bahbah,

I mean, I'm glad you achieved a result you're happy with because that's all that really matters, but this appears to be some incredibly results oriented thinking. Like, you're stating things like how you were un-rushed in having to find a new house, or the short period you had to carry two mortgages, as if that was linked to your new pricing, but that's simply coincidental to how timing happened to work out. If you'd listed at your higher price and gotten a buyer on day 1 you'd have been in a rush to find a new house, but had short/zero mortgage overlap. And if you hadn't been able to find a new house, a huge amount more hassle. Obviously there are ways to contract around those hassles but it doesn't seem like those were on your radar as opposed to in some way maximizing your dollar return from the sale.

I see you've already conceded/agreed that people have a point that the other associated carrying costs from your original home, as well as other fees, are important to consider as well. But all this timing stuff just seems like you happened to have it work out quite well, not like your "I want to list $5k higher" led to all those other good outcomes.

adding a few percent to whatever the realtor tells you probably a solid play in most cases

you have to pay off the house anyway

Just some extra insurance and marginal interest

Where the hell where you a few months ago? I got murdered in this thread for this point of view.

Really sorry to change topics, but let's talk plumbing for a moment. I just had to clean out my p-trap and where the p-trap connects to the tailpiece, it just slides over the tailpiece and doesn't tighten. Here's a gif of what I mean, but didn't embed it since it's 5mB

The white connector is screwed on to threads on the p-trap, but that doesn't do anything since doesn't tighten to the tailpiece. Is this standard?

It had some silicone around the connection before I took it off, but it just slid right off. If this is weird, how to fix? I got it back together (without any silicon) and it doesn't leak, but something doesn't seem right.

Standard except there should be a white plastic washer inside of the fitting which fits snugly over the tailpiece so when you tighten the white connector it creates a tight friction fit.

To assemble: slide the white fitting up on the tailpiece then slide the washer on and last slide the p trap up and tighten the connection

Thanks, I'll check if there's a washer in there and if not pick one up or replace it.

Those white threaded nuts don't need washers, the little ring inside compresses when you tighten it. That white nut is screwed onto the top of the U-bend part of the P-Trap correct? If so just tighten it.

Yeah, the little ring inside it was what I thought was silicon. It was stretched out and disintegrating and poking out of the top. I bought a new connector that had the white ring in it and now it works fine.

Thoughts on going with Realtor's inspector? Fish move?

Yours or theirs? I don't have much respect for the profession, but it's good to have somebody looking things over if you have no idea what to look for yourself.

i found one on google or something who had good reviews

seems like a good spot to get someone independent

unless the realtor's is giving you something others aren't

Just bought a house, for the first time in my life (I'm an old) and why the hell not brag. Got 3.375% 30 year fixed. I think I set some kind of record, wooz. And now I'm broke for the next 3 decades.

That is all.

edit: just looked at rates, lol, they're even lower now. So never mind.

One week in the new house and got a main line sewer partial blockage. I bought the house as-is, so I gotta get it fixed. No reason not to just rent a snake for a few hours and do it myself, right? Youtube videos seem to show it being pretty easy.

Also, about 95% done with the full kitchen, flooring and carpet remodel. Contractor finished it (a few days left) in like 6 weeks from when I got him going. From what I've read in here, seems like I got pretty lucky on the fast pace of the work.

So I have an outdoor hose bib, and when I close the valve in the basement to shut off the water for the winter, it doesn't stop the flow of water completely, so water still trickles out if I leave the hose valve open. The valve in the basement is an old gate valve. Tried tightening the nut but it didn't help.

Am I better off replacing the gate valve in the basement with a ball valve, or should I replace the hose bib itself with a frost-free model and just leave the water turned on over the winter?

Might as well do both. The added time/cost would be minimal.

As part of renovation, I had 3 or 4 layers of tiles with asbestos removed from the second bedroom. The good news is that underneath is the original wood floor from the 1920s that seems to be in fairly good condition. The bad news is that the guys who took out the tiles also removed huge chunks of the floor in some places.

I hope I can just replace the damaged portions and refinish the rest.

That floor doesn't look very salvageable.

Is getting a 30 (or 25) year loan standard in the states?

Is anyone here familiar with container homes? I'm tired of renting but I don't have enough money to buy a house w/ a mortgage and everything that comes with it.

Been looking into it the last few months. At first glance, I was like "WTF, I wouldn't live in one of those." But they seem to be getting more popular. And some are legit cool when you see the pictures.



Basically, you can buy prefabricated for $10-15K or DIY. You can get shipping containers for $2K and pay a contractor to fix it up to the way you want.

Shouldn't you be living in a motorhome?

Total cost for something like your pic is going to be way, way, way higher than those numbers. $10-15k is going to get you a metal box with a couple plumbing fixtures and a bit of wiring. And if you live somewhere with any sort of building code enforcement you have ~0% chance of getting to live in it, or even getting to put it on a lot.

Cheapest housing is a single wide trailer. There are some very nice trailer parks out there and you can live well spending a fraction of what most people do on housing.

You mean for the basic $10-$15k model?

Because people are using some shipping containers in housing. One was built in a totally boring residential neighborhood in North Redondo Beach not too far from me.

Where is that?

Yeah, that looks like a 7 figure custom home with substantial architecture and engineering fees. The shipping containers are whimsical accessories, not the house itself. It's also built in one of the few climates in N. America where you can meet energy code with so little insulation.