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What's NOT bugging you? (2013 – 2019)


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I've lived away from Wisconsin for several years (Atlanta, Chicago, soon Minneapolis) and this site - even the Off Topic forum specifically - is an important part of how I stay in touch with my home state. I appreciate it being here.

 

Agree. I've been gone from WI for several years and this site is a great place to visit. A little slice of home. Great community here!

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Congrats Stalton! Not sure about you, but I was way more nervous about my first home purchase than I was about getting married. I read a lot of books (pre-internet) about what to do and what not to do, what to look out for, various loan types, etc. Not sure where you are in the process, but the two pieces of advice I'll give you. 1) Get pre-approved for a loan (if you haven't already) and 2) Don't let the bank tell you how much of a house you can afford. Their calculation does not take into account many things. Although, maybe this has changed since I purchased my last house and the financial crisis. Do your own detailed accounting of all your income and your expenses (current and projected) and then make your own realistic estimate of what you can afford (don't forget taxes, insurance, heat, water, etc!).

 

Good luck. The house "shopping" is probably the funnest part of it all!

User in-game thread post in 1st inning of 3rd game of the 2022 season: "This team stinks"

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Congrats! It really is a fun time. My advice.... if you are a home body, it might be ok to stretch the budget a bit if you are willing to sacrifice going out, vacation, other luxuries. If you really like to spend money on those things, don't stretch your budget at ALL! Otherwise you will find yourself feeling stuck for awhile. I think it just really depends on how you like to spend your time/money.

 

Prioritize your sacrifices, unless your budget is over a million! Remember, you can't change things like location, lot, etc, but you can always change certain things inside the house. Always try to take the view of the next buyer. You may be cool with living next door to the railroad, but how many buyers are you ruling out when it comes time to sell. I truly do believe location location location. But that can also mean an up and coming neighborhood (obviously carrying more risk). Really do your homework though. Sometimes just crossing a street can cause a big dip in desire for a property.

 

Good luck and keep us posted!

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When the SO and I first house hunted in the 1990s, we found it useful to each make a list of absolute needs and absolute dealbreakers. That can save you some time.

 

Also (and as you said before, stalton, this can probably go in either "bug" category), expect some degree of drama. A seller might wait until the 11th hour/59th minute to respond to your offer, or come up with a late request/demand or something like that. There seems to always be some drama (I wonder sometimes if Realtors plan on it) but it's almost always resolvable. Just keep your mind open. Good luck.

Remember: the Brewers never panic like you do.
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New post for new "not bugging me" thing:

 

A really awesome and genuinely sweet thing just happened and I was part of it. Last year I discovered that one of my grade school teachers is (still alive and) a Facebook user, so we became Facebook friends. On Sunday he messaged me to ask a favor. His uncle is turning 100 in a few weeks and one of the things he most likes to talk about still is Badger football.

 

My teacher was hoping I could (1) verify his uncle's graduation year and (2) see if the athletic department could send his uncle a birthday greeting or signed photo or something.

 

I had the tools to verify Uncle's graduation date, and I sent a semi-random inquiry to athletics yesterday - and it's all working out. Athletics is sending Uncle a card and some photos, and my teacher just called me a sweetheart in an email. He was so kind to me in elementary school (and I can cite specific kindnesses) that I'm just glad I could start to repay him at all.

 

Isn't that cool?! The Internet is used for good for a change.

Remember: the Brewers never panic like you do.
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First time home buying. This could go in either topic, sadly. I'm really stoked though.

 

My wife and I went through this two years ago. I didn't think it was anywhere as bad as everyone made it out to be. Our agent told us you'll know the house as soon as you walk in. It will feel like home. I didn't believe that would happen with me but it actually did. Out of the 30ish houses we looked at the one we chose was the only one we both really liked so the decision wasn't really that hard.

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My advice - don't underestimate the value of commute time. A long commute, just to get a bigger/nicer house, will wear on you really quickly. Time is the one thing that you can never get back. My other bit of advice - think about the stability of your job(s) and the likelihood that they will change necessitating a move. I've bought two homes in my life, and needed to move for work within three years each time. This almost happened a third time, with a move required about a year after purchasing, but fortunately the two places I offered on ended up accepting other offers and I passed on offering on a third place. However, those properties are now each worth at least $200K more than what they sold for six years ago.

 

Oh, third bit of advice - find an independent mortgage broker and compare to bank rates and fees. The fees are usually less. If you live in the Madison area I can refer you to one who has been in the industry for 15 years.

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Oh wow, wasn't expecting quite the response! Thanks all. My wife and I are amassing all the necessary documents for preapproval while looking at the different banks/lenders out there. I'm an engineer by trade and a son of an accountant, so wading through all of the numbers has been pretty good so far. My wife works in downtown Milwaukee and I work in Racine with a possibility of shifting somewhere in Milwaukee County at a later date. We had lived in an apartment in Oak Creek and we do like the area. The taxes for being Milwaukee County actually isn't bad compared to other cities in Mil county. Otherwise we are looking at the Greenfield/Stallis area but so far the taxes and housing market sucks from what I've seen.

 

We know about how much we will get and we know we are looking for a 3bedroom place. We also have seen a handful of houses and will be full blown house hunting mode once we get the preapproval.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
House Buying Update. Good news is that we got preapproved and got about what we expected. Unfortunately, our original realtor fell off the planet so we found another (hadn't signed the agreement with the first realtor thankfully). This new one is 100 times better and we love her so far. Now, time to look at alot of houses this week.
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Lots of sugar ants in the house but 9:1 corn syrup to borax is working really well. Just put some in a bowl and add a little water now and again when to surface gets dry. The ants were all over it for about a week and now that particular colony is all dead. Ants feed it to each other and eventually feed it to the queen. Although a second colony has now found the kitchen.

 

I have a sub-floor under the entire house which is a haven for ants and roaches. A bunch of ants don't bother me too much, but if I see another roach I think I'll choose to burn the house down. Although you can add flour to the borax mix and make a ball of it, throw it wherever and it's good for about three months. Works on roaches, too, and it's only mildly toxic so not that bad to have around with pets and children.

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The grill and table are in the trunk.

The cooler is full of ice and beer.

The camp stove is ready to heat water for hot toddies and hot cocoa.

Baseball is back tomorrow, and tailgating season officially begins.

"I wasted so much time in my life hating Juventus or A.C. Milan that I should have spent hating the Cardinals." ~kalle8

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The University of North Dakota won the Frozen Four last night - first title since 2000, 8th overall.

 

For a myriad of reasons, they needed this one badly. Since winning their last title in 2000, they have made 8 trips to the Frozen Four and come home empty each time. Meanwhile, North Dakota State University has won 5 consecutive national championships in football (I-AA). UND risked loosing prospective students and donors to their in-state rival because everyone loves a winner. They've also gone through an extremely divisive NCAA-mandated nickname change that started with the retirement of the "Fighting Sioux" moniker in 2012 and the adoption of the new "Fighting Hawks" mascot in 2016. In between, they played simply as "North Dakota." Sioux die. Hawks fly. What a way to put that behind them, though I suspect hurt feelings will continue to linger.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Excited to get out there and plant the garden this weekend. Well most of it at least; probably will wait another week on the tomatoes/peppers.

 

I tried starting those indoors this year with those peat moss pellets. I think the tray holds about 72 individual pellets and I managed to only get 3 tomato plants and 0 pepper plants to sprout. I think I am just going to buy the plants next year.

 

Also first time with a garden at the new house. I put up a rabbit fence but I am anxious to find out if that is enough barrier for all the critters running around.

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73º and sunny out here on may 15. We have our shirts off and are grilling Wisconsin sausage kitchen brats on the porch. It's going to be like this with broad daylight until just about midnight, and my vacation began today at noon. Definitely not bugging me.
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