All Forum Posts by: Stephen Chittenden

Thanks @Jonathan David.  I agree.  It seems nonsensical to me that this floor could be considered below grade.  Of course, it makes a big difference in the appraised value, as it is about an 800 square foot swing in GLA.

Here are photos.  The floor in questions is in the box, if that helps anyone.

The tax assessor has 2,304 above grade.  I have a theory for that though.  The floor place was modified by the builder for our neighborhood.  They added a "subbasement" and moved the partially below grade "basement" above grade.   The reality is that the entire plane of the floor is above the line of the earth.

The most recent email was explaining that the floor is not where the floor is but the 18-24" that extends below the ground.  Because that is below grade, the whole floor is below grade.  I pointed out that based on that logic, the first floor of every house is below grade.  

I'm not sure if this is the right forum, but here it goes.  We're looking to sell the townhome we live in.  The home is a 24x48' attached middle townhome.  It is four levels.  You enter on the second floor, which in the front of the house you enter by stepping up about a 4" step.  At the back of that level, there is deck 10' off the ground.  There are two floors above it.  There is also a walk-out basement under the back one-half or so of the house. The main level also has the garage located at the front of the house.  The driveway comes up to the driveway, and there is a lip of about 1" up into the garage.  There is a step of 3-4" from the garage into the foyer of the house.  We recently had an appraisal to help with determining the listing price (we hired the appraiser directly).  She is insisting that the above grade square footage is just the two floors above the entry level (24x48x2=2304 sq ft) and that the 800 or so of finished square feet on the entry level is "below grade."  Does this sound reasonable to anyone?  I am thoroughly perplexed as to how a level that is 4" above the plane of the earth in the front of the house and 10' above the plane of the ground in the back of the house could be considered below grade.  

I would caution that it will be very difficult to cash flow inside the beltway on an FHA loan in most areas. The mortgage insurance, high payment associated with a low down payment, high housing prices, and condo fee (if you go the condo route) will make it hard to rent at a price that covers all of those costs plus adequate reserves for vacancy and expenses. Take that into account when making a decision.

@Anthony R.It can certainly be better than paying it to a bank. It is subject to tax when it comes out of the 401(k) plan, so you end up paying tax on money that was already taxed, but as I said, I don't think that that is always unjustified. 

@Anthony R.I don't believe you can deduct the interest, unless you are borrowing only from employer contributions under section 72(p)(3) of the Code. That said, I don't necessarily agree with your accountant that it is always a bad idea. It depends on your age, situation, and other factors. For example, if you think your investment options in the plan are going to decline in value over the time the loan is outstanding, the interest (even if double taxed) could be a good way to increase the money going into the plan. The real downside is opportunity cost from not having the money invested in the plan, but that's only a downside of your investments are going up. 

A couple posts have greatly exaggerated the tax effect of paying back a 401(k) loan. It is true it is paid back after tax, but the only true double taxation is on the interest paid into the plan, not the entire payment. If you borrow from a bank, you pay that money back after-tax too.

I recommend giftcardgranny, which searches across multiple sites.  I often end up getting the cards through Raise.com, which is one of the sellers that appears on giftcardgranny.  I have had an issue with some of them being purchased with stolen cards, but I always check them right away.  If you use them within, I think, 100 days, they will either work or if they don't work, Raise will refund you your purchase price.  

Well, we got the water turned on this week, and it turns out that we had two cracked pipes in the laundry room and two broken valves.  The pressure coming into the house is higher than it should be, so we're going to get a pressure reducer installed and repair/replace the broken pipes.  Fortunately, the pipes were broken in the laundry room and did little damage as the space hadn't been renovated yet.  Breaking into the drywall to repair the leak exposed a small amount of surface mold that is apparently from a slow leak before we bought the property.  We're getting that cleaned up.  I don't have quotes yet on the repair costs, but they don't seem likely to be too much.