First Year Home Owner - Home Maintenance (1)

I am still not completely sold on the home owner status versus remaining as a renter. Truthfully, I do not know where people even learn this stuff before. Perhaps the general American upbringing teaches these to the next generation, but I am pretty sure my parents did not do most of these things.

I just learned a new list of things that I have to do:

• Sealing grout in bathrooms
• Sealing granite countertops
• Sealing grout in tiled rooms
• Sealing wood floors
• Caulking showers
• Caulking counters
• Changing air filter (this one I knew)
• Clearing water tank
• Closing external water lines (winter)
• Cleaning out lint box behind dryer

Of course, I did not think to check all this beforehand so I also had to learn how to clean a bunch of things before all that. For example, sealing helps prevent staining. Well, some grout has also already stained so I had to learn how to clean that.

While cleaning, there is even more things to learn like acetone, caulking, and a bunch of other tools. Life as a renter was definitely much simpler. And this is only the tip of the iceberg because these are just known maintenance work. At some point, there are going to be major repairs because I am sure I am going to miss something, somewhere.

When do I get to realize the financial advantage of being an owner? sigh...

Reference

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/home-maintenance-for-dummies-cheat-sheet.html

Life: Wall Bookcase Ideas

Some ideas for the home:



I like this one.


Neat, but I think rather use that space as a different kind of storage... but then I won't have that style of staircase.


This one would be interesting to do too.

Reference 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/13/incredible-bookcases-photos_n_4588105.html#slide=2244170

Homes: Buying a brand new home - New Address

Not all systems will be able to find the new address. I just tried to change one of my addresses and it was rejected.

Edited 1/3/2020:

There is very little that can be done if the system does not allow custom addresses. Fortunately, some systems do allow this. The only workaround if really required is to use an address of the new development and hope that the mail will still be sent to your address.

There was another new development in the area which used a similar tactic. Unfortunately for them, a lot of the mail was sent to my address as my house number is the same as the number they used. For example, I lived on 1 Main St and they addressed it to 1 Center St. Center St is the known street that connects with Main St. Since there is no 1 Center St, I assume the post office worker just guesses that the intention may be my address. I am also guessing this is subjective because I don't get all the mail, just a couple here and there.

What do I do with all the misdelivered mail? I just note that it was sent to wrong address and put them in the outbox.

Eventually all the systems had my address, maybe a year after. I haven't had this issue for a while.

Homes: Condo vs Townhouse vs Free Lot vs Single-Family Home vs Apartment vs ???

I am glad I am not the only one confused by what people mean by condo, townhouse, single-family home, and apartments. I used to be on the same page as most people on several forums of non-experts.

For the purposes of mortgages, condos, free-lots, and coops are types of ownership. This basically means what you actually own. The common form is the free-lots which are your typical suburban homes where you own the land and building. Condos is where you own the building or part of the building (unit) but not the land. I am less familiar with coop, but the ownership structure is more that you own a share of the entire building (I think). Typically, the latter two (i.e. condos and coops) are typically not single-family homes but in theory they could be.

Townhouse, single-family homes, and apartments are architectural designs of homes. Single-family homes is a building that does not share any part of the building with another building. Townhouse is a building unit that is typically a part of a larger complex of 3 or more other other townhouses. The ones that I have seen typically share walls but they could be stacked (per online references). Apartments are units that typically share walls and are stacked where each unit also share the same hall and other building facilities.

The most confusing terms are probably townhouses, condos, and apartments. The confusion seems to be that they are typically confused with common standards. For example, townhouses were typically known to be free-lots where you own the land and the unit. But it is possible to just own the unit, but share the land. In this case, this is more known as townhouse style condo.

Apartment units where there is a single owner are also condos. An apartment tenant could be living in an apartment and/or condo. Whether it is a condo or the entire complex is owned by a single owner, the tenant lives in an apartment. If the unit owner only owns that unit in the complex, then the tenant lives in an apartment that is also a condo.

If a tenant says that they live in an apartment, this means that the tenant lives in a unit that shares walls and highly like also ceilings and floors of other units. But you do not know if they are paying to the same person as their neighbors. If a tenant says that they live in a condo, this means that they pay a person that is unlikely the same person that their neighbor also pays. But you do not know what style of building that the tenant lives in. But given probability, apartments are typically a part of a larger complex that is owned by a single person or entity, and condos are typically apartment-style.

In other words, if you own an apartment unit, you are a condo owner of an apartment unit. If you have a tenant that lives in that unit, the tenant can say that they live in an apartment and/or a condo. In theory, you can even have a single-family home condo. This means that you own the building but not the land.

You can have Home Owner Association (HOA) for any type of homes. HOA covers any shared areas or properties. HOA are less likely in established single-family home developments. Gated communities will typically have HOA or HOA-like groups. A development that is still under construction is also likely to have an HOA-like group to establish certain mandates that helps the builders sell the homes.

Typically, HOA for townhouses and apartments is to cover the costs of shared properties or areas. For townhouses these are common lawns and building exteriors. Apartments also include elevators, hallways, lobbies, front-desk if there is one, etc.

So most importantly to understand, there are two different classifications: type of ownership and architectural designs. Some of the terms are commonly interchanged which causes a lot of confusion to people who do not really have to deal with it on any regular basis.

Please feel free to correct or clarify. This is my current understanding on this matter.

Reference

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NR1MTmc-hw
- Video on Townhouse vs Condos

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB125199127870183559
- This also has similar definitions

Revisions

2/27/2014 - Added references

Ryan Homes: Experience So Far

I am currently in the process of buying a new home. I am not sure if I could be any more confused about all the things needed, all the terms, and all the technicalities. I stumbled across a blog that basically went through their experience, and thought to share my experience so far and hopefully continue in the future. I am kind of saddened that there hasn't been any updates since 2010 in the blog but it did go through 2 years after they moved in.

Up to this point, I have "signed" the contract. I am not exactly sure if it is official because most of it seemed to be that I have reviewed it.

First Deposit

After signing, I had to pay $10k for some good-faith payment. There are a bunch of conditions to how I get this money back if financing does not work out. I am not completely clear on this.

Flooring

During this time, I also picked out the flooring with Advanced Flooring & Design. I went with the ceramic tiles in the kitchen and wood flooring. The vendor lady was helpful and kind. I could tell she was getting a little impatient with me though but remained professional and courteous.

Low-Voltage and Security Options

Low-voltage was with Guardian Security. The "representative" claims that he is only there as a consultant and not as a sales-person but the meeting still felt very sales-like to me. I felt pressured into the different options. Also, I was not familiar with all the options so I did not get a lot of time to think where I wanted all the ports for phone, internet, and cable. The mood seemed to have gotten worse after I declined the security option. The security option sounded very tempting where they offered no installation fee if you bought a 5-year service. He also threw in a tidbit that new homes are more likely to be broken into. The "consultation" seemed very much like a sales-pitch to me even if that was not his intention.

Questions

A lot of this is moving way to fast for me due to pressures from my parents so I have not put as much research as I would like to put into such a huge investment. I still believe renting is not much more expensive than buying a home. Although, I admit once you pay off the mortgage it is worth it. It is also probably worth the price after 10 years. But, I haven't stayed in a single place for over 3 years even changing states 4 times during that span.

• How do I shop for mortgages?
• Each bank seem to assume that I will be signing on with them so I'm not sure at what point I should tell them to wait for me to see what I get from other mortgage loaners.
• How do I shop for attorneys?
• I have only spoken to one so far and it seems that she already assumes I am going with her even before telling me what her rate was.
• How accurate are the reviews online?
• Unfortunately, I did not bother to research and just trusted my father that this was a good company. After doing my own research (today), I found a ton of negative reviews and no positive reviews. I specifically did a search on "happy with Ryan Homes" to find any positive reviews. Since I'm already somewhat invested (although very uncomfortably), I hope that a townhouse would not be too terrible since there would be multiple owners. Also, there are plans for 4 more lots so my lot has to at least last till those are sold.
• Why do mortgage loaners ask for so much information?

Overall

Overall, buying a new home takes up a lot of time. I have not been able to spend a lot of time on it because of work and all the research needed (and the lack of time to research). I have also had to take time off from work to deal with different vendors to make certain options. Currently, I am feeling very uncomfortable which is rather normal considering how many unknowns I am dealing with so far.

Reference

http://www.buildingwithryan.blogspot.com