Octopus Overlords

Looks like Im in for 2 window ACs next year if I can get the money up. The bedroom / pc room one is old. I think Ive had it at least 7 years or more. Its weak and doesn't cool even this one room enough in hot summer days. I have a fan to blow on me with it.

The house or den one on the opposite side of the house is now getting long in the tooth too. Ive noticed its having trouble keeping it cool. It is barely cooling the den and kitchen with help from a floor fan. The living room is hot on hot days. And I have to walk through the living room to get to the kitchen. It was supposed to be a replacement for this bedroom ac unit when it failed like they always do in a few years. But the bedroom one is still kickin..barely. So that den one is too small to begin with.

Ill just have to have the money is the biggest hurdle. Ill need a big one for the den because it cools the main house part. Maybe 10,000 btu or higher.

The bedroom can be small like 5000 btu. Im not sure what these window ac units sell for now days. I need to look around and start planning for it.

Maybe theres a local help place that can help subsidize the cost for me. Like The Caring Place that has helped me before.

Daehawk wrote: Wed Jun 19, 2024 11:34 pm The bedroom / pc room one is old. I think Ive had it at least 7 years or more.

The Panasonic in my bedroom is at least 25 years old and still wheezing. It's so heavy I almost need a forklift to install it, and it gets a little heavier every year.

Our other two units are 10-15 years old and more manageable. I still haven't installed the one for my office because it just isn't that hot yet. 92 degrees? Pfft.

I know you southerners have a different relationship with AC than I do. Wife turns hers on in May and won't turn it off until October, but I'm a lot more heat tolerant and only use mine a few days a year. I much prefer a window fan and the process of replacing the fan with the AC and back again is not trivial in my tiny closet/office.

I just leave mine in years round. Too heavy for me to bother with.

Well this being the major purchase thread, I'll mention that mini-splits are on the menu for our new house, which doesn't have central AC because 20 years ago it wasn't necessary in the Berkshires. I never even heard of mini-splits until a year ago but I guess they're the best way to retrofit older houses. I'd be fine with just buying a couple more window units but Wife thinks they're tacky. Can't be tacky.

I dont know what a mini split is so will have to go look that up.

Carpet_pissr wrote:

coopasonic wrote: Wed Jun 19, 2024 3:25 pm Estate planning... well, I guess it was less than I expected so yay? It still took a chunk out of "the estate."

I am so clueless about that stuff, and I am my mother's executor apparently. REALLY need to read up on that whole process somewhere.

Get a lawyer with experience. Estate planning is complicated and will get even more expensive next year. Everyone I know is swamped with work, and summer is our slow time. You’ll likely pay 10 times as much if you delay or don’t plan, and there are a few things you can get in the first hour or two that can save a lot later — if you get and follow good advice.

And if you dont care about her worldly goods then plan an estate sale. Those are fun.

Zarathud wrote: Thu Jun 20, 2024 6:35 am

Carpet_pissr wrote:

coopasonic wrote: Wed Jun 19, 2024 3:25 pm Estate planning... well, I guess it was less than I expected so yay? It still took a chunk out of "the estate."

I am so clueless about that stuff, and I am my mother's executor apparently. REALLY need to read up on that whole process somewhere.

Get a lawyer with experience. Estate planning is complicated and will get even more expensive next year. Everyone I know is swamped with work, and summer is our slow time. You’ll likely pay 10 times as much if you delay or don’t plan, and there are a few things you can get in the first hour or two that can save a lot later — if you get and follow good advice.

Our lawyer that specializes in estate planning says you should get a lawyer that specializes in estate planning! I don't understand most of what they are talking about but they tell me a revokable living trust saves time and money in the long run. They'll also do 23 or so different powers of attorney as part of the package. Biggest challenge for us is who is the backup and backup to the backup on all those powers. Everyone we trust is old.

Carpet_pissr wrote:Not really major I guess, but a new pool cleaner robot is on the horizon.

I've dealt with my old school Polaris cleaner that requires a booster pump for too long (it came with the house/pool that we moved into in 2013). Especially now that they have cordless jobbies similar to Roomba's for your pool.

I'm thinking the savings of not have to run (and replace) that booster pump will pay for a new unit ($500-700) in a few years.

Anyone have a recommended model?

This is the third season for our Dolphin robot (Triton PS Plus) and it's still going strong. We leave it in the water any time we're not swimming and I have it programmed to do a 2-hour cleaning cycle every other day...does a great job. The only other cleaning I do on a regular basis is sweeping the steps to push dirt onto the main pool floor where the robot can suck it up. The model we have is supposed to climb stairs (it will try), but it's not enough to keep them consistently clean.

The model we have is on the higher end, so it does stairs, climbs the walls to scrub the water line and has a few other fancy features, but you can definitely get by with a cheaper one that just crawls the bottom if you're willing to brush the walls yourself once in a while.

Dolphin/Maytronics is one of the more popular brands and scored well when I was doing my research.

I dont have a pool of course. But looking online for best pool robot this one comes in well on two of the first three sites google pulled up.

AIPER Scuba S1 Pool Vacuum for Inground Pools

Review link two

Its $550.00 at Amazon right now. 21% off.

Daehawk wrote: Wed Jun 19, 2024 11:34 pm Looks like Im in for 2 window ACs next year if I can get the money up. The bedroom / pc room one is old. I think Ive had it at least 7 years or more. Its weak and doesn't cool even this one room enough in hot summer days. I have a fan to blow on me with it.

The house or den one on the opposite side of the house is now getting long in the tooth too. Ive noticed its having trouble keeping it cool. It is barely cooling the den and kitchen with help from a floor fan. The living room is hot on hot days. And I have to walk through the living room to get to the kitchen. It was supposed to be a replacement for this bedroom ac unit when it failed like they always do in a few years. But the bedroom one is still kickin..barely. So that den one is too small to begin with.

Ill just have to have the money is the biggest hurdle. Ill need a big one for the den because it cools the main house part. Maybe 10,000 btu or higher.

The bedroom can be small like 5000 btu. Im not sure what these window ac units sell for now days. I need to look around and start planning for it.

Maybe theres a local help place that can help subsidize the cost for me. Like The Caring Place that has helped me before.

Since you don't have money to burn, it would be wiser to make the most of what you have, i.e. focus on learning how to properly clean and maintain your window AC units instead (especially if you've never previously done so):

Kraken wrote: Thu Jun 20, 2024 1:13 am I'd be fine with just buying a couple more window units but Wife thinks they're tacky. Can't be tacky.

At some point (at your advanced age), humping window units in and out becomes a problem. Ductless/mini-splits are awesome. You will have one for approximately 15 minutes and wonder why you didn't get them much, much sooner.

Smoove_B wrote: Thu Jun 20, 2024 9:52 am

Kraken wrote: Thu Jun 20, 2024 1:13 am I'd be fine with just buying a couple more window units but Wife thinks they're tacky. Can't be tacky.

At some point (at your advanced age), humping window units in and out becomes a problem. Ductless/mini-splits are awesome. You will have one for approximately 15 minutes and wonder why you didn't get them much, much sooner.

They're on the list. We have like four top priorities and can only afford one at a time. Since we won't move until summer's (almost) over, the mini-splits will wait until next year.

Good videos. May have to try some of that foam spray stuff.

Smoove_B wrote: Thu Jun 20, 2024 9:52 am

Kraken wrote: Thu Jun 20, 2024 1:13 am I'd be fine with just buying a couple more window units but Wife thinks they're tacky. Can't be tacky.

Ductless/mini-splits are awesome. You will have one for approximately 15 minutes and wonder why you didn't get them much, much sooner.

I agree. Mini splits also give the edge to Thailand over Philippines as the latter has been slow to adopt them.

My new place has 3 mini splits and the only one that doesn't bring my apartment to near ice producing levels within minutes is the one in the front room. But I think that's because the front door needs to be weather proofed. The last few 90 degree days have caused it to struggle.

hepcat wrote: Thu Jun 20, 2024 12:06 pm My new place has 3 mini splits and the only one that doesn't bring my apartment to near ice producing levels within minutes is the one in the front room. But I think that's because the front door needs to be weather proofed. The last few 90 degree days have caused it to struggle.

Did you check the filter? The entire cover on the inside unit should just swing up from the bottom and the air filter will be inside there. The filters can just be rinsed off in the bathtub.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh6M2Z8kUws

Occasionally the entire unit might need a cleaning, you might ask management if they do that.

Thanks, I'll do that tonight when I get home.

Any thoughts on adding the mini split concept to a house with central air? We actually have two central air units - one covers the main floor and basement, and the other covers upstairs. Unless it gets really hot, we often don't bother turning on the main one because the main floor and basement stay cool - except for the back of the house. It was extended at some point and the ductwork only peeks into the kitchen a bit. The rest of the back has a lot of windows that get a lot of late afternoon sun. Even with the AC on, the back gets uncomfortable - particularly when I'm cooking. I'm thinking a mini split in the back might solve that issue.

We built an addition to the existing (older) house. The addition has central A/C, the old part doesn't. So we have a mini-split in the old part of the house. My office is one of the old bedrooms (with west-facing windows) so I would be baking in the summer without the mini-split. It's the opposite side of the house, and the central A/C doesn't do much there (it would have to crank extra hard to even cool its own side, we tend to notice the difference when the mini-split is turned off).

ImLawBoy wrote: Thu Jun 20, 2024 4:53 pm Any thoughts on adding the mini split concept to a house with central air? We actually have two central air units - one covers the main floor and basement, and the other covers upstairs. Unless it gets really hot, we often don't bother turning on the main one because the main floor and basement stay cool - except for the back of the house. It was extended at some point and the ductwork only peeks into the kitchen a bit. The rest of the back has a lot of windows that get a lot of late afternoon sun. Even with the AC on, the back gets uncomfortable - particularly when I'm cooking. I'm thinking a mini split in the back might solve that issue.

When we built our addition, we added central AC. And we added a mini-split to the old part of the house. I asked about performance and the HVAC guy said the mini was like 20x more efficient (at least that's my vague memory). So I'd think there could definitely be a good argument for adding one because it would definitely help keep an area cool that is struggling, plus it might actually help keep the other areas cooler as well, which would reduce the amount of time the main AC runs. In our case, the cool air from the addition isn't all bleeding into the old part of the house, which keeps the AC from running as much in the addition.

BAMMED by my the missus. Ouch.

ImLawBoy wrote: Thu Jun 20, 2024 4:53 pm Even with the AC on, the back gets uncomfortable - particularly when I'm cooking. I'm thinking a mini split in the back might solve that issue.

If it was my problem I wouldn't hesitate to add a mini split. I'm guessing with all those windows it might get kind of cold in the winter back there too, so you can get a mini split that heats & cools. I think you might actually decrease your energy costs by needing to run your other sources less often.

OH MY GOD!! I Spoke about my air conditioner didn't I?? Frak!! I know better than to say anything about anything . Now my ancient bedroom room is kicking the bucket. Middle of the night I hear a terrible sound from it and then the fan starts a terrible grinding noise which is still going today.

I can only hope it makes it until next week when I have the money to replace it....in the middle of a serious heat wave.

well fuck a gayt dammed duck...right in the middle of putting my new window air conditioner in my bedroom my rigth hand felt like it had been shot..fucking wasp nest was on my window..I exterminated those based to the stone age

Locked in our mortgage rate at 6.75% today. Not great, but not too bad in this housing market. Closing is two weeks from today and there are no obstacles in sight. The credit union guy said it's smooth sailing from here on out -- "hope your bar is well-stocked!"

(Pictures of our new basement) I showed our house to three "flippers" this week. Only the first one is a real flipper -- you know the "We buy ugly houses" people (HomeVesters)? The second guy wants to do minimal renovations and rent it out; I dubbed him The Slumlord. The third one is a full-time realtor who dabbles in flipping on the side, but wants to buy our house for herself. All of them are supposed to make their offers by EOD Monday, and I'm pretty confident that one or more will meet or exceed the minimum we've agreed to accept. If that happens, we could pay off the new mortgage almost immediately. Or maybe pay cash for a new car and refinance into a very small mortgage...I guess that will depend on car loan interest rates. Car loans are probably cheaper than mortgages.

We're willing to sell our house far below its market value in order to avoid a LOT of expensive renovations and the hassle and expense of owning two houses for several months while hiring contractors to renovate both of them, 150 miles apart. Ideally one of our "flippers" will cut us a check next month, whereupon we'll move out at our leisure and simply mail in our keys. Easy-peasy. The buyer will also dispose of anything we leave behind...which is going to be a lot. In fact, renting a dumpster and hiring someone to fill it for us is one of the expenses I expected to face.

Things are snowballing, and I have a real good feeling about it.

Kraken wrote: Fri Jul 12, 2024 9:04 pm and I'm pretty confident that one or more will meet or exceed the minimum we've agreed to accept. If that happens, we could pay off the new mortgage almost immediately. Or maybe pay cash for a new car and refinance into a very small mortgage...I guess that will depend on car loan interest rates. Car loans are probably cheaper than mortgages.

We're willing to sell our house far below its market value in order to avoid a LOT of expensive renovations and the hassle and expense of owning two houses for several months while hiring contractors to renovate both of them, 150 miles apart.

Sounds like you'll save yourself a lot of grief. It's in my mind to see what someone will offer for my "doesn't need a thing" property once my contract with the current realtor expires on the 31st.

Wife wants to replace our hardwood floor and all of the carpet in the house with laminate. It would be easier to care for, especially with baby pets. I'm not convinced it's the way to go for the staircase and upstairs bedrooms, though.

em2nought wrote: Fri Jul 12, 2024 11:21 pm

Kraken wrote: Fri Jul 12, 2024 9:04 pm and I'm pretty confident that one or more will meet or exceed the minimum we've agreed to accept. If that happens, we could pay off the new mortgage almost immediately. Or maybe pay cash for a new car and refinance into a very small mortgage...I guess that will depend on car loan interest rates. Car loans are probably cheaper than mortgages.

We're willing to sell our house far below its market value in order to avoid a LOT of expensive renovations and the hassle and expense of owning two houses for several months while hiring contractors to renovate both of them, 150 miles apart.

Sounds like you'll save yourself a lot of grief. It's in my mind to see what someone will offer for my "doesn't need a thing" property once my contract with the current realtor expires on the 31st.

First bid came in at LOL wut? Expecting the other two tomorrow.

We accepted one of the flipper offers. My calculations show that the money we're getting + the expected cost of repairs comes up about $30k below the expected retail sales price, so we're leaving that much on the table. But the amount of grief we're avoiding is worth it.

Back on the purchase side of the equation, our closing, scheduled for a week from tomorrow, has been canceled and not yet rescheduled. The seller wants another month. We're OK with that but haven't nailed down a date yet. The seller apparently stopped talking to their agent, who therefore couldn't give our agent any information, so we instead had our attorney talk to their attorney. We learned that they are going through an ugly divorce and the wife won't sign anything until she sees what she's getting under the terms of divorce.

Nobody at this stage thinks the sale will fall through; they need the money too much. However, they are in breach of contract and we could sue them successfully. 'Course, we'd lose the house if we did that, so we don't want to do that. It took us 15 months to find this house and neither of us has the appetite to start over. We'll give them the month, and *then* we'll sue them if they flake out again.

In light of all this I haven't signed the contract to sell our old house yet, even though it has a blameless termination clause to cover just such a situation. First thing we have to do is agree on a new closing date and start the clock ticking again with a revised P&S.

Jeff V wrote: Sun Jul 14, 2024 11:51 pm Wife wants to replace our hardwood floor and all of the carpet in the house with laminate. It would be easier to care for, especially with baby pets. I'm not convinced it's the way to go for the staircase and upstairs bedrooms, though.

Highly recommend LVP if you haven’t considered it. Will probably be next kind of flooring I get. Currently have engineered wood flooring and I hate it.

Carpet_pissr wrote: Thu Jul 18, 2024 8:30 pm

Jeff V wrote: Sun Jul 14, 2024 11:51 pm Wife wants to replace our hardwood floor and all of the carpet in the house with laminate. It would be easier to care for, especially with baby pets. I'm not convinced it's the way to go for the staircase and upstairs bedrooms, though.

Highly recommend LVP if you haven’t considered it. Will probably be next kind of flooring I get. Currently have engineered wood flooring and I hate it.

Thank you! I was unaware of this, but it seems to be the way to go.

Kraken wrote: Thu Jul 18, 2024 6:56 pm We accepted one of the flipper offers. My calculations show that the money we're getting + the expected cost of repairs comes up about $30k below the expected retail sales price, so we're leaving that much on the table. But the amount of grief we're avoiding is worth it.

$30k doesn't sound too bad at all, especially factoring in all the otherwise work involved. I've already come off my asking price by $25k from a starting price of $147k. Percentage wise I'm way worse off than you and my property needs nothing. I noticed some of those buyer websites have built in percentages like 5% that you have to hand to them as if they're your real estate agent. Might want to make sure you won't be subject to something sneaky like that.

If you give the guy you're buying the country house from another month maybe you can write some kind of penalty in for if he takes longer than that otherwise he's likely to request another month at the end of that period, and another, and another.

em2nought wrote: Fri Jul 19, 2024 12:20 am

Kraken wrote: Thu Jul 18, 2024 6:56 pm We accepted one of the flipper offers. My calculations show that the money we're getting + the expected cost of repairs comes up about $30k below the expected retail sales price, so we're leaving that much on the table. But the amount of grief we're avoiding is worth it.

$30k doesn't sound too bad at all, especially factoring in all the otherwise work involved.

There's a whole lotta stuff the flipper didn't see on his walkthrough, so I think his calculations were low. The internet tells me his maximum offer is retail value * 0.7 minus renovation costs. He gave us retail * 0.7, period. The other two bidders estimated the upgrade costs at $80k and $70k, but I know stuff they don't. It's really going to cost him $90k+. We done good.

em2nought wrote: Fri Jul 19, 2024 12:20 am I noticed some of those buyer websites have built in percentages like 5% that you have to hand to them as if they're your real estate agent. Might want to make sure you won't be subject to something sneaky like that.

Ever since the Big Bang, the seller has paid both their own agent and the buyer's agent, and the gentleman's agreement gave them each 2.5%. Effective next month, the buyer has to pay their own agent. As a seller you should not pay more than 2.5% for your own agent.

em2nought wrote: Fri Jul 19, 2024 12:20 am

If you give the guy you're buying the country house from another month maybe you can write some kind of penalty in for if he takes longer than that otherwise he's likely to request another month at the end of that period, and another, and another.

He has some stuff that I'd like to inherit, like a few furnishings and his lawn tractor. I was willing to give him money for those things. Now I just want them.

Kraken wrote: Fri Jul 19, 2024 2:18 am

He has some stuff that I'd like to inherit, like a few furnishings and his lawn tractor. I was willing to give him money for those things. Now I just want them.

It sounds like his soon-to-be-ex wife is looking for money. Expect that stuff to be sold off.

This month:
Washer/dryer
Property tax
Kid's orthodontist
Vacation

5 figures. Awesome.

My wife's car has been throwing a series of errors and warnings when started. Looks like $2k to replace "the camera" and possibly more if they find more problems when they start working on it. It's a 2017 Honda Accord with ~40,000 miles on it so it's worth putting in two grand but the additional repairs may be an additional $4k which would probably put us in the market for a replacement.

Annoying since the last payment is due in November. I was kind of looking forward to getting down to just one car payment.

Exodor wrote: Fri Jul 19, 2024 9:58 am My wife's car has been throwing a series of errors and warnings when started. Looks like $2k to replace "the camera" and possibly more if they find more problems when they start working on it. It's a 2017 Honda Accord with ~40,000 miles on it so it's worth putting in two grand but the additional repairs may be an additional $4k which would probably put us in the market for a replacement.

Annoying since the last payment is due in November. I was kind of looking forward to getting down to just one car payment.

$4k repairs? I would strongly consider selling it. Honda's don't have near the reliability they used to, especially with quite a few really terrible back to back years (can't remember if 2017 was one of those or not though), and quality generally going downhill over the past 5-10 or so. Not sure if that has already translated into lower resale value for the brand yet or not though. It takes a while for consumers to catch up to "the data" on stuff like that.

Anecdotally (meaningless) we still have a 2015 Odyssey with about 105K miles on it and have had no real problems to date.

LawBeefaroni wrote: Fri Jul 19, 2024 7:12 am

Kraken wrote: Fri Jul 19, 2024 2:18 am

He has some stuff that I'd like to inherit, like a few furnishings and his lawn tractor. I was willing to give him money for those things. Now I just want them.

It sounds like his soon-to-be-ex wife is looking for money. Expect that stuff to be sold off.

When we bought the house we are currently in, the owners moved to Florida, so left tons of furniture. We offered them I think $2500K for the whole lot of it and they accepted. Just rolled it into the loan and paperwork.

Some time after buying the house, I remembered that there was a gas stainless steel patio heater (those tall things that radiate heat outdoors at restuarants) that was missing from outside. I looked over the fence to my neighbor behind me (ex-Qanon flag waver) and there it was! The bastard stole it I guess. I found the instructions and the cover for it in my shed, and thought about giving those to him and saying "you forgot these!!" It's possible he asked them for it, but given what I have learned about their relationship, I seriously doubt that.

Since we have such short winters here, and I already have a large brick fireplace built into my pool's patio, I didn't really want or need it anyway. Still, thieving bastard!

Carpet_pissr wrote: Fri Jul 19, 2024 11:06 am $2500K

I bet they did!