The Benefits of Home Ownership?

[Cool Chris]

Kirk, I am president of our HOA 

[gmillerdrake]

Just emailed the County Assessor as the bi annual real estate assessments of our home arrived. Based off this assessment my yearly taxes are going to jump from $4,674.90 to $5,220.30. Homey don't play that. I utilized my right to challenge the assessment and basically structured the argument as one against the frail, manipulated real estate dreamscape going on right now with property values....saying, we all know it's gonna crash and when it does I'd then be stuck paying an inflated tax based off of the make believe market they assessed my home against. Will it work? I'll let you know. The second year we were here in our new home I did something similar and was able to get them to hold off on raising my assessed value.....maybe I'll get lucky again.

Yeah.....short version of the email I just received back is that they basically told me......"Tough shit, deal with it" 

[jingle.boy]

Just emailed the County Assessor as the bi annual real estate assessments of our home arrived. Based off this assessment my yearly taxes are going to jump from $4,674.90 to $5,220.30. Homey don't play that. I utilized my right to challenge the assessment and basically structured the argument as one against the frail, manipulated real estate dreamscape going on right now with property values....saying, we all know it's gonna crash and when it does I'd then be stuck paying an inflated tax based off of the make believe market they assessed my home against. Will it work? I'll let you know. The second year we were here in our new home I did something similar and was able to get them to hold off on raising my assessed value.....maybe I'll get lucky again.

Yeah.....short version of the email I just received back is that they basically told me......"Tough shit, deal with it" 

"Suck it up, buttercup"

[kirksnosehair]

The generator is a good idea, but also you should definitely look into solar.  The programs and incentives they have right now are incredible.  They literally paid us to install it.  They wrote me a $1,500 check when I signed up and called a "Signing incentive." I remember thinking "this has got to be some kind of scam" so I had our lawyer look it all over and he green-lighted it.  Said we'd be kicking ourselves later for not taking the plunge so we did it.  Definitely turned out to be a great deal.


We went from having a $400/month average bill on electricity to a positive cash flow of anywhere from $40/month winter and summer to $150/month in fall and spring when we're using neither the heat nor the AC.  We didn't have to come up with any cash to get the panels installed.  We started getting the positive cash flow after about 30 days of operation.  I've had those panels for 6 years now.  $4,800 year in savings times 6 years just shy of $29k in savings.

That's fucking insane.  I'm going to do it, and I'm hoping for like half of that.   

 

We're in a somewhat unusual situation where my house faces exactly south/south west and I have a very large and relatively flat roof onto which we've mounted 32 panels.  The sun is so strong on my front door in the summer time that we can't even grab the door knob to open it.  We're in the process of replacing the door with a fiberglass one.  According to the reports they send me we are generating more electricity than any other house in my neighborhood, but the guy next door who has an even bigger place has panels going in by the same company this week so our reign as the neighborhood electricity generating champions may be coming to an end. 


Still, it's pretty fucking cool to be selling energy back to the utility instead of paying a bill 


When the project manager told us we had a chance of actually making money on our electricity I was incredulous and I told him I'd be very surprised to see something like that happen.  But it not only happened, it happened immediately.  From the day those panels went live we've never paid for electricity again. 

[Grappler]

Just emailed the County Assessor as the bi annual real estate assessments of our home arrived. Based off this assessment my yearly taxes are going to jump from $4,674.90 to $5,220.30. Homey don't play that. I utilized my right to challenge the assessment and basically structured the argument as one against the frail, manipulated real estate dreamscape going on right now with property values....saying, we all know it's gonna crash and when it does I'd then be stuck paying an inflated tax based off of the make believe market they assessed my home against. Will it work? I'll let you know. The second year we were here in our new home I did something similar and was able to get them to hold off on raising my assessed value.....maybe I'll get lucky again.

Yeah.....short version of the email I just received back is that they basically told me......"Tough shit, deal with it" 

I did that a few years ago - challenged my home's assessment to try and get my property taxes reduced.  I went online, filled out the form and selected comparable homes in the surrounding town(s) where the homes sold for less than my home's appraised value.

The county came back with three other comparable homes that had higher sale values and said "we feel your assessment is correct."   I'm not sure how I can win on that one.   My house and my neighbor's house are virtually identical.  When his assessment and mine get out of whack someday, then I'll try again.  I don't think it's worth the effort and it's not worth paying a lawyer. 

[gmillerdrake]

Just emailed the County Assessor as the bi annual real estate assessments of our home arrived. Based off this assessment my yearly taxes are going to jump from $4,674.90 to $5,220.30. Homey don't play that. I utilized my right to challenge the assessment and basically structured the argument as one against the frail, manipulated real estate dreamscape going on right now with property values....saying, we all know it's gonna crash and when it does I'd then be stuck paying an inflated tax based off of the make believe market they assessed my home against. Will it work? I'll let you know. The second year we were here in our new home I did something similar and was able to get them to hold off on raising my assessed value.....maybe I'll get lucky again.

Yeah.....short version of the email I just received back is that they basically told me......"Tough shit, deal with it" 

I did that a few years ago - challenged my home's assessment to try and get my property taxes reduced.  I went online, filled out the form and selected comparable homes in the surrounding town(s) where the homes sold for less than my home's appraised value.

The county came back with three other comparable homes that had higher sale values and said "we feel your assessment is correct."   I'm not sure how I can win on that one.   My house and my neighbor's house are virtually identical.  When his assessment and mine get out of whack someday, then I'll try again.  I don't think it's worth the effort and it's not worth paying a lawyer.

Yeah.....it was a longshot but $45 increase a month is $45 a month. It's not a massive increase relatively speaking but I thought it was worth a shot.

[jingle.boy]

Totally.  "No" is the worse they could say??  It's not like you'll get "You're right, we actually should assess it higher" 

[gmillerdrake]

Totally.  "No" is the worse they could say??  It's not like you'll get "You're right, we actually should assess it higher"

    Wouldn't have that been a kick in the nuts   

[Phoenix87x]

Any idea when you guys think housing prices will come back down? I was looking to get something modest, but the prices are way to high for my blood right now.

[Stadler]

From what I understand, not for a while.  One of the drivers is that there aren't any foreclosures out there.  I would think that at least until that process starts up, you're going to see a seller's market.

[Chino]

Any idea when you guys think housing prices will come back down? I was looking to get something modest, but the prices are way to high for my blood right now.

That's such a hard question to answer. It could be years. One would think the demand would eventually have to come down, but there's lots of talk now of possible student loan forgiveness. If that were to happen, I know 3 or 4 people that would be house hunting the next day. I imagine that'd ring true for a lot of people in my age bracket, and I think that would drive further demand.

[cramx3]

Also add in the current cost to build, the housing supply just isn't there right now.  It really sucks for those who want to purchase.

[hunnus2000]

Any idea when you guys think housing prices will come back down? I was looking to get something modest, but the prices are way to high for my blood right now.

That's such a hard question to answer. It could be years. One would think the demand would eventually have to come down, but there's lots of talk now of possible student loan forgiveness. If that were to happen, I know 3 or 4 people that would be house hunting the next day. I imagine that'd ring true for a lot of people in my age bracket, and I think that would drive further demand.

I really hope that happens. This would help younger people participate in the economy pumping $$ into our economy. It's a win - win for everyone.

As far as when will prices come down? In 25 years of home ownership, I have not seen prices go down in any significant manner. My parents bought their house in Dallas for 20K (back in the day). We sold it back in 2017 for 385K.  We bought our house in 1997 for 157K and sold it in 2017 for 410K. I wouldn't count on prices going down anytime soon.

[Stadler]

Also add in the current cost to build, the housing supply just isn't there right now.  It really sucks for those who want to purchase.

That's in part because of the lack of foreclosures.  There's nothing to balance the pure market aspect of these transactions.  I put my house up as "coming soon" today (it goes live Friday) and already have a showing lined up.  There's something like four houses in my entire town in a similar size/age/price range. That's an insanely low inventory (there are 45,000 people in my town).  My agent was telling me this morning that he was working with a young couple with a 9-month old, and they put in EIGHT offers over the past few weeks, and finally landed one, and that was in part because the seller wanted to sell to them; that seller had something like six offers to pick from. 

[Chino]

Also add in the current cost to build, the housing supply just isn't there right now.  It really sucks for those who want to purchase.

That's in part because of the lack of foreclosures.  There's nothing to balance the pure market aspect of these transactions.  I put my house up as "coming soon" today (it goes live Friday) and already have a showing lined up.  There's something like four houses in my entire town in a similar size/age/price range. That's an insanely low inventory (there are 45,000 people in my town).  My agent was telling me this morning that he was working with a young couple with a 9-month old, and they put in EIGHT offers over the past few weeks, and finally landed one, and that was in part because the seller wanted to sell to them; that seller had something like six offers to pick from.

The house next door to me went on the market four weeks ago. I got a Zillow alert when it went live, and within an hour of it being listed it had over 600 views and almost 100 saves. There was legit traffic in my my neighborhood the entire afternoon. There were multiple realtors showing the house at once. It was crazy. The house was taken off the market the next day and it's been "under contract" on Zillow ever since.

[cramx3]

Also add in the current cost to build, the housing supply just isn't there right now.  It really sucks for those who want to purchase.

That's in part because of the lack of foreclosures.  There's nothing to balance the pure market aspect of these transactions.  I put my house up as "coming soon" today (it goes live Friday) and already have a showing lined up.  There's something like four houses in my entire town in a similar size/age/price range. That's an insanely low inventory (there are 45,000 people in my town).  My agent was telling me this morning that he was working with a young couple with a 9-month old, and they put in EIGHT offers over the past few weeks, and finally landed one, and that was in part because the seller wanted to sell to them; that seller had something like six offers to pick from.

The house next door to me went on the market four weeks ago. I got a Zillow alert when it went live, and within an hour of it being listed it had over 600 views and almost 100 saves. There was legit traffic in my my neighborhood the entire afternoon. There were multiple realtors showing the house at once. It was crazy. The house was taken off the market the next day and it's been "under contract" on Zillow ever since.

The house next to me was flipped.  It foreclosesed like 2 years ago but didn't sell until last fall.  It was gutted and the pictures on zillow actually look really nice.  Like a HUGE upgrade.  It went on sale a few weeks ago.  Noticed the for sale sign on a friday morning, when I got home from work there were cars all over lined up to see it and that went on the entire weekend.  Zillow says its under contract now.  Listed at over 60K more than what Zillow says my house is worth.  Granted, this house is slightly larger (had an addition) and has a pool, plus the recent work done on it so it definitely should be worth more than mine.... but I can't help but think if this sells at it's listing price, it'll be another boost to my home value.  Sadly, I've kind of enjoyed no one living next door.  The way our patios are set up, they can see me pretty easily so I won't have as much privacy in my backyard as I currently do.

[lordxizor]

I've heard even with the inevitable foreclosures caused by the pandemic there will still be a severe shortage of homes for those who want to buy. If I were in the market for a home I would not be waiting to see if prices go down. It's like timing the stock market. Generally not a great idea.

[gmillerdrake]

So the wife and I went out last Saturday to look for area rugs being that we're putting hardwood flooring in. Need (3).....dining room, office and living room. We found one we liked at Sams for the dining room then headed to a home decor store called 'At Home'   We found two more we liked that did the trick but the thing with these freaking 8x10 area rugs is they aren't cheap.....a couple hundred bucks each.

We get to the check out and the young girl rings us up and she says "Your total is $555.67"....to which I respond with a total 'dad' quote by saying (after noticing her name tag)......"Feel free to throw your employee discount on there Nichole".  She looks at me and says "Do you want me to?".....to which I say "That's totally up to you"

A couple quick punches to the register then she says "That'll be $416.76"      I said, "Nichole, you don't need to do that, I was kidding around"   She just said "It's OK, I don't mind helping out when I can"    I told her 'thank you' and that I hoped something really nice happened for her in the next few days.

On the way to our car my wife asked me if I felt guilty and I was like 'absolutely not'. I've used that line or a variant of it in countless moments shopping throughout the years to which I usually get a fake laugh or annoyed look.....this time it paid off.

[TAC]

A couple quick punches to the register then she says "That'll be $416.76"      I said, "Nichole, you don't need to do that, I was kidding around"   She just said "It's OK, I don't mind helping out when I can"    I told her 'thank you' and that I hoped something really nice happened for her in the next few days.

Well if you call a suspension and termination as something really nice happening to her...

[wolfking]

So the wife and I went out last Saturday to look for area rugs being that we're putting hardwood flooring in. Need (3).....dining room, office and living room. We found one we liked at Sams for the dining room then headed to a home decor store called 'At Home'   We found two more we liked that did the trick but the thing with these freaking 8x10 area rugs is they aren't cheap.....a couple hundred bucks each.

We get to the check out and the young girl rings us up and she says "Your total is $555.67"....to which I respond with a total 'dad' quote by saying (after noticing her name tag)......"Feel free to throw your employee discount on there Nichole".  She looks at me and says "Do you want me to?".....to which I say "That's totally up to you"

A couple quick punches to the register then she says "That'll be $416.76"      I said, "Nichole, you don't need to do that, I was kidding around"   She just said "It's OK, I don't mind helping out when I can"    I told her 'thank you' and that I hoped something really nice happened for her in the next few days.

On the way to our car my wife asked me if I felt guilty and I was like 'absolutely not'. I've used that line or a variant of it in countless moments shopping throughout the years to which I usually get a fake laugh or annoyed look.....this time it paid off.

Personally, I would never ever contemplate in my wildest dreams saying that to the check out person.  Would be just awkward for both.

[gmillerdrake]

So the wife and I went out last Saturday to look for area rugs being that we're putting hardwood flooring in. Need (3).....dining room, office and living room. We found one we liked at Sams for the dining room then headed to a home decor store called 'At Home'   We found two more we liked that did the trick but the thing with these freaking 8x10 area rugs is they aren't cheap.....a couple hundred bucks each.

We get to the check out and the young girl rings us up and she says "Your total is $555.67"....to which I respond with a total 'dad' quote by saying (after noticing her name tag)......"Feel free to throw your employee discount on there Nichole".  She looks at me and says "Do you want me to?".....to which I say "That's totally up to you"

A couple quick punches to the register then she says "That'll be $416.76"      I said, "Nichole, you don't need to do that, I was kidding around"   She just said "It's OK, I don't mind helping out when I can"    I told her 'thank you' and that I hoped something really nice happened for her in the next few days.

On the way to our car my wife asked me if I felt guilty and I was like 'absolutely not'. I've used that line or a variant of it in countless moments shopping throughout the years to which I usually get a fake laugh or annoyed look.....this time it paid off.

Personally, I would never ever contemplate in my wildest dreams saying that to the check out person.  Would be just awkward for both.

I said it with a very joking and kidding presentation......as we were in line and raining out she was talking with us and was very personable. I say dumb crap like that all the time kidding around.

[Chino]

Yeah... If that were my business, I'd fire that person before they could say "I'm sorry". That owner gives that discount in good faith to their employees. The cashier has no right to do what they did, especially since we're talking about $100+ here and not a dime on a cup of coffee or something.

[Podaar]

In my mind, ya'll are ragging on Gary for the wrong reasons.

So the wife and I went out last Saturday to look for area rugs being that we're putting hardwood flooring in.

What the actual fuck? You're putting in beautiful hardwood floors, so it's time to spend a $1,000 on shitty area rugs? Why not just re-carpet, Gary?

[jingle.boy]

In my mind, ya'll are ragging on Gary for the wrong reasons.

So the wife and I went out last Saturday to look for area rugs being that we're putting hardwood flooring in.

What the actual fuck? You're putting in beautiful hardwood floors, so it's time to spend a $1,000 on shitty area rugs? Why not just re-carpet, Gary?

My thoughts precisely.

[Chino]

I prefer area rugs over the hardwood as well. If the cat/dog beats them up, they can be replaced easily. They're easy to roll up and bring somewhere to be cleaned. You can swap them out without too much fuss if you decide to change your room's décor. You can resell them when the time comes. They protect the hardwood from the living room coffee table that I'm constantly repositioning. Etc. 

[Stadler]

I actually don't see the problem.   Carpets, especially wall-to-wall, are a permanent, inflexible fixture.   If you decide to switch the room use, or rearrange the layout, you're stuck.    Dog takes a massive shit on the rug?  Roll it up, and bite the $125 bullet.   I remember someone - not me - left a pool of vomit on the floor in the bedroom of the condo we rented when we moved back to Connecticut, and it was a hefty chunk out of my security deposit because it wasn't as easy as cutting out a 3' by 3' square and replacing it.  I did exactly the same thing in my upstairs bedrooms (all except the master, but only because I ran out of time).   Makes perfect sense to me.   

EDIT:  Ninja'd by Chino.   

[cramx3]

I have a few area carpets on my hardwood floors.  I don't see the issue.  I also don't see any issue with the girl giving a discount.  She didn't have to and she made a nice gesture, if only more of those people existed in this world. (and I'm making the assumption this girl doesn't regularly abuse her discount).  Having said that, I would feel to awkward to even joke about such a thing.  Last week a work vendor took us out to lunch and he got a milkshake with his burger.  He joked to the waiter saying the manager told him he could have a free refill and laughed as it was clearly a joke.  The waiter was so confused and just said thats not how it works.  OK not very funny joke, but the vendor did it AGAIN when he finished his milkshake which actually made me a little uncomfortable.  Like the joke wasn't very funny because the waiter didn't like it or get it.  It got real awkward.  After our meal, the waiter gave the guy a free milkshake.    Now to me, that was a nice gesture but also our vendor was kind of a dick about it vs. just making a joke.  Very awkward IMO.

[jingle.boy]

After I dropped $24 Gs to put hardwood on my entire main floor, I certainly wasn't going to cover up 25% of it with area carpet(s).  We got a style of wood that was "distressed", so I have no worry about the dogs' nails roughing it up, or denting/scratching it - it already looks that way.

That's just me.

[ReaperKK]

I prefer area rugs over the hardwood as well. If the cat/dog beats them up, they can be replaced easily. They're easy to roll up and bring somewhere to be cleaned. You can swap them out without too much fuss if you decide to change your room's décor. You can resell them when the time comes. They protect the hardwood from the living room coffee table that I'm constantly repositioning. Etc. 

I feel the same way, I hate carpets but area rugs I'm cool with. My dream house will have zero carpets.

[gmillerdrake]

After I dropped $24 Gs to put hardwood on my entire main floor, I certainly wasn't going to cover up 25% of it with area carpet(s).  We got a style of wood that was "distressed", so I have no worry about the dogs' nails roughing it up, or denting/scratching it - it already looks that way.

We have a rug to go under my desk, under the formal dining room table, and under the main rooms furniture. All things I don't want sliding around damaging the flooring. There will be plenty of 'open' floor to showcase the new hardwood....it's not something we're too concerned about.


And....man, tough crowd concerning the comment I made to the cashier. I've always engaged employees of the stores I frequent....even other customers. I like random conversations and talking with people. The fact that I mentioned that to her was something that I said joking with her after a minute or two of conversation. It's foreign to me that it seemed out of place or awkward.....I have these types of interactions nearly every time I go out places.

'Should' she have used her employee discount towards me? Probably not....but then again, I didn't hold a gun to her head. I don't know 'why' she chose to go ahead and do it? Again...it was a joke that fit the conversation we had. Maybe she was relived that my wife and I weren't berating her like the two hoosiers that just checked out right in front of us....who were yelling at her and another kid about the 'sale' items being non existent. We engaged her in a nice little banter almost intentionally because it was clear the D Bags in front of us were horrible humans and I personally wanted to cheer the kid up. Anyway.....based off the comments I guess I'm in the minority when  it comes to just talking and making silly jokes with strangers. Whatevs'

[jingle.boy]

Tough crowd indeed. And btw, my comments on the carpets were not judgmental... just my opinion.

[hunnus2000]

After I dropped $24 Gs to put hardwood on my entire main floor, I certainly wasn't going to cover up 25% of it with area carpet(s).  We got a style of wood that was "distressed", so I have no worry about the dogs' nails roughing it up, or denting/scratching it - it already looks that way.

We have a rug to go under my desk, under the formal dining room table, and under the main rooms furniture. All things I don't want sliding around damaging the flooring. There will be plenty of 'open' floor to showcase the new hardwood....it's not something we're too concerned about.


And....man, tough crowd concerning the comment I made to the cashier. I've always engaged employees of the stores I frequent....even other customers. I like random conversations and talking with people. The fact that I mentioned that to her was something that I said joking with her after a minute or two of conversation. It's foreign to me that it seemed out of place or awkward.....I have these types of interactions nearly every time I go out places.

'Should' she have used her employee discount towards me? Probably not....but then again, I didn't hold a gun to her head. I don't know 'why' she chose to go ahead and do it? Again...it was a joke that fit the conversation we had. Maybe she was relived that my wife and I weren't berating her like the two hoosiers that just checked out right in front of us....who were yelling at her and another kid about the 'sale' items being non existent. We engaged her in a nice little banter almost intentionally because it was clear the D Bags in front of us were horrible humans and I personally wanted to cheer the kid up. Anyway.....based off the comments I guess I'm in the minority when  it comes to just talking and making silly jokes with strangers. Whatevs'

Well to be fair, in many restaurants, you can order a one off dish that's not on the menu but the regular customers know about. We fou
nd this out in New Orleans on our honeymoon.
In your case, the store may have an unwritten policy to give people a discount if they ask. I have no idea but because I don't know, I wasn't going to give you shit about it....

[jingle.boy]

We have a rug to go under my desk, under the formal dining room table, and under the main rooms furniture. All things I don't want sliding around damaging the flooring. There will be plenty of 'open' floor to showcase the new hardwood....it's not something we're too concerned about.

Wanted to come back to this.  I got the below for my office chair.  Way better than having a carpet or one of those mats.  A very worthwhile $30 investment.  They're basically roller blade wheels. 

[gmillerdrake]

We have a rug to go under my desk, under the formal dining room table, and under the main rooms furniture. All things I don't want sliding around damaging the flooring. There will be plenty of 'open' floor to showcase the new hardwood....it's not something we're too concerned about.

Wanted to come back to this.  I got the below for my office chair.  Way better than having a carpet or one of those mats.  A very worthwhile $30 investment.  They're basically roller blade wheels. 

That looks like a sweet solution

[jingle.boy]

Absolutely.  And they're sturdy as fuck.  Two years on with these, and they are no worse for me sitting in this chair about 6 hours a day I'd guess (accounting for all the times I get up for coffee, lunch, nature etc...)