Home ownership
Maybe I missed a thread similar to this, but that's ok. I have been in my home for 10 years now, and there are some things I wasn't prepared for or aware of as a homeowner. I am not scared to admit them if it helps someone else, and please share any stories you have about things you didn't know when owning a home for the first time, whether they be small or large, costly or not.
I will start with not knowing about changing the furnace filter until the a/c stopped working and I had to spend $300 on a new blower motor. Also, I knew nothing of cleaning my gutters, until one became clogged, held water, froze, and had the weight pull it down. Replacing the gutters was another $1000. I'm sure I'll think of other things but those are the 2 that stand out the most at the moment.
ITT we talk about home ownership, and things that aren't always obvious but need to be done to save on maintenance and repairs.
None of us are rich enough to score an Anna Nicole for our dotage, I assume.
that's gunna be a nope from me
That'll leave one too many. Today must be Sterling's lucky day!
like a dawg chasing a car
won't know what to do if i caught it
I borrowed 50K from my bookie to start one of my businesses
I don't have an IRA or a 401k or 1 penny invested in the stock market 🤔
If I can't touch it, I don't invest in it
I retired when I was 43
YMMV
If you own a stock there is something you can touch. Most company stocks you can buy will own some of the following: a building, land, desks, computers, trucks, store, factory, materials and a bunch of other stuff. Either way, it sounds like you did ok doing your own thing. I don't think I've heard of someone borrowing money from a bookie to start a business - seems ballsy.
Here's a cool water shutoff valve solution. It's a battery operated device that sits around your main valve.
That's pretty neat, it's not inline so you don't have to pay a plumber to install it.
Any mortgagees with investments out there? Is it better to pay the minimum on your mortgage and invest more, or pay off the debt early and pay less interest over the lifetime of the loan (but have less to invest)? Let's say a 5.75% mortgage interest rate over 30 years and your loan is less than your current investment portfolio.
Thanks!
How long do you anticipate living in the house?
As a rule of thumb I think rates are still low enough that it’s worth paying the minimum each month and investing anything extra.
Bought a whole house water filter. Plumber came to install it and noticed our galvanized pipes had some leaks. We figured it was time for a whole house repipe anyway so we went with it.
First plumber quoted us 29k
Second plumber quote was 30k
Third plumber quote was 16k
We went with the 16k.
That being said, I make decent money but how do people afford these types of repairs if they don’t make good money and/or don’t know how to save/budget?
Last night, I installed a Reverse-Osmosis water filter in my kitchen. Free distilled water! One downside to the system is that it dumps 75% of all the water down the drain that gets used.
I asked google if you could drink the waste output. She said no but my math says that it should be fine. I need to think about it.
Last night, I installed a Reverse-Osmosis water filter in my kitchen. Free distilled water! One downside to the system is that it dumps 75% of all the water down the drain that gets used.
I asked google if you could drink the waste output. She said no but my math says that it should be fine. I need to think about it.
sounds like a project but could be routed for flushing toilets but probably more expensive to setup than worth
I was thinking a bit more simple like watering plants. But why would drinking it be an issue? So it has 25% more minerals...
Bought a whole house water filter. Plumber came to install it and noticed our galvanized pipes had some leaks. We figured it was time for a whole house repipe anyway so we went with it.
First plumber quoted us 29k
Second plumber quote was 30k
Third plumber quote was 16k
We went with the 16k.
That being said, I make decent money but how do people afford these types of repairs if they don’t make good money and/or don’t know how to save/budget?
Not to be a jerk but I ran hot water side after it failed under the slab for less than three hundred in material.
Ran it overhead for kitchen, two bathrooms and laundry room.
Took me a whole Saturday afternoon.
The guy who ran the cold side overhead when it went bad first a couple years earlier charged about 3600 but was covered mostly by insurance.
My dads was still upset that it cost that much even though all he paid was a 500 dollar deductible.
If you have a single story, it might be a similar situation.
In any case, those prices suck.
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I know not all repipes are the same. The guys that did my townhouse would not hide the lines that they could hide in crawl spaces, closets or back of cabinets. That bothered me.
Any mortgagees with investments out there? Is it better to pay the minimum on your mortgage and invest more, or pay off the debt early and pay less interest over the lifetime of the loan (but have less to invest)? Let's say a 5.75% mortgage interest rate over 30 years and your loan is less than your current investment portfolio.
Thanks!
Two things... a house IS an investment., and the loan is not front end loaded like unsecured debt so paying it off early is less impactful... though it does have impact.
It's a simple equation to run those two sets of numbers and make your choice on your aversion to risk.
Not to be a jerk but I ran hot water side after it failed under the slab for less than three hundred in material.
Ran it overhead for kitchen, two bathrooms and laundry room.
Took me a whole Saturday afternoon.
The guy who ran the cold side overhead when it went bad first a couple years earlier charged about 3600 but was covered mostly by insurance.
My dads was still upset that it cost that much even though all he paid was a 500 dollar deductible.
If you have a single story, it might be a similar sit
I’m not a plumber not I’m not a drywaller. I’m not about to start cutting holes into my walls and feeding lines through when I have zero knowledge of how to do so. Too big of an important project to watch YouTube on and try to wing it.
My house is two stories, three bathrooms, kitchen, laundry room, pool filler, hose bibs, and irrigation system. This install was for both hot and cold and removing the galvanized pipes. If you could do that in an afternoon for under $300, I would be impressed and completely skeptical of the quality of your work.
It took a crew of 6 men working two 13 hour days to complete it. And that’s before drywall repair.
What did they replace it with? Copper or PEX? If copper, did they sweat or use Viega? If PEX, What kind of PEX and what style of connector?
Six men working 13 hours gives you 78 hours. Add another 5 hours for parts gathering, driving, etc. and you have 83 hours. They're probably charging 125/hr so that's $10,375 in labor. Add a thousand or more for parts and some profit and you probably did ok at $16k.
What did they replace it with? Copper or PEX? If copper, did they sweat or use Viega? If PEX, What kind of PEX and what style of connector?
Six men working 13 hours gives you 78 hours. Add another 5 hours for parts gathering, driving, etc. and you have 83 hours. They're probably charging 125/hr so that's $10,375 in labor. Add a thousand or more for parts and some profit and you probably did ok at $16k.
It was PEX A and they did the expansion connection.
I was hoping to be closer to the 12k range but when other quotes were coming in around 30k, it sure made 16k look better. I think the price was fair for what we got.
I’m not a plumber not I’m not a drywaller. I’m not about to start cutting holes into my walls and feeding lines through when I have zero knowledge of how to do so. Too big of an important project to watch YouTube on and try to wing it.
My house is two stories, three bathrooms, kitchen, laundry room, pool filler, hose bibs, and irrigation system. This install was for both hot and cold and removing the galvanized pipes. If you could do that in an afternoon for under $300, I would be impressed and c
Fair assessment. Lol.
Was a tract house, and neighbors did theirs with similar layout and they paid around 8k because they were selling the house and it was part of the selling conditions.
Prices are just ridiculous across the board right now, but if they can get it I guess its just how it is.
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Fair assessment. Lol.
Was a tract house, and neighbors did theirs with similar layout and they paid around 8k because they were selling the house and it was part of the selling conditions.
Prices are just ridiculous across the board right now, but if they can get it I guess its just how it is.
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I agree, prices everywhere are nuts. But I think they’ll just continue to get worse. Sort of wish I would have bitten this bullet 5 years ago but nothing I can do about it now.
happy to help pay a living wage to the trades who fix my house
the pipe dream is broken for others somewhere downstream between the wage and mortgage coupling
