For all of you guys who are homeowners or newly owned

[mgoblue]

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

We had something happen with our refridgerator yesterday/last night.

I opened up the freezer and water was leaking from everywhere as everything was in the process of melting. Opened up the fridge side and it was warm in there. Suffice to say we transferred everything to our chest freezer downstairs and thankfully had enough room in our beer fridge to get all of the perishables into that (sans beer of course).

When I got up this morning I checked and everything seemed to be back to normal. Freezer is ice cold and the fridge is cool with all the condiments/dressings cool to the touch.

Unfortunately, we couldn't get a hold of our local appliance repair man today due to the weather, but I was just wondering if anybody had any experiences like this?

I had my fairly new fridge/freezer stop working randomly. Had an appliance guy come and he turned cooling off and on using the buttons on the screen (I was stupid to not try that) and it got it working. Apparently it just glitched on the board or something. I haven't had it happen since. Sucked to pay like 60 bucks to have a guy do that lol

[Fresh Tendrils]

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

Unfortunately we don't have a control panel on the front (other than the ice/water dispenser). The tech is supposed to come out Friday and he has our model/serial number so hopefully he can bring whatever part is needed and fix it that day.

It's been running fine since Sunday. The freezer is frozen and what's left in the fridge is cool to the touch so who knows.

As long as we don't have to buy a whole new fridge. I wasn't expecting that sticker shock Sunday night.

We've had some issues the past couple of months so I'm hoping it doesn't pile on too much.

[mgoblue]

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

Unfortunately we don't have a control panel on the front (other than the ice/water dispenser). The tech is supposed to come out Friday and he has our model/serial number so hopefully he can bring whatever part is needed and fix it that day.

It's been running fine since Sunday. The freezer is frozen and what's left in the fridge is cool to the touch so who knows.

As long as we don't have to buy a whole new fridge. I wasn't expecting that sticker shock Sunday night.

We've had some issues the past couple of months so I'm hoping it doesn't pile on too much.

Yeah, I'd keep an eye on it if it's good and just pay attention so if it died again you wouldn't lose stuff.

Our fridge has buttons above the ice/water, but I get how a lot don't...not sure if there's a way to turn on/off cooling otherwise, but yours is working so I'd just call it good and pay attention. Having them check isn't bad either, but not sure what they can do either (doubt they take apart the fridge).

[AUChase]

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

Long read:

We finally got our appraisal back for the house and it came in $3,000 less than what we had a contract for with the seller so we submitted the max it was appraised and our previous deal to bring half the cost of some repairs to the table at closing. There was some minor roof damage and they wanted to put plastic down, do some waterproofing, etc. and we agreed to pay half of it.

Then the appraisal went well other than they wanted to put a downspout on one of the gutters, replace a section of gutter, and brace the back deck a little better. I told the lady I would come to the house and do it all for her since I know she doesn't have the means to do it and would have to hire someone.

So she counter offered and now wants an additional $3000 in closing + the $1200 we offered to pay to her to help with repairs and I told my wife it's not a good deal. It's really not our fault that the house appraised for less and I didn't tell her to list a house that needed repairs to meet the requirements of most home loan programs. The VA is especially strict and they also require an additional $2000 at closing from the buyer or seller for a "VA funding fee" and I appreciate her being willing to cover it all originally so I told my wife to tell our agent that the best we are going to do is the appraisal amount + $2500 and she can get that either in cash at closing or we can cover it towards closing ourselves... whatever she wants.

I don't know if she's going to accept that or not, but this is where we ran into issues with the last house. It appraised for $10,000 less than the guy wanted and the deal fell apart because we wouldn't come out of pocket for the difference and we were all ready agreeing to pay most of the closing cost. We want the house, but there's a few things I know:

She still owes $95,000 on the house so she's trying to get out from under it.
No one had looked at the house and it was listed for months.
We were the first and only offer ever made on it.
She's been really willing to meet us so we made that effort in return.

Now we're just at a difference of opinion and money and it's either she takes it and it's great or we will move on again I guess. What sucks is we're out an inspection fee and VA appraisal fee from the first house all ready and this would make two. With all of our vehicles having over 200k miles on them, kids hobbies, some remodeling we would need to do, etc. we just don't want to dip too far into savings to make up the difference. $3000 is $3000 lol.

[pietasterp]

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

With regard to the above, you're doing the right thing. There are basically 2 strategies you can take, which are basically play hardball since you 100% know you're in the driver's seat here and have the seller over a barrel, or else figure you're close enough and just accept whatever to close the deal (figuring your time/energy is worth something as well).

It seems like you've been negotiating in good faith and have given/taken appropriately, so at this point, since you're pretty much in the driver's seat, it sounds like you've reached your limit of compromise. As it sounds like you are willing to walk away if this doesn't go through, that's the best time to just say "here's our final offer, take it or leave it". I know paying for inspections and peripheral expenses around potential home buying is annoying, but at the end of the day it's a small price to pay to avoid a bigger (more expensive) mistake. So it's money well spent, even if it doesn't end up in a home purchase.

[mgoblue]

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

With regard to the above, you're doing the right thing. There are basically 2 strategies you can take, which are basically play hardball since you 100% know you're in the driver's seat here and have the seller over a barrel, or else figure you're close enough and just accept whatever to close the deal (figuring your time/energy is worth something as well).

It seems like you've been negotiating in good faith and have given/taken appropriately, so at this point, since you're pretty much in the driver's seat, it sounds like you've reached your limit of compromise. As it sounds like you are willing to walk away if this doesn't go through, that's the best time to just say "here's our final offer, take it or leave it". I know paying for inspections and peripheral expenses around potential home buying is annoying, but at the end of the day it's a small price to pay to avoid a bigger (more expensive) mistake. So it's money well spent, even if it doesn't end up in a home purchase.

I agree...it sucks, but you shouldn't be on the hook to magically pay for what it doesn't appraise for. It was something we worried about on our house we sold but it all worked out great.

[AUChase]

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

Our real estate agent lives at the camp my wife works for (his wife is the camp RN) and he stopped by their office yesterday to talk to her. Our offer wasn't that well received by the seller and she felt like she should be compensated more for the repairs and the appraisal coming down and our real estate agent reached out to the lender we are using and had a discussion and told her that he thought the deal was going to fall through because we aren't budging and neither of them are going to be make anything if that's the case. This would be the second time too.

So he asked us if they could make it so we're only bringing somewhere between $2300-2500 to the table at closing would we be okay with it even if it was happening despite the seller not agreeing to our terms. Apparently the lender we're using/our mortgage broker have had a discussion and they are going to adjust their rates/margins accordingly to make less money, but make it possible. He was asking because the principal behind is that the seller still isn't accepting our offer, but in the end both parties would get what they want.

I'm not sure about all of the particulars, but it wouldn't have an effect on any of our rates, numbers, etc. The branch we are going through is actually closing down next year because the branch owner is finally retiring after 50+ years and I think they are determined to make this sale happen or they likely won't see another home close.

I like both our lender and real estate agent a lot and we have a bit of a personal relationship via my wife's work with our agent and I think at this point he's starting to feel a little bad about the whole thing because we have looked at so many houses. He told me that in all his years of doing this he's had three houses come in under appraised and we're 2/2 so far lol.

So.. assuming that the details he ironed out yesterday are still on the table today when he makes contact with our lender we're going to be in business.

[mgoblue]

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

Our real estate agent lives at the camp my wife works for (his wife is the camp RN) and he stopped by their office yesterday to talk to her. Our offer wasn't that well received by the seller and she felt like she should be compensated more for the repairs and the appraisal coming down and our real estate agent reached out to the lender we are using and had a discussion and told her that he thought the deal was going to fall through because we aren't budging and neither of them are going to be make anything if that's the case. This would be the second time too.

So he asked us if they could make it so we're only bringing somewhere between $2300-2500 to the table at closing would we be okay with it even if it was happening despite the seller not agreeing to our terms. Apparently the lender we're using/our mortgage broker have had a discussion and they are going to adjust their rates/margins accordingly to make less money, but make it possible. He was asking because the principal behind is that the seller still isn't accepting our offer, but in the end both parties would get what they want.

I'm not sure about all of the particulars, but it wouldn't have an effect on any of our rates, numbers, etc. The branch we are going through is actually closing down next year because the branch owner is finally retiring after 50+ years and I think they are determined to make this sale happen or they likely won't see another home close.

I like both our lender and real estate agent a lot and we have a bit of a personal relationship via my wife's work with our agent and I think at this point he's starting to feel a little bad about the whole thing because we have looked at so many houses. He told me that in all his years of doing this he's had three houses come in under appraised and we're 2/2 so far lol.

So.. assuming that the details he ironed out yesterday are still on the table today when he makes contact with our lender we're going to be in business.

I mean I see where that woman's coming from in her mind, but it's not your responsibility to pay for repairs or cover any drop in appraisal value. Sure, it sucks for her, but that's life sadly.

[AUChase]

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

I mean I see where that woman's coming from in her mind, but it's not your responsibility to pay for repairs or cover any drop in appraisal value. Sure, it sucks for her, but that's life sadly.

Yeah I would hate to have a certain number in mind and then not get it, but hell she originally listed the house at $25,000 more than what it appraised for so she was all ready setting herself up for failure and that's on her and her agent.

Buying/selling is tricky business, but like I said before after going through all of this If was going to sell a house I would definitely have it appraised and potentially inspected myself.

[pietasterp]

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

Yeah I would hate to have a certain number in mind and then not get it, but hell she originally listed the house at $25,000 more than what it appraised for so she was all ready setting herself up for failure and that's on her and her agent.

Buying/selling is tricky business, but like I said before after going through all of this If was going to sell a house I would definitely have it appraised and potentially inspected myself.

Good luck; hope it all works out for you.

If you can, try to keep in mind that it's just business, not personal. It helps to have that mindset and clarify things when the situations starts to get complicated...

[AUChase]

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

My wife and I closed on our house on Friday afternoon.

We spent Friday night, Saturday all day, and Sunday all day doing some remodeling. My dad and I ripped up almost 900 sq ft of carpet, padding, strips, staples, etc. up. This was some crazy cat lady and she just let her cats do whatever over the years so it was a disgusting project because they were clearly just peeing wherever the **** they wanted in the house.

I had a few friends, my dad, my father-in-law, and my friend's dad come over on Sunday and we laid new sub-flooring for the master bedroom and the kid's playroom and we put down new laminate flooring while my wife's friends and her painted the walls. We still have to take care of the new informal living area and the office, but we have made a lot of progress. The other bedroom all ready had nice flooring down so we haven't messed with it.

Buying a fixer-upper wasn't the ideal thing to do, but I can't stress just how good of a deal we got for the space the house has, the backyard space, etc. With the means to make our own repairs and not have to hire people it made sense. Sometime next year we are going to target the kitchen, buy nicer and more appropriate molding for the rooms, etc.

So this week we are going to try to move most of our stuff, finish painting around the windows and the molding, and get moved in next weekend.

Spoiler

[mgoblue]

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

Congrats....I can't imagine doing all that work, especially when buying a new house now means we have to sell the old one...impossible to time that for a fixer upper

[23]

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

How much did all the flooring cost you?

[AUChase]

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

How much did all the flooring cost you?

Somewhere in the $1,900.00 range.

I've had to go back and buy matching T-molding strips to transition between rooms and those bad boys are about $20 each on clearance and I have some extra to put up in case I have to replace some of it down the road. It was about $1.50/ sq ft + each of the rolls of padding was $30 per 100 sq ft.

The whole remodel has been pricey and I still haven't bought new baseboards and 1/4" round trim yet. Someone put wallpaper up in the kitchen and we were just going to prime it and paint it and say **** it for now, but the wallpaper started bubbling and then it wouldn't peal easy so now this weekend I'm just going to buy Lauan (cheaper than new sheetrock) and cover the kitchen walls so my wife can prime and paint the kitchen.

I have an 18' enclosed trailer and an 18' car hauler sitting in my front yard to start packing up this weekend and next week. Now I'm wishing we hadn't got the kids a swing set and trampoline lol. Hopefully we will be moved in completely by next weekend or possibly even this Sunday if things go smooth. We have had so many people volunteer time to help clean the house or help with the flooring. Definitely couldn't do it on my own anywhere near this fast.

What's lost on all of this to me and I started giving it some real thought last night is how my dog is going to adapt. She's a full grown great Pyrenees. She's used to roaming everywhere around our house where she has a pond to play in and animals to chase. She's always chasing deer around and she gets plenty of exercise. The new backyard is about 1/2 an acre and it's fenced in and we will be around a lot more traffic. Our neighbor also has a white pit bull and they may not get along either. I just really hope she does well with it. We could probably let her stay and live with my wife's parents who are across the road from us now, but that's not easy to do.

[Cheese2121]

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

Hoping to close on my first home ever in the coming month as I move to Michigan. A little surreal to think about after all the years of dorms and then apartments.