You live in tornado alley or something?

[Edited on January 5, 2012 at 2:13 AM. Reason : 62 pages of woe!]

1/5/2012 2:13:11 AM

nope, just on the gulf coast.

1/5/2012 2:34:25 AM

my woe - just paid my 2011 property tax.

1/5/2012 8:16:16 AM

I get my property tax included in on my mortgage. Then I usually get a kickback at the end of the year. Woot woot!

1/5/2012 9:42:18 AM

Quote :

"-I'll check out UCoatIt. What makes it better than the stuff on the shelf at Home Depot (RustOleum or Behr)?"

I have worked in so many shops where the floors were painted with the box store floor paints, it wont even hold up to average floor traffic much less garage duty. The rustoleum and behr stuff is just gets slapped on top of the concrete, and does not hold up well when subjected to hot tires, fluids, etc. With the ucoatit you actually wet the floor down before the first coat and the shit literally soaks into the top of the concrete surface. The second coat goes on top of that once its dried and bonds to it instead of trying to bond to concrete alone... the end result is a floor coating that looks good but is ridiculously strong.
I once built a hot tub cover on a ucoatit floor (our first house) and then stained it with nothing underneath. Fucking stain got everywhere so I mopped it up with paint thinner, had absolutely zero effect on the floor coating. Hot tires, brake fluid, refrigerant oil, grinding/welding sparks, a one time exxon valdez type ATF spill, no matter what I tried it held up... until I did a good old fashion brake stand in the shop one new years I thought it was totally impervious. Even then I was left with a divot in the concrete so nothing would have held up. The house we live in now has a high quality sherwin-williams coating on the garage floor that is better than the box store crap but nothing like the ucoatit.

1/5/2012 10:17:04 AM

Quote :

"my woe - just paid my 2011 property tax."

Should have paid it six days ago so you could have written it off come tax time.

1/5/2012 10:24:06 AM

Quote :

"I get my property tax included in on my mortgage. Then I usually get a kickback at the end of the year. Woot woot!"

1/5/2012 10:32:31 AM

Quote :

"Should have paid it six days ago so you could have written it off come tax time."

I pay on the same schedule each year so I paid 2010's in Jan of 2011. That's how I have done it since I have owned a home going back to 2003.

I always say I'm going to escrow but I never do. What kickback are you talking about? Does your mortgage company estimate too much and then you get some money back? Always wondered how that worked.

1/5/2012 10:44:06 AM

Basically

They'll evaluate annually and refund you any overage. blah blah blah interest free-loan. its usually like a couple hundred bucks, and since interest rates are goign to be on the floor for the forseeable future, it's a nice little bonus.

1/5/2012 10:45:26 AM

the gf had the opposite happen last year. Bought her house in summer of '09 and the mortgage was sold in the winter of '10. the new bank must have based the new escrow payments on the '09 taxes (which were representative of less than 1/2 a year of ownership). Got a notice in '11, after the bank tried to disburse the tax payment and noticed they were way short, that her payments were going up over $100/month to collect the underpayment plus additional funds to ensure enough for next year's tax payment.

1/5/2012 10:55:30 AM

That's exactly why I don't escrow. That and the fact it makes no sense to lend the bank money for free.

1/5/2012 12:08:27 PM

meh, we escrow. Our property taxes are pretty low where we live so any over or underpayment is a minor adjustment at worst. I'm not too worried about the minute losses on that interest considering where rates are right now.

1/5/2012 12:37:05 PM

Quote :

"I have worked in so many shops where the floors were painted with the box store floor paints, it wont even hold up to average floor traffic much less garage duty. The rustoleum and behr stuff is just gets slapped on top of the concrete, and does not hold up well when subjected to hot tires, fluids, etc. With the ucoatit you actually wet the floor down before the first coat and the shit literally soaks into the top of the concrete surface. The second coat goes on top of that once its dried and bonds to it instead of trying to bond to concrete alone... the end result is a floor coating that looks good but is ridiculously strong. "

Isn't that what you're supposed to do with the other brands as well? I know with the Quikrete kit we just got for Christmas it has your doing a shitload of prep work before you can even begin to think about putting down the actual paint. It has you power washing, scrubbing, etching, etc etc, then you start putting coats down. The whole project takes at least three days to complete. From what I've read the mistake people make with this stuff is they do a piss poor job of the prepping and then have problems with the paint flaking, etc.

1/5/2012 1:48:17 PM

I just initiated a re-finance. Should save something like $480 a month (interest rate drop, plus losing PMI). We had been letting the bank do our property tax payments, but I think I'm gonna do it myself now.

1/5/2012 2:14:29 PM

Re: Floor epoxy

http://www.epoxy-coat.com/comparative_analysis.php

1/6/2012 6:15:58 PM

Not a woe at all, but I guess this is the general house thread...

Had my father-in-law stop back in to the Crate and Barrel in Charlotte tonight to pick up something my wife and I ordered. While he was there I had him check on the floor model of a coffee table we had been eying online for a long time. When we were in the store over Christmas the floor model had a scratch on the surface and was marked down from $500 to $349 and we balked because i considered trying to make it myself. However, it was still there today and they accepted $249

I'm pretty sure the scratch can be masked pretty easily with one of those markers. If not, it is a solid walnut top so we can sand it and re-oil it and still come out cheaper. I thought about trying to make the thing myself but materials are probably $150 themselves and I don't have access to the equipment I'd need easily so I couldn't turn down $249.

1/7/2012 6:42:04 PM

^ nice find, what does it look like?

i made & hung curtains yesterday i'm not sure if i came out cheaper than buying off the rack curtains but i got exactly what i wanted & wasn't limited by how long the curtains were so i could hang my shit exactly how i wanted too.

also installed my first peg board. now im peg board crazy!

1/9/2012 9:55:41 AM

^ awesome. I think you pointed out the key with DIY stuff. Sometimes you come out cheaper and sometimes you don't, but if you know what you are doing you always end up with something that is exactly what you wanted which is the best part.

One of the most frustrating things is when you know EXACTLY what pattern or texture you are looking for in a curtain or rug or something and you just can't find it anywhere you look. That, or dimensions like you said. Curtains are really tough too. We have some "temporary" curtains in some rooms where we found curtains in the fabric we really wanted but the length we needed wasn't offered. So we said "screw it" and bought and hung the store bought ones until we get time to make our own to mount at the height where we really want them. (which probably just means we'll put off that project even longer )

The coffee table we got is this one:



It's a pretty simple piece, but we are trying to move away from bulky furniture in our living room to open it up - basically we want to get furniture that matches the scale and layout of our room. We are getting rid of our current living room furniture that is only 5 years old and in good shape but it all came from the same "set," it's a little chunky and traditional, and just really not our style. (I got a great deal on it when I got my first place out of college )

This table is stainless steel square tubing and a nicely finished solid walnut top.

[Edited on January 9, 2012 at 11:00 AM. Reason : ]

1/9/2012 10:57:59 AM

^^ I plan on putting steel pegboards in my garage when I move in.

1/9/2012 4:25:07 PM

Escrow analysis statement says that I have an escrow shortage of $118.79. The numbers don't add up in my head.

I start researching payments and estimated payments by the mortgage company.

I call the company, and yep, we have an overage of $800. Now we get a check for $800.

1/9/2012 5:08:34 PM

Attempting to sell in this market...

1/9/2012 7:18:33 PM

Attempting to buy in this market...

(But only because it's dad's house)

1/9/2012 10:04:20 PM

I should say, though, that I just found that the bank where I have my checking account has a 0% down, no PMI, no origination fee, no prepayment penalty 30 year fixed rate mortgage where i can pay half a point and more or less have the same rate this firm is offering me. The lack of PMI alone saves me just over $90 a month, so this is pretty sweet. I JUST came in under the income limit they have for it so I can get grandfathered in and make the most of it. Sucks for the firm I'm working with but at this point it's just business.

1/9/2012 11:15:09 PM

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck. :mad:



You would think that with a 780-790 credit score, zero debt (other than the mortgage on my other house, which I'm renting for a nice profit), and prequalification for at least $50k more on a mortgage than I'm actually spending (even without factoring in the rental income on the other house), that I would be able to get a fucking mortgage loan reasonably easy, but you would be wrong.

Apparently everybody needs the last 2 years of tax returns now, but I still haven't filed my 2010 taxes. Jesus fuck, how is THAT amounting to a dealbreaker? I've done a mortgage and a refinance previously (as recently as August) with 2 different lenders, and this has never been a factor. Apparently now it's the industry standard.

4.5 months of living in a fucking hotel, and now closing will be delayed by another 1-2 months.

1/11/2012 6:21:04 PM

^ The first group I went with only required me to send my 2010 W2s as proof of income. I also had to send them current account statements and my last 3 pay stubs. The last 2 years of taxes they weren't quite as concerned about though. I'm now working with BB&T since they're offering a 100% loan with no PMI, 30 yr fixed, 1/4 point, 4.125%, no orig fee, no prepay fees. They've asked me for even less so far, but I have had a checking account with them for 7 years.

Not sure that 2 years is standard but maybe it is in certain states where there's been more foreclosures?

1/11/2012 7:55:17 PM

^^Went through something pretty similar when I bought my house a couple years ago.

Anything little thing raises a red flag that causes a delay. Biggest pain in the ass I've ever experienced (because of it's longevity).

1/12/2012 10:12:37 AM

It just pisses me the fuck off because it's a stupid goddamn technicality and there's no reason for it. I mean, by any standard, I'm a great risk for a mortgage. What more could they want?

Things that are necessarily difficult are one thing--I view them as a challenge and pursue them. This is just a bunch of nuisance bullshit. It irritates me that I even have to waste my time fucking with it, and it irritates me that I've been living in a hotel for nearly 4.5-5 months because there weren't any non-shitty houses to buy, and now I'm delayed another month or two over this. If I hadn't already put a $1000 down in earnest money, I'd be tempted to just say fuck it and go rent a little apartment, or buy a boat and live on it.

1/12/2012 6:18:06 PM

...and now I can't even do the fucking taxes on my computer, because I run Linux, and all they offer is Windows or Mac. Maybe it would run one of them, or maybe I could download some emulator or something, but I'm not gonna fuck with it and take a chance on wasting the $50. I can't do it at work, either, because I can't install any software on the work computers.

I'm gonna have to find a friend to let me come over to his house and install tax software on his computer. Chalk up one more reason for me to hate the IRS and our tax system--it shouldn't be so damn difficult that one needs a $50 computer program every year and all of these hassles to get the shit done.

1/12/2012 6:33:22 PM

Why haven't you done your taxes for last year anyways?

1/12/2012 6:54:45 PM

Didn't feel like it. They owe me money, not the other way around, so it hasn't been pressing. Shit, I'll probably get a few thousand bucks back due to all of the pay I got that year in Afghanistan being tax-free, so that'll be nice, but I was going to wait until after I bought my house.

The computer issue is the main thing. My plan was to buy a new iMac once the redesign comes out and after I buy a house to put it in (right now, my only computer is a netbook, with no CD drive, and running Linux).

[Edited on January 12, 2012 at 7:05 PM. Reason : ]

1/12/2012 7:04:46 PM

Duke you could use one of the online services. I use http://www.taxact.com and haven't gotten my identity stolen yet! Was a decently rated site when I was looking for a non-turbotax way of doing my taxes. I think it will work just fine on a linux machine since it's web based. It's not $FUCK, FIFTY DOLLARS? either.

1/12/2012 7:53:25 PM

if you need a computer to do tax, you're more than welcome to use mine.

1/12/2012 8:19:42 PM

I have used Turbo Tax online and TaxAct for free over the last few years. If I remember correctly, it is free for federal taxes and you might have to pay for state (our state provided a code for free state returns as well). Both are all online and would be fine on Linux.

You'll be able to find a full list of the free programs after the 17th.

http://www.irs.gov/efile/article/0,,id=118986,00.html

[Edited on January 12, 2012 at 10:28 PM. Reason : add]

1/12/2012 10:26:25 PM

totally forgot i paid one mortgage payment on my old house in january 2011, until i got the 1098

hello, more deductions

1/13/2012 12:09:31 PM

Don't want to be the asshole, but you should have done your taxes. Its easy to do them online by yourself these days, and if you don't want to go that route, pay a CPA a little bit of money and have them do it. You seem to be doing well financially, so I don't know what's the big deal.

Sounds like you're paying the price for being lazy.

1/13/2012 12:37:41 PM

^^^^ Thanks; I might have to take you up on that next week. I have my daughter until then and can't really leave her unattended for a couple of hours to do the taxes.

^ I'm allotted 3 years; there was no reason for me to be in a hurry about it. I planned on doing them after picking up a new iMac (waiting on the redesign, and waiting on buying a house to put it in...no need for it in my hotel room). I can't do them on my netbook, and until I found out about this stupidass requirement for the mortgage, it wasn't worth having to borrow someone else's laptop to do it, as it was really just costing me the opportunity cost of what I could make with the money I will get back from the tax return.

1/13/2012 4:08:08 PM

c'mon son...

1/13/2012 4:28:52 PM

Quote :

"there was no reason for me to be in a hurry about it."

Well now there is.

1/13/2012 4:41:31 PM

Quote :

"i made & hung curtains yesterday i'm not sure if i came out cheaper than buying off the rack curtains but i got exactly what i wanted & wasn't limited by how long the curtains were so i could hang my shit exactly how i wanted too."

I hate this about fabric DIY projects. I feel like by the time you buy the fabric and accouterments you're paying at least double what the sweatshop kid in China made. These days I only sew something if I'm repurposing some clothing that's passed it's prime or it's something that I just cannot find what I want in the store.

1/15/2012 2:19:09 PM

eff curtains. most money I've spent on my house post purchase has been plantation shutters. Completely worth it.

1/16/2012 12:59:55 AM

^^ yea we really only DIY stuff if we can't find what exactly want we want via a product that already exists. When it comes to fabric stuff (especially curtains) that happens very frequently though.

We do have wood blinds in our house that were already installed when we bought it (not plantation however) but we also have curtains in some rooms as well.

[Edited on January 16, 2012 at 8:48 AM. Reason : ]

1/16/2012 8:47:45 AM

jbrick83, who did you use for plantation shutters? We have eleventy billion windows to do.

1/16/2012 11:19:41 AM

^ I'll look it up when I get home. I don't know how these places normally do it, but the guys who did mine came and got the measurements for my windows, sent the measurements to a place in California that made them and shipped them to Charleston, then they came and installed them. Took about 6 weeks total.

I priced three places (two shutter companies here and Lowes), and they guys gave the best price and had great reviews. Lowes was almost 50% more than lowest price. I think I paid $2,300 for 12 windows and Lowes quoted me around $3,500.

1/16/2012 12:48:47 PM

^ that will be true the the majority of lowes special order stuff

1/16/2012 6:00:45 PM

Quote :

"Re: Floor epoxy http://www.epoxy-coat.com/comparative_analysis.php"

Anyone use Epoxy-Coat brand before?

1/17/2012 9:25:28 AM

Quote :

"eff curtains. "

agreed.

why do women like them so much?

1/17/2012 11:15:49 AM

^my wife loves to shop for curtains.

1/17/2012 12:05:59 PM

I like curtains too, just not in every room. They work great in certain rooms depending on the space and the style, but there is no need to put them in every room of the house.

For example, we are only using them in our dining room, reading room/library, and the master bedroom. Every other room in the house only has wood blinds.

1/17/2012 12:36:50 PM

we have sheer curtains in the bay window in our dining room. Bay windows look dumb with blinds, and better with curtains. that's about the only concession i'll make. otherwise, blinds, or nothing.

1/17/2012 1:03:17 PM

^I think Roman shades (or faux Roman shades) look pretty good in bay windows.

1/17/2012 1:28:35 PM