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

[quote name='Javery'](otherwise why would she design something that had little chance of being approved?).[/quote]

Because I'm assuming she gets paid for drawing up plans either way unless payment is contingent on the structure getting approved.


[quote name='Javery']just annoyed all of the time and I thought this was going to be lots of fun...[/QUOTE]

I thought you were an attorney? Maybe not? I figure most attorneys know government decisions move at a crawl. At any rate, local government always takes forever unless you're someone or something ultra-important.

If its only 2% over the max allowed without a variance, why not have the architect scale back the size 2% so you can hire contractors and start pulling permits?
 
My cousins completely redid their house and added a second floor. They needed it because they had 5 kids in a small 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom ranch. Now it is a 5 bedroom, 2 bath. I am sure that was a giant pain in the ass to approve.
 
[quote name='kodave']Because I'm assuming she gets paid for drawing up plans either way unless payment is contingent on the structure getting approved.[/QUOTE]

She stands to make a ton more from us during the construction phase, which she will be overseeing. So far we have spent about 1/2 of the estimate on the architect fees but the design and all of the heavy lifting is basically done. I mean I guess she could take the position that she doesn't care but I don't think that is the case. She is a well-known architect in town so it doesn't do her business any favors to be designing things that ultimately can't be built. If we get rejected you aren't allowed to just cut off a few feet and resubmit the design - it has to be entirely different. Why? I have no idea but that is the rule so this is like a one shot deal. We better get it right.

[quote name='kodave'] I thought you were an attorney? Maybe not? I figure most attorneys know government decisions move at a crawl. At any rate, local government always takes forever unless you're someone or something ultra-important.[/QUOTE]

I was referring to the process in general... not getting the approvals from the town which I expected to take a while. I thought this was going to be fun but so far not so much. Everything costs a ton and there is a LOT of work involved on my end (especially considering how much I'm going to be paying for this).

[quote name='kodave'] If its only 2% over the max allowed without a variance, why not have the architect scale back the size 2% so you can hire contractors and start pulling permits?[/QUOTE]

The design just won't work. We are allowed 20% building coverage by code. The architect said that the board of adjustment will approve a variance of up to around 22% but after that it gets iffy whether they will approve it or not. Right now my house covers 18% of the property so scaling the design back isn't an option. In fact, we have agreed to knock down my 2 car garage and build a one car garage in its place so I can use the difference in square footage on the addition. My lot measures 50' x 120' - it's very very small so every inch counts!
 
[quote name='perdition(troy']I'd never get rid of my attached 2.5 car garage. Never.[/QUOTE]
I've got a 2 car detached. My wife hates it with a furious passion. I think I've got a couple of years before she goes nuclear and demands a change but man I hear about it every time it rains.
 
We submitted the application on Friday. The lady said we will probably be on the February docket so we have until then to figure out the materials we want to use for the interior as well as the layout I want in my basement arcade/theater. So I guess things are about to get fun.
 
Man, it's rough on the lower end of the market. Find these fantastic short sales, but I keep getting beat out by investors who are paying with cash. It's seriously starting to feel like I'm going to have to overpay for a shitty house to have any sort of chance.
 
[quote name='Friend of Sonic']Man, it's rough on the lower end of the market. Find these fantastic short sales, but I keep getting beat out by investors who are paying with cash. It's seriously starting to feel like I'm going to have to overpay for a shitty house to have any sort of chance.[/QUOTE]

Pretty much. Seems like around here most of the non short sales are way overvalued. I think we got a decent deal on our place, but not a great one. The prices still need to come down more here, but people are too butthurt to do it.
 
Yep, the traditional sales are way too much when there's an assload of foreclosures+short sales that are just as nice, and sometimes even nicer for a much cheaper price. But does it matter if I can't even get an accepted offer? Getting pretty discouraged. I guess next time I see a house I like, I'll submit more than asking price.

Wow, how anti-CAG.
 
Just lost out on my second home. This time, I offered more than asking, and still lost out on a cash offer LESS than my offer. I seriously don't know the hell I'm supposed to buy a home if I'm offering the most, but cash still winds up being king.
 
[quote name='Friend of Sonic']Just lost out on my second home. This time, I offered more than asking, and still lost out on a cash offer LESS than my offer. I seriously don't know the hell I'm supposed to buy a home if I'm offering the most, but cash still winds up being king.[/QUOTE]

What was the difference between your offer and the cash offer? Was the property a short sale or a foreclosure? Are you getting any special financing from the government or from being a veteran or anything? There's more to home buying than just the amount offered, the way the home is being purchased can matter too in certain situations. With an all cash offer, everything is going to go much faster whereas its possible your bank may fail to come through for some reason on a standard mortgage they've approved you for.
 
[quote name='Friend of Sonic']Just lost out on my second home. This time, I offered more than asking, and still lost out on a cash offer LESS than my offer. I seriously don't know the hell I'm supposed to buy a home if I'm offering the most, but cash still winds up being king.[/QUOTE]

Have you ever thought about being more patient? Why try to force something? It's a buyers market and cash IS king. You'll find a house eventually. Why are you in such a rush to buy a home?
 
well shit, the $1,440 fence I'm having installed is getting delayed a bit longer. They dug the posts 8 days ago and were supposed to finish it yesterday but now it looks like it'll be next Friday. Gah!
 
[quote name='kodave']What was the difference between your offer and the cash offer? Was the property a short sale or a foreclosure? Are you getting any special financing from the government or from being a veteran or anything? There's more to home buying than just the amount offered, the way the home is being purchased can matter too in certain situations. With an all cash offer, everything is going to go much faster whereas its possible your bank may fail to come through for some reason on a standard mortgage they've approved you for.[/QUOTE]
The property was a short sale, and I do not know the difference between my offer and his, though my offer was a pretty healthy increase over asking. No special financing, I am doing a FHA loan.
I completely understand that cash makes the transaction very easy. I guess I wasn't coming in here to ask "Why, detailed explanation!" but rather, "Why! Life is so unfair!" in order to bitch and moan.

[quote name='mtxbass1']Have you ever thought about being more patient? Why try to force something? It's a buyers market and cash IS king. You'll find a house eventually. Why are you in such a rush to buy a home?[/QUOTE]
I am being patient. You do not know how long I've been looking, so I'm not sure you're qualified to tell me that I'm in a rush. For the first time since I've been 18, I've been living at my parent's. It's very nice of them to offer this so that I do not have worry about a lease, or spending more on month to month rent. However, I value my independence greatly, so yes, I would like to find a home and move out and not to drag this whole ordeal out, especially since if I do wind up buying a shortsale, it could take a couple of months of working with the bank before I could even get the place.
 
The reason is because it's a short sale. The banks are lazy and stupid as fuck and want the transaction to go away ASAP. That's why they preferred cash. They don't want to wait for your loan to go through. If it was a regular sale they probably would have gone with you. That's just the way it is with short sales and foreclosures.
 
Yeah... I'm definitely starting to see that is the case. There's been a lot of times where the listing agents have just told us up front "We got a cash offer and that's going to be tough for you to beat." In reality there's probably been about six homes I've been interested in, it just so happens I got shushed away before I made an offer.

Traditional sales are hard to come across. They're out there, but they are expensive. And then I've been thinking about a new home build, but I really don't think I can afford that.
 
[quote name='Friend of Sonic']

I am being patient. You do not know how long I've been looking, so I'm not sure you're qualified to tell me that I'm in a rush. For the first time since I've been 18, I've been living at my parent's. It's very nice of them to offer this so that I do not have worry about a lease, or spending more on month to month rent. However, I value my independence greatly, so yes, I would like to find a home and move out and not to drag this whole ordeal out, especially since if I do wind up buying a shortsale, it could take a couple of months of working with the bank before I could even get the place.[/QUOTE]

Wow. Defensive much? How much are you putting down on this? Other than being independent from your parents(which you could gain by renting), what are your reasons for actually wanting to be a homeowner? Are you planning on being in your area for at least 5 years? Are you aware of the total cost of home ownership beyond the mortgage payment?
 
...defensive? lol, no, it was more of a curiosity on why you think I'm in a rush because of frustration with the home buying process.

I've been renting for over five years. I could have kept renting... but I thought about home ownership and its benefits, and also its added cost and responsibility. After considering it all, it is a good move for me. I'm not really sure why you think I'm trying to gain independence? I had it since I've been 18, and made the decision to move back in temporarily with my parents because it would help me greatly as I search for a home. Perhaps you misread my post? I just read it now and saw that maybe you could have read it as I've been living with my parents since the age of 18. No, I've been moved out since the age of 18, but recently moved back in with them after my lease ended.

I'm really not sure why you're assuming I'm being impulsive based off of "Damn, missed another home." You do not know anything about my financial state, my work ethic on maintaining a home, or my ability to handle a large financial investment like this. It's almost like you're assuming I'm just another dumb 24 year old about to buy a house so I can throw weekend parties. =P
 
[quote name='Friend of Sonic']...defensive? lol, no, it was more of a curiosity on why you think I'm in a rush because of frustration with the home buying process.

I've been renting for over five years. I could have kept renting... but I thought about home ownership and its benefits, and also its added cost and responsibility. After considering it all, it is a good move for me. I'm not really sure why you think I'm trying to gain independence? I had it since I've been 18, and made the decision to move back in temporarily with my parents because it would help me greatly as I search for a home. Perhaps you misread my post? I just read it now and saw that maybe you could have read it as I've been living with my parents since the age of 18. No, I've been moved out since the age of 18, but recently moved back in with them after my lease ended.

I'm really not sure why you're assuming I'm being impulsive based off of "Damn, missed another home." You do not know anything about my financial state, my work ethic on maintaining a home, or my ability to handle a large financial investment like this. It's almost like you're assuming I'm just another dumb 24 year old about to buy a house so I can throw weekend parties. =P[/QUOTE]

It was based on your past comments in this thread and what I am observing in your posts. That's it. I mentioned you gaining independence because that's what YOU listed as your reason for wanting to own. It's crystal clear to me that you had it, then had to move back home. Is that your only reason?

I'm not assuming anything here except the information that you've given us, which is that you continue to be perplexed as to why you're getting passed up on homes when it's staring you right in the face. You're a first time home buyer going up against investors with cash. I can't blame sellers one bit for not wanting to deal with anything but cash on the low end.

Is there a reason why you won't answer my other questions about how much you're putting down and if you'll be living in the area for at least 5 years?

Believe it or not, some of us have been through this before with the same mindset that you have and are looking to offer help and or advice so you don't get yourself into a situation that can be avoided. Your age has nothing to do with the issue here.
 
Don't bother putting in offers on short sales with a FHA loan. Almost no one is going to waste their time with that. It's hard enough to grab a short sale with just a standard loan/mortgage. Cash is going to win every time. Especially in Arizona where the price of housing is probably nothing compared to California or other places with huge costs of living.

Short sales in general are a giant crap shoot anyway. Banks constantly approve short sale prices but won't accept reasonable offers on the home. Unless the amount offered is going to get what's owed on the home paid off completely, banks aren't really interested in playing ball. They'll just let it slip into foreclosure and let it sit there for 6 months or longer until they finally sell it. Sounds like a bad plan to me, but I'm not an accountant for a bank so I don't know what benefits they get out of letting short sales slide into foreclosure.

Friend of Sonic, you should look more at foreclosures and try to find some that cash-rich investors aren't trying to scoop up. I don't know anything about the Arizona market, but I know there are some foreclosed homes that are in good shape that you can get for what is considered a good deal, its just not a good deal for these investors who want to buy them, slap a new coat of paint on them, then flip them for what seems to me to be meager sums. (They must do enough of it for it to be profitable though.) But even with foreclosures you'll find some resistance to FHA loans.
 
Thanks Kodave-- the short sales are indeed competitive. I've been hoping I can sneak in, but that hasn't been the case, especially when the listing agents sit back for a few days and collect offers.

There is an interesting option for me-- Fannie Mae Home Path. There's a few very useful benefits for going through the program, including a 15 day period where investors are NOT allowed to put in an offer. Definitely tailored to the schmoe like me who's just trying to get his slice of the American dream. They claim to go in, renovate the home to move in ready condition, and then list them for sale. One I looked at was GORGEOUS, and the other one I looked at was pretty good too. The only problem is, they seem a bit on the high side-- the one I'm most interested in, the one I call GORGEOUS, is a good 10k-15k overpriced for the area that it's in. My realtor commented that he got another client in a Home Path home less than listing price, so that is certainly possible. The one really nice thing is that PMI is not required, even when you're not putting 20% down. That's a pretty big help for the monthly payment-- a 100k home will have about 100 dollars in PMI, so that is certainly a nice perk.
 
I need to buy a place in Chicago, but real estate agents won't show me properties because I am unemployed (eventhough I plan on putting down at least $50,000). Most of the places I am looking at are only $100,000-$150,000. I would at least like to look while I have time, rather than waiting until I have a job again.
 
[quote name='slowdive21']I need to buy a place in Chicago, but real estate agents won't show me properties because I am unemployed (eventhough I plan on putting down at least $50,000). Most of the places I am looking at are only $100,000-$150,000. I would at least like to look while I have time, rather than waiting until I have a job again.[/QUOTE]

Moving into a place while employed is a pain in the ass too. But you probably won't be able to get a mortgage approved if you are unemployed, which is why the RE agents won't show you properties if you volunteer that information. But seriously, why even tell the RE agents you aren't employed?
 
[quote name='Dead of Knight']Moving into a place while employed is a pain in the ass too. But you probably won't be able to get a mortgage approved if you are unemployed, which is why the RE agents won't show you properties if you volunteer that information. But seriously, why even tell the RE agents you aren't employed?[/QUOTE]

They want me to prequalify before they will show properties. I have good/great credit, but the first thing they ask for is my current income.
 
That sucks to be unemployed, but to have the savings to put down a solid down payment. Every real estate person I've dealt with wants a prequal letter too before they even want to deal with me.

You don't happen to have a friend of the family that's a realtor or something do you? You can also do what I saw one guy do-- he sheepishly asked, "Mind if I take a look?" My realtor told him, "You've really gotta wait for your realtor to show up so he can show you around." He then said, "Just real quick" and darted through the house. He then left seconds later and got in his car and left.
 
so after I spend 700 bucks on a garage door from menards, my father in law tells me he forgot to tell me to not buy a garage door from there. argh.
oh well, its getting installed today, for another 250which isn't that bad, and also equals a half day Monday for me. Score.
 
[quote name='Dead of Knight']Pretty much. Seems like around here most of the non short sales are way overvalued. I think we got a decent deal on our place, but not a great one. The prices still need to come down more here, but people are too butthurt to do it.[/QUOTE]

The fun part is getting them to accept a good, low offer --- only to have the appraisal come in $20K lower. The recent move in that regard ended up well because of some crazy short sells/foreclosures.

Can't complain.
 
[quote name='perdition(troy']so after I spend 700 bucks on a garage door from menards, my father in law tells me he forgot to tell me to not buy a garage door from there. argh.
oh well, its getting installed today, for another 250which isn't that bad, and also equals a half day Monday for me. Score.[/QUOTE]

what's wrong with a Menard's garage door?

motherfucking woodpeckers...
 
[quote name='nasum']what's wrong with a Menard's garage door?

motherfucking woodpeckers...[/QUOTE]

supposedly cheaper steel, blah blah blah. Nothing that really changes anything for me, just would have been nice for him to mention a few weeks ago considering we both were looking for garage doors together the past few weekends.

and of course now they aren't installing it tomorrow. Half day today, half day tomorrow, win win I guess.

Also, woodpeckers are fucking terrible.
 
[quote name='nasum']what's wrong with a Menard's garage door?

motherfucking woodpeckers...[/QUOTE]

They're just really cheap and flimsy. They're fine in the short term, but in the long run, they tend to go bad quicker. They're more likely to dent, bend, tear, rust, etc.
 
[quote name='MrNEWZ']The fun part is getting them to accept a good, low offer --- only to have the appraisal come in $20K lower. The recent move in that regard ended up well because of some crazy short sells/foreclosures.

Can't complain.[/QUOTE]

That's not always a good thing. If the appraisal comes in $20K lower, your bank may not want to let your loan go through because its drastically lower and they're basically overpaying for it in what they lend you assuming this is a "normal" priced property and not like a multimillion dollar home where 20K is a drop in the bucket. And again, assuming this is just a "normal"ish property, I doubt many sellers are going to renegotiate even half that much lower if your bank is putting up a fuss.
 
[quote name='kodave']That's not always a good thing. If the appraisal comes in $20K lower, your bank may not want to let your loan go through because its drastically lower and they're basically overpaying for it in what they lend you assuming this is a "normal" priced property and not like a multimillion dollar home where 20K is a drop in the bucket. And again, assuming this is just a "normal"ish property, I doubt many sellers are going to renegotiate even half that much lower if your bank is putting up a fuss.[/QUOTE]

Apologies, I thought the comment inferred the following:

(1) An appraisal lower than the agreed upon value in any market, let alone now, should mean that the new offer is the appraised value.
(2) If the seller won't sell at the appraised value, then their property won't sell for some time (until the market self corrects).

The reality was we got a steal. An excellent condition home, not a short sell, but there were some homes that had been forclosed on in a similar range and in super distress. This one had an entirely new and modern kitchen and tons of extras that a lot of others in the "hipster" area of classic homes wouldn't have.

The previous owners got a new job and were relocating. None of the typical BS that seems to surround most non-foreclosure/short sells we looked at (most were "seeing what they could get" or older people refusing to move out of a 5 BR house after their spouse passed away or prior to moving to a retirement style community. We had similar issues as Friend of Sonic (despite not FHA and having my employer be my mortgage bank) and we found that a motivated non-bank seller tended to make the quicker / better deals for all involved.

My co-worker had similar luck, with the sale of his new house being the only way the old owners could buy their next house in the area they'd moved to.

In short, "Street Value" of the new home in a normal market at this time without those other properties showing up would be about $20-25 over the negotiated price. The appraisal was probably low given the specs I'd pulled and the work I'd done (which is why I felt the agreed price was a steal to begin with), so it definitely helped us out.
 
[quote name='MrNEWZ']
(1) An appraisal lower than the agreed upon value in any market, let alone now, should mean that the new offer is the appraised value.
(2) If the seller won't sell at the appraised value, then their property won't sell for some time (until the market self corrects).
[/QUOTE]

Not true.

An appraisal isn't the same as what the market price should be. If appraisal values were suddenly to be the absolute market values, then buying real estate would be an entirely different game. Its not an exact science of any kind.

An appraisal is just one "independent" person's opinion. All it takes is a different appraisal. I don't know the law on doing multiple appraisals on one property and if it varies in every state, or if an owner has to report prior appraisals to subsequent possible purchasers, but basically a second opinion can get things sold.

The place I'm in right now was a foreclosure and a great buy with the offer that we put in which was well below what the selling-bank was looking to get but they accepted it. Then the appraisal came back lower (off the top of my head I forget how much lower, but it was significant enough for a property that wasn't costing very much in the first place), and our lender balked at it and wouldn't sign off on it, and the selling-bank certainly wasn't going to go any lower.

Our offer was already low for this neighborhood with other sales and foreclosures in it, the offer was low for the current market and other comps in similar neighborhoods, we were working with very experienced and very good realtors who are family friends who were helping out with this small property so they knew the price was right, but we just by the luck of the draw had someone that made a really low appraisal, and that wasn't good news.

Because think about it, if the bank lends X amount more than the appraisal, and say I immediately don't pay my mortgage and they have to foreclose, then they're in more on a property than what it might theoretically be worth. And at the time, the market wasn't yet at its bottom so had this place fallen back into foreclosure in my hands, it would be worth even less by the time the bank would be able to foreclose and sell again, and the lender would be even more screwed.

This was years ago now, and I don't remember the specifics but after much hassle a second appraisal was done, it was around the ball park of what we offered, and after taking whatever considerations a bank takes after seeing two different appraisal numbers, our lender agreed to the sale. Had we just had a different person for the first appraisal we could dealt with a lot less hassle and stress. And given the sale prices in the years since, we definitely did not overpay, the lender didn't take unnecessary risk, and some appraiser is out there low balling other properties probably.
 
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[quote name='kodave']Not true.

An appraisal isn't the same as what the market price should be. If appraisal values were suddenly to be the absolute market values, then buying real estate would be an entirely different game. Its not an exact science of any kind. [/QUOTE]

I thought I kind of covered that as well, indicating the street value of the home, etc. and my need to thank the appraiser here at the bank. The market documents is what did the final appraised value in at the end, which was more or less the reason for my point.

[quote name='kodave']
An appraisal is just one "independent" person's opinion. All it takes is a different appraisal. I don't know the law on doing multiple appraisals on one property and if it varies in every state, or if an owner has to report prior appraisals to subsequent possible purchasers, but basically a second opinion can get things sold.
[/QUOTE]

Exactly. However, the appraisal by the lender tends to trump all. In this market, you as a seller are asking the buyer to not only agree to the higher appraisal, but also to change lenders.

We're not in disagreement about many things and your story, since dated, misses out that no buyer in this market should accept a second appraisal if the first comes in low from the lender.

I tend to speak in absolutes, knowing full well there are exceptions to everything --- but really, these are strong rules to work within if possible.
 
Fridge went stupid last night. Of course this was after I came home with $150 in groceries and no where to put them...

The lights are on but it won't get cold on either side. It isn't terribly old (has the whole ice/water thing on the front) so I can't think that it has shat the bed already.
 
[quote name='nasum']Fridge went stupid last night. Of course this was after I came home with $150 in groceries and no where to put them...

The lights are on but it won't get cold on either side. It isn't terribly old (has the whole ice/water thing on the front) so I can't think that it has shat the bed already.[/QUOTE]

If you haven't already:

Buy a bag bulk ice and put that in the fridge.

Unplug the fridge and vacuum off the coils (some have them on the back, some are underneath).

Plug back in and hope it works.

That is the extent of my fridge maintenance knowledge.
 
[quote name='nasum']Fridge went stupid last night. Of course this was after I came home with $150 in groceries and no where to put them...

The lights are on but it won't get cold on either side. It isn't terribly old (has the whole ice/water thing on the front) so I can't think that it has shat the bed already.[/QUOTE]
Are the fans still running? We had an issue a year or so ago that our internal fan iced over. After being unplugged for the night (yes food was going to spoil so we donated a good chunk of it), we turned it on and the fan kicked in. The fridge then got cold again.

--------------------
Recently the toilet tub porcelain lid cracked in half; dropped. Any idea if this piece can just be replaced or do you think I will need to replace the whole toilet?
 
Relating to the fridge issue, you can also try checking that the back of the fridge is not gunked up with dust bunnies and what not .We had an issue with our fan before when the back of the fridge was caked in too much gunk.
 
Well, I've only been a homeowner for going on three years now, and have come across a pest problem that hopefully someone more experienced could suggest.

So the past week I've noticed something has been getting into our trash out back at night. My first guess was that it was a pesky raccoon. I was wrong of course, and noticed in a tree last night an oppossum my dog had been barking at.

So I was wondering if people knew the best way to get rid of one of these, preferrably non-lethally. Not sure how much it would cost to have someone come out and catch it, and not sure if doing it myself would be cheaper/smarter.

Any suggestions?
 
You could use a Have A Heart traps to catch him safely, but those things are fucking crazy so releasing him might be dicey. Call your local animal control officer and see if they have any advice or if they would capture him or take a caught one off your hands.
 
Yeah use the Have A Heart trap or get trash cans with lids that lock down. Your probably better off with lids that lock down as you don't have to worry about future animals discovering the goods inside.
 
[quote name='Friend of Sonic']I have been waiting to purchase a short sale since March. Absolutely no movement on the file at all. This sucks. ;_;[/QUOTE]

Welcome to the joy of short sales!
 
Small Carpet Repair:
One of the dogs chewed up the edge of the carpet where it stops at the kitchen. I have a lot of spare carpet when it got cut for some of the weird angles.

How much should I cut back from the damaged area, how do I get the replacement carpet in and how do I lay down and edging strip so that they can't get to that carpet again (like a metal strip to "border" the carpet to the linoleum)?
 
Oh I'm in the process of buying my first house right now, I'll need to subscribe to this thread haha. Hopefully I'll be closing by the end of the month.

And to the guy a few posts above me, I feel sorry for ya. I avoided short sales like the plague, they seem like too much of a headache to be worth it. Plus the couple short sales I looked at were trashed to shit, I'm not wanting to redo a house right now.
 
Quick question?

In the process of moving into new house there is no outside vent for the dryer in the basement. The inner walls are cinder block and the outside of the house is stucco/fake rock masonary. WHat would be the best way to get through that to make the 4" hole for the vent? If I decide not to attempt making the hole who should I call? Would I call a general house repair guy or should i call someone who deals just in masonary work?

Thanks,
Anthony
 
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