Home Improvement

Kajiimagi said:

Bandwagon do you own the place you are living in? If so maybe pursue a home equity loan. It can even work with a mortgage if you have enough of it paid down. I think they are max 10 year terms but the interest is lower and you can take it off on your taxes. That's what we did where I live now to get the yard/garage etc redone. I'm like it sounds like most people here are and do not want any debt. Right now, everything is 100% paid off.
I was mad about $4K to reroof my house , $32K holy fucking shit.

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That is a home equity loan...

Kajiimagi said:

yeah, that's why I said home equity loan............

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His quote was a home equity loan....

Yeah once I saw the 20 year term it's a home equity loan. All makes sense now

Check code but flat roof and low pitch roofs can use membrane roofs - cheaper and last longer vs rolled asphalt

Kajiimagi said:

Huh when did they allow them that long? The one I had in 2017 or so was 10 years max. It was a line of credit , not a big check though and maybe that's a NV thing?

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I have a heloc. It's a 10 year draw followed by a 15 year repayment or something so if you let it, it can balloon into an enormous payback

Bandwagon said:

I'll post more on this tomorrow.

But is the consensus that I fucked up by letting him do 20 year term?

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Well if it takes you 20 years to pay it back you're already seeing how much you're paying in interest. If you pay it back in a much shorter term it's fine.

I mean those rates are in the ballpark of what you get right now. The problem is the term will make you pay shitloads of interest regardless, and the insane closing costs. A 20 year loan even at a 3% rate is still going to be piles of interest.

Bandwagon said:

I'll post more on this tomorrow.

But is the consensus that I fucked up by letting him do 20 year term?

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For mortgage/refi and home equity, the longer the loan, the higher the interest rate is, for the most part.

It was difficult to find current/updated data of home equity rates when compared to mortgage/refi. So, for example, the internets is saying 10 and 15 year mortgage/refi rates are currently the same (roughly); that means if you got a 15 year loan but payed it off in 10 years, it would only cost you slightly more than getting a 10 year loan from the start. The refi rates from the Zillow link above have the 20 year at %6.06, where as the 15 year is %5.61 and the 10 year is %5.67. That's not to say those are the rates your bank will necessary offer you, just that the same bank should offer a lower rate on a 15 year than a 20.

I've never dealt with low dollar amount loans and I'm not sure how the current loan market is, but in the past, for larger ($200,000+) mortgage and refi loans, Quicken Loans was pissing in everyone's coffee (other banks) with the lowest rates and fees (sniping customers away). I never dealt with them directly, so I am not sure how good they are with customer service.

As for high origination costs (fees), they are how the loan officer and the loan underwriter get paid (mostly). A 1-2% origination fee on such a small dollar amount is hardly worth the time of the loan officer IF they have the option of putting that time toward scoring a $200,000+ loan/refi (if they are 100% commission). So I would expect the fees to be higher, when compared to the loan amount. Although, I am not sure what is TOO high (~10% seems rather high).

The local banks that pay a loan officer a salary/hourly, in addition to commission, to be on staff at the bank, are set up better to incentivize loan officers to spend time on smaller loans. So you may actually get the best rate & fees at a local place, over the loan house that only does loans (internet places). Supporting credit unions is always a good thing, so maybe try a local one of those or two as well.

Shopping around could save you $1000+, so it should be worth it to do so, but your mileage may vary.

Bandwagon , since you said you have the cash on hand to pay for the roof, but you are concerned with lawyer fees ballooning:

I don't know if banks will do this for home equity (also called a second mortgage), but you may want to see if you can just get pre-approved for the loan so it's in your pocket and available within a week, if you need it. Then use your cash on hand for the roof. Maybe even talk to the lawyer and ask how he handles payments over time (I think I would rather put the lawyer on payments over the roofer).

For an alternative, as others have said above, they have used home equity lines of credit (HELOC), instead of a straight loan. You will still be paying the origination fees, but you can pull and pay off the balance like a credit card through out the term of the line of credit. That way, if you need a bridge of say $10k for the lawyer, you are only on the hook for $10k (plus the original originations fees), instead of $25k. It looks like it is a bit of a higher interest rate, for that convenience. I've never dealt with HELOCs either, so not sure of other tradeoffs.

Burns said:

Bandwagon , since you said you have the cash on hand to pay for the roof, but you are concerned with lawyer fees ballooning:

I don't know if banks will do this for home equity (also called a second mortgage), but you may want to see if you can just get pre-approved for the loan so it's in your pocket and available within a week, if you need it. Then use your cash on hand for the roof. Maybe even talk to the lawyer and ask how he handles payments over time (I think I would rather put the lawyer on payments over the roofer).

For an alternative, as others have said above, they have used home equity lines of credit (HELOC), instead of a straight loan. You will still be paying the origination fees, but you can pull and pay off the balance like a credit card through out the term of the line of credit. That way, if you need a bridge of say $10k for the lawyer, you are only on the hook for $10k (plus the original originations fees), instead of $25k. It looks like it is a bit of a higher interest rate, for that convenience. I've never dealt with HELOCs either, so not sure of other tradeoffs.

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At least for mine they required we make an initial $10k draw. Not sure how common that is. Essentially the bank wanted to be paid for the privilege.

The other major drawback of a heloc is if you default they have full authority to take your house. There is no question, they don't fuck around with that. You just have to know you're putting your house up as collateral.

I see it as a big safety net. We have a $150k heloc and only pay on what we draw. But if a catastrophic event happened I have $150k available as liquid cash instantly.

Foler said:

Frost line for Florida is 0.

Frost Lines by State 2024

worldpopulationreview.com

Being that I’m in Florida would the main benefit of the concrete piers the fact that they provide a better anchor than earth anchors like these?

Penetrator Anchors | American Earth Anchors – Made in USA

Penetrators are made of heat-treated 356 aluminum, designed for holding or guying both temporary and permanent structures in soil, sand, asphalt, and underwater.

americanearthanchors.com

I believe the ones above are the type tuff shed would put in with gravel. I just emailed tuff shed to verify that and also ask if they’d anchor the shed to concrete piers.

Is concrete cinder block sufficient or will the joints be a problem due to not being waterproof? I know poured concrete is even more rock solid but if it’s not absolutely necessary I’d prefer to take the cheaper option that will still last.

Also like I said this will be on an area with a slight incline on grade. I can’t remember amount off top of my head, will measure again this weekend. The doors/ramp will be perpendicular to the incline like in the second picture below.. Because of door position I’m not sure building up is an option? I think I need to dig out and have the block perimeter on the high side extend out as a retaining wall the length of the ramp - that way I can level the ground and keep it level in front of the ramp.

For a 16x32 barn would you build up, dig out or do a combination?
View attachment 553039View attachment 553040View attachment 553041

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Those earth anchors would be absolutely fine. They're not easy to install, and usually require specialized equipment, but the cost would likely be lower than concrete. I would use concrete because I can do it myself and I know it's going to be solid. You have no frost line, so you're looking at 2 foot concrete support piers. And I would not dig down, but elevate the building. Having a wooden building below ground level is just a recipe for rot and termites.

If Tuff Shed is a decent company they'll work with whatever anchoring system you decide to go with. They'll also object if something is inadequate. They don't want their shed to shift/move/rot/do anything bad. You should talk to them to see what their preferred method is. You might even be able to get a discount through them to get something.