Exactly! I agree with everything you say. I don't want a bigger house than what we are paying now and that would include taxes and insurance. A huge down payment will get me the monthly payment (including the ins/tax) but maybe a 'bigger' house. Yes I want to have a home for my children. I have owned a home before and I think we were smart in our purchase then but we sold with the divorce. So I feel like I am literally starting over now. And that's ok.. It's never too late (well until I'm ready to retire). 10% sounds better. 5% could go in to savings for a down payment. It would take longer but would be worth it in the end. I think I got jumbled in my thoughts thinking if I'm constantly putting 15% I won't have room to put money into savings. I'll just keep putting all of my extra money into retirement BUT I was not calculating correctly, I can still 'save' for a house and be putting 10%. Now let me ask you this just to be clear: with the calculations that you have come up with, is that 10% of my income or 10% of our combined income? We should each be putting 10% of our pay into retirement correct? As far as purchasing items for the house, I am hearing you on that. We would end up putting ourselves back into debt to furnish a new house. That is absolutely not what I want to do and I've made my goals clear to my husband as far as not ever financing another piece of furniture or accessory again. My husband always used credit and would pay off at the end of the month because he was taught that having credit was important. That's all good until you are in an accident or become Ill, get laid off, have a baby or whatever may happen, and then you can only pay the minimum payment 'maybe'. I would hope that we would set aside 'spending' money for purchases like that -- I know there will be things we do have to purchase when we do buy a house like a fridge, lawn mower and other accessories, lol a water hose... You opened my eyes there, thanks again Bill.

I don't know exactly what a subordination clause is, but in general, they like you to pay off the second mortgage with the refinance. Your uncle's loan is not a lien. It's only a lein if you default on the loan, and he takes you to court, and puts a lien on the house. The purpose of the lein is to make sure that they get their money when you eventually sell the house. Anyone who you owe money to can have a lien put on your house, not just someone who holds a loan secured by the property, BTW. Do you have any documents for the loan with your uncle? If so, does it say that the loan is secured by the property? If not, then this is a personal loan. It makes no difference that he lent you the money to pay off your second mortgage. You will probably have to disclose this loan to the lender, as they will want an accurate picture of all your debt, so that they can be sure that you are capable of paying back their loan, along with all your other debts, with your current income. Just be sure that they understand that this is a personal loan, and there is no existing documentation saying that it is a secured loan.

Hi Dave, I'm a one-off deck builder like yourself. I think the Deck Pros are just having some fun with ya. Your back porch has ventilation. Your front porch seems pretty low to the ground, but maybe it is dry. Probably alot depends on soil. Looks sandy. I would test the front by putting some scrap IPE under it for a month or two. See what happens. If you have to get two deliveries of materials, so be it (they charge by weight anyway). Frankly, before you buy, ask for two scraps of Ipe from any supplier you are considering. They should provide free. East teak does. I used hidden clips on my deck (Tiger Claw G). A lot of hoots and hollers here about that. But, it's my deck. The clips work OK for me. If not that, I would just face screw it. Plugging and sanding is not for me. Construction adhesive is OK. Deck will squeak less. But it can be messy. How neat are you when you work? Brand name probably doesn't matter much. To use hidden clips you have to use 5/4" (actually 4/4 finish milled). But if you face screw it, and you have 16" centers, you can use 4/4 (3/4" milled). I think this is correct. I don't know about T&G for outside. Probably not good. Want drainage. If you get ice in the T&G joint, definite bad news. Not a concensus about waxing the end grain. I did. Can't hurt. Use a carbide blade, wide kerf. You could do it with a hand circular saw, but better is a chop saw, 10" or 12". Avoid breathing the sawdust. Some folks can get an alergic reaction. You have to lay the deck perpendicular to the floor joists. I can't tell from the pics which way that is. Cut all butt joints as you go, centered on the joists. Except for the first, against the house, let what hangs over the sides "run wild". When done, snap a chalk line on the perimeters, then trim with a hand circular saw. Straight lines. Good luck! My deck project from last year.

This is a great thread. We're not remodeling but building a new house, and man, can I relate to a lot of these. ...you know every lighting fixture, faucet, sink, appliance by memory because you have endlessly researched each one. you freak out your own GC because you can discuss minute details about your house/kitchen from memory down to the 1/8". you have more e-mails from your GC/subs than you do from your friends. you wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat about some critical detail and then go downstairs to e-mail your GC about it right at the moment before you forget.