Buying a Home !!

satansbedbugs

Very excited to tell everyone that we are very close to buying a home , and am looking for some advice about heating systems. The house we are looking at has an oil baseboard heating system in a 2,000 sq ft house. is this going to cause financial hardship in the winter months in the Delaware area where our winters are pretty cold for about 4 months a year. Any input would be appreciated ...Thanks and keep on RITFW !!

SBB

madtowndave

satansbedbugs wrote:

Very excited to tell everyone that we are very close to buying a home , and am looking for some advice about heating systems. The house we are looking at has an oil baseboard heating system in a 2,000 sq ft house. is this going to cause financial hardship in the winter months in the Delaware area where our winters are pretty cold for about 4 months a year. Any input would be appreciated ...Thanks and keep on RITFW !!

SBB

We live in WI, and one of the reasons we walked away from a house we really liked was because of the oil based heating system. It can get pricey! If it's your dream house, I say go for it. You can always convert it later.

Get_Right

Natural gas conversion will cost a small fortune, especially if you do not have a gas line into the house.
Energy efficient furnace with AC blower (not condenser) can run 10K without duct work.
Electric base boards may be an alternative, but I don't know how much cheaper that will be.
Maybe you can get some type of tax relief for the gas conversion.

Lot of folks here in the NYC suburbs love their wood stoves and gas fireplaces for supplemental heat.

Make sure you have the closing costs precisely calculated. I ended up paying a boatload more than I had to because I relied on my lawyer for title services and did not shop around. My closing costs were almost 12K.

Oh and we had about 5k in unexpected expenses our first year as a homeowner. We had a few other failures we Jerry rigged. Make sure you have a cash cushion for that first year. Especially if its an older house.

Good luck!

DS1119

I can't offer any advice of the heating system but if you choose to follow through... congrats!

Jason P

I have oil-based heating and it can get expensive. I spent $3K on a Blaze King wood stove which are very efficient for heating. I bought it last year and I figure it will have payed for itself from savings in heating oil in two more winters.

Indifference71

Well this whole process sucks. We had a deal on what we thought was a great house, but had the inspection yesterday and the place is all fucked up. Way too much major stuff wrong with it to move forward with it. Sucks.

dankind

Indifference71 said:

Well this whole process sucks. We had a deal on what we thought was a great house, but had the inspection yesterday and the place is all fucked up. Way too much major stuff wrong with it to move forward with it. Sucks.

Home inspections can be overwhelming. An inspector's job is basically to point out everything that's wrong with the place, and they can offer no solutions or advice or cost estimates about fixing the problems they bring to light.

We had a similar situation in our recent purchase (home built in 1895), and I wanted to walk RUN away after our inspection.

My wife loved the house, though, and we were able to negotiate the price down by the amount we figured (along with a structural engineer and contractor) it would cost for us to address the more urgent problems that needed immediate attention.

We've been there since June 18. One problem is already fixed, and we're working on the other big one. Everything else we can address along the way, I think. It's not a perfect situation, but happy wife--

I definitely feel and have felt your pain. You gotta do what you think is best for the long haul.

Indifference71

dankind said:

Indifference71 said:

Well this whole process sucks. We had a deal on what we thought was a great house, but had the inspection yesterday and the place is all fucked up. Way too much major stuff wrong with it to move forward with it. Sucks.

Home inspections can be overwhelming. An inspector's job is basically to point out everything that's wrong with the place, and they can offer no solutions or advice or cost estimates about fixing the problems they bring to light.

We had a similar situation in our recent purchase (home built in 1895), and I wanted to walk RUN away after our inspection.

My wife loved the house, though, and we were able to negotiate the price down by the amount we figured (along with a structural engineer and contractor) it would cost for us to address the more urgent problems that needed immediate attention.

We've been there since June 18. One problem is already fixed, and we're working on the other big one. Everything else we can address along the way, I think. It's not a perfect situation, but happy wife--

I definitely feel and have felt your pain. You gotta do what you think is best for the long haul.

Yeah man, the whole thing sucks. There were major issues with the foundation, roof, and the backyard slopes down towards the house causing water damage. Obviously we won't get a perfect house, but it was just way too much major stuff that we were willing to deal with. So now we're back on the house hunt.

Who Princess

Indifference71 said:

Yeah man, the whole thing sucks. There were major issues with the foundation, roof, and the backyard slopes down towards the house causing water damage. Obviously we won't get a perfect house, but it was just way too much major stuff that we were willing to deal with. So now we're back on the house hunt.

Foundation problems alone would keep me from buying a house. Very expensive to fix. Drainage problems too. Roof, not too bad.

dankind

Fingers crossed for you, man.

If it was just the roof or just the foundation, fine. But both? Yikes!

Indifference71

dankind said:

Fingers crossed for you, man.

If it was just the roof or just the foundation, fine. But both? Yikes!

Thanks man.

Yeah, there was a won of little shit wrong too in addition to these major things. Sucks because it was the right price and perfect location. Ah well, gotta move on.

FoxyRedLa

Oh damn that blows. My in laws are have been looking to close on a place for 3+ months now. If I were them I would've walked away by now. Good luck house hunting.

Indifference71

We have a deal! Inspection was last week and everything went well. Met with the mortgage broker last night and everything is looking good. Appraisal is the next step and I don't envision any issues with that. Only bad thing is the sellers asked to push back the closing a week so we'll be closing Sept 24th if everything goes well.

dankind

Keeping fingers crossed for you.

whispering hands

Who Princess said:

Indifference71 said:

Yeah man, the whole thing sucks. There were major issues with the foundation, roof, and the backyard slopes down towards the house causing water damage. Obviously we won't get a perfect house, but it was just way too much major stuff that we were willing to deal with. So now we're back on the house hunt.

Foundation problems alone would keep me from buying a house. Very expensive to fix. Drainage problems too. Roof, not too bad.

Basically for the price it costs to fix foundation issues, you could buy another house.. Unless you own mud hacking equipment, and know how to plumb a sunken foundation... , walk away...

Indifference71

dankind said:

Keeping fingers crossed for you.

We close on the house tomorrow! Can't wait to finally get in there....feels like we've been just sitting here and waiting forever. Having some work done and officially moving in next weekend. Good stuff.

SPEEDY MCCREADY

Indifference71 said:

dankind said:

Keeping fingers crossed for you.

We close on the house tomorrow! Can't wait to finally get in there....feels like we've been just sitting here and waiting forever. Having some work done and officially moving in next weekend. Good stuff.

Congrats!!!

2-feign-reluctance

Congrats! Big deal! We're about to sell our first home and buy our second in the next 6 months.

rr165892

First Congrats and best of luck.
Second,if you buy a house in Florida you don't that ridiculous heating system.

Indifference71

Thanks! I see a lot of youtube instructional videos on how to fix shit in the future for myself. Not exactly a handyman over here.

SPEEDY MCCREADY

Indifference71 said:

Thanks! I see a lot of youtube instructional videos on how to fix shit in the future for myself. Not exactly a handyman over here.

In the next few months, you will make 4,375 visits to Home Depot.

Cliffy6745

Indifference71 said:

Thanks! I see a lot of youtube instructional videos on how to fix shit in the future for myself. Not exactly a handyman over here.

Nice, congrats, man. We bought last October/November and got a bunch of stuff done and didn't move in until March. Gutted two rooms and completely redid the kitchen. Redid a bathroom. We love the place though. As Speedy says, you'll know home depot or lowes like the back of your hand. It's crazy.

RKCNDY

Indifference71 said:

Thanks! I see a lot of youtube instructional videos on how to fix shit in the future for myself. Not exactly a handyman over here.

I learned a lot when we upgraded the first house. Guy at Lowe's knew us by name...some stuff wouldn't have a UPC sticker or it wouldn't be in the system, so he just said, "oh well" and stuck it in the bag.

Always always always do research on the internet. Current house had some issue with the furnace. I called someone to look at it-they did free estimates. I played dumb and asked questions, the bid said something about 'replacing condensation pump' at a cost of $700.
Researched the internet, found a brand new pump online for $65. Install was easier than replacing the vacuum cleaner belt.

oftenreading

SPEEDY MCCREADY said:

Indifference71 said:

Thanks! I see a lot of youtube instructional videos on how to fix shit in the future for myself. Not exactly a handyman over here.

In the next few months, you will make 4,375 visits to Home Depot.

Not including the times you need to go back because you bought the wrong size. Then there are the times you need to go back because you screwed up the cut and now don't have quite enough feet of baseboard. And don't get me started on when you run out of paint and you still have a wall left...

Indifference71

Cliffy6745 said:

Indifference71 said:

Thanks! I see a lot of youtube instructional videos on how to fix shit in the future for myself. Not exactly a handyman over here.

Nice, congrats, man. We bought last October/November and got a bunch of stuff done and didn't move in until March. Gutted two rooms and completely redid the kitchen. Redid a bathroom. We love the place though. As Speedy says, you'll know home depot or lowes like the back of your hand. It's crazy.

Thanks man. Luckily, we don't have to do anything too major right away. Having the hardwood floors refinished and doing some painting. Luckily, there's a home depot about a mile away.

Indifference71

RKCNDY said:

Indifference71 said:

Thanks! I see a lot of youtube instructional videos on how to fix shit in the future for myself. Not exactly a handyman over here.

I learned a lot when we upgraded the first house. Guy at Lowe's knew us by name...some stuff wouldn't have a UPC sticker or it wouldn't be in the system, so he just said, "oh well" and stuck it in the bag.

Always always always do research on the internet. Current house had some issue with the furnace. I called someone to look at it-they did free estimates. I played dumb and asked questions, the bid said something about 'replacing condensation pump' at a cost of $700.
Researched the internet, found a brand new pump online for $65. Install was easier than replacing the vacuum cleaner belt.

My dad has worked in the construction business his whole life so lucky for me he has "a guy" for just about everything. But i do definitely want to teach myself how to do some stuff and become more handy.

Indifference71

Well this home-owning thing sure is off to a great start. Had to buy a new furnace in January and now have a major plumbing issue that's going to cost a few grand. Really missing my apartment in the city right about now.

Cliffy6745

Indifference71 said:

Well this home-owning thing sure is off to a great start. Had to buy a new furnace in January and now have a major plumbing issue that's going to cost a few grand. Really missing my apartment in the city right about now.

Yeah, dude. We had to replace our boiler earlier this winter. Luckily one of the wife's cousins does HVAC so he was able save us a good few thousand. Not fun though.

Plumbing sucks...

We're going to have to get our floors refinished at some point. The dogs nails are too long and have gone to work on our kitchen floor.

Indifference71

Cliffy6745 said:

Indifference71 said:

Well this home-owning thing sure is off to a great start. Had to buy a new furnace in January and now have a major plumbing issue that's going to cost a few grand. Really missing my apartment in the city right about now.

Yeah, dude. We had to replace our boiler earlier this winter. Luckily one of the wife's cousins does HVAC so he was able save us a good few thousand. Not fun though.

Plumbing sucks...

We're going to have to get our floors refinished at some point. The dogs nails are too long and have gone to work on our kitchen floor.

Yeah, a friend of my dad's is an HVAC guy so he did the furnace for us which saved us a shitload of money. The furnace was really old so we were kinda expecting that. But this plumbing thing is a real fucking mess. A pipe that is underneath our front lawn that goes to the main sewer line needs to be replaced. Going to have to do some major work on the front lawn this spring after this is all done. Good times.

Cliffy6745

Indifference71 said:

Cliffy6745 said:

Indifference71 said:

Well this home-owning thing sure is off to a great start. Had to buy a new furnace in January and now have a major plumbing issue that's going to cost a few grand. Really missing my apartment in the city right about now.

Yeah, dude. We had to replace our boiler earlier this winter. Luckily one of the wife's cousins does HVAC so he was able save us a good few thousand. Not fun though.

Plumbing sucks...

We're going to have to get our floors refinished at some point. The dogs nails are too long and have gone to work on our kitchen floor.

Yeah, a friend of my dad's is an HVAC guy so he did the furnace for us which saved us a shitload of money. The furnace was really old so we were kinda expecting that. But this plumbing thing is a real fucking mess. A pipe that is underneath our front lawn that goes to the main sewer line needs to be replaced. Going to have to do some major work on the front lawn this spring after this is all done. Good times.

AHHHHHHHH. That, yes the main water line. That blows, dude. I am expecting that at some point as well. Ours is the original lead pipe. I can't even think about it as we have a porch and small yard out front.

How did you know it needs to be replaced?

Indifference71

Cliffy6745 said:

Indifference71 said:

Cliffy6745 said:

Indifference71 said:

Well this home-owning thing sure is off to a great start. Had to buy a new furnace in January and now have a major plumbing issue that's going to cost a few grand. Really missing my apartment in the city right about now.

Yeah, dude. We had to replace our boiler earlier this winter. Luckily one of the wife's cousins does HVAC so he was able save us a good few thousand. Not fun though.

Plumbing sucks...

We're going to have to get our floors refinished at some point. The dogs nails are too long and have gone to work on our kitchen floor.

Yeah, a friend of my dad's is an HVAC guy so he did the furnace for us which saved us a shitload of money. The furnace was really old so we were kinda expecting that. But this plumbing thing is a real fucking mess. A pipe that is underneath our front lawn that goes to the main sewer line needs to be replaced. Going to have to do some major work on the front lawn this spring after this is all done. Good times.

AHHHHHHHH. That, yes the main water line. That blows, dude. I am expecting that at some point as well. Ours is the original lead pipe. I can't even think about it as we have a porch and small yard out front.

How did you know it needs to be replaced?

There's a drain on the side of our house where any excess/backup goes that was overflowing with toilet paper/water....it was fucking gross. Lucky that we have overhead sewers and it backed up outside the house and not in the basement....that would have been a real mess.

Called a plumber and they tried to rod it out, but that didn't work. They put that camera thing down there and realized that the pipe is "sunk" and all fucked up which is causing the backup. They gave me a quote which seemed high (but honestly, what the hell do I know about something like this?). Have another guy coming out this afternoon to take a look and I'll see what he says. Either way it's going to cost us a few grand...so brutal.