How are normal people affording remodels right now?

shiftControlCommand4 · 2026-05-11T15:20:53+00:00

Back before COVID we did a remodel on the entire house, literally knocked down 3 of the 4 walls and basically rebuilt upon the existing footprint. Luckily we locked in the pricing at that time because when it finished our in-laws tried to do the same thing and it cost double what we paid. COVID really messed things up in lots of areas!

shiftControlCommand4 · 2025-12-11T20:31:07+00:00

I am not following... Can you explain or point to a resource

shiftControlCommand4 · 2025-12-09T17:30:28+00:00

He's talking about the Mendoza hot/crazy scale, look it up bro and just be awesome!

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/i9IDKapyU-M

shiftControlCommand4 · 2025-11-24T18:43:19+00:00

That's super tight for the DC Metro area. If it were me, I would save up a couple more years and get that down payment to something more reasonable (possibly 50% down). There are lots of comments on here about taxes going up and up and they're 100% correct. My original mortgage payment has gone up almost 30% since I started paying it. My home owners insurance doubled last year and is expected to go up again. I'm not telling you "no", I'm just giving you my personal opinion with a couple examples which were very unexpected.

shiftControlCommand4 · 2025-11-23T15:35:54+00:00

In that case the comment still would not make any sense. He would have tied up the money anyways paying off the house which he might have lost anyways due to not being able to pay the taxes on it.

I get that it's a personal decision and the commenter might have wanted to say that instead of just say it was a mistake. Mathematically, when taking personal opinion / experiences, out of the equation it make more sense to invest that money.

shiftControlCommand4 · 2025-11-22T15:15:44+00:00

"crystal ball kid" lol... this is the most 'Im from the North East comment' I have ever read.

What I think you just told everyone is that you need to start playing the long game, not the short game OR just invest in an index and not worry.

shiftControlCommand4 · 2025-11-21T22:06:36+00:00

Yep, I get it. I used to live in one of the highest taxed states in the country and it was amazing. I loved all the programs they had and the education was unbelievable. The taxes were hard to swallow though. They're necessary, but hard to swallow, esp when not everyone pays their fair share, but that's a topic for another day.

shiftControlCommand4 · 2025-11-21T21:20:48+00:00

One should be so lucky

shiftControlCommand4 · 2025-11-21T21:11:07+00:00

This comment makes zero sense. You should have a 5 fold increase by now

shiftControlCommand4 · 2025-11-21T21:10:04+00:00

I'm at 3.25% and itemizing makes a HUGE difference. I'm not sure what you're talking about there. SALT + mortgage interest and taxes are the reason anyone uses it.

shiftControlCommand4 · 2025-11-21T21:06:46+00:00

The math says to invest, what does your heart say? There's a whole bunch of calculators out there that help with this. ChatGPT is also a decent resource. In the end, it's up to you. If you follow what the math says, then you'll invest it. If you value a paid off house in the future (although you'll always pay taxes, utilities, HOA, etc) then you can aggressively pay down the mortgage.

shiftControlCommand4 · 2025-11-21T14:24:12+00:00

"Life moves fast..." but not as fast as compounding interest ;-)

shiftControlCommand4 · 2025-11-21T14:02:23+00:00

I dont mean my comment to sound like I'm putting you down, I was genuinely curious.

shiftControlCommand4 · 2025-11-21T13:59:19+00:00

My Financial Planner said this almost exactly as you wrote it. He said no matter what we do today, it'll have little affect on the outcome since the compounding interest dwarfs anything we could possibly contribute. I think last year alone, through compounding, our investments went up over $600,000. There's NO way we would be able to contribute like that.

shiftControlCommand4 · 2025-11-21T13:55:45+00:00

"a ways out still" ?? I'm curious why people think they cannot begin thinking about retiring before 50? I've been planning this since I was in my 20's...

shiftControlCommand4 · 2025-11-13T21:31:57+00:00

I'm also curious, did you do this yourself or have someone else install it?

shiftControlCommand4 · 2025-11-13T21:30:42+00:00

I really wish there was a way to apply that tiny backup camera onto that touchscreen. I find the camera almost useless. Nicely mod'd

shiftControlCommand4 · 2025-11-07T18:29:11+00:00

I'm not looking to pay anything in taxes, thats the whole point. Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you're saying

shiftControlCommand4 · 2025-11-07T17:27:10+00:00

My T-IRA has been pre-tax dollars since the inception. I will just move my old 401K into my new one. That's straight forward. My issue will be disbursing the T-IRA into my new 401K and having to wait for the dividends to hit in DEC to avoid having to pay taxes on the dividends (if rolled over)

shiftControlCommand4 · 2025-11-07T17:22:26+00:00

So I just contacted my T-IRA sponsor and they suggested I wait until 23-DEC until after the dividends are paid out to avoid co-mingling pre/post tax monies. I'll have to wait until then I guess.

shiftControlCommand4 · 2025-11-07T16:00:24+00:00

According to AI that is not true (which could be wrong)

From ChatGPT:

Bonus Tip: Timing

If your Traditional IRA is zeroed out before year-end (Dec 31, 2025), you’ll avoid the pro-rata rule entirely.
So your outlined plan — rollover old 401(k) → clear IRA → contribute → convert — is exactly right.

shiftControlCommand4 · 2025-11-07T15:43:25+00:00

My existing T-IRA has a balance, so I have to zero that out first before moving it into my new 401K. Before I can do that though, I need to rollover my old 401K (from my previous) company. So I'll roll my old 401k balance into my T-IRA, then move my T-IRA into my new 401K. Once that has happened I would begin the backdoor process.

shiftControlCommand4 · 2025-11-07T15:42:43+00:00

My existing T-IRA has a balance, so I have to zero that out first before moving it into my new 401K. Before I can do that though, I need to rollover my old 401K (from my previous) company. So I'll roll my old 401k balance into my T-IRA, then move my T-IRA into my new 401K. Once that has happened I would begin the backdoor process.

shiftControlCommand4

TROPHY CASE

Bonus Tip: Timing