& getting the house painted...
We've been putting it off a couple of years. I think we can get by longer because our house is a light color. A lot of the homes on our block are dark colored and the paint is at least 25% faded off. Our might be as faded but you can't tell since the color underneath is so close in color. HOA has made mention once or twice, but I think is too busy trying to collect HOA fees from banks and broke homeowners, to really push it. Let's face it - they rather have your late dues than have you pay a painter.
I've blogged about this before. I still can't believe we may be the first in our neighborhood to paint - especially since our house still looks like one of the best. Figures.
I don't know why it's suddenly in my craw, but I have seen some decent pre-season deals from hungry painters on Craigslist. May just have to bite.
---------------------------------
Will probably transfer a few thousand dollars to my Ally account - I have a money market with checking. In case we decide to paint right away. It's either right now, or flate fall, or try to wait another year. I just want to get a solid paint job that will last more than a few years. The house needs some cleaning and caulking anyway, which will come with the paint.
I honestly wouldn't be opposed to a DIY job at this point. Not at all. BUT, out home is about 25 feet high. It's the second story that I don't want to bother with. I had to climb a ladder to the lowest roof (over the garage) to disconnect some things from the DISH since dh was not up to it at the time. Almost had a heart attack, 10 feet or so up in the air. I wouldn't even know where to begin, though our neighbor would let us borrow his ladders.
Nope, leaving this one to the pros. The next best thing is to get a real good job so we don't have to paint again for a LONG time. Now is the time to get a discount for quality.
The house is large - this is one time we will pay for that fact. (I don't find most things cost "twice as much" or takes "twice as much work," because the house is "twice as large." But in this case - it does).
-----------------------
I haven't really made a large purchase like this - with cash - in a LONG time. (All the medical bills we just paid were on the credit card - bought me 30+ days to transfer funds). Now that we are better money managers, I do have most my cash tied up in a high-yield bank, without a checking account. I suppose while I am thinking about it I will transfer over a few thousand dollars, just so we have the cash for a deposit, if we do hire someone sooner rather than later. The Ally interest rate is not too much lower - good compromise. I had just drained the Ally account for property taxes (no plans to replenish since I am getting 2% at Alliant Credit Union - much better than the 1.3% or so at Ally).
If we are lucky, we can probably pay with credit. In this particular situation though, I rather just pay the guy we hire in cash - will probably hire someone small beans.
It's going to be a real boring paint job. The HOA originally said we did not need to get "permission" to paint the same color, and then changed their mind. Though I'd love a new color, I don't get the feeling they would be very fast, efficient, or reasonable. I just want this done. I think we will say, "screw it," and just paint it the same color. What are they going to do? I still have the note that says that is okay. They should have other things to worry about then homeowners who paint their homes the same color.
Life with our HOA has been pretty uneventful, but this is one time they are a PITA. & no - I don't see the point of HOAs. My neighborhood looks like crap, for one (all the fading paint). They've got a lot of bark, but not much bite. Never liked them - but like them even less, these days. We bought with a HOA because it was impossible to find the kind of home we wanted, without one. So, eh.
ETA: Ooooh. Alliant has sped up their ACH transfers by one day. That is the other thing about Ally. Checks aside, I can do an ACH transfer, generally in one business day. This is good news!
I will probably pay for the paint job with my May savings ($2k) and with my overtime bonus. So, phew. Will probably get to put the money back in a month, anyway.
Thinking of Biting the Bullet
April 11th, 2010 at 12:13 am
April 11th, 2010 at 12:23 am 1270941784
...I say PAINT IT PURPLE!
April 11th, 2010 at 01:54 am 1270947291
April 11th, 2010 at 02:04 am 1270947868
We really want to get our balcony screened-in so our cat can hang out there without us worrying, and eventually our kids. But I want to cashflow it and not take it out of savings, since our EF is still on the slim side. So hoping to figure out our reduced paychecks, and get some really good news so it turns out we can do the balcony in time for the cat to enjoy it this summer! But we'll see.
April 11th, 2010 at 02:46 am 1270950367
Legally, I don't think our current HOA can really enforce much - which makes them more of an annoyance than anything. They would like it if no one ever parked in the street, but they are public streets and there is nothing they can do about it. Stuff like that. The condo association served much more purpose and actually owned all our walls - stuff like that. Is a little different!
April 11th, 2010 at 04:31 am 1270956701
'oh, they're painting. we should too.'
DF's dads street was like that. He bought when it was a dirt road, and now it is bitumen, but everyone's driveways were still dirt. Then DF's dad concreted his driveway one weekend, and after that everyone followed. It was kind of like they were going 'OH! I never even thought of that!'
lol
April 12th, 2010 at 08:19 pm 1271099998
I think most of it is the economy. No one has the money (or equity) to pay for any home maintenance. From talking to neighbors...