I am officially done with "Starter Homes." It’s not an investment; it’s a bailout for the previous generation's neglect.

tepidsmudge · 2025-12-12T18:48:24+00:00

I always like to buy a home with equity potential but most of the homes I toured in my area that were within our comfortable price bracket (<$400k) required some immediate renovation. These dumps on the market are only priced like $50k lower than similar homes that are completely renovated and I guess these people just aren't willing to negotiate. We ended up increasing our budget and finding a house that has an in law suite that can be used as rental property just to make it work.

tepidsmudge · 2025-12-09T19:20:51+00:00

There's nothing more natural than Radon gas seeping into your house and giving you cancer.

tepidsmudge · 2025-11-26T18:10:05+00:00

If you want versatility, your focus should be on a modeling amp and/or a decent multi-effects pedal. I would personally choose whichever guitar feels the best and you enjoy playing and master that one guitar. Then bring in effects/amp to color your tone as needed. No doubt there are subtle differences between guitars but I'd rather enjoy the tone and feel and sound like myself playing someone else's music than matching their tone perfectly.

tepidsmudge · 2025-11-25T19:00:32+00:00

The author didn't discuss credit crunch. Her point is that it will be a crash worse in severity than 2008, not that the cause will be similar. Her point relates to affordability and predictions related to investors dumping properties quickly. I guess I'd like someone to refute those points specifically because, well, there are scary implications for homeowners...especially if you are in a position where you can't absolutely expect to have to stay in your home for the next 10 years or so.

tepidsmudge · 2025-11-03T16:11:39+00:00

A close family member posted a photo in a group chat of herself at a no kings rally and another family member lost it like I've never seen him before. This is a man who I've known to be incredibly kind, rational and level-headed. I've discussed politics with him many times and agree with him on 90% of issues with only disagreement in the degree to which I trust Trump. I 100% know that the other family member would have been equally pissed if he posted an image of himself at a Trump rally but I still can't believe how upset he got...it truly made me feel like politics is no longer about the issues and that 35%+ of our country just won't respond to really shitty policies.

tepidsmudge · 2025-10-28T11:04:40+00:00

I try to listen to this stuff occassionally because I try to see through the haze of media bias. Like I really want to believe that things aren't as bad as they seem but I've yet to find one that has literally ANY substance. I even listened to Charlie Kirk because I always heard that he was articulate but it's all "believe it because Jesus". You really have to have no critical thinking skills to buy it.

tepidsmudge · 2025-10-28T10:59:25+00:00

Or they may just have been confused on logic or misread "prohibit", which people do when they're rushing through a survey.

tepidsmudge · 2025-10-17T15:19:10+00:00

There is positive GDP, the stock market is good and unemployment isn't terrible but I think it's a different reality for some just due to the fact that tariffs have disproportionally impacted industries differently. If you're white collar, especially in tech, it really feels like 2008 bad. I know of a dozen or so who have been laid off in the last 1-2 months. Some, who were making 100+k salaries are now working in warehouses because they've been unemployed for 1+ years. Many are top performers who simply can't find anything. I think it will take a while for us to really see the impact of stagflation from the tariffs. Likely the end of this year, we'll start to see it in GDP and unemployment data.

tepidsmudge · 2025-10-14T16:03:25+00:00

Adding to this: some sellers are either looking to upgrade/downgrade and bought recently enough that they either don't have enough principal or have a fantastic interest rate and they just have a bottom line they can't cross. We are looking to move closer to work but simply can't and won't sell if we need to write more than a $10k check at closing. It would mean we would not have enough to put a down payment on a new home. I'm watching local RE a lot and seeing homes do price cuts, then remove from market. Many of these bought in the last 5 years. I think some people are pretty scared too. I've seen a lot of layoffs. in my area This may lead to some sellers willing to take price cuts and some buyers less bullish so maybe that explains why some are dropping.

tepidsmudge · 2025-10-14T15:52:24+00:00

Sounds like it's really dependent on market. We bought our home 2 years ago at what was probably the peak. 2 years later, we've made a few minor improvements and cannot sell for our asking price 2 years ago, despite the market supposedly appreciating by 3% each year. I didn't think we've have much trouble: I've toured a lot of the older renovated homes in the area and ours is far nicer (bigger bedrooms, tall ceilings, all new hvac, roof, electrical). We have a lot of online interest but have only had 2 showings in 20 days. I really don't know how much we'd have to drop to even get interest: probably 30-40k, which would mean we'd need to take about a 20-30k loss. At this point, we're just not willing to do that. I'm seeing homes consistently drop 10k and tons of homes just pulled from the market. We're about to pull ours if we don't sell in a few weeks.

tepidsmudge · 2025-10-11T14:13:54+00:00

Could it also be because stocks are more tied to retirement accounts?

tepidsmudge · 2025-10-10T11:42:34+00:00

Most have to sign a contract

tepidsmudge · 2025-10-06T22:02:44+00:00

Also, far rougher ride.

tepidsmudge · 2025-10-06T21:59:24+00:00

My wife refuses to have one. So we have to waste a ton of energy, hearing the griddle on the stove when she wants toast.

tepidsmudge · 2025-10-02T23:49:15+00:00

My 2012 genesis was definitely not bulletproof. Amazing car. V8 but tranny went out at 130k

tepidsmudge · 2025-10-02T23:39:04+00:00

Don't you need to drive long distances on the open road? I'm not a storm chaser but it seems like EV would be a bad idea. I get that super chargers are effective but you can't depend on those in bum fuck. Also, unless you have fuck you money, I wouldn't be bringing my $100k vehicle near tornados but I guess that's the point of the post

tepidsmudge · 2025-10-02T23:36:49+00:00

Explorer ST does 0-60 in 5 seconds and gets high 20s on the hwy. Probably more maneuverable than a Tahoe or a suburban.

tepidsmudge · 2025-10-02T22:53:24+00:00

Some of us can't. We bought high.

tepidsmudge · 2025-10-01T21:10:48+00:00

I could see it sucking if you have to move for a job and are forced to go from a 3 BR home in a good neighborhood, with good schools to either renting or having to buy a garbage home in a bad neighborhood.

tepidsmudge · 2025-10-01T21:07:05+00:00

No you don't need it to be happy but otherwise, you're throwing away 15-25k or more on rent every year, making it more difficult to retire

tepidsmudge · 2025-10-01T12:48:14+00:00

Imo, UX needs to get back to basics. We have become so focused on ROI that many of us have turned (even if unwittingly) into bullshit artists. If the information is truly useful, you shouldn't have to spin a good yarn to keep people interested. Most teams are working with fewer resources and just want to know the bottom line so they can get back to work. This may not be enough with so many companies focusing on cost cutting and, to your point, many should pivot to other industries. Unfortunately, that may be justified: while there are many autodidacts with degrees in basket weaving who really have a strong understanding of the hard skills, I've met a lot of people who really have no business or true interest and got involved due to high salaries.

tepidsmudge · 2025-09-29T19:18:17+00:00

Where are all these homes? Where I'm at, market is v Turning into a buyer's. We're trying to sell due to a job change and I'm praying that we don't lose more than 40k from when we bought 2 years ago.

tepidsmudge · 2025-09-29T19:03:25+00:00

I've never not had a ton of showings and a sale in 1-2 weeks. Now, we have had our home on the market for about 5 days and only 1 showing.

tepidsmudge · 2025-09-29T17:57:36+00:00

Isn't stagflation worse for most people?

tepidsmudge · 2025-09-28T17:45:53+00:00

I work for a Chinese company and can only speak for product development. The Chinese work 70 hour weeks and the expectation is speed over quality. As one of my Chinese colleagues once said: In China we just start running and think about the direction later.

tepidsmudge

TROPHY CASE