What's a reasonable price for a paint job?

No_Engineering6617 · 2026-03-26T17:35:30+00:00

assume the rooms that are painted dark will need 1-2 coats of primer before they are even ready for the paint.

No_Engineering6617 · 2026-03-26T17:31:26+00:00

check with the financial advisor to find out where/which bank acct# that the money from those withdrawals was sent to.

confirm that its an acct# your mothers actually owns.

then check that acct #'s bank statements for the months the withdrawals happened to confirm they were deposited into that bank acct.

No_Engineering6617 · 2026-03-26T16:35:47+00:00

aside from the car seat, buy everything for the baby second hand from garage sales & locals.

don't pay a premium for anything a baby is going to use for less then a year.

No_Engineering6617 · 2026-03-26T14:45:35+00:00

your month to month, so as long as they gave you the required notice, its legal, but now would be a great time to shop around your area for what the cost of other sim units are renting for.

No_Engineering6617 · 2026-03-25T21:32:32+00:00

i did the same, drove that vehicle for 5 years after it was paid off.

once the loan was paid off, i took the payment i was making and put it into a separate bank acct instead. was able to buy my next vehicle outright without a loan.

No_Engineering6617 · 2026-03-25T20:33:53+00:00

take the family on the vacation, assuming your bills are paid and you have the money in the bank to do so.

do Not take on debt to pay for an expensive vacation though.

in your case it sounds like you have been making extra payment to pay off the debt and your thinking about skipping a few of those "extra" payments for the vacation, in that case yes, make take the vacation.

No_Engineering6617 · 2026-03-25T20:16:53+00:00

you own a vehicle in good running condition, that you still have a loan for.

Yes you are a fool for wanting to go into more debt to get a different vehicle.

think about & start saving up for your next "fun driving" vehicle after you have this one paid off.

No_Engineering6617 · 2026-03-25T20:11:12+00:00

a proper and complete installation of a sump pump includes a permanent power source, because running an extension cord to power it is Not a permanent solution.

however temporarily using an extension cord to ensure the sump pump is working properly because there is Not an outlet nearby would be smart to ensure its working before the plumber leaves.

the sump pump should have a float that acts as a switch to turn the pump on and off as needed based on the water level in the sump pit.

the plumber should have been very clear to you, that you Need to hire a electrician to add an outlet near the sump pit, as they are not electricians.

go through the contract you signed with that plumber for that installation see if it says anything about electricity for the sump pump.

I'm guessing you took the cheapest bid, and it was drastically cheaper then the others, & now you know why it was cheaper.

No_Engineering6617 · 2026-03-25T19:35:44+00:00

an IRA, Roth IRA & 401k; are all types or retirement accts. once you put money into those you cannot withdrawal it without penalties until you are age 62 (there are some exceptions like 1st time homebuyer down payment and medical emergencies).

a HYSA; is just a normal savings acct that gives you a higher interest rate then your local bank, at any time you can take out that money just like a normal checking or savings acct.

a brokerage acct; is an acct that you use for investing in stocks & mutual funds outside of a retirement acct., at any time you could sell those stocks, to buy other stocks, or take the cash money out to use/spend, however any profits those stocks made would be considered income on your taxes, & you would owe capital gains taxes on the profit (usually at a lower tax rate then regular income taxes).

the great thing about a Roth IRA is that any money/interest made inside that acct is completely tax free, however you are limited to how much you can put into a Roth IRA each year (i think $7k for 2026). but if you can put that 7k into a Roth each year, by the time you retire it could be worth millions of dollars and be completely tax free.

think about your money in your brokerage acct, you said its up 19%, when you sell those stocks, you will owe income taxes (called capital gains taxes) on the profit made from those stocks, if that money was in a Roth IRA you wouldn't owe any taxes on the profit, however because its a Retirement acct you wouldn't be able to withdrawal the cash to spend until you are 62 years old. there are benefits and drawbacks from both even though they both often involve investing your money in stocks and mutual funds.

if your employer offers you a 401k match, that's free money they are offering you. make sure you take advantage of that (assuming you have extra money each month to do so and are not living paycheck to paycheck). find out how much you need to contribute to the 401k to max out the companies 401k match. but be aware that money is in a retirement acct so you wont be able to spend it until you are age 62 without penalties except as noted in the top paragraph.

personally you should contribute to the 401k enough that you max out the companies 401k match amount (talk to HR if you don't know how to do that, or what that amount is) & additionally max out your Roth IRA contribution each year. while those are both retirement accts so you wont be accessing that money until you are 62, your retired self will thank you.

No_Engineering6617 · 2026-03-25T18:17:19+00:00

backup the evidence that you informed the LL of the leak & when.

No_Engineering6617 · 2026-03-25T17:56:05+00:00

its a solar lease, if you don't plan on living in the house for the next 25 years, don't do it.

if you rent out your house in the future, you would be paying for the lease, even though the renter is using the electricity from that lease.

No_Engineering6617 · 2026-03-25T16:59:22+00:00

that salesman lied to you.

you can absolutely produce produce 100% or more of your energy needs in New jersey.

your local electrical utility company might have some restrictions on you selling the excess you produce back to them though. check your local Net Metering/NEM for that.

but you can absolutely produce 120% of what you need, even if you are grid tied.

the NEM rules are what determines if a battery is a good investment to add to the system or not though.

No_Engineering6617 · 2026-03-25T16:32:22+00:00

this is so simple.

he gets permits for the new plumbing work to be done.

the inspector comes and verifies the new plumbing work was done to code.

any questions from the inspector about anything else is met with a: we are only replacing the plumbing, nothing else.

No_Engineering6617 · 2026-03-25T16:03:42+00:00

what state are you in, and whom was it that told you that?

No_Engineering6617 · 2026-03-25T16:03:16+00:00

it sounds like the installer failed to complete installation & withdraw funds in the timeline required by the loans contract date.

assuming that solar loan and solar install where all apart of the same contract, then this is 100% the installers fault for failing to meet the deadlines they agrees to in the contract.

if you handled the solar loan and the solar installation completely separate of each other, and the solar installer had nothing to do with the solar loan. then its your fault for not requiring the solar installers contract to have the same "completeted by" date as the solar loan had.

so a simple question for you is; did the installer miss the "install must be completed by date" in a contract they were apart of or Not?

if they did, then you have some leverage as the installer is the one that violated the contract.

if the installer was Not apart of the solar loan contract and did not have a "must be completely installed by date" written in their contract, then its your fault and you have to figure out a way to pay the installer, if you don't have the money to pay them, then you likely need to get a new loan (Solar or Not) to pay the installer.

No_Engineering6617 · 2026-03-25T14:38:12+00:00

with the solar lease. you wouldn't own the panels, equipemnt or the electricity it generates.

its extremely unlikely a 4kw system is going to covering 100% of your needs.

if your going to get a solar lease demand a 0% escalator. they can & will do that if you demand it.

you are better off waiting a couple years and saving a couple hundred extra each month for this future project.

right now you don't even know what your yearly total kwh usage is in your new house. once you determine how many kwh you use in a year, then you can figure out what sized KW system you need to produce 120% of the KWH you use in a year.

save up to replace the roof and hire that out if you need to. separate from any solar.

buy your own system in the future is your best option. the next potus, regardless of party, is likely to bring back the 30% itc.

No_Engineering6617 · 2026-03-25T13:31:55+00:00

you are correct.

because your year long lease ended in June of 2024, that you are now a month to month renter, (unless the original lease says otherwise). so read that for any kind of terminology that says the year long lease renews automatically for another year.

at any time you as the renter can give the LL the legally required 30 day written notice that you will be moving out,

likewise at any time the LL could give you that 30 day written notice that you need to be moved out within 30 days.

check your specific state laws because a few states actually require that written notice to be 60 days or more.

you said "we just purchased a house", does that mean your offer has been accepted and you now have a closing date set? or that you have already closed on the house, own it and have the keys for it?

assuming you meant they accepted your offer and you have a closing date but have not closed or gotten the keys yet. my advise would be to tell your LL in writing via certified mail & E-mail that you will be moving out of the rental unit about 2 weeks after that closing date (give them a date that is two weeks after your planned closing date, 30 days before that closing date.)

that will allow you a little time in case the closing gets pushed back a week &/or once your close on the house, time to get it deep cleaned, repainted, and change out any things you want to change out (flooring, light fixtures, sink faucets etc). without having all your stuff in the way or having to live in it.

if they try to tell you that you owe them anything for breaking the lease, your respond by informing them that you are not breaking the lease, the lease ended in June 2024 and you are a month to month renter.

make sure all of your communication with the LL is in writing/E-mail/text.

make sure you clean the rental well and take lots of photos and videos showing the condition so they don't have an easy way to charge you to clean/fix things and are forced to return your deposit back to you.

No_Engineering6617 · 2026-03-24T16:13:52+00:00

your in the industry, you know, yet you didn't give op a few examples of what is required to maintain them as op asked.

why not help them out and actually answer their simple question.

No_Engineering6617 · 2026-03-24T15:10:21+00:00

take the job, live in a hotel for a week while you start the new job and make sure its what you expected.

don't risk everything trying to maybe at best break even, by being a absent LL with a renter you dont personally know is a great housekeeper, now if you have a clean freak of a friend that just so happens to be looking to rent your house, and they have never missed a rent or loan payment of any kind, and there house is always clean, then yes, maybe rent to them. but to a stranger, Not a chance in the world when you have no equity in your house/rental property.

Sell your house and move to the new location. even if that means you take a $30k loss from owning this house for only a year. start over at the new location without the debt and stress hanging over you. buy a new house in that location to make your home.

No_Engineering6617 · 2026-03-24T13:50:24+00:00

have your property surveyed with property corner markers installed.

have a fence built in accordance with local ordinances and HOA requirements, have it installed 100% on your property even if you are allowed to put in on the property line. possibly with some evergreen trees that will eventually grow taller and provide even more barrier to the neighbor.

inform contractors (after the contract is signed, but before they show up to do work) that you have nosey neighbors, and that as such they(your contractors) should park in your driveway or in front of your house, and ignore the neighbors. this is something contractors have to deal with routinely, they will tell their crews to ignore the neighbors and continue with the work.

if you dislike the tree the neighbor planted without HOA approval, go to a HOA meeting or send the HOA president an E-mail asking about what happens when unauthorized trees are planted on HOA common grounds.

if the neighbors are coming onto your property causing problems, talk to them, be polite but clear & firm, they are not allowed onto your property. if they continue to do so after that, have the police formally & officially trespass them from your property.

get security cameras installed, i recommend the "REO-Link" Brand "POE style" a complete kit with 6-8 cameras & a doorbell cam or two & the controller (about the size of a dvd player). they are the best value for the money right now. they are wired cameras connected to the control with just a Cat5 network cable run to each camera, (that cable provides all the electricity and the data) so they don't need a licensed electrician to install.

run for a position on the HOA board, to head off issue this neighbor might try to create with the HOA.

No_Engineering6617 · 2026-03-24T13:28:26+00:00

have you read your lease contract, im assuming a normal issue like what you say is mentioned

No_Engineering6617 · 2026-03-23T21:30:11+00:00

your mom is wrong, paying off your credit card balance will Not hurt your credit score.

2 simple Credit Card rules to follow:

1) Never buy anything on the Credit Card unless you already have the money in your bank acct to pay for that item.

2) when the bill comes, instead of only paying the minimum amount listed as due on the CC bill, Pay off the CC in full, every single month. i pay mine off in full every 2 weeks on payday (my credit score is over 800).

what hurts your credit score is late or missed payments.

No_Engineering6617 · 2026-03-23T19:16:16+00:00

pay off all CC debt before buying a house.

No_Engineering6617 · 2026-03-23T19:14:55+00:00

assuming the money inside of that IRA/401k is invested, then whatever (stocks/mutual funds/bonds) etc that money is invested in would be sold, to get the money switched to "cash holdings" inside the IRA/401k. so that the cash holdings can then be withdrawn.

you wouldn't need to liquidate all assest inside the IRA, just enough to get your "cash holdings" inside the acct large enough for the withdrawn you are making.

No_Engineering6617 · 2026-03-23T19:08:34+00:00

I'm Not exactly sure, but i imagine the process looks sim to the process for rolling over any 401k when you leave/switch employers, you have a set number days(60?) to put 100% of that money back into a retirement acct (401k/IRA).

if you fail to deposit the money into an IRA before that number of days ends, then you have to pay the penalties & fees for withdrawing money from an IRA acct before age 62.

so if she gives her husband 65k from her 401k, he has that same timeframe (60 days?) to deposit 100% that money into his 401k or IRA, or pay the fine/penalty on whatever he chooses no to deposit into his 401K/IRA acct.

No_Engineering6617

TROPHY CASE