You can buy a Radon test kit for like $10 (which includes the cost of performing the test after mailing the kit to a lab) at your favorite big box hardware store. Always strongly recommended before buying a house -- especially in an area prone to having radon issues. If it tests okay, you're good. If not, you can negotiate to deal with the cost of installing a radon mitigation system (or having the existing system repaired if the house already has a mitigation system).
Hello North Jersey! I'll be moving to a big old house toward the end of April in Springfield NJ, bringing me under an hour from NYC. It ends up taking my wife 2 hours each way in our current house, but she just got a solid extension that means we can rely on that income and afford to live in the more expensive north.
Was a tough decision on what to do: rent or buy? Everyone is yelling about historically low interest rates and stuff, but in order to buy, we'd have had to sell our (unwisely purchased) townhouse at quite a loss. I wound up refinancing the townhouse instead and pumping a bunch of cash in to lower the monthly, making it easily rentable. I will now be in the odd position of being a landlord on one house will being a tenant in another, but all the $ works out, and this will let us really scope out the towns up north to make sure we want to make the serious house purchase commitment in a few years.
Of course the important news here is that there are several other good game groups now within easy driving distance. I'm also only 15 minutes from the bi-annual crappy NJ hotel cons, which might convince me to actually go to them again.
Having a rental property might be a decent way to go. It is a lot more work, but it might be worth it.
No, no, and again, no. I bought rental property as my first home (a duplex where I lived in one apartment and rented the other). I greatly regret it now as it turns out I am not cut out to be a landlord, unlike my parents who (in a partnership with my uncle) own something like a half dozen apartment houses, mostly in the form of triple-deckers.
At the time I was a bachelor and had no plans to marry and start a family, but things changed and I bought a single family house and kept on to the other property as rental property. I regret that decision greatly. Hell, I was somewhat regretting it even when I living there as I was not cut out to be a landlord. Now I'm just waiting for real estate values to recover enough to sell off the rental property.
Basically, unless you're very handy (or know people who are who will work very cheap), it's not worth the headaches.
Anyways. 150$ with a 3% seller concession. Brand new roof, pool, geothermal heating/cooling, lots of land, and we'll get a puppy It's listed as smaller then it feels. The basement has a full workshop, garage and what will be my bedroom. I guess land under ground isn't included in the house size.
You can't really tell from the pics, but we're going to need to do take out about a dozen dead pine trees plus that many stumps.
Wyatt, that's a SHORT SALE, no wonder they are taking their sweet time with it :-p House looks neat though I look forward to the house warming party.
Short sales are anything but short, expect after bidding it to take 3-6 months maybe more if you are unlucky.
Also lol look at the tax record from 2008 to 2009, with no reassessment taxes went up 136% Holy crap.
It's pending short sale. Which means they really don't want to leave but need to sell before the bank takes it. I think it'll be done by next week.
It's not a typical house and that's why I like it. It's got some character.
The house warming party will be a sexy pool patry. Most likely with a pig roast and what ever else I can talk Justin into doing.
The taxes are a bit nuts. We plan on contesting them when we do the home inspection. I have no idea why this place was listed at $250K. It's nice, but not that nice.
The assessment didn't change. The municipality changed their tax rates.
EDIT: That explains it. That looks like it's the combined school/property tax rate for the town of Schaghticoke (which is where Melrose is). The effective rate is around $98 per $1000 property - 9.8%. The assessment was $46,800, so the taxes are about right.
I have gone through hell and back trying to get my realtor to upload good photos of my house that I am listing for rent. She kept calling back and saying no matter how I re-sized or compressed them, they wouldn't upload to MLS. Eventually, she wound up giving over her log-in credentials to let me do it myself. I wish I could describe the horrors of the web that reside inside the MLS. It is such a poorly made system that I piece of me has died today.
What kind of internet connection can you get there? Cable? FiOS?
Cable I think.
We're getting closer. We've got about 80% of the crap done. I figure we'll be moving in late April or early May. My brother has been really on top of all this, but the seller isn't so good.
So the house that I want to buy but was pulled off the market due to the death of the executor of the state is still in limbo and at the same time the realtor hasn't been answering E-mails for over 2 months, so it's hard for me to judge whether the house will ever come back on the market. SO through a bit of internet stalking I mean researching I figured out the new executors address. Should I send a letter to their house inquiring about the property since I can't find an E-mail or phone number or should I just wait till it comes back on the market and continuing in what seems to be a hopeless pursuit of the realtor.
I'd send a letter to the new executor asking if and when the house will be for sale. Hearing a negative response beats waiting around missing other potential options.
Awesome basement which will be great for a gaming table. 5 bed rooms two on one side and 3 on the others (Ideal for possible housemates if needed) nice backyard and a short distance from Glenside where there is a local concert hall that gets great acts and other stuffs.
Comments
That and you can defeat radon by just installing a blower in your house.
Was a tough decision on what to do: rent or buy? Everyone is yelling about historically low interest rates and stuff, but in order to buy, we'd have had to sell our (unwisely purchased) townhouse at quite a loss. I wound up refinancing the townhouse instead and pumping a bunch of cash in to lower the monthly, making it easily rentable. I will now be in the odd position of being a landlord on one house will being a tenant in another, but all the $ works out, and this will let us really scope out the towns up north to make sure we want to make the serious house purchase commitment in a few years.
Of course the important news here is that there are several other good game groups now within easy driving distance. I'm also only 15 minutes from the bi-annual crappy NJ hotel cons, which might convince me to actually go to them again.
At the time I was a bachelor and had no plans to marry and start a family, but things changed and I bought a single family house and kept on to the other property as rental property. I regret that decision greatly. Hell, I was somewhat regretting it even when I living there as I was not cut out to be a landlord. Now I'm just waiting for real estate values to recover enough to sell off the rental property.
Basically, unless you're very handy (or know people who are who will work very cheap), it's not worth the headaches.
Anyways. 150$ with a 3% seller concession. Brand new roof, pool, geothermal heating/cooling, lots of land, and we'll get a puppy
You can't really tell from the pics, but we're going to need to do take out about a dozen dead pine trees plus that many stumps.
And yeah, basements aren't included in square footage figures, because not all basements are livable or very usable space.
Workshop? I think you mean meat shop. Tyler and I will need to hatch plans.
Short sales are anything but short, expect after bidding it to take 3-6 months maybe more if you are unlucky.
Also lol look at the tax record from 2008 to 2009, with no reassessment taxes went up 136% Holy crap.
If you get that place, we are going to have some awesome pool parties!!
It's not a typical house and that's why I like it. It's got some character.
The house warming party will be a sexy pool patry. Most likely with a pig roast and what ever else I can talk Justin into doing.
The taxes are a bit nuts. We plan on contesting them when we do the home inspection. I have no idea why this place was listed at $250K. It's nice, but not that nice.
EDIT: That explains it. That looks like it's the combined school/property tax rate for the town of Schaghticoke (which is where Melrose is). The effective rate is around $98 per $1000 property - 9.8%. The assessment was $46,800, so the taxes are about right.
2010 Property Tax Rates for Renssalear county:
http://www.cdrpc.org/PropTaxSD.html#RenSD10
I mean, the objective total amount of taxes isn't bad. $4500 a year? C'mon, that's typical in the area.
We're getting closer. We've got about 80% of the crap done. I figure we'll be moving in late April or early May. My brother has been really on top of all this, but the seller isn't so good.
I'd send a letter to the new executor asking if and when the house will be for sale. Hearing a negative response beats waiting around missing other potential options.
My work keyboard sucks...
Putting in an offer tomorrow!
Awesome basement which will be great for a gaming table. 5 bed rooms two on one side and 3 on the others (Ideal for possible housemates if needed) nice backyard and a short distance from Glenside where there is a local concert hall that gets great acts and other stuffs.