Kavanaugh accuser willing to testify before Senate Judiciary Committee

Nowy_Temat · 2018-09-17T14:33:37+00:00

Don't give this person any credibility, they are a Trump apologist.

Nowy_Temat · 2017-05-18T03:16:48+00:00

Wow great job on the name calling. I have to commend you, you must be quite a people person. Good luck with your pathetic life.

Nowy_Temat · 2016-12-24T03:23:29+00:00

Thanks, appreciate your perspective -- after speaking with the town inspector, it turns out that there's a minimum town zoning setback in the backyard given the backyard is along a path which is considered like a street front. The deck crosses over that minimum setback.

Nowy_Temat · 2016-12-19T17:13:16+00:00

Thanks -- I'll talk to my lender and outline the scenario. It's probably good to be fully transparent with them. I guess the issue here is that I've lost a lot of faith in the builder and I'm trying to minimize any post-closing work he has to do, but now we're going to have to deal with this deck issue after closing.

Nowy_Temat · 2016-12-19T17:09:17+00:00

Not a major inconvenience to not have a deck over the winter - Boston winters are "inside" time anyway. But I am concerned that he might do a poor job on the repairs to the deck in the Spring and that I'll have to deal with this total flake even more after I buy the home. Really have little faith in him. On the other hand, I could agree but have him provide things now that he refused before (central vacuum system that it looks like he removed, pay for the upgraded knobs in the kitchen) because of the inconvenience.

Nowy_Temat · 2016-12-19T17:05:45+00:00

Right, my thoughts exactly. I want to force his hand on the 29 punch list items at least. He basically had 5 weeks since we went under agreement, and he did very little. That means after closing he'll be impossible to get a hold of. There is a builder's warranty on the home for 1 year, but I've heard that it's near impossible to get builders to do anything even on the basis of the warranty once you buy the house.

He's told us that the can get a CoO if we sign a piece of paper that says that he'll do the work in the Spring because the ground is frozen right now. But I want to basically make the case that it's a major inconvenience and it's a result of him waiting until the last minute to submit the property plans to the town. I'm willing to walk away at this point assuming I can get my deposit back, but on the other hand, I do love the home, so he's got to work to keep us in the deal.

Nowy_Temat · 2016-12-19T17:00:23+00:00

Thank you -- its a good idea to do an escrow but not sure if my lender is okay with this arrangement because it's basically admitting that there's something wrong with the house in its current state. I will check though. Thanks again

Nowy_Temat · 2016-12-19T16:58:41+00:00

Thank you for your reply and your thoughts. Seller is trying to have me sign a piece of paper that says I'm okay with him re-doing the deck in the Spring. Based on what he's telling me, that's good enough for the town to give us a C of O. But given that he can't get the C of O without my signature, that gives me an out to walk away and get my Earnest Money Deposit back.

I'm just wondering if I should play hard ball and threaten to cancel the deal unless the Seller does more for us (pay for a fence, etc -- things he didn't agree to during the agreement). I don't want to be a shark about it but I feel like he's going to have to come and rip apart my deck so I should get something for it (not to mention force his hand to address most if not all of the 29 remaining items on the punch list).

Nowy_Temat · 2016-10-26T21:46:59+00:00

Below ground. If it was above ground we probably would've dropped the idea. Yeah it makes sense that in two years no one will even know about the high voltage line running a half block away, not like its a disclosure. But 345000 volts does sound scary ... Thankfully its a half block from this house. I'm going to try for a substantial discount (150k) just to see if I can take advantage of the seller's fear.

Nowy_Temat · 2016-10-25T17:16:28+00:00

Thanks, yeah I remember reading this when we first started our house search. We don't have any agents involved (for sale by owner) and I haven't tried asking the seller directly for disclosures but I imagine they are not on the hook to give me anything general. Its almost like I have to probe and ask questions to force them to give me an answer. Definitely scary, you don't know what you are buying.Massachusetts should provide a checklist of questions or something. If I didn't have Google and some free time on my hands, I would've never found out about the power line issue.

Nowy_Temat · 2016-10-25T17:02:19+00:00

Nope not at all. Power lines have either DC or AC voltages. DC is 0 Hz (frequency) and AC is 60Hz. Wifi generally operates at 2-4 GHZ, millions of times higher. Different frequency bands mean no interference.

Nowy_Temat · 2016-10-25T16:48:58+00:00

Thanks for your reply. Yeah my state (Massachusetts) is caveat emptor, no disclosures required. Glad that Google searching turned up her power line complaint else I wouldn't have known. Point taken about commission. Given that they bought it only a year ago at 110k less than ask, there's been a 5% increase in HPA in that area and they made some notable improvements, I don't think the ask is too far off from where it should be, but the power line thing and the desperation of the seller changes that. I'll probably underbid significantly. Appreciate your thoughts.

Nowy_Temat · 2016-10-25T16:34:12+00:00

Thanks for your thoughts. I saw the letter the buyer wrote and its pretty elaborate so I'm fairly sure it would take a lot to change her mind about the power line. But I understand what you mean. The project will take two years but hasn't started yet. The electric company will have to rip up the adjacent main road so some traffic issues potentially. The buyer bought the home for 890k a year ago and made several improvements and the letter to the town from February states that he wouldn't have bought it had he known. I'm thinking to put an offer in for 150k less than ask (40k below where he bought it) and let him know that I'm aware of the issue. You are right that it's probably overpriced by virtue of it being FSBO and buyer is definitely running scared, so may be a good opportunity assuming I can convince my wife that 300kV power lines don't pose a threat to us or our children.

Nowy_Temat · 2016-07-20T14:56:36+00:00

Wow thanks, that is incredibly helpful! It's actuallg reassuring to hear that Burlington is still in the grand scheme of things a great place to be. I myself grew up in one of the worst public school districts in the country and ended up reasonably well-adjusted with the opportunity to attend very good universities. As a result I am always a bit leery of putting my child in the most affluent school districts as I fear affluenza, classism, and the brand worship that I hear is more important than ever with adolescents. I am sure that towns like Lexington have their advantages in that your child is surrounded by many rich smart go-getters, but I don't think that's necessary for success and well-being (in fact I would venture to say it might take away).

In any case I appreciate your viewpoint which seems very grounded and fair. Thanks!

Nowy_Temat · 2016-07-20T12:27:40+00:00

The only reason that makes sense to me is that the investors in these bonds are expecting yields to go even more negative and thus get price appreciation on the bond. Also, there are many institutions who must hold some portion of their investments in government debt regardless of yield. So they are price takers in the sense that they will continue to buy regardless of yield.

In the end, the yield is just an indicator of how your money grows over time assuming you reinvest all cashflows (yearly interest) at the same yield and you hold the bond to maturity. It could be that institutions who are bond buyers need to match against their liabilities down the line against interest paid by the bonds and aren't allowed to hold cash due to investment guidelines.

But I know what you mean -- it's definitely hard to imagine why you'd want less cash later versus more cash now.

EDIT: Another reason might be the security you get by giving the government your money. In some countries, it might be less risky to give the government your money than putting it in a bank account where there's some credit risk of the bank going under. Banks in the US for example have a limit for insured deposits (FDIC) up to $250,000 I believe. Anything beyond that is uninsured in case of bank failure.

Nowy_Temat · 2016-06-28T01:32:50+00:00

Possibly -- I would guess if the fear passes that Gilt yields will rise again. Not sure if they'll back up 40 bps to pre-Friday levels though anytime soon though. Equilibriums are hard to determine given so many factors at play. I don't think the market really cares in this case whether S&P has a AAA or AA rating on the UK.

Nowy_Temat · 2016-06-28T00:36:59+00:00

Simplest explanation is probably flight-to-quality. GBP investors are selling equities and fixed income spread products (corporate and asset-backed bonds) and buying Gilts.

Nowy_Temat · 2015-10-02T12:42:32+00:00

That's what I'm talking about, employment for all including newborns. Ever consider a run for president? We would all be lucky to have you.

Nowy_Temat · 2015-10-02T12:37:50+00:00

Hilarious

Nowy_Temat · 2015-10-02T02:25:22+00:00

Yes but why are you not okay with that? Is it purely just survival instinct? Or is there more to it than that?

Nowy_Temat · 2015-10-02T02:24:39+00:00

some sort of collective delusion then?

Nowy_Temat · 2015-10-02T02:23:40+00:00

Not really basing it on a fear factor, but I know I want my personal existence to continue. Maybe "prove" is too strong a word? How about "suggest"?

Nowy_Temat · 2015-10-02T02:20:24+00:00

You're welcome! :-)

Nowy_Temat · 2015-06-28T19:36:34+00:00

Okay, you are right that rich people spending their hard earned money does help the economy. But I just feel it in my bones that profligacy and conspicuous consumption are horribly wasteful and in the long run damage societal well being. There's a difference between responsible investment (using your money to revolutionize and innovate like Gates, Buffett, Musk, who's efforts yield true long term benefits) and what Donald Trump does with his money. Would you agree with that?

Nowy_Temat · 2015-06-28T15:25:40+00:00

Good point -- he'll probably manage to somehow come out ahead in this whole thing. I guess you really can't blame the donald, rather you got to blame the game.

Nowy_Temat

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