The joy$ of home owner$hip

[nick__45]

My neighbors healthy tree fell on his next door neighbors roof and did some damage to the roof, the siding and the gutters. Both insurance companies told them that the insurance company of the "victim" would cover the damages, because it was a healthy tree. If the tree had been visibly dead or dying, the insurance company of the neighbor who owned the tree would have to have paid out. This is true for fences being damaged, too. In Virginia.

Good to know.

[snafu]

There are advantages of owning a home, not renting. You are not at the mercy of a landlord, you make choices, decisions [and repairs].

Like cars, everyone needs a maintenance/service fund for repairs. The 1st thing we did was buy the Reader's Digest Home Repair book and have found it easy to follow their instructions for maintenance and most repairs. Staff at Home Depot type stores are very knowledgeable and make it clear when a problem is not a DIY job. Equipment can be borrowed or rented and usually friends/neighbors are willing to help quid pro quo.

I believe home owners need an all round handyman they trust who can fix/install or has a list of contacts developed over time who they recommend. Check with neighbors, friends, colleagues to get a couple of names. If hiring out, I suggest getting three estimates as hourly rates and materials have huge variations. Ask for references and most importantly, take the time to check them out. Ask if they would hire that guy again!

It sounds over-the-top but I write an informal contract with the repair guy to include the start date, who will do the repair, who buys materials & list those if possible, the date the project will be completed, the cost [if they are buying the materials I want the receipt or at least a copy of the receipt] and payment details. I don't like to pay cash as I think it's important to have a paper trail.

If we start a repair and find it's more difficult than anticipated we get help from the handyman we trust. If he can't do the job, he makes recommendations and we seek at least one other estimate.

[cjscully]

Owning a home is never dull. Unexpected expenses abound. You can't just call the landlord so they can deal with it at their expense.

I too have the Reader's Digest Home Repair book and I try to do as many of the repair and maintenance actions myself as I possibly can. Even then the hits you take can be significant. $300 to get rid of 3 wasp nests that appeared under the eves of our garage and house. $500 to a plumber to repair a sink that I did not have the tools or know-how to repair myself. It goes on and on.

That said, I still prefer owning to renting by a country mile. When you rent and you hate the bathroom fixtures or the style of the cabinets in the kitchen, too bad. When you own, you save up the money and you change them to something you like and smile.

[Ima saver]

I have owned my own home since the age of 21. I would never pay rent. Luckily, I am married to a handy man who can fix almost everything!

[nick__45]

I just fired up my heater, I guess it's called a heat pump, for the upstair because I turned the A/C and heat pump unit off for the summer. I was glad to see it fires up right away. That could be expensive to repair because it's in the attic.

Of course, there is no good information on how to maintain these system without running them constantly. This is the reason I prefer very old house with wood stoves and the A/C less central air.

[cschin4]

Why do you have to chop the whole tree down? We had the same issue and we just cut off the branches that over hung the neighbors roof.

[disneysteve]

Why do you have to chop the whole tree down? We had the same issue and we just cut off the branches that over hung the neighbors roof.

When they planted these trees 50 years ago, they don't seem to have given any thought to the fact that the trees would grow. They put trees that get way too big way too close to the houses. The limbs threaten the houses from above and the roots threaten them from below. Since buying the house in 1994, we've already had 3 trees removed and there is this one and one more that really need to go.

In this case, half the tree hangs over their house and half the tree hangs over our house. There are also large limbs on the front of the tree that hang over the power lines. If we cut off everything that is in a bad place, there won't be much of anything remaining.

[cicy33]

I just fired up my heater, I guess it's called a heat pump, for the upstair because I turned the A/C and heat pump unit off for the summer. I was glad to see it fires up right away. That could be expensive to repair because it's in the attic.

Of course, there is no good information on how to maintain these system without running them constantly. This is the reason I prefer very old house with wood stoves and the A/C less central air.

The best way to maintain a home central air or heat unit is to have it looked at by a professional service. Of course with a new unit doesn't have to be every year but with older units a yearly check is not a bad idea. they are really expensive. Ours is pretty old so we had one done and it was only about 85 dollars. they cleaned the unit and checked all the "whatevers" to make sure was still in good shape. As we are not educated when it comes to these things we will pay for someone to make sure that it keeps running. nothing is worse to wake up on a frosty morning and the heat doesn't work.

[fe2o3ez]

40% about right

Suze Orman says to plan on expenses 40% above your mortgage expense, so if your payment is $1,000/month, plan to need $1,400/month to cover all of your costs. It is a lot more than people realize when trying to figure out if they can afford the house they are considering.

Ironically, that's probably about right. I had never heard a round figure before, but if I look st my budget, it's just about 43% that I have dedicated for ancillary home expenses beyond the Mtg\RETax\HOInsurance payment.

[greenskeeper]

Common sense goes a long way as well.

When we bought our current home, upon looking at the property there was a 60ft pine tree that split about 20 feet off the ground. Each limb was strategically leaning towards our property and the neighbors. Before we decided on the house my wife and I agreed that the tree would have to be taken down.

We had adequate cash in our emergency fund to remove the tree within a month, to the tune of $1800...

...and people wonder why interest only and pick-a-payment mortgages didn't work out so well?

[elessar78]

I bought my first home with about 15k saved for various emergencies as well as furnishings, etc.. I blew thru most of that stash in a year or two. It cost a lot more than most imagine. If I had it to do over I would have saved twice as much as I thought was neccesary.

This is part of my homeownership plan, although my figure is about 30K. Call it my comfort zone. My wife thinks I'm crazy and that all we need is the down payment.

I think I've mentioned this before, but this issue is one of my big fears about homeownership—the hidden costs.

[disneysteve]

Tree guy came yesterday. Initial quote was $1,600 for the tree and $395 for the stump. If we did it all at the same time, $1,800 for both. I was predicting $2,000 so I was right on target. Then our neighbor got him to look at a tree they needed removed. He gave them a quote and said if we both get the work done on the same day, he'd knock the grand total down another $300. We agreed to split that 50-50 with our neighbor, making our total $1,650. I'm satisfied with that and this guy came highly recommended from a couple of neighbors in the next block who he did work for recently. So next week, we will both be getting our trees taken care of. It sure will make keeping the gutters clean a lot easier as this tree is the main source of that problem for us.

[nick__45]

Tree guy came yesterday. Initial quote was $1,600 for the tree and $395 for the stump. If we did it all at the same time, $1,800 for both. I was predicting $2,000 so I was right on target. Then our neighbor got him to look at a tree they needed removed. He gave them a quote and said if we both get the work done on the same day, he'd knock the grand total down another $300. We agreed to split that 50-50 with our neighbor, making our total $1,650. I'm satisfied with that and this guy came highly recommended from a couple of neighbors in the next block who he did work for recently. So next week, we will both be getting our trees taken care of. It sure will make keeping the gutters clean a lot easier as this tree is the main source of that problem for us.

Is insurance paying for it? By the way, do you or can you point me out to what is covered and not covered? I had front porch done recently because the old posts as well as rails were rotted. I paid for that myself. Same with the leak in the bathroom and other minor things. What is cover?

If insurance doesn't cover tree remover, I would probably do it myself. I have done it before and the stump is the hard part. Back when I rented a room out of someone house, they used the stump as a place to see or put things on. The one in the back yard was used as table top.

[nick__45]

This is part of my homeownership plan, although my figure is about 30K. Call it my comfort zone. My wife thinks I'm crazy and that all we need is the down payment.

I think I've mentioned this before, but this issue is one of my big fears about homeownership—the hidden costs.

My figure is $10k for every $100k borrowed originally as a minimum saving. An ideal number for all things is $20k for every $100k value of the house. Now that I own the opportunity to make mortgage payment, I actually wish I had bought a plot of land and but a double-wide or camper on it. I don't need all the space. Family of 3 shouldn't need 4600 sq-ft.

[disneysteve]

Is insurance paying for it?

If insurance doesn't cover tree remover, I would probably do it myself.

Why would insurance cover it? There is nothing wrong with the tree and no damage has occurred. We're doing it for preventive reasons.

As for doing it myself, the tree is a 40-foot tall maple. I think I'll let the pros handle that.