[UCGal]

I don’t have warm fuzzies about being locked into some broker who may or may not give you a good deal.

Why not drop the seller-pays-closing bit and lower your price accordingly. If the negotiated closing costs were $12k, show you’re acting in good faith and counter with $10k under your previous bid, but you’re responsible for closing costs. True you’ll have to pony up some cash at closing – but not that much… I have coworkers refinancing for no-cost, no points… brokers are even covering appraisals these days. It’s a buyers market out there for mortgages… brokers are jumping through hoops for the business from what I’m observing with my coworkers.

Other buyers costs include inspections. Obviously YOU want to pick your inspector… no relatives of the sellers.

If I recall correctly from past posts – you have a decent cash position – but don’t want to sink it all in a house. But it would be foolish to finance into a more expensive loan because you were too afraid to pay closing costs.

BTW – welcome back!

[UCGal]

I don’t have warm fuzzies about being locked into some broker who may or may not give you a good deal.

Why not drop the seller-pays-closing bit and lower your price accordingly. If the negotiated closing costs were $12k, show you’re acting in good faith and counter with $10k under your previous bid, but you’re responsible for closing costs. True you’ll have to pony up some cash at closing – but not that much… I have coworkers refinancing for no-cost, no points… brokers are even covering appraisals these days. It’s a buyers market out there for mortgages… brokers are jumping through hoops for the business from what I’m observing with my coworkers.

Other buyers costs include inspections. Obviously YOU want to pick your inspector… no relatives of the sellers.

If I recall correctly from past posts – you have a decent cash position – but don’t want to sink it all in a house. But it would be foolish to finance into a more expensive loan because you were too afraid to pay closing costs.

BTW – welcome back!

[UCGal]

I don’t have warm fuzzies about being locked into some broker who may or may not give you a good deal.

Why not drop the seller-pays-closing bit and lower your price accordingly. If the negotiated closing costs were $12k, show you’re acting in good faith and counter with $10k under your previous bid, but you’re responsible for closing costs. True you’ll have to pony up some cash at closing – but not that much… I have coworkers refinancing for no-cost, no points… brokers are even covering appraisals these days. It’s a buyers market out there for mortgages… brokers are jumping through hoops for the business from what I’m observing with my coworkers.

Other buyers costs include inspections. Obviously YOU want to pick your inspector… no relatives of the sellers.

If I recall correctly from past posts – you have a decent cash position – but don’t want to sink it all in a house. But it would be foolish to finance into a more expensive loan because you were too afraid to pay closing costs.

BTW – welcome back!

[UCGal]

Brian – here are some examples of rowhouses in San Diego

University City

http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-100037417-4424_Via_Amable_San_Diego_CA_92122

http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-100050750-4409_Via_Sepulveda_1_San_Diego_CA_92122

Mission Hills

http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-100032012-109_W_Montecito_Way_San_Diego_CA_92103

Hillcrest
http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-100009607-2162_Sixth,_6th_Ave_San_Diego_CA_92101

There are more examples around town…

And a quibble… The houses you describe as “functionally obsolescent” others look at as charming. Not everyone likes modern/new construction. Tastes vary. People’s lifestyles vary. That’s what makes the world interesting.

[UCGal]

Brian – here are some examples of rowhouses in San Diego

University City

http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-100037417-4424_Via_Amable_San_Diego_CA_92122

http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-100050750-4409_Via_Sepulveda_1_San_Diego_CA_92122

Mission Hills

http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-100032012-109_W_Montecito_Way_San_Diego_CA_92103

Hillcrest
http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-100009607-2162_Sixth,_6th_Ave_San_Diego_CA_92101

There are more examples around town…

And a quibble… The houses you describe as “functionally obsolescent” others look at as charming. Not everyone likes modern/new construction. Tastes vary. People’s lifestyles vary. That’s what makes the world interesting.

[UCGal]

Brian – here are some examples of rowhouses in San Diego

University City

http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-100037417-4424_Via_Amable_San_Diego_CA_92122

http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-100050750-4409_Via_Sepulveda_1_San_Diego_CA_92122

Mission Hills

http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-100032012-109_W_Montecito_Way_San_Diego_CA_92103

Hillcrest
http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-100009607-2162_Sixth,_6th_Ave_San_Diego_CA_92101

There are more examples around town…

And a quibble… The houses you describe as “functionally obsolescent” others look at as charming. Not everyone likes modern/new construction. Tastes vary. People’s lifestyles vary. That’s what makes the world interesting.

[UCGal]

Brian – here are some examples of rowhouses in San Diego

University City

http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-100037417-4424_Via_Amable_San_Diego_CA_92122

http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-100050750-4409_Via_Sepulveda_1_San_Diego_CA_92122

Mission Hills

http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-100032012-109_W_Montecito_Way_San_Diego_CA_92103

Hillcrest
http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-100009607-2162_Sixth,_6th_Ave_San_Diego_CA_92101

There are more examples around town…

And a quibble… The houses you describe as “functionally obsolescent” others look at as charming. Not everyone likes modern/new construction. Tastes vary. People’s lifestyles vary. That’s what makes the world interesting.

[UCGal]

Brian – here are some examples of rowhouses in San Diego

University City

http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-100037417-4424_Via_Amable_San_Diego_CA_92122

http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-100050750-4409_Via_Sepulveda_1_San_Diego_CA_92122

Mission Hills

http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-100032012-109_W_Montecito_Way_San_Diego_CA_92103

Hillcrest
http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-100009607-2162_Sixth,_6th_Ave_San_Diego_CA_92101

There are more examples around town…

And a quibble… The houses you describe as “functionally obsolescent” others look at as charming. Not everyone likes modern/new construction. Tastes vary. People’s lifestyles vary. That’s what makes the world interesting.

[UCGal]

If my employer laid me off tomorrow (which could happen…) and my severence was tied to a non-compete – I’d either forfeit my severance or find a non-competitor. As an engineer – there are lots of fields.. I’m not in defense now – I could go get a defense job… or medical equipment, or some field that I’m not currently in – but that still uses my skillset.

As I mentioned – I made the mistake of signing an employment agreement with a non-compete clause in it ONCE. The way it was worded I could not go back to work for my previous employer, because they were a former client. I took advantage of a corporate name change to get the former employer specifically excluded when I signed under the new corporate name. (I rehired with the former employer a few months later.)

At the time – since I was considering going back to my former employer – I consulted a lawyer. I was unwilling to make the move while contractually prohibited from it. But that’s just me. I try to follow the rules.

I forget that contracts are pretty much ignored by a lot of people. That got us in trouble when we were building our granny flat. We had trouble getting multiple contractors to follow the letter of their contractual obligations… they felt free to ignore the contract when it suited them.

From the cnn article I linked above – Hurd had specific data about Oracle’s market weaknesses and how HP was going to utilize that. In other words – he has knowledge of the strategy HP is planning on using to compete against Oracle. That’s pretty darn proprietary. To put it in cell phone terms – Lets say I worked at Apple and had the full strategy for how we were going to compete against the Droid phones – what features Apple can offer that droid phones don’t… Marketing plans, new hardware plans, etc. Then I get “resigned” because I do something stupid. I’m offered a sweet package if I go away quietly. And instead I take that marketing and strategy knowledge to Motorola or HTC… that’s a conflict. Period.

[UCGal]

If my employer laid me off tomorrow (which could happen…) and my severence was tied to a non-compete – I’d either forfeit my severance or find a non-competitor. As an engineer – there are lots of fields.. I’m not in defense now – I could go get a defense job… or medical equipment, or some field that I’m not currently in – but that still uses my skillset.

As I mentioned – I made the mistake of signing an employment agreement with a non-compete clause in it ONCE. The way it was worded I could not go back to work for my previous employer, because they were a former client. I took advantage of a corporate name change to get the former employer specifically excluded when I signed under the new corporate name. (I rehired with the former employer a few months later.)

At the time – since I was considering going back to my former employer – I consulted a lawyer. I was unwilling to make the move while contractually prohibited from it. But that’s just me. I try to follow the rules.

I forget that contracts are pretty much ignored by a lot of people. That got us in trouble when we were building our granny flat. We had trouble getting multiple contractors to follow the letter of their contractual obligations… they felt free to ignore the contract when it suited them.

From the cnn article I linked above – Hurd had specific data about Oracle’s market weaknesses and how HP was going to utilize that. In other words – he has knowledge of the strategy HP is planning on using to compete against Oracle. That’s pretty darn proprietary. To put it in cell phone terms – Lets say I worked at Apple and had the full strategy for how we were going to compete against the Droid phones – what features Apple can offer that droid phones don’t… Marketing plans, new hardware plans, etc. Then I get “resigned” because I do something stupid. I’m offered a sweet package if I go away quietly. And instead I take that marketing and strategy knowledge to Motorola or HTC… that’s a conflict. Period.

[UCGal]

If my employer laid me off tomorrow (which could happen…) and my severence was tied to a non-compete – I’d either forfeit my severance or find a non-competitor. As an engineer – there are lots of fields.. I’m not in defense now – I could go get a defense job… or medical equipment, or some field that I’m not currently in – but that still uses my skillset.

As I mentioned – I made the mistake of signing an employment agreement with a non-compete clause in it ONCE. The way it was worded I could not go back to work for my previous employer, because they were a former client. I took advantage of a corporate name change to get the former employer specifically excluded when I signed under the new corporate name. (I rehired with the former employer a few months later.)

At the time – since I was considering going back to my former employer – I consulted a lawyer. I was unwilling to make the move while contractually prohibited from it. But that’s just me. I try to follow the rules.

I forget that contracts are pretty much ignored by a lot of people. That got us in trouble when we were building our granny flat. We had trouble getting multiple contractors to follow the letter of their contractual obligations… they felt free to ignore the contract when it suited them.

From the cnn article I linked above – Hurd had specific data about Oracle’s market weaknesses and how HP was going to utilize that. In other words – he has knowledge of the strategy HP is planning on using to compete against Oracle. That’s pretty darn proprietary. To put it in cell phone terms – Lets say I worked at Apple and had the full strategy for how we were going to compete against the Droid phones – what features Apple can offer that droid phones don’t… Marketing plans, new hardware plans, etc. Then I get “resigned” because I do something stupid. I’m offered a sweet package if I go away quietly. And instead I take that marketing and strategy knowledge to Motorola or HTC… that’s a conflict. Period.

[UCGal]

If my employer laid me off tomorrow (which could happen…) and my severence was tied to a non-compete – I’d either forfeit my severance or find a non-competitor. As an engineer – there are lots of fields.. I’m not in defense now – I could go get a defense job… or medical equipment, or some field that I’m not currently in – but that still uses my skillset.

As I mentioned – I made the mistake of signing an employment agreement with a non-compete clause in it ONCE. The way it was worded I could not go back to work for my previous employer, because they were a former client. I took advantage of a corporate name change to get the former employer specifically excluded when I signed under the new corporate name. (I rehired with the former employer a few months later.)

At the time – since I was considering going back to my former employer – I consulted a lawyer. I was unwilling to make the move while contractually prohibited from it. But that’s just me. I try to follow the rules.

I forget that contracts are pretty much ignored by a lot of people. That got us in trouble when we were building our granny flat. We had trouble getting multiple contractors to follow the letter of their contractual obligations… they felt free to ignore the contract when it suited them.

From the cnn article I linked above – Hurd had specific data about Oracle’s market weaknesses and how HP was going to utilize that. In other words – he has knowledge of the strategy HP is planning on using to compete against Oracle. That’s pretty darn proprietary. To put it in cell phone terms – Lets say I worked at Apple and had the full strategy for how we were going to compete against the Droid phones – what features Apple can offer that droid phones don’t… Marketing plans, new hardware plans, etc. Then I get “resigned” because I do something stupid. I’m offered a sweet package if I go away quietly. And instead I take that marketing and strategy knowledge to Motorola or HTC… that’s a conflict. Period.

[UCGal]

If my employer laid me off tomorrow (which could happen…) and my severence was tied to a non-compete – I’d either forfeit my severance or find a non-competitor. As an engineer – there are lots of fields.. I’m not in defense now – I could go get a defense job… or medical equipment, or some field that I’m not currently in – but that still uses my skillset.

As I mentioned – I made the mistake of signing an employment agreement with a non-compete clause in it ONCE. The way it was worded I could not go back to work for my previous employer, because they were a former client. I took advantage of a corporate name change to get the former employer specifically excluded when I signed under the new corporate name. (I rehired with the former employer a few months later.)

At the time – since I was considering going back to my former employer – I consulted a lawyer. I was unwilling to make the move while contractually prohibited from it. But that’s just me. I try to follow the rules.

I forget that contracts are pretty much ignored by a lot of people. That got us in trouble when we were building our granny flat. We had trouble getting multiple contractors to follow the letter of their contractual obligations… they felt free to ignore the contract when it suited them.

From the cnn article I linked above – Hurd had specific data about Oracle’s market weaknesses and how HP was going to utilize that. In other words – he has knowledge of the strategy HP is planning on using to compete against Oracle. That’s pretty darn proprietary. To put it in cell phone terms – Lets say I worked at Apple and had the full strategy for how we were going to compete against the Droid phones – what features Apple can offer that droid phones don’t… Marketing plans, new hardware plans, etc. Then I get “resigned” because I do something stupid. I’m offered a sweet package if I go away quietly. And instead I take that marketing and strategy knowledge to Motorola or HTC… that’s a conflict. Period.

[UCGal]

In the EU, carseat/booster seat rules apply to kids under age 12 – based on height… 135cm (53.1″)

Basing it on the kids size makes sense to me. My kids are giants – my 9 year old is over 5′, and my 7 year old is 4 and a half feet. My 7 year old is quite a bit taller than some of his older brother’s peers.

I like the EU system of basing it on height much better than the random laws around the US. In Pennsylvania kids need to be in boosters until age 8. My almost 8 year old is 4’6.5… taller than many 10 or 11 year olds. We have to haul a booster with us when we visit family in Philly.

I also want to agree with flu about hand me down seats… The plastic gets brittle over time in a hot car – most manufacturers suggest retiring a seat after 5 years… but you see carseats on craigslist, at garage sales, etc that are much older.

[UCGal]

In the EU, carseat/booster seat rules apply to kids under age 12 – based on height… 135cm (53.1″)

Basing it on the kids size makes sense to me. My kids are giants – my 9 year old is over 5′, and my 7 year old is 4 and a half feet. My 7 year old is quite a bit taller than some of his older brother’s peers.

I like the EU system of basing it on height much better than the random laws around the US. In Pennsylvania kids need to be in boosters until age 8. My almost 8 year old is 4’6.5… taller than many 10 or 11 year olds. We have to haul a booster with us when we visit family in Philly.

I also want to agree with flu about hand me down seats… The plastic gets brittle over time in a hot car – most manufacturers suggest retiring a seat after 5 years… but you see carseats on craigslist, at garage sales, etc that are much older.

[Author]

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