Random Ramblings

We've got a feasible plan to have it paid off in 10 years.

Congrats on being mortgage free!

alldatndensum wrote:

Guilty/Forgiven wrote:

Xid it's a good feeling. We signed our papers the same day as our wedding. On our way to our Honeymoon we stopped at the realtors and finished the last of the signatures. Good feeling indeed

Getting the paperwork signed on our house all those years ago was a great, and overwhelming feeling.  You have the excitement of buying your own house, and the fear that you will never pay it off.

You know what feels better than buying a house?  Making the final payment.  I haven't had a mortgage in years.

We paid off a 30 year mortgage in 20 years. For a while we doubled payments, but for most of the time we just paid a hundred over the due amount. Amazing how much a little extra can knock down the time on the mortgage.

Agreed, 100 extra a month makes a difference even if you just send 25 a week. My house should've been paid for already but we refinanced two times. I guess it was worth it because we made some home upgrades but looking back it would be nice just to have it paid for already.

How much do houses in your area go for?  Around here it's about £350,000, which is about $475,000.  Most people in the UK who own their own houses have a mortgage until they're 65, although for those looking at the moment it's almost unfeasible, as prices are too high, and mortgage lenders are cautious.

Fundy wrote:

How much do houses in your area go for?  Around here it's about £350,000, which is about $475,000.  Most people in the UK who own their own houses have a mortgage until they're 65, although for those looking at the moment it's almost unfeasible, as prices are too high, and mortgage lenders are cautious.

Out here in my city a good decent house will be at least $100,000 to $120,000. Any less than that it will likely need repair work/construction. Otherwise it would probably be a trailer home.

Staybrite wrote:

Hardkore wrote:

The first week of October I be busy going to the movies that week. The are 3 I want to see but 2 of the are limited showings.

The Jesus Music
Gods not dead: We The People
No Time to Die (James Bond)

You see a ton of movies (well you used too... before Covid).  Did you go see that Ryan Reynolds flick "Free Guy"?  I think I've seen the commercial for that one at least 80 times by now and I'm wondering if it's worth the time.

Sorry a bit late. No I haven’t seen Free Guy. Quite honestly, the trailers just don’t get me hyped. I may see it when it comes to streaming (free).

While I do see a bunch of movies, I don’t get to the theaters all that often.

Hardkore wrote:

The first week of October I be busy going to the movies that week. The are 3 I want to see but 2 of the are limited showings.

The Jesus Music
Gods not dead: We The People
No Time to Die (James Bond)

I just found out the new James Bond flick will be showing in 3D!

Hardkore wrote:

Staybrite wrote:

Hardkore wrote:

The first week of October I be busy going to the movies that week. The are 3 I want to see but 2 of the are limited showings.

The Jesus Music
Gods not dead: We The People
No Time to Die (James Bond)

You see a ton of movies (well you used too... before Covid).  Did you go see that Ryan Reynolds flick "Free Guy"?  I think I've seen the commercial for that one at least 80 times by now and I'm wondering if it's worth the time.

Sorry a bit late. No I haven’t seen Free Guy. Quite honestly, the trailers just don’t get me hyped. I may see it when it comes to streaming (free).

While I do see a bunch of movies, I don’t get to the theaters all that often.

Thank you my friend. 

We visited Cour D Alene Idaho and now I want to move there to get out of my fascist state. It was beautiful and still clean, reminded me of how the NW used to be in the 80s.

Fundy wrote:

How much do houses in your area go for?  Around here it's about £350,000, which is about $475,000.  Most people in the UK who own their own houses have a mortgage until they're 65, although for those looking at the moment it's almost unfeasible, as prices are too high, and mortgage lenders are cautious.

Huge wild swing in prices here in the states.  The home that Hardkore mentioned at around $100,000 in Alabama (probably not near any large cities).  Is probably around 1,100 to 1,400 square ft of living space (102 to 130 square meters).  The rural areas (especially in the lower Southern States (excluding Florida)) are probably where you would find much of the cheaper homes.  Also in the rural mid-western states (Michigan, Ohio, Iowa etc.). 
For contrast we owned an 1,050 square foot home in Western Washington that was about 30 miles south of Seattle.  It had 3 very small bedrooms and only one bathroom.  We just sold it in February for $340,000.  Had the same house been in one of the residential neighborhoods of Seattle we could have gotten easily gotten around $450,000 to $500,000.  We just looked at a very similar house in a much smaller town here in Arizona (about 80 miles from Phoenix) that was listed for $260,000.
It mostly depends on how close the home is to a major metropolitan area (with high paying jobs).  For instance Detroit Michigan is so depressed right now that you can get this little gem of a house for $70,000.  There probably won't be a job for you to work within a 100 mile radius though.
https://www.propertyshark.com/homes/US/Home-For-Sale/MI/Detroit/20508-WASHTENAW-Street/112288942.html

Here is a quaint little gem of a house (nearly the same as the one in Michigan) only it is in San Jose California (one of the most expensive real-estate markets in the U.S.).  It cost a mere $1,498,000 (yep, that is $1.5 million dollars for pretty much the same house).
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/15220-Winton-Way-San-Jose-CA-95124/19677366_zpid/

Black Rider wrote:

We visited Cour D Alene Idaho and now I want to move there to get out of my fascist state. It was beautiful and still clean, reminded me of how the NW used to be in the 80s.

I really wanted to move to Idaho... but the wife strong-armed me into moving to Arizona.

Black Rider wrote:

We visited Cour D Alene Idaho and now I want to move there to get out of my fascist state. It was beautiful and still clean, reminded me of how the NW used to be in the 80s.

What!!! And you didn't say hi? I live there ya punk! Well next time, let me know and we can meet up!

Though right now housing prices are insane here. I'm so grateful we bought when we did (a couple years ago) because there's no way we could afford it now if we hadn't. If you're serious about moving here, I would be happy to give you the low-down of the area and answer any questions you might have.

I though you were in more central Idaho.

Well I'm technically in Hayden which is basically CDA (separated by a street). The secret's out though and folks are moving here in droves. They're building high-density housing at an incredible rate and it's still not enough. We really love it here and are incredibly grateful to have moved out of CA, though it's not perfect here. Due to the proximity to Spokane, there's some crime that pools over. We definitely get all four seasons (sometimes in one day haha!) so that's different too, but it's quite nice overall. Let me know if you'd like to chat sometime about the area. Cheers!

Staybrite wrote:

I really wanted to move to Idaho... but the wife strong-armed me into moving to Arizona.

So why did she choose Hell's Porch over Potato Heaven?

Xid wrote:

Staybrite wrote:

I really wanted to move to Idaho... but the wife strong-armed me into moving to Arizona.

So why did she choose Hell's Porch over Potato Heaven?

Sick of cold winters (she was developing arthritis in her hands that was exacerbated by the cold).  Also her only sister and mother live here on the surface of the sun.

Understand the cold winters.  That's one reason we chose Tennessee.

kerrick wrote:

Black Rider wrote:

We visited Cour D Alene Idaho and now I want to move there to get out of my fascist state. It was beautiful and still clean, reminded me of how the NW used to be in the 80s.

What!!!  And you didn't say hi?    I live there ya punk!  Well next time, let me know and we can meet up!  

Though right now housing prices are insane here.  I'm so grateful we bought when we did (a couple years ago) because there's no way we could afford it now if we hadn't.  If you're serious about moving here, I would be happy to give you the low-down of the area and answer any questions you might have.

We had a similar situation.  The house prices in our area slumped about $50,000 for 2 years in 2008 - 2010, and that's when we bought our current house.  If we'd have wanted it before 2008 or after 2010 we couldn't have afforded it.

I hear two small feet on the floor.
It's my grandson who is with opa and oma for one night.

He's so enthusiast about all things.
He started to talk more and more.

But sleeping ... that was not a succes.
He awaked on 4.45 and cried for his momma.
I talked to him and asked him: "Jim, are you going to sleep again"?
YES, that was his answer.

I started writing again last night. It was therapeutic. Very soon, I plan on introducing Kiel Kyght.

Well done.  Keep doing it.  I find any creative writing therapeutic.

Being stuck at home, not being able to go out does make you go slightly mad.  Anyway, that aside, I decided to do a self-portrait.  What do you think?

Fundy, where do you live?

Fundy wrote:

Being stuck at home, not being able to go out does make you go slightly mad.  Anyway, that aside, I decided to do a self-portrait.  What do you think?

Cornelius?

So I have learned that I am a racist this week.

On Wednesday, I had to ask a black lady to drop her students off at the right place while I was directing traffic.  I was polite, and she seemed agreeable.  So, she then called my boss to tell him that I won't let her park wherever she wants (despite the traffic flow pattern being online) because she is black.

My supervisor called me on Thursday to relate this to me and to pretty much tell me the whole mess is y fault for speaking to a parent despite this being what part of the job is!  While she only lodged a complaint, he was taking her side without even bothering to pull the parking lot video to at least try to see body language, length of the conversation, or to see if I intercepted any white people the same way (which I did).

I should have quit right then, but I was too angry!  If anything like this happens again, then I will walk away from directing traffic for the school and simply be an aid.