[bibsoconner]

For a given house, it’s impossible to say definitely that fixing up the house results in a higher sales price that more than offsets the cost of the improvements. For that, you’d need two parallel universes where you do the improvements in one, and not in the other. That said, my gut feeling is that it often is worth putting some money into cosmetic things. Cracked floors or counters in the kitchen that might cost $4000 to fix might very well put a lot of buyers off even putting in an offer. Curiously, telling them that the roof is totally shot and might cost >10,000 doesn’t even phase them. I think it’s a case of things that are “in your face” have more of an emotional impact. So, I would take care of cosmetic stuff. That doesn’t mean do the best job possible. Perhaps nice, neutral linoleum and cheap cabinets? I was in your position and did the improvements, and while it’s hard to know, I really do think we more than recouped our money. I got to say though, I was sort of bummed when I heard the new owners were going to rip out the kitchen anyhow. Also, don’t forget the easy things: clean screens, remove overbearing plants (that you might love) and create space.

Good luck!

[bibsoconner]

Where are you seeing rates < 3? I see 3.143% APR at Chase. That seemed about the best I could easily see. I'd welcome recommendations as I'm currently have a 30 yr 4.125 APR I'm thinking of refinancing (to a 15 yr). Cheers, Dave

[bibsoconner]

It seems like we digressed a bit from the original main question … or what I understood as the main question. Which are the most lucrative areas of Software Engineering. I’m a C# software engineer working (these days) at a medical device company. Salary (not total compensation) is $125K. Perhaps it’s a case of “the grass is always greener”, but I heard (1) firmware engineers and (2) software engineers specializing in bioinformatics make the big bucks, have the glamorous lifestyle and get all the girls :). Anyone care to comment? And any hints on breaking into these fields? For (2) perhaps the free courses on edx and coursera?

My motivation is not so much more money, but rather I’m bored after more years than I care to admit doing C#!
Thanks,
Dave

[bibsoconner]

Feel free to pass this one on to your kid. He sounds like a normal teenager to me.

“Yo mama is so fat that she sat on her iPhone and turned it into an iPad!”

-Dave

P.S. My politically correct disclaimer: Only joking. I have no opinion as to whether or not your mothers are fat or not. I don’t disrespect your mothers nor have I even met them. 🙂

[bibsoconner]

Sometime ago, I used McKeon Hardware Floors. On one job they repaired and refinished some hardwood floors, on the other they replaced carpet with hardwood. It was somewhat challenging as the floor changed heights (slightly). But they did a good job of getting it all level. Highly recommended.

[bibsoconner]

Just my 2 cents…. I was totally against staging AND putting in some extra work (painting, actually redid the kitchen floor), but I really think we recouped our money many times over in the sale. Of course it’s hard (impossible?) to know that it saved us money in the end, because we don’t have two identical houses to sell.

Regarding the staging, I wanted to buy my house once I saw it staged! I think it makes it easier for a buyer to envision living there. It’s hard to visualize your furniture in a place that’s empty.

Regarding redoing the kitchen floor, which was the most expensive thing we did ($2000? as I recall). I’m now convinced that many, many buyers don’t walk in and say, “His kitchen floor needs replacing. I can do that the way I want it for $2000, so I’ll just offer $2000 less”. They say, “I’m walking away and looking for a place that has a perfect kitchen floor, or I’m offer 25K less”.

I agree that it’s psychologically hard to pull the trigger on repairs and staging when you’re walking away from the house. The logic side of the brain, says, “what’s the point?”.

[bibsoconner]

Very comfortable in Ocean Beach right now. There’s a bit of a sea breeze bring in cool ocean air and the not unpleasant fragrance of cannabis.

No A/C for me, but may have to crack open a beer or stumble down the hill to the ocean.

[bibsoconner]

flu,

This might cheer you up. Even if you don’t plan on (or can’t) do anything yourself, it’s sometimes nice to hear about a win for the little guy….

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/judge-awards-nearly-230-000-003251647.html

[bibsoconner]

It may not be worth your time, but I wonder if this is a money making opportunity? You say they are consistently calling. Can you record them (you have to inform them that you are recording) or at least log the calls. You could put it on speaker phone so someone in your home can be a witness that the call happened. Tell them each time to remove you from the list. There is supposed to be agencies to deal with “do not call” violations. A few that came up with a Google search

https://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/do-not-call-list

https://complaints.donotcall.gov/complaint/complaintcheck.aspx
http://ag.ca.gov/donotcall/dnc_complaint.php

I’ve never gotten consistent calls (after I told them to take me off the list), so I’ve never been in a position to make money, but perhaps you can!

I’ve gotten the Windows Technical Support call a few (<5) random times. So far I've just had fun with it by having them quote prices and then telling them I have nothing but Linux (not true) or my favorite, asking, "I don't have any Windows machines, but can I pay you some money anyhow?"

Good luck.
Dave

[bibsoconner]

You could try looking at
http://www.oakwood.com and doing a search.

If by some chance (hopefully not) the medical care is for a child, you could look at:

Ronald McDonald House

Good luck!

[bibsoconner]

Salary.com is showing $122K for a Software Engineer IV (I couldn’t find Sr. Software Engineer!) in Irvine. So, I think you’re not being unreasonable at all. You might want to play with Salary.com (or other sites) and see what you come up with. For example, you may or may not agree that Software Engineer IV is equivalent to Sr. Software Engineer.

I’m a Senior Software Engineer (C#/MVVM/math) in San Diego and currently making $115K, but then I’m underpaid in return for a (relatively) stress free job and (supposedly) generous equity position. My own research indicates that $125 would be more appropriate in San Diego. So perhaps OC and San Diego are the same? Good luck!

[bibsoconner]

As long as you are not on Time of Use (TOU), I don’t think there is much difference between running during the day vs. night. If your pump makes a lot of noise during part or all of the pumping, your neighbors might prefer that it happens during the daytime vs. 3 in the morning.

[bibsoconner]

For those following this thread you might find this q&a link, which I initiated interesting:

http://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/67057/is-solar-heating-of-pool-worth-it-especially-after-time-of-use-tou-electric-r

Notice the mention of solar pumps.

-Dave

[bibsoconner]

Thanks LAAFTERHOURS,

I agree that pool cover helps a lot. We have an automatic one (which I don’t particularly recommend as it’s prone to breaking at the most inopportune times, and it certainly cuts back evaporation and helps keep in the heat. But I never felt our pool was warm enough except in the hottest parts of the summer. Might depend on where you live. We’re in Pt. Loma, so closer to the coast and colder. And of course, it tends to be more overcast/foggy, which is also a factor for solar heating.

[bibsoconner]

Sorry that got cut off, and I’m not sure how to display that image of one day’s electrical usage. But the upshot is that there are peaks around 9am to 12 noon when the pump is on high (speed 3) and another at about 6p.m. to 9 p.m. when everyone comes home from work/school.

Thanks for the calculations Doofrat, although, I’m not sure I understand your numbers. I assume they are for monthly use? And even then, they seem high. Perhaps you meant Wh, not KWh? My total electrical usage for May was 562 KWh.

I’m trying to add an image that shows a typical weekday use for us.

As you can see there are 2 peaks in the day. The peak starting about 9 amis when the pump is on high (speed 3). The other peak is when we come home from work/school.

Cheers,

Dave

[Author]

Posts