I want the world to stop abusing the word 'hack'

This is just a rant of seeing all things being a, 'hack' these days. lifehack, this and that hack.......it feels like the collective IQ of our species dropped a few points when there was a movement on the internet to start calling things a hack when it all came down to either approaching something in its use slightly differently or god forbid, using something exactly as intended. That is simply not a hack. I realize that writing this will invite comments disagreeing with me and that's ok, we are entitled to our opinions just as I am with viewing those that use the word, 'hack' outside of cutting something roughly or with heavy blows, or in using a computer to gain unauthorized access as fuckery by mouth breathers.

Getting Geppetto Version 4.3.0 working behind a proxy (a workaround)

Geppetto stands alone as the only Puppet IDE available as of this writing. Initially created by cloudsmith the IDE leverage Eclipse with custom components for developing modules and writing manifests. As of version 4.0 Geppetto has been maintained by Puppet Labs with one of the fixes being that it would work behind a proxy. The idea is that the Puppet components should obey proxy settings set within Eclipse and the reality is that his doesn't work. First of all there are sparse documentation on where and how to set the proxy within Eclipse. In case the next release fixes the bug that I filed regarding this issue, here is where you set the proxy setting within Eclipse;

-Click the Window tab and select Preferences which bring up a new window
-Select Network Connections in the left pane and change Action Provider drop down to Manual
-Edit the proxy info as necessary and hit apply then close window

What happens once the setting is crated is that certain functions does obey the proxy settings except for Java function calls within Eclipse. When an attempt is made to import a module from the forge the error log isn't clear on where it fails, but the log reveals a java process that is making a call to https://forgeapi.puppetlabs.com. The workaround I have in place makes use of Proxifier to direct any traffic going out to http://www.proxifier.com/download.htm to make two hops, the first through Proxifier which then redirects it to the corporate proxy address and port. Here are the steps and settings within Proxifier;

-Click the Profile tab and Select Proxy Server. Enter your corporate proxy's IP and port and select protocol and click OK.
-Click Profile tab again and this time select Proxification Rules. Create a new rule called Geppetto and under Target Hosts enter forgeapi.puppetlabs.com and change the Action drop down to the the Proxy Server you set up in the previous step.

Proxifier will not pipe all traffic that tries to reach forgeapi.puppetlabs.com to the corporate firewall. The con of this process is that it requires a second application to continuously run, but sure beats waiting for my bug to be resolved.

How to get proxy working for Ubuntu 14.04 without GUI (Works for all users and sudo)

By default proxy settings aren't enabled on Ubuntu servers and I've come to find that there are syntax changes in 14.04 that are drastically different compared to their last LTS (Long Term Support) release without it being very obvious. I've crawled the web and have come across various solutions, but those solutions only fix pieces like apt-get and what I wanted is something that works across all users and all calls even when using sudo. One of the things that I figured out was the when you elevate with sudo it doesn't necessarily mean that it will inherit user variables and that was a key discovery that ultimately pointed me on the right path. Without further ado here are the steps. Keep in mind that I prefer vim for a text editor and my examples will reflect that and you can use whichever editor you are comfortable with.

1.) Update your environmental variable

The first step is to create exports in your environmental variables and you can do that by editing /etc/environment

sudo vim /etc/environment

In the file you should add your exports below the PATH= line and the syntax will look like this for each type, http, https, and ftp. (In older versions of Ubuntu you could use all_proxy which I am not sure is still in use and haven't tested for). One you edit for the exports you need, save and exit.

export http_proxy=http://yourproxyserver:proxyserverport

2.) Create your proxy file

As I've mentioned that by default Ubuntu doesn't have proxy settings enabled and this means that there ins't a proxy setting file for apt-get either. You will need to create one and if you are new to Linux, the file be will automatically created when you open a text editor by the name you intend to use for the file.

sudo vim /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/30proxy

Keep in mind that the two digit number before the file name is arbitrary, it can be any number except for ones already in use. If you want to use a number and see what's there you can run this to see what other files are in that directory;

ls /etc/apt/apt.conf.d

Moving on to editing the file, the syntax is highly specific and I would suggest copying and pasting what I have written below. Short of that, pay close attention to double quotes (" ") and semicolons (;) and be sure to close every curly bracket used. Save the file once done and off to editing sudoers file next.

3.) Update sudoers file

The sudoers file needs to be edited to allow it to not only inherit, but to also keep the environmental variables being passed to it that you specified in /etc/environment. The best way to edit the sudoers file located /etc/sudoers is to use viduso. Keep in mind unlike vi or vim it doesn't require you to type "i" to input and to save you press ctrl+x, agree with "y" and take the default .tmp file that visudo wants to use to update the sudoers file. The section that you be editing is towards the top where it lists "Defaults". There you will add additional lines equal to each environmental variable and here is the syntax for adding the http_proxy example from before;

Defaults env_keep += http_proxy

Once you are done editing we will perform some tests to find out if sudo is inheriting the environmental variables. Run the following two commands and the output should be the same for both, if sudo is missing ant of the grep searches than try to reboot first and if still the same issue than double check your syntax in previous edits.

env | grep proxy

and sudo env | grep proxy

Finally, try to run sudo apt-get update or if you have ruby installed sudo gem update and see if the updates run successfully.

Journey to my next SBR upper Part 1

After completing my SBR build things are sweet, things are great. There's something simply fun about shooting a SBR that needs to be experienced to make sense why something as seemingly banal as a shorter barrel is better. I've been running my 11.5 inch barrel with a Griffin M4SD compensator that mitigates muzzle climb well while keeping most of the concussive force away from the shooter even on a SBR. The M4SD has noticeably more side blast compared to an A2 flash hider, but that's to be expected when switching from a flash hider to a compensator. With the muzzle climb of .223/5.56 being manageable a part of me considered switching back to an A2 until I start shooting successive follow up shots and am reminded why I use a compensator. Two years and so many new products on the market later I wanted to build an upper around the new thinner cousin of the Noveske KX3, the Noveske KX5 in hopes of a muzzle device that balances muzzle control while directing the blast away from the shooter.

Ordering a part at a time on my last build afforded me the agility to change parts on the fly when either my initial choice for a part no longer meets my needs and specifications or a better part emerges on the market. I decide to repeat this method with the KX5 build and start with a loose idea of parts for the upper;

Noveske KX5
Barrel TBD
Keymod rail (likely BCM KMR)
Upper TBD

The first step was the barrel. A quick search on the internet reveals more choices than ever before and I realize that I need requirements and began making a list of things that I want to change about my existing SBR. One of the pitfalls I've encountered with a M4 profile barrel is that it heats up quickly and in turn heats up the Troy Battlerail Bravo until it becomes untenable to shoot without gloves. The debate over heat shifting point of impact rages on the the internet, but what I can tell you is that without being able to grip the forend my shot placement stops being consistent regardless of shift in POI. The heat issue lead me to choose a medium profile barrel that balances between weight increase and heating rate. The other requirements are maintaining a carbine gas system and to use a shorter barrel than what I have now to accommodate the KX5's long profile of 3.25 inches. The shortest a carbine gas system can be is ten inches and with the market offering either 10.3" or 10.5" those became my choices. Lastly I want to squeeze out as much accuracy out of the barrel while still being able to shoot either .223 Remington or 5.56 NATO and will be looking for a barrel chambered in .223 Wylde.

Though my requirements narrow my choices it still left me deciding between too many manufacturers without comparative data that indicates which barrel will best suit my build. I add another requirement for a twist rate of one in eight or ideally one in seven to better stabilize a 55 to 77 grain bullet through a sub-eleven inch barrel. Thorough deliberation left two choices between Noveske and Lothar-Walthar and I decide on Lothar-Walthar in the end. The things that steered me to L-W was the many emails that Woody from L-W answered as well as the performance that LaRue gets out of L-W's barrel blanks. Noveske is an outstanding company with a very long history for quality, but it was hard to resist a barrel of equal quality that cost around a hundred dollars less. The negative comments that I have for L-W is that they feel behind the times in terms of buying a barrel on the internet. Their website doesn't clearly convey what they have without reaching out to them to asking if a given configuration is available. Contacting them is a blast from the past with an @mindspring.com email address which I had no idea that domain still exists let alone that mail continues to be routed, or that anyone still uses those accounts.

Woody from L-W replies with the news that they have a 10.5 inch medium profile barrel in stainless steel with one in seven polygonal rifling available. A few more email exchanges to find out gas block size and total cost with shipping comes to $239.75. I ask Woody how to place an order since it wasn't obvious on their website. Is there a page on the site that I can place an order through? Do I email you this order and call you with a credit card? Maybe complete the transaction over paypal? No, no, and no.........he tells me that I need to write a letter with my order and that they accept either personal check, cashier's check, or money order. Had that been a phone conversation it would have been followed by a long pause of awkward silence.

With the ability to order anything on the web today it was weird, even awkward to type out an order and print it out only to stuff it in an envelope along with a check for the appropriate amount. Payment is no longer the final step by the consumer as I still need to write on to the envelope sender and return address, affix a stamp, and mail it. My present self is astonished with my past self at having done those things and wonder why anyone did it except that web ordering wasn't a thing back then yet. Soul crushing agony was around the corner at the realization that I am blind to the order fulfillment process. Letters don't let me click to see where my order sits, if it's shipped, and what the tracking number is. I am forced to wallow in the darkness that is mail order purgatory praying to the mocking demigods of snail mail and all things paper that it all miraculously comes together and that the barrel arrives. Now begins my descent into madness.

As I was driven slowly insane by the lack of order transparency I redirect my focus on figuring out the upper and rail. While I like the Bravo rail's full run of MIL-STD 1913 rails that enables me to mount accessories anywhere along the rail that flexibility comes with a price. MIL-STD 1913 specifications dictates a minimum dimension that can't be escaped and that translates to a rail that can only go so small yet maintain MIL-STD requirements while weight becomes a delicate balance between the rail's integrity and durability. I feel that keymod solves maintaining mounting flexibility without suffering MIL-STD 1913 restrictions for size and weight. With the KX5 being initially developed to fit under Noveske's super thin NSR rail I wanted to take advantage of that design specification and have part of the KX5 under the rail. Initial estimation points to either a twelve or thirteen inch rail to accomplish that look and will have a better idea when I can rough fit the parts. All of these thoughts regarding the rail distills down between Bravo Company Manufacturing's 13" KMR and Midwest Industry's 12" SSK. Both are well reviewed, durable, and light weigh solutions with just enough space to fit the KX5 with the final decision hinging on empirical measurement of actual length from upper to KX5 once parts arrive. For the upper I want mil-spec dimensions that surpass a typical upper's quality and the search leads me to Vltor's MUR upper which gives me increased wall thickness for a tough upper with a slightly different look compared to a traditional AR upper with very angular lines.

Withe the barrel ordered I impatiently eye my updated parts list and cultivate my inner zen to wait to order a part at a time;

Noveske KX5
Lothar-Walthar 10.5" barrel
Keymod rail (Either BCM KMR or MI SSK)
Vltor MUR upper

Now to get some of that patience that I hardly have any of.

Valjoux 7750 are not all created equal.....or are they?

I recently had a conversation with a friend about how various watch makers use the Valjoux 7750 and that sparked the idea for this post. For the uninitiated the 7750 is an automatic chronograph movement designed by Edmond Capt for Valjoux and released July 1, 1974 only to be discontinued shortly after its release due to the watch industry's quartz crisis. When the watch industry stabilized the movement was revived and put back into production in the 80's and various models of it exist today that offer GMT, moon phase, power reserve indicator, tricompax layout, etc.

Chronograph movements aren't exactly a new concept with the very first one invented by Louis Moinet in 1816 to solve the issue with tracking astronomical objects against an accurate time plot. The first automatic chronograph was introduce by Zenith with the El Primo on March 1, 1969 that still incorporated a column wheel design. The 7750 came five years later and solved a design hurdle which was a movement that can be manufactured easier, cheaper, and faster. Initially designed as a workhorse movement and still referred as such by watch makers the 7750's initial intention was not to be a high end movement, but an affordable chronograph ebauche.

What made the 7750 easier to manufacture was the use of a cam and lever known as the coulisse lever system to replace the column wheel. The column wheel is a very precisely created piece and took tens of hours by a single person to finish and polish by hand elsewhere the coulisse lever system required far less precision in manufacturing yet maintained high accuracy. Not only was it easier to manufacture it is far more rugged than the column wheel and is the only type of mechanical chronograph to pass military standards. A draw back to the coulisse lever was that it wouldn't consistently reset the chronograph hands back to zero and Capt solved this by utilizing an existing patent from Henri Jacot-Guyot who filed his patent in 1940 that of a heart shaped cam now ubiquitous to the 7750 that accurately resets the hands to zero.

Despite its humble start the 7750 has become synonymous with a high grade movement and the workhorse gained popularity among manufactures and watch enthusiasts alike for reliability and accuracy. While column wheel chronographs remain to be the highest echelon of chronograph movements the 7750 in various incarnations and modifications has found its way into many high grade watches. This is where the distinction begins within the 7750. Because it is a common ebauche you often hear advice from collectors to thosee interested in an automatic chronograph to purchase a 7750 based watch at the best price point, or that how IWC calibres 790x,791x, and 792x are just 7750s and no need to spend that kind of money. This is a common and unfortunate misconception and it is making the same statement when buying car that all V-8 engines are the same and it doesn't matter which one you buy, or when selecting a mobile phone that all smart phones are identical and that it makes no difference if you purchase an iPhone or an Android.

To be fair there are many custom options that can be ordered directly from ETA ranging from Geneva stripes to blued screws and that there are many watches with stock 7750s and its variants dropped straight in. I wanted to mention this because depending on the watch it is just a 7750 and you are quite possibly paying for the branding. An example of this is the Swatch Group to whom I often compare them as the Pepsi Co of the watch world due to the number of brands it owns. As of this writing Swatch Group owns Breguet, Harry Winston, Blancpain, Glashutte Original, Jaquet Droz, Leon Hatot, Omega, Longines, Rado, Union Glashutte, Tissot, Balmain, Certina, Mido, Hamilton, Calvin Klein Watches & Jewelry, Swatch, and Flik Flak along with several movement manufactures namely ETA. For this writing I am looking very specifically at those watch makers who does modify the movement and worthy of assigning their own in-house calibre name.

IWC is one of those companies that uses ebauches form ETA and modifies them in house with their 792xx calibres fitted with the Trovis regulator among other changes. Sinn is another manufacture with modifications to the 7750 that sets it apart from a stock ETA offering by using a proprietary blend of materials that allows the escapement to never need lubrication. Back to the column wheel discussion Longines overhauled the 7750 through ETA (both owned by Swatch Group) as the Longines L.688.2 or ETA model code A08.231 with the major change being the retrofit of a column wheel to replace the coulisse lever system and market it as an entry column wheel automatic chronograph.

Helmut Sinn made the prediction that the market will be flooded with too many 'luxury' watches and this is the precipice we are seeing and where many draw the incorrect conclusion of 7750 based watches. ETA currently offers 7750 with and without day/date, 7751 moon phase, 7753 tricompax, and 7754 ETACHRON regulator along with additional component variation at the factory in an attempt to distinguish one 7750 from another. The quartz crisis forced many brands to go under and those that survived did so because they cut costs by ceasing R&D and production of in-house calibres in favor of using ebauches from ETA. In retrospect without the quartz crisis the proliferation of the 7750 wouldn't have been possible. Omega was one of those companies when facing bankruptcy in the 80's began using ETA ebauches to cut costs and in recent years returned to in-house movements when the market was favorable and profitable again. With growing sales of mechanical watches companies are less timid of taking financial risks in developing their own in-house caliber and this coupled with the desire to stand out in the market we are seeing for the first time in many years the development and production of in-house calibres. Breitling who is known for chronograph watches and practically made the style fashionable finally replaced the B13 which is a 7750 for their in-house movement the B01.

Another factor to using the 7750 is a simple supply and demand issue where companies that are either getting back into or are getting into manufacturing in-house movements and does not have the production capacity. Tag Heuer has been struggling to cease use of Calibre 16 which is a 7750. They began by acquiring rights to existing movements and one of the acquisitions was the Seiko 6S78 which Tag Heuer modified and produce in Switzerland as the Calibre 1887. Tag Heuer didn't anticipate the growth well and went back to using Calibre 16 in some of their watches to keep up with demand. Conversely another strategy that took advantage of the supply issue was Panerai who purposely stunted production that essentially created a limited run. Panerai began developing their own in-house movements in 2002 and rapidly developed a replacement for every ebauche they were using from ETA all at their own pace with the exception of a 7750 reference design which it removes the chronograph functions and maintains a subdial seconds at 9'o clock as the OP III. Even ETA couldn't keep up with the demand and outsourced some of their manufacturing to other companies. To qualify as Swiss made movements the companies it outsourced to had to be in Switzerland such as Sellita.

The venerable 7750 will be seen less due to ETA's decision to no longer sell ebauches but complete movements only to new clients beginning in 2011. They have also been cutting back on 7750 production because the Swatch Group no longer wants to support their competition when they have a number of their own brands to support. Timing however couldn't be better when it was discovered that several patents expired under ETA and that some of the affected patents were for the ETA 2824 and 7750. Sellita being an outsourcing vendor for ETA already had manufacturing capabilities for those movements and began producing exact clones of those movements under their own brand name and calibres as SW-200 and SW-500 respectively. Sellita SW-500 has already been showing up in watches that formerly used 7750s such as the Sinn 356.

Can you find stock 7750s in various brands? Yes you can, but you can also find interestingly modified movements where the 7750 is a reference design. With the watch industry changing towards in-house movements and ETA withdrawing from the ebauche business, we may soon find the 7750 to be an in-house movement to Swatch Group companies only. Now to track down a Lemania 5100 next.....

Update;

I came across this amazing article on the 7750 and it's worth a read

Smart watches will be the end of mankind

The day that I dreaded lurks around the corner where I will have friends, colleagues, and absolute strangers that find out I work on watches involve me in discussion on a device which I have no interest in. It's bad enough in this day and age where it's acceptable to ignore your social surroundings by being absorbed in your mobile device and let life run by you, technology will soon allow minimal life participants to be even less engaging by strapping a relay system to your wrist.

The compelling reason that I hear most commonly is an urgent need to know why your phone just went off. As in you are driving and probably shouldn't check; let alone reply to that text, but you will risk life and limb to check that text. Seriously, you couldn't wait until you are at least stopped at a red light and get honked at as it turns green and you aren't moving because you are engrossed in an epic text conversation about the latest internet meme.

I came across an article on gizmodo that harks the need to know sentiment to which I commented on;

You need to know what just happened? So you're the idiot that causes unnecessary traffic jams and accidents because you just needed to know as you swerve to your and other driver's death? You must be the moron who is trying to reply to a text while riding his/her bicycle and gets creamed by a bus because you just had to know, and you must be the colossal buffoon who stepped off of the curb to cross the street when the cross walk is five feet away and you are hit by a cyclist replying to a text into traffic who is then struck by the motorist checking email just because you had to know.

As a watchmaker I already do not want to see the precious wrist real estate taken up by a gaudy gadget with a tiny screen that should tell you that you are a tasteless idiot, but instead pretends to be convenient by catering to your addiction of social media and messaging. If you ask me what I think about smart watches, now you know.

Quick little update: Seems the author of the gizmodo article Eric Limer has removed my comment. Apparently he is the sensitive sort who can't handle people that can see right through BS.

First time home buying experience in Massachusetts

I have been house hunting for the last few months and have learned a whole lot of what it means to buy a home along the way. There are misconceptions to real estate that will exist until you are faced with the task of buying a home, but you can get a head start by attending a first time home buyer's course. The courses are offered anywhere from free to a nominal fee and is a great resource for the target audience as well as a qualifying criteria for some incentive loan products that wouldn't otherwise be available to you. One of the things that the course will tell you is to assemble your home buying team. First and foremost you should have a buyer's agent who can help guide you through the weeds. I will leave links to the various people that I've worked with at the end of this post in case you live in the greater Boston area and are seeking reliable people to fill out your roster. You should also have your buying strategy figured out such as deciding ahead of time if you want the seller to cover closing costs. While having the seller pay the closing costs isn't atypical it may deter you away from certain sellers. Conversely keep in mind that closing costs on a single family home can range form $2,500 to $5,000 and condo's closing costing more.

Every market is unique and I have been looking for a place in eastern Massachusetts with the goal of remaining within a reasonable commute to Boston and Cambridge. For my target area the property I purchase will likely be an existing structure since developable lots (assuming that you can find one in the city to begin with) have other financial challenges. For the sake of explaining it let's say you find a lot for $120,000 and you want to finance it. Traditional mortgage for an existing home can accept a down payment as little as 3%, but for developable land You will need to plunk down 50% of the lot's sale price to have a bank finance it. The reason for the higher down payment is because banks are afraid of the lender walking away from the mortgage if the lender isn't deeply cash committed. To continue our example, the $120,000 lot would need $60,000 down for a bank to finance it and be confident that the lender will repay the loan versus 5% down which would be $6,000 and feasible that a lender may walk away from the mortgage without suffering a substantial loss.

If you are in the position of putting down half for a lot, you still need to consider the cost of building your dream home. Look around the street and locate the closest fire hydrant which will indicate where the water and sewer lines are. The further away you are from a hydrant, the more it will cost to plumb for water and sewer. You maybe in an area that sewer service isn't available and will have to bury a septic tank in the ground which limits your foundation size in relation to septic tank size and building code. The street may not have gas service and you will have to use propane, electric, or oil for your heating needs which are far more expensive options compared to gas. Maybe your street does not have gas run all the way down to your lot and will need to pay to have the gas run the rest of the street. While new constructions have ideal floor plans and have little to nothing wrong with them, your loan product becomes complex and may not qualify for a more favorable rate compared to a traditional mortgage. An alternative to consider is to put down 20% on an existing home to be free of PMI and either buy points or plan for renovations with the remaining cash to turn the existing structure into your ideal home.

It has been a buyer's market since the real estate bubble burst, but lately approaching an artificial position that is nearly a seller's market due to constrained inventory. Our economic climate has directly impacted the national inventory shortage by forcing home owners to hedge against uncertain times by staying in their homes longer. The shortage of new jobs which traditionally incited a homeowner to move has also contributed to the inventory shortage. People who bought a home at the height of the real estate inflation are just now coming out from being underwater and are either selling or refinancing their home. Those that are selling are in a position to receive a better offer on their home with the inventory constraint which lends to the artificial perception of it being a seller's market as a result. I think that the market will even out between buyers and sellers in New England throughout the remainder of 2013 as being in the northeast we experience an increase in inventory and sales activities during warmer months versus the colder months of the year.

One thing preventing another real estate inflation is the practice of an impartial third party to appraise a home. The home will appraise at fair market value with consideration for renovations and condition of the house which insures that the bank isn't approving a risky loan worth more than the property. The appraisal is submitted to the lending party and if it appraises lower than the agreed sale price, a rebuttal along with a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) can be sent by your agent to provide additional data to recalculate the value with. Even with a rebuttal the home cannot be valued above reasonable market value and this adds a layer of protection to the buyer where it is no longer possible for the seller to demand whatever they feel is right and expect a bank to agree with them. Once the appraisal is finalized, that is as much as the house can be sold for at that time. This is why it is critical that the seller remains realistic about what their home is worth. The constrained inventory is forcing fast actions from interested buyers often resulting in multiple offers submitted to a property priced to current market value. I have also seen properties sit on the market for a long time because the seller is expecting an unrealistic return on their investment.

The question that plagues every first time buyer is how does one know which house is the right one? This question is easily answered if you prepare a list of what you need at a minimum and what you want in an ideal home. To give you and idea I was looking for a single family home in select towns to meet my commute goal and I need 2 bedrooms, driveway, and a dry basement. Ideally I want a third bedroom or office, second full bath, and a garage. My list helped me narrow my choices and reveal listings relevant to me. Finance is an obvious constraint and is important to be pre-qualified by a reputable lender to know how much you can make an offer up to. Ask your agent for a lender recommendation if you haven't approached one yet. Once you've been pre-qualified use a mortgage calculator to figure out what monthly payments will look like to prevent biting off more than you can financially chew per month. The calculator in the link has you input taxes and insurance and computes your projected payments with PMI. It will also help you understand that when it comes to dealing in hundreds of thousands over a thirty year term that a difference of $10,000 makes for a negligible change in your monthly payment. Understanding this difference will better prepare you for negotiating an offer quickly. A bill that you will not have had as a renter is a water bill and the city you are looking to buy in will typically have a website that can tell you how you are billed and at what rate. Now that you know what features you are looking for in a home and how much you are willing to spend, it's time to start looking in person.

The first time you see a house it is both weird and exciting. In a short time you will master the process and will be able to figure out quickly if the home is right for you. Keep in mind that superficial things like paint color and wallpaper can be easily changed and shouldn't affect your decision. I remember the very first house that I saw which was a bank owned property in rather miserable shape. I walked through the front door and loudly declared, "nope" and that was my first taste of not liking a house and the end of my first viewing. I was told that you will know if a house is right and it's true, I knew the first house wasn't the place for me within seconds of walking in. A phenomenon that I have been experiencing is the ideal photo problem, or the inverse ebay law. eBay sellers are aware that buyers are favored in a dispute and would rather put up clear example of the sale item to mitigate negative feedback where else in real estate you see pictures of a home on MLS or Trulia and it looks amazing until you see the place in person and have to stand in exactly the right place at the right time of day to have it look as nice as it did in the pictures.

It's important to check if the listing is accurate against the house with simple mistakes like gas heat listed in place of oil heat or omit details that would otherwise make a likable feature a moot point such as having to walk through a bedroom to get to another bedroom. The weirdest example by far was a listing that supposedly had 1.5 baths. I walked in and saw immediately that the pictures grossly misrepresented the property and knew that the place wasn't for me, but since I was there I figured that I would get my house looking practice in. I located the first bathroom in the kitchen which is a little weird in it's self, but could not locate the half bath on the second floor or in the basement. I was just about to leave as I noticed a panel that leads to the attic. I pulled down the panel by the string and revealed the folded ladder to get up to the attic to discover there in the open is the half bath.....it looked as if the previous occupant had someone chained in the attic. In short I found the sloth room with the open concept prison style bathroom. (Ew! Seriously, who puts a bathroom in the attic and why would you leave a toilet exposed?)

Then there is what I dubbed as murder house which is a large colonial duplex listed as a four bedroom condo with a driveway and garage. The pictures of the unit showed stunning high arched ceilings and a promise of a large living space with condo convenience. I drove up the driveway and felt like I was driving on set to shoot an episode of Hoarders when I saw various crap everywhere in the driveway, against the three car garage, and in all garage bays. The steps leading to the front door is clearly neglected and wondered how the condo association hasn't repaired it yet. Past the front door is a foyer and once I figured out which of the three doors was the right one it opened to stairs that lead to the second floor unit. Exploring the place I found additional signs of hording on the vacant side and began to suspect that it is a multi-family owned by a single person who is trying to pass it off as a condo. The extra hoarding room is an obvious addition to the house at first glance as evidenced by the original roof cutting into the room. Being within arm's reach of the shingles I was able to see that the roof has been improperly taken care of with countless layers of shingles atop another that made for an overall thickness of 7~8 inches in shingles alone. I found another stair case in the back of the place and went down the stairs to find a narrow short hallway with a door at the end. I approached the door when I heard what sounded like strange music played on a Victrola (I kept picturing in my mind the sewer scene in Hellboy where Karl Ruprecht Kroenen is seated listening to a Victrola) and that is when it struck me that I was now behind the 1st floor resident's condo (realize there is no door on the second floor, only the door for the first floor condo which is creepy to think that your neighbor has easy access to your place. Compound that with the super creepy paintings in that short hallway to just make it all worse). It was at that moment that I felt that I was no longer on an episode of Hoarders but in a horror/slasher film and decided against making previous level slasher victim maneuver by exploring any further and risk losing life and limb. You need to look at every place you think maybe the one and see for your self as realty tends to tell a separate story from what the pictures represent.

Once you decide on a place you will submit an offer to the seller or the seller's agent. Don't worry if you've looked at a few places and haven't found anything yet, I looked at at least a dozen places before my first offer materialized. I know one couple that looked at ninety places before circling back to the very first property that they looked at and another couple who are the outliers that found a place within the first three places they looked at. Your agent will provide a CMA which compares similar properties recently sold within a mile (unless you are in the boonies) to give you a view of what current values are for that particular neighborhood as well as if values are trending up or down. You should listen to your agent's invaluable advice who's experience and insight will aid you in making an offer. The overall shape of the home and nuisances that may detract from the enjoyment of your home should be taken into consideration as well as the age and condition of appliances, HVAC, and water systems. You should also understand the difference between an upgrade and maintenance. Adding a second bath is an upgrade and should positively impact the resale price while replacing a twenty year old water heater is maintenance and you shouldn't be expected to shoulder the previous occupant's maintenance cost. Additions and remodels increase value and maintenance maintains value. Conversely lack of maintenance decreases value and just because an addition or remodel is made it doesn't necessary add value if it didn't update or improve the home.

Some sellers have taken these factors into account and price accordingly while others are greedy or clueless. Unless you offer asking price expect it to be countered. Countered doesn't mean rejected and you have to negotiate a price that both parties feel fair with, but if it is rejected you either offered too low to consider or you have a seller that wants too much. If the seller's counter is reasonable than there is no reason to keep going back and forth, but if you still do not feel that the price is fair than counter back. Be careful of emotionally vested sellers who may not be motivated to sell their home as well as becoming emotionally involved yourself. Yes, the buying process can be stressful and emotional at times, but it is a business transaction after all.

You will often hear that no one can tell you what a fair price for a home is except for yourself. Well, that really isn't a relevant statement these days when the buyer has so many resources available to determine fair current value. Along with your agent's expertise there are various web resources for prospecting home buyers such as Trulia and Zillow. Between the two sites I prefer Trulia for one invaluable feature: Sold Homes near. With this feature you have a filtered list of homes sold near the property you are interested in and gives you an overall average price on square footage as well as historical pricing in the area. This feature has helped me figure out on so many occasions if a home is over or under priced for the market and helped me avoid the pitfall of emotionally answering the fair price question. Other useful features are what the home sold for previously and nearby school ratings.

Once an offer has been accepted you should schedule an inspection. There will likely be very few surprises, but if there are tons of surprises than there maybe more problems than meets the eye. An inspection will always find something, but they aren't necessarily deal killers. After the inspection you should negotiate to either fix things that were discovered during the inspection or for compensation in the form of a lower sale price. I had one woman who was pretty unreasonable to work with during the offer phase and after the inspection revealed around twenty things on her home. I made a list in order of importance what I wanted repaired, replaced, or lower the sale price to reflect the defect and stated that the first two items were non-negotiable. The first was presence of WDOs (Wood Destroying Organisms, A.K.A termites and carpenter ants) that I wanted treated and any associated repairs performed. The second was to replace the basement windows. When I made the offer on the property I was informed that all windows were replaced but I discovered during the inspection that the basement windows were not replaced and were rotting out. She came back saying that she would only address the WDOs and nothing else which prompted me to walk away from the deal. Don't be afraid to walk away, the seller is not your friend and you have no obligation to stick around for a bad deal.

Once both parties agree on the inspection items you will contact your attorney and insurance agent. If you do not have an attorney than ask your agent for recommendations which may have hidden perks such as my attorney representing both myself and the lending institution without an additional cost. Once your attorney engages the seller's attorney you just have to wait. Title insurance is something that will appear as part of your closing costs but is seldom discussed at length. Despite the name it is not offered by your insurance agent, but by your attorney. Title insurance is mandated by your lender to avert any risks to the title that may exist when purchasing your home. What is seldom discussed is your option for Enhanced Title Insurance that protects the buyer after the home is purchased from unforeseen risks. Cost difference is negligible, but the coverage difference is huge and you should just tell your attorney that you want the enhanced option. The initial P&S will be drafted by the seller's attorney and attorneys will draft back and forth until all addendum and contingencies are satisfactory to both parties at which point you will be presented with the final draft to review. Once you sign the P&S it will be delivered to either the seller, seller's attorney, or sellers agent depending on the the P&S requirements along with your earnest money and will be countersigned by the seller and the P&S is fully executed at that point.

Copy of the fully executed P&S will be sent to your lender and your lender is free to apply for a mortgage on your behalf. It is at this point that your attorney will be contacted to get a list of fees for the closing which are both attorney's and regulatory fees;

Attorney Fees
Title Exam
Courier
Obtain Municipal Lien Certificate (MLC)
Rundown and Record
Lender’s Title Insurance
Owner’s Title Insurance
Survey/Plot Plan
Prepare Homestead
Deed
Record Mortgage with state
File MLC
Record Homestead

From this point forward unless you are contacted by your lender for any documentation required by a bank, you simply have to wait until the closing date. If the title and mortgage are available before the closing date, it is possible to have your agent contact the seller to see if they would like to move the closing date up in exchange for receiving the check sooner. Good luck and happy hunting for your first home.

As promised, here are the people to comprised my team;

Agent: Rick Nau, Ascend Realty Group

Lender: Dick Lee, Independent Mortgage, LLC.

Attorney: Ann Tran Mullin, Lee & Associates, P.C.

Inspector: John O'Riordan, Old School Home Inspections