Thrifty Homeowner

"Making Home Affordable" is for Me?

thriftyhomeowner@gmail.com (Thirfty Homeowner) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 11:06:00 +0000

When Obama’s plan to help homeowners with their mortgages was released in March, I took a look at it and presumed it could not help me- I would not qualify for a restructure, and my mortgage was not backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Or so I thought.

I got a letter a couple of days from my mortgage servicer. In it, they invited me to apply for a refinance even though my house’s value has come down, and they would pay all the associated costs. My rate could go as low as 5% (I’m not sure where they got that from). The Making Home Affordable program made this possible, they said. So I went to that site, and I took the brief test to see if I could qualify for the refinance. It turns out that my loan is held or secured by Freddie Mac, making me eligible. Now, call me naïve, but I still don’t understand what that means, even after researching it. I went to my mortgage servicer’ site to apply online, as they requested I do. The problem is it won’t let me change any of the pre-filled data, so now I fear it will be weeks before anyone gets back to me about how I should proceed. In addition, I have these questions that I can’t find answers to: must I refinance with my orfginal servicer, or can I go elsewhere? Will the rate I receive be a market rate, or derived from some other calculation? I hope it’s not a market rate, because those are the same as my current. I’ll let you know if I ever hear back from my servicer.

When to Undergo Improvements in This Environment

thriftyhomeowner@gmail.com (Thirfty Homeowner) — Fri, 29 May 2009 18:37:00 +0000

Gene brought up an interesting point about my previous post. He basically says that if I plan on doing improvements in the future, why not just do them all now so that I have more time to enjoy them, regardless of the current economy.

I understand that logic. But, I never thought values in my area would ever go this low. Every day that they continue to go down, I ask myself "when will this bottom out?" My fear is that if I did the improvements now, even if I stay in the house another five years, I won't be able to recoup all I have invested in it. I don't expect to recoup 100% of any improvement, but I do have a tolerance level. So to make sure I don't waste any more money on a sinking investment, I figure it is best to wait until the market at least begins to show some signs of life.

It might be a different story if I'd planned to be in this house for 10 or more years. That was never my intention, but that may now be the reality, unfortunately.

I'm Getting Depressed

thriftyhomeowner@gmail.com (Thirfty Homeowner) — Thu, 28 May 2009 00:29:00 +0000

For the past couple of years, housing prices have been going nowhere but down. But where I live (metro NYC area), we never really saw all that much depreciation. Nothing that no more than a couple of years of average appreciation or inflation couldn't cure. Recently, however, things really seem to have gotten to a pretty scary level. Prices just keep coming down. I had plans to fix my lawn, get a new porch, and maybe change the siding- but I'm holding off now until prices begin creeping up again. I feel that it does not make sense to keep putting money into something whose value is approaching my mortgage balance.

So for the time being, I'm sticking to things that need to get done. All the niceties will have to wait, no matter how disappointing it is.

Seed vs. Sod

thriftyhomeowner@gmail.com (Thirfty Homeowner) — Fri, 22 May 2009 17:05:00 +0000

I've been occupied lately by trying to decide what to do to my front lawn: seed or sod.

My front lawn right now is nothing but a collection of weeds. It is unsalvageable. So I've priced out doing the job myself and contracting it out, for both seeding and sod.

With the weather warming up, it looks like seed is not a good option until the fall. However, do I want to wait that long to install it, and then wait for it to all fill in? Also, seeds seems to require more water than sod. But it would save about $400.

Sod seems easy to lay, but comes with that pricetag. And if I mess up the watering or get inferior sod, that's quite a loss. But it looks great and will be a better weed barrier than would planting seed. Mainly for that reason, it looks like I will go with sod, as I am afraid of weed reemergence in a year or so if I seeded.

The prep work for either is the same: remove existing grass, add top soil and fertilizer, and grade. Doesn't sound too tough, but I looked into sod cutting machines for rent, and they weigh nearly 400 pounds. I weigh not even half of that. I am concerned about my ability to handle it. And then what do I do with the rolls of weeds? My recycling center won't take them.

I got a couple quotes so far on sod installation, and it is $1000 for the complete job on my 930 square feet. I was hoping to do the job myself and spend only half that, but I am afraid I will run into the troubles I described above. I will also need to rig up a watering system, which will cost arounf $50-100.

Fixing Patio Door

thriftyhomeowner@gmail.com (Thirfty Homeowner) — Tue, 12 May 2009 22:32:00 +0000

So I came back from vacation last night to find that the person taking care of our dog broke the lock on our sliding patio door. Today I visited a locksmith and an authorized Andersen retailer and they both told me the same thing- they couldn't fix or get the part.

I called Andersen and found that the part was still under warranty. They couldn't have been more helpful. I should have the new lock next week and they even told me how I could continue locking it until then. It's nice to be able to fix things without having to spend money!

Busy...

thriftyhomeowner@gmail.com (Thirfty Homeowner) — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 03:44:00 +0000

I apologize for my absence- getting married and preparing for a honeymoon will do that. I've also continued working on my yard. So far I've planted most of the garden and put out most of the planters and such.

Lawnmower Conditioning

thriftyhomeowner@gmail.com (Thirfty Homeowner) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:55:00 +0000

Last weekend I got my mower ready. I changed the oil, cleaned the air filter, put gas in it, and charged the starter. All I need to do is either sharpen the blade or buy a replacement (depends on price). I had planned to do that on Sunday, but I forgot it was Easter.

This was the first time I really followed the directions for getting the mower ready, as I only used it a couple times in 2007 when I bought it, and thus felt it wasn't necessary last year. I hope doing these little things extends the life of the mower, because in my past I haven't had much luck with their longevity.

House Search

thriftyhomeowner@gmail.com (Thirfty Homeowner) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 05:50:00 +0000

About once a week I look at online listings of houses for sale. I’m not looking to move right now, but if I see a great deal, I might take it.

I found a house that is located in one of the more upscale areas of my town, and it was listed at only $400,000, about $200,000 less than the average home in that area. It only showed this one photo of the exterior, and it seemed to be owned by a bank. I did some more research on it by looking up the deed and mortgage filings. It was bought for $320,000 in 2004, with a mortgage of $280,000. As the next few years went by and the real estate market went crazy, this house apparently was valued at nearly $700,000, because the owner kept refinancing until he owed $682,000 on it!

Very curious as to whether all this extra cash was put into the house, I made an appointment to take a look at it. The house was evidently added on to, and it now sports a terrible layout. It has only 2 bedrooms and a kitchen with literally no counter space, yet the house is over 2,000 square feet. It has custom cabinets and wainscoting, which is complete overkill. I hope that some of that refi money was used on things other than for the house, because what was spent on it was surely spent foolishly.

Even at the low list price, I did not see how this house would be a good purchase, unless you wanted to try to flip it in five years. I left with a first-hand view of the mortgage crisis going on in this country.

Driveway Landscaping Completed

thriftyhomeowner@gmail.com (Thirfty Homeowner) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 22:13:00 +0000

First, a couple of apologies for my lack of posts (I've been very busy) and the image's quality (taken with cell phone because my camera is not working).

I'm able to cross something off my spring to-do list: the landscaping beside my driveway. The driveway was completed about six months ago, and since then I have cleaned up the 5-foot wide area next to it (which gave me poison ivy), and planted and finished off the look. Here are the total costs:

fabric weed barrier- $30 (and I have extra)
thuja trees (for eventual privacy)- $60
azaleas (evergreen shrub)- $50
solar lights- $20
mulch- free from local recycling center

So I spent $170, and if all goes well, it will be extremely low maintenance and should cost very little to keep in this condition.

Mouse Update

thriftyhomeowner@gmail.com (Thirfty Homeowner) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 00:18:00 +0000

So far I've caught two mice. Fortunately, I think I have the problem solved. I bought metal rings that fit around my pipes to cover the holes in the cabinets. I never knew it, but these things are called either scutcheons or flanges, depending on who you talk to. I just need to screw these things down, and then I'll consider myself mouse-proof.

100th Post...and I Have Mice...

thriftyhomeowner@gmail.com (Thirfty Homeowner) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 22:49:00 +0000

I wish I could celebrate my 100th post with a topic that was a little more pleasant.

A few nights ago, we noticed what looked like mouse excrement in the counter around our kitchen sink. This is the same sink that I had the problem with a couple of months ago. I should have thought about this back when we had that problem- that the combination of moisture underneath the cabinet and the fact that there is no barrier surrounding the holes around the pipes probably makes this an inviting place for a mouse to go. Directly below the sink is my crawlspace, which to me is just about the darkest, creepiest place on the entire planet. It makes me wonder how many more are living down there.

So I went to Lowe’s and stocked up on mouse poison trays and a covered mousetrap (I did not want to see a cute, dead mouse). I initially wanted to trap them humanely, but then realized I’d have no where to legally release them (except in my yard, which wouldn’t make sense).

Yesterday, we caught our first one. I’ll leave it set for the next few nights, and then try to find something to cover up the holes around the pipes. I ended up spending a total of $12 on the supplies. In retrospect, I probably did not need to buy the poison trays, as the trap seemed to work.

Have a Question for Ace's Helpful Hardware Man?

thriftyhomeowner@gmail.com (Thirfty Homeowner) — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 16:16:00 +0000

Lou Manfredini, Ace Hardware's "Helpful Hardware Man," has offered to answer reader questions, especially for us. Post your questions here, and I'll be sure to get them over to Lou!

According to Ace, Lou "is a nationally recognized home do-it-yourself expert who is a master at giving tips on home improvement and home renovations in a way that even the most novice DIY person can follow. He has authored five DIY books, has a call-in radio show with WGN Radio in Chicago called The Mr. Fix-It Show and a nationally syndicated TV program called House Smarts."

Please get in your questions by this Wednesday (3/25).

Why is There So Little Financial Education in Schools?

thriftyhomeowner@gmail.com (Thirfty Homeowner) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 00:38:00 +0000

As home ownership is a subset of personal finance management, I thought this post would be appropriate for my readers.

Why are classes like home economics and physical education mandatory in most school districts, while a class on managing your finances is not? Such a class could introduce kids to things like saving, balancing a checking account, going to college, buying a home, etc. By the state of the current economy, it looks like many people have not gotten such advice, and many others are not suited to give it, as well.

I know some districts have introduced such classes, but from what I read, changing a curriculum is herculean task in many places. Let's hope it happens.

Can't Wait for Spring!

thriftyhomeowner@gmail.com (Thirfty Homeowner) — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 20:51:00 +0000

In my part of the country, we have great hopes that no more snow will arrive and that mild weather will come soon. Today, actually, I was able to take inventory of my yard and came up with this list of things I want to soon do:

Mulch around the fenceline (I picked up the free mulch at the local recycling center and did it all in two trips today)
Mulch alongside the driveway and in a bed
Clean up the remainder of leaves
Get the garden ready for planting
Plant the garden
Buy plants to line driveway
Fertilize grass

I hope the weather cooperates so I can get this stuff done sooner than later!

Free Instructional Sites

thriftyhomeowner@gmail.com (Thirfty Homeowner) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:55:00 +0000

There are lots of sites on the web that offer tutorials for DIY projects and fixes. I'm sure you have your favorites, as do I. I've been in DIY mode for a few years now, but I only just recently stumbled upon these sites, so I thought you may have missed them as well: Instructables and Fixed4Free.

These sites were helpful to me recently when I couldn't get a tape out of a VCR. I plan to use them in the future the next time I need some assistance.

New Logo!

thriftyhomeowner@gmail.com (Thirfty Homeowner) — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 02:55:00 +0000

What do you think? OK, I'm just using this new logo as an excuse to test something I'm working on with my feed. But tell me if you have any comments about it!

I Love the Mortgage Interest Deduction

thriftyhomeowner@gmail.com (Thirfty Homeowner) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 12:43:00 +0000

Last week I received my income tax refund. What other day of the year do you get thousands of dollars given to you in exchange for the relatively short amount of time it takes to file your taxes? Yes, I know it was money I overpaid to begin with, and some will argue I should change my W-4 to lessen my overpayments, but for the paranoid like me, I’d rather get money back than have to owe and pay penalties.

Only the last couple of years have I had significant refunds. I owe that to the mortgage interest that I can now deduct. What a benefit of homeownership that has turned out to be: before I owned this house, I’d owe or get refunded less than $300 every year. Now, the refund I get is equivalent to about 2.5 house payments. I find that to be amazing.

I bring all this up because President Obama seems to be thinking about reducing the amount of mortgage interest that can be deducted by high-income people. I don’t want to get political, but since I’m not one of those high-income people, I have no problem with this. If I was fortunate enough to be one of them, I’d be disappointed, but I would understand the reasoning. However, there are those who say this will lead to a decrease in housing sales, which confuses me. The mortgage interest deduction currently applies to the house that is your main residence. Everyone needs somewhere to live. So because they end up not being refunded as much money as they are used to, they will instead become renters?

The bottom line is that the mortgage interest deduction is an unheralded perk of homeownership, and I don’t think it gets enough prominence from the pro-home-buying people (whoever they may be).

Energy Monitoring Devices

thriftyhomeowner@gmail.com (Thirfty Homeowner) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 09:56:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about Google's efforts to help people understand which of their home devices and appliances suck the most energy. While they are still a ways away from making that goal a reality, I found other products that can do basically the same thing, though they will cost you a few dollars.

Some units, like The Energy Detective, consists of two units: the transmitter (which must be installed in your electical box) and your display (which is where you can read about the energy use of each breaker). Black & Decker's Power Monitor consists of installing a device on your outside meter and then watching the display. If you want an even simpler device and you mainly are curious about finding which of your items is an "electricity vampire," check out the Kill A Watt, which simply allows you to plug in anything to it.

They range in price from around $20 to $150. I haven't personally tried any of them out, but I'd really be curious to find out where my usage is coming from. Maybe I'll add one to birthday list.

I Got a New HELOC

thriftyhomeowner@gmail.com (Thirfty Homeowner) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 23:06:00 +0000

As a condition of getting my mortgage refinanced, I had to cancel the home equity line of credit that I had through ING. I only used it a couple of times for small purchases, as its main purpose for me was as a safety net should I have an emergency.

So I tried to open a new ING HELOC, and I found that my loan to value was too low to qualify. Then I tried a slew of other banks- no luck there either. I knew banks had tightened lending, but I didn't think I'd have such a hard time finding a loan. So much for thie bank bailout.

I finally found a bank that would lend up to 89% of the house's value- PNC. I close on Thursday. I even got a great rate- 4.25%. Anyone else run into problems trying to get a home equity loan?

Credit Crisis Explained (with cartoons)

thriftyhomeowner@gmail.com (Thirfty Homeowner) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 13:18:00 +0000

Below is an excellent summary of the current credit crisis. If you've been a little in the dark as to the causes of it, this should help you out.

Google's PowerMeter

thriftyhomeowner@gmail.com (Thirfty Homeowner) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 08:53:00 +0000

Google has something in the works called PowerMeter. This will be an online gadget that will receive information from utility smart meters and energy management devices and provide the user a real-time look at electricity consumption.

I think this is a fabulous idea. I'd love to know my house's daily energy usage. Having this capability could easily point you to appliances or devices that are energy hogs and money-wasters. However, the utility companies need to work with Google on this. They first have to install "smart meters" at your home and then allow Google access to the information. Let's hope the utility companies make this switch and allow Google the access, or at least make access available to the end user themselves.

A video about the gadget is below:

Finding Your Contractor Online

thriftyhomeowner@gmail.com (Thirfty Homeowner) — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 08:34:00 +0000

After viewing a couple of new web sites that help consumers match up with reputable contractors, I'm wondering why I (or anyone else) did not come up with this idea earlier.

ServiceLive is still in its beta phase, but it already has more than 20,000 contractors in its database. Here's how it works: you select providers in your area, describe your job and name your price, prefund an account, and then select the provider that responds to your post. When the job is complete, you move your money to the provider (minus a $10 fee charged by the service). The benefits to using this type of service are that the contractor has already been checked out by the website, you get to set your own price, and it is convenient. I'll be keeping my eye on this site, and probably using it next time I need professional help.

If anyone knows of other similar sites, let us know. Fixr.com looks to operate on roughly the same model, though right now it is only serving the Boston area. Angieslist also seems like it might be a good resource to find qualified contractors, but it not as automated.

Book Review: The Homeowner's Guide to Managing a Renovation

thriftyhomeowner@gmail.com (Thirfty Homeowner) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 11:37:00 +0000

The Homeowner's Guide to Managing a Renovation is written by Susan Solakian, an experienced construction project manager who definitely revels in the details.

The book is a how-to guide about getting the most our of your renovation while minimizing surprises and extra expenses. The author takes you through every step of the process, from planning to bidding to construction. I found it to be a useful guide, though many homeowners may feel overwhelmed by the amount of information and advice contained within. Unless you are planning a large-scale renovation, much of the contents may be overkill, though of course it does not hurt to learn up on these things for a future project.

The book is well-written and designed. I do wish the documents referenced or contained within were available online for reader use as samples.

Harvard Remodeling Study

thriftyhomeowner@gmail.com (Thirfty Homeowner) — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 23:20:00 +0000

The Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University recently released its Remodeling Market in Transition report.

Among other things, it notes how from 1995 to 2007, spending on improvements doubled, but from 2007 to 2008 spending has already dropped by 16%. It is expected that spending will decrease much further with 2009's problems. The report also tracks the type of improvements over time, and also what type of homeowner is making the improvements.

It's an interesting study. I recommend you check it out.

Sink Update

thriftyhomeowner@gmail.com (Thirfty Homeowner) — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 16:09:00 +0000

Well, I spoke to soon. The sink kept leaking, so I went out and bought some more stuff and tried to affix the nut using pipe compound and thread seal, using a fancy new plumber's wrench. It still came undone. So I broke down and had a plumber give me an estimate today. He confirmed that the strainer itself was stripped, and I'd need a new one. He quoted me a price I thought was way too high, and I counter-offered. He accepted. Everything now works. But I do feel bad I'm out the money and that I didn't try to replace the strainer myself. I just couldn't take the thought of another trip to Lowe's and then coming upon yet another issue.