Anonymous A started this discussion 4 years ago#103,223
My family closes on a new house tomorrow! It’s a cute bungalow from the 1940s with a full, finished basement and a detached two-car garage with an apartment on top.
It’s a fixer though. We might not move in for another 8 to 10 months. There are a lot of odds and ends that are worn out or the owner just took shitty shortcuts and they need replacement.
The buying process was mad. We found a handful of lovely homes but were outbid by people who were dumb enough to pay $200,000 to $311,000 over list.
Sooooo we found something with good bones, negotiated down to $65,000 under list, and are gonna put in $300,000 cash on renovations. We’ve secured a reputable contractor, architecture firm, and engineers. The interest rates are becoming shitty again, but our credit rating is great right now and we paid down to 3.5 percent, fixed.
After the renovations are done we are gonna be paying over the monthly minimum to knock down the loan term by about five years.
Anonymous G replied with this 3 years ago, 29 minutes later, 19 hours after the original post[^][v]#1,165,424
Also: how were the people bidding $300k over list price “dumb”? They will have a house to move into immediately for that price; your family is planning to spend $300k and perform mental labor of managing a gigantic renovation project and y’all won’t even have a new home to live in until 10 months later.
Anonymous A (OP) replied with this 3 years ago, 3 hours later, 1 day after the original post[^][v]#1,165,601
@previous (Kook !!rcSrAtaAC)
Yeah, my wife’s. Above the garage. We’re gonna put in one of those chair lift things up the stairs to be ready for future needs.
Anonymous I replied with this 3 years ago, 1 hour later, 1 day after the original post[^][v]#1,165,643
If you have children or are planning to have children, you should consider taking the issue of lead paint and plumbing seriously, especially since you're buying an older house and are planning to do extensive renovations on it.
Even if you don't live in the house until after it's renovated and cleaned up, paint dust can remain in the soil for years and get stirred up every time you mow the lawn.
Lead in the pipes is obviously an issue forever unless you're redoing all that. And if you get the water tested, as you ought to, you should test it in conditions that you plan to actually use the plumbing. They often mention running the water for a minute or two before collecting a water sample for testing. But that's not how people actually use faucets and it's likely to result in measurements that underestimate lead content.
You might've had to sign a lead disclosure form. Many people know about the dangers of lead, but often what's not shared on these forms or seems to be as common knowledge is that lead is stored in the bone. Even long after one is no longer exposed to lead, it can slowly be re-released from the bone over many years and result in significant blood lead levels without any present exposure to it. This is especially concerning in pregnancy, because there is increased bone re-absorption and that means increased mobilization of lead from it. One can have fine and minimal lead levels before getting pregnant and have this quickly increase due to lead exposure that happened as much as one decade before.
Lead exposure in the prenatal environment is especially concerning and is negatively correlated with IQ levels.
Anonymous I replied with this 3 years ago, 4 minutes later, 1 day after the original post[^][v]#1,165,648
@previous (A)
The best practices are a joke. But it's good there's not a risk of exposing a child to that shit. Lead exposure for adults isn't as concerning unless it's very high. And it probably won't get that high unless the contractors are complete jackasses.
Anonymous A (OP) replied with this 3 years ago, 8 minutes later, 1 day after the original post[^][v]#1,165,650
@previous (I)
but I hear the paint chips taste good
The most hilarious and concerning thing to me is the attic insulation: a layer 3" thick of sawdust from the nearby mills when constructed, covered by batts of R11 insulation. There are at least four dead pigeons layered between the sawdust and fiberglass.