HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: davel@booboo.SanDiego.NCR.COM (David Lord)
Subject: Re: How do I compute the maximum the bank will loan me?
Reply-To: davel@booboo.SanDiego.NCR.COM (David Lord)
Organization: NCR Corporation, Rancho Bernardo
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 23:28:43 GMT

In article <19920826140756SASRWW@mvs.sas.com> SASRWW@mvs.sas.com (SASRWW) writes:
>>Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
>>Path: mozart.unx.sas.com!sas!concert!gatech!destroyer!ubc-cs!uw-beaver!news.u.washington.edu!milton!busey
>>From: busey@milton.u.washington.edu (Thomas Busey)
>>Subject: How do I compute the maximum the bank will loan me?
>>Message-ID: <busey.714842542@milton>
>>Sender: news@u.washington.edu (USENET News System)
>>Organization: University of Washington
>>Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 15:22:22 GMT
>>
>>I'm just a grad student now, but I'm anticipating a better salary soon with a
>>real job.  We're doing some financial planning, and I'm trying to figure out
>>the maximum loan a bank will give, assuming a given gross yearly salary.
>>Does anyone have the rough formula that banks use to compute what the maximum
>>monthly payment would be, and thus the highest loan a bank will give (I've
>>heard something like 40% of gross monthly salary)?

Well you don't say what sort of loan you want or what you are going to
use it for, but lets assume for a moment that you are looking for a
morgage to purchase a house.

>>
>Tom,
>   As a general rule, your mortgage payment should be 28% of your gross
>monthly income.  Your total debt should not exceed 36% (this gives you
>some flexability with your mortgage payment...ie. up to 36%).
>Ronda

"General rule" is the operative phrase here, this amount will vary according
to many factors:

	1) Downpayment. A 20% downpayment will often qualify you for
	   a higher loan amount.

	2) Time on job. Potential trouble if you haven't worked at the
	   same place for at least two years.

	3) Special programs. Do you qualify for FHA, VA, etc?

	4) Lender. It's amazing how much variation there is from one
	   lender to another.

	5) Credit history. It really helps if you've had a morgage
	   before (catch 22). At the very least you better have
	   bought a car on credit and have several credit cards
	   (gas cards don't really count).

	6) Market conditions. The more people who want to borrow,
	   the more "careful" lenders are going to be. Also lenders
	   tend to be looser when real estate values are climbing.

The best way to find out how much you can borrow is to call a couple of
lenders and ask. A word of warning, many lenders pre-qualify you for
amounts higher than what they will actually give you once you 
apply for the loan (but they'll still keep your loan application fee).
Also count on your closing costs being at least 20% more than what
they tell you up front.
From: jms@vision.sarnoff.com (Jerry Shapiro x2420)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Electric Bill on my Credit Report
Date: 27 Aug 92 13:33:11 GMT
Reply-To: jms@vision.sarnoff.com
Organization: David Sarnoff Research Center


I just received copies of my credit report and suprise, Philadelphia
Electric Company is reporting my monthly bill as credit. It's not late
or anything, but wouldn't this reduce the amount of credit available to
me since my total monthly debt-to-income ratio would be considered
higher? Is this legal? What pisses me off even more is that its listed
under the initials PECO which gives no indication that it is a utility
bill and not a credit card. The gas company, whom I actually do owe
money to since they didn't read the meter for a whole year doesn't
report me. Go figure.

Jerry Shapiro
From: masticol@cadenza.rutgers.edu (Steve Masticola)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: New Construction Thievery
Date: 2 Sep 92 16:49:12 GMT
Article-I.D.: cadenza.Sep.2.12.49.11.1992.16383
Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.

walker@eplrx7.es.duPont.com (Scott Walker) writes:

  We are about to settle on a new construction townhome, and on Monday
  night, someone came in and stole our stove.  It had to be an inside job,
  as there were no signs of forced entry, and there are only 2 doors wide
  enough to take out the stove.  I was wondering if any of you out there
  have experienced similar incidents. 

What's the problem? Just don't settle until the house has a stove. The
contractor let it get stolen; let him replace it.

- Steve (masticol@cs.rutgers.edu).
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: jfw@jfwhome.FUNHOUSE.COM (John F. Woods)
Subject: Re: How do I compute the maximum the bank will loan me?
Organization: Misanthropes-R-Us
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 02:24:58 GMT

In <busey.714842542@milton> busey@milton.u.washington.edu (Thomas Busey) writes:
>I'm just a grad student now, but I'm anticipating a better salary soon with a
>real job.  We're doing some financial planning, and I'm trying to figure out 
>the maximum loan a bank will give, assuming a given gross yearly salary.
>Does anyone have the rough formula that banks use to compute what the maximum 
>monthly payment would be, and thus the highest loan a bank will give (I've
>heard something like 40% of gross monthly salary)?

According to both "Bob Vila's Guide to Buying Your Dream House" and The
Consumer Reports book on buying a house[1] the rules are relatively uniform,
due to the common practice of selling mortgages immediately after making them
(and even agree with a prequalification sheet I picked up at a local bank
:-).  Basically, they limit you to 25-28% of your gross monthly salary for
Principle, Interest, Tax, and Insurance payments (PITI), or to 33-36% of
your gross monthly salary for PITI plus other debt payments (cars, student
loans, credit cards, etc).  The local bank I checked uses a 20% downpayment
as the determinant of whether they use the more pessimistic figures (25/33)
or the optimistic figures (28/36) (put down more and they stand less risk
of losing their money when they foreclose and sell your house).

If you have access to the UNIX "sc" spreadsheet, I wrote a spreadsheet
program that I found useful for fiddling around with these numbers.  Note
that it just tells what the published guidelines say, and not what any
actual banker would say...


Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: sieferme@milton.u.washington.edu (Eric Sieferman)
Subject: Cleaning a Deck
Reply-To: sieferme@u.washington.edu
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 20:48:10 GMT

We have a deck behind our house, which we treated with Thompson's
Water Seal Stain about two years ago.  Now, we want to clean up
the deck (espeically removing the grease stains deposited by
the gas grill) and put a fresh coat of non-water-seal stain on
the deck.

Our question is:  what kind and/or brand name of cleaner should
we use to clean the deck without stripping the water-seal coating?
Thanks for your help.

-- 
| Eric Sieferman            |    sieferme@u.washington.edu          |
| U. of W., M.C.I.S.        |    (206) 685-3104                     |

Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: suggested weapons (was: Killing burglars.)
From: gary@cdthq.UUCP (Gary Heston)
Date: Wed, 02 Sep 92 19:57:00 CDT
Organization: Garys' Home for Obsolete Computers

drevik@utkvx4.utk.edu (Drevik, Steve) writes:

> In article <mwBeqB1w161w@cdthq.UUCP>, gary@cdthq.UUCP (Gary Heston) writes...
> 
> Mr. Heston... can you read?  There must be > a dozen requests to
> move this to rec.guns.  Thanks.

Yes, I can read. I've seen NINE other postings from you (arrived at
this site today) wasting bandwidth. This is a newsgroup, not a bboard,
and you obviously have no concept of how it works. Was it necessary
that you asininely include the entire text of a message, simply to
monotonously repeat yourself? Just because you repeat yourself in
the space of a few minutes does *not* mean everyone else has problems
reading, nor that they'll see your drivel instantly. Article propagation
takes time. You'll probably get the email I sent you a few minutes
ago long before you figure out how to read this group again. (Incidentally,
email is the proper way of sending something to a specific individual,
if you can grasp that concept.)

I haven't been posting or crossposting to rec.guns for two simple
reasons: that group doesn't come here or to my feed site, and the
software I use won't allow me to post to groups I don't get. If an
article is crossposted to another group not on this site, I can't
even follow up to it. And I don't have the source code to change 
that.

The email was more polite. FYI, this is called a flame. Quit posting
until you have some grasp of what's going on.

Gary Heston, at home....
gary@cdthq.uucp
From: andrew@frip.WV.TEK.COM (Andrew Klossner)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Spray Foam Follies
Date: 2 Sep 92 20:07:57 GMT
Reply-To: andrew@frip.wv.tek.com
Organization: Tektronix, Wilsonville, Oregon

[]

	"I recently build a post & beam house (from a 150 year old
	frame) and used 'Winter Panel' skins for it. I used the
	non-expanding foam for all windows & doors, and only one window
	is a bit too tight."

I used non-expanding foam when building a house this year, and my vinyl
window supplier is giving me all kinds of hell about fixing
bowed-window problems under warranty.  This despite the fact that their
warranty prohibits only expanding form, and I first reported my
problems the day *before* any foam was applied!  (But they didn't come
to the site until a few days later ...)

The moral: non-expanding foam may be technically great, but can cause
political problems.

  -=- Andrew Klossner  (andrew@frip.wv.tek.com)
                       (uunet!tektronix!frip.WV.TEK!andrew)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: eliot@chutney.rtp.dg.com (Topher Eliot)
Subject: Re: escrow shortages
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 92 19:56:17 GMT
Distribution: usa
Reply-To: eliot@dg-rtp.dg.com
Organization: Data General Corporation, Research Triangle Park, NC

In article <1992Aug28.214046.25865@eagle.lerc.nasa.gov>, smjeff@lerc05.lerc.nasa.gov (Jeff Miller) writes:
|> 
|> When I bought my house the seller gave me money to cover the amount
|> of real estate tax for the portion of the year that she lived in the
|> house.  Several months later my bank told me there was a shortage
|> in the escrow account and they were increasing the amount they would
|> charge me every month.  In order to find out where the shortage came 
|> from I found out what my real estate tax is and it turns out the
|> estimated amount that the seller paid was too low.
|> 
|> I obviously can't ask the seller to pay me the difference.  However,
No, that's not obvious.
|> can I force the title company to pay the difference since the title
|> company goofed when they figured out how much tax the seller owed.
|> Or is there someone else that I can "lean on"?  Or have I been screwed
|> out of $400?
|> 
|> Thanks,  Jeff
|> 
I don't know about your contract or Ohio law, but in our recent purchase, the
lawyer was careful to point out that the tax proration settlement was based
on estimates, and that if these turned out to be incorrect when the tax bill
came around, both parties were obliged to settle in an equitable manner --
so perhaps you CAN collect from the seller.

The lawyer, by the way, was also the lawyer for the local Board of Realtors,
and wrote their legal forms, so I think he knows his stuff.

-- 
Topher Eliot             Data General DG/UX Systems Administration Development
(919) 248-6371      eliot@dg-rtp.dg.com       {backbone}!mcnc!rti!dg-rtp!eliot
Obviously, I speak for myself, not for DG.
misc.consumers.house archivist.  Send mail to house-archive@dg-rtp.dg.com
"I opened an STR on myself and I had to reject it."  -- Paul McGrath
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: macrakis@osf.org (Stavros Macrakis)
Subject: Re: Painting Garage Floor
Organization: OSF Research Institute
	<MACRAKIS.92Aug26122918@next4.osf.org>
	<1992Aug26.184712.10859@news.weeg.uiowa.edu>
Date: 26 Aug 92 19:53:37

In article <1992Aug26.184712.10859@news.weeg.uiowa.edu> brokaw@flamingo.weeg.uiowa.edu (Pete Brokaw) writes:

   I've always heard that painting the garage floor is a bad idea because it
   will be very slippery when wet.

There are paint additives (ground pumice etc.) made for this.  Also a
good idea on exterior steps which can get wet.

	-s
From: bdm@druwa.ATT.COM (Brian Millham)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Possible gas leak?
Date: 1 Sep 92 21:33:16 GMT

I remember once in Virginia, we suddenly noticed a very strong gas
smell in the house.  We quickly left for a neighbors house to call
the gas co.  The gas co. told us not to worry, they had accidently
added too much of the "smell" to the gas, and that it would clear
up in a couple of hours.  Within minutes of calling the gas co., the
meighbors house also started to smell of gas.  I notice that occasionally
in my house now, a gas smell near the gas stove that disappears within
a few hours.
--
Brian Millham     |Kitty      |Fletch |Dragon's Lair |Kick Man |New World
AT&T Bell Labs    |Ferrah     |Buddy  |Space Ace     |Sinistar |High Speed
Denver, Co.       |Dr. Pepper |       |              |         |
bdm@druwa.att.com |(ferrets)  |(cats) |(laser disc)  |(video)  |(pinball)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: hagar@bnr.ca (Brian Hagar P190)
Subject: Central Vacuum Cleaner Question	  
Organization: Bell-Northern Research, BNR-RTP 
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 21:23:32 GMT

My family is getting ready to build a home and I have obtained a lot of
good information from this news server.  I very much appriciate that and
want to thank everyone for it.

I have noticed a lot of posts lately about vacuum cleaners and I would
like to find out if anybody has any good, bad, or ugly experiences with 
central vacuum cleaners.
From: lgoodman@bbn.com (Laurie Goodman)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Little brown bugs
Date: 3 Sep 92 19:48:56 GMT
Reply-To: lgoodman@labs-n.bbn.com (Laurie Goodman)
Organization: Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc., Cambridge MA
NNTP-Posting-Host: bbn.com

I suspect the bugs in question are weevils. As has been stated they
are found in grains of all sorts...and not only from Asian markets.
That's a bit of inadvertant prejudice that should be nipped in the bud.
I have had weevils show up in nationally distributed products, stocked
in ordinary American supermarkets. The advice to store vulnerable stuff
in the freezer is correct. Short of that, use zip-lock bags. Several
years ago I came back from vacation to find my closets and grains
full of the beasts and their eggs. Since tossing everything, and scrubbing
the shelves, and starting with fresh stuff stored as recommended there
has not been a recurrence.

Laurie
From: bryan@isrc.sandia.gov (Jon R Bryan)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: HELP! Does anyone own a shed?
Date: 2 Sep 92 14:52:15 GMT
Article-I.D.: isrc.1992Sep2.145215.1641
Distribution: usa
Organization: Sandia National Labs, Org. 1600, Albq., NM

tjs4525@hertz.njit.edu (Theodore Stites) writes:
: 
: Hello again,
: 
: 	I posted a request for shed info about 2 weeks ago and since have
: received only two replies.  Come on, more than two people on the net must
: have had a shed installed. Please respond if you had a shed put up in the
: last 5 years. I am interested in an 8'X8' or 8'X10' or 10'X10'(any suggestions)

I built my own 8'x12' shed with a 9-in-12 pitch roof.  It's on 6x8
pressure-treated skids with 2x8 floor joists.  I used tongue-and-groove
flakeboard flooring, textured fiberboard siding, and flakeboard roofing.
I was fortunate enough to have a professional roofer apply the
fiberglass shingles at the same time he did my house.  I installed a 36"
square aluminum frame window from Builders Square ($20).  I made the
door by sawing out the siding around the inside of the door frame and
glueing and screwing 1x2 trim to both sides.  It wasn't cheap (~$600 in
materials) but it's a beautiful shed.  Much better than anything I could
buy prefabricated, for 30 to 50% less money.  Lots of "sweat equity."  I
got lots of oohs and aahs from my wife.

I put it up in several weekday evenings plus a _full_ weekend.  The
roofer offered to shingle it after he had quoted the house, for no extra
charge.  I thought he was nuts, but jumped at the offer.

If you're handy with a hammer and saw I'd recommend building your own.
It worked for me.
-- 
Jon R. Bryan	(505) 844-2015	<=>	bryan@isrc.sandia.gov
Sandia National Laboratories, Intelligent System Sensors and Controls
 
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: doshay@ursa.arc.nasa.gov (David Doshay)
Subject: Re: Room Additions
Organization: NASA-Ames Biocomputation Center
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1992 17:28:49 GMT


You should know that remodel costs more than new construction. It really is
more time consuming than building new.

Cost depends on what portion of the job you want to do yourself, and
what the contractor thinks about that. Out here in Calif., where labor costs are
prob higher than in Ohio, the norm is to figure $125 or more per sq.ft. of
remodel (the whold job).

David		doshay@soma.arc.nasa.gov

The thought police insist I tell you:
my thoughts, not NASA's
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: davel@booboo.SanDiego.NCR.COM (David Lord)
Subject: Re: Romex & Thinwall Question
Reply-To: davel@booboo.SanDiego.NCR.COM (David Lord)
Organization: NCR Corporation, Rancho Bernardo
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1992 16:58:43 GMT

In article <1992Sep3.014749.3912@adobe.com> vonzelow@adobe.com (Jon von Zelowitz) writes:

>I am wiring a new outlet in my laundry room. The wire will come up from the
>crawlspace, through a hole I will drill in the sole plate (that's the 2x4 at
>the base of the wall), to the outlet. Since the walls are unfinished (no
>sheetrock, studs showing), I know that Code says I need to protect the wire
>in the laundry room with (for example) thinwall conduit.

>The wiring in the crawlspace is all Romex. As far as I understand, you don't
>run Romex through TWC, you run wires. So, my question is, can I strip off
>the outer sheathing from the Romex from the point where it enters the TWC? I
>can't find any mention of this in several wiring books. Thanks (Chris ;-) ).

>   Jon von Zelowitz   vonzelow@mv.us.adobe.com   ...uunet!adobe!vonzelow

Well, the easiest solution may be to buy a small piece of plywood or
drywall and "finish" a channel between studs. As far as running romex
through conduit I'd call my building inspector on that. There are
instances where it's allowed, I don't know if yours is one of them.

On a related subject: Years ago we were installing an outlet in an unfinished
garage for a sprinkler timer. My dad, who was an archetectural draftsman
told us we couldn't use Romex exposed in an unfinished garage. Maybe he
was right, maybe he wasn't, and maybe local codes in L.A. varied from
here, but every house I've looked at in San Diego and Escondido has
a big bundle of Romex running exposed in the garage from the breaker
panel to the house. So what gives?
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: kenk@sdc.com (Ken Konecki)
Subject: Re: Hardening the Target (was Re: Killing burglars.)
Organization: Systems Development Corporation
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1992 18:15:32 GMT

In article <1992Aug28.033901.3515@michael.apple.com> ems@michael.apple.com (E. Michael Smith) writes:
>In article <8822@ncratl.AtlantaGA.NCR.COM> mwilson@ncratl.AtlantaGA.NCR.COM (Mark Wilson) writes:
>>In <1992Aug24.145037.1946@sdc.com> kenk@sdc.com (Ken Konecki) writes:
>>
>>>Why are guns necessary?  A can of aerosol EZ-OFF used properly can be just
>>>as effective as a gun for the purposes of defense.  One quick shot in the
>>>face and it's over before it begins. 
>
>>What happens if you miss.  You have one very PO'ed burglar and there
>>you are just a couple of feet away.  
>
>What happens if he is wearing glasses?  Or just gets a hand up 
>enough to block the spray from getting his eyes?  You get nuked.

What happens is the burglar isn't carrying a thermonuclear device?
What happens if you can't hit the burglar with your firearm?  What happens
when a few humor impaired, self righteous gun mongers get access to the net?

>A can of EZ-OFF just MAY stop SOME bad guys, but don't depend on it
>for your life. 

By the same token, don't depend on any firearms for your life either.

Cheers,
    -Ken K
-- 
Ken Konecki
e-mail:kenk@sdc.com    -or-    ...!uunet!tellab5!sdc!kenk
"I just found out that the brain is like a computer.  If that's true,
then there really aren't any stupid people.  Just people running DOS."
From: tgg@otter.hpl.hp.com (Tom Gardner)
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1992 14:33:30 GMT
Subject: Re: Best Hardware Store
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, Bristol, UK.
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house

I have always found "Cash Save DIY" to be the best value in town. Your 
nearest branch is in Bedminster...


===============================================================================
  Tom Gardner                 Hewlett Packard Laboratories, Filton Rd, 
  tgg@hplb.hpl.hp.com	      Stoke Gifford, Bristol, Avon, BS12 6QZ, ENGLAND,
  Fax: +44 272 790554         Tel: +44 272 799910 ext. 28192

  "Some would sooner die than think. In fact, they often do." -- B. Russell

  "When you've spent half your political life dealing with humdrum issues like 
   the environment ... it's exciting to have a real crisis on your hands"
   -- Margaret Hilda Thatcher, on the Falklands Conflict.
===============================================================================

Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
From: davidm@meaddata.com (David Miller)
Subject: Re: Heat Pumps
Organization: Mead Data Central, Dayton OH
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1992 14:06:50 GMT
Distribution: na

In article <30560023@hpspkla.spk.hp.com>, borowski@hpspkla.spk.hp.com (Don T. Borowski) writes:
|> In misc.consumers.house, william.zwicky@cray.com (Bill Zwicky) writes:
|> 
|> >I'm considering installing a central air conditioner in my
|> >house and ran across something called an "Air Source Heat Pump"
|> >that would provide cool air in the summer and provide most of the
|> >heat in the winter (when it gets real cold, my gas furnace takes over).
|> >Has anyone had any experiences with heat pumps?  Are they cost 
|> >effective/efficient?
|> 
|> The answer is:  It All Depends.
|> 
|> First of all, heat pumps do work both ways, so you can get summer cooling
|> and winter heating.
|> 
|> But...they are usually less efficient at cooling than an air conditioning
|> system.

Do you have some data to back this up?  Heat pumps work on the same principle
as an air conditioner - why would it be less efficient?

|> 
|> But...they are much more efficient than electrical resistance heating, so
|> this would offset inefficiencies during summer cooling.
|> 
|> But...natural gas heat is usually cheaper than even what a heat pump can
|> do for you.

Some of the new high efficiency heat pumps are more efficient than normal gas 
heat assuming the auxillary heat is not needed, but I think the high efficiency
gas is still more efficient.  Also, gas price and electric price vary by
locale.  

|> 
|> But...there are new heat pumps which dispose of the waste heat from air
|> conditioning into the water heater, thus giving high effective efficiency.
|> 
|> But...such systems are quite expensive.
|> 
|> But...separate water heater, furnance, and air conditioning aren't cheap
|> either.
|> 
|> But...you might already have some of that equipment.
|> 
|> As you can see, it all depends.  You just have to do your homework.
|> Get equipment prices.  Get the efficiencies.  Get the prices of
|> energy.  Call your local gas and electric utilities to see if they have any
|> special programs.  In fact, your local gas and electric utilities may have
|> some of this homework already done.
|> 

This is good advice.  But beware, electric companies sell electricity, and
will recommend heat pumps, while gas companies will sell gas...  Get facts
from both sources, but make your own decision.


-- 
David James Miller                        Architecture&Systems Evolution
Mead Data Central, B6F3                   (513) 865-7441
PO Box 933                                davidm@meaddata.com
Dayton Ohio 45401                         I speak for me, not MDC
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house