Homeowner Costs?

[Dawg]

The woman who wrote this article is obviously someone who can't do things herself (or her husband) or at the very least have someone help them that involves not having to pay them, such as friends or family:

http://realestate.msn.com/buying/Article_kip.aspx?cp-documentid=4980274&gt1=10130

$43,000 in four years?!!! WTF lady!!!???

A large percentage of the crap she said costs could have been done for free or next to nothing. F**king rip-off. :eek:

$650 to paint a room with a vaulted ceiling?! Buy a f**king ladder!

$615 to have your gutters cleaned and repaired?! Buy a ladder!!

$500 to replace drywall from slight water damage?! WHAT?!!

Most of those costs are outrageous, at least in my neck of the woods. Hell, termite extermination here is $800, not $1200!!

I'm in the wrong business.

:dead: Dawg

[darth los]

It seems that working with one's hands is a lost art nowdays. People wonder why the rest of the world thinks americans are fat and lazy. You're right , most of that could have been done by the owners of the house, but there definitely are more costs to owning a house besides mortgages, and electric/ heat bills. It definitely is a quandry though. Do i rent or buy? It seems you're screwed either way. In New York City a studio apartment will run you $1,1000 minimum. :eek:

[DjfunkmasterG]

I bought a house and my limitations stay at painting. I hate heights, I should say i am terrified of ladders, more than heights. I know jack**** about plumbing, electrical work is better left to the professionals.

Plus even living near DC there are tons of people who do it for cheap. I just had my whole house re-padded and carpeted for $1200.00, Bathroom hardwood floors $200, and new kitchen cabinets, which i did install but I got a brand new set for free.

[darth los]

I bought a house and my limitations stay at painting. I hate heights, I should say i am terrified of ladders, more than heights. I know jack**** about plumbing, electrical work is better left to the professionals.

Plus even living near DC there are tons of people who do it for cheap. I just had my whole house re-padded and carpeted for $1200.00, Bathroom hardwood floors $200, and new kitchen cabinets, which i did install but I got a brand new set for free.

Yeah you do have to be smart about it. You have to balance what you can do yourself and what needs to be done professionally. The barometer should be " if i do it myself is there a chance i could blow up my house?" If the answer to this question is yes, call the electrician.

[MissJacksonCA]

Moving to Ohio was bizarre I swear to God our neighbor mowed his lawn DAILY... where did he find the time? Owning a home is expensive even if you dont have to many any payments on it. When I inherited the family cabin after turning 18 I had to pay a tax on receiving it even if it was a gift... some serious money out the window later... I then was slammed with back taxes on the property because my mom only paid the property taxes every three years... more money out the window... then the septic tank had to be replaced... the water pump broke... the cabin wasn't winterized so when I moved into it during winter time imagine the pleasure of frozen pipes... 20 below weather inside the house... shoveling 5 feet of snow to park the car... etc... I wound up becoming a master carpenter and winterized it myself, when summer came I dug up the ground myself and put in winterized piping with a hose that went deep enough into the lake so that the ice didn't freeze over it... I cut down trees... paved a driveway and managed to sell it to buy a cabin with a larger spread of land that I can tear down what's on it and build two small ones on it so my mum has a place and I have my own.

Being 18 and a property owner was a slap in the face. Of course I did kinda trust my mum was giving me something that didn't require so much repairs and payments but at least it was entirely paid off. It also sucked that there was never any insurance on it so when I got my new cabin I had to buy that but its just not easy doing all of the upkeep. In winter before I leave for the summer I have to drain the pipes and put up storm sheeting to keep snow from coming into the veranda. Then I have to lock all the doors and put shutters on the windows to prevent theft. I also have to clean out the fridge and leave it open unplug everything etc. Its a pain but i'm not paying someone to do it. You also have to winterize your watercrafts and such and thats not pleasant for a first-timer either. I could pay someone to do it but again... its expensive and i'm cheap lol.

Summer and the property upkeep is a bit more fun because I enjoy yardwork but there's a ton of it. By the time I get to Canada I have to cut my way through the alley of the boathouse to walk to the channel. I have to chop down anything offending that grows around the cabin... its a family tradition since my grandmother introduced this evil karaganna plant to the area it grows like stink on a monkey and its so ugly it must be cut down and burned. Then there's plugging everything in, getting the water flowing, checking the septic tank for leaks, checking the house for any leak from winter and then its the usual... oil change for the watercrafts... re-plant all the flowers... mow the grass/weeds/ferns... clean out the dust... and my personal favorite... kill any bugs that are invading my precious space!

I'd say I save myself somewhere around 3k a year doing a lot of that myself and with the help of volunteers willing to work for food but now i'm saving up to buy a home here in the states and i'm beginning to wonder if its an impossible dream because its so expensive to buy a home in any area while paying for college and then all the maintenance that goes with it while fun can be burdensome. The thing I hate the most is the obscene rates for insurance and taxes so I dont look forward to that. Furnishing a home though doesn't phase me my entire apartment and my summer lodgings are fully furnished for about 1500 dollars each... what I can't make myself I buy at an antique show or fair and fix up. Its the only way to go kids.

But yeah the lady who wrote the article needs to step up and do half that crap on her own or quit whining about how much it costs to upkeep her home. How did people get so lazy? Who doesn't take care of their own yard?

[darth los]

And people wonder why i don't like houses. That's just too much damn work dude. I got tired just reading all that. lol