Projects

[dai bread]

What a pity I don't have a flat panel door on my garage.

[BigJon]

Love the garage panels.

This is what has been keeping me busy lately:



Our old shed was literally falling down. My nephew, the pro baseball player, is also a homebuilder, but with the economy the way it is, he had no homes to build. So he offered to come build my new shed after the baseball season was over. I did all the design, and he did all the framing and exterior stuff. I have been busy finishing it and building shelves for the inside. I still need to paint the outside and finish the treads on the stairway.

[jamiebk]

real nice shed there Big Jon. Have you got that anchored down in some way? Looks like it's just on block. I realize that we're in earthquake country, but we have to strap and tie everything to a foundation.

[Schmeelkie]

Well, we're still waiting to hear if the assessor is willing to change the assessment in our house so the buyers can buy it (they offered about $4800 more than the assessed value - assessments apparently have to stay for 6 months.....but much of that is seller's concessions...having a hard time figuring out why this won't go through...grrr!). Kind of annoying - they were hoping to close by 12/21 - that's not going to happen now, but I think if the assessment goes through, they'll only need a week or two to have the lawyers do the final stuff. Here's hoping....

I took yesterday off and cleaned the fridge and oven, husband and I got absolutely everything out of the house proper - most into our vehicles, the rest is waiting in the breezeway. So I could sweep/vacuum the remaining floors. Took an old fridge that was in our basement that we never even checked to see if it worked, put it out to the curb at 10am and before noon, a guy in a truck was taking it away. Left some big particle board tables (wasn't sure they'd even fit in our van, otherwise might have taken them) and random pieces of wood out there too - I'm sure someone will see and take... Husband's comment - 'wish I could go back 5 years and tell myself to remove the junk that the previous owners left little by little so we wouldn't be stuck doing it all now'. Ah, well... We did leave a couple of other tables and some metal shelving. So now husband will borrow the van some day soon, load up the rest of the stuff, sweep out the breezeway and we're done! Now if the sale can just go through...

[dai bread]

How does house buying work in New York State? Assessors have to confirm the purchase price? Here, you can get all the assessors you want, but if the purchaser wants to pay more (or less) that's between the two of you- buyer and seller.

[Shapley]

How does house buying work in New York State? Assessors have to confirm the purchase price? Here, you can get all the assessors you want, but if the purchaser wants to pay more (or less) that's between the two of you- buyer and seller.

If you're selling outright, that's the way it works in the states. If the buyer is getting his money from a bank, an assessment is required. The assessment will determine how much the bank can lend on the house, which used to be 80% of assessed valuation, but that has changed.

When we sold our old house, we sold it 'contract for deed', in which we were the lender. We did not require an assessment or any other determination of value, other than the agreed-upon price between buyer and seller.

[jamiebk]

These are referred to as "Appraisals" out here in CA. They are usually completed by certified but private appraisers. As Shap says, banks want them so that they do not lend over value. (heh...like THAT wasn't going on during the bubble!)

[Shapley]

These are referred to as "Appraisals" out here in CA.

They are called 'appraisals' here, too. An 'assessment' is actually the appraisal made by the county tax official to determine the valuation for tax purposes, as opposed to the appraisal made, as you note, by a private individual or individuals to determine the market value. We are assessed annually, sometimes in person, sometimes not. Appraisals are usually only done when preparing to mortgage the property.

I've always considered the terms to be interchangable, but I guess they are technically different.

[piqaboo]

Patched and repainted hallway at the end of last month. Spent this month hanging up some 50+ picture frames, thus emptying 2 sq ft of garage-box. :happy dance:
Got replacement heater installed. While its nice to have heat , its hilarious that the installers managed to knock every single frame askew , and a tad annoying that they left greasy hand prints on all the walls.

Still, I wish I could post before and after frame pix. The amount of light in the hall dropped dramatically.

[Schmeelkie]

Yeah - it's actually the appraisal I'm talking about. I get them confused.... Basically the bank doesn't want to lend you more money than the house is worth. Seems they don't give you much breathing room though. I'd have thought that a price less than $5000 over the appraisal wouldn't be a cause for concern - it's a drop in the bucket compared to the overall cost. But the banks are getting pretty anal these days. Weirdly, the appraisers have access to the purchase contract, so they can adjust accordingly. Not sure if that's completely fair.... Anyway, still haven't heard anything yet...

[jamiebk]

Yeah - it's actually the appraisal I'm talking about. I get them confused.... Basically the bank doesn't want to lend you more money than the house is worth. Seems they don't give you much breathing room though. I'd have thought that a price less than $5000 over the appraisal wouldn't be a cause for concern - it's a drop in the bucket compared to the overall cost. But the banks are getting pretty anal these days. Weirdly, the appraisers have access to the purchase contract, so they can adjust accordingly. Not sure if that's completely fair.... Anyway, still haven't heard anything yet...

Yeah...I know what you mean Schmeelkie...It seems to me that if someone is willing to pay XXX dollars over the asking price, then that IS the value of the house regardless of the appraisal. How else do home values rise? By the bank's definition they would not.

[Shapley]

Yeah...I know what you mean Schmeelkie...It seems to me that if someone is willing to pay XXX dollars over the asking price, then that IS the value of the house regardless of the appraisal. How else do home values rise? By the bank's definition they would not.

Money is no object, if it's not your money. That includes borrowed money. Just ask the Congress....

[dai bread]

Thanks for all that info.

Our lenders require valuations by private valuation firms in the same way. The valuation doesn't have to match the sale price, but if it's too far away the lender will probably not do the deal. These valuations are anything but an exact science. The ones I had done on my Auckland house, for my own info. and to keep the Real Estate agent honest, were over by about 25% on what I received at auction.

[Schmeelkie]

IT WORKED!! Closing date is Dec 29! Husband is clearing out the last few things today! Think I'm going to have to purchase some champagne to pop on the 29th (as we'll be returning from travelling that day, I'll need it for more than one reason!)! WOO HOOO!! Merry Christmas and a Happy New only one mortgage Year!

[jamiebk]

Congrats Schmeelkie....I think I'll open a bottle of champagne tonight as well...One can never have champagne too often you know and any excuse will work.

[analog]

Happy for you Schmeelkie.

I'd bring champagne to the closing - if only to make some officious paper shufflers pucker!

a.

[Trumpetmaster]

Congratulations!!!!

[Shapley]

congratulations!

[BigJon]

Here is a more recent shot of our new shed after an unexpected snow storm the other week. Show the trim and details.

[jamiebk]

Wow...that came out great!