Buying A House: C or D?

Ummmmmmm WAHT?

Also featured a suspended walkway, a huge garage (with two boats parked in it?) and many many many vaulted ceilings with skylights. Interesting but...probably not for us. Cheap for what it is, though. Great project for somebody.

Instead of finishing our mostly-unfinished basement, spouse and I have decided that one day (when money begins falling from the sky) we will put a sauna and steam shower in our basement, kinda spa-like. Some people are like OMG WHAT ABOUT RESALE PUT A RENTABLE APT DOWN THERE and we are all like "not moving, not sharing."

This pic makes me think our plans are COMPLETELY reasonable.

It was funny to see how people live, the amusing hobbies they have, etc. One house had a room just for the owner's side business in cherub-shaped cake toppers. Smelt a lot like frosting.

Another smelt like weed. I guess those people's hobby was weed.

If only we could combine those hobbies.

cherub-shaped weed

cherub-shaped sauna with weed

gonna kickstart this

Adam, I think you missed my Roxy reference. Should have used something from So Solid.

Yes, I'm sorry!

Oh I see it now.

Instead of finishing our mostly-unfinished basement, spouse and I have decided that one day (when money begins falling from the sky) we will put a sauna and steam shower in our basement, kinda spa-like. Some people are like OMG WHAT ABOUT RESALE PUT A RENTABLE APT DOWN THERE and we are all like "not moving, not sharing."

This pic makes me think our plans are COMPLETELY reasonable.

― mom tossed in kimchee (quincie), Friday, March 28, 2014 7:21 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Why would it necessarily be the case that a rentable apartment improves resale? I would think that the majority of home buyers would want a usable basement over a separate rentable apartment that would be useless if they weren't planning to be landlords.

I've looked at duplexes (the Texas version of a rentable unit in the basement - live in one half, rent the other) and I'm not sure how anyone deals with tenants living next door (or downstairs) all the time. Being a door knock away from anyone with a complaint sounds like potential torture.

xpost to Hurting:

I live in a "desirable" DC neighborhood, and if we did a super-nice basement apartment, the monthly rent would cover our mortgage with ease.

Basement apartments are a thing here (and in NYC as well?).

Nevertheless, it remains a mostly unfinished space where the cats shit.

But when money falls from the sky: SPA

Oh but good point in that best resale would be "finish it with an in-law suite and a playroom for the kids and or/gym space for DC yuppies and/or MAN CAVE" and none of that is ever gonna happen under our ownership.

Is this an appropriate space to talk about man caves? Because I have some opinions.

Preach!

I saw a family house with an awesome man cave the other day - stacks of records, drumkit, nice big desk, nice sofa and big TV. All for one man.

Man cave dwellers: you don't like your spouse, you don't like your kids, you watch too much TV. You like TV better than your family.

Like, you can't even be bothered to watch TV with your spouse and kids.

Also, you like puffy black leather sofas, which are ugly.

Also your wife does not like you very much because she let you have a man cave in the hopes that it will mean she sees less of you.

Anyone here ever built on their property? We were wondering about building a two car garage structure with a small studio above it in our yard. Also then a place to stay if we are ever doing serious work on the house itself.

> I saw a family house with an awesome man cave the other day - stacks of records, drumkit, nice big desk, nice sofa and big TV. All for one man.

― Kornblud (admrl), Tuesday, April 1, 2014 7:48 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Someone I know built an addition with all that and more (swapping some pro keyboards for drums): 60" TV, kitchen, full bathroom, acoustically insulated from rest of house, separate landline phone number, its own heating & air conditioning, direct access to/from garage without having to walk through rest of house. Several times I've been with his wife who thought he was out of town when he was actually home.

Building on your property often a good idea if legal boundries don't get in the way - know the extents of your plot of land, and how far back from the borders you're required to build on it.

Yes, that's kind of what we are thinking. I edit film and video and am trying to build a studio space, but this would also be guest house for family and visitors, etc. Would tear down a garage and build on the same spot.

xp I just don't generally like the idea of doing things based on "resale" value when you first move in to place (except that you don't want to do anything completely crazy that would kill resale). I mean, you don't really know how long you're going to stay or what the market is going to be like when you leave -- maybe there's high demand for basement rentals now and maybe there won't be in ten years. If you want the apartment now, for your own benefit, to defray the mortgage, that's different.

Nah man I just want a steam shower and a sauna! And a place for the cat boxes. This is really all I desire in a basement. Well, laundry machines, too.

Something I never thought I would want but now kinda want: a mud room. Or just somewhere at the back door where one can actually sit down to take off shoes and hang up a coat.

Yeah we were just talking about how we want to put some kind of shoe-off bench in our foyer, it's a thing I never really thought about before kids.

It's a thing I never really thought about before I had trouble standing on one foot while taking the shoe off the other foot.

It somehow is a thing, and I've been considering paying too much for this solution:
http://www.westelm.com/products/mrk-universal-expert-shoe-bench-h595/

http://rk.weimgs.com/weimgs/rk/images/wcm/products/201405/0180/img5o.jpg

Adam, I was thinking about enclosing a carport, but the city requires that if you take away covered parking for two cars, then you must construct new covered parking for two cars.

Your city may be less car centric.

I would kill for a goddamn mud room. And a front porch. Our house is awesome minus those 2 things basically.

Several times I've been with his wife who thought he was out of town when he was actually home.

!

Adam, I was thinking about enclosing a carport, but the city requires that if you take away covered parking for two cars, then you must construct new covered parking for two cars.

― Spencer Chow

Could you enclose the carport in such a way as to convince the city that the space was still going to be used to store cars? (such as a big "garage door" that is ony used to bring in furniture / open the space to the outdoors)

Should probably start a Man Cave picture thread, but it would make me too angry.

xp yea i feel like a front porch is something that i'll be wanting the most when we look for a house in the next couple years

a backyard too

adam's new studio

http://www.womansday.com/cm/womansday/images/5G/01-The-Greatest-Show-on-Earth-1.jpg

OK after doing my taxes 3 years into homeownership, I'm having trouble believing my realtor & loan agent who convinced me that the tax benefits of this were substantial. Bottom line is if the US government cancelled any one of the 3 deductions (mortgage interest, mortgage insurance, property tax) this house would go from being barely affordable to time to move.

Also fuck prop 13

Did you use turbotax or some such software?

fwiw there's no way they're going to cancel the property tax deduction and probably not the other two either. If they do cancel the mortgage interest deduction it will probably be on larger mortgages, or at least start out that way.

quincie, I feel that way about golf and man caves

GOLF is another excellent example of spousal/familiar avoidance, yes!

Could you enclose the carport in such a way as to convince the city that the space was still going to be used to store cars?

Yes, that's the other option. Make it an enclosed garage with a working door and space for two cars. Once the inspector signs off, then the wall next to the door could be dry-walled and then removed if/when it's time to sell.

That said, the cost of doing this is surprisingly high, and the new garage isn't counted as a bedroom so there's no real increase in home value. The plan is to save up a bit and turn it into a bedroom and then add-on a garage or carport. Adding another bedroom to the house would be a big deal for eventual resale.

I'd kill for a mudroom, one of my top priorities when we look for a new place. I hate walking directly into my living room.

I also looked in to having a garage built before we bought a place that has one and was shocked at how expensive it would be.

Way upthread, I did use tax software. I have about 4 deductions I can claim- the 3 house related ones and the student loan interest.

I'll admit I was less than informed about how the various tax breaks worked and the numbers my loan officer worked up did not play out as I expected when determining how much house I could afford. I was painted a much rosier picture than what transpired in reality.

I do believe we will deal, but homeownership has come at the cost of nearly everything else- no new car (badly needed), no vacations, and no room in the budget for much in the way of improvements.

I can only hope that from an equity standpoint this will ultimately prove to be a good decision. Considering the changes in our local market since buying 3 years ago, it seems that this has already occurred to a certain extent...but I don't see any opportunity to capitalize on that without incurring further debt via a home equity loan/refi.

Anyway I would put it in the category of C and D at the same time. Thanks for listening to me vent.

Anyone have experience of how to deal with a selling agent? We looked at a place we liked and have been using our own agent but had to meet with a selling agent for this property. She showed us around and kept mentioning other buyers, etc. etc. We just kind of played it cool, but this is the second time she has sold this property and it is probably kind of a cash cow for her. It is priced about 10% higher than it sold for about 5-6 years ago, and all the new owners have done is put a small bathroom (without hot water!) in a small exterior structure. We'll never pay what they are asking and won't enter a bidding war, but we thought about maybe making a bid that isn't a final bid but also isn't insulting...or we wait it out and see if the price comes down. What's a good tactic here? I kind of feel like they are going to wait until they get a higher than value price for it, and we won't pay that, so I'm sort of resigned to not getting it.

I think making an offer (of what *you* think the house is worth to *you*) is a better tactic than waiting to see if the price comes down. Active vs. passive, move things along, etc. Maybe there are and maybe there aren't other buyers. Offer price is just one part of the offer--it may be important for the seller to close withing a short time frame, for example, or see a large earnest money deposit, or proof of your financing, or eliminating contingencies (inspection, finance, etc). Your agent should be able to help you put together a reasonable offer combining all of those factors and present it in its best light to the selling agent.

And if he/she can't do that, fire your agent and get another one :)