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PavlovsCat

We’ve used Blue Air at home and work for the last decade or more. They make a considerable difference in reducing smoke during wildfire season. A close friend uses them in conjunction with a Purple Air monitor and it improves his air quality significantly. I’m not sure about other companies. Deals c...

PavlovsCat

I’ll add an alternative perspective from another thread: Wife has around a $15k ring. We bought insurance, pretty inexpensively (~$100 a year?). She cracked the center diamond, valued at over $10k from the crown straight to the bottom. Had to pay a deductible of $1k, got it replaced with a less expe...

PavlovsCat

time916 wrote: ↑Sun Aug 30, 2020 3:12 pm I just went on the lenderfi website and got a message that they couldn't find any loans for my scenario.
I want to refi a 98K mortgage with 500K equity in the home. Could it be the loan is too small for them to refi?

Just tried for ours at 245k and got the same message.

PavlovsCat

My 5-year old son and I are excited to watch Hamilton on Disney+. My wife and I saw it in the theatre before I knew all the songs. I’m assuming Hercules Mulligan will cut out the one “bad word” that he says in the theatre, or I’ll mute it quickly when I know it’s coming. The F bombs are all changed.

PavlovsCat

One rental, renters are 2+ months behind on rent now. Haven’t paid this month, so it may be three months unpaid. Evictions halted until end of September, so not really sure what to do other than hope they make good on their word that they’re going to catch up once unemployment comes through. Rough t...

PavlovsCat

Didn’t find solar batteries to be worth it, the local installers wanted like $7k apiece and they were only enough to power our house for like half a day during the summer. Don’t pay more than $3/watt.

PavlovsCat

The streaming service makes it worthwhile to me. I complained about an order being late once, and they refunded all of the items in the order (more than $100). Amazon is weird.

PavlovsCat

I’d stay away from Hawaii plans. Their mandatory quarantine disallows renting a car and leaving your rental for any reason other than medical (not even food shopping is allowed). Unless you can make plans with a great refund option, Hawaii is a huge gamble.

PavlovsCat

2quiker wrote: ↑Mon May 11, 2020 10:19 am
need403bhelp wrote: ↑Sun May 10, 2020 7:57 pm
2quiker wrote: ↑Sun May 10, 2020 12:47 pm
FYI, Better does have a $2,500 American Express credit after closing offer. Would do that if you haven’t locked yet.
What do you mean, they give $2,500 after you close with Better Mortgage?

And free appraisal.

PavlovsCat

Started last year, in my late 30s. I have never found an exercise I enjoyed until BJJ. I do it for the health and social reasons. A few guys I train with compete, I don’t. Go to a place where it’s not UFC prep e.g. the demographic is diverse (not just the muscle bound college crowd, we have a few of...

PavlovsCat

I have to say, I’m really jealous of everyone saying they have 3% or less rates with very little or 0 costs. I’m currently locked in at 3.25% with a lender credit covering all refinance costs. I decided to call around to some of the places mentioned here the best someone was willing to do was a Loa...

PavlovsCat

If you have purchased a Concept 2 Model D rowing machine and regret purchasing it, why? Was there something about it that surprised you after purchasing? If you no longer use it, what aerobic exercise has replaced it and why? Thanks! Just sold mine for more than what I paid, the second hand market ...

PavlovsCat

Bigfish wrote: ↑Sun May 03, 2020 8:22 am It appears that he does.

If per his policy you are owed a refund, you should receive it. Hosts set their own policies, some allow cancellation but do not offer a refund of any sort. You may have to contact Airbnb if he does not respond.

PavlovsCat

Shop online! I do all of my car shopping online, I think it’s the way to go. I typically find the closest 15 dealerships, don’t give them my zip code, and ask them each to itemize base price, destination and document fee, with the only extras being TTL. I make a spreadsheet of contact info and curre...

PavlovsCat

Does the host have a cancellation policy that allows refunds? Each host has their own set of rules.

PavlovsCat

Watched “The Tale of a Princess Kaguya” with the kids. Pretty cheerful movie with one of the roughest endings I’ve ever seen in a movie. Weighed on my mind the last few days.

PavlovsCat

I hate sounding like a shill, but I recommend everyone at least check out Better Mortgage using the better.com/with/Amex link. Better has a price match guarantee and promises to beat your estimate by at least $1000, and, if you have a personal (non-business) Amex card you get $2500 after closing. A...

PavlovsCat

After missing a 2.875% several weeks ago on a 20-year, I'm looking at a 3.125% with no points on a 30-year refinance and a $2,565 lender credit. Origination Fee $1,195 Appraisal Fee $400 Credit Report $60 Flood Cert $8.75 Closing Fee $595 Lender's Title Insurance $1,045 Recording Fee $205 Lender Cr...

PavlovsCat

Didn't know anything about the Amex offer till you said that -- don't have one and wouldn't have opened one just for the credit anyway. A+B+C total was 100% of that. Total cash to close is a $110 recording fee, 8 months tax escrow, 2 months insurance escrow, 15 days prepaid interest on top of that....

PavlovsCat

Just locked with Better for 2.5% on a $285K 15 year fixed with $4800 in total closing costs, $550 of which will get refunded at settlement since we didn't need an appraisal. The online rate quote originally came back with $5800 in closing costs, but the mortgage agent assigned to me got another $1K...

PavlovsCat

Just locked a 2.875% 15 year with Better. While not the best 15 year out there, there were zero points and I’m hopefully going to be receiving the $2500 Amex credit.

Loan cost: $914
Taxes/Prepaid/Escrow: $2201
Lender credit: $2066
Total out of pocket: $1049
Amex Credit (hopefully): $2500

PavlovsCat

Hi, Are people still getting their refinance requests served for jumbo? I am looking for a jumbo loan. My current rate is 4.125% I had a broker start the process, got a quote for 3.625% and appraisal was done. But now the broker says that no bank wants to give jumbo loan. However appraisal is good ...

PavlovsCat

CSR for 3% Dining & Travel
Amex Gold for 4% Grocery Store
CF for 5% categories
Chase Ink Preferred for 5% at office stores, which I use to buy Amazon GC to fill my Amazon account... 7.5% back on travel when paired with CSR.

PavlovsCat

Prime deliveries for me are showing as April 21st.

PavlovsCat

California credentialed school psych here. Depending on your district, check for dual language immersion schools in your area. Our daughter was reading late elementary chapter books prior to the start of kindergarten, and even with both of us working in education we pondered what to do for quite som...

PavlovsCat

I’ve helped family member purchase about a dozen factory warranties over the year. Use google to find the lowest priced manufacturer dealership warranty. Never go third party, they can use salvaged parts, non-OEM parts, or flat out go out of business.

PavlovsCat

Wife has around a $15k ring. We bought insurance, pretty inexpensively. She cracked the center diamond, valued at over $10k from the crown straight to the bottom. Had to pay a deductible of $1k, got it replaced with a less expensive diamond, pocketed the difference. Diamonds are a sham, but if you ...

PavlovsCat

Wife has around a $15k ring. We bought insurance, pretty inexpensively. She cracked the center diamond, valued at over $10k from the crown straight to the bottom. Had to pay a deductible of $1k, got it replaced with a less expensive diamond, pocketed the difference. Diamonds are a sham, but if you g...

PavlovsCat

Hi All: Starting a small business and have some expenses (rent, software licenses, client travel, etc.). Thinking about setting up a separate credit card so I can track expenses in one place. Do you have any recommendations? My estimate is that my expenses will be in $10-$20k range per year. ALso, ...

PavlovsCat

Purchased a new SUV caddy & dealer has an extra 3 year bumper to bumper warranty for $4400 financed at 0%. Sounds high but at $150/hour for repairs & being a luxury vehicle & basically a computer on wheels - would this be a smart purchase? Vehicle comes with 5 years or 50,000 miles whic...

PavlovsCat

It can't be rocket science. That's what my BIL's electrician thinks, too. It makes me wonder why the price of the major players is so much higher. I guess it's still too hard to get good information/service so people are willing to pay a premium for the security of the major name. There is a huge m...

PavlovsCat

My open-ended question for the forum is, what pitfalls should we be considering? Don't worry about family-related pitfalls, we'd all be going into this with our eyes open recognizing that there may be hiccups along the way. I'm interested in solar-specific issues, the kinds of things that would not...

PavlovsCat

My point is that the 457(b) investments are better than taxable investments for you. Paying off your primary mortgage may be a better deal than either one. If so, the money that was previously used to make payments on the mortgage will be available for investing, and you should invest it in the 457...

PavlovsCat

vineviz wrote: ↑Sat Aug 31, 2019 2:54 pm
Wiggums wrote: ↑Fri Aug 16, 2019 12:10 pm
Tyler Aspect wrote: ↑Fri Aug 16, 2019 12:02 pm Paying off the 6% loan has the best return.
I agree
Me too

Decided to sell that rental, now trying to figure out what to do with the proceeds.

PavlovsCat

Does your wife have her own HSA account. If not, as I said in my last paragraph above, it would be advantageous for her to have her own HSA to start the clock on her establishment date. What is your reason for not wanting to split the family maximum between the two of you? She does not. Last year s...

PavlovsCat

This is discussed on the wiki: Paying down loans versus investing Yes, you might get a higher return by investing in stock, but only with more risk. Paying down your home mortgage is a 4.25% risk-free return. The return is 3.85% after tax if you itemize only CA tax, or 2.83% if you itemize both CA ...

PavlovsCat

Question here- I have my own HDHP, sponsored by me, covering only me. My wife has her own HDHP covering herself and our three kids. Can I still fund an HSA with 7k while my wife doesn’t fund any, or does she need to be the one doing the funding of it? Under the rules for married people, if either s...

PavlovsCat

Question here- I have my own HDHP, sponsored by me, covering only me. My wife has her own HDHP covering herself and our three kids. Can I still fund an HSA with 7k while my wife doesn’t fund any, or does she need to be the one doing the funding of it?

PavlovsCat

School psychologist here. It depends on the kid. I have a close friend who finished undergrad at 19 followed by a 3 year Master’s by 22. Very analytically minded, and socially strong. No issues. I’ve grade promoted a number of kids over the years, and been witness and spoken out against other grade ...

PavlovsCat

Why not refi that high 6%? This is the obvious first step, agreed. After looking a bit more closely at the numbers, we have decided to sell this property. After looking at the numbers a bit more closely, this property is barely breaking even, thanks to double HOA fees of more than $2100/year. Now t...

PavlovsCat

abuss368 wrote: ↑Fri Aug 16, 2019 8:38 am I would consider both starting a taxable account (many advantages) and paying down the mortgage on the primary residence.

Why would you pick the primary home loan over the 6% home loan?

Thanks again!

PavlovsCat

One possibility is to sell off rental #1 so that you can pay off the primary home mortgage. Then you would be only left with $200k commercial mortgage. Then any excess cash can be split half into a taxable fund, half paying off the remaining commercial mortgage. Thanks for that, the thought had cro...

PavlovsCat

Hi all, Trying to figure out where to put extra money for retirement. Wife and I both are local government (education) employees with access to 403b and 457b accounts. Current info: Age: 37 & 39; three kids Taxes: Married filing jointly State of residence: California Income: Combined ~200k per y...

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