House Purchase Advice

[HAULN-SS]

and dell is about to go under

[Mike]

and dell is about to go under

don't tell rob that... he just bought a house.

[Evan]

and dell is about to go under

dont tell derecola that, he doesnt know where else to buy a computer.

[Apoc]

I have a ThinkPad for work and placement of the function key is driving me fucking crazy.

[Feersty]

and dell is about to go under

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You sure about that? :evileye:

[Ryan T]

Well we finally moved into a place. 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 2 car garage, about 1800sq.ft.



Yard that extends around behind back



Deck







Tiny kitchen



Master bedroom







Spare bedroom



Office

[.RJ]

congrats, nice!

[Feersty]

Good work Thayer. Is it a duplex?

[WRXtranceformed]

Well, the condensate lines for my AC unit somehow failed, causing water to pour into the overflow pan for my unit. Additionally, the auto kill switch for the unit that's located in the pan failed so water proceeded to pool up in it until it overflowed in my attic and came streaming down through my hall closet and all over the upstairs floor. Fortunately I caught it when I did and fortunately I used to build homes so I know what to do during disasters like that. Carpet is currently pulled up with fans on it all night, closet is draining from holes I poked in the ceiling and all soggy padding is removed. Hopefully I can get someone out here today to fix it, but I have to say that it wasn't too uncomfortable last night sleeping without the AC...thank God it dropped down to about 72*.

Hoping that it isn't an expensive fix, but pretty much ruins my work morning

[ViPER1313]

Lee - usually when you have water pouring out of an AC unit, all that's wrong is the drain line for the pan that sits underneath of the coils is clogged up. You can fix it yourself by pushing a piece of wire through the drain pipe or using compressed air to blow it out. Otherwise, an AC guy probably won't charge you over $1XX for the work.

[.RJ]

Since this thread is at the top - I'm thinking about buying a house sometime soon. Say... maybe the end of the year? I dont even know where to start. Do I call a realtor? Do I find the house for sale and then talk to the realtor that the sellers have hired? Who pays for the realtors? Are they scumbags? How do I make sure the house isnt busted? I'll probably be looking in the reston/herndon area, but still considering a move to Charlottesville.

[WRXtranceformed]

Lee - usually when you have water pouring out of an AC unit, all that's wrong is the drain line for the pan that sits underneath of the coils is clogged up. You can fix it yourself by pushing a piece of wire through the drain pipe or using compressed air to blow it out. Otherwise, an AC guy probably won't charge you over $1XX for the work.

That was my initial impression, but after looking at it the leak appears to come from one of the joints which may have cracked or given out. I don't have plumbers dope or any of that stuff and I frankly don't want to sweat my ass off in the attic trying to put together pieces of piping (especially if there's something else that's causing it)...so in this case I'm leaving it to the professionals. Besides, that switch probably has to be replaced or fixed in the drain pan so this doesn't happen again.

There's also the possibility that it may be covered under warranty.

[Apoc]

Since this thread is at the top - I'm thinking about buying a house sometime soon. Say... maybe the end of the year? I dont even know where to start. Do I call a realtor? Do I find the house for sale and then talk to the realtor that the sellers have hired? Who pays for the realtors? Are they scumbags? How do I make sure the house isnt busted? I'll probably be looking in the reston/herndon area, but still considering a move to Charlottesville.

When you're ready to start actually looking inside houses, call a realtor. Don't use the sellers realtor, get a recommendation from someone (I have someone if you want) or use that lookup/list thing that Evan knows about. You will pay your realtor, most likely a couple percent, and the sellers will pay theirs... unless there's an agreement to do otherwise as part of the sale.

There will be a home inspection after you make an offer on a house. Again, get a referral for someone who will actually look at shit instead of just walk through and sign off.

[.RJ]

Shouldnt I know whats busted in the house before I make an offer... like a used car? or do you make a contingent offer? If I buy a house, i then have to cut a realtor a check for a couple percent? Sounds like a racket to have 2 realtors doing the same thing?

[Apoc]

Shouldnt I know whats busted in the house before I make an offer... like a used car? or do you make a contingent offer? If I buy a house, i then have to cut a realtor a check for a couple percent? Sounds like a racket to have 2 realtors doing the same thing?

Pay attention during your walk through. Do some reading on things to look for and common tricks sellers use to cover us issues. You don't have to go nuts, just make sure there are no flags (a knowledgeable realtor helps). If everything looks up to snuff, you'll make an offer contingent on a home inspection.

The realtor costs will all part of the settlement; it shows up as a line item on the closing costs.

The realtors don't really have the same job. You are paying someone to have your best interest in mind and the sellers are doing the same. There are actual job differences in buying and selling too. You don't do the same thing in when you buy and sell a car, do you?

[JustinG]

Things I looked at, Windows New? Old and they may need to be replaced amd increase energy costs. Chimney, any cracks anywhere. AC unit look new? Just think of expensive stuff, and look at it. Ask ur realtor 100 questions. If he doesn't know he should be happy to find out. And be straight up with them about your needs so they don't waste your time showing garbage and stuff out of your price range. They are salesman, trying to make as much money as they can so just remember that.

[ScottyB]

Shouldnt I know whats busted in the house before I make an offer... like a used car? or do you make a contingent offer? If I buy a house, i then have to cut a realtor a check for a couple percent? Sounds like a racket to have 2 realtors doing the same thing?

PM'd

[ScottyB]

Well, the condensate lines for my AC unit somehow failed, causing water to pour into the overflow pan for my unit. Additionally, the auto kill switch for the unit that's located in the pan failed so water proceeded to pool up in it until it overflowed in my attic and came streaming down through my hall closet and all over the upstairs floor. Fortunately I caught it when I did and fortunately I used to build homes so I know what to do during disasters like that. Carpet is currently pulled up with fans on it all night, closet is draining from holes I poked in the ceiling and all soggy padding is removed. Hopefully I can get someone out here today to fix it, but I have to say that it wasn't too uncomfortable last night sleeping without the AC...thank God it dropped down to about 72*.

Hoping that it isn't an expensive fix, but pretty much ruins my work morning

Lee, i feel your pain, our condensate drain line cracked at a joint last week - water everywhere. we got it early though.

I worked for an HVAC company over the last 4 years. Not an expert, and you can look at lots of companies that offer similar items but I can recommend a few things you may want to look into as preventative things that can either be set-and-forget or quick application from time to time.

- "pan tabs" are little pill shaped things you put in the drain pan from time to time. they dissolve over a period of weeks and are basically an anti-fungal, anti-algae concoction that keeps your line from filling with sludge. alot of our customers would use PT-151 but check your tonnage first.

- the overflow alarms are often hit or miss because the moving floats jam up with sludge or the magnet gets coated. I'd recommend supplementing the float in the pan with a pipe-mounted safety switch for the unit drainage pipe. i like them because they're very reliable and very accurate. they use sonar to determine how full the pipe is with water.
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[Evan]

Since this thread is at the top - I'm thinking about buying a house sometime soon. Say... maybe the end of the year? I dont even know where to start. Do I call a realtor? Do I find the house for sale and then talk to the realtor that the sellers have hired? Who pays for the realtors? Are they scumbags?

Keep in mind, you are the only one bringing money to the table, so you are paying for your realtor. (and technically the seller's realtor too but you cant fix that)
At 3%, you pay a realtor $12k off of a $400k house for just a few hours of work. This is why 90% of a realtor's time and energy goes into promoting themselves and marketing. After you have latched onto a realtor they consider most of their work already done.
realtors are scumbags (or pretty close anyway). I had a good friend of 10 years who was a realtor so I used her the first time I went looking for houses. She clearly only wanted me to buy something...anythign without any concern whether it was what I wanted. Then when I didnt buy she gave me guilt trips every time I talked to her. So I stopped talking to her. After she found out that I bought (2 years later) without her, she was no longer interested in being my friend (apparently she hadnt already gotten the hint).

with online IMDB/zillow/homesdatabase searches, you are much more likely to find your own place anyway.

Anne's realtor was worthless too, Anne found the place herself, and her realtor didnt even show her the place, she had an assistant to do that. All she did was show up to coach anne through the paperwork for 45 minutes. $10k+ is a hell of a price to pay someone for 45 minutes of advice.

I used redfin.com
I got $9k back after closing, you still get a real realtor, and my realtor was sharp and had his stuff together. It ended up being a messy sale, with some bids, and a clusterfuck of a idiot selling agent who didnt know what she was doing and multiple big screwups.
unlimited house showings, and you do it with a lackey who just lets you in the door so you dont get the hard sell from your agent.

How do I make sure the house isnt busted? I'll probably be looking in the reston/herndon area, but still considering a move to Charlottesville.

you get a home inspection. ~$450, and anything wrong with the house you can usually negotiate with the seller to fix or bring the price down.

[.RJ]

The idea of a "buyers realtor" has just given me a mind fuck.

Do they specialize? i.e. only "buy" or only "sell" ?