ilovefuzz.com

retinal orbita wrote:Next time skully posts a photo it's gonna blow your minds.....

I told you!!

Back to owning a home - we did the same - I was purposely looking for an "untouched" home with very little updating since I can do a lot of the work myself and we budgeted for the required upgrades. We found a home in a nice neighborhood not to close from downtown and very close to my work and it was sturdy, well built but with some issues that would deter other buyers: a giant garage right in the middle of the backyard, knob and tube wiring and 60w panel, wallpaper on every surface, decrepit old kitchen, a bathroom that hadn't been updated since the 50's, an unfinished basement and the backyard is right next to the train tracks...

We fixed the wiring, redid the bathroom through a contractor friend, tore down the garage (5.5 metric tonnes of debris), gutted the kitchen, are stripping the wallpaper and restoring the rooms and have lots of big plans to prioritize - meanwhile we were seeing homes with knob and tube spliced into a new panel (still gonna cost 10k to fix and insure), poorly remodeled upgrades, etc sell for way more because there's no effort involved and they're "move in ready"

I don't even want to think about resale right now. I'm planning 10-15 years minimum on this investment.... I love my neighborhood and the neighbors and the street and everything. Just no liquor store nearby and no cool places to eat or whatever ammenities, but it's a neighborhood on the upswing, so in 5 years it'll be there....

No problem Kosta! I have a good feeling that the DIYStompbox dudes will be able to point me in the correct direction. It also helps that I have your original unit in hand as well. I'm hoping someone can send me the PDF of the actual build document from the book that it came from. Google Books and Amazon both don't show any of the build documents for it and I think it would be super helpful. Going to take pictures and write notes on where each of my connections go from the board, how I'm not trying to use the rotary pot for octave divisions, and that I get clean signal with no power but with the effect engaged.

odontophobia wrote:In regards to home ownership, it's kinda weird. Sometimes you have to keep your eyes peeled because good things just fall into your lap.

I wasn't really ready to buy a house until more of my student debt was paid off and I was in a better place with personal debt. I got the personal debt out of the way and have been cursing along on student loans without hiccup. Wifey has been saving all of her cash. We buy a house using only my income to get the loan, meaning we were approved for less than many people. We also told our loan people upfront that we didn't want to go crazy -- I could've been approved for more but we knew that we were putting in an offer on a house that wouldn't sell for all that much since it had been vacant for a few years but still owned by an old Polish lady in a nursing home. When she passed and her son couldn't move in they FINALLY put it on the market.

We took one look on the inside and bam, we were in. All I saw was an old POLISH BASEMENT (tile flooring, looks like it needs or already has a bar, but otherwise totally finished) where I could store gear and kick out the jams.

We fell into a nice neighborhood and got the house at a great deal. We've put in some work because we have certain skills that make bartering better, like family in the heating and cooling business. We specifically looked for houses with older furnaces, knowing we'd be able to easily replace them.

Now we're paying less on our mortgage with property taxes included than we were with our rental previously. Pretty nuts/awesome.

I lucked out by having a wife with some cash in savings but all I'm saying is that it never hurts to have your eyes open. Our house has more space than we need so we rented out the upstairs "master" bedroom as a one bedroom apartment to a friend of ours. We'll put in some work, slight remodels here and there, and then probably flip the house for quite a bit in a few more years when we move.

Man... Got all stoked about buying houses there...

long live dirge!

retinal orbita wrote:Back to owning a home - we did the same - I was purposely looking for an "untouched" home with very little updating since I can do a lot of the work myself and we budgeted for the required upgrades. We found a home in a nice neighborhood not to close from downtown and very close to my work and it was sturdy, well built but with some issues that would deter other buyers: a giant garage right in the middle of the backyard, knob and tube wiring and 60w panel, wallpaper on every surface, decrepit old kitchen, a bathroom that hadn't been updated since the 50's, an unfinished basement and the backyard is right next to the train tracks...

We fixed the wiring, redid the bathroom through a contractor friend, tore down the garage (5.5 metric tonnes of debris), gutted the kitchen, are stripping the wallpaper and restoring the rooms and have lots of big plans to prioritize - meanwhile we were seeing homes with knob and tube spliced into a new panel (still gonna cost 10k to fix and insure), poorly remodeled upgrades, etc sell for way more because there's no effort involved and they're "move in ready"

I don't even want to think about resale right now. I'm planning 10-15 years minimum on this investment.... I love my neighborhood and the neighbors and the street and everything. Just no liquor store nearby and no cool places to eat or whatever ammenities, but it's a neighborhood on the upswing, so in 5 years it'll be there....

That's really awesome dudes, Congrats! My dad is actually doing something similar to you, odontophobia. He just bought a house in upstate New York for pretty cheap, is renting out one of the bedrooms, and he was in the handyman/construction business for a long time before selling storm doors so he's gonna fix up the house to his liking on his own, which will save him money in the long run.

The wife and I just signed for one more year at the apartment complex we are in now, for the time being. I figure that gives us a year to kink out either buying a house or a condo the year after next and get a strategy together. Like you I also have student loans that I am currently paying on. Was able to pay off the last of my Bill Me Later balance with part of the money from selling my Obstructures the other week, are saving the rest. My wife has two cards that need to be paid off, but they aren't bad, so it's totally doable with our tax return depending on how much we get back. That'll be the last thing other than my student loans that need to be 'paid back' that will free up some money for us. But honestly we aren't paying much less than a mortage now. I think my wife really wants to wait until we have our first child and me potentially getting a new job before going to a house house instead of a condo, just to see if we need more room or need to relocate. Seems like it would be easier to sell a condo than a house, at least. But we are definitely looking forward to moving into something that we can call 'ours'

skullservant wrote:Seems like it would be easier to sell a condo than a house, at least.

Mate, I'm not one to dole out unrequested advice, and I'm sure our respective countries have different breakdowns regarding realtor fees and real estate structure and our cities have entirely different real estate markets, but when you break down what a condo costs to buy, + monthly fees in comparison to a 'modest' house you have to be really sure you can turn a significant profit on the condo in a small timeframe or you'll wind up getting FUCKED by all the additional costs associated with buying a home. Okay, so imagine you buy a condo, plus realtor fees, pay your mortgage/fees/taxes, then decide to sell in two years. You've got to pay the commission on buying and selling that condo and the house and the mark up from the condo sale has to cover those fees/down payment (plus you'd ideally like to have something extra for yourself I'm sure). If you can't sell your condo for what you want you will lose money, plus with the uncertainty of interest rates you could wind up not being able to afford what you want because you'll probably need to buy out of your existing mortgage and get a new one. Trust me, in a few short years you ain't going to pay ANYTHING off your mortgage, at least in Canada the bulk of the interest is paid out in the first few years and barely paid a dime off the actual principle (I wish I had really understood how much this screws a fast sell), it actually worked out to like 70% interest for the first 5 years and that was at a very reasonable 3.4% interest rate.

We did this exact plan. Right when we were about to buy my wife got laid off and went back to do her masters degree so we figured a condo was a safer option since we might not have as much cash to put into a home on one income and when she finished we put our place on the market to buy a house which was the plan. We managed to get out without losing any money, but we certainly didn't make anything on our condo even though we sold it for 25k more than we paid for it. Thanks to dipping interest rates, our savings and an amazing realtor/mortgage broker we manage to escape unscathed, but we also had to wait almost 4 months to sell our condo and lived in an unfinished basement with no door at my mother in laws during that time ( ).....

When you see what you have to pay in realtor fees and more often than not, land tax to the city (ours worked out to $15,000) + mortgage insurance + other fees (many of which cannot be integrated in with your mortgage)..... our broker insists everyone has 10k in non-borrowed cash for "expenses" related to the buying and selling and we needed all of them.... lawyer fees, property title searches, etc......

And now we're in a beautiful semi detached home with a yard and basement and front porch that I sit on in the summer and drink beer and wave to my neighbors, and my monthly mortage payments work out to about $100 more than in a condo if you factor in the condo fees I was paying plus lower interest rates, but that was sheer luck after condo-buyer-ineptitude, and we took some really piss poor advice from a friend who happened to be our realtor. So I guess what I'm saying is if you want something that's not going to be your "forever home" then wait.... because like everything else with the financial system, property ownership can just a more subtle way to screw you than high interest credit cards.... although there's at least a potential for profit with a property

And I'm not bitter at all, I'm so glad I got out unscathed and condos are great for some people if that's what they want for the long term, but as a short term option it's deceptively easy yet is not a sound decision if a flip is on your mind, because the potential buyer can see what you paid, and will say "why am I paying xxxxx more than this guy paid two years ago for a less new unit I won't pay it".....

On topic: that pedal looks so awesome

PS: I don't mean to be patronizing or insulting with that post I really just do not want to see people get screwed over....

Yowza....
So, like, are you taking orders again skullservant?

@ Retinal good points all around. Like I said we just signed the lease on this apartment for another year so we have a bit to discuss things.

@ Bassboar: I am! Hit me up if you have something in mind

skullservant wrote:Yes! I finished RO's Rat + SSStampede yesterday in between Christmas shopping and whatnot.
I want to record a few quick demos before I ship it out tomorrow.

Here's how it looks!

Looks sweeeet. What are the controls on the Rat?

Volume / Gain / Filter / Ruetz or "cut" along with a 3 way diode toggle!

kbithecrowing wrote:

skullservant wrote:Yes! I finished RO's Rat + SSStampede yesterday in between Christmas shopping and whatnot.
I want to record a few quick demos before I ship it out tomorrow.

Here's how it looks!

Looks sweeeet. What are the controls on the Rat?

I got to play this thing last night. Hella legit.

skullservant wrote:@ Retinal good points all around. Like I said we just signed the lease on this apartment for another year so we have a bit to discuss things.

Word - no intent to be patronizing. I just feel like no matter what, everyone who works in real estate wants to make some big monay and often doesn't have your best interests at heart. Which is unfortunate, because they all act like they do. And it's stuff I wish I had known before I bought a condo, expecting to flip. I'm no expert, but I'm watching the condo market in toronto tank big time and I'm glad I got out when I did.....

Grrface wrote:

kbithecrowing wrote:

skullservant wrote:Yes! I finished RO's Rat + SSStampede yesterday in between Christmas shopping and whatnot.
I want to record a few quick demos before I ship it out tomorrow.

Here's how it looks!

Looks sweeeet. What are the controls on the Rat?

I got to play this thing last night. Hella legit.

I gotta record that short demo tonight and then I'll get it posted out so you can have it for Christmas!

DIRGE ELECTRONICS: Progress/Protos/Puppies/Housing Advice


Keep up the good work, skully.

Chankgeez wrote:DIRGE ELECTRONICS: Progress/Protos/Puppies/Housing Advice


Keep up the good work, skully.

Thanks for the encouragement Chankz!

I've been using the Double Karaoke Party to bang out Bad Religion tunes, since my Sunn doesn't really do overdriven. Last night, whilst twiddling with knobbies, I found this fantastic squarewave sound. Like, straight 8-bit weirdness. Super, super cool. Useless for punk, but awesome for everything else.