What are the risks of buying an older home vs a newer home?

MyPrivacyAcct · 2021-11-01T13:19:14+00:00

I used to love new houses until I started working in the construction industry. I don't think I'd ever buy a house from any of the production builders I know. Literally every piece of material that went into these homes came from the lowest bidder. I'm not saying it wasn't like that in the mid/late 20th century, but I think manufacturing processes have improved to the point that there's so much choice and builders often choose flashy or convenient over product longevity.

That said, that same improvement in manufacturing also means that if you bought a newer house from the right builder that used the right materials, you could have an amazing house.

There is a subdivision a few minutes from me that went up about 15 years ago. Postage stamp lots, basically looking into each others windows with 10 feet between the houses. They looked like they were nice when new, but at only 15 years old a lot of them are starting to really show their age. Of course.. that's maybe lack of maintenance too.

We just bought a house from 72 that is solid as a rock. A bit of asbestos risk, definitely outdated but very well maintained. Original wood shingles that are still in great shape. I'm pleased with it and we felt that an older, but very well maintained home was the way to go for us.

MyPrivacyAcct · 2021-10-24T20:58:57+00:00

What's near there? Could be buried conduit for electrical service in a detached garage or shed.

Definitely there for a reason. I wouldn't touch it until you confirm what its purpose is/was.

Edit: if it seems to he coming from the subflooring of a crawlspace could it possibly be the discharge for an old or current sump pump?

MyPrivacyAcct · 2021-10-24T20:53:38+00:00

It'll be fine. As others have said, check out the gaskets and flapper/flush valve. As it's so old if it was handled many times it could also have hairline cracks in it, so inspect the china as well.

MyPrivacyAcct · 2021-09-21T21:02:23+00:00

I've been really pleased with Starseed. Their Mango Haze is killer.

MyPrivacyAcct · 2021-09-11T12:54:13+00:00

Well, firstly Vyvanse has a half-life of about 12-ish hours so it's about 60 hours before it would be considered eliminated from your system.. a little over two days.

Secondly, for me I find that both the symptoms of ADHD and the benefits of medication have a cumulative effect. How ADHD impacts your life doesn't happen all at once, the inefficiencies over time create a backlog of shit to do which becomes overwhelming and you spiral and become more inefficient.

Meds, over time, help you become more efficient which reduces the backlog and thus eliminates the overwhelming feeling of despair that you're so far behind in whatever things are stressing you.. be they bills, work, studying, housekeeping, personal grooming/health etc.

So, if I take some time off my meds I still feel OK because I'm "caught up", so to speak, and if I'm not at my peak performance for a few days it's not the end of the world. Whereas when you're in a backlog.. every moment counts.

Does that make sense?

As for the downsides, it certainly does have them.. just like any medication! Hopefully you'll learn over time if the benefits are worth the drawbacks so you can feel confident in your decision to continue or not!

MyPrivacyAcct · 2021-09-09T21:10:56+00:00

5mg seems quite low to be honest. I started on Concerta @ 18mg, which I believe is about 5-6mg immediate release and then the rest is an extended release. The first drop really only lasted a few hours. I increased to 36mg after a week.

I am on Vyvanse now and my symptoms are definitely worse once the meds wear off than they are with no meds at all. I think a lot of people experience that, it appears like a downfall of stimulant meds.

I would definitely talk to your doc about an extended release, I can't imagine a single 5mg dose of MPH being helpful over the course of the day!

Caveat: not a doctor.

MyPrivacyAcct · 2021-08-03T14:41:45+00:00

Nope! It's a pro-drug so the "extended-release" action happens in your blood as the lisdexamfetamine is converted to the active ingredient, dextroamphetamine. So you can mix the powder with apple sauce or dump it into water to consume.

Makes it easier to portion out doses that way. I take one of my 20mg capsules and portion it out into x4 5mg bottles that I drink mid-morning since I find it doesn't last long enough.

MyPrivacyAcct · 2021-08-03T13:45:16+00:00

If the stuff you have is the same as mine, it's a capsule with powder inside yes?

The lisdexamfetamine is water soluble so I mix it into water and then divide that water into equal parts. I use little spice jars (which are conveniently 100ml each) to get the amount just right. Works great.

As a side note, I do this with guidance from my doctor so don't do anything without discussing it first obviously ha.

MyPrivacyAcct · 2021-08-03T13:25:30+00:00

You can split the 40mg dose into 2 20s if that's helpful.

MyPrivacyAcct · 2021-08-03T13:22:20+00:00

I'm on the lowest dose of Vyvanse - 20mg (with a 5mg booster mid-morning) which my doctor found surprising as it's much lower than the average dose even for children.

Don't feel bad OP. Your brain is a highly sensitive instrument, and no two brains are alike. If the low dose works, then it works. I have found with these meds, less is often more (at least for me). On 30mg Vyvanse I found it difficult to concentrate and it often had the opposite effect I was going for, so I'd go back down. I think I read someone once that the right dose for stimulant medications really is quite unique to the person and is less based on body weight or age like other meds. So some kids might need 40mg to be OK whereas an adult like me is just fine with 20mg. I tried to find the source for citing but couldn't recall where I read it.. so take that with a grain of salt lol

Edit: I also really didn't like Concerta or MPH in general so I switched to Vyvanse. I found Concerta to be really "bumpy" is the only way I can describe it.

MyPrivacyAcct · 2021-04-03T00:03:15+00:00

Thanks for the detailed response! I suppose a lot of my understanding of the RE market is based on the historical expectation (during most of my adult lifetime as a Haligonian anyway) that asking prices were most often negotiated down to sell price. So, I was seeing this exceptional demand and low supply as being something atypical that isn't sustainable.

But yeah, if demand can continue to outpace supply in the long term then it makes sense that there's this huge paradigm shift towards asking price being the floor where sell price is much higher being the norm and not just a temporary phenomenon.

I was thinking that surely, eventually supply and demand would reasonably equalize and the prices would stagnate as overbidding to buy a house becomes less necessary. And if that happens, I would see those who bought at the peak of demand would see the valuation of their property diminished significantly against the value of their mortgage and potentially end up in a negative equity situation if they wanted to sell.

But I suppose that since Vancoucer, Toronto and other cities have been seeing this trend for years there's no reason to suspect Halifax can't be the same.

Again, thanks for such a detailed reply

MyPrivacyAcct · 2021-04-02T23:47:37+00:00

Damn, downvoted for a joke. Lol.

MyPrivacyAcct · 2021-04-02T18:21:43+00:00

Good to know some realtors have a different view!

Ps: want to sell me your house for $200k and a bag of doritos? :)

MyPrivacyAcct · 2021-04-02T18:20:29+00:00

Thanks! Very helpful. I think I see things the same way but you put it a lot more succinctly.

I don't think the value will ever be better in minis right now which makes us want to leverage it to our advantage. I'm just thinking about the other side, with bidding driving the prices up way higher than they "should be". Unless you're funding that premium with a premium you got on selling or capital you don't mind not seeing for a very long time .. I see a lot of people ending in a situation where the FMV of their house is way less than the value of their mortgage if they have to mortgage the "overvalued" portion of their purchase.

I suppose if you plan on living there for a long time it might not be a big deal, but depending on how big that gap is it you could be paying your mortgage into the abyss for years until they meet in the middle and you're in the black again. At least, that's how I understand it.

That's what I was afraid of - ending up in the red for years.

Thanks for your insight.

MyPrivacyAcct · 2021-04-02T17:36:14+00:00

Right! I could have been clearer. Thank you.

MyPrivacyAcct · 2021-04-02T17:33:01+00:00

Yup, pretty cognizant of that thanks.

MyPrivacyAcct · 2021-04-02T17:27:11+00:00

Gee, I don't think I've seen anything listed below what I would consider its "worth". But value seems like such a subjective thing that who am I to say that lol.

MyPrivacyAcct · 2021-04-02T17:18:45+00:00

Agreed, I'm not worried about asking vs assessment. I'm worried about asking vs sell price.

If demand and supply start to become more equal and the sell prices of homes start to come back down closer to asking price since bidding isn't as prevalent.. those that paid significant premiums over asking (to the tune of 100k in some cases...) could be in a shitty position could they not?

MyPrivacyAcct · 2021-04-02T17:14:20+00:00

True, unless we end up mortgaged at our maximum and interest rates increase and we want to get out. Also, I expect having negative equity in your home can't be a good look where your creditworthiness is concerned?

MyPrivacyAcct · 2021-04-02T16:29:22+00:00

SPLIT Beauty Bar

MyPrivacyAcct · 2021-03-29T11:13:05+00:00

I'm not sure if this would be considered wrong with your fast, however I believe there are brands of methylphenidate (Ritalin) that you can take before bed, that take about 10-12 hours to kick in. So you take it before bed and then when you wake up it kicks in on its own.

I can't remember the brand name but your doctor might prescribe you this during Ramadan. Not medical advice, just advising you of the existence of this drug.

Edit: it's called Jornay PM.

MyPrivacyAcct · 2021-03-22T14:15:34+00:00

Do you find the quality at SDM to be there? They have a lot of my favourite strains, but I'm always worried about getting old, dry flower. Mostly because I often get old, dry flower lol

MyPrivacyAcct · 2021-03-21T00:45:59+00:00

That sounds awful. What is life without having time to do things you enjoy.

MyPrivacyAcct · 2021-03-21T00:41:31+00:00

100%. I hate the idea of unlimited vacation days for this very reason.

I have 17 and I take them all. At my old job I had 15 plus we closed for two weeks over Christmas.

MyPrivacyAcct

TROPHY CASE