The Super Official Homeowners Thread

[JPolen01]

The cost of Trex compared to pressure treated is....a lot. But no maintenance ever again really helps get over the cost hump. If you plan on staying in the house that is.

[Ryan T]

I read somewhere that composite decking gets a lot hotter in the sun than standard stained wood and can burn dog/cat paws. Just something to think about.

[Deceus]

I read somewhere that composite decking gets a lot hotter in the sun than standard stained wood and can burn dog/cat paws. Just something to think about.

Would've been perfect for this house really. The decks only get sun from sunrise til about 11am. The staircase may have gotten a little hot as they get sun up until 2-3 most days. Definitely something I'm going to miss about the house when we move, especially how little direct sunlight the garage door gets during the summer, that's a real hidden gem. Nothing beats working in a nice cool 70 degree underground room on a 90+ day.

The deck is coming along, just have the side staircase and railings to deal with. Really don't want to touch another baluster as long as I live but at least this side should be the easiest. I can reach them all from outside the deck instead of reaching over the railing, that speeds things up a lot. Decided I'm taking down the shutters to repaint as well, they're pretty faded and they definitely stand out a lot with all the fresh stain going around. Not sure what product to use for that so guess I have some research to do.

Also just look at what I found when I played the "I'll just replace the one board" with the side staircase:





Water seemed to be pooling up in the middle and rotting straight down. The sides were holding but barely. Kinda worried with just how much of it crumbled away with minimal effort but I took a few more boards off to be sure the stringers weren't about to fail on my fat-ass. This is a problem for another person, this whole staircase needs to be rebuilt by someone who knows what they're doing as it's 15ft+ with no real bracing under it. I'll likely make that happen sometime next year if I'm still here. Clearly everything about this deck was not very well thought out at this point, I just hope the framing isn't as bad as everything else I've seen.

Cleaned up and resealed the best I can. 



Found some before pictures from when I got the siding soft washed and I was blown away by the difference. Really excited to get some really good before/after shots once everything is wrapped up. Should make it all worth it.

[JPolen01]

I read somewhere that composite decking gets a lot hotter in the sun than standard stained wood and can burn dog/cat paws. Just something to think about.

It does get very hot. My in laws have trex. I've been training my feet for years walking across it from the pool. Still not there yet. Their dog doesn't seem to have any problems though.

[D_Eclipse9916]

I read somewhere that composite decking gets a lot hotter in the sun than standard stained wood and can burn dog/cat paws. Just something to think about.

It does get very hot. My in laws have trex. I've been training my feet for years walking across it from the pool. Still not there yet. Their dog doesn't seem to have any problems though.

After walking across Trex just one time I would never install it in a southern state. Even wood down here in Charlotte gets cooked. Wish I could figure out what to do with the dock that would cool down the surface. Getting on and off the dock has resulted in a crying 3 year old (and a couple splinters we had to remove on a 2 year old dock)!

[Apoc]

Wish I could figure out what to do with the dock that would cool down the surface. Getting on and off the dock has resulted in a crying 3 year old (and a couple splinters we had to remove on a 2 year old dock)!

easy button. nature is a bit different out this way, but most kids don't go barefoot because one is likely to lacerate a foot on barnacles or rocks.

[Senor_Taylor]

Paint the dock white?

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[JPolen01]

Paint the dock white?

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Don't ever paint a deck. Ever. And definitely not white.

[Senor_Taylor]

Paint the dock white?

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Don't ever paint a deck. Ever. And definitely not white.

There has to be some kind of algae resistant, textured paint that is superior to slippery algae covered wood.

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[JPolen01]

Paint the dock white?

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Don't ever paint a deck. Ever. And definitely not white.

There has to be some kind of algae resistant, textured paint that is superior to slippery algae covered wood.

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Paint on wood is just a disaster to maintain. The previous owners of our last house painted the deck. It's a shit show when you try to maintain it. And white will show so much dirt.

Stain is a much better option. Not sure about keeping any wooden surface cool. I agree with the idea for kids shoes. Barefoot sounds like repeated splinters.

[Sully]

Maybe one of the deck over products. Like the thick epoxy like stuff that fills and seals the cracks and splinters


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[Deceus]

Not quite done but close enough. Just waiting for a few boards to dry on the deck to completely finish off the front and need to do the back of the house for the siding. Dormers aren't getting repaired til August and they're getting a lot of new boards so problem for another month I suppose.

[Deceus]

Found a good before shot for the deck as well



Not sure I'd ever do it again by myself but can't be mad at the results. Kinda makes facing the fact I'm probably moving at the end of the year just that much more bitter but hey gotta do, what you gotta do.

[Deceus]

So finally got an offer worth giving up the remote worker life for. Kind of ironically it's remote due to COVID until the end of the year at least. Have to relocate to Charlotte at some point this year though. This means I'm free to hunt for a house across a pretty big area for the next 5 months, awesome. But I have to be under contract with my current home in order to use my full VA loan eligibility, not awesome. I was debating putting this here or the MoneySports thread but I think the same few people are in both.

Now here's my big plan: refinance my current VA loan (4.625%) into a conventional loan (~3%). I owe just under 310k on the house and it's now worth around $350-360k so might have to throw some down to avoid PMI but not much. The bank is crazy enough to let me do it and also "put down any offer I want" in a similar price range for the new VA loan. The plan is to list this house on AirBnb, it got a lot of attention when I was renting just the room and nothing but 5 star feedback on the location/setup. Looking at comparable rentals I could easily get $250-300/night and most likely have it booked nearly every weekend. It definitely has the curb-appeal to make it happen. Now I could live without the rental income/profit but I don't really want to hand over a house that just made $20k two years in a row especially with HQ2 opening up in Arlington in the near future. I know Massanutten is a little far out to feel a lot of that effect but people are going to want convenient weekend get-aways for sure.

So why am I posting this here? I'm a moron with my money and I want a bunch of opinions. This feels like a decent move but also feels risky. The housing market dips and I could be double-screwed without a decent cushion built up. On the other hand I need to start doing something with my money and this feels better than the stock market. A lot less homework but a lot more maintenance. At the end of the day it just feels better to me to have real tangible assets.

Thoughts? Concerns? Insults?

[Apoc]

I am so glad we sold our 2800 sqft Ashburn townhouse (read: highly desirable) when we moved out of state. You either have to travel to do work yourself or pay someone you've never met and won't be around to watch to do the work. No thanks. It's appreciated ~$150k in the last eight years and I still don't regret the decision. YMMV.

Personally, I wouldn't carry two mortgages when relocating to another state, getting a new job, and during COVID. There's just so much shit that could go tits up and you'd be stuck. If you want to keep the house, at least consider renting in Charlotte for a bit so you can see how 2020 plays out and get a sense of where around there you want to be.

I'd wager HQ2 has exactly zero effect on Massanutten real estate.

[HAULN-SS]

Residential Real estate on average returns 6% YoY. You might do slightly better than that based on resort rental, but I don't know the numbers on that. I'd sell and put my money in the market on the first big dip I saw (thought that may be bad advice if you're playing a long hold, as it's been shown you should put your money in as soon as you get it, versus trying to time the market). If you want to feel diversified, buy into an REIT

[Deceus]

Residential Real estate on average returns 6% YoY. You might do slightly better than that based on resort rental, but I don't know the numbers on that. I'd sell and put my money in the market on the first big dip I saw (thought that may be bad advice if you're playing a long hold, as it's been shown you should put your money in as soon as you get it, versus trying to time the market). If you want to feel diversified, buy into an REIT

Yeah, can probably get a better return percent wise in the market for sure. Talking with an agent today confirmed that number, 6% is a pretty safe long term estimate here as well. One thing I'm considering is it's 6% on 350k right now VS whatever return I get on the market with ~35k (what I walk away with if I sell today). Even if I can double my return it's just not going to match what I can gain by holding what I have. The profit potential is really just added bonus but also a very real possibility. Just for reference: next weekend, there is a single option on Airbnb right now for a place to stay on the mountain for under $1,000: it's a crappy one bedroom timeshare that looks like a 90s motel and it's still $760. The water park isn't even open, nothing is going on for miles and almost every single thing is booked up for at least the next 3 weekends. That's just insane to me. I can't even imagine what the fall looks like when the leaves start changing and people start losing their minds or when the slopes open up.

You either have to travel to do work yourself or pay someone you've never met and won't be around to watch to do the work.

I'd wager HQ2 has exactly zero effect on Massanutten real estate.

That first point is actually a bit of a selling point for me. I 100% would not mind coming back up to this house/area for "maintenance weekends" at all. Just grab my bike, a stash of beer and head off early on a Friday. Call me crazy but I call that a good time. Hell I'll probably be up here for the bike park anyways a few times every spring, summer and fall.

I don't think the housing prices here will go up any noticeably because of HQ2, just the demand for short term rentals which seems to have a pretty limited supply already. Not too many places to go within a few hours of Arlington that aren't completely desolate and/or containing anything of real interest. Bryce, Winchester, Front Royal, Lake Anna, Richmond, Charlottesville just don't really hold a candle to here for a quick 3 day trip imo. That's actually the main reason I ended up here in the first place. Of course it's anyone's guess but I'd still be fine with the demand I see today.

I do agree with playing it by ear though I'm just going about it the opposite way. Maybe it's just the middle age crisis talking but I need to drop an anchor somewhere with BOTH things that make me happy AND decent job prospects. Harrisonburg just isn't ever going to have that for me jobwise so if anything goes it's going to be the house in Harrisonburg. Rent this place out and drop it at the first sign of trouble. Even if I lose 50K overnight I still break even but I kinda HAVE to make NC work.

I hope this doesn't come across as me being defensive, I do appreciate the insight and definitely agree with both of you guy's standpoints from where you're standing. Please keep the input coming as I said before I'm kind of a moron and I'm still trying to figure this out. I'm sure there's a lot I'm not really considering.

[D_Eclipse9916]

Western NC is almost an east coast Mecca for mountain biking. Doubt you want to run up to a small hill in VA instead.

I say sell it. My two rentals are 45 minutes away and I find it a pain enough to travel to them.

[Deceus]

Western NC is almost an east coast Mecca for mountain biking. Doubt you want to run up to a small hill in VA instead.

I say sell it. My two rentals are 45 minutes away and I find it a pain enough to travel to them.

Yeah no doubt, was thinking mostly park riding. I'm a lift addict these days but probably because that's convenient where I'm at right now. Might lose some appeal once I have to start traveling for that.

Strongly considering renting in NC now that I've had more time to really think about it. Had such a bad experience here just never really considered it an option. Literally only had 2 options total and ended up paying a lot more for a lot less house when I wanted to be away from Harrisonburg city limits. Also got raked across the coals when I moved out. Landlord basically repainted the entire interior and got a lot of landscaping done on my dime. The landscaping was a huge slap in the face because the grass was honestly knee-high when we moved in. Didn't have the time to fight it though. Also got bent over with the Richmond apartment when Capital One ended up being a huge bust but I knew that was a risk.

Buuuuuuuuuuut Charlotte has 72 places priced under $1800/month to pick from near 485 with a garage and 3 rooms though. Hoo Lee Shit, guess things are different outside of a college town. Definitely should have started my search with that. Renting is also a lot more tempting if I'm leaving a lot of stuff behind for my rental as well. A year should give me a good feel for renting out the house, BoA, the area, and allow me to see what Rona and the election brings. Should be converting over in 6-9 months or kicking off a new search that can include Durham-Raleigh if I'm not anchored down. Also a lot easier to move into a rental quickly so I can stay here as long as I'm allowed to and bank the extra income. Sounds like the perfect plan to me.

Starting with a refinance on the current house for sure, that's a 45 day window to think at the very least. Might be out some closing costs if I decide to sell immediately but I think I'm pretty sold on giving it a shot for at least a year. Worse case scenario I probably wipe out most of my profit if there's a huge panic.

Definitely feel like I'm on a much better track here at least. Thanks all for the input so far, going to talk with the neighbor about managing the property for me for a cut of the revenue. We're pretty good friends and I 100% trust him. Would also be genuinely happy to give him a decent cut.

[Apoc]

I spent 30 years in Fairfax and Loudoun County - never stepped foot in Massanutten once but have been to all the other places mentioned. shrug

Remember you have to deduct your mortgage interest from your gain. You aren't making 6% on the full house amount, you're making 6% on your equity and roughly 3% on your mortgaged value. Based on your numbers, you're making about 4.25% to keep the place. That's a losing prospect against the market. Don't forget it would also cost money to refinance and put money down for PMI. Subtract more if you're paying someone to manage the property. I think a 2-3% rate of return is more accurate in your situation.

What's the break even on refinancing and closing costs? It's got to be a few years. Seems crazy to me to refinance if you think you might sell it before you break even... especially if you don't need to get from under the VA loan at this point.