It sounds like their not able to get movers is more of a hardship for you than for them. If it's not a problem not to move in right away you could always "store" their stuff for the two weeks. You'd want a contract on that though. You really need to get your lawyer involved since it's a pretty big deal.

you could always say that you'll need to get a new rate lock and set a new closing based on that

[Edited on August 16, 2015 at 5:32 PM. Reason : .]

8/16/2015 5:31:20 PM

We are looking to buy a new house in the triangle area, and just getting pissed at the $180+/sq ft prices we are seeing with new construction.

Anyone ever built a custom house around here? Curious what kind of prices per sq ft I can expect if I buy a couple acres myself.

8/17/2015 1:53:15 AM

^^ my main goal is going to try and keep the sept 1 closing date, it's going to be a bitch if we close on the 10th because I'm going to have to find a place for my wife/kid to sleep, a storage unit to store our stuff, and have to move it twice. The lawyer hasn't returned my call yet, but regardless what the lawyer says, if the old lady can't move, she can't move. Hopefully the old lady will be flexible and work with me, but she has proved to be really cheap and a pain in the ass in all negotiations thus far.

^ we were being quoted ~$150/sqft when we were going to build a house earlier this year, but of course that is dependent on the quality of house you want to build. Most of the builders we talked to gave allowances for cabinets/countertops/flooring etc so you could pick it out yourself but have to pay for fancier stuff if that is what you chose. We were going to build on uncleared land on my in-laws property.

[Edited on August 17, 2015 at 10:01 AM. Reason : ]

8/17/2015 9:59:40 AM

Quote :

"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK! Just as soon as I think I'm done with house shit, fucking dumbass seller can't get movers to come until September 10th. The offer was accepted on July. Fucking. 2nd. Why are you just now calling movers? Fucking old people. Supposed to close Aug 28, and now they want to move closing to September 10. Of course there is a clause in the contract that allows for undue hardship to one of the parties move closing up to 14 days as long as they are putting forth good faith effort to meet closing. By September 10 my loan lock will expire, I'll be fucking homeless because my current house is closing on the 10th, and my wife/baby will be pissed. Great. Just fucking great. Fuck buying and selling houses. Throw money down the drain. Fucking lenders. Fucking realtors. Fucking dumbass fuckers that don't fucking plan. I'm done with this shit. "

I had an old lady do that to me once, she moved out but still had a bunch of stuff she could not get. Guess what realtor was over there at 6am the day of closing helping her finish get her shit out? It was me (the buyers agent) and the old lady literally throwing stuff in the back of the truck to move it to her her friends house across the street. My clients both worked full time, had two kids, and only one day off to move.

I would talk to your realtor about finding a solution with them that does not involve screwing up your close date. That clause is in the contract for emergencies, not piss poor planning, also her story about not being able to get movers does not add up. I have been a realtor for over 10 years and can tell you almost anything like that can be done at the last minute with the right level of determination and at the right price. She is making her problem yours.

8/17/2015 10:09:05 AM

So I talked to the lawyer, she said there's not much that can be done from a legal standpoint to "force" her to close on the specified closing date, so if she chooses to push closing back two weeks, that is what is going to happen.

I haven't heard from the seller since Thursday (of course, she has more time now so she is not doing shit). I just keep praying she will accept the original closing date and be willing to rent back or do anything other than moving the closing date.

8/17/2015 1:28:32 PM

So there are no real estate professionals involved with this deal?

Sounds like she does not want to let the place go, she could find a mover if she wanted to. It is not uncommon for old grannies to get crazy when its time to let go of their longtime home, they are notorious for holding up closings.

There is a form you can use to rent them the house back (even if at $0) if you decide to close before she gets out. It would be wise to have something in writing if you let her "stay" after closing in case you have to evict her crazy ass. The form specifies a daily rent for holding over after the end of the agreement.

8/17/2015 2:31:27 PM

Quote :

"We are looking to buy a new house in the triangle area, and just getting pissed at the $180+/sq ft prices we are seeing with new construction. Anyone ever built a custom house around here? Curious what kind of prices per sq ft I can expect if I buy a couple acres myself."

I'm in the process of closing on a new construction (it was built and finished before I got involved) that is costing me about $115/sqft in Knightdale. Not sure if your use of "triangle area" means RTP or Raleigh and surrounding 'burbs.

8/17/2015 5:42:45 PM

Quote :

"So I talked to the lawyer, she said there's not much that can be done from a legal standpoint to "force" her to close on the specified closing date, so if she chooses to push closing back two weeks, that is what is going to happen."

LOL, What??? The whole point of the contract is to define these sorts of things.

Dude, you're getting WALKED ALL OVER on this deal. There is no way you should be taking any sort of loss in this situation.

8/17/2015 6:30:46 PM

Somehow I just dropped $400 on an AC service call and 4 lbs of refrigerant and nary a leak was found in the system.

I have a service contract with Shumate, and gave them a call Sunday when my AC couldn't get below 76 degrees in the house. One hot night later the guy comes in, pumps in refrigerant and informs me since the unit is barely over a year old that I should contact the installer (I took over ownership in Oct14). I get up with my realtor who reaches out to the old owner and I get the contact info. Call in to ARS Heating & Cooling and they send a guy out later in the afternoon. Dude spends almost 2 hours looking for a leak and couldn't find shit.

8/18/2015 8:45:20 AM

^ should still be under warranty being that new - always call the installer first

8/18/2015 9:40:01 AM

Quote :

"Dude, you're getting WALKED ALL OVER on this deal."

No shit, but the only leverage I have is to walk away, and I'm already $2500 in DD/Earnest and $1450 in inspections/appraisal into this house.

We are not going to have her sign any mods to the contract to move the closing date (at the advice of the lawyer). Instead we have told her the new closing is Sept 11, which is the latest allowed by our current contract due to the 14-day hardship clause. If she doesn't close that day, she is in breach of the contract, and I guess I get my $2500 back. It will suck because I will lose the house, but if she doesn't get out by Sept 11, she may never leave.

One of the biggest issues is she did a flat rate realtor, so there is no one really pushing her to do shit on her end. She may also just be getting cold feet about actually having to move.

She said she would close Sept 1 and continue living at the house until the 11th, but she wouldn't pay any money (and she said she is not signing any more forms). I'm not dealing with that shit. Like it was mentioned, I have a feeling she would come up some other reason to stay and then I would have to evict her ass.

I am getting a new mortgage from a new lender because fuck my current lender and their "worst-case price" policy. I may actually save money on fees going with this new lender, although it looks like it will be the same rate.

[Edited on August 18, 2015 at 11:50 AM. Reason : ]

8/18/2015 11:49:03 AM

That's all kinds of suckage. We ended up closing on our house before the crazy lady finished moving out. She also hadn't done much of the fixes she'd agreed do. The sellers agent ended up having to take care of everything to make the deal go through. We went ahead with closing on a gentlemen's agreement. As much as I hate the idea of paying realtors 6%, it sounds like you'd be better off if you each had a real realtor.

If you haven't already, check out Corporate Investors Mortgage Group. They're in Chapel Hill and I had a very good experience with them.

[Edited on August 18, 2015 at 9:24 PM. Reason : ?]

8/18/2015 9:22:36 PM

I had some cracks in my driveway and used concrete crack repair (http://tinyurl.com/obcxq53) to fix it. However now when it rains, the repair sealer shines a bright white while the rest of the driveway looks...well like a wet driveway (dark color).

The sealant is only a few days old, will this fade over time? OR do I have a ton of work next weekend scraping the crap off?

Says on the tube it's for repairing cracks in driveways/sidewalks.

8/18/2015 9:57:48 PM

^^ thanks for the referral, I ended up going with Citi because they allow one rate relock before closing for free, and they also have a free "recast" that allows you to lower your monthly payment based on the amount due and the remaining term of the loan (which will be helpful when I close on my current house and roll some of the equity into the new house). The recast is allowing me to do a 15 year loan at a lower percentage, so as long as the deal goes through, the new loan will save me some cash while keeping at the same monthly payment.

^ I used something similar by quikcrete, and it definitely faded over time. You can still tell where I applied it, but it doesn't catch your eye. It was bright for a while though (less than a year).

8/18/2015 11:42:28 PM

^^ maybe power wash your driveway and the colors will be a closer match?

I used the quikcrete stuff and it's all gone after a couple of years.

8/19/2015 8:21:58 PM

do any of yall have dog doors? specifically the panel insert for sliding glass doors

I'm thinking of getting one for the new place. I've read some reviews and a lot of people add more weather stripping, but other than that, most people like them well enough.

8/23/2015 5:47:13 PM

question for the hive mind

Had gutters put in recently, and the way one drops in, is into a retaining wall/flowerbed which abuts the house/foundation. Debating if I should move it/have them move it up and over. Water here will naturally flow away from the house, but since its a wall locked flower bed, probably will retain higher than normal.

8/23/2015 10:13:10 PM

I would move it.

8/23/2015 11:17:38 PM

I have 2 circuits that randomly kick their respective breakers a few times each year. Normally pops twice within a few minutes of each other, then they're fine for a while. Generally the two circuits don't popat the same time/day/etc. I don't have any new items on the circuits; I'm very certain one can't be close to capacity (lighting circuit for a few rooms and the lights aren't all on at the same time pretty much ever); but the other could be close, but I doubt (living room circuit, which houses my HTS/TV/etc). The only thing I can think of is water - as they tend to pop during/after a rain or if I've got the sprinklers out, but the breakers don't pop for every rain.

Any ideas on how to approach this? The "unplug" shit method isn't viable, as the circuits can go months with no issues.

9/1/2015 2:02:26 PM

We had one that would trip all the time that had lights and other things on it, replaced the lights with LED and the issue went away completely. No clue if that would help your issue but if anyone else is having that issue at least that's an option.

9/2/2015 8:57:59 PM

Woop woop!

9/4/2015 3:10:10 PM

Congrats! Now get ready to lose the majority of your free time until the house and yard are exactly the way you want them.

Unless you're not married. In which case you get to set your own schedule.

Really though it's a good feeling. Best of luck!

9/9/2015 1:12:53 AM

^truth!!!! I'm STILL fucking around with our yard and we moved in two months ago. installed 400 linear feet of bamboo fencing...holy shit!!!

SO

MUCH

DEBRIS

woe: found out we have some REALLY invasive plant species all up in our shit. tree of heaven...WTF?!?!

9/9/2015 9:54:29 AM

I had a 10% off one purchase coupon (Lowe's) from the USPS mailing address change envelope, so I bought a lawn mower and trimmer yesterday and saved about 60-some bucks

I'm supposed to get a $250 Home Depot gift card from the lender any day now...and my realtor gave me a $100 Home Depot card

I had a very pleasant experience throughout looking for properties and closing

9/11/2015 10:04:47 PM

^ check ebay...you can get 10% Lowes coupons all day for next to nothing...especially the previously redeemed ones you can only use at HD

9/12/2015 12:27:29 AM

What is the difference between a water sealer and a clear coat stain?

I recently had a new cedar fence put up in my yard, and I wanted to coat it for protection. I'm not quite sure exactly what I need though.

I wanted to keep the way the fence looks so anything clear or transparent is what I'm looking for (yes, I know it doesn't last as long).

Can I just use a thompson's style water sealer? I'm also going to coat a wooden playset we just did for my kids as well, figured I would knock it all out at once.

9/14/2015 8:44:07 AM

my (very non-expert) experience is that thompsons alone should be fine. it'll slightly darken the wood, but not by much. i used it on my new deck and have been pleased. you just gotta redo it every few years. but a sprayer and call it good.

9/14/2015 10:17:14 AM

Main line drain got clogged before the weekend. Luckily we caught it before it flooded up the basement too much (just a small corner). Since we have no experience with fixing stuff like this, we just called up a reputable rooter service to come out. Unfortunately they came out a little bit after business hours, so we paid extra for the service. But now it's clear and we didn't have to struggle with fixing it ourselves (though it does seem fairly easy seeing how it was done). Using a shop vac to suck up that leftover nasty poo water is no fun.

9/14/2015 3:32:12 PM

So since the weather has been cooler and the A/C has been running less, I've noticed the basement feels a little humid. I guess the dehumidifying effect of A/C is what keeps it dry during the summer months. Bought a thermometer with a humidity monitor, and it's running between 68 and 78 percent humidity--apparently desirable for indoors is 50 to 60 percent and bad things can happen re: mold/bacteria above 80.

Looks like I need a dehumidifier to take up the slack when the A/C isn't running often. Anyone have experience with these for indoor use? (Finished basement, essentially family room plus laundry closet).

9/29/2015 5:50:22 PM

From a new homeowner perspective, make sure your basement area is fully open. In other words, the dehumidifier works best when doors remain open (if you have any down there) to dry out the areas that need it. We have no doors down there, so it just constantly stays on----hope it holds up this weekend!

Make sure you get the appropriate dehumidifer for the correct size of your basement!

Finally, sounds like you might not be able to have it automatically drain with a hose since it is finished? The previous owners left theirs in our unfinished basement. It eventually went out, so we replaced it with a new model. We just have a hose attached to the back of the unit to drain into our main line drain. Dehumidifiers typically come with a bucket attachment that you periodically empty out (I think units just shut off when they're full, but I've never tried it, so idk).

9/30/2015 6:02:37 PM

This should be a simple fix I would think, but just thought I would run it by here in case I'm missing something.

It might be because of all of the rain we've had lately, but I noticed my motion spotlight in the front will no longer turn off after inactivity. I've tried cycling the power, even flipped the breaker. When it turns on, it will remain off for a good 5-10 seconds and then flip on. It will not turn off without turning it off.

Could the sensor be water logged and just need to dry out? It's under an overhang but we've been having a lot of rain.

10/1/2015 10:51:11 AM

possibly, but the only way to know is to wait until the rain stops and try it out (or take it off and test it in a dryer location). It could be that the rain broke the sensor as well.

Finally got through all the shit with buying/selling my house, but dear god please do not let a tree fall on my house due to this weather. I have had crews working on the house for the past two weeks, and as soon as we get in the house I am having all the trees taken down. I am trying to not worry about it, but damn I have big trees completely surrounding my house just waiting to destroy something.

10/1/2015 11:13:20 AM

Still working on addition to our house. I love living in a historic Charleston home, but it makes shit like this a huge P.I.T.A! This is 100 times worse than purchasing a home (which was an FHA loan done five years ago...so that was rough). I'll be going on a massive bender when/if this ever finishes.

10/1/2015 2:53:27 PM

Welp...nothing like historical rainfall to let you know that you need more siding replaced...

10/3/2015 11:01:54 AM

The rainfall is making me glad we have a system to keep it out of our basement. I keep hearing the pump cycle on/off the past couple of days, but it's doing its job well.

10/4/2015 3:47:54 AM

Hope to join the club @ the end of the month.

10/4/2015 9:32:52 PM

well on a positive note, 10 straight days of rain means my grass looks pretty fucking good.

on the woe side, the lawn was seeded two days before it started, so most of it probably got washed away.

10/5/2015 10:47:35 AM

With the grass getting tall from all the rain, I've been given a very effective lesson on just how much of the lawn is actually crabgrass/weeds. It's all quite green, but there are patches of dramatically different height depending on the composition.

Is it too late to apply weed & crabgrass killer/aerate/overseed? Hope not.

10/7/2015 2:10:17 AM

Depending on your location, and the particular weather this season, you're not too late, but past what is typically the most ideal time. However, make sure you abide by the weed killer instructions as far as application rate and waiting (residual) time. Many weed killers state to wait at least 5+ days before seeding.

10/7/2015 1:30:29 PM

^ spot on.

Though I personally would not spray crabgrass now. Either pull by hand if it's thick in areas, scalp it with your mower or weed eater, or get a thatch rake and not have to bend over as much. And that's mainly to expose enough soil for grass seed to take.

If it's not that thick, the crabgrass will die as the new grass grows in. Just make sure to be on top of pre-emergent in the spring, which will prevent the crabgrass from coming back next year.

10/7/2015 3:21:52 PM

any electrician recommendations? Looking to add a NEMA 14-50 outlet in my garage.

10/7/2015 4:22:20 PM

Rick Kittle - 919-414-8152

Interesting fellow, but did awesome work. I just hired him for about $2k worth of work around my house.

10/7/2015 4:42:24 PM

Suggestions on roofer or handyman for a quick patch? 10 days of rain yielded a minor leak at a nail holding in one of my vent boots. Probably would take a guy 10 minutes and some roof patch compound. I'd do it but I lack (a) a 30' extension ladder and (b) a wife who supports me getting on the high part of our roof.

10/8/2015 4:32:09 PM

David Burnett - (919) 219-2474

He has done repair work at my house and did an excellent job.

10/9/2015 1:48:30 PM

Anyone have any experience with window AC unit maintenance? Is it worth the trouble to clean, or is it just best to buy a new one?

10/21/2015 2:24:50 PM

^ Clean it. It takes 5 minutes.

10/26/2015 1:15:55 PM

Quote :

" Rick Kittle - 919-414-8152 Interesting fellow, but did awesome work. I just hired him for about $2k worth of work around my house. "

Good, ole, Rick. he is an interesting fellow. I had to warn my tenants he would swear, but the man knows how to troubleshoot. I had some double fed circuit in the house. The dude figured out it was likely a junction box that was miswired and that had been covered over by sheetrock. The fucker was right, and found it by pounding on the wall.

He'll probably also talk to you about all the high end work he does He is funny. But he was a flat $60 a hour, and anytime you can get flat rate skilled labor, it is often the best way to go. Unless it is a plumber... Fuck those guys.


[Edited on October 26, 2015 at 1:47 PM. Reason : .]

10/26/2015 1:46:12 PM

fucking squirrels tore off some shingles and tore a few holes in my roof. Outside on standing on duty outside with a pellet gun 24 X 7, what else can I do?

It's especially annoying, because they normally take up residence in my shed and I haven't taken any steps to stop that.

10/26/2015 2:41:19 PM

Stuff and mount
hats
scarves
stew
burgers
chili
dog toy

lots of options

10/26/2015 2:44:00 PM

So I think I may have found the source of my multiple breakers tripping intermittently. It appears to be related to using the warmer zone on my stovetop, which is on a completely separate circuit from the 4 that experience unexplained tripping. Turning on the warmer zone caused one of these circuits to trip multiple times last night, though I can't explain why others did not this time.

10/28/2015 8:37:12 AM