CAG home owner topic. Buying or selling a home? Have a maintance issue? Help is here!

401k's are good when your employer matches, because that part is free money (keep in mind the vesting issue that slowdive mentioned though).

Beyond that the only thing I really know about them that's all that good is that you can have the money taken out of your check every month instead of saving it yourself.  Again, like slowdive said, good for people who suck at saving money themselves.  I have friends who wouldn't save a penny if it wasn't for retirement withholding options like these.

You do need to save for retirement though, so put your money somewhere.  You'll probably get stuck with some taxes when you start withdrawing but they really shouldn't be exorbitant as long as you don't withdraw all at once and you don't withdraw early.  Also keep in mind that money being withheld for your 401k comes out pre-tax.  So it's not like you're having to pay taxes twice, you're just deferring your taxes on that income (and the money that money makes) until a far later date.

I can't claim to be a financial expert at all, but it seems like everyone I've talked to, including reps at TIAACREF and Fidelity at my work, seem to think Roth IRAs are the best way to go when it comes to tax breaks later.  Roth IRAs offer tax-free growth, meaning you don't pay taxes when you pull the money out later.  The catch is that contributions to Roth IRAs are not tax-deductible.  So if you use the standard deduction on your taxes, the Roth IRA is the way to go.  If you itemize your deductions, you may need to take a closer look at a Traditional IRA.

 
I haven't decided what to do with my 401k from old job i left in June. Don't have a new one since im a contractor at the moment. It's appreciated 10% since then, so its not exactly hurting where it is (Vanguard manages it).

If i don't get a full time soon, I need to start making my contributions to something - probably will go the IRA route. honestly, I know little about finance so it was nice to be able to put it in a "20XX retirement" fund at Vanguard and let them handle it.

 
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Vanguard is some good shit.  No reason not to leave it where it is at this point.

Also: Only invest in 401ks to get the full employer match, then do a Roth IRA.  If you still have money left over you want to put in or you're a rich sob and don't qualify for a Roth IRA, go back to the 401k.

 
Dead of Knight said:
Vanguard is some good shit. No reason not to leave it where it is at this point.

Also: Only invest in 401ks to get the full employer match, then do a Roth IRA. If you still have money left over you want to put in or you're a rich sob and don't qualify for a Roth IRA, go back to the 401k.
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^This. If your combined income is over $191K you do not qualify for a Roth IRA.

The benefits of a 401K plan basically boil down to two factors:

1) Tax Advantage

2) Employer Matching Programs (Vesting can be an issue)

 
yeah, best to put in what the company will match and also know the vesting rules for the company.  My last company matched 50 cents on the dollar up to 8% (so 4% of your income per year) but it took 4-5 years to be vested.  I left there after a year and a half and was able to take a portion of the vested money though.

Now I work in a non-profit and have 8% of my pre-tax going to a 403B fund that is doing alright.  Thought about the Roth IRA's as well but it just didnt seem right for me at this point.

 
Pookymeister said:
If i don't get a full time soon, I need to start making my contributions to something - probably will go the IRA route. honestly, I know little about finance so it was nice to be able to put it in a "20XX retirement" fund at Vanguard and let them handle it.
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That's exactly what I did with mine too. I know very little about stocks and the such so I figure they'll know what they're doing if I put it in the 2050 fund. I check on it once a month or so.

 
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Still researching and have read everything so far here so if this sounds dumb I apologize but I briefly looked over Vanguard just now. So if you have a 401k when should you start messing with the Vanguard stuff? I assume after you are vested in and are at a point where you're sure the job you're in is where you'll be for the foreseeable future?

 
AFAIK (which could be wrong), your company has an account somewhere so that's where your account would be. Vanguard is where my company had it's plan setup. With them, I know you could do in and mess with where your contributions go and move things around if you wanted to.

 
yeah, thats how most companies have it setup.  My last company used Fidelity for that and my current employer now uses Lincoln (ugh!).  Would love Vanguard...

 
my fiance and I saw that 3 bedroom house I posted about before this afternoon...I liked it but she was not too convinced.  She wants something in perfect condition but a cheap price, which is not realistic, lol.  Back to the drawing board for us...

 
Yeah you don't get to chose who manages your 401k. It's whoever your employer has it set up with.

GamerDude316 said:
my fiance and I saw that 3 bedroom house I posted about before this afternoon...I liked it but she was not too convinced. She wants something in perfect condition but a cheap price, which is not realistic, lol. Back to the drawing board for us...
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Yeah finding the right house is not a decision to be made lightly. I figured out the general location I wanted, approximately what I wanted to pay, what I wanted (a condo/townhouse end unit with a garage in good shape), then checked out a dozen places that mostly fit what I was looking for. After about a month I found one that really hit everything I wanted and made an offer the next day.

Also, there's no harm in using a realtor. If you tell them what you want they may already have something you're looking for or will keep an eye out for you. I'm pretty sure realtor fees are always paid by the seller as well.

 
GamerDude316 said:
my fiance and I saw that 3 bedroom house I posted about before this afternoon...I liked it but she was not too convinced. She wants something in perfect condition but a cheap price, which is not realistic, lol. Back to the drawing board for us...
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It's not unrealistic, just not at all practical. You can get a home that is in fine condition and finished just the way you want. You could even get a custom home built, but be prepared to pay a king's ransom and then some for it. Not to mention investing a whole lot more time & headaches... Otherwise you pretty much have to compromise that something won't be perfect when you move in. You'll always have to update something like flooring or a bathroom or whatever to suit your tastes and get it up to date.

Have somebody show you & your betrothed a completed, like new house finished with all the custom features she wants. Then shatter her world by giving away the price and when she sees it is ridiculously outside your budget or whatever she may compromise more on something not being perfect.

tylerh1701 said:
Also, there's no harm in using a realtor. If you tell them what you want they may already have something you're looking for or will keep an eye out for you. I'm pretty sure realtor fees are always paid by the seller as well.
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This is very much sound advice... As a buyer or seller if you have no past experience in real estate I'd say this is the route to go. Not only do they come with knowledge but they often have access to information or data you simply will not have as an independent buyer (such as accurate comps, connections, references, etc.)

Though technically the commission is taken from the sold price, you could argue that it's actually the buyer who pays for the commission because many sellers (and seller's agents) factor it into the list price...

 
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I would also add: even if you have a realtor, watch zillow like a hawk for new listings. I actually saw the place that I am living in, before my agent did.

 
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slowdive21 said:
I would also add: even if you have a realtor, watch zillow like a hawk for new listings. I actually saw the place that I am living in, before my agent did.
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^This. Zillow/Trulia are excellent tools. I recommend setting up an alert that way you are notified anytime a new house comes on the market. That said, I still ended up using a Realtor.

 
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Duo_Maxwell said:
Have somebody show you & your betrothed a completed, like new house finished with all the custom features she wants. Then shatter her world by giving away the price and when she sees it is ridiculously outside your budget or whatever she may compromise more on something not being perfect.
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Just like the Property Brothers! Seriously though - buy a house based on where it is located. Location is really everything. You can change everything else except where the house sits.

 
Javery said:
Just like the Property Brothers! Seriously though - buy a house based on where it is located. Location is really everything. You can change everything else except where the house sits.
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Very true, in fact I'd say location is the 1st factor to consider, especially if you are looking to settle for awhile, start a family, etc. Never forget you're actually buying the property to own as well the house. School ratings, commute, community, businesses, hell even crime rates all should really be things you consider when picking where you;ll be living. You're lifestyle may determine some of those things. Like I don't have kids and travel a fair amount for work anyhow so commute and school ratings were not super important to me. Still, you have to consider you'll be selling the place you buy to others at some point (and sometimes sooner than you think).

Very few people live their lives forever in the first home they bought. So just beause you can live with something doesn't mean others will consider doing so & for most people this is the biggest investment purchase they ever make so you want to get value when you eventually sell it. As Javery just said, you could completely gut the place and rebuild it all, but you can't move or replace the actual property and you'll find out just how true that is when you have to eventually sell the place you buy.

Which is also somewhat related to the fact that you have to be abit worried about curb appeal when looking at homes. Don't neglect this because it's a giant factor in eventually selling most homes. While some things can improve that but you'd be shocked at how expensive things like good landscaping can get even if you do most of it yourself...

 
Duo_Maxwell said:
Very true, in fact I'd say location is the 1st factor to consider, especially if you are looking to settle for awhile, start a family, etc. Never forget you're actually buying the property to own as well the house. School ratings, commute, community, businesses, hell even crime rates all should really be things you consider when picking where you;ll be living. You're lifestyle may determine some of those things. Like I don't have kids and travel a fair amount for work anyhow so commute and school ratings were not super important to me. Still, you have to consider you'll be selling the place you buy to others at some point (and sometimes sooner than you think).

Very few people live their lives forever in the first home they bought. So just beause you can live with something doesn't mean others will consider doing so & for most people this is the biggest investment purchase they ever make so you want to get value when you eventually sell it. As Javery just said, you could completely gut the place and rebuild it all, but you can't move or replace the actual property and you'll find out just how true that is when you have to eventually sell the place you buy.

Which is also somewhat related to the fact that you have to be abit worried about curb appeal when looking at homes. Don't neglect this because it's a giant factor in eventually selling most homes. While some things can improve that but you'd be shocked at how expensive things like good landscaping can get even if you do most of it yourself...
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Spot on. Location is the only variable you cannot change.

 
One more variable you can not control: Home owners associations/assessments. If you have to pay them find out how much money the association has saved before you sign and make sure they are in good standing/have a balanced budget. (If you have a lawyer, they will request all of this from the assoc. if they know what they are doing)

 
Ask for the history of the assessments as well, as in how frequently they've been raised in the past.  Having your HOA fee go up every year is going to piss you off.

 
slowdive21 said:
One more variable you can not control: Home owners associations/assessments. If you have to pay them find out how much money the association has saved before you sign and make sure they are in good standing/have a balanced budget. (If you have a lawyer, they will request all of this from the assoc. if they know what they are doing)
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And this is why you don't buy in a HOA-controlled area. Though that is easier said than done in a lot of areas, in MA, it's thankfully not the norm to have an HOA because most places were built up like 50 years ago.

 
Dead of Knight said:
And this is why you don't buy in a HOA-controlled area. Though that is easier said than done in a lot of areas, in MA, it's thankfully not the norm to have an HOA because most places were built up like 50 years ago.
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I live in an HOA and it's expensive but I don't have to do any yard work or shovel snow. We also have a pool and I just got my roof replaced last year for free since it falls under the purview of the HOA.

 
Asked this last year and I don't think I got many responses, which I should probably take as a hint.

But does anyone here have any experiences with portable evaporative coolers?  My A/C sucks on my top floor and I live in a pretty dry climate, Salt Lake City.

 
1.) I urge all people to visit the house they want to buy at different times during the day.  Night is different than day and it can help round out the character of a neighborhood.

2.) I live in Denver which is probably just as dry as SLC. I had an evaporative coolers but it was the whole house type. It worked great and prefer it to AC as it doesn't dry out the air. Portable one simply aren't good. They don't seem to move the air enough to make a real difference (to me). 

 
Well, I'm going to be spending about $5K to waterproof my brand new basement.  I'm having something installed on the outside of the foundation before we landscape.  Looks like the landscaping budget just got a hell of a lot smaller.  This sucks.

 
Ugh. Bid just came in and it's going to be $19K for landscaping and this doesn't even include the fence or sprinklers.  Everything is so goddamn expensive.

 
Javery said:
Ugh. Bid just came in and it's going to be $19K for landscaping and this doesn't even include the fence or sprinklers. Everything is so goddamn expensive.
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Very true. Do you mind me asking which landscaping company you are using? I only ask because I am in need of one.

 
If I could do it all over again I'd definitely learn a trade and open up my own business.  So far everyone who has worked on my house over the last 18 months lives in a nicer house and drives a nicer car than I do.  Unfortunately (or not depending on how you look at it), my house is in a very nice neighborhood so whenever I need a contractor or something they just throw out the most ridiculous numbers because if I won't pay, someone else in town will so it's no harm for them to try.  I love where I am but I often wonder if I'd be better off financially somewhere else - not only are the taxes higher here but I'm constantly dealing with the feeling that I'm getting overcharged on stuff based solely on my address.

EDIT: To be fair, the plan includes regrading the entire front and back lawn, laying down sod everywhere, leveling out my front walk and installing a new stone patio in the back yard.  Plus they have to plant all of the bushes/trees that go everywhere.  It is a fair amount of work but my property is 0.14 acres and my house and driveway take up most of the land - I'm guessing at most my entire lawn is about 3,000 sqft., which is obviously small.  So, yeah.

 
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Don't you guys have an abundance of Mexicans like we do? $50 at home depot for 1 days work. problem solved. (j/k)

I was actually thinking about the construction industry last night when I couldn't fall asleep...I'm willing to bet about 10%-15% of people that work in construction actually go to some type of trade school. I can't imagine a trade school is more than a 1yr or 2 year program depending on how many areas you want to work in. Most likely the people who attend school are the actual contractor and don't do any of the manual labor.  I'm pretty confident I could frame a structure and do drywall based on watching others do it (random thought).

 
Waterproofing guy is coming out on Tuesday.  Hopefully going to settle on $3,200-$3,500 for the basement wall.  Then it's on to the landscaping.  My yard is so embarrassing right now.  Weeds are a foot high and bare dirt and rocks on 80% of my "yard".  I've got to do a shame mowing tomorrow...

 
That sounds kind of high for what your talking about Javery, lol... I just say this because I have a ton of stuff I have to do at home, our backyard wasn't landscaped and kind of let go. We sit on 1/4 acre, I have a ton of concrete work, need to redo the sprinklers, dig up an old tree stump, stump grind another one, figure out if I want to keep the tree house or not and the list goes on....

Also, as to what was previously mentioned. I stressed the location part to my wife. I told her before you go looking for houses look at what area you want to move to. We bought almost 2 years ago near the bottom of the low and it's already gone up over 100K.

 
skiizim said:
That sounds kind of high for what your talking about Javery, lol... I just say this because I have a ton of stuff I have to do at home, our backyard wasn't landscaped and kind of let go. We sit on 1/4 acre, I have a ton of concrete work, need to redo the sprinklers, dig up an old tree stump, stump grind another one, figure out if I want to keep the tree house or not and the list goes on....

Also, as to what was previously mentioned. I stressed the location part to my wife. I told her before you go looking for houses look at what area you want to move to. We bought almost 2 years ago near the bottom of the low and it's already gone up over 100K.
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Awesome news about the increased value of your house. Patience is the key. We are still in our "starter home" and will have it for the next 20 years or until the kids are all in college at least. My location is great and the value should only go up over time.

The outside work should start this week - we are hiring the waterproofer tomorrow and the other landscaper is also coming out tomorrow to give us a design and bid so I'll have that sorted out by the end of the week. I'm hoping everything is finished by 4th of July.

 
Any guesses what a bathroom vent/exhaust fan cost to install? If it means anything the attic is above the bathroom for running the vent to the outside.
 
All you have to do is cut a hole in the ceiling for the fan, wire up a switch, cut a hole on the exterior of the house and run the duct work for the vent.  Couple hundred dollars?

 
Depending on the size of the bathroom, a vent will run you between $50-$150. They have standard looking ones that are loud to some really nice looking designer ones. I think the trickier part is installing the vent and not messing up the roof versus anything else, especially if the bathroom sits on the lower end of the roof where you don't have too much room to mess around with.

@Javery, I want some pictures when it's done!

 
skiizim said:
That sounds kind of high for what your talking about Javery, lol... I just say this because I have a ton of stuff I have to do at home, our backyard wasn't landscaped and kind of let go. We sit on 1/4 acre, I have a ton of concrete work, need to redo the sprinklers, dig up an old tree stump, stump grind another one, figure out if I want to keep the tree house or not and the list goes on....

Also, as to what was previously mentioned. I stressed the location part to my wife. I told her before you go looking for houses look at what area you want to move to. We bought almost 2 years ago near the bottom of the low and it's already gone up over 100K.
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It's gone up over $100k says who? Zillow claims my house is valued at $105k over what we bought it for 2 and a half years ago, but I call shenanigans.

 
Javery said:
Ugh. Bid just came in and it's going to be $19K for landscaping and this doesn't even include the fence or sprinklers. Everything is so goddamn expensive.
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no kidding.

We were looking at about 30' of fence, a raised garden, 800 sq. ft new sod, various planting and a 20' x 20' low deck (about 18" off the ground)..the bid was 20k... but the deck was 13k of it

 
Dead of Knight said:
It's gone up over $100k says who? Zillow claims my house is valued at $105k over what we bought it for 2 and a half years ago, but I call shenanigans.
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I'm not even going by what zillow says, if that were the case it's gone up over $210k according to zillow. I'm going by what similar houses are selling for in my area.

usickenme said:
no kidding.

We were looking at about 30' of fence, a raised garden, 800 sq. ft new sod, various planting and a 20' x 20' low deck (about 18" off the ground)..the bid was 20k... but the deck was 13k of it
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You guys are discouraging me, I have no problem doing some of the work myself and I know people who know people but I don't know how that would work out.

 
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i can vary a lot but it's probably more then you wanted the spend.  We told the guy we wanted to do everything but the deck and he flipped out. Said he couldn't get to it until Sept.

I wound up doing the raised garden last weekend by myself. Materials alone were as much as his quote (obviously he is getting a deal on stuff and I went the home depot route). 

 
usickenme said:
i can vary a lot but it's probably more then you wanted the spend. We told the guy we wanted to do everything but the deck and he flipped out. Said he couldn't get to it until Sept.

I wound up doing the raised garden last weekend by myself. Materials alone were as much as his quote (obviously he is getting a deal on stuff and I went the home depot route).
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Your probably better off doing the deck yourself too, I think the hardest part would be setting the foudnation for it but even 13k sounds like so much. Material is no more than 3k-4k for that and they could build that in a day or two tops.

In my experience, it pays to get lots of quotes, don't settle just for a few. We put retro windows in our house last year, our first bid was 12k and our lowest bid was 6k. We paid a little under 9k for windows we felt best for us, a week after I accepted one of the bids, the local contractor contractor of a company who I went and visted before we made up are mind called and offered a bid for 8k. He orignally wanted a little over 10k, so there is always room for flex.

 
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yeah fortunately I'm an architect so I have a pretty good handle on what stuff should cost. Part of the cost was composite decking which is $$ but easier to deal with long term. The problem is we recently got slammed by a storm in the area and there is a lot of work for people. I think we had 3 landscape contractors cancel on us just to get bids. 

I could do the deck but I really don't want to.. We are putting a hot tub on it so we have to upsize the joists. If I was unemployed, I'd do it.

 
I think my 426sq ft deck was about 14K for Azek materials, stairs, landscaping underneath with 2" of stones, along with some minor upgrades (including 12" spaced joists instead of standard 16"). So 13K doesn't seem too offbase.

 
skiizim said:
I'm not even going by what zillow says, if that were the case it's gone up over $210k according to zillow. I'm going by what similar houses are selling for in my area.
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In that case Zillow is probably accurate for me. House next door is only 1000 square feet and is sale pending for $369k. Ours is 1550 sq ft and the same age. Zillow is saying it's worth $400k. I'd say that's a reasonable estimate considering.

 
Dead of Knight said:
In that case Zillow is probably accurate for me. House next door is only 1000 square feet and is sale pending for $369k. Ours is 1550 sq ft and the same age. Zillow is saying it's worth $400k. I'd say that's a reasonable estimate considering.
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lol.... That is pricey for such a small house, what area is this in? Must be in or near a major city.

 
Dead of Knight said:
In that case Zillow is probably accurate for me. House next door is only 1000 square feet and is sale pending for $369k. Ours is 1550 sq ft and the same age. Zillow is saying it's worth $400k. I'd say that's a reasonable estimate considering.
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Hows that? 400k sounds low. Cost per sqft is 369/foot based on facts given. 1550*369 = 571950

50% more house for only 40k more is really low sounding.

Of course that doesnt take into account conditions, size of lot, etc.

 
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skiizim said:
lol.... That is pricey for such a small house, what area is this in? Must be in or near a major city.
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Boston area, under 10 miles north. Our city was also ranked one of the top 100 safest towns in the country and the median house price here is 400k. The small house was flipped btw, it was bought about a year ago for 200k. It's over 100 years old and they made a ton of superficial improvements (bs like an updated kitchen and a tiny little porch, no real improvements), and somehow it sold almost immediately at 369k. The lot is a little bigger than ours but not much.

 
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