Sean’s Blog

Buying a House - The Remedy Phase

Now that you have the report from the home inspector, it is time to request the remedies.  You will need to go through the inspection report and figure out what you think needs to be fixed.  You could ask for everything to be fixed, but there is little chance that that will be accepted.  The remedy phase is as much a negotiation as the purchase phase. What were were advised is to get ask for the money to be escrowed for any major work to be done.  This will allow you to do quality work where as the owners might (and I stress might) just do the quickest and cheapest solution to get the problem fixed.  Allowing the money for repairs to be escrowed will allow you to have final say over how it is done.  Work it just like when you were negotiating the purchase price.  There should be things that you you need to be fixed to have the sale concluded.
Things I’ve learned from the remedy phase:

• The sellers are not legally obligated to fix anything, but you are not obligated to continue the transaction of there is something materially wrong and you and the seller cannot agree on the remedy.
• The negotiation for remedy will work just like the purchase negotiation.  You’ll ask for somethings to be fixed (or money escrowed) and they will suggest what they are willing to fix or what they are willing to give and back and forth.
• For major things, be prepared to have to get several estimated submitted to the sellers.

Buying a House - The House Inspection

First off, you NEED to get a home inspection before you complete the sale of a house.  Even if everything looks in good working order you need to get one.  This will save you tons of headaches and keep you from getting into something that you are completely unprepared for.
Your agent should be able to recommend a home inspector, or you could get recommendations from family or freinds from one they really liked.  In my limited experience most home instectors are professionals, but there are several things you will want to ask.  You need to find out if they will have you along on the day of the insection.  It may take a couple hours, but this is something you will defitely want to do.  You will find out alot about the house you are going to buy during this process.  They should be able to quote you a price depending on te size of the house, and how old it is as well.  You’ll need to pay this up front (ie after the inspection), so have the money ready when it happens.
You’ll also want to make sure the inspector gets up on the roof, goes into the attic and takes a look at the garage (depending if the house has an attic or garage).  The housing inspector should then provide you with a report with all the major and minor things that they have found.  You will use this report to request rememdies from the seller before the house closes.
Things I’ve learned during the home inspection:

• A good home inspector is well worth his or her fee.  They will find things you never knew to look for.
• They should be able to explain things if you do not understand.  For instance, I don’t know much about breakers and wiring and the inspector took the time to explain exactly what he ment when he found something.  This is another benefit of being there during the inspection.
• Make sure they differentiate what NEEDS to be fixed from what SHOULD be fixed.
• The inspector can’t report what they can’t see.  If a garage is locked, or there is something behind a wall or ceiling panel it may get missed.

Ruhlman on Cooking

I’ve recently started reading Micheal Ruhlman’s blog.  I first saw Ruhlman on Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations on the Travel Channel.  Being a Cleveland boy who spends too much time with a New Yorker myself, I immediately took a shine to him.  He has recently published a new sort of “meta-cookbook” called Elements of Cooking that doesn’t deal with recipes, but the fundamentals behind the art of cooking.  Looks really interesting.  I’ve yet too read it, but hope to soon.  Regardless, he has a great blog covering some of the same topics.  Definitely worth a look if you are interested in improving your cooking.

Elements of Cooking via Ruhlman.com

Buying a House - Acceptance

Now that everyone has agreed on the major terms you are pretty well on the way to owning a home.  What you need to do now is get ahold of your lender with the final terms and price and sign the paperwork. Your lender will be able to explain pretty much everything.  Some of the things will be confusing.  I’ve had to take ALOT of math, and my head was spinning with numbers when she finished going through everything.  If there is some part of what she was talking about that you do not understand, have the lender go over it again.  This is one of the most important documents you will ever sign, so take the time to really get to know it.
After everything is signed you will be given a list of documents needed for the lender to finalize the loan (if you haven’t provided them already).  For me these included things like bank statments, investment statements (401(k), etc), several years worth of W-2, etc..
They will then schedule an appraisal (which they will let you know the outcome of after it happens) and provide you with wat you need to bring to closing.  You will also need to get insurance and schedule a house inspection.

Buying a House - Making an Offer

So now you’ve looked at a bunch of houses and you’ve found one you really like.  Now comes the money part.  You’ve already got your preaproval from the bank, so you know the maximum limit you CAN spend.  What you need to do do now is sit down and figure out what you will be willing to pay FOR THIS PARTICULAR HOUSE.  Take any work you are aware of into account.  The house we made an offer on needed a halfbath on the first floor, so going in, we new we were going to be looking at dropping between 6 and 10 thousand dollars.  This affected how much we were willing to pay.
Try to get a feel for how the house is priced.  Your agent should be able to pull a list of “comps” or comparable houses that sold recently in the same area, of the same condition and what was payed.  Now you should have an idea of the fair value of the house.  It will now be your job to get the lowest price for the house while the seller will try to get the highest price.
There are many schools of thought about this and it is really more of an art then a science.  You want to get the lowest price, but if you offer to low a price (ie “lowballing”), the seller may not even respond to the offer as it wouldn’t be worth it for them.  Once you an offer, you will submit it though your agent, They will usually then submit a counter offer and you can accept or counter that offer.  Hopefully the end result will be a price you are both happy with.
Things that I’ve learned when making an offer:

• Generally there will be a counter offer so take that into account when making your initial offer.
• Asking for closing costs is generally expected, but it doesn’t always mean that they will be included in the final acceptance.  So make sure you apy attention to them when getting an good faith estimate from your lender.
• When your agent writes the offer letter (if you ask for closing costs to be paid) make sure they phrase it for $X dollars to be paid toward closing costs, fees, etc…  This means that if your closing costs are $2000, and you asked for $3000 in closing costs you can use that leftover money to pay for other fees, buy down the rate, etc.
• If you have $1000 left over from the closing costs (like in the above example), most lenders and possible state laws will not allow you to get that money as cash, so make sure you can put it toward something (points, fees, etc).  Your lender will be able to help with this.
• This will generally happen pretty fast, so don’t go out of town or anything during this time.
• Most importantly, remember.  You are in control.  You are not legally obligate to do anything, so if the seller will not meet your price or requests, you can walk away.

Setting Up a Kitchen

When I first started cooking, I was kind of overwhelmed by the amount of stuff I thought you had to have. But as I got more into it, there are really just a few essentials that you need to get going. Two of my culinary heroes talk about this and it is really good advice to share.

The first is Alton Brown of the Food Network show Good Eats. His advice, repeated over and over again, is not to by anything that only has one specialized purpose in the kitchen. No unitaskers! The one big exception to the rule is a fire extinguisher. No cook (and especially one just starting out) should be without one. Every kitchen should have one.

Mark Bittman a while ago posted a great piece on how to equip a basic kitchen for around $200. He shows you how to use restaurant supply stores to get you up and running. It is a really great article and I am not just saying that because I think Mark Bittman is a god among mortals (How to Cook Everything has been my bible since I started).

I am going to go one better. These are the 5 things, that I believe are absolutely essential and will allow you to cook 80% of the food you are going to make. Here they are:

• A large saute pan (12? or so). I use this for almost everything from making sauces, to frying and sauteing. I got it for 15 bucks at Target and use it almost everyday. Make sure you get one with a metal handle so you can place it directly in the oven for roasting.
• A small paring knife. I get these at a restaurant supply store down the street. It’s ugly as sin, but does the job just as well as the $65 Wusthof paring knife I got for a gift. Just make sure it has a good grip and a sturdy blade.
• A large cutting board. We actually have kind of gone cutting board crazy, but if you have a good large one, it will double as a workspace for seasoning meat or any other messy sort of prep work.
• A large stock or soup pot.
• A pair of tongs. I prefer silicone ones since my girlfriend fiance enjoys melting anything that is not heat resistant to the temperature of the sun

Now by no means is this a complete list and if you are looking to tackle some baking this list will not work, but for day in day out cooking, this is what I find myself going back to. The most important thing is to actually start cooking. The gear will follow.

Buying a House - An Introduction

Back when we started to get into the whole house buying process, I attempted to blog the thing as it happened.  Obviously it didn’t work like that.  But I though there was some value in the whole endeavor.  Alot of the questions I had got answered during the process and hopefully sharing some of my experiences can help someone else out.
A couple of important disclaimers:  I am not a lawyer, realestate agent or professional.  I know very little about finances and none of this advice should be taken as gospel.  I am just providing this in order to share some of my experiences as we bought a home.
Just to get back on track, I’ll start things off by linking to my first posts about the subject.  Look back in the next day or two as I update this series a bit more.

•  Buying a House - Getting a Preapproval
•  Buying a House - The House Hunt

Where I’ve Been

I’ve noticed that I haven’t been posting much at all recently.  I’ve written up several things, but have just been a little to busy to take the time to get them up.  We’ve moved into the new house and it is in somewhat livable condition.  I have been having some trouble the the cable/internet provider and I think I am going to switch them today.  The parents are coming into town tonight to see the new house and for thanksgiving, but starting next week I am going to attempt to be alot more active with the blog.

Sometimes you just don’t feel like working

So you need to do something else: