The Super Official Homeowners Thread

[JPolen01]

^Glanced at LegalZoom the other night and saw exactly what you are talking about. Glad to hear someone had a good experience there. I'm looking hard at that as an option. Waiting to hear back from a cousin of mine that is a public defender. He's been all over the legal system so I am hoping he can make quick work of this for us.

[D_Eclipse9916]

Might also consider putting things in a living trust to help save your family some aggravation should the worst happen. (evaluate wether this is right for you).

Also, just make sure to go through all your financials and accounts and do the simple thing of having them as surviving beneficiary. Costs $0.

99% of your assets can easily be trasnferred to your wife, just by making sure both your names are on everything (caveat: if you divorce...haha good luck saying it was "your asset")

[Apoc]

I'll echo what DJ said. WA does not require a Will to go to probate if a self-proving affidavit (notarized with two other witnesses) is included with it. That said, our Will does does have a Testamentary Trust for distribution of inheritance to minors at a certain age and a Credit Shelter Trust to transfer assets without estate taxes. YMMV.

I had a vague understanding of these concepts before using LegalZoom, but it was easy peasy with the way they walked you through it.

[JPolen01]

My cousin is hooking it up for me in a couple of weeks...based on a quick google - I don't think we need the Testamentary Trust just yet (no kids) and the Credit Shelter Trust looks to be used to avoid estate taxes. Again something we don't need as our net worth has not yet crested $11 million. Unless I am missing something?

[Apoc]

Note that Testamentary Trust could also be applicable if you're bequeathing assets to a minor. In my case, we're leaving money to my nieces but I don't want them to have it in a lump sum as soon as I die. Per this clause in my Will, they have to wait until they're 25 to get the money. I did this to ensure some level of fiscal responsibility... or, at least, more than they would have at age 10.

Estate tax limit is half that for transfer of assets, but you're right in that you don't need it right now. Our net worth isn't anywhere near 5.5 million, but I didn't want to have to update my Will if I manage to get there.

[WRXtranceformed]

Free fire pits are the best kinds of fire pits!



My buddy / neighbor works for a pool & landscaping / hardscaping supply company. He gets free demo models of the stuff they sell for their showroom and he had this fire pit that was time to be retired from the floor. He loaded the stone and top piece into his truck and we unloaded and built this thing in half an hour last night! Pretty awesome gift, we owe them a really nice dinner. He said the retail on these is about $750.

Wifey knew we were going to get it but she didn't know we built it already so it will be a cool surprise for her when she gets home tomorrow from visiting family up north. You can't tell from the pic but the thing is huge...like 5 feet around. The whole pit is slightly off level due to the slope of the yard, at some point I could probably disassemble and put a bed of sand or something down but I'm really not worried about it right now because it looks fine. At some point I'll probably put pavers down around it and I can address it then.

Just need to hit the bermuda on the inside with some RoundUp, throw some sand down inside and light the fire!

[BLINGMW]

Nice find!

Won't the uh.... fire take care of that grass?

[WRXtranceformed]

Nice find!

Won't the uh.... fire take care of that grass?

Thanks man!  Super stoked.  I dunno I suppose it could, that's what my neighbor told me to do.  He said to hit the RoundUp first because Bermuda is so aggressive it will grow right through the sand you throw down

[JPolen01]

Looks great. But $750 for some stone and BBQ grate? Am I missing something?

[Apoc]

The irony of being pissed they destroyed the waterway behind your house and using RoundUp to kill grass for your fire pit.

[WRXtranceformed]

Looks great. But $750 for some stone and BBQ grate? Am I missing something?

I was surprised too.  He said the price was due to the ease of install and DIY factor.  IE an installer or second-level seller doesn't really get the labor bid here for someone who wants an option to build it themselves.

---

The irony of being pissed they destroyed the waterway behind your house and using RoundUp to kill grass for your fire pit.

Spraying a 5 foot diameter of RoundUp that's gonna get covered with sand and burned with fire and razing an entire wetland are not the same/same bruh 

[D_Eclipse9916]

Free fire pits are the best kinds of fire pits!



My buddy / neighbor works for a pool & landscaping / hardscaping supply company.  He gets free demo models of the stuff they sell for their showroom and he had this fire pit that was time to be retired from the floor.  He loaded the stone and top piece into his truck and we unloaded and built this thing in half an hour last night!  Pretty awesome gift, we owe them a really nice dinner.  He said the retail on these is about $750.

Wifey knew we were going to get it but she didn't know we built it already so it will be a cool surprise for her when she gets home tomorrow from visiting family up north.  You can't tell from the pic but the thing is huge...like 5 feet around.  The whole pit is slightly off level due to the slope of the yard, at some point I could probably disassemble and put a bed of sand or something down but I'm really not worried about it right now because it looks fine.  At some point I'll probably put pavers down around it and I can address it then.  

Just need to hit the bermuda on the inside with some RoundUp, throw some sand down inside and light the fire!

Love it, one of our first things we want to do is build a large patio and firepit at our new house. Color me jealous you got it for free.  We will be using ours a decent amount because my wife is upset the new house is gas vs wood burning fireplace.

They wanted a god awful amount of money for a 10x10 (against the house for a 3 level...yuck). So doing it later is our only option.

[Apoc]

The irony of being pissed they destroyed the waterway behind your house and using RoundUp to kill grass for your fire pit.

Spraying a 5 foot diameter of RoundUp that's gonna get covered with sand and burned with fire and razing an entire wetland are not the same/same bruh 

Yeah, one is a neurotoxin and the other isn't.

[WRXtranceformed]

The irony of being pissed they destroyed the waterway behind your house and using RoundUp to kill grass for your fire pit.

Spraying a 5 foot diameter of RoundUp that's gonna get covered with sand and burned with fire and razing an entire wetland are not the same/same bruh 

Yeah, one is a neurotoxin and the other isn't.

YOU'RE a neurotoxin!  

---

Free fire pits are the best kinds of fire pits!



My buddy / neighbor works for a pool & landscaping / hardscaping supply company.  He gets free demo models of the stuff they sell for their showroom and he had this fire pit that was time to be retired from the floor.  He loaded the stone and top piece into his truck and we unloaded and built this thing in half an hour last night!  Pretty awesome gift, we owe them a really nice dinner.  He said the retail on these is about $750.

Wifey knew we were going to get it but she didn't know we built it already so it will be a cool surprise for her when she gets home tomorrow from visiting family up north.  You can't tell from the pic but the thing is huge...like 5 feet around.  The whole pit is slightly off level due to the slope of the yard, at some point I could probably disassemble and put a bed of sand or something down but I'm really not worried about it right now because it looks fine.  At some point I'll probably put pavers down around it and I can address it then.  

Just need to hit the bermuda on the inside with some RoundUp, throw some sand down inside and light the fire!

Love it, one of our first things we want to do is build a large patio and firepit at our new house. Color me jealous you got it for free.  We will be using ours a decent amount because my wife is upset the new house is gas vs wood burning fireplace.

They wanted a god awful amount of money for a 10x10 (against the house for a 3 level...yuck). So doing it later is our only option.

Thanks man!  Yeah builders ask an absurd amount of money for landscaping additions.  Getting it installed after the fact is definitely the best way to go.  Let me know when you guys get settled in down here and start shopping material suppliers / installers.  I can refer you to my buddy who knows the area industry really well and there is another company that has done a few backyards here for surprisingly cheap compared to other quotes people have gotten and are very high quality.  Here is my neighbor's house they did:

With dem LED lights built in tho~

[D_Eclipse9916]

This thread reminded me!

We are moving in 2 months down to Mooresville, NC. Jess and I have lived in Northern Virginia (Vienna and Reston) our entire lives. As many of you know, about 9 months ago we had our first baby boy. We currently live in a townhouse, and although we love it, we wanted bigger (especially if we have 2 kids). The current neighborhood has no place for kids to play, and neighbors drive way too fast in the neighborhood for me to consider playing out front without strict supervision.

Jess and I prefer to be home and willing to push back on our careers in order to do so. So in the span of 2 months, Jess went part-time and requested full remote; and I requested full remote. This left us the ability to move anywhere in the country. With her being a govvie, and me working for Internal Deloitte, we have very stable jobs. In the worst case for me, Deloitte has offices in Charlotte; and my career focused on Finance; Charlotte has lots of jobs for my type of career.

Let's back up a second. We can live anywhere right? Why Charlotte? To be honest we first looked at the Outer Banks and beaches along South Carolina. We quikcly realized beach towns had limited "families" with the same ideals and school systems that were very hit or miss. I wanted to look in Denver, but Jess quickly shot that down and I agreed. I am tired of winter. If I want to go skiing, we will rent a house for a week/month at a proper ski resort. Charlotte was always on our radar and I wanted to on a lake/close to a lake. I went down to Lake Norman and liked the area. After some school searching, we realized we wanted to be in the Mooresville School District.

Requirements for house itself:
3+ car garage with 12+ foot ceilings
In a neighborhood with young families
HOA - (it keeps the neighborhood nice, I will deal with the nimbys)
Backyard and Privacy
Not a cookie cutter house (ak a more modern design interior)

The 3 car garage ended up being an easy no brainer in Mooresville since a decent amount of the population has boats/toys. What we didn't expect was the tough balance between Privacy, neighborhood with young families, and cookie cutter. Most houses on the water under $1M were not in a neighborhood or were very old houses. I ended up having to give up direct lakeside living. One of the advantages to moving was to lower expenses! Buying a $1M+ house was not going to do that in the least.

We took 2 days and actually were disappointed in the selections. Jess and I started to wonder if we should start looking at other areas. When we drove by a new neighborhood being built. Decided to drop by and were blown away by the model home. After talking with the agent, we were able to find a house with some character (2 story great room, open kitchen, master on main), while meeting my requirements for the garage (13 foot ceilings). All in a very affordable and family friendly neighborhood.

We had 2 choices on lots because of the size of the house and requirement for basement. One had Lakeviews, but backed up to the lakehouses; and the other was a corner lot that would back up to park land. You can figure out which one we chose! I always thought I would move to a location with lots of land; but that’s mutually exclusive with a kid friendly neighborhood. :/

Our family was moving down as well. My mom found a beautiful new build lakefront house with private dock (jealous!) about 3 minutes from our neighborhood, and Jess' Mom is having a house built in our neighborhood about halfway down from where we are. We are close with our families and this ended up being a fantastic choice. Currently we live 6 minutes from her mom and 15 minutes from mine, so they are a "bit" closer, but hopefully not too much of a change in privacy.

Hopefully this move enables us to relax a bit more and spend more time doing the things we love. Roof just went on the house this past weekend and we hope plenty of our friends in MM come down and visit us. We are just minutes from some great State Parks, the National Whitewater facility and a massive freshwater lake that god willing I can convince the wife into another bad decision of a boat. Doesn't hurt we are 10 minutes from all the NASCAR team's shops as well and the GoPro Motorplex Karting Facility...

[WRXtranceformed]

Congrats man! Mooresville is awesome, its own little world up there. My dentist is actually up that way.

Build is coming along quickly! Who is your builder?

[.RJ]

ESCAPE FROM NOVA

[D_Eclipse9916]

Congrats man!  Mooresville is awesome, its own little world up there.  My dentist is actually up that way.

Build is coming along quickly!  Who is your builder?

Thanks, DR Horton. Know anything about them?

[Apoc]

ESCAPE FROM NOVA

No way man... NOVA is awesome.

[Jake]

Exciting stuff, DJ! I will definitely come down once you guys are settled in. Corner lot will be great! Where can you park the trailer? I'm assuming everything else will fit in the garage/driveway easily.