No. Don't forget that the simple act of selling a house will usually cost you something like 3-5% in commission/closing costs.

Landlords don't necessarily need to be losing money. They might just be making less than they could make investing their money somewhere else. Some people see that they can have a positive cash flow having a rental property and they think its a great deal but they never bothered to compare it to what they could get for their money in other investments.

I was looking into buying a rental property recently and where I live I just couldn't make it worth it financially unless I went for multi-tenant places like student housing (which isn't worth the effort to me).

Overall though there are lots of factors. Just as a simple example a landlord might be able to borrow money for cheaper than a perspective house buyer.

Say you had the cash to buy outright, therefor you wouldn't have to pay interest on a mortgage. It would always make sense to own, right?

Paying interest on a mortgage at a low rate is better than paying cash outright

glad I didn't take the time to post some actual home improvement thoughts. thread took a quick turn for the lame.

take the rent v own bs to finance

I'm pretty sure I bought the same book and I use it all the time. Also, Youtube, people have made videos for pretty much everything.

We're talking $1,310 a month for the next 30 years of your life and doesn't even begin to include property taxes. Not to mention mortgage insurance, title insurance, closing fees, what have you. Think you can skimp on an inspection or appraisal? Think again, buddy, or you'll be screwed so hard.

If that didn't dissuade you, read this.

It's "burning money" the same way buying groceries is burning money.

yes

You can't invest rent money paid either

Seriously Gtfo with the rent vs buy its a close decision for anyone as we all know and additionally not everyone bases this decision solely on the 30 yeah financial outlook besides spectrum residents on this forum.

Lets talk about weather stripping, sacrificial anodes, and black mold ffs

Fair enough. They'll also be much better able to talk about the decision and the relevant factors there.

Back on track, if you have an older home its totally worth looking into a lot of the energy efficient stuff. When we moved into our current place our utility bills went down by about 20%-30% even though the house is almost twice as much square feet. Our old windows were **** (and old furnace, and old fridge, and other things as well). Some places offer grants/incentives to upgrade as well.

speaking of mold....

I found this inside my apartment the other day under the AC. Whatever it is had actually gone through a backpack I had resting up against the wall and into a book that was inside that backpack. Told management and while we were at work they came by and said they "treated" and painted the area. Looks pretty normal now but the baseboard is still soft and spongy I've read some stuff online that said if this is indeed mold the drywall should have been removed. Thoughts?

That's definitely mold, and if the baseboard is "spongy" it's still wet. What's on the other side of that wall? That looks like where the heat/AC comes into the unit.

I would get someone in to test it, the health issues you can/will face by breathing in those spores aren't good.

Based on price to income ratios going back as far as we've collected that data. Nationwide housing was about 20-30% overpriced when last I looked into it (about 4-6 months ago), with Case Shiller only having 6 markets running at or below historical PtoI norms and they were all armpit, rust belt markets like Cleveland and Detroit.

Pretty sure that's my next step. That's the furnace/air handler/evaporator or whatever with the dusty ass intake vent above the mold area on the right. Being in Louisiana there is a ton of condensation during the summer and we heard water dripping behind this wall a few weeks ago but assumed it was normal. It's probably a leak or a clogged line causing an overflow of the drip pan. Never had any wet carpet or signs of water outside of the wall so I figure the mold started inside and moved out. That leads me to believe that management put a ****ty band aid on a major problem.

Wow those managers are beyond stupid. There is less then a zero percent chance if you notified them of the issue and all the did was cover it up and you got sick you wouldn't be able to sue for everything they have. There are countless cases of people suing over mold related sickness and for extremely substantial amounts of money. How could any LL not knwo this, this is not something you just cover up.

shaft,

Is that unpainted spackle / drywall underneath the AC unit? Just wondering because that's pretty ghetto of your LL if it is. Especially in an apartment.

By "treated", I'm 95% sure that they probably just threw some KILZ on it and painted right over it. If the drywall or baseboard is spongy you've still got a problem that might not be all that difficult for them to fix.

I think that concern over mold is generally overblown, especially if you're in good health and aren't going to be living there for long. And if they properly stopped the problem at its root (which is probably a leaky AC unit as you mentioned), the mold probably won't spread or give you any health problems. That being said, "probably" isn't what you're paying them for, and I'd try to find out exactly what they did to fix the problem and urge them to replace the drywall and baseboard in the area at the very least.

Sounds like they put a band-aid on a bigger problem.

I've owned a home (built in 1965) for 10 years, and my best advice would be to try and tackle one "major" project per year.

Beyond that, you should look into availing yourself of state programs to help save energy. For example, I live in Massachusetts, where there is the www.masssave.com program that will give you a free energy audit and then a big discount on any work you get done based on what they identified.

In terms of specifics, do yourself a favor and spend the $$ to get an insurance company that won't %*@& you over when you need them. When it was discovered that a tiny toilet leak had - over time - led to a huge amount of problematic mold behind the walls (what other posters say about water is 100% true - it can lead to nightmare scenarios), my insurance company figured out ways to classify the damage so I wouldn't exceed policy limits.

And lastly, don't do things with your house to keep up with the joneses. It's really dated at this point, but read Millionaire Next Door, since a lot of its messages still ring true.

am I suppose to cover my a/c unit during the winter? im in CA, so rain only.

At today's rates if you know that you're going to stay put for ~10 years then most metro locations are probably pretty neutral between cost of renting versus cost of buying. Obviously if you're really in tune with a location and you can luckbox an area that gets gentrified then you can do a little better by buying for that timeline, but it still is pretty minor.

However, you get absolutely ****ed if you buy and hold for only 5 years. For that short a timeline it takes a monumental increase in home prices in your area to even breakeven versus renting because transaction costs are so high. Check out Trulia's rent/buy calculator to see how hard you get reamed if your timeline is short.

FWIW I had my A/C serviced this spring and that's one of the questions I asked the guy. He said he doesn't cover his, and this is New England we're talking about. I'm guessing if it's not necessary in New England than you can forego it in California as well.

sounds about right, its basically a cooling tower. Not much in there but a fan and coils I think.


I have a leak on my aluminum roof patio room I need to fix today. I have some spray-on rustoleum leak fix, but its is too far to reach from the ladder and I obviously cant walk on it. Going to clean the area best I can and then saturate a small paint roller with the stuff and then roll it on with an extension.

Instead of making a new thread can someone talk me in or out of this...

I'm considering buying a rural lot, 2 acres, needs septic - 12k-15k, water well - 6k, lot is 18k, it's completely wooded, needs a driveway 2k, this is to start building our dream home.

Our new home will be a ranch house, 3 bedrooms, 2 bath. exactly what i have now but my layout SUCKS now. plus it's 1 1/2 stories. I have a huge 2 car garage now, but not attached. My home is worth roughly 125k. Maybe. New home will cost 225k if not more. My home is paid off 100%, Tax is 950$ yearly for all 3 different taxes combined.

I have no debt, no car payments, no cc payments etc.

I think I should just buy the lot and wait 3-5 years to build. If we loose interest in building just sell the lot. Tax is sub 400 a year with out a house.

My dilemma for the week.

What's the resale value once you build the house? Meaning, if you build it can you sell it for a profit or once you start are you stuck with it without eating a big chunk of money?

I'm a low risk taker, but I'm 90% sure I can buy it, and sell it later on for profit. The lot beside it sold in 2004 for 20k, no house on it, owner lives across the street. The other lot sold for 25k in 2002. The lot i'm interested in has a pasture on the other side with sheep in it...lol seriously it does.

I'm talking about the lot alone, After a house is built and what not, i'm not sure. I would imagine you could sell it for break even or profit.