penfed has 30 year fixed for 3.375%

9/25/2012 12:05:41 PM

I just finished a refinance down to 3.5%. It was a lot of paperwork but it will save a lot of money in the long run. The only real up-front cost was the appraisal. I got most of the recording fees rolled into the loan. So I didn't have to have much cash in hand to refinance. Also, it was nice to get to skip a month of payment. (Last payment to old bank was August 1, first payment to new bank is October 1.)

9/26/2012 8:43:27 AM

can't refi if your rental condo is now worth 55% of what you owe on it, can you?

damn florida condo market

[Edited on September 26, 2012 at 4:56 PM. Reason : k]

9/26/2012 4:55:43 PM

so i just found a small leak in my roof and evidence water has come in from a small area about one square inch right where the ceiling meets the wall. I can see where the water is getting in from the roof... The water has leaked in over a window, and there is no evidence that the water has pooled inside of the wall on top of the window frame...

Do you folks think it would be ok for me to patch the area where the water is coming in and just let it dry on its own, or should I rip out a section of wall, etc?

9/26/2012 6:25:37 PM

Just patch the roof, prime/paint the wall, and forget about it. Don't start ripping stuff out unless the water stains persist or you see signs of mold.

[Edited on September 26, 2012 at 8:34 PM. Reason : l]

9/26/2012 8:33:47 PM

my new woe is starting the process of finding a home to buy.

9/26/2012 10:18:29 PM

Did you sell your one in NC?

9/27/2012 12:05:31 AM

Guys installing the shelves in the pantry drilled a hole in the drain line for the upstairs bathroom. Looks like I get to try my hand at sheetrock repair this weekend.

9/27/2012 10:17:41 AM

^^

yeah back in june. took a loss, but that's the downside of unexpected job-forced moves.

9/27/2012 10:34:01 AM

Hopefully the new rates help sweeten the deal on the new purchase.

9/27/2012 6:45:10 PM

Got the master mostly painted (need to finish cutting in closets and do the trim), mostly floored, cabinet frames stained (probably buying new doors), granite counters installed, and disposer is getting here and installed tomorrow. I'll be so happy to finally have a bedroom and kitchen. Probably taking a little break after that to catch up on sleep and let the wallet recover.

9/28/2012 1:33:11 PM

damn roof leaked again tonight.

9/28/2012 9:29:46 PM

it's not actually the roof... it's water flowing back under the shingles at the point where two sections of roof come together.

9/28/2012 9:30:33 PM

Have the shingles lifted?

9/28/2012 11:20:02 PM

I'm not sure... it's not coming in through the shingles though... it's through a small gap where the roof connects to another part of the roof (i know it's not a good explanation... i'll take a picture when i get a minute of daylight)

10/4/2012 12:08:12 AM

^ It's possible your shingles are "lapped" incorrectly. If one isn't folded in the right direction, it can allow the water to direct itself back up and under. Also, if your shingles were "cut" short to meet a joint, this is also capable of allowing water to run up and under. I ran into both of these issues with a home we recently purchased, and had a contractor come out and re-do multiple sections to fix a subpar installation of the original shingles. Sure fixed my water-running-up-and-under issue. Best of luck -- I know first-hand how awful it feels to see water running inside of your house.

[Edited on October 5, 2012 at 12:43 AM. Reason : in]

10/5/2012 12:43:43 AM

The ceiling fan on my screen porch has all of a sudden gone crazy. It was making an annoying "clicking" sound when at a high speed, and I got up and realized that the soft rubber that was between the bracket and ceiling had been pushed out of the way. Since the fan mount to the ceiling box was slotted, I simply moved the fan slightly so the rubber was back between the ceiling and the bracket.

Now I can't get the damn thing to stop wobbling.

If I put it on high speed, it shakes so much I feel like it's going to pull itself off of the ceiling. While on medium, it still slightly wobbles, but it's manageable. Is it really that tight of a tolerance for the bracket to be mounted to the ceiling box? If so, why is it slotted?

It also now makes more of a metallic clinking sound at random points while on medium, not that same squeaking sound that it made before.

Why can't I just have a normal Saturday??

10/6/2012 2:34:19 PM

Had an the outlet in the garage go dead seemingly all of a sudden. Probed the exposed terminals and i'm not getting anything. Every other outlet in the vicinity is functioning fine. Crawled under the house and I think I found the leads into the garage, but can't find anything wrong.

I put up two small brackets somewhat close to the outlet last night. The only thing I can think of is that I went through a wire somehow, but that doesn't make much sense because the junction box shows the leads go into the crawlspace and not up the wall. If I did nick something it wasnt an immediate problem as the drill I was using was plugged into the outlet.

I can't think of what else to check without tearing down Sheetrock. Would an electrician be able to diagnose?

10/6/2012 2:35:31 PM

Just collected 15 gallons of acorns from my driveway and sidewalk alone, and the leaves haven't even started falling yet

10/6/2012 6:32:07 PM

I filled 4 30 gallon trash cans with acorns this afternoon from cleaning up about 10 % of my back lawn.

10/6/2012 8:07:52 PM

short sale progress:

buyer offered 125k

house appraised for 150k

bank countered with 129k and pay all closing costs but not a termite inspection.

buyer accepted.

should be done by mid november, just in time when my renters move out. w00t!

10/6/2012 10:48:36 PM

I've never really looked at short sale. Do you still have to pay the bank the difference in the sale price and what you owe?

10/6/2012 11:50:02 PM

No. It's a VA loan. I just lost the amount of the difference from my VA eligibility. I can't use my VA for two years I believe.

10/7/2012 1:00:19 AM

Must be nice.

10/7/2012 2:17:01 PM

Quote :

"I filled 4 30 gallon trash cans with acorns this afternoon from cleaning up about 10 % of my back lawn."

I go through the same thing every fall.

10/9/2012 8:13:19 PM

Kitchen mostly painted, trim paint acquired, and I started prepping the upstairs bathroom for paint.

My arms are so sore from all of this. I'm going to need to take a week or two off after the kitchen I think.

10/10/2012 1:20:43 PM

Quote :

"Had an the outlet in the garage go dead seemingly all of a sudden. Probed the exposed terminals and i'm not getting anything. Every other outlet in the vicinity is functioning fine. Crawled under the house and I think I found the leads into the garage, but can't find anything wrong."

Is it on the same circuit as a GFCI receptacle somewhere? If not, have you checked to see if it's wired to a GFCI breaker? That's a common problem I've seen where someone has a dead outlet just b/c it's wired downstream of a GFCI which has tripped for whatever reason.

Try to trace what circuit the outlet is on and check any and all outlets on that same branch. Test and reset any GFCI receptacles or breakers which may be on the same branch.

When was your house built, do you have any AFCI equipment installed?

10/10/2012 3:41:59 PM

So a strange electrical-related woe here as well.

BACKGROUND:
We have a wireless Honeywell FocusPRO setup for our downstairs AC unit (DX cooling, natural gas heat). The Equipment Interface Module (EIM) that would normally be located in the crawlspace on or near the unit is located in our coat closet on the first floor. I did this so that, whenever the wireless thermostat loses power (forums seem to indicate batteries last for about 2 years in this thermostat-we've been over a year and no problems) I can quickly sync the EIM and the thermostat wirelessly again without having to get into the crawl space. Our unit is located almost directly below the coat closet and thus the EIM is on the wall and the cables do down the wall, through a wire-sleeve through the floor and then are connected to the Air Handling Unit (AHU). The EIM gets it's power directly through the AHU(single point power connection to our AHU and then the control wire to the EIM includes a 120V power connection).

We are getting hardwoods installed yesterday and today. I was home all day when they were doing it and have been very happy with the installers. I really don't think they can have anything to do with it but I am only mentioning it on the off-chance something can think of anything.

PROBLEM:
After the installers left last night, i went to turn the AHU fan on to circulate some air with the intent of leaving it on for a few hours and then changing the filter. I noticed my thermostat said "No Signal." That has happened one time when the AC breaker tripped for some reason about 8 months ago and it was a quick fix: flip the breaker, open the coat-closet, set the EIM up to sync, sync via the thermostat done.

This time I figured it might have been the breaker again with all the tools being used possibly for the floors. I went to the garage and neither AC unit breaker was popped. Went back inside to look at the EIM and there was no power light on it (so I couldn't sync it). Went back and flipped both off for 30 seconds and then back on anyway. Still no power at the EIM. This either means the unit is getting no power to pass on or the wired connection between the AHU and the EIM is the problem.

Because this setup was installed a year ago (well after the house was built), there are no cables that I know of running under baseboards or door frames that might have been cut during the hardwood installation. It pretty much runs right through the floor and over to the unit a few feet. I haven't been in my crawl space to check on the unit there (I hate getting down there >.< ) but other than there somehow being a problem with the connection or the wire (animal?) in the crawl space at the actual AHU I am stumped as to what the problem could be.

Can a fuse go bad without the breaker tripping?

I can't imagine that the power to the AHU itself runs anywhere inside the house since it is underneath the house. Has anyone seen power cable for a crawl space AHU run inside a house and then down to the unit? (In case they could have cut this somehow)

[Edited on October 12, 2012 at 10:04 AM. Reason : ]

10/12/2012 9:49:21 AM

went into the crawlspace...unit had what seemed to be an internal "breaker." It wasn't tripped but I flipped it off and back on and the fan kicked on. Went back upstairs and the EIM had power and the thermostat sync'd.

I'll have to keep my eye on it though because it still has me a little puzzled. I don't like unknown electrical problems...

10/12/2012 11:22:46 AM

under contract on a purchase.

house has Dryvit (artificial stucco), so crossing my fingers on the inspection that it was installed properly, and maintained properly. I'm fairly confident it'll be ok, given that it was built in '92, and most of the homes that had problems manifested said problems within a few years.

10/16/2012 12:52:36 PM

Anyone build a fire pit?

10/23/2012 11:23:49 AM

^interested in this too. 'tis my late summer project for next year.

10/23/2012 12:27:48 PM

I built a very basic firepit. Circle of retaining wall pavers plus gravel plus sand in the middle, very easy.

10/23/2012 3:40:31 PM

that's really what I'm looking to do. nothing too complex.

10/23/2012 6:19:26 PM

update:

everything is paid. closing mid november.

Wells Fargo told me not to worry about the mortgage anymore. Renters quit paying rent and moved out. I got their security deposit. woo!

10/23/2012 11:12:25 PM

Nice. How will it affect your credit?

10/24/2012 10:03:46 AM

Less than a month after closing the bank sold our mortgage to Fannie Mae. We went with this bank because they said they held onto their mortgages.

10/24/2012 1:44:43 PM

Well 1.5 months after my closing and I still haven't heard from my mortgage bank... so I guess I'll be scratching my head on paying my first payment.

10/24/2012 1:53:50 PM

Have you talked to them in person? I set up auto-pay the same day we closed on the house.

10/24/2012 1:56:01 PM

tried and they keep saying I'll receive information in the mail...

10/24/2012 1:57:06 PM

I built a fire pit/patio a few weeks ago. Will load some pics in a bit

10/24/2012 1:59:11 PM

Who cares if they sold your mortgage?

10/24/2012 2:06:47 PM

Our mortgage got sold a month after we closed but we still pay through our original bank and manage it all through there.

10/24/2012 2:07:47 PM

^yeah us too. What's the big deal?

oh nevermind it's just lewoods complaining about how she is a victim again.



[Edited on October 25, 2012 at 7:49 AM. Reason : ]

10/25/2012 7:48:46 AM

They told us we could get rid of PMI without refinancing. I emailed them and was assured that was still the case, so now I don't care about the mortgage getting sold. Hopefully they say the same thing in a year when we try to get rid of the PMI.

10/25/2012 8:06:03 AM

you're talking about getting out of PMI by reaching the equity % threshold right? You shouldn't have to refinance for that. I've never heard of that. It is my understanding that most typical mortgage loans will allow you to request an appraisal to justify removing PMI earlier (by proving LTV of 80%) but they will automatically remove it at a LTV ratio of 78%. What I don't remember is if this is based off the original appraisal or the original loan value.

Obviously you need to check your mortgage documents but that was typical when we were looking a few years ago.

We put 10% down when we bought but started paying 150% payments this year so we're hoping to hit 78% in the next 1-2 years and just let it roll off automatically that way.


[Edited on October 25, 2012 at 8:33 AM. Reason : ]

10/25/2012 8:10:40 AM

That is how I understand it too. The only reason you couldn't get out of it would be that typical loans have to wait a two year period after closing before you can get out of it. The wait period for an FHA loan is 5 years. I just refinanced a FHA loan to a standard loan for this reason.

10/25/2012 9:07:09 AM

Lump sum lender paid PMI out of credits at closing FTW!

10/25/2012 9:35:15 AM

Yup, the house is going to appraise a lot higher next year. Instead of getting a PITA remodel loan we went with a low down payment and we're doing the work ourselves and buying the supplies with what we had saved up for the down payment. Initial PMI was based off of the purchase price and not appraised value, and even without any repairs it was close to 80%LTV for the appraised value.

10/25/2012 12:32:26 PM

yep. you shouldn't need a refinance for that though just a new appraisal tied to the request to eliminate PMI.

I think we're just going to let ours do the auto rollover at 78% since it's not too far down the road and the PMI isn't huge. We didn't buy one that was in need of as much repair as yours was, so we have done a lot of work but the house was in good physical shape and only 10 years old before (just really vanilla with no character or high end finishes) and as a result our value probably hasn't gone up a ton with the work we have don. It just looks a TON better and would sell in a heart beat if we had to. I thought about trying to get a new appraisal after we finish the kitchen next year and see if we could get the PMI but I don't feel like paying for the appraisal when comps and appraisals around us have been all over the place so it wouldn't be a sure thing.

[Edited on October 25, 2012 at 1:33 PM. Reason : ]

10/25/2012 1:06:58 PM