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Do you have any advice for making an attractive bid? High downpayment? All cash? Offer over the amount? Flattering letters to how wonderful the lender is?

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yep, large numbers underwater. check.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2284287/Youre-going-wrong-way-Moment-confused-fish-tried-swim-opposite-direction-hundreds-companions-enormous-shoal.html

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Don’t know the type of wiring as I was just touring houses. Had a bit of a horror moment in one house where all of the outlets were replaced in a late 50s/early 60s house with the T-type 3 pronged outlets — that usually means 20A/110-120V circuits (standard residential is 15A/110-120V). Surprise!

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Thanks!

Another strange architectural feature that I don’t like is the one-step raised floor at the front door, that then you have to step down to get to the living room. I think this is trip hazard, especially if the floor is all the same color! Any notion of how expensive that is to get rid of?

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A primer video of why our “popular vote” system will devolve into a two party system over time:

Alternative voting system here:

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Bumping this thread — can anyone give me an idea of current lenders’ % owner-occ rates to qualify for a mortgage?

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Thanks urban realtor!

How much is Parra, ballpark?

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What is the price range for a good home inspector these days?

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I note that your first rental mentions VIP passes to local events and no mention of long-term leases…could it be that some people in CV are renting out for either 1) well compensated geeks working in SV for months to a couple of years long stints; or 2) people attending longish events like the races?

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Do you like skinny wallets that are supposed to be good for your spine? These ones crinkle:

http://www.bigskinny.net

Do you fear the RFID chip ie Mark of the Beast?

Many credit cards seem to be increasingly infected with them. You can buy leather wrapped tinfoil, not for your head but for your wallet.

http://www.idstronghold.com

NOTE: Not a vendor, just an indecisive customer.

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What is the current standard time limit for seasoning of funds, and what is the size of additional deposits that would trigger a request to justify the size?

I intend to report a minimum of accounts for pre-approval…I need to know at which point I should stop depositing greater than $X before Y date…

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Thanks for the answer, sduuuude. Are you recommending I get pre-approved before engaging a realtor? I thought that such things had an expiration date, and if I am going to be looking for a long time, wouldn’t that be nonproductive? Or is the intention to figure out how much ballpark a lender will commit to lending me (because then when I found something, I’d have to pre-approve again)?

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Double check if you can run your hotspot off of 12V power (cigarette lighter) — you should be able to buy a USB to 12V adapter that is 0.5A per slot. For example, we had tried Verizon’s MiFi in 2009 when it first came out, but the actual battery life was terrible where we were going since apparently the signal was poor. The unit would get super-hot, so we returned it within the 30 day period and were liable only for the data we used. I know someone with a Galaxy Tab (7″ tablet) with the Verizon data-only plan for $30/2GB/mon, and its battery life seems to be longer than the MiFi’s.

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@earlyretirement: is there someway to name your frequent flyer account as an asset to pass on to your descendants? I know British Airways allows householding of flyer accounts, but it would sure suck to die with X00,000 miles and not be able to pass that on.

With that in mind, realize that miles are another type of floating currency WHICH IS NOT PEGGED TO THE DOLLAR (unlike credit card “points” or Southwest’s “points” program). The accessibility of the miles to the flight you want, when you want it, is not guaranteed. British Airways is doing this right now with their program (go see thepointsguy.com if you want all the gory details)

So: earn miles and burn em as fast as you can, is my philosophy. Thus you must have vacation time, be able to plan far in advance to use the miles…or be comfortable burning the miles for non-flight stuff.

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Meal planning is the heart of our grocery lists, specifically for dinner where extra is made for brownbag lunches. Breakfasts will be a rotation of 2-3 things that mostly are pantry items, like cereal or oatmeal, and supplement with fresh fruit, milk and other dairy items (butter, cottage cheese/yogurt). Pantry is organized to allow a quick glance to see if we are out of a particular class of item, and never overbuy to overflow that item into where another thing belongs (i.e. only 2-3 boxes of cereal, so we don’t run into where the soup belongs).

Get a whiteboard for the kitchen and put on it four columns:

1) Days of the week
2) Who will be home for dinner that evening? (ie do you have time to cook, how many to feed)
3) What is already in the freezer, fridge and pantry?
4) Based on the info 1-3, plan meals for the week.

Update the board every week and make a list. Go through all your local grocery fliers to see what is in season/on sale. THEN go grocery shopping.

There is the one time cost of purging, inventorying and organizing the freezer, pantry and fridge the first time. (Which you probably need to do weekly anyway for trash night.) But then you add items to the board as you put groceries away. Voila. Now meal planning takes 15 min a week, and you will never overbuy/throw out food again. Better yet you can avoid wasting energy opening and closing the fridge and freezer to see what is in them, you just consult the whiteboard.

And to counteract any whining about how much work this is, I offer the following: How much money and time are you wasting throwing out expired food? Or wandering around the grocery store not knowing what you want?

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