All Forum Posts by: Danny Stern

So I'm in the process of refinancing my house and on the form from my credit union it asked for any updates done in the last 6 months done by a contractor. Well I had my basement completely remodeled and had my kitchen gutted but these were done by family. There was no form for updates done by non contractors so I wanted to make sure they knew I had put substantial money into the house. They now want to see invoices for the work done on the kitchen from the contractor. I put an evaluation for 50k total cost for kitchen and basement. I just explained to them that I didn't see any other area to include the updates I have made other than the contractor section, so I included them there. will this be a potential problem? I did not pull permits on the kitchen or basement. is this going to be a problem for refinancing? 

Which color counter tops do you prefer for those cabinets? the grey granite counters are $31.00 SQFT while the white quartz is $39.99 sqft. I have a medium- brown flooring that will be going in. Which do you guys prefer?

Hi All curious to your thoughts on this. I purchased a home last year in summer of 18. my interest rate on the 30 year loan is 4.75 and if jump down to a 15 year loan right now it would be 3.125. My payment would go up about $330 switching to the 15 year loan. my biggest concern is that I believe the house I'm in, is not going to be a forever home. If the market drops substantially or tanks in say 5 years, I will be trapped in my house. I purchased for 221k and currently owe 208k, over the course of 5 years at my current rate I will owe around 190k in principal. if I refinance to the 15 year loan over that same 5 year period I would owe 148k principal. if I just added $350 to my current payment and didn't refinance (just paid extra) I would owe about 162k. Im nervous that when im looking to expand into a larger house that I'm going to be financially trapped in my house if its only worth 180-190k during a housing crisis.   

I am redoing my basement and now that the drywall is done, I decided to remove the dropped ceiling as the ceilings were pretty low. I am having it sprayed black. Do you guys feel based on the ducts etc in the video that it will turn out well? What are your thoughts on a black ceiling for resale value and just how it looks.

I'm happy with the quality. although they did not prime it or texture it.