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Midcentury Modern


iamshack

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QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Jun 8, 2013 -> 05:16 PM)
I put in an offer for a 3br duplex near Loyola today. Seemed like a real nice area and while its a short sale the bank has already preapproved the price so it should go quickly if they accept my offer.

Good luck, Russ...keep us posted!

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QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jun 9, 2013 -> 08:03 AM)
hey, if they're willing to pay your water bill...

It's not even that as much as it is just I feel bad using these quantities of water just to keep my yard green...the bill will be obnoxious, but even more obnoxious is the entitlement to these quantities of water...

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QUOTE (iamshack @ Jun 9, 2013 -> 10:15 AM)
It's not even that as much as it is just I feel bad using these quantities of water just to keep my yard green...the bill will be obnoxious, but even more obnoxious is the entitlement to these quantities of water...

I didn't want to go all environmentalist in this thread, but yeah, that's more important than the cost to me.

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QUOTE (iamshack @ Jun 9, 2013 -> 12:08 PM)
Yeah, I knew from your initial post...

Don't get me wrong, laziness/cheapness definitely play a role in my selection of plants. I don't want to have to water plants if we go a few days without rain. I've also been growing my grass to be more drought-tolerant.

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QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jun 9, 2013 -> 10:21 AM)
Don't get me wrong, laziness/cheapness definitely play a role in my selection of plants. I don't want to have to water plants if we go a few days without rain. I've also been growing my grass to be more drought-tolerant.

Well, everyone out here has drip systems or sprinkler systems installed for the most part. It was completely foreign to me when I moved here. I bought my first house and had no idea the thing was not even running for the first month or so :)

 

Anyways, the point is, this system is set up to cover almost every square inch of living organisms on this property. So I don't have to do a thing. And we hired a landscaper so I don't even have to really work the control systems either; he will maintain those. But I am going to talk to him on Tuesday about adjusting the watering schedule so that it all occurs between 10 pm and 7 am, if possible, because if you water your lawn in the heat the water can actually burn up the grass or else it just evaporates. And I also want to discuss with him introducing some drought-tolerant grass species, but I am not sure if that can be done gradually over time through just seeding, or if you actually have to rip the old grass out first. If so, that would be a major undertaking. Additionally, we have many mature trees on the property, and I am not going to mess with those. So it's going to have to be ripping out some of the plants along the perimeter (some need to be torn out anyways because they are poisonous to dogs) and putting in some more native plants.

Edited by iamshack
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I've always wondered if it's possible to get soil moisture sensors integrated into the system so it waters it when it's necessary, not just based on a schedule. I'm sure we've all seen sprinkler systems running in a heavy downpour. Maybe not applicable to LV, though.

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Ugh this waiting part sucks, there's one other offer on the table right now, the listing agent is going to choose the one that can close by July 12th, hopefully my lender gets back to them with that info.

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QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Jun 10, 2013 -> 12:44 PM)
Ugh this waiting part sucks, there's one other offer on the table right now, the listing agent is going to choose the one that can close by July 12th, hopefully my lender gets back to them with that info.

Yeah, that's the part that makes you crazy...the whole process stressed me out so much I started smoking again and drinking beers first thing when I got home from work...now that it is over I am back to healthy living :)

 

Are you able to close on July 12th?

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QUOTE (iamshack @ Jun 11, 2013 -> 09:57 AM)
Yeah, that's the part that makes you crazy...the whole process stressed me out so much I started smoking again and drinking beers first thing when I got home from work...now that it is over I am back to healthy living :)

 

Are you able to close on July 12th?

Personally yes, I don't have anything really holding me back. My current lease is up at the end of August, so that works pretty well.

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QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Jun 11, 2013 -> 07:43 PM)
They took the other offer, had way more on their down payment than I did.

 

Why would they care about the down payment? Do you mean earnest money?

 

We lost out on 2 houses before getting an accepted offer. The other 2 were likely cash offers with no contingencies according to our agent. I can't compete with that and I don't want to.

 

There's always another one.

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QUOTE (G&T @ Jun 11, 2013 -> 08:11 PM)
Why would they care about the down payment? Do you mean earnest money?

 

We lost out on 2 houses before getting an accepted offer. The other 2 were likely cash offers with no contingencies according to our agent. I can't compete with that and I don't want to.

 

There's always another one.

Yea, so they were putting down $50k (31%) to my $16k (10%).

Edited by bigruss22
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QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Jun 12, 2013 -> 07:31 AM)
Yea, so they were putting down $50k (31%) to my $16k (10%).

A lot of sellers perceive having more cash to put down as a sign of financial health, and they will just take that offer first because they believe it has a lesser chance of falling apart...nothing you can do in those situations but move on and keep your eye on it in case it falls apart.

 

I can't tell you how many times the sellers of the house we bought rejected us...but I just kept at it and it ended up working out.

 

Yesterday I sent out an email to our lender, our agent, and the seller's agent, inviting them to come by for drinks one night (because we promised them we would), and the listing agent replied back that she has received more than one call from disgruntled potential buyers who had offered more than us at some point in the process but had walked away after being rejected.

 

So just be willing to move on, but also keep your eye on homes you lost out on just in case, because s*** does happen.

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QUOTE (iamshack @ Jun 12, 2013 -> 07:40 AM)
A lot of sellers perceive having more cash to put down as a sign of financial health, and they will just take that offer first because they believe it has a lesser chance of falling apart...nothing you can do in those situations but move on and keep your eye on it in case it falls apart.

 

I can't tell you how many times the sellers of the house we bought rejected us...but I just kept at it and it ended up working out.

 

Yesterday I sent out an email to our lender, our agent, and the seller's agent, inviting them to come by for drinks one night (because we promised them we would), and the listing agent replied back that she has received more than one call from disgruntled potential buyers who had offered more than us at some point in the process but had walked away after being rejected.

 

So just be willing to move on, but also keep your eye on homes you lost out on just in case, because s*** does happen.

The only real benefit to the additional money is that if the appraisal goes poorly, you probably won't have trouble financing still. However if you are a straight 10 or 20% down, you might run into that sort of difficulty. 10% or all cash, at the end of the day the buyer has a lot of potential outs either way.

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QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jun 12, 2013 -> 09:06 AM)
The only real benefit to the additional money is that if the appraisal goes poorly, you probably won't have trouble financing still. However if you are a straight 10 or 20% down, you might run into that sort of difficulty. 10% or all cash, at the end of the day the buyer has a lot of potential outs either way.

You are absolutely right...and so was GT when he asked why would they care about the DP...but from what the listing agents tell me, the seller will generally assume that the party who is willing to pay more cash will have more available options if something goes sideways (basically what you mentioned).

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  • 2 months later...
QUOTE (RockRaines @ Sep 5, 2013 -> 01:16 PM)
Anyone use greenbox or redi-box to move before?

 

I've only moved myself previously and thats not an option here. looking for recommendations on the best way to do it.

I worked for Two Men and a Truck for a summer before college in Ann Arbor, here are my tips for moving:

 

-Pack everything yourself, disassemble furniture beforehand if it requires it (think bed frames, IKEA ones can take forever to take apart and most local moves are hourly so youre paying crazy amounts of money for someone to do that for you).

-Get things as close to your moving entrance/exit as possible, the less time a mover has to run around the house/apartment for boxes/furniture the less money you spend. If you have anything obstructing the path, make sure it's moved well in advance (including doors if you have large furniture).

-Get quotes from reputable local movers, don't worry so much about the total quote but more about the hourly rate. If two companies have similar reputations than look at their hourly charges as the difference maker. Also, giving false information when they give you a quote saves you nothing, saying you live in a 2br apartment when in reality it's a 3 br house doesn't actually save you anything, it's all hourly anyways.

 

If you can, move all boxes/small furniture yourself before or after the move, you can usually do a UHAUL and do that type of stuff yourself, and hire the movers to do the big stuff. This can cut your bill in half usually.

 

TIP TIP TIP. Promise a good tip if they do the job in good time and don't make any mistakes. Depending on the size of the move and how many guys are there, I suggest between $20-100 per mover. If it's about a 3 br condo youre moving out of (just a guess), I would say it's probably going to be a close to a full day's job for 2 people. A $50-100 tip would go a long way for those guys to do a better job, save your walls and furniture more.

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QUOTE (RockRaines @ Sep 5, 2013 -> 01:16 PM)
Anyone use greenbox or redi-box to move before?

 

I've only moved myself previously and thats not an option here. looking for recommendations on the best way to do it.

I assume you're saying that because your wife can't help you, eh? I know how that goes...

 

When are you moving?

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QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Sep 5, 2013 -> 02:09 PM)
I assume you're saying that because your wife can't help you, eh? I know how that goes...

 

When are you moving?

Nah, just cause I have so much stuff after almost 9 years in the same place and I want pro's to do it. Last time I moved I used friends/myself/uhaul.

 

Moving to the FLW historic district in Oak Park.

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QUOTE (RockRaines @ Sep 5, 2013 -> 05:10 PM)
Nah, just cause I have so much stuff after almost 9 years in the same place and I want pro's to do it. Last time I moved I used friends/myself/uhaul.

 

Moving to the FLW historic district in Oak Park.

Moving has become one of my least favorite things in the world to do. It just f***in sucks no matter what, I'd rather pay for the movers than put myself through that at this point.

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QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Sep 5, 2013 -> 05:28 PM)
Moving has become one of my least favorite things in the world to do. It just f***in sucks no matter what, I'd rather pay for the movers than put myself through that at this point.

My thought exactly, I remember how bad it was 8 years ago when it was just me and I didnt even have 70 percent of the s*** I have now.

 

I've decided to use redi-boxes to pack all of my small s*** and hire movers to do the rest. It should take one day and it will be over. Pretty excited to move to a larger place where it will look like I have nothing.

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