Madeline the Edifying (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
zdashamber) wrote2008-12-13 11:18 am
zdashamber) wrote2008-12-13 11:18 am
Daaaamn.
Wow. At least I don't own a house.
Looked at my first water bill this week, and found that it was for $677, at which point I was like Wow, water's going to be pretty expensive... and then I looked some more and found that they said I was using 3,200 gallons a day which um no. Phoned EBMUD and they sent someone to check the meter in case they'd read it wrong; he left a doorhanger yesterday that said "No, the meter was spinning as I watched it, and also now it's up to 5,100 gallons a day. Oh, and here's a nifty booklet and some dye tabs for toilet leak checking."
So now my toilet water is blue, because apparently it only empties about half of the tank when it flushes (is that normal?) and that dye is crazy strong and will take forever to dilute out... But the toilet isn't leaking. Phoned the landlady.
Plumber came today and the upshot is that it's $8,250 to replace the pipes from the meter to the house, since they're all probably about to go out if the first one did; unless they have to tear up 100 feet of concrete driveway, in which case it's $12,500.
Do people with houses have that kind of money sitting around? Is that the sort of thing that's required to have on hand? I've got some money stashed in case of job loss or sudden need for a kiln or car or whatever, but not 8K. Where does that kind of money come from? Credit card, I guess? Or can you tack on small amounts like that to a mortgage? Anything that involves going to a bank for a line of credit or refinance or whatever probably = UR SOL with the credit crunch. Middle class relatives with money?
If I owned the house, I'd probably see if I could do the digging myself just renting a mini backhoe, cut the cost that way... But damn.
Guess it's something to consider while considering leaping on housing deals here. Looks like another year of saving tacked on before the potential housebuying future.
Looked at my first water bill this week, and found that it was for $677, at which point I was like Wow, water's going to be pretty expensive... and then I looked some more and found that they said I was using 3,200 gallons a day which um no. Phoned EBMUD and they sent someone to check the meter in case they'd read it wrong; he left a doorhanger yesterday that said "No, the meter was spinning as I watched it, and also now it's up to 5,100 gallons a day. Oh, and here's a nifty booklet and some dye tabs for toilet leak checking."
So now my toilet water is blue, because apparently it only empties about half of the tank when it flushes (is that normal?) and that dye is crazy strong and will take forever to dilute out... But the toilet isn't leaking. Phoned the landlady.
Plumber came today and the upshot is that it's $8,250 to replace the pipes from the meter to the house, since they're all probably about to go out if the first one did; unless they have to tear up 100 feet of concrete driveway, in which case it's $12,500.
Do people with houses have that kind of money sitting around? Is that the sort of thing that's required to have on hand? I've got some money stashed in case of job loss or sudden need for a kiln or car or whatever, but not 8K. Where does that kind of money come from? Credit card, I guess? Or can you tack on small amounts like that to a mortgage? Anything that involves going to a bank for a line of credit or refinance or whatever probably = UR SOL with the credit crunch. Middle class relatives with money?
If I owned the house, I'd probably see if I could do the digging myself just renting a mini backhoe, cut the cost that way... But damn.
Guess it's something to consider while considering leaping on housing deals here. Looks like another year of saving tacked on before the potential housebuying future.
no subject
Here's my take (13 years of home owning experience).
We haven't had to spend more than about a grand on any given "emergency" thing, but stuff does break, and you should plan for it.
We did decide to get a new furnace recently; it wasn't broken, but was old and very inefficient. That was 4k.
First off, before you buy, get a really thorough inspection done by a pro, and make sure they check things like plumbing, electrical, gas, sidewalks, wood condition, bugs, foundation, evidence of flooding or water in the basement, roof, and anything else that's a problem in your neck of the woods. Up here, we all used to use oil to heat, so getting a certificate of decommissioning of the oil tank is a big deal and very important, for example.
General good advice is that you should budget spending 1% of your house value on repairs per year. We rarely have, but it's a guideline.
So what we do is we take the largest utility bill we pay a year for each utility, add that to all the other stuff (mortgage, insurance, taxes, escrow, etc), and a bit more, and that's our monthly payment to ourselves into a house account, where we pay all that from. Because we're putting in more than we spend, we have built up quite a bit in there, over time, which means that we have a cushion of a few grand handy when we need it. At times, we've had a lot in there, and have used it for big improvements, like getting storm windows. But we always have some saved up in there. Helps us sleep well at night.
The inspection should more or less reassure you that you won't have any huge issues for at least a few years after buying, so you can build up that stash slowly, and not worry to much about it.
And, once a few years have gone by (assuming good market conditions) you will have enough equity in the house to be able to get a home equity loan if you do have some heinous emergency come up.
Best of luck! This is a great time to buy, if you have the financial stuff lined up and have good credit.
no subject
no subject
Does that make sense?