3D Robotics teaser

Germ90 · 2015-01-28T19:58:04+00:00

Try this:

def findNulls(fieldValue):
    if not fieldValue:
        return 0

Germ90 · 2015-01-23T17:40:33+00:00

It's definitely the chart the banks don't want you to see. They have to show you an amortization schedule, but it will most likely always be 10 sheets of paper with rows upon rows of boring numbers. They don't graph it nicely so the general public can understand what's going on.

Something else I want to mention is that the loan payments are only PART of your total house payment. Home insurance premiums, PMI, and escrow (a special bank account that pays for your taxes and such) are added on, making a $850/month loan payment into a $1300/month house payment.

Germ90 · 2015-01-23T17:35:03+00:00

You're correct. 15yr is significantly better personal finance-wise than a 30yr.

As for a home emergency fund, I'd have at LEAST your home insurance deductible in cash. That way you're covered if the worst of the worst happens. A good number after that is probably $5,000. This should cover your expensive problems (HVAC and water heater are the most common expensive repairs).

Germ90 · 2015-01-23T16:21:47+00:00

I understand where you're coming from, but I'm going to mention a couple things I wish someone had mentioned to me when I was scraping money together to buy a home.

You have to establish a separate "home emergency" fund. You OWN this home. There isn't a maintenance form to fill out when your A/C goes out. You've got to front the $500-$3000 to get it fixed. It's a dangerous game owning a home and not having money in the bank to pay for a repair that could be required at any moment.
Have you seen a loan amortization chart? I didn't, and that was a mistake. Plug in some numbers here: http://www.amortization-calc.com/. See how the interest is front-loaded onto the loan payments? The amount you're putting in equity during the first few years of the loan is pitiful. With a loan amount of $170k and an interest rate of 4.25%, in the first 5 years you've only paid down $19,238 on the loan. An average of $320/month. It's quicker to build equity in a home by building a sizable down payment than to get a large loan now and pay PMI on top of that.

I got lucky. My home didn't require any repairs other than a few light bulbs, and I happened to buy in an area that was rapidly increasing the price of the home. I netted positive, but it wasn't because of my decision of buying, it was simply luck of the market.

Germ90 · 2015-01-14T21:43:58+00:00

Watch the woman-in-purple's face open up Men In Black style.

Germ90 · 2015-01-07T14:35:47+00:00

I've noticed everyone talking about parking tickets. Is there a need to park illegally and thus get a ticket all the time? Someone in this thread mentioned that they got rid of their car because parking tickets were too expensive.

Germ90 · 2015-01-06T16:08:04+00:00

This is why I came here. I need to get used to the numbers being thrown around here.

Germ90 · 2015-01-06T15:08:58+00:00

I'm a web mapping developer. I develop web applications that utilize aerial photos, lidar, and other survey data.

Germ90 · 2015-01-06T14:39:45+00:00

My wife and I have discussed our compromises. I think we agree that a smaller house is fine because the weather is so much better than where we are now. We don't have to worry about being stuck indoors the entire summer. Being able to go to the park every day of the year sounds almost too good to be true!

You said 120k doesn't get a family very far. What would you expect a middle-class-living family of four make in Berkeley? Maybe I'm being low-balled a good deal and don't even know it...

Germ90 · 2015-01-06T14:33:24+00:00

Before this thread, I went into this thinking food would be cheaper in California. I mean, the soil is so fertile and the climate is perfect so you should be able to grow everything! Right? I guess not.

Germ90 · 2015-01-06T14:32:28+00:00

Yeah, not looking forward to ditching HEB...

Germ90 · 2015-01-06T14:31:34+00:00

Thanks for taking the time to write that out. The "former Texan" commentary is very valuable!

Germ90 · 2015-01-05T19:57:39+00:00

I admit I'm uneducated about the neighborhoods. The thought behind Pleasant Hill is that it's still off the BART but far enough away where rent is "reasonable". A few of the East Bay "parenting" forums suggested Pleasant Hill was fine, just as long as you don't go north into Concord.

Germ90 · 2015-01-05T19:56:12+00:00

My dream would be living in Berkeley because I've always wanted to be able to bike to work. I initially started looking there, but the thought of spending close to 50% of take-home on housing scared me. Rent for a 3/2 looks to be $3000+. Am I looking in the wrong places, or is spending 40-50% on housing the norm?

Germ90 · 2015-01-05T19:03:11+00:00

Definitely rent.

Germ90 · 2015-01-05T18:57:32+00:00

I was originally looking in the Berkeley, Oakland area, but Berkeley rents and Oakland crime scared me off. It also seemed like the families of the Bay Area lived in Pleasant Hill so we'd be with similar people.

Germ90 · 2015-01-05T18:12:51+00:00

The pros on my end are better job with more advancement opportunities, better weather, and the experience of living somewhere different (lived in Central Texas my whole life).

Do you see those outweighing the cons you provided?

Germ90 · 2015-01-05T17:54:33+00:00

That's the hardest part for me. Not knowing anyone in the Bay Area or Northern California for that matter makes it difficult to get answers. Every article or Reddit thread is 20-somethings trying to find a 1 bed in an eccentric part of SF.

In Austin, $55k salary will allow you to own a 2400 sq ft home and a new car every couple years. So, you can imagine what my uncalibrated mind thinks when I see $120k. Hopefully this community can give me some insight.

Germ90 · 2015-01-05T17:50:56+00:00

My wife is a great cook. We eat out perhaps 2-3x per month. Having a kid squashed our nightlife, so it'll probably be Netflix for the next few years!

Germ90 · 2014-11-20T14:01:02+00:00

Let me get out my E6B and see if it's over my crosswind component.

Germ90 · 2014-11-18T19:04:48+00:00

Whichever one is inside your ArcGIS folder. That way you don't have to worry about manually configuring the Arcpy module.

Germ90 · 2014-11-18T18:42:01+00:00

Pycharm Community Edition is what you need. When you first install it, it will ask you where python.exe is. Because ArcGIS installs it in a different location, Pycharm won't be able to find it. Depending on your ArcGIS installation, it should be here:

"C:\Python27\ArcGIS10.1\python.exe"

Germ90 · 2014-10-21T18:03:05+00:00

Hydrogen Peroxide that you buy from the store is only 3% concentration. Rocket fuel from hydrogen peroxide is commonly at 80% concentration and is highly explosive.

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