roman shades definitely look nice when used right too. Really just depends on the space. Depending on where we lived and the type of house/windows, there are plenty of places where I would want curtains or roman shades with no blinds in some of the windows.

In general I do like blinds as the general go-to though. I just think there are cases where curtains add a nice formality (and it definitely doesn't have to be an overly feminine or stuffy formality).

[Edited on January 17, 2012 at 2:27 PM. Reason : ]

1/17/2012 2:05:52 PM

Yeah, I had linen Roman shades in my NC house. I got the kind that were thin and allowed a good bit of light through, but you couldn't actually see through them when they were down.

1/17/2012 5:46:38 PM

Did a nice little mold test today since the heating guy came by yesterday and looked under the house. Apparently the dipshits didnt hook up the dryer to vent OUTSIDE.Its been venting under the house for quite some time.
I also have heat strips and not a heat pump....

1/17/2012 6:29:03 PM

On the topic of curtains I put them in my sewing room (yes I'm 100 years old) and I designed them to make the window look bigger. The room is normal sized but just had one small window on the far side of a wall. So I hung the rod high & wide then let the curtains almost sweep the floor where I put the hem in.

The effect is a bigger looking window & makes the room seem bigger too. I chose a bright geometric pattern. There's a pic of me in the ladies talk shop thread posing in front of them if you want to see

The only other place I have curtains in the house is in the dining room where the sliding glass door is. This is more for privacy as I don't like vertical blinds. However I bought these off the rack & washed them and they shrunk a lot and are also too small for the area. I'm now thinking I will repurpose those in the guest room & hunt for a good deal on fabric to replace them in the dining room

The rods to hang the curtains from are cheap at Marshall's & the like but yes the fabric can cost a lot but it's better than the bland ass shit out there when you do need curtains

1/17/2012 7:32:34 PM

Getting my house appraised today for the first time since I bought four years ago. This should be interesting...

1/18/2012 11:40:11 AM

you want it on the high or low end?

1/18/2012 12:11:07 PM

Preferably higher, but if it comes in lower I can appeal my property tax value. I'm not trying to sell, just refi, so no biggie either way.

1/18/2012 4:02:21 PM

yeah, based on my last appraisal im about 8-10K away from being able to drop PMI, but based on zillow and a couple other online tools the value of my place has crept up enough that i could possibly get away with a re-fi with no PMI on equity alone. luckily rates will probably scrape the bottom here for a good while longer, so as long as I'm at 4 or under, I should be fine.

1/18/2012 4:04:18 PM

^^in my experience it helps to tell the appraiser what the appraisal is for and if your're hoping for a high/low end estimate. Granted, they can't do alot, but if a few thousand either way is important, it can throw you over the top.

1/18/2012 4:07:31 PM

Bought some weatherstripping from home depot for around the door frame.

It literally melted to my newly painted door and the door is now barely openable.

Fuck the frorst king weather seal.

1/18/2012 4:49:50 PM

I currently don't have PMI, but if I'm still at 20%+ after the appraisal I can refi with a 5 yr arm opposed to 30 yr fixed.

1/18/2012 5:40:27 PM

Speaking of home ownership woes, my water heater died last Friday. I'm still renting from my Dad, luckily, so I just paid him this month's rent and he paid the difference for the new water heater. I was going to close last week (and not pay this month's rent as dad didn't want it), but this new mortgage was a better deal.

Should close on this house in less than two weeks.

1/18/2012 10:59:59 PM

Well, due to the fact that I still don't have a fucking house and am stuck in a hotel, I had a bunch if my stuff stored inside my truck out in the parking lot.

Some motherless fuck stole my flat screen TV, my Remington 700 rifle with Nikon scope, my converted Saiga 12 shotgun, and who knows what else that I haven't discovered yet.

[Edited on January 19, 2012 at 12:48 AM. Reason : I would kill for some woes of ownership of a house down here!]

1/19/2012 12:43:39 AM

1/19/2012 8:12:29 AM

^^does your auto insurance cover theft?

1/19/2012 9:06:56 AM

Should have done your taxes last year.

1/19/2012 9:34:58 AM

^^ My truck is a beater and I only keep liability on it. However, I have a renter's policy. I specifically asked to make sure it would cover my trailer and its contents (in addition to the stuff in my hotel room). I don't remember if I asked about stuff stored in my truck, but it would seem to me that if the stuff in the trailer is covered, so should be the stuff in the truck. I'm gonna call today and find out.

^ No, you get 3 years, unless you owe them money. Last time I got a mortgage (2009), tax returns weren't required. Maybe if you were self-employed or something, but not generally across the board. Furthermore, I had a specific reason that I was waiting--I can't do them on my computer.

1/19/2012 10:02:43 AM

i do mine through turbotax.com on a web browser. do you have some obscure situation that their various versions of software don't cover?

1/19/2012 10:10:51 AM

^^ I mean that, if you had done them already, you might be in your new house right now and your shit might not have gotten stolen. Oh well...

and this:

Quote :

"i do mine through turbotax.com on a web browser. do you have some obscure situation that their various versions of software don't cover?"

[Edited on January 19, 2012 at 10:39 AM. Reason : .]

1/19/2012 10:38:48 AM

Linux has caused some hiccups with that before; regardless, I'm pretty sure that only the current year's Turbotax is available in web-based format.

It's not that I couldn't overcome any of that stuff...it's just that there was no real compelling reason to, and I just planned to wait until the new iMac was released and I had a house in which to put it (my hotel room is overflowing with stuff as it is...the last think I need is to tie up the table with a desktop computer, haha)

1/19/2012 3:26:41 PM

My house is on a slope, 10 feet off the ground on one side. Since my crawlspace is enclosed, the flood insurance people are using the very bottom as the level that counts (1 foot below 100-year level). They say that if I add some vents for water flow, I can use my actual living space level instead. The crawlspace is enclosed by thin wood boards. Ideally I just want to saw out a few holes and staple up a screen or net to keep animals out. Does anyone have experience with this or know if it is acceptable? Everywhere I look online just tries to sell me expensive vents.

1/24/2012 10:14:29 PM

sounds like something you might want to get your local building code official to help with. You don't want to give an insurance company any loopholes.

[Edited on January 25, 2012 at 8:35 AM. Reason : ]

1/25/2012 8:34:47 AM

^^

I think you can get by with framing some vent holes and covering with screen. That should be fine since there is not really a foundation around that area, the home is on stilts and that area looks like it was just enclosed for cosmetics.

http://services.wakegov.com/realestate/Photo.asp?id=0066915&stype=addr&stnum=&stname=avent+ferry&locidList=111&spg=32&cd=01&loc=2809++AVENT+FERRY+RD&des=LO28+PART+OF+PROP+OF+PRODEV+LX111+LLC+BM2007-02707&pin=0793254339

This thing was built on avent ferry in an area that is notorious for flooding. There used to be a house here but it was torn down. (see last pic) They just cut squares in the back wall for water to drain out of.

1/25/2012 11:33:58 AM

So I'll be buying a house soon; however, I'm very picky about kitchens... unfortunately, I can't seem to find a place with a kitchen I like with other features I require. Seems like a lot of houses have cheap/generic cabinets, which I hate (light colors, wood grain, etc.). Think I could just paint/stain the cabinets and come out with a better looking cabinet? I'd also like to add a backsplash if there isn't one... how difficult is that?

1/29/2012 12:11:11 AM

another question. I'm particular about how my home theater system setup looks. I haven't seen any places properly wired or constructed to mount a TV (or placed in a constructed TV nook) and run the necessary cables to a cable box/receiver. I hate using surface mounted channels. Think it would be difficult/against code to run some small conduit from the mounting place to a lower place for the rest of the HT equipment? For most houses, this would entail going sideways as well since most have fireplaces.

For example: .

I assume power is available in the nook; but I need to get an HDMI cable from the nook to the left of the fireplace. And most nooks look too small to fit my TV (42")... I'm guessing I'm SOL there? I don't think most nooks are large enough for a TV, cable box, receiver, BD player, gaming system, etc., thus I'd have to run HDMI down to a HT stand that houses everything but the TV.

And this doesn't even consider how to get 4 speakers (7.1 system) to the sides and rear of the room

[Edited on January 29, 2012 at 8:54 PM. Reason : .]

[Edited on January 29, 2012 at 8:56 PM. Reason : .]

1/29/2012 8:53:10 PM

I despise craning my neck to watch TV above a fireplace. If thats where you want it, mount the TV over the opening & put all your equipment in the nook behind the TV and out of sight.

1/29/2012 9:55:24 PM

but then I could have remote issues and a lack of access to front panels/disc slots.. and it would probably just look messy. and that's lower than my current TV height, so not too bad for me.

I mean, in the case ^^, I could just put my TV back on it's stand and on the HT stand I have. I guess I could build a false wall to cover the nook or find something big to go in there, haha..

[Edited on January 29, 2012 at 10:03 PM. Reason : .]

1/29/2012 10:02:59 PM

I wouldnt eliminate a home because of this. There is always a way. I've gotten pretty creative with stuff like this.

Also, I'm pretty confident that you can run A/V cables inside the walls.

[Edited on January 29, 2012 at 10:23 PM. Reason : A]

1/29/2012 10:21:57 PM

Oh, this wouldn't be a breaking point, just more costs to consider.

I guess my primary questions would be 1) difficulty in routing wires through the wall there 2) any code issues/how to do it to code.

I assume I need all in-wall/fire rated cables (easy enough). Any concerns and just running open conduit, so the use is flexible (i.e. future expansion/cables) or do I need to run individual cables with boxes, wall plates, etc.?

1/29/2012 10:36:56 PM

I paid a friend $100 to run wires inside my walls so I could mount the TV on the wall and not have any "clutter". Looks phenomenal. I'm a little worried what will happen if I ever change audio systems or the blu-ray (meaning I'll have to call someone to do it...because I just don't fuck with electrical and/or going through my walls stuff)...but that's a few years down the road.

1/30/2012 6:38:54 AM

Quote :

"I despise craning my neck to watch TV above a fireplace. "

I do too. above the fireplace is the only logical place to put a TV in my house though... I don't want to cover my front bay window, put it in front of the stairs, and the other side of my living room is open to the dining room. (and there is no way I would put the TV in a corner... makes surround sound much more difficult.)

Luckily my fireplace/mantel is low so the TV is at a natural height where i'm not looking up at it. I do have a problem though with my cable box... There are windows close to the fireplace on either side and it is impossible to find a media shelf that won't obscure the window or stick way too far out into the living room. I'm building something right now that fits right in (there is literally zero width to spare considering the distance from mantel to window vs the width of my receiver.) Hopefully it turns out not too horribly.

[Edited on January 30, 2012 at 7:49 AM. Reason : ]

1/30/2012 7:48:51 AM

I finally got around to running my wiring through the wall the weekend before Christmas. It made a huge difference in the look of my living room. The TV hangs on the wall. I have a walnut credenza below the TV that serves as a media cabinet and a stand for my receiver and front speakers.

The cable TV coax came in through an exterior wall, ran across the kitchen floor, and then snaked around the wall in the living room. I removed it, pushed it through the foundation, tacked it to the floor joists, and ran it up the wall that the TV is on with a normal CATV outlet on the wall. That would have been a huge aesthetic difference by itself.

Then I got a pair of low voltage boxes; installing one behind the TV and one behind the credenza. I ran all of the wires through these boxes...Three HDMI cables, two sets of component cables, a coax cable in case I ever need to use an antenna (has happened before when the cable was out and a game was on), and the power cable. I actually should have installed an outlet behind the TV rather than running the power cable through the wall, but I'm not too worried about it.

The difference was night and day; especially since I never did anything to hide the wires from the TV to the credenza because I was planning to run them through the walls.

[Edited on January 30, 2012 at 9:47 AM. Reason : s]

1/30/2012 9:46:57 AM

Quote :

"I despise craning my neck to watch TV above a fireplace. "

Corner fireplace ftw.

1/30/2012 11:51:52 AM

I hate those TV cutouts and I also hate TVs above the fireplace. We redid the living room in our house once we bought it to turn our cutout into a built-in bookshelf and put the TV on a different wall. The coat closet is behind the new TV location so we utilized that to run some cables.

1/30/2012 1:20:40 PM

I would always be worried how the heat would affect my TV/electronics above a fireplace.

Also...my fireplace is too nice to hide with a TV. Luckily I had other sufficient wall space where it worked out perfectly.

1/30/2012 1:32:42 PM

the heat from my current fireplace doesn't really affect my TV/TV doesn't really get hot; warm yes. and I'm not talking a brick/stone fireplace. Most places I'm looking at have the cheap gas fireplaces and it's just framed in above it.

1/30/2012 1:56:30 PM

>4000 mold removal
5700 heat
FML

1/30/2012 2:31:14 PM

refy-ing to 3.785%

Hoping the appraisal comes in good enough so I don't have to write a huge check to close it out, just a really big check.

1/30/2012 3:48:37 PM

yeah i need to do that in the next couple months to see how much further I need to pay off to get rid of PMI and re-fi all in one fell swoop. I'm within $10k of getting rid of it, but the more it appraises for, the less I need to pay down quicker to remove the PMI.

what does an appraisal normally run?

actually i guess i should call WF and see if they require a specific appraiser.

[Edited on January 30, 2012 at 4:05 PM. Reason : .]

1/30/2012 4:01:32 PM

They usually require a specific appraiser. Mine was just done for $400. I figured I'd easily make up that amount when I appealed my tax value except I just read this.

Quote :

"BY LAW THE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION AND REVIEW MAY CONSIDER ONLY THE VALUE OF PROPERTY AS OF JANUARY 1 OF COUNTY'S MOST RECENT GENERAL REAPPRAISAL (JANUARY 1, 2008), EXISTING OR POTENTIAL TAX LOAD IS NOT APPEALABLE. ALL REAL PROPERTY IS REQUIRED TO BE APPRAISED (GENERAL REAPPRAISAL) AT LEAST ONCE EVERY EIGHT YEARS. "

What the hell? So I'm stuck paying taxes at my high 2008 tax value instead of my much lower 2011 tax value for 4 more years???

1/30/2012 4:33:16 PM

Ours is $410, and nowadays dude's gonna come in and measure the house and take pictures and everything. Apparently the days of drive-by appraisals have ended.

1/30/2012 4:37:28 PM

Quote :

"What the hell? So I'm stuck paying taxes at my high 2008 tax value instead of my much lower 2011 tax value for 4 more years???"

I battled the real estate tax appeal people for a few months. Despite them being "of the people" and actually saying "alright, this dude went above and beyond to generate data to make his case so we'll lower his value" their entire purpose is to just stonewall the fuck out of you until you go away.

When they reassessed in '08 the value they gave our place was so high I originally thought it was a mistake. No it wasn't they said. So I began looking at recent sales prices for about 35 homes within a few miles radius of my hood of similar age and square foot. They had set my tax value on a per sq/ft basis substantially higher than all but a couple of the homes that had recently sold. I compiled all that data and they lowered the assessed value by like 2% saying they went back and looked at the sketch and calculated the heated sq/ft wrong.

Fuck those guys.

1/30/2012 10:10:30 PM

For future reference if you can find a pedophile in close proximity that really helps during the appeal.

1/30/2012 10:16:34 PM

the deal on our home may fall through because of an appraisal. we had one done 2 months ago and it came back at $310k. This one is coming back at $270 because she refuses to use a sale (75 sqft smaller, no garage, sold for $316,500) that wasn't in MLS. I called the appraisal board of NC and they said that information was false. all she had to do was verify the sale. she also discounted the third floor because "she didn't think it was permitted."

The contract price is $282,500. they want us to reduce to $270k.

All of this because of an incompetent, lazy appraiser...

1/31/2012 6:00:27 PM

^just give her $500, I'm sure she'll change her appraisal for you.

1/31/2012 9:23:37 PM

nah. ill give her a lecture about doing her job

1/31/2012 10:12:19 PM

I almost gave up on purchasing my dad's house due to a lousy appraisal. The appraisal came in a full 10% lower than the one we just did recently (as well as the one we did two years ago when the house was on the market last time). The first appraisal had some shitty country house that looked like ass inside and had no city utilities as well as some house that sold for like $66/square foot that was in my neighborhood but which was clearly far undervalued considering the other recent sales in the neighborhood. It also made zero adjustment for lot sizes even though they were completely different from house to house (how the shit does that work, you want to tell me that two acres are worth as much as half an acre is worth as much as a tenth of an acre? fuck you in your asshole).

I carried out lengthy research, found several comparable homes that actually would have made sense to use, and argued against the existing comps the guy used. He posted a bunch of bullshit in response then used one of the comparables I listed and added just over 3% to his prior estimate. To hell with that guy. Obviously it's a bit odd to want to pay MORE for a house you're buying but I know what my dad paid for this and what he put into it (I did a lot of the work) and I'm already getting a good deal on it. I'm not gonna devalue the entire neighborhood AND force my dad to lose his shirt by letting some lazy shithead who doesn't know the area screw up the values. Good luck with your appraisal "battle".

[Edited on January 31, 2012 at 11:44 PM. Reason : RAGE]

[Edited on January 31, 2012 at 11:45 PM. Reason : If they hadn't messed up the laws this wouldn't be as much of an issue.]

1/31/2012 11:40:39 PM

The appraiser has agreed to use the house in our neighborhood but is now asking that we track down the HuD statement/ building contract ourselves...

2/1/2012 9:31:32 AM

2/1/2012 9:55:17 AM

Id say that's worth 12.5k don't you?

2/1/2012 10:40:11 AM