terrawombat

My lender is PNC and although there were a lot of errors on the disclosures and applications they sent me, they have done their very best to make it right. Unfortunately, the paperwork is sent via a third party company and never passed through my loan officers hands. He said if he had seen it, he would have made the corrections on the obvious errors. The only thing that seems a little discouraging is that my loan officer assured me he would get me the correct paperwork over-nighted to my house, but that never did happen. He did fax over the corrected forms, though (they're not allowed to send them via electronic mail, for some reason). I assume the home inspection was on the new house you were talking about. Did you put an offer on it? Or was this just a pre-inspection before the offer?

You need to be careful about old, crotchety neighborhood folks, especially those that are retired and never found the time to take up a hobby - they tend to make YOU their hobby. I'm looking to move into a town that is populated mostly by older, retired folks and I have heard some stories about a couple of old-timers who wander the town during the day and have the local PD on speed dial when they feel someone isn't following the town handbook of codes and ordinances. There's a fellow at my office that was renting a house in the town and liked to work on his vehicles in his driveway and was cited four times for leaving car parts strewn about the yard (he didn't have a garage to store anything). My first order of business will be to install the tallest fence the town allows, followed by hacking the roof off all of my vehicles so they don't poke over the fence :D

I am currently drowning in paperwork from my lender. They managed to muff up a good portion of my paperwork so I have been going back and forth with my loan officer trying to get it all sorted out. He keeps pressing me to get the paperwork in so that they can start the final approval process with the underwriters, but I refuse to put my John Hancock on documents that state my interest rate is 4.0% (I locked in at 3.75% for 45 days) and other documents that have my current and former addresses all wrong. I also drove by the house today on my way to do some shopping and noticed a large pile of dirt, rock and shale sitting in a pile next to where the underground oil tank is. I also saw what looked to be the current owner standing next to the mound of dirt smoking a cigarette and deep in thought. He had the kind of look that says, "how the hell am I going to afford the cleanup of this leaky oil tank?" Although, maybe him smoking and flicking a cigarette butt in the yard nearby is a good sign there isn't oil leaking in the ground. Or, he's an idiot that wants to put this house up into flames :rotfl2:

Was on 50E and spotted a red MJ going towards the Bay Bridge. Anyone on here? We had that moment where we both stared at each other's MJs in awe with the "HEY! I've got one of those too!" looks on our face.

Well, to be fair, your yard is a bit of an eyesore :yes: You desperately need a garage or storage shed to put a bunch of that stuff in. Also, how come the fence slopes down in this picture? Seems like it allows everyone from the street full view to what's in the yard if they have any elevation whatsoever.

Lots of Wrangler YJ hard doors came with those god awful mirrors. Haven't seen too many MJs with them, but they were a factory option, unfortunately.

My Mom has a Pontiac Vibe. She is taller than your wife (5'4") and has some difficulty seeing out of the rear windows because of their size and placement. You sit relatively low and the rear hatch window is incredibly small. She does seem to enjoy the car overall and I have driven it a handful of times. Seems plenty peppy, handles decent, and gets somewhere in the mid to high 20's for MPGs. It also has a surprising amount of trunk space since the rear seats fold down completely.

Hooray - you finally got one with relatively low mileage. I think you'll be able to flip this one for a nice price. I had a '99 that took a similar hit in a similar spot, but it did bend the control arm and waste the lower bracket - it also bent the axle tube.

I love it because I can't kill the damn thing, no matter how hard I try.

I have seen and heard of Estate sales going one of two ways: 1) The person(s) that inherited the home thinks it's worth way more than the current market rate and are extremely stubborn or 2) They don't want to deal with the property taxes and maintenance and will take just about anything to walk about with some money in their pockets and move on with their lives. Just up the street from where I'm currently staying, a home was being sold as an estate sale. Decent house, but the interior needed a lot of updating. Seller was in category number one, as previously listed, and listed the house for $335K. It sat on the market for nearly half a year before they moved on the price. Then another half year went by and no bites...so they lowered it some more, but it was still a little high. The seller began to move from a category 1 to category 2 after they realized that paying taxes on a home you don't truly live in or own SUCKS so they started getting a bit more aggressive with the price changes and it FINALLY has an offer on it. Also looks like the buyer got the seller to replace the roof, do some electrical work, and some other odds and ends as I've seen contractors there almost every single day since I saw the home inspection vehicle there (http://www.redfin.com/MD/Stevensville/8 ... e/15292104). In my case, I'm somewhat lucky because the sellers have to relocate. From what I gathered, the hubby had his job relocated and his commute is unbearable and they've already got themselves another place (although, I think it's rented). They're looking to get out and they don't want to be paying taxes on the old house and rent on the new. Plus, their agent is no dummy and she must have stressed to them that if they don't take care of the oil tanks, they'll be sitting on the house for a long, long time.

Sellers have agreed to remedy the underground storage tanks in accordance with Maryland Department of the Environment. They also agreed to fix some other, little things. They did not agree to get rid of the mold, though.

So after many phone calls and conversations with professionals that deal with underground storage tanks day in and day out (as well as conversations with a co-worker of mine who was a real estate tycoon in a former life and has bought and sold over two dozens homes - thank god for him and his bottomless pit of knowledge), I have generated a list of items to be included as an addendum to the sales contract. I've beaten them up, but I need to cover my arse and make sure I don't wind up buying a house that has a superfund site in the backyard and the EPA knocking on my door and reaching into my pockets. The list includes, but is not limited to: -Complete mold remediation in the basement by a certified professional -An inspection of the underground storage tanks by a certified professional, complete with soil samples sent to a lab to test for soil contamination. If the soil is not contaminated, the oil tank(s) must be properly abandoned and paperwork provided to me to prove as such. If the soil is contaminated - god help the sellers. -Fixing the mis-wired electrical outlets -Fix the loose banister on the stairs -Pipe the sump pump in the basement to the outside, away from the house (it's currently connected to the sewer drain) There are some others, but they are little things that they'll either do because it's cheap or they'll scoff and and refuse to do (which is fine my be since I'll do them). The two big things are the mold and the underground storage tanks. If either of those things is not taken care of, time for me to start looking for a new place to buy. I did hear some relatively good news in that the seller's agent took my inspection report seriously and is trying to schedule a certified professional to come out and do a preliminary inspection of the tanks. She knows that even if my deal falls through, the underground storage tanks MUST be dealt with or the house is going to sit on the market for a long time - or some idiot isn't going to think they're a big deal and buy the house anyway and get royally screwed.

The electrical panel doesn't really concern me too much as I've done lots of electrical work in the past and my GF's father is a licensed electrician and already said he'd help me out and give me the pretty paperwork to certify the panel once we repaired it. There's a very good chance the panel is overloaded and there are some very blatant problems with it (double-tapped breakers, missing insulation on some of the older wiring). The underground storage tanks are my biggest concern at the moment. I'm trying to get any information on them from the seller's, but I highly doubt they have anything. I still have a week to get a the tank inspected and the soil sampled and it's going to run about $350 - so it's not too bad. But the mold....they gotta take care of that...

Had the home inspection today. I was really pleased with the guy that did it and he seemed to do a very thorough job. I should have a full report tonight filled with photographs and explanations of the items he found. There were a lot of minor things like random electrical sockets wired incorrectly, leaky valve on one of the outdoor water faucets, and loose handrail at the top of the stairs. There were, however, also some very major problems too. He found lots of places where there was mold in the basement. He said it was very obvious that someone attempted to remove the mold, but just did a very poor job of it since it was missed behind wiring, in small cracks, and in portions of the basement where it wasn't easy to get to (like in the crawlspace portion of the basement). The second biggest issue was the presence of 2 underground oil storage tanks. The house no longer uses oil heat, but the tanks still remain in the ground and he strongly recommended getting someone to inspect them for leakage and to also do soil sampling. Third major issue is the chimney. Once the oil heat furnace was removed, the owners never closed off the flue going up the chimney. He recommended to seal it off at the bottom and on the top. He also recommended to remove the liner in the chimney, have it cleaned, and repair the damper on top (for the wood fireplaces). Fourth issue was the main electrical panel. He said it is overloaded as there is only 150 amps coming in and a separate sub-panel was added for the heat pumps and another for the detached garage. An electrician would need to come in, bring it up to code and certify it. So, I left a little discouraged. I'm extremely wary about the underground storage tanks as I DO NOT want to have those leak and then shell out thousands to the EPA for a cleanup. I REALLY hope that when the owners had the original oil heat system replaced with the propane one, that they had someone come in and properly abandon the underground tanks AND they have the paperwork to prove it. I feel as though they'll comply with my request to remove the mold as anyone who tries to buy this house is going to have an inspector see it and flag it. I'm debating on what to do with the chimney. I don't really intend on ever using the wood stoves and I relined the chimney on my old house and it really wasn't all that difficult. I just don't know if the inspector for my loan is going to pick up on it and flag it - but they'd have to get on the roof to do so, which I highly doubt they will. I suppose I'll ask that the sellers make all of the repairs and see what they say...

I'm hoping that there isn't much that needs to be done to the house. The current owners have only been there since October 2010 (job relocation is forcing them to move). They financed the house with an FHA loan, which means they had to have a stingy FHA inspector come in the house and nit-pick it to death. The current owners already have a new place somewhere else so they're looking to get out of the mortgage on their old one....so one would think that they'd be pretty willing to comply with any requests for repair.

I suppose I can post this up now. Signed the contract on this last night: http://www.redfin.com/MD/Queenstown/730 ... e/15286241 It's a lot of house for the $$ in a nice, historic town about 15 minutes away from work. It's an older place, but a lot of the "old house annoyances" have been fixed/upgrade/repaired. Electrical sockets are all new, oil furnace replaced with propane, and a dual zone forced air heater/AC installed. It WILL need new windows, which is a bit of a kick to the stomach since this old house has plenty of them. Guess it's time I learn how to install a window... The listing doesn't have any good interior shots of the shop, but I'll get those as soon as I can - perhaps when I walk through with the inspector this weekend or next.

That is really cool. I especially love that she got the black plastic vents on the MJ. Do you know how long each of those took her to make?

what my white bed??? lolol it was solid rust since i bought it.... thats why i got a new one :rotf: No. I meant the whole truck.

There was absolutely zero need for that father to create an 8 minute video and post it on Youtube for the entire world to see. No reason to let everyone on the planet take a peek into the personal lives of this family. Also very little reason to shoot up the laptop - I would have take it for myself or given it to a charitable organization so that someone less fortunate could use it. The kid is a snob, no doubt, but I feel that the arrogance of this man and the fact that he hid behind a camera to get his message across says a lot about what kind of parenting (or lack thereof) is going on. That said, at least he didn't beat the crap out of his daughter like that judge did down in Texas...for downloading music.

My buddy just came back from a 3 week trip to Australia. I asked him how it was and his only response was, "The El Camino is still king in Australia." :rotfl2:

Good lord - do you drive that truck through salt water every day?

Found one! The old brick colonial I was talking about before. A lot of house for the money and it seems like a lot of the nuisances of an old house have been taken care of (electrical outlets, forced air cooling/heating system installed, attic insulated, etc.). It's a really neat house with a lot of feature - massive rooms, original hardwood floors, dual zone heat pumps (one for upstairs, one for downstairs), propane furnace (in case I want to use the old radiators for whatever reason), two fire places, and a wood burning stove. Kitchen and downstairs bathroom were redone and the porch was in the middle of a rehab, but never finished. Best part of the house... Two bay garage with enclosed overhang for additional storage. Carpeted floor, insulated walls, drop ceiling, lots of outlets and plenty of amps, A/C, two sources of heat (wood burning stove and propane heater). But best of all...a fully functional BATHROOM! I looked around the shop and joked to my agent and said, "can I buy just this garage?" Going to walk from my other offer and put one on this house as soon as my agent & lender have the paperwork ready. Unfortunately, I feel like this is the type of house that will demand asking price or higher because of the size and area it's located in (small, historic town with easy Bay access) so I need to think about my offer a little more carefully.

I find it ridiculous that they just leave you completely in the dark - not even a word of what is happening. Even if they told me the bank has not yet looked at my offer, at least that would be something. It's a shame because it has completely soured my outlook on Short Sale homes and since a lot of people bought homes at the height of the market and now need to sell for one reason or another, a ton of homes are going the Short Sale route. I have actually removed Short Sale homes from my searches because I simply don't want to deal with it again - not unless I was buying the home as an investment and already had a principal residence...

STILL no update from the bank on my offer. Every so often I'll get an e-mail or text from my agent that gives me a glimmer of hope that something is happening, but still haven't received any official word. The MLS listing on that house has gone into a "Pending - Contingent (Kick Out)" status, which would lead me to believe they accepted someone's offer (even if it isn't my own), but no one is telling me one way or the other. So, I've grown somewhat tired of being left in the dark and have begun to look at other houses, all of which are much more expensive, but move-in ready and much, much nicer than the house I currently have an offer on. I haven't fallen in love with any of the new house that I've been shown, but there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon. I found an old, brick Colonial that supposedly had the entire heating/ventilation system upgraded last year to an energy-efficient one. I'm a little weary on how much (if any) insulation the house has, so we shall see. Its best feature is the nice two-bay shop in the back with a carport attached to the side. The shop is also heated/air conditioned. It's a little further than I wanted to be from work/civilization, but if it has everything I'm looking for, then I'll make concessions. It's a little bit outside of my price range at the current asking price, but only because it has both a county and city tax. I need to look into what the city tax actually covers, but I believe that garbage pickup is in there. There's a magic price I can pay for the house and still have it remain in my budget. I anticipate to offer lower than that and hopefully have the sellers counter back at my magic number. This is all assuming the showing and pre-inspection go well.

Well then, I would highly recommend you find yourself a 97+ XJ and do the dash swap on the MJ or just drop the V8 in the XJ, itself. The wiring is really not too difficult once you have the factory service manuals for the XJ and the ZJ sitting side-by-side. If I could do it again, I would purchase a bound copy of each rather than having the electronic version. It can get pretty confusing which one you're looking at when you have them on a single computer screen. In fact, to avoid confusion and simplify things, I grabbed an old laptop from storage and sat it next to my other laptop with a service manual on each: Unfortunately, whatever engineer(s) worked on the XJ was not the same one(s) who worked on the ZJ as out of 4 dozen wires, only three mated together that were the same color :D