Texting Behind Wheels

by Joe Gokaho 2009.01.130 D6

A new bumper sticker ..

" If you love Jesus, honk,

& if you want to see him, Text him"

http://rts2go.blogsplot.com

.

Carfax Report - Should you avoid it completely??

by Joe Gokaho 2010.01.29 D5

http://www.komonews.com/news/consumer/5730906.html

I've seen many Carfax commercials on TV lately. It seems to be so promising, a good source for a complete car history.

Many of the used car dealers were eager to offer the reports, I didn't get it. Why would they do that. All the reports have "perfect records".

# # #

I dig into the history of my family cars to see how much of that information is capture by Carfax. Well, it missed a lot of important info.

Combining my personal experience and the the findings from the above article: There is the beef

1. Vehicle registration history. (salvage title for example)

2. Accident history - incomplete, or non-existence . Insurance companies don't send data to Carfax, many law enforcement don't sent data to Carfax either.

3. If the vehicle is totaled, there may be an entry say "water damage" or "major frame repairs"

4. The maintenance records are incomplete, some dealers send data to Carfax, some don't. The maintenance records were on my vehicles were incomplete.

# # #

What's is my conclusions?

1. If there is no accident history, be very skeptical.

2. If there is accident history, have a professional check out the repairs - may be it was only involved in a minor accident; it's not a nail in the coffin. A friend ran on a car he had for 10 years, 2 minor accidents, 1 major with frame damage. All had filed insurance claims and -non of them showed up in the Carfax report.

3. Mileage history/locations are useful to assess usage pattern.

Is it worth that $20?? May be if you use that with a professional inspection..

What's (Understanding) that MLS Code - Home Buying; hidden cost of owning a house

January 2010 - MLS Codes
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I am thinking of buying another house; it's hard not to pass the 6,500 credit/cash in the down market. Realtor sends me a daily update on properties that meets my criteria. The listing is full of codes that I don't understand.

These are interesting codes to know;

One can make offer under these codes
____ NEW (I think it stays new for 10 days); then
____ ACT (active listing);
____ PCH (price change - up or down? who knows, new code lasts for 10 days? then back to ACT)
____ BOM (back on market; house not sold per previous contract;
new code lasts for 10 days, then back to ACT
Want to make a good deal?? Look for
____ DOM Days on market; either the seller lowering listing price or you can drive for a bargain



When status changes to these codes, then it's either "stand by" or going "bye-bye"
____ AO (active option); agreement has reached; but not finalized
____ PDB (pending backups); seller still accepts offers while agreement is being finalized;
Just in case the original contract falls apart.
____ PND (Pending); agreement is finalize and working out the payment and transfer of ownership
The typical sequence ACT, AO and PND, then SOLD
____ ACT RFR (Right to first refusal); to me- it's same as Pending Backups;
Just in case the original contract falls apart.

When status changes to these codes, no one knows what's going on; it can be either "stand by" or going "bye-bye"
____ WDN - Listing withdrawn
____ CAN - Listing is cancelled (same as WDN)??
____ EXP - Listing has expired;

February 2010 - Hidden costs of owning a house
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

It's wonderful to own a newly constructed house, it typically implies fewer items going bad and less maintenance tasks. But, it's a bid shocking that after lived 15 years in a new house, the repairs starts to shows up in the monthly expense log.

My guess on budgeting home maintenance activities runs about $1800 a year, or add $150 on to your monthly mortgage payment and property tax/insurances.

$550 Outside (Roofing, Fencing)

$620 Plumbing, Heating & Cooling

$240 Appliances

$330 Inside

=========

$1740 Yearly

Outside: $550/yr

1. $2400 Paint job (15 years)- for a 2400 sq ft house ($160/yr)
2. $6000 Roofing (25 years) - ($240/yr)
3. $1800 Fence Repairs (20 years) - assuming your neighbors will share costs ($90/yr)
4. $60 Sprinkler fixes (1 year) it happens all the time ($60/yr)

Inside (heating cooling, plumbing) $620/yr

1. $6000 Air conditioning, condenser & evaporator (15 years) - it's best to repair them in pairs to maximize the energy efficiency. ($400/yr)
2. $3000 Heater element & blower unit (30 years) - these two goes out about the same time ($100/yr)
3. $600 Water Heater (20 years) - It's expensive to have these installed by the pro ($30/yr)
4. $400 Facet/Toilet Repairs (20 years) - it wears out too ($20/yr)
5. $500 Toilets (25 years) - I don't know why, but it seems we all get tired of using same toilet ($20/yr)
6. $1250 Plumbing drain lines (25 years) - as the house gets older, so as the draining system ($50/yr)

Inside (appliances) $240/yr

1. $1200 Refrigerator (20 years) - Even though some of the problems can be repaired, but the improvement in energy efficiency out weights the repairs ($60/yr)
2. $600 Dishwasher (15 years) - It doesn't matter whether the dishwasher see any action or not, it seems to go out on the clock ($40/yr)
3. $900 Washer & Dryer (15 years) - . The older w/d like Kenmore seems to last a lot longer the newer . ($60/yr)
4. $800 Cooktop/range/oven-Microwave oven (20 years) - replacing switches or fixing control panels are expensive ($40/yr)
5. $300 Range hood (30 years) Once they get old, the performance goes down ($10/yr)
6. $150 Garbage Disposal (15 years) - it's like dishwashers, it goes out on the clock ($10/yr)
7. $400 Water softener (20 years) - it's also expensive to run the equipment ($20/yr)

Inside (non-appliances) $330/yr

1. $3750 Flooring/Carpet (15 years) - the wood floor or other surfaces may be more durable, but they also cost more to replace ($250/yr)
2. $1600 Attic Insulation (20 years) - it seems like the blow-in type of insulation loose it's performance over time ($80/yr)

Blind Dates - What Do Women Want?

by Joe Gokaho 2010.01.04 D1

During the New Year break, I caught a day-time game show - Family Feud. One the questions was quite interesting; FF surveyed 100 women, "What do they hope their blind date have?" I grouped the top 8 responses into 3 basic traits

#3 - 14% is about Physical thing (9 - good looks, 4 good body)

#2 - 25% is about Interaction (17 - personality, 4 manner class, 2 flower)

#1 - 62% is about Wealth (45 - money, 12 - nice car, 2 job)

I recall one of sociologist said this

Women need to project their youth & fertility, because men want to have offspring

Men need to project their wealth, because women want to have stability to raise offspring

It's a bit surprising that this not so scientific survey reflects the same academia finding?

If the guy is physical attractive (clean, dress ok, smell nice), be the gentleman, or "bad boy" and pick up his date in a nice car - Um, he has covered over 50% of the ground already.

One the other hand, if the guy just having money, a clean nice car (no job) - Um, he also covers over 50% of the ground already too.

see my political rumbling

http://www.indgirl.com/index.php/humour/what-women-want-in-a-man/