[bibsoconner]

Thanks moneymaker. You’re probably right. When you factor in the hassle, it probably is better to just take a check for ~$250. Like I said, I’d prefer to use a plumber that I pick and trust. That said, it does bother me that they can (from my point of view) just arbitrarily say, “Oh, that’s too much. We’ll just pay you this.”.

[bibsoconner]

[img_assist|nid=18836|title=Uploading pdf of contract|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=100|height=81]

Hmm. Not sure I can upload pdf…

[bibsoconner]

Thank you DataAgent for the quick reply and great question! I missed it when I read the contract, but yes, there is a “Dispute Resolution” clause that says one must use American Arbitration Association. I’ve attached the document (only 3 pages) for those interested :).

Frankly I find it quite confusing. “Faucets” and “Fixtures” are noted as Not Covered but only under the section BATHTUB WHIRLPOOL EQUIPMENT so it’s not clear (to me) if a normal bathroom sink faucet that’s leaking is covered or not. I didn’t mention it in my first posting, but I’ve already had some somewhat negative dealings with them. The electric pool cover malfunctioned a week after we moved in. We had paid extra for the policy to cover pool and pool equipment. We called them and were informed that a pool cover is not pool equipment. I pointed out that it didn’t say it was excluded anywhere in the contract. Their response? “Since it’s not listed as covered, it’s not covered”. Luckily it only cost me $100 to fix the pool cover.

[bibsoconner]

I recommend just taking it easy, pour yourself a drink, and sit down and watch a movie to take your mind off all this talk of pandemics, plagues, and the collapse of civilization. World War Z would be a good choice.

[bibsoconner]

I’ll add to Flu’s comments that not only should you not take a nice(r) car to Costco for tire work, that you should not take any car to Costco (I used Mission Valley Costco) for tire work. I took my ’96 Geo Prism (not a “nicer” care by most definitions, but runs great!) for 4 new tires a few years back. Everything went great and I drove the 2 miles back home. The next morning, not 1 but 2 tires were completely flat. To cut a long story short, they had not seated the tires well on the rims. The manager, a ~50yr old like myself blamed it on two things:
1) my old rusted rims
2) dumb 18 yr old kids he hires

He was very nice and fixed everything, but it cost me half a day getting it sorted. I also had to replace one of the wheel studs recently because it was stripped. It’s a little hard to blame Costco definitely for this one (things wear out), but they are the main ones that have taken the wheels on and off.

I also agree that they are great for lots of other things. I’m tending to shy away from them for appliances however. I’m beginning to wonder if they get lower quality lots. I notice that I have quite a few problems with vacuums, electronics, washers, dryers from Costco. On the plus side, they have a very generous return policy.

Best of luck with your BMW. If you get sick of it and want to trade for my Geo Prism feel free to msg me.

-Dave

[bibsoconner]

Thanks for the quick reply AN. I’m certainly looking at all options and solar PV system is one of them. I still need to see what type of pump I currently have. I believe it is variable speed but will reconfirm. I don’t know if the pool cover is “solar blanket” or not. It’s an electrically operated cover (blue and on roller). Bit of a pain actually – the cauter pin broke the first week we moved in.

My interest on just going with a pool solution was sparked by:
1) Pool heating and pumping seems to be the main part of the bill anyhow.
2) The idea of the whole thing being off the grid appeals to me. Also, I’m not 100% confident that the rules for PV systems selling electricity back into the grid won’t change. But you’re quite right – I need to look into it more. Doing the basic research is quite challenging (at least to me).
Dave

[bibsoconner]

Thibault,

Have you considered a slight change of career? Perhaps a technical sales rep, or technical service engineer or some such thing that must be bilingual (French/English). Have you looked at the linked in group “French Connections”? There are other French groups on LinkedIn related to engineering, medical instruments, etc. It occurs to me that there must be some company that needs to send someone to France on service/consulting calls AND needs that person to be French speaking. Most folks would hate that kind of assignment because it would take them away from their families for weeks at a time. But it might be just right for you.

I too have been trying to find a job (but permanent) in France and move there (but with my wife and kids). My kids go to the French schools in San Diego. Unfortunately, although I speak some French, I am by no means fluent, and there seem to be plenty of smart software engineers that are fluent in French.

Anyhow, good luck to you. I am American but I love France. I particularly liked the Dordogne region.

Dave

[bibsoconner]

Thanks for your latest comments flu. Not sure I quite followed them though. Our household income is roughly $220K/yr gross. We have no stock dividend/interest income to speak of. We sold all the stock to buy the new house. Our mortgage+taxes+insureance on the new house is around $5500 which is quite a bit more than $0 on the old house, and does keep me up at nights.

I’ve taken all the comments here to heart but it looks like we’re leaning towards renting because the boss (wife) thinks it’s a good idea. She might be right. She’s much smarter than me. It concerns me that the cap rate is only 4.3% or so. I based this on $650,000 price, and took into account monthly rent, management fees, prop taxes/insurance, gardener BUT NOT maintenance or down time (time between tenants, etc.). As I said before, it’s by no means clear that one can get 4.3% in other investments. Certainly I have dividend stocks in my retirement account that pay well now, and they may even go up by 100%. Or they may do what my GM and WAMU stock did a while back and go to 0.

To answer another question, no we don’t need the money right away. So if prices went down a lot, we could ride it out. Of course if house prices dropped 25%, I’d expect to see rents drop too! Given the huge capital gains advantage of selling right away, it sure seems like we better be willing and able to rent for a long time. Realistically, I don’t see us moving back in for 2 years to lock in new tax advantages.

Thanks to all,
Dave

[bibsoconner]

Thanks for all the comments and advice so far. To answer some of the questions. Yes, I have another home to live in (in San Diego). As I said, I realize it’s a lucky problem to have. I’m in my late 40s.

The decision to have a property manager is probably a good one for me. I’m not particularly handy, and my job takes up a great deal of my time. Quite frankly, I’d rather play catch with my kids than change a light bulb on my own house. I really don’t want to deal with problems from renters. That might well be a point for selling, rather than renting.

I’m paying 8% to the property manager. Frankly, I thought that was a fair deal. Others were asking 10%.
We’re going the renting route right now, but could easily change. I’m getting nervous that it is not renting after being on the market for about 20 days, although things seem to be heating up now (we did a price reduction from 3400 to 3100). My basic research indicates that there is not as much demand for 3+ bedroom houses in the >$3000 range. There’s just a smaller segment of the population that needs that. And those folks that can afford >3000/month can entertain the ideas of owning something. That’s why I was floating the idea of selling and perhaps getting a couple of small houses/condos. Although knowing myself, I probably would not get around to the buying part…

Property taxes are about $4000/yr by the way.
Dave

[bibsoconner]

Ok, I researched (using term: Inspector) and saw lots of topics which I will research. I blame my initial failure to find anything on lack of coffee! However, I’m still interested in my questions above as I don’t think they are all answered in previous posts (especially the importance of certifications/backgound and pool inspections).

Thanks,
Dave

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