years deep into remodels but the house appraisal will go up greatly and I have save TONS of money. If you plan on really being a home owner expect unexpected costs and being handy with your hands when something breaks or needs repairing.

Good luck boys.

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Yea the tools are just great for building stuff.

For instance my fiance wanted a headboard for the spare bedrooms bed. So she kept looking all over but could not find what she liked. Most of our house is that rustic dark wood look (most our furniture is from World Market if you know their stuff).

So I started looking online, because I am very capable and have all the tools. I found this head board and asked if she liked it. She agreed and I built it for a total of like 70 bucks in wood and stain.

Picture I showed her


I hate how the i-phone washes out everything. It truly is very glossy and not dull and drab how the iphone pics make it look. The piece really came out beautiful which is hard to tell from this picture. I distressed it with hammers, nails, blow torch, and a chain saw chain. Then I sanded it with a 60 grit and rounded all the sharp edges. Then I hit it with a 500 grit paper and got it smooth as glass. I then broke out the air compressor and the paint gun and hit it with stain. After that dried, I broke out the steel wool and smoothed it yet again to glass like smooth. Then brush stained it and clear coated. Came out quite fantastic.


Edit: This picture you can see some of kitchen changes.
+ New Window
+ Tile counter tops
+ White cabinets (which I dislike TBH)

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On another note, I just installed my own roof last Monday. It took us 3 days, me and a buddy of mine on spring break.

25 squares, 2,700 square feet, 6,600 pounds of shingles. It was backbreaking work and I will never do it again, but it was well worth it from a money stand point.

I was quoted $6,400 for professional installers to do it. I ended up destroying that doing it myself. 75 bundles, 90 feet of capping, 240 feet of drip edge, 7 rolls of felt, cap nails, 6 lead boots, 2 wirly birds, and regular nail gun nails.

Entire supplies costed me 1,700. Then another 250 for the dumpster and 60 to rent nail gun. So entire roof costed me 2,000 compared to 6,400. That is a saving of 4,400. Never do it again but it was worth it. Good thing I have at least 15 years before I have to worry about a roof again!!

[NDAlum]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

Hey Phobia,

**** you.

Sincerely,
NDAlum

Spoiler

I am so jealous of your skill!

[Phobia]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

Hey Phobia,

**** you.

Sincerely,
NDAlum

Spoiler

I am so jealous of your skill!

Trust me man, I would trade with you in a sec. I am praying to stay at work today rather than go home. Now I have to go home, load a old hot water tank, paint some soffit, and THEN listen to this..................Work on getting everything to repipe my house to CPVC.

The house has old 1964 galv piping which is caked with mineral deposits. I am tired of the water getting blocked and me having to have a plumber out twice a year to blow out the lines.

I am now going to undertake redoing all the plumbing in my house.

I should note, my dad owned a construction company and I was always learning from him. Plus you throw in the fact I am never scared to learn. This is why I basically do everything myself. This might sound wrong to say, but if some Mexican who can't speak English (or spell galvanized) picked up at home depot can do it, then I feel my chances of doing it more thoroughly are better for me getting it done right.

So ND Lets swap :wink:

On a side note, I should show you guys my man cave at some point. I have a signal amp which splits the 360 out to every TV in the house, So I can play xbox in any room in the house depending where the lady wants to watch TV. Also have a 32" Sony bravia mounted above a 22" samsung PC monitor for the gaming station. Must say it is my most prized remodel lol

[mgoblue]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

A lot of times...these agents are just negotiating with a buddy/colleague of theirs on the other side. It's all about their cut.

Or they'll work harder for a buyer who is in better financial position. That is understandable..but it is wrong.

Best to use an agent that has been recommended by someone you know.

My wife has been a Realtor for 12 years and she would probably give you the same advice. Word of mouth is the best indication of a Realtor's worth.

I'm using someone my parents used last year (and was recommended). She's a buyer's agent, she just works for buyers (not sellers) so you avoid the conflict of interest. I know she's on my side and is really working for us. We even liked a house she didn't, and while she wouldn't have stopped us from getting it, she was honest with us.

I can't imagine going through this process (all the paperwork, waiting, etc) without having a realtor I could trust. Also nice that my parents just did all this stuff last year, so they've researched everything for me lol I don't have to stress as much about home warranty or whatnot. Since I trust my parents I know they found the best out there.

I have like 8 days until close, and I've done everything my realtor and mortgage lady want me to, but in the back of my mind I'm still waiting for something bad to happen lol. Just want this over so I can figure everything else out....

Next up is maybe having to settle for a smaller washer/dryer since our laundry closet may not be deep enough, have to re-measure. I wrote down 29", but hoping I somehow screwed that up, since most are 29-30" and need room in back as well.

[bigeastbumrush]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

Phobia...love that backsplash in the kitchen and matching ceramic tiles.

Good eye.

[Phobia]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

Phobia...love that backsplash in the kitchen and matching ceramic tiles.

Good eye.

The three pictures of the counter tops, raised bowl sink, and tile floor are not mine. I don't want anyone confusing that for mine. I was basically showing the transition from old pink formica to ceramic tiles. The update. The tiles I used are like a sand color, you can ALMOST see both them here in this picture. The back splash and counter tops, the i phone 3g pictures are just not good is the issue.

I am going to take some legitimate photos soon with the digital camera. I will try and take some tonight.

[bigeastbumrush]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

Oh..okay. I stand corrected.

[cardsfan2222]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

My wife and I listed our house in April so we could build a house. Our house sold a week after we listed it, and since the buyer was using a USDA loan, they asked for 6 weeks to close since USDA loans can take longer to close. Between the bank being slow with their paperwork, and the USDA taking forever to approve the loan, we ended up closing a month after we were supposed to.

Our new house is just finishing up the framing, and we should be able to move in at the end of October. I can't wait, because we've been living in my in-laws basement since we moved out over two months ago, which is a stressful way to live, especially with 2 young kids. I know it will all be worth it in the end, but this has really been a stressful experience so far.

[mgoblue]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

Next up is maybe having to settle for a smaller washer/dryer since our laundry closet may not be deep enough, have to re-measure. I wrote down 29", but hoping I somehow screwed that up, since most are 29-30" and need room in back as well.

Reinspection was yesterday, they got most stuff and have time to fix the rest (nothing major). The shower door they put in is awesome, saves us a good amount of money (those aren't cheap, at least not what they did).

Today I get to sign all the documents and possibly do the cashier's check (waiting for final approval on everything).

Thursday we hopefully get the keys and go from there.

We got appliances, have them coming Saturday. I'm working on getting the locksmith (to re-key) and an exterminator (to do a prelim spray while it's all empty) to come by as well so we can get all this stuff done fast.

These 2 days won't go by fast enough though, just want to be done with all the questions and waiting.

[23]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

Man I just went through all of th at.. it will go by fast though

By the time you look up you'll be standing in the middle of the floor realizing YOU have to move all of your stuff

[jeremym480]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

This is the first time that I'll have a home that's in the path of a hurricane. During all of the others I've been through I was just a renter. Not to sound inconsiderate, but I have to say that it was kind of fun to sit at my apartment during Gustav and watch shingles and other derbies fly around every where.

But as a homeowner this is scary ****.

[12]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

We found a perfect home for us... It's absolutely perfect for our little family of four.

Nearly 2,800 square feet, five bedrooms, built in 2009, at the end of a cul de sac, immaculately taken care of, enormous yard... Three car garage, more storage than we could ever need, a big soaking tub...

The catch? It's at the top of our price range of $225,000. Getting this house would make things financially tight for a little while. But my thing is, this will be our house for the next 15-25 years, if not longer. A good buddy of mine told me if that's the case, take a big bite now. Interest rates are phenomenal and we can do it. The house is perfect. The yard is almost as long as a football field, so my two little boys can run like crazy. It's in a great location as well. The ONLY negative is that it's at the max of our price range and realistically might even be a tad bit out of price range.

Here it is...

House

More pictures

[jeremym480]

Re: For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

^^

Man those a lot of house for the price. It has a nice huge yard too, I say go for it.