[Hai hòn]

It's only money. hì hì...hì hì. Might as well play with cryptos (tiền ảo).  Invest a few hundreds $$$ here and there in cryptos, one can hope to be a billionaire in couple of years. 

[BrokeAssMillionaire]

 no crypto in my life, don' really need

Oh boy, I am no longer millionaire, lost 100k on tesla, hope it comes back in 1200 range 

[TeaOla]

Hang in there  

I've been looking for another house closer to work but I have no luck yet. At this moment, it's sellers' market not for the buyers. The current house will become rental property in the future. Most of new construction homes have 2 garages, little spaces between houses but the asking price is up to the sky.

[BrokeAssMillionaire]

 Tesla dies, I dies too otherwise I will go to the moon


Don't know where you live but a brand new 2 story house of 1500 sqft with 7000 sqft lot is around $400k basic but cost $450k-$500k when finalize. And 10ft spacing between is kinda annoy with 2 story that you can look down to see neighbors through the windows    At this moments, you really can't find anything under $350K at my area because nobody wants to sell. 

Have been downgrade to 1700 sqft for a year now but looking to live in 4000 sqft again in the future if the housing market drops, it's spacious and feel fresh air when walk around the house. 

[TeaOla]

Ghê thặc  ở nhà 4000sft dễ gợn tóc gáy, vì ở nhà một mình rất sợ ma  .  You're so funny . The more space you have, the more things you have to take care. Do you like to do chores on your days off instead of going out to enjoy life? It's too much unnecessary use of floor plan.  A lot of spaces are underutilized. You have to pay more for the bills. You dont like to spend on unnecessary things, then why you want to pay for extra bills? Do you love to clean the whole house? 

The market hasn't been looking good, are you still alright?

The current value of average house in my area is 500K, the new development area is beginning at 550K. People will have to pay extra when they want to upgrade their brand new house.  I found the lot that I wanted. The house will take a year to build. I want to add a balcony from the master room, I have to pay extra 40K for additonal cost. Plus I want to upgrade the cabinet in the kitchen, the floor, the color inside of the house ..etc. 

I love the model house of Toll Brothers builder, the kitchen and living room is opened.



I love the kitchen. This one is kind of small.

[TeaOla]

This house is greater than 2600sft, the living is huge. 





The kitchen is huge but only for the look.

[BrokeAssMillionaire]

Losing 3 tesla cars so far, still have 1 car left   and 401k losing 100k gain of 120k. If the DOW at 36000 pts at the end of the year, then 401k would be big. I only monitor the last 6 years gain of 401k so it's pretty decent. Only negative in 2018. I have made myself clear that I won't move out 401k anywhere until DOW reaches 40000 pts.

 

Have you ever walked in 4000-5000 sqft home yet? You would breath better. Imagine 2000 sqft divide in 3 rooms, then you know how big it's. That's what my 4000 sqft was where it has only 4 bed rooms. The master bed is like 1/2 of the second story and a walk in closet with master bath total around 1000 sqft. I was lucky to get in right at the bottom crash market. The only way to get big house with big lot that built between 2003-2010 at cheap price. Now a day are small. Be honest, I got goosebumps for a week starting to sleep in the big house but finally got my mind straight out. Cleaning wasn't bad, I put 4 hrs each month to mop the floor 

Was living here for 8 years and finally sold Dec 2020, I need to sell another house to get away from capital gain so need to give up. You really can't find this price any more at this time.

If you can afford then enjoy while you can. I don't see price drop yet, probably 5% up next year. I need to sell one more house in the next 3 years then buy a last big one for good.




The best part of living here was the neighborhood, I met my neighbors everyday even forgot closing garage door without problem. They even invited me into their houses so I was comfortable to open my door to welcome them in while remodel my house.





The island counter is so big that I can even sleep on it during summer since the slap is cool. 




In order to clean up easily, took me a year to replace carpet with laminate the whole house. Managed 2 hrs daily after worked.



Humongous master bed



I think they call this a loft room? 1/3 of the second story.




Anyway, stay away from marble, too expensive to maintain. You would need to polish after 10 years and it won't be easy to do yourself.

[TeaOla]

iYou are a messy man . Why you decided to sell it? 

The house price is going up from 3K-5K each month. We were so lucky to get that lot last weekend. We stopped by one of area to check the model home that we can get an idea what we are looking for. The agent told us, they were based on the lottery system now, each month they will pick 5 lucky people to sell the lot. We walked away from the first visiting office and decided to stop by the next office. And We got what we wanted .I checked the lots' status again yesterday, there is no more lots available. We chose the first lot, picked the color of the house so the next people have to get whatever is left.

I'm going to see the saler tomorrow to do some paperworks, sign the contract, and tell them what I want to upgrade. Can you share with me which floor materials that I need to choose? and cabinet?. What I need to pick for the best? They told me if I want to do anythings from backyard, I have to do it within 6Ms when I start moving in. I'll take care it later. I will build my own garden the way I want

[BrokeAssMillionaire]

I decide to gamble with Tesla for 3 more years after this Friday price. It doesn't matter up/down, I will hold until up to $2000/share. I think Elon will sell 5 mil more shares in the next two weeks to reach his 10% target so it may drop more below my price. Not really worry much about 401k since I can't take out until 60. Even I don't have 401k, I can survive on pension and SSA. 

What you saw was those pictures talking while I was remodel the house. Everything was clean up after that.   

This community was build for retirement so everyday I met old neighbors but they were happy to see young guy around  , it has around 80 hours in the middle of nowhere even though it's just 20 miles from downtown. So 1/2 of the properties are 4000+ sqft with 15ft each side of the house so they can park RV and boats. It's quiet place and nice people. The only reason I bought the house was housing market crash and too cheap.

Advantage:
-Big house, big lot, nice neighbors, free air show every year since it's across military airport 
-RV access and boat
-No Mello-Roos fee since it was built 2003
-Cheap property tax at $3200 that was base on $270k value
 
Disadvantage: 
-2 story home: it's hard for DIY, afraid to walk on the roof. I have no problem with single story.
-HOA: too much complain even a tiny thing, can't do anything in the front without approve, can't park on the street during night time.
-Too far from all freeway: 20 mins to any direction

Why I sold it? I am kinda planning freak, always think 2-4 years ahead
-Need to convert rental home as primary   because capitol gain is too high.
-Hate HOA
-Want single story
-Like a big lot up to 5 acres but 2 acres is good enough. My coworker just bought 3500sqft with 2 acres, it's beautiful.
-Got $52k settlement that was transferred from previous owner lawsuit. Great to keep with no tax.
-Capitol gain right at $247k after subtract everything so no tax

For your house:
-Single story is the best and more valuable than 2 story and easy to sell. Maintain is cheaper.

-Laminate, engineer wood, hardwood: 
---Do not apply in the kitchen if you think someone would drop the water(not problem with hardwood)
---A few drops of water is fine but 5 gallons is where you need to ready getting cash from your pocket
---Small kids: not a good idea, water can be damaged and cost to repair so carpet would be more benefit
---Kids over 10: shouldn't be problem
---If you can afford, engineer wood would be great, hardwood costs more
---Laminate 14-15mm is the best but cost more, 8-10mm is suck, not strong so stay away because it would hurt your feet
---In the winter, wood would be expand every night so you will hear cracking noise if you afraid of ghost, sound like someone walks around 

-Tiles: go to home depo and other local stores to get the ideas. Search on google you will find many stores around. Big tiles make your kitchen look bigger like 2x2

-Stay away from marble, polish is not easy, they don't sell acid chemical if you don't have license, whatever home depo sells won't make the marble shiny, only the acid chemical will work.
 
-Make sure to read and understand the contract

-Cabinet: modern looks nice but it comes at any price base on the materials, the better the materials the more cost since labor is the same

-Color is important: wall, cabinet, floor, and lights. White light may make it looks bad at night with reflection. So take time to think about that

-Labor is the main subject: 
---Assume they do it for you cost $6000 total, you do it yourself cost $2000. Always 1/3 cost DIY
---If you can find someone else cheaper, then do that way, I would say $4000-$5000, save you a little bit, don't expect 1/2 price.

[TeaOla]

Living in retirement community makes you feel depressed. What will  your friend want to do with that 2 acres? Do they plan to pick the weeds every day?   . Some weeds dont die  . I have to dig up and kill them from the roots. 

I want balcony that's why I pick 2 story house. It's too late to change the lot. 
3 garages is a must for me. The only thing sucks is new house has standing shower, not a big bathtub so you can soak yourself in hot water when winter comes.






My current house has a big bathtub which can fit 2 adults in there, and I love it😍

[BrokeAssMillionaire]

Not really. I was thinking the same but I found it was interesting that people hang out on the street during evening, no speeding, no noise, and friendly.

2 acres is not that big, his house already has swimming pool and he built a huge waterfall, trees, light around so at night he turns on the light look like resort.   Of course, when you have big lot, you need Riding Lawn Mower.

I currently live on 1500 sqft home with 15000 sqft lot, not that big, enough to have a lot of fruit tree around 

This tub? I haven't touched since I lived there   May be available in big house only. The water costed more than the gas where I paid $150-$250/month while gas only costed $80





Recently, I have seen a lot new houses come with standing shower. I believe you can request bathtub for extra cost, Some of my friends converted their bathtub to standing shower too since they never soak in water.

Here is something you may want to know about 2 story:

-The 1st story is always cool in the summer where mine was around 80F, no humid at my place, so no AC ever used. I slept on 1st floor during summer 

-With 2nd story, may have a nice view, can look out the windows during the winter to see snow mountain 2 hours away at my location.

-You should wish the laundry room on the 1st floor. Why? Easy maintain, costless to repair if water leaks.

-2nd floor won't smell bad when cooking on 1st floor
 
-Maybe problem was from my builder but 70% of my community has issue with structure water leaking with 2 story house.

-A balcony at small lot? I think it would be weird to see the neighbor backyard   If the lot 12000-15000 sqft would be fine.

I can't think of anything else about 2 story. If I can remember, I let you know. 

I do miss the walk-in closet that I was enjoy for 8 years. It's big like below but different cabinet design. You won't have this even in 3000 sqft house.

[TeaOla]

Ewww! Your bathtub looked old, who knows you were able to find curly hairs in there from previous owner , I'd not want to try to soak myself in there  . No wonder you did not want to try once  .My current house looks much better than your previous 4000sft house as not having "'the feeling of home ".

It's not your closet either  where did you find the picture from?  . Your area is so darn hot in the summer, humid & hot. It's also cold in the winter. No wonder you sold it ... nếu không đã để dành làm của hồi môn rồi

Good luck to you with Tesla.

[BrokeAssMillionaire]

Oh well, what do you expect with an old house?   After 3 years, i gave up and no longer upgraded anything. I hate HOA control me, even plan a 2 ft maple tree still need them approve. Couldn't find any picture of the walk in closet but it was the same that size. I am in west coast, we have hot weather but not that humid like the west, we can walk on the street at 100F without problem but east coast would kill me 

Good luck with new house, it would cost a lot if planning upgrade. I am going to see how the stock market is doing for 3 more years then decide what to do.

[TeaOla]

How much do you think the bathtub should be costed nowaday?
The builder charges 15K for bathtub , fireplace is another 10K, balcony + cover is 40K. 
These are three main onside option selections that I want.

There will be more addings when i'm going to choose materials for cabinet, paint, floor. 
There are always adding costs not less

Look at the master room and balcony, I lovevv it






this is half space of living room, I can set a big table and couple chairs outside since builder also does cover too.



The distance between house to house is 8ft each side, I dont know is it enough space to breath?

[BrokeAssMillionaire]

Hope stock is up by the end of the year, otherwise we're losing gain   Not a good idea to stay home vacation to look at the red market.

Do an estimate and compare cost: DIY 1/3 cost, Builder is 3/3, hire someone else do later is between 2/3-3/3

What a nut. They're out of their mind or something. A standard bathtub cost around $800-$1200 or an elegant modern cost max $3000, how did they come up with 15k?   What a rip off. Usually, they have both options in standing shower or bathtub in the floor plan, and all the water drainage lines are the same, it's not like they have to redesign and permit to change. Remodel the whole bathroom costs 15k-20k. I guess they will give you a gold coat bathtub 

By looking at the balcony and the living room, it seems the master bed on top the the living room, and the balcony size probably 8ft, not that big. 40k is really expensive. May cost 20k to build later. Get a dimension, then have someone to estimate the cost that you want to build exactly in the picture.

8ft spacing on each side is big, good enough. 5ft is standard. Should be alright with 2 story.

If you have 10-12ft walls, 6" baseboard looks better. Otherwise, they may install a 3" standard which make the room look small.

Have you ever consider this kind of fireplace below? Cheaper and can move anywhere. Wonder if you ever using gas fireplace before, it would cost a lot for a few hours to heat the family room. 10K for a chimney fireplace is fine but if it attach to the wall then 10k is too much.
 




Any plan to have home theater prewire (no speakers)? It would be hard later to run wires for 2 story home. I had to cut holes here and there in order to run the audio wires around the house. If you want, check with them for 9.1 channels audio prewire to see how much it cost, where it needs 2 speakers in the back of sofa, 2 on the ceiling right at the sofa, 1 left and 1 right at the sofa for surround.