Search found 4167 matches

by tim1999
Sun Dec 05, 2021 2:43 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Car buying opinion
Replies: 33
Views: 3027

Re: Car buying opinion

If you keep it as long as your 4-Runner and drive it as much, whether you pay MSRP or MSRP minus $1,000 for the new car makes no difference in the long run.
by tim1999
Sun Dec 05, 2021 2:41 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Price to rent neighbors unused car/parking spot
Replies: 64
Views: 5861

Re: Price to rent neighbors unused car/parking spot

My answer on the price would depend on how many miles you anticipate putting on it per month or whatever measure of time. No sense in paying $500 a month if you are only putting 100 miles per month on it. Perhaps a per-mile rate would be best? It would be easy for him to just read the odometer when he returns to visit and figure out what you owe/drove since last time. Otherwise, I would just make sure the insurance is correctly in place on both your end and his.
by tim1999
Sat Dec 04, 2021 2:21 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: House didn't appraise, tax implications
Replies: 12
Views: 2016

Re: House didn't appraise, tax implications

This is typically handled in today's market by the buyer coming up with a higher down payment to make up the difference. If the buyer can't do that, you find another buyer, not cut the price or do a side-deal to loan the buyer the difference. If you are loaning part of the down payment to the buyer based on the full purchase price, the lender is going to want to know where that money came from, and that may kill the loan approval. If you try to do this "off the record" by lowering the price and having the buyer sign an "IOU" for the difference that doesn't get recorded in public records, you are taking on a lot of risk that this buyer will stiff you. Even if you recorded it after the mortgage gets recorded, you are secon...
by tim1999
Wed Dec 01, 2021 12:45 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Half of the nest egg is in AT &T
Replies: 42
Views: 8171

Re: Half of the nest egg is in AT &T

I sure hope they dumped this stock earlier in the year. Currently down to the $22 range with a dividend cut coming. This is no longer a "widow and orphans" stock, just a dead-money dog.
by tim1999
Mon Nov 29, 2021 6:49 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Approach of “No Finance Contingency” in RE Purchase Offer
Replies: 10
Views: 1320

Re: Approach of “No Finance Contingency” in RE Purchase Offer

If you are putting 20% down and the loan will end up being Fannie Mae conforming/backed, your mortgage broker may be able to get an appraisal waiver up front once you are ready to make an offer. Basically they put the address and price in the computer and it tells them whether Fannie Mae will waive the appraisal or not. If they do, you can write an offer without an appraisal contingency and save yourself the $500 or so that you would have spent on an appraisal. My friend did this just a few months ago.
https://singlefamily.fanniemae.com/media/9456/display
by tim1999
Sat Nov 27, 2021 8:43 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Buying House for Adult Child
Replies: 84
Views: 9647

Re: Buying House for Adult Child

I would just leave things the way they are now.
by tim1999
Sat Nov 27, 2021 7:23 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Rent a car at the airport without flying
Replies: 48
Views: 7382

Re: Rent a car at the airport without flying

Yes, I've done it, on an occasion when I needed a rental locally and none of the local non-airport Enterprise places had any cars available. Neither that time nor the hundreds of times I've rented cars when actually flying somewhere have they ever asked me for flight information to verify that I came in on a plane. I almost always use Enterprise/National or Budget. 98% of my airport car rental experiences were pre-COVID so I don't know if anything has changed due to the tight availability for rental cars currently.
by tim1999
Sat Nov 27, 2021 5:18 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: annual reports
Replies: 12
Views: 774

Re: annual reports

No, I don't read them, whether for funds or individual stocks. This thread does bring back memories of my parents getting dozens and dozens of paper annual reports in the mail each spring for all of the individual stocks I owned.
by tim1999
Fri Nov 26, 2021 7:29 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Salaried employees overtime
Replies: 45
Views: 6120

Re: Salaried employees overtime

OT for salaried employees in my industry is pretty much unheard of. In fact, I've literally never heard of it. Where I work, other than a few people who are workaholics by their own choice, and probably the entire legal department, most salaried workers are not putting in more than 40-45 hours a week unless they are very inefficient workers or are unwilling to ask their manager for help.
by tim1999
Thu Nov 25, 2021 7:26 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How are we doing?
Replies: 48
Views: 5766

Re: How are we doing?

miamivice wrote: Thu Nov 25, 2021 4:11 pm
This thread is not intended to be a humblebrag or not so humble brag. It's a statement of our financial position today as a result of adopting the Boglehead philosophy of investing in stock funds that reflect a wide variety of stocks.
You just come off as either really tone deaf, or intentionally sarcastic, when you say something like "Just curious how we're doing. I think we are doing very well in comparison to the average 42 year old..." when you should know darn well the average or even above average 42 year old will never have at any point in their life what you have right now at 42. I am sorry, but these humblebrag posts detract greatly from this forum in my opinion.
by tim1999
Thu Nov 25, 2021 7:20 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How long to keep previous home purchase and sales documents?
Replies: 10
Views: 1851

Re: How long to keep previous home purchase and sales documents?

Afty wrote: Thu Nov 25, 2021 1:58 pm I am doing some cleaning and came across documents from a previous home purchase (2007) and and then sale (2011). For example, the deed, mortgage documents, basically the big packet of documents you get at closing. We sold the house 10 years ago. Do I still need to keep these documents?
Assuming there was no taxable gain on the sale, I only keep the settlement statements from the purchase and sale closings. The rest is either junk or already in public records.
by tim1999
Thu Nov 25, 2021 3:56 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How are we doing?
Replies: 48
Views: 5766

Re: How are we doing?

Doing great in the brag department, you have got to be kidding. Your net worth is likely in the top 2% of all 42 year olds in the US.
by tim1999
Mon Nov 22, 2021 7:06 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Raises to match new employees
Replies: 73
Views: 7770

Re: Raises to match new employees

The closest I had to an employer dealing with this issue was for my immediate boss to successfully campaign HR and senior management to increase the salary grade of everyone on my team by one notch. He had to demonstrate that the caliber of work we were actually doing and the experience of the team members far exceeded the original job description, and that the logic used to assign the original grade was flawed compared to other jobs in that grade. I think many of us got no immediate pay bump due to the grade increase, but it put many of us at the midpoint of the new grade instead of the high end of the old one, giving our salaries "more room to run." Some of our folks who did get hired recently at the bottom of the existing grade...
by tim1999
Sun Nov 21, 2021 7:17 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: VALIC pitfalls for 457
Replies: 17
Views: 1426

Re: VALIC pitfalls for 457

My partner has a VALIC 403b through a former employer. The number of hoops that VALIC has made us go through to get this relatively small amount of money out of VALIC and rolled over into a traditional IRA elsewhere is beyond ridiculous and unlike anything I've dealt with before with a rollover. I worked on it for about a year, got frustrated and stopped bothering, and am now about to pick it up again. There's a special place in hell for VALIC. Sounds a complete nightmare. Knowing what you know now, and if VALIC is the only option, would your partner still invest with them? In that case, probably yes, because of the employer matching contribution that was basically free money, even if it is currently being whittled away by VALIC's fees unt...
by tim1999
Sun Nov 21, 2021 7:15 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: House buying is a pain
Replies: 11
Views: 2751

Re: House buying is a pain

I thoroughly dislike the house buying process. Recently offered, accepted and shortly found out an eminent domain encroachment was afflicting the property. We of course recended the offer. Now another offer and seller is taking forever to answer. I am following the advice of my buyer's agent. I have no desire to make a killing on the house. Moving because wife has a job but she will not be able to work if can't find housing. Maybe rent and hope that isn't insane also. We have more than enough money in retirement funds and also in taxable funds. I have a secure military officer's pension that easily covers our expenses. Should we just rent? More concerned about convenience and ease of process. I thought a house would be good for our young s...
by tim1999
Tue Nov 16, 2021 4:50 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: VALIC pitfalls for 457
Replies: 17
Views: 1426

Re: VALIC pitfalls for 457

My partner has a VALIC 403b through a former employer. The number of hoops that VALIC has made us go through to get this relatively small amount of money out of VALIC and rolled over into a traditional IRA elsewhere is beyond ridiculous and unlike anything I've dealt with before with a rollover. I worked on it for about a year, got frustrated and stopped bothering, and am now about to pick it up again. There's a special place in hell for VALIC.
by tim1999
Sun Nov 14, 2021 12:49 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: I should (mostly) stop including my homes net worth in my total net worth, right?
Replies: 76
Views: 7706

Re: I should (mostly) stop including my homes net worth in my total net worth, right?

I've always included it in net worth calculations - approximate fair market value minus selling expenses goes in the asset column, mortgage balance goes in the liabilities column. I do not include it in any retirement calculations, especially since I anticipate that upon retirement I will either continue to live in my current house or buy one of very similar value elsewhere.
by tim1999
Sun Nov 14, 2021 12:41 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Which state and city to buy a retirement House?
Replies: 83
Views: 8403

Re: Which state and city to buy a retirement House?

Aside from finances, I'd start by considering what I would anticipate my hobbies/interests/desired daily activities will be in retirement. Someone who enjoys fishing and wants to do more of it might not want to live somewhere with no lakes or rivers, someone who likes year-round golf wouldn't want Washington state, someone who likes theatre and live music probably shouldn't live in a small town in the middle of nowhere. On the other hand, someone who just wants to sit inside and read/watch TV all day can live anywhere.
by tim1999
Sun Nov 14, 2021 12:22 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: House purchase timing: how much overlap with current rental?
Replies: 9
Views: 1733

Re: House purchase timing: how much overlap with current rental?

When I was in this situation and suddenly found a house I wanted to buy before the end of the lease term, I was in a state where if the tenant breaks the lease by vacating, the landlord is required by law to "mitigate damages" by re-renting the unit in a timely manner, and the tenant isn't on the hook for the rest of the rent term beyond the point when the new tenant's lease term starts. I believe it was early November when I got the new house under contract and my lease wasn't up until the end of March. At the end of November, I told the landlord what was going on, I paid December, told him we were vacating at the end of December, and he could keep our full deposit for his trouble. I vacated and turned the keys back to him before...
by tim1999
Fri Nov 12, 2021 10:14 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Appraisal below home purchase price - negotiation strategies
Replies: 26
Views: 2945

Re: Appraisal below home purchase price - negotiation strategies

If I were the seller in this situation, in the current market, I'd tell you either put down more cash to satisfy your lender or use the appraisal contingency to get out and get lost. This seller clearly doesn't need to sell right now, otherwise he'd put it on the open market now to get an offer with no appraisal contingency. But, OP is the buyer not the seller. If you were the buyer in this situation would you politely try a round of negotiations to get some money back? What do you have to lose? I hope OP comes back and lets us know how this got resolved. If I were the buyer, I would attempt to negotiate (doesn't cost anything to do so, worst they can say is no), but not get offended or surprised if the seller balks. OP is negotiating from...
by tim1999
Fri Nov 12, 2021 9:47 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Pay raises for 2022
Replies: 421
Views: 63178

Re: Pay raises for 2022

AlphaLess wrote: Fri Nov 12, 2021 9:22 pm
Well, 6% might be good. But polling a lot of friends who are in mid-management, I see widespread panic in a lot of jobs.

Upper management is afraid that the quits are going to go through the roof, in specific companies.

And mid-management is advising upper management to give generous raises.

So, we shall see.
I've noticed that while the rate of professional people under around age 55 quitting to go work elsewhere seems similar to pre-COVID times at my employer, it seems like everyone age 55+ has been suddenly running for the exits this year. I would not be surprised if half of our age 55+ workforce either has left already in 2021 or will leave in the next 6 months.
by tim1999
Fri Nov 12, 2021 9:14 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Appraisal below home purchase price - negotiation strategies
Replies: 26
Views: 2945

Re: Appraisal below home purchase price - negotiation strategies

If I were the seller in this situation, in the current market, I'd tell you either put down more cash to satisfy your lender or use the appraisal contingency to get out and get lost. This seller clearly doesn't need to sell right now, otherwise he'd put it on the open market now to get an offer with no appraisal contingency.
by tim1999
Fri Nov 12, 2021 2:09 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Pay raises for 2022
Replies: 421
Views: 63178

Re: Pay raises for 2022

I'm only half joking when I say I plan on reducing my work output/time spent on the job by the shortfall in percentages between my 2022 pay raise and inflation.
by tim1999
Fri Nov 12, 2021 2:03 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Prenuptial Agreement Recommendations - Virginia
Replies: 52
Views: 6085

Re: Prenuptial Agreement Recommendations - Virginia

I am not in your state, but I had a prenup done by an attorney that is generally recognized as one of the top family law attorneys in my small city. He insisted that my spouse get their own attorney for a different firm to represent them, and he would not make a referral; he did not want there to be even the appearance that he or I tried to influence the spouse's choice of attorney or in any way impacted the spouse's ability to have an impartial and independent review by their own attorney. He also required in-person ink signatures and notarization on the documents to ensure validity. However, we did all of our consultations over the phone, exchanged drafts via email, and I only came to the office to sign the documents which took about 10 m...
by tim1999
Wed Nov 10, 2021 7:05 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: Should I feel bad leaving a company after large account bonus?
Replies: 28
Views: 4643

Re: Should I feel bad leaving a company after large account bonus?

Don't worry about it, you are just a number to them.

Their bean counters know that when they offer these account bonuses, a certain percentage of customers will take it and bail soon afterwards. They plan on that happening. You aren't exactly the first person to do this.
by tim1999
Wed Nov 10, 2021 6:38 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Fire real estate agent before we even start? Help with red flag
Replies: 39
Views: 5846

Re: Fire real estate agent before we even start? Help with red flag

I'm actually not seeing any red flags here, this is not worth firing the agent over already. In every real estate transaction I've been involved in as the buyer in the last 15 years, my agent has been in contact with my lender during the process to make sure everything is moving along properly. You could just let your agent know that you aren't committed to Chase and intend on shopping around for the best rate/fees. He/she may have just assumed that you intended on going forward with Chase. Once you are under contract, you typically don't have a ton of time to shop around before you are required to make a formal application. In fact, in my state using the standard realtor association purchase contract, you have to pretty much have your lend...
by tim1999
Tue Nov 09, 2021 7:10 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Current button down dress shirt reccomendations
Replies: 37
Views: 4901

Re: Current button down dress shirt reccomendations

I used to wear the Brooks Bros iron free shirts during the late 2000s and early 2010s. In the mid 2010s the patterns/colors they sold started to get really boring (even by BB standards) and the iron-free qualities not as good as they used to be, so I switched to the Jos A Bank Traveler shirts. I could get them on sale for dirt cheap, like $25 each, and the iron-free qualities were better than any other shirt I ever tried. Fortunately now thanks to COVID I am permanent WFH and never need to wear these silly uncomfortable shirts ever again. I have 4 of them I bought new in January 2020 and have never worn once. The Jos A Bank tailored fit was great for me though, as a middle aged person who is not gaining weight but it is shifting to my belly...
by tim1999
Tue Nov 09, 2021 4:25 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How much for Tooth Fairy?
Replies: 111
Views: 8333

Re: How much for Tooth Fairy?

I have a small box full of Susan B. Anthony dollar coins that my parents gave me over time for "Tooth Fairy" and similar occasions decades ago. I wish they hadn't given me these coins and just gave me dollar bills. You really can't spend them without getting embarrassed or scrutinized when handing them over to another human, and I've had two merchants flat out refuse to take them. I could take them to my bank, but I don't want them thinking I am a PITA weirdo either. So they just sit in a box in a drawer and will probably be there when I die. I have better physical memories of my parents in my possession than a bunch of illiquid coins.
by tim1999
Mon Nov 08, 2021 7:37 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Son Inheriting 140K
Replies: 13
Views: 3110

Re: Son Inheriting 140K

If the holdings in the Janney account are individual stocks, or mutual funds subject to commissions, I'd consider an in-kind transfer to Vanguard before selling them. I haven't dealt with a Janney account in probably 10 years, but it was an old-school full-service brokerage account with ridiculously high commissions when buying/selling. I wouldn't be surprised if these fees add up to a couple thousand $$ on a 140k Janney account unless something changed recently.
by tim1999
Mon Nov 08, 2021 5:06 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Costs of maintaining a ~2000 square foot 3-2 home
Replies: 109
Views: 13125

Re: Costs of maintaining a ~2000 square foot 3-2 home

Toilets every 12 months: $200 wait . . . what? Holy crap! Literally. I would say some part on each toilet that we have breaks down once per year. Either the water pump, handle, chain, gasket, etc. To have a handyman fix it costs about $50-75 each time. If you DIY it is cheaper. Also buying OEM parts costs a little more but seems to be much more reliable. We may have pretty hard water which is tough on these parts. Same here. I have very hard water. It destroys the rubber gaskets and other rubber parts in the tank. They only last about a year before the toilet starts to "phantom flush", meaning water leaks from the tank into the bowl, which wastes water. I'm not handy at all, so this is something I pay my handyman to fix on a visi...
by tim1999
Mon Nov 08, 2021 5:01 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: car lease regret--options?
Replies: 23
Views: 2995

Re: car lease regret--options?

OP should ask their friend to take a photo of the lease contract (the part with the price of the car, number of payments, total amount of the payments, etc. not the boilerplate legalese) and send it to OP so OP can post the details, otherwise this is all a waste of effort.
by tim1999
Mon Nov 01, 2021 7:12 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Easement requested by utility company
Replies: 37
Views: 5324

Re: Easement requested by utility company

If you outright refuse to grant the easement, the electric company is going to inform your neighbor of that, and your neighbor is going to think you are a huge jerk. Unless you already hate your neighbor, I wouldn't refuse to grant the easement, but I would request a small amount of compensation ($500?) for your trouble, if we are only talking about a 3 foot by 6 foot area. That should cover whatever ground disturbance would be caused in that small of an area, assuming they can access it without ripping up the rest of your yard.
by tim1999
Mon Nov 01, 2021 4:40 pm
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: What percentage does Social Security cover of your expenses in retirement?
Replies: 114
Views: 12703

Re: What percentage does Social Security cover of your expenses in retirement?

I can tell you that my father's SS, taken at FRA after 45+ years of steady middle class employment (no pension), covers 100% of his retirement expenses except for one-off major house expenses (roof/HVAC replacement, etc.) and a new vehicle when he is due in a few years. Otherwise he doesn't touch his assets. He lives in a paid-off house in a LCOL 55+ community.
by tim1999
Mon Nov 01, 2021 4:26 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Pay raises for 2022
Replies: 421
Views: 63178

Re: Pay raises for 2022

I'd be surprised and pleased if I actually got something more than 3% from my employer. Won't find out until around March 2022. I'd leave, but mine is one of the very few in my line of work that is allowing 100% permanent WFH going forward, and that is worth a lot to me. I suspect they will be using the "gift" of WFH along with one of our minor revenue streams getting cut in half in 2021 as excuses for giving everyone minimal raises in 2022. We don't have separate merit and COL increases, you just get one number. Since I will be basically getting a pay cut of 1-5% due to my salary not keeping pace with inflation, my plan is to do 1-5% less work.
by tim1999
Mon Nov 01, 2021 4:19 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: AD&D Insurance for a Single in 30s
Replies: 19
Views: 1321

Re: AD&D Insurance for a Single in 30s

I take the free level of AD&D coverage my employer offers and decline to purchase additional.
by tim1999
Sat Oct 30, 2021 9:27 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Swapping Airline Seats ?
Replies: 48
Views: 4784

Re: Swapping Airline Seats ?

If what they are requesting would make my situation worse, I politely decline by saying "I'm sorry but I prefer to stay where I am at" or "I'm sorry but I can't help you." I am pretty particular/strategic about how I choose my airline seats. That being said, there was once a situation where I had to travel for work on short notice and could only get a middle seat, a family who wanted to sit together offered to trade me a window seat closer to the front, and I had no carry-on baggage (the bins up front would have been full at this point in the boarding process) so I took it.
by tim1999
Sat Oct 30, 2021 2:32 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Oddly Difficult to Find Items During the Pandemic
Replies: 572
Views: 75925

Re: Oddly Difficult to Find Items During the Pandemic

InMyDreams wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 8:08 pm
tim1999 wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 10:36 am In my area, low-end canned wet cat food currently.
Low end? I'm trying to stay ahead on Fancy Feast/Gravy Lovers. It definitely isn't plentiful, and common to find an empty shelf. Especially chicken and turkey.

Damn cat pesters me if he doesn't get the right flavor.
Friskies and generic store brands in larger (5.5 oz) cans seems to be in the shortest supply with bare shelves in most stores here. First the multi-packs disappeared, then all the single cans disappeared.
by tim1999
Sat Oct 30, 2021 2:25 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Share your net worth progression
Replies: 4273
Views: 1072117

Re: Share your net worth progression

As someone who has never owned TSLA or crypto, has never worked in tech, has never had a job with stock options/awards, has always had a conservative asset allocation, and has never earned more than 110k/year from my job, I'm not going to embarrass myself by posting my numbers in this thread. Reading the rest of these posts makes me feel pathetic, like I made all the wrong decisions.
by tim1999
Mon Oct 25, 2021 10:36 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Oddly Difficult to Find Items During the Pandemic
Replies: 572
Views: 75925

Re: Oddly Difficult to Find Items During the Pandemic

In my area, low-end canned wet cat food currently. Friskies, generic store brand, etc. Petsmart has a limited selection (mostly single cans and no multi-packs), the 5 grocery stores nearest me all have had empty shelves of it for the last 3 weeks or so.
by tim1999
Thu Oct 21, 2021 8:52 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Any retirees spend too much and go back to work?
Replies: 80
Views: 12454

Re: Any retirees spend too much and go back to work?

jebmke wrote: Thu Oct 21, 2021 7:44 pm Not me personally but I did taxes for a guy who spent a large sum on drug rehab for his son and ended up going back to work part time. He had no regrets.
Similar to this, one of my golf buddies, not particularly affluent, spent over $200k bankrolling his daughter's highly (ridiculously?) contested and over-lawyered multi-year divorce and custody battle soon after he retired around age 60. To make up for some of it, a few years after he retired he went back to the company he retired from on a full-time contract basis for 2 years. Had the divorce/custody battle not happened, he would have never gone back to work ever he told me.
by tim1999
Wed Oct 20, 2021 10:34 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Do you have a piece of housing advice?
Replies: 93
Views: 5891

Re: Do you have a piece of housing advice?

My piece of housing advice: don't compromise when it comes to details about location, just because a particular house is "the only thing available" ,"the only one you can afford" or "nothing much is available so this seems good enough." For me, it means avoiding houses with the following characteristics, among others, but these are off the top of my head: -Backs up to a commercial/industrial property or school or is next to a public park. -In the final approach path of an airport runway. -The neighboring properties are rental properties and/or are poorly maintained with yards full of junk. -Located on a busy road and/or near enough to a highway to hear the noise from it. -Has an alleyway in the back. -Has a sha...
by tim1999
Tue Oct 19, 2021 6:07 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Have water heaters and installation gotten this out of hand?
Replies: 135
Views: 22218

Re: Have water heaters and installation gotten this out of hand?

I recently (2 months ago) paid a licensed/insured contractor $1,300 installed for a 50 gallon electric Rheem HWH in a very accessible location with no code upgrades or permit required. 5 years ago I paid a similar contractor $800 for the same thing installed on a similar property nearby. I thought $1,300 was high but the other companies I contacted either wanted more $$ or were booked out for 3+ weeks. The old heater was actively leaking, I didn't want to wait, and I am too mechanically uninclined to mess with plumbing or electric stuff.
by tim1999
Mon Oct 18, 2021 11:56 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tales from this insane real estate market [Home sales]
Replies: 2905
Views: 515174

Re: Tales from this insane real estate market

I just saw a new article in the WSJ online this morning that Zillow is putting a temporary hold on buying homes for itself, possibly through the end of 2021. Homes they already have under contract to buy will still close. They blame a shortage of on-the-ground workers and vendors in their operation. Personally I think they realized they just overpaid in a hurry for a bunch of junk that isn't moving in a slightly cooling market, and want some time to sort it out. Agreed. I got a shockingly high offer from Zillow for one of my properties. I would have netted more than I believed I could get someone to even pay (so before all transaction costs) on the open market. My property was a leased up rental so I decided to wait. I saw a house a few do...
by tim1999
Mon Oct 18, 2021 8:57 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tales from this insane real estate market [Home sales]
Replies: 2905
Views: 515174

Re: Tales from this insane real estate market

I just saw a new article in the WSJ online this morning that Zillow is putting a temporary hold on buying homes for itself, possibly through the end of 2021. Homes they already have under contract to buy will still close. They blame a shortage of on-the-ground workers and vendors in their operation. Personally I think they realized they just overpaid in a hurry for a bunch of junk that isn't moving in a slightly cooling market, and want some time to sort it out.
by tim1999
Sun Oct 17, 2021 5:00 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Tales from this insane real estate market [Home sales]
Replies: 2905
Views: 515174

Re: Tales from this insane real estate market

Right now, Zillow and Opendoor are furiously buying everything under 500k that they can get their hands on in my area for stupid high prices, it has intensified in the last two months, the big private equity rental house companies are still buying too. And some of the properties that Zillow and Opendoor are buying get quickly sold to the big rental companies. It seems like owner-occupant types are sitting things out right now (or are getting outbid by the big money investors). When Zillow and Opendoor put their purchases back on the market (after doing nothing besides paint and maaaaaaaaybe some cheap flooring) at even higher prices, they sit and nobody buys them. All of the homes with the longest "days on market" here are owned b...
by tim1999
Sun Oct 17, 2021 4:55 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Sell or Rental (What would you do?)
Replies: 20
Views: 2152

Re: Sell or Rental (What would you do?)

Don't get greedy, take the tax-free profit and move on. It's a great time to sell, and being a long distance landlord stinks, I don't care how great your property management is, and if you're doing it yourself from afar, you're nuts.
by tim1999
Thu Oct 14, 2021 3:41 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Construction cost DOUBLED. We have a cash crunch.
Replies: 39
Views: 6556

Re: Construction cost DOUBLED. We have a cash crunch.

Unless we are talking about the world's largest ADU with very high-end finishes, 485k to build this on a lot that should theoretically require very little earthwork and utility extensions (a developed church property) is completely insane. I'd be curious to see the builder's breakdown of exactly where these cost increases are on a line-item basis.
by tim1999
Thu Oct 14, 2021 10:29 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Tip amount for Golf Caddie?
Replies: 16
Views: 2275

Re: Tip amount for Golf Caddie?

When in doubt, ask the caddiemaster at that course what the going tip rate is for an average job, then adjust up or down if needed depending on how good or poor of a job the caddie did. I caddied at a private club many moons ago. The fees went directly from the player to us in cash. The club set a bare minimum rate per bag for 18 holes. Let's call it $30. Nobody paid that bare minimum unless you were brand new at it, terrible, and seriously messed up something during the round. Assuming you did at least a decent job, the stingy tippers would give you $35 total, average tippers would give you $40 total, and the overly generous tippers would give you $45-$50 total. We were satisfied when we got $40 and felt that was more than fair. Ignore the...
by tim1999
Wed Oct 06, 2021 8:39 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Do I need a trust in AZ?
Replies: 16
Views: 1348

Re: Do I need a trust in AZ?

An extended family member who lived in AZ and passed away a few years ago avoided needing a trust and avoided probate by having beneficiary designations on all retirement accounts, payable-on-death designations on all bank accounts, a beneficiary deed for their house recorded with the county, and a completed beneficiary form kept with their car title. Basically they had no assets besides household junk that didn't have a beneficiary or POD designation. That being said, trusts are popular in AZ, but my relative liked to keep things simple. While this would work fine if one has a single beneficiary who does not predecease you and you die without debt, I cannot see myself ever recommending this approach because of how fragile the plan is. Tha...