Installing Solar Panels…

So, we (well, I ) went ahead with the installation of solar panels on the roof. It took about 3 days when all was said and done.

If you are interested, here's the link to get an estimate.
(full disclosure...if you do sign up via this link, we both get some $).

Some FAQ’s:

1. I went with "lease" instead of "buy" option.
2. Put $1k down and have committed to $68/month. At current electricity consumption rates, this covers about 25% of our monthly usage at a FIXED rate.
3. Payback period…approximately 7 years.
4. Green value is something I am factoring in.
5. Best argument, in my mind, came from Gary of Clean Currents who positioned it as a “hedge against future energy price increases.” (If there’s one thing I have a high degree of confidence in-sure, I could be wrong—it’s that energy prices will go up)
6. It helps to have a new or mostly new roof
7. The company guarantees 95% of their estimates.
8. I’ll be sharing the results of this experiment in the months to come…

To be CLEAR...I'm not advocating just yet since I don't know how it will go, but figured I'd share it for now.

To understand some of the technical components, check out this interview with one of the installers.

Lawn Service, Opportunity Cost, and Comparative Advantage

Image via Wikipedia

For many years, I took pride in mowing my own lawn.

I’m not sure why this was a core issue for me, but I somehow viewed having a lawn service as an unnecessary indulgence and, dare I say, a sign of sloth.

Hey, I’m being honest here.

This year, however, as my lawn grew and grew, I started to change my perspective.

• First off, business has been exceedingly busy.
• Second, I realized that any time I spent mowing my lawn was time that I was either not spending with my family or on my business. (Opportunity Cost)
• Third, I thought about time vs. money. How much I would pay the lawn guys versus the upside opportunity from a revenue perspective from that same time on my business.

The economist, David Ricardo, introduced the idea of “Comparative Advantage.” You do the things at which you are best suited and you let others do what they do best.

I can mow the lawn, sure. But, I’m much better at selling Never Stop Marketing services. So I do that more and pay Dave to mow my lawn.

At least, that’s my justification now.

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Home Ownership Anniversary…

One of the dates that I mark in our family history is the date when we bought our first house.

Different than the birthdays of our children, at least for me, it represents a concrete, unchanging (for the most part) fixture representing a transition to adulthood and responsibility.

The other day, we hit 6 years in our home.

Just made me ponder the passage of time.

Feeling Like a Sell Out…

For a long time, I’ve taken pride in the fact that I mow my own lawn and rake my own leaves.

This year, mostly due to work commitments, I just didn’t see how I would have the time to rake the leaves prior to the collection date.

So, I hired someone to do it.

In a business sense, I outsourced a non-core competency, but I did feel like a bit of a sell-out.

When 20x times isn’t 20x

So, we have some sort of issues with our roof. Not great and it may need to be replaced.

The roofer suggested that I call our insurance confirm the type of coverage that we have.

Now, I had mentally prepared myself for the fact that a new roof would be about $15k-$20k. I have NO estimate now and no idea what it will be (or even if we have to).

Still, I wanted to know how much pain was coming my way.

The insurance rep said, “after your $1000 deductible, we will pay for the replacement of the roof.”

“…and that’s why you have insurance!” I yelled. “Of course, you will probably raise my rates after that, won’t you?”

“That could very well happen, sir,” he graciously replied.

Still, it dawned on me that the difference in emotional pain between $1000 and $20,000 isn’t 20 times..it’s closer to 100 times, right?

Anyway, let’s hope it’s not a roof replacement, right?

Appraisals and the Home Valuation Code of Conduct

In my recent mortgage re-fi experience, one of the (many) hurdles was the fact that the appraisal came in for much lower than expected (even taking the downturn into account).

My broker, Jeff (contact details below, he ROCKS!) told me about the new Home Valuation Code of Conduct, which makes it impossible for us to discuss with the appraisers how he arrived at his conclusion.

Now, everyone thinks their appraisals are too low or too high (depending on their interest at the moment)—and needless to say, I am stuck with a higher assessment for taxes owed to the country—but when I finally saw the report from the guy, I had to laugh.

Saying my house was comparable to some of the other houses he had pictured…you’d laugh as well.

Anyway, Jeff was interviewed on WBAL in Baltimore about this and, if this is relevant to you, you might enjoy watching it.

 

And, if you need him….(tell him I sent you)

 

Jeffrey H. Cooper, Managing Partner

Great Oak Lending Partners

jcooper@greatoaklending.com

1920 Greenspring Drive, Suite 160, Timonium, MD  21093

Phone:  443-901-1777 x 1001     *     Fax:  443-264-0268

MD LICENSE:  15511

Just when you thought it was safe...

Image by Getty Images via Daylifeto flush the toilet water...

We had another backup. You'll recall the first.

Now my trusty contractor, Jorge, told me that I'd have to snake and video the main sewer line ($800. Yep, you read that right).

I'd been trying everything. Root killer (per Steve's comment on the previous post) and it backed up again.

So, being a "pull the band-aid off fast" kind of guy, I said, let's just get in there and find out what's going on.

I have the video (no, it's not on You Tube yet, it's just backed up water), but they determined that the root problem was....actually on the main sewer line!!!

Celestial choirs were singing because that meant...it's not my problem!!

It's all of Washington DC taxpayer's problem. Yea, baby!

The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission is responsible for keeping their own lines clean and we had evidence that it was their fault. (Had it not been, I was looking at a $8k digging up of my front lawn and replacing the pipe-ouch).

And then, it got even better...I got a note from WSSC saying I may be eligible for reimbursement. Sweet.

Justice :-)

A Sewage Story...

Image via Wikipedia Nothing better than having your main sewer line back up and the basement of your house begin to back up with putrid water.

Yep, so it was.

Not pretty, particulary $600 later after the Roto-Rooter guy [Rema from Burma], (who admittedly worked his butt off snaking the drain) showed me the roots that had gotten into the drain.

The good news, the problem was solved.

The bad news, it's a band-aid on a larger problem.

I'm told that once roots get into the drain, you're looking at only a matter of time before the pipes are totally gone...which requires replacing them (digging up the yard, etc.). Won't be pretty or
cheap.



Anyway, further evidence that owning a home is a never-ending money pit.

Raise the price of water…

Image by kevindooley via Flickr

The winning “World’s Best Presentations” kawasaki presentation was entitled

THIRST

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: design crisis)

It’s a powerful statement of how safe drinking water is become increasingly scarce.

I saw it and thought “ok, what can I do?”

Then, I was reminded of a review I saw in Popular Mechanics about a grey-water toilet system called Aqus (it takes the water you use in your sink and repurposes it for your toilet)

I thought “great, I’ll get one.”

Then, I saw the price tag $279, which is $10 more than I spent on water for my whole house for the first 7 months of the year.

It’s hard to think that a system on one toilet is going to reduce water costs by 50%. It’s not.

So, the question becomes: how much is saving water for others worth it to me?

Crass, but true.

On the other hand, if the price of water goes up (like oil/gas), well, at some point, it’s worth it.

The free market strikes again..

 

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An ounce of prevention…

One of the things about home maintenance and management is that this adage proves true time and time again.

Just flushed the water heater (recommended once a year).

Importing Olympians of Another Kind...

Image via Wikipedia The recent posts/comments on the blog about the changing nature of the Olympics and how coaches are imported to the US and athletes to various countries perhaps planted a seed.

With the NFO away at dance camp, a mini "perfect storm" of activity came down on Wed. morning.

The kids are off from school until next week.

We had Jorge, from Bolivia, fixing the lights (those that had been the cause of the Fire Dept. visit.)

Lorena, repping Guatemala, had moved her usual cleaning day to come in and tidy up the house (since Jorge's work was creating a bit larger mess than usual) and prep for our esteemed weekend guests.

Lastly, our stalwart Amharic speaking (Ethiopia native) Nanny is playing zone on the 3 kids.

This is the FOJ Domestic Assistance Olympic Team, all imports as well.

Anyway, after coordinating the activities (they all arrived at 8.30am), and getting the kids settled, I turned to 2 of them and asked:

"Are you guys working for free today?"

They looked at me with a perplexed look, sensing the humor in my voice.

Jorge said: "I wish we could."

"I figured," I replied. "So, if it is ok with you, I am going to go down to the mancave and try to figure out how to pay for all of you!"

Seriously, it reminded me of the other "house full of immigrants" days (part 1 and 2) and gave me one of those perspective enhancing moments to appreciate our country.

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Home Maintenance and the Never-ending To-Do list

It may be true that the longer you own your home, the more likely you are to try and fix things yourself.

However, I realized today that there’s another variable. Obvious, but it dawned on me nonetheless. I’m slow, what can I say?

That’s the time vs. items list.

I’m now at the point where the amount of maintenance items (a slow drain that needs to be snaked, a light switch that  needs to be replaced, hedges that need to be trimmed) is slowly beginning to overwhelm me.

I can see why I should just call someone to fix it.

Of course, there’s the value equation. Yes, the drain is slow, but is it the end of the world to wait another week or two to fix it?

Not really.

Ah, the joys of home ownership.

A (brief) Visit from the Fire Department…

Gianni woke up at 5 am and it’s a good thing she did.

The NFO smelled a horrific smell, woke me, and after not being able to determine what it was, we called 911 (got the non emergency number), opened the windows and took the kids outside.

As a taxpayer, I was thrilled by the quick response from the Fire Department, who were here quite quickly in full gear.

I did feel a bit embarrassed, as the house was clearly not burning down (thank God), but they did a thorough check anyway.

The culprit, an overheated ballast in our kitchen that was at 300 degrees F (they have a wicked cool visual thermometer/heat detector) and was melting the plastic.

Paco loved it…he loves fire trucks. The NFO went back to bed and I took the team for a walk around the  neighborhood until 7.

More joys of home ownership.

No Water...

Two weeks ago, no electricity. This week, no water.

Apparently, a water main broke and, even though it is repaired, for those in the red area on the map (the most populous county in Maryland), we all need to boil our water for drinking, etc. for another 2 days.

It's not easy.

Since I'm a Disaster Recovery/Emergency Preparedness maniac, we've got a fair amount of bottled water on hand, but still, you get an appreciation for the utilities of modern life.

Plus, it makes you think...what would happen if something really bad happened to our water supply?

Costco and my Toilet…

I read an article last week about how good oral hygiene can lead to better general health in the Costco Connection magazine.

I dutifully forwarded it to a contact at JNJ on the Listerine team.

That motivated me to go use the Listerine in my basement bathroom.

When I got in there, I heard some gurgling in the shower and toilet drain from the running water in the kitchen above.

I’d heard that before and knew that it meant the drain was starting to get clogged up and it was only a matter of time before I’d have a mini flood in my basement.

I tried to snake the drain and the toilet, no success.

Debated calling a plumber, but two things hit me

1. I didn’t feel like dropping $300 just yet
2. The spirit of Poppy, ever the handyman arose within me.

The longer you own your home, at least for me, the more likely you are to try it out yourself. Even if I mess it up, I’ll end up calling the plumber…and I will have learned something.

I began to dismantle the toilet.

The NFO was not in favor of this idea. She said, “call the plumber and just watch him.”

I heard the “watch him” part and found a video on YouTube from Home Depot on toilet replacement.

I watched it.

Glad I did, because I discovered I need a wax ring to replace, which I’ll have to get tomorrow.

So, game plan.

1. get wax ring/Drano at Target, wherever
2. remove toilet
3. snake toilet
4. pour down some Drano
5. test

If it works, great. If not, oh well.

This reminds me…I really need to use the Listerine. My friend calls this “peeling back the layers of the onion.”

You start at one point, and next thing you know you are 6 steps away.

Wish me luck.

Customer Service: What Would You Do?

I'll give kudos when it is deserved. I called the generator company and they had a guy here by 9am (call was at 7.30). It took a bit, but it's up and running, I'm online and the neighborhood is still out. That's good.

Of course, what I paid (a lot of money) for was to not have to think about it, to not have to call anyone, for the system to transition seamlessly. That didn't happen.

I don't pay for the generator to be operational when there's power, I pay for the 2-4 times/year when we are down for 3-12 hours.

And that failed me.

So, what should the company do?

There's an annual service charge of $150 (check parts, etc.) that I think could factor into the equation.

Based on suggestions here, I will approach the company (not naming names yet).

Lucky Us...Check your AC before summertime..

My Type A personality paid off.

We've got a service contract with BGE Home that includes an annual check-up of heating and cooling systems (blogged on this before)

I had a reminder on my calendar and had the technician out this AM.

Glad I did. He discovered a piece that would have eventually given out (probably on the hottest day of the year).

Catastrophe averted. Ounce of prevention, pound of cure. Yeah, baby!
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Now playing: 10000 Maniacs - Peace Train
via FoxyTunes

Infomercial...redeemed

Remember the Tobi I bought after seeing it on an infomercial?

Remember the self-doubt?

Well, I am feeling a lot better now, because not only does it work great on my shirts (even my mom was impressed), but I came up with an ingenious (at least I thought so) use for it.

I was cleaning out the freezer in preparation for Passover and noticed a fair amount of ice had accumultated along the walls. Initially, I went after it with a screwdriver (didn't have time to let it defrost).

I took a break. Looked around. Saw the Tobi.

Lightbulb moment.

Soon enough, I was steaming the ice out of the freezer. Worked like a charm.

Instant ROI. Nice.

Take Back the House Day...

Between the birth of Nitzahn, the Simchat Bat, and all of the craziness of Purim, we have lost control of our home.

Today, it's an 'all hands on deck' situation as we Take Back the House.

With a hat-tip to Take Back the Night.

A job I don't want....

Single Father.

Yes, it's a lot more running around than I'm used to.

On Monday, I was at the kids' school 4 times before noon. Details would bore you, but it was a lot of movement.

But, this isn't about me...it's about the appreciation for all of the work the NFO (i.e. Nameless/Faceless One) does on a daily basis.

Beyond that, I feel for her.

The NFO is a very active person. Loves to dance, as you know. Doesn't sit still very well.

Sitting in bed, doing nothing...that's rough.