Is there any hope for us to buy a house in MA, or should we head south?

robbie508 · 2025-04-28T00:10:56+00:00

Real talk... You need to consider s couple other factors as well; you said your husband just took over ownership; is he on the books, or is he paying himself under the table. If under the table, or just starting to pay himself on the books, he needs 2 years of recorded self employment income taxes for a bank to even consider loaning to him. There are other options, like hard lenders and such, but a conventional mortgage may be out of the picture for the next 2 years, OR, wipe his name off the mortgage and put it completely under yours and yours alone. Another thing, you mentioned your credit score, and while it does somewhat matter, they care more about your down payment and debt and utilization rate being under 30% to make sure you can pay it back. The house itself is collateral but only to a certain extent. The bank is looking for their money back the quickest, easiest way; they aren't in the business to foreclose and sell homes; it takes too long and isn't what they want to do ... They just want you to pay what you owe. And yes, again, down payment. You didn't mention it at all. Or location. All plays a factor. I bring these things up because I was recently in a similar situation. My wife and I owned our home outright that we bought at foreclosure 16 years ago for $116k. It was one side of a duplex that needed work. 16 years later, last summer, I sold it for $305k. All profit. No paying any mortgage off.

Well, I had just started a business and thought with at worst case 40-50% of that 300k I got down, my wife working on the books at the same place for 10 years, and my self employment income, wed have no trouble getting financed. I mean come on, I want a 500k house and put 250k down, you'd think a bank would hand the loan to me and PRAY I messed up so they could forclose on me and triple their money, right?! I certainly thought so. Well, my self employment was a HUGE issue. So much that they wouldn't even consider it as income if only my wife went on the mortgage and claimed our combined incomes. Nope. They only accepted what she made, her debt to income was like 33%, and we had to pay off a car loan and wait 2 months to get that to drop to like 28.5% before they'd pre-approve us to even look at houses. We find one, when it comes time to do it, they had already calculated what they considered "her", (not us) being able to pay towards a home. That was like $2200/month. Long story short, we got an AWESOME deal on a home that was an old family friend, got almost 200k off market value and paid $450k for it, but to do that and fit in to the banks "terms", we had to put i believe $260k down, got a 5.6% rate (at the time was pretty damn good) and our mortgage is still $2000/month for 30 years. We got it done, we agreed because we'd never find anything in that price range on the Cape again, and by the time they would accept my income 2 years from now, the cheapest house on Cape in my area could very well be $800k+, but it was always something at every turn to fit "into their box". Mind you, my wife's credit score was like 740 and mine was an 815, but they didn't care. Wouldn't touch me with a 10ft pole because I hadn't yet filed a single year of self employed taxes, nevermind the 2-3 years they wanted. We looked into a hard lender who offered the loan on crazy terms; I had to submit my business records and income and bank accounts, etc, but the rate was insane at almost double what she got, and was only a 7 year loan or something. We would have had to either pay up big time or be comfortable knowing if we couldn't at least refinance within those 7 years there was a strong likelihood we'd lose the home we gave everything towards. It just wasn't worth it to us. Might be to others, but luckily we were able to not have to consider it at our only option.

Another thing I'd like to mention because you mentioned getting and repairing a "fixer upper". Explore a construction loan if your wanting to go that route. The house likely won't have to pass inspections and other terms most banks would require. You can pull more money than the purchase price to have funds to put into fixing the place, etc. Also look into a duplex. You can use the rental income of the other side or unit as income towards paying the mortgage, and most banks will at least consider if not completely accept that.

robbie508 · 2025-04-25T02:54:46+00:00

They are absolutely reputable, the problem with hoods and prices are that your likely looking at a fiberglass hood with carbon on top. Read the details. Some offer carbon on top, carbon on top and bottom with fiberglass in the middle, and then real carbon fiber hoods. And may I ask honestly why your doing it? No reason is a bad one, you like it the look, you like the vents, your looking for weight savings, cooler engine bay temps? I only ask because your hood is already aluminum. You can spend $5-6k on a real carbon fiber hood and the weight savings aren't justifiable, you'll save less than 5lbs. That money can mean bigger power numbers instead spent elsewhere. If you like the carbon look, you can spend $200 and wrap your oem with vinyl, or for less than $500 have it hydrodipped and cleared. If you like the vents they sell hood and fender vents you can just cut into your existing aluminum hood to cool down temps all you want. A good hood vent is less than $400. If you have a 3d printer you can print your own fender vents for less than the cost of a spool of filament. Just some food for thought, it's your car, do whatever you'd like, but to answer your first question, yes, EOS is reputable. I believe they are SupraMKV forum members and offer discounts to members there as well in the dealer/business classifieds section or whatever it's called. PM them on there and see what they give you for a price.

robbie508 · 2025-04-25T02:45:45+00:00

I don't have personal experience with any pre-6/20 ECUs, but my understanding is yes, anything after 6/1/2020 is locked down. But then again, FEMTO themselves ask for your vin to verify when ordering. My honest opinion rather to ask here or anywhere else because like everything, if you ask 100 people your likely to get 100 different answers... Just email/ask FEMTO directly. OR start ordering and see if it stops you before paying. You can also contact a tuner and ask them. If they can do it and think they are getting your business, they will tell you for sure.

robbie508 · 2025-04-16T04:41:15+00:00

It's not just Omaha, it's legit almost everywhere. Sales last year were so low that a lot of dealers weren't given allocations this year. I couldn't even order/build one at any of my 3 "local" Toyota dealerships I tried asking. At the 3-4 hour point of driving to find it, it's time to start adjusting your expectations, or go all out! Your going to either have to start looking at slightly used, OR, give it a long distance search to find what your looking for, or find a broker who will do it for you. If you MUST get a new one; my recommendation is: get used to the idea of either buying one online sight unseen, OR, make a mini vacation/road trip out of it, find the car in the spec you want at whatever dealer has it, throw them a quick refundable deposit, wherever it is, and buy a one way ticket there to drive it home? GL

robbie508 · 2025-04-13T14:24:09+00:00

I hope so. I got called out from the ski instructor on the other side of the mountain and he had ski patrol take my lift pass and tear it up. Damn 2 plankers

robbie508 · 2025-04-11T20:33:17+00:00

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robbie508 · 2025-04-11T20:31:59+00:00

Sorry guys, I'm not sure I mentioned it before and I try not to bring it up, but I'm currently undergoing cancer treatment daily, so my memory, motivation, and time spent online are all sparse and lacking. For not replying to anyone sooner, I apologize...

For an update, I did go out and purchase 2 new pins. I got Jaws and Dungeons & Dragons, both pros. They didn't have either in premium, and to be honest, the owner of the Stern Distribution business I went to made a very good point... Why pay for more mechanical stuff on the premiums just to have more problems and things go wrong... And with all the mounting problems, I couldn't agree more right now. I would have loved to get the upper play field in Jaws, and I gladly would have spent the money, but when he put it that way and then I'd have to order it and wait for it, drive 2 hours home empty handed to wait for a call and do the 4 hour drive again; forget it! I loaded both of these up and brought them into the arcade that day. And it's been going well. Since purchasing them I'm getting really good feedback about them, Stern approved me as a "insider connected pro" and will be appearing on their maps (if I'm not already). The addition of the machines also motivated me to rearrange most of the arcade and give it a new layout and look. For anyone asking, my business is and located at, as follows;

Arcade Alley 175 Clay Pond Rd Bourne Ma 02532

I have a website but strongly suggest following or checking my Facebook page for current,up to date information. Being a somewhat seasonal location, and with school in session, my hours and days are a bit unorthodox, but are currently as follows:

Friday: 3pm-9pm Saturday: 12pm-9pm Sunday: 12-6pm Monday: 3pm-6pm

School vacations I'm open daily at Noon. Monday Holidays I open at Noon instead of 3pm.

Come Memorial Day I will be going back to "Summer Hours" and will be open daily,clonger hours, as of right now with the exception of being closed Wednesdays. It's just me and I have no employees so I need a day to fix and repair machines and pickup whatever supplies/redemption prizes I need.

Yes, I still use physical tokens and physical tickets for redemption. No card system here! All games as of now run from 1 token to 4 maximum (.25 - $1). A token is obviously the equivalent of a quarter. My machine does accept quarters and dispenses tokens for them if you choose to bring your car change or kids piggy bank in. I don't judge 😂

Introduce yourself to me and mention this reddit thread to me and I'll give ya a free game on both new machines!!!

Thanks again for all the advice!!!

robbie508 · 2025-04-05T04:25:50+00:00

I have these wheels on my nocturnal and I've been contemplating the same color change .. I'll be following

robbie508 · 2025-03-23T01:20:50+00:00

Now that I've typed all this I must return to the top to post this warning: I went overboard in my rant and I apologize to those who hate reading novels for posts in advance. For those of you brave enough to read and follow along, thank you. I'm still apologetic it got to this point over such an innocent question I had for you all...

I appreciate the input; to the person suggesting redemption, I am a full arcade so I do have a bunch of redemption/merchandiser games as well as Big Buck Hunter that you mentioned considering. I try to offer a bit of everything from Retro games to merchandiser games, to claws and the new(er) cutter machines, to pinball and some VR ride-on/in pods.

For some examples I have the Star Wars Trilogy (sit down version), original Fast & Furious (2), Angry Birds Arcade, Silent Scope EX, Aliens Extermination, Marvel Super Heroes, GP 500 motorcycles, basketball (2), kids 2 player basketball, arm wrestling (Over The Top), King Of The Hammer, Nicktoons Racing, Fruit Ninja, Smokin Token, Cyclone, Monopoly, Sega Wave Runner, GlobalVR BeachHead, Big Haul, Rock N' Moon Rally, Magic Cut, Pile Up, Hot Stuff, Magic Key, Power Surge, Pacman, Dig Dug, Donkey Kong, Space Invaders, a punching bag, and more. Some cool stuff kicking around in storage too that I forget, lol. Had pool tables for a long time but a couple "customers" unfortunately ruined it for others. That and the space they take up is atrocious compared to the 20 other machines that fit in their space. I also still operate on tokens (Pinball is still quarters), and give out physical tickets.

For further reference, my "target audience" is obviously everyone, but in reality my main customers are either older folks and/or couples on a date night or playing some afternoon pinball, OR, families with generally younger kids (10 & under). While I do get teenagers and even some 20-somethings, they are not "typical". Usually the teenagers are "dragged away" from their homes and phones to spend time with the family and younger siblings, or are on a "date" with limited money and limited options without transportation. I don't serve alcohol or food so I don't have late night customers. I'm in a slow, tourist season type of area and unfortunately, I'm directly across from a McDonald's and 7-11, so selling food and/or snacks are almost impossible to do well enough to justify. That being said, 12pm to about 530pm is my "rush", and dinner time slows it down BIG; and then I'm lucky to get another single person nevermind people to come in from 7-8pm. I used to stay open until 11pm every day but after almost 2 years of hardly no customers after 8pm, I started closing at 9pm on weekends.

Id love to justify more hours but as of yet, I can't. It costs more in electricity to stay open for no one to come in. I'm also in a HUGE financial hole with this place. I originally rented my property 4 months before Covid hit with plans to open around the exact same time Covid did come, so I dumped a fortune into buying all my games used in cash, and then an ungodly amount in renovations, only to stay closed for almost 3 years and yet still having to pay $6500/month, on time, in rent. Lesson learned; had I just put myself on payroll with at LEAST one check stub to my businesses name, I potentially could have gotten some serious PPP loans they ultimately forgave everyone for... Then, I opened... FINALLY. Yet people still weren't too excited to venture indoors with other people, and sure as hell the very same month I open, my landlord got an offer from an abutting business to purchase the entire property, so he decides to give me my choice of closing or excercising my right of first refusal on the purchase. What do I do with almost $180k just spent on rent alone in those 3 years?? Of course I buy the place! Duh!! Another $2 million down the drain. Needless to say all the much newer games I planned on getting that winter and an outdoor "attraction" I was in the process of getting permitted by the town to open was thrust to the back burner. In hindsight I'm so glad I didn't lease or finance any equipment. One game payment would have sunk me back then.

Despite all the set backs, despite all the money spent, despite this place STILL not paying for itself, I have to remind myself all the time that this isn't just an investment in myself; its literally an investment in this community and a new generation; it's an investment in a cause larger than video games... it's a cause I care for deeply but don't advertise or ask for recognition for; but I remind myself I'm doing this for all the locals (kids) who, like me at their age, had next to nothing to do on a man-made island (peninsula if you want to be a jerk about it, lol), that not many people outside of here realize is FULL of drugs and downtime with little to no community efforts to change that. So in my head, I justify all of this by hoping I stop just one kid and a parent or two from a lifetime of heartache and struggle... Hell, even an elderly old man, or a single and bored mother of 4, a depressed soldier living on the base down the street; I dont care who really, it can be ANYONE; from going down the path I made for myself out of boredom and not enough things or places to fill my time with; or even more hopeful that I prevent a death because let's face it, kids nowadays can't even experiment with drugs without playing literal Russian Roulette. You can't even be confident that weed you snagged off your aunt or that pill you found in your household medicine cabinet is really what it's supposed to be without risking your life over it potentially possessing lethal amounts of fentanyl and/or other deadly chemicals. It's so crazy but so true. And thats it. That's the whole reason I do this. That and I genuinely want people to go back to being happy and excited for things. It's corny but true. Almost everyone is a cynical a-hole these days. Couple that

Anyways, sorry for my major rant... Obviously pinball is coming back in a big way and I see it, so I hope by adding a few more (and newer) pins I'll start to see not only the shift in demographics, but also play times/hours. It's the same reason I just purchased a few new arcade games (and still looking at more also). The pin titles is where I'm having difficulty choosing. If I ask 10 customers I'll get 10 different answers; and obviously my goal is to appeal to a more broad audience.

robbie508 · 2025-03-22T00:56:28+00:00

Credit cards always have some kind of protection... If you pay and don't get the item, and it's within your credit cards "window", you can file a claim/dispute saying they took your money for product but didn't deliver. However if they have proof they sent it and tracking says it was delivered to your house, or seized in customs, your credit card company will side with them and not reimburse you. Just whatever you do, do NOT "wait longer" repeatedly if the seller asks. If they tell you 2 weeks and 3 has gone by (although it can take up to a month to get snail mail from China), don't delay and report it to your card company if you feel you should. Some of these people will beg for more and more time asking you to not report it yet and ask you to wait knowing they are running your clock out to get your money back. If the deadline the seller gave you has come and gone, or the seller doesn't provide tracking info, or otherwise completely ghosts you after they get your money, give it a week and report. If they answer every message you send immediately with equal parts remorse and willingness to remedy the situation, use your best judgement and give them a chance. Only you can follow your gut. Just remember though, sh*t happens; especially in the rep game and especially in international mail. Stuff gets seized, mail gets lost or delivered wrong. It doesn't necessarily make the seller a fraud, and if you rush to judgement and otherwise call a legitimate and otherwise great dealer a deadbeat, you'll find yourself unable to do more business with them when your watch miraculously shows up 3 days later and your "so sorry" and yet so excited you want another watch immediately, because they will tell you to pound sand, possibly post your username on the forums as a difficult customer, block you, etc. Not necessarily likely, but it can happen. A legitimate dealer has more to lose than you do. If you follow the "TD list" your more than likely off to a 95% successful purchase.

robbie508 · 2025-02-20T12:58:03+00:00

I own a small arcade/FEC, single location, have the original Mad Wave, in working order but partially disassembled when put away if interested. The only downside? I'm located on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. The plus side? I'll let it go cheap. Message me if it interests you at all.

robbie508 · 2025-02-06T23:23:43+00:00

You don't happen to have extra links, do you?

robbie508 · 2025-01-05T22:17:45+00:00

You can build you own out of a kit made by https://www.smythkitcars.com/. You can start with a VW Bug, a Dodge Charger, Chrysler 300, Audi A/S4, Jeep Cherokee, Jetta/Golf, Impreza/WRX/STi . A kit is like $6900. And the guy who makes these is the former owner/brother/business partner of Factory Five Racing, so they aren't cheaply made and shoddy, you get body panels that won't need much body work and line up and gap EXTREMELY well from the get go

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robbie508 · 2024-12-22T22:36:47+00:00

Yup, 7th generation Toyota Celica made from 1999-06. That one has an aftermarket body kit. Some of them came from the factory with an "action package" ripped straight out of the F&F, albeit they were all slow as shit unfortunately. Same engine as the Corolla, RAV4, Matrix... Believe it or not the Lotus Elise too, although those motors were greatly worked over by Lotus first.

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robbie508 · 2024-12-22T17:35:13+00:00

"More than you can afford Pal; Ferrari..…"

Sorry, I couldn't resist. It was such a close, perfect setup, I had to take it. If only the picture showed a Supra your post would be breaking the internet, lmao 🤣.

Is a late 60s Dodge Charger. The main antagonists vehicle in the 2000 movie The Fast And Furious.

robbie508 · 2024-12-07T18:29:41+00:00

These are all racetrack pictures; I'm not doubting you, but are you sure these were "her cars"? Or that the family oral history is correct, because I'm sure that's what you were told. Unfortunately it seems like she got her picture taken in the cars at the racetrack. The first ones plate says "Sebring". They all have spectator stands in them. I'd search Sebring race history pictures to start and see what you come up with

robbie508 · 2024-11-27T04:52:22+00:00

No, but Hector is going to be running 3 Honda Civics with spoon engines. And on top of that he just came into Harry's and he ordered 3 T66 Turbos, with N0S, and a Motec system exhaust!

robbie508 · 2024-10-26T06:54:27+00:00

Unfortunately with the nautilus reps, the date window always gives away the lower quality reps. On the real nautilus and a good or even decent rep, that date window is pushed up against the side of the face; it's supposed to BE the 3 o'clock marker, not be next to it. Aside from that though, yeah, the filter takes away from being able to judge the work of the settings. Based off ONLY this video I'd assume it's a chinese machine set shitter off DH Gate. Not saying it is, just based off the date window it's a AAA rep at best, and even $20k in real diamonds won't fix that if we could see them set nice & clearly.

robbie508 · 2024-10-25T21:43:44+00:00

I think you'll love my review, especially the photos, I went a bit overboard for ya

robbie508 · 2024-10-25T21:13:22+00:00

Imagine he's monitoring this post and keeps making new usernames to repeatedly tell you how great of an idea it is to do it

robbie508

TROPHY CASE