What have you done to your house today

Gabe

Whippled Coyote
Joined
Aug 7, 2011
Posts
8,440
Reaction score
1,531
Location
NC
Settled on the subsidy today. I didn't move and they took it. Now what's left is they want to test the Radon levels to confirm the amount has been lowered. That should be the last hurdle.

Awesome!
Sometimes you just gotta play hardball!
 

GallopingFord

I'm Cam - Mr. Indecisive
Joined
Sep 5, 2010
Posts
15,369
Reaction score
10
Location
Northern Virginia
Awesome!

Sometimes you just gotta play hardball!


Yeah, they wanted to retest at their own accord, but my agent made them sign they only have till mid march to do radon testing so they don't keep dragging this on... and they have to pay for the retest.

Good luck with the sale, Cam. Makes me want to just keep renting...


Believe me, sometimes I do to, but owning (or buying) where I live is nice. Plus writing off interest for taxes is a decent benefit.

We are looking at 2 homes this weekend that look promising. I hate that between a mortgage payment and possible HOA's the biggest thing that deters me from a possible purchase is ridiculously high VA property taxes.
 

skwerl

tree hugger
Joined
Aug 6, 2011
Posts
16,193
Reaction score
1,138
Location
central Florida
Stay the hell out of an HOA if at all possible! You can buy a big enough lot that you can't see your neighbors anyway, and you sure as hell don't need them telling you how many cars you're allowed to park in your driveway, how often to mow your grass or what color you're allowed to paint your shutters. .
 

oldVOR

forum member
Joined
Apr 9, 2015
Posts
1,754
Reaction score
484
Location
Northern Virginia
I agree with Skwerl, stay away from an HOA if at all possible.

Cam, I don't think our real-estate property taxes are all that bad. My sister lives in Long Island and her real-estate property taxes are triple for the same size home & lot as it is here.
 

GallopingFord

I'm Cam - Mr. Indecisive
Joined
Sep 5, 2010
Posts
15,369
Reaction score
10
Location
Northern Virginia
It could definitely be worse, but I think it's stupid to get double taxed in Leesburg (county tax + city tax). We're looking more towards Ashburn now.

Unfortunately, not many HOA-less areas there and in our budget.
 

skwerl

tree hugger
Joined
Aug 6, 2011
Posts
16,193
Reaction score
1,138
Location
central Florida
Cam, don't let yourself get pressured into buying a house if it isn't something you love. I think you will know it when you find the right one, don't settle.

I got the same advice when I was house shopping a couple years ago and they were absolutely right. I'm glad I didn't settle. I ended up getting a place that originally was way out of the realm of possibility, but in reality I was setting my sights too low. Stretch yourself a little, you will grow into it.
 

GallopingFord

I'm Cam - Mr. Indecisive
Joined
Sep 5, 2010
Posts
15,369
Reaction score
10
Location
Northern Virginia
Absolutely not - if anything I do not settle and let it be known that I'd rather move out of the house, and then rent for a year if we do not find anything. The front end cost of living would be significantly cheaper for the time being.

Today, we looked at one house today that looked great in photos....

Unfortunately, the photos did not convey that the two car garage was smaller than our current town home (garage/driveway is a big thing for both of us), the road noise was awful since it was next to a main toll road, and I didn't like it being bunched between two houses.
 

Gabe

Whippled Coyote
Joined
Aug 7, 2011
Posts
8,440
Reaction score
1,531
Location
NC
Yeah you gotta look at the dimensions they provide for the rooms, and also we check out the Google Earth view and the Google Street View to check out the neighboring houses a bit.
One house we looked at had a double-wide trailer next door.
Fuck that.
 

Gabe

Whippled Coyote
Joined
Aug 7, 2011
Posts
8,440
Reaction score
1,531
Location
NC
Spent a couple hours in the morning cutting down some broken trees that the tree dude damaged recently when he was taking down trees. He left a few good size trunks split in half, top half broken off, or just fully scraped so the tree was damaged.
Took down all the damaged stuff, and this afternoon I spent another couple hours using a pull saw clearing some of the brush, making piles of brush and piles of firewood that I'll soon advertise on craigslist for free and have somebody come and get it.
 

Gabe

Whippled Coyote
Joined
Aug 7, 2011
Posts
8,440
Reaction score
1,531
Location
NC
Before-and-after of the left side of the backyard.
Looking forward to having all the mess cleaned up.

trees_beforeafter20170301.jpg



Hate the fact that there's absolutely no privacy between us and the neighbor on that side anymore:

20170301_brush3.jpg
 

skwerl

tree hugger
Joined
Aug 6, 2011
Posts
16,193
Reaction score
1,138
Location
central Florida
Before-and-after of the left side of the backyard.
Looking forward to having all the mess cleaned up.



Hate the fact that there's absolutely no privacy between us and the neighbor on that side anymore:

No comment. :whistle1:
 

GallopingFord

I'm Cam - Mr. Indecisive
Joined
Sep 5, 2010
Posts
15,369
Reaction score
10
Location
Northern Virginia
Found a house today and putting in an offer. Sits on little less than an acre in a small neighborhood with a huge amount of common area that cannot be built on. Also has an oversized two car garage and space for me to build a detached garage.
 

GallopingFord

I'm Cam - Mr. Indecisive
Joined
Sep 5, 2010
Posts
15,369
Reaction score
10
Location
Northern Virginia
Sounds good! Does your yard back up to the common property or another yard?

It backs up to common property, and then a reserve. None of the homes have a fence because the space between them is so big. Only 16 homes in the community. They're the original owners and took really good care of the house. Not getting my hopes up just because I know is 3 offers at least. If it's not meant to be then it's not meant to be.

I'm not too ecstatic about them reviewing offers tonight which forced me to put an offer in today and not be able to sleep on it. Plus, I have a lot of moving parts with our townhome sale settlement at the end of this month and we may amend the contract to remove the rent back clause since we can make the settlements line up together.
 
Last edited:

ksack

forum member
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Posts
1,616
Reaction score
34
Mowed the lawn for the first time today and threw down a 45lb bag of weedkiller/grass grower. I bought a corded Greenworks mower and I like it. Cord management isn't bad at all as long as you work your way away from the power source. I opted for electric over gas for the maintenance. It also folds up so the storage is easy.

Also started putting down some small pavers when the fence gate swings to the back alley (trash is communal in dumpsters in the alley behind the house). Gate swings into the yard and the grass was too tall to open the gate more than 2ft. Dug it out and laid down pavers. I'm a few short so I'll head back to Lowes tomorrow and finish it up. Will post pics as well.
 

JimC

Senior Member
Joined
May 5, 2007
Posts
2,242
Reaction score
588
Starting the house hunting process again. After selling the condo we moved to be closer to my office and rented a place. My wife hates it here - as I predicted she would. You know you are in a farming area when the featured section in the local paper is the farm report. We like to go out and as a friend who grew up here said it is a "culinary wasteland" and there is no entertainment district unlike where we lived before.

Since the plan is to move to North Carolina after I retire again, we are looking at places in Winston-Salem. My sister-in-law is probably going to have to live with us (she has $0 and is in bad health) so while I am still working my wife will live in Winston-Salem for the winter with her sister at our place.
 

ksack

forum member
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Posts
1,616
Reaction score
34
Here's the finished section of blocks I made to keep the swing area clear. Nothing fancy or special but at least I can get through my gate now.



Messed around with the sprinklers a bit today and I think I finally have them all unplugged and full coverage on the yard.

Need help identifying my trees. I have 3 of them and I have no clue what they are. Here's a pic of the tree and the pods they drop. Skwerl?





 

Latest posts

Support us!

Support Us - Become A Supporting Member Today!

Click Here For Details

Sponsor Links

Banner image
Back
Top