nautical1

Realtor.com will also show previously sold. When you find a house you like, go to the map view and see what houses around that neighborhood sold for. It'll even tell you how much over/under the asking price the house sold for as well. It also has whatever pictures were up for the listing..

This is sound advice as well. Even if you can't talk to the owner you'll probably be able to tell what work someone has done themselves whether it was half assed or not. The first house we out an offer on years ago you could tell the guy tried to do the work himself with little things here and there. At the time I was young and didn't think much of it, so we put an offer in contingent on inspection. During the inspection the inspector found foundation cracks in the crawl space and when on the roof noticed the fireplace was separating from the house pretty badly. We also realized that the walkout basement that the listing agent said was new was also done by the homeowner. The problem was the guy never put proper support in and essentially just tore the wall down, and as the house ended up settling the sliding door wouldn't even open. Needless to say the inspection saved us a ton of headaches and money, so now I thoroughly look for anything that someone may have messed with and if stuff looks like it was half assed throughout the entire house I'll just walk away and not risk the potential headaches. It's amazing what some people will do to their house, I've had my share of "wtf were they thinking" moments..

My wife and I are in the process of looking at houses again so I will share my thoughts on it since this is the third time we'll be buying a house. First off, get pre-approved to know your budget. From there, I would recommend staying under your max budget especially if you have limited money in the bank for any expenses that may pop up. Don't try and justify a house by saying you can afford it if if you just eat out less or something. Since you're new to the process/experience get an agent that knows the area you want to be in but also do your research to know what neighborhoods are nice and where to stay away from. If you want closing to go relatively quick (usually can close on a house in 4-6 weeks depending on how much time the sellers give) then I wouldn't recommend looking at houses that are a short sale. As for knowing the house price, take zillows estimate with a grain of salt. If you can, see how much the sellers originally bought it for and when they bought it. Also check and see what comparable houses in the neighborhood have sold for recently as well. A good realtor will have comparable on houses you're looking at and can give you a rough idea of what it's worth. I'll also mention that I found realtor.com to be much better than zillow. Realtor.com had houses listed that zillow never even showed that we ended up missing out on which can really suck. Also take into account the cost of taxes for each house you look at. You're lender should tell you what your max budget is for the house price along with the annual taxes as well. And find a good inspector to hire for your inspection especially if you're not familiar with what you're looking at. Along with that I would also recommend getting a warranty (good for one year and will cover any main expenses, you just have to pay X amount). You can try and get the sellers to cover the cost or do it yourself. I believe you get money back after the warranty expires if you have no claims but I'm not 100% sure and that may vary by company. Finally, don't settle or get discouraged if something you don't truly like pops up. Good luck to you, it can be a real pain but after all is said and done it's nice to have a place to call your own.

Berlin Lake is another lake that you could look into. I haven't been there in years so I couldn't tell you if they rent pontoons. Have you looked at going to Sandusky Bay? A quick Google search shows that there's a place that will rent pontoons boats. From there you could take it to the sandbar where everyone hangs out and parties (sometimes they even have a party barge there). If you want a quiter area just stay in the bay west of the route 2 bridge that crosses the bay, not usually a lot of people hang out there since it can get shallow. I'm not sure if you're familiar with that area but I've been going there my whole life so if you have any questions I'll be glad to help.

I can't edit the original post but the gloves are sold.

Replied to both inquiries.

Sounds good. Any idea what kind of tint he uses? And Summit Sound does great work but like you said it's pricey. For the llumar tint with a lifetime warranty it was going to be $269. Last time I had it done there though I had a discount since I knew a guy who worked there at the time and didn't pay nearly that much.

Thanks for the suggestions so far but I was hoping for something local to Kent. From where I'm at all the places mentioned are about 40 minutes away. It got to a point where the hassle wasn't worth it and I started driving around the city that kept pulling me over. I'm planning to go with 35% all around and if it still seems too light I'll do a light tint on the windshield. I'm with you though on not doing two different shades of tint, I prefer a more uniform look.

Closest one that does tinting is in Bedford.

I had the opposite experience. I had three camaros and only got pulled over one time in the span of three years with them. I then got a four door with tint and was pulled over twice within 6 months before removing the front window tint altogether.

Yeah I know all about it. I've had 4 other cars in the past all with tint 20% or lower and 3 of those 4 had 5% on the hatch which really made it look dark. And how did they harass you for stock tint when vehicles from the factory only put tint on the rear windows and back glass, which is perfectly legal no matter how dark?

Does anyone have a recommendation for a reputable window tinting place around the Kent area? I've taken previous cars to HD Audio but it seems like they jacked the price up since I was last there and they only do it on Saturday now which usually doesn't work for me. The only other reputable place I can think of around here is Summit Sound but that's a little bit of a drive for me. Any other suggestions? Thanks.

Good to hear, those boots should serve you well for a long time. They were well worth the price I paid when I originally bought them. In the Kent area.

Bump for the new riding season. I still have a few things available that I'm wanting to get rid of.

Which ones? I can't get exact measurements at the moment but for me (5'9") the Fieldsheers ride a little higher than a relaxed pair of jeans and just touch the top of my boots when standing and go right above the ankle when on the bike. The Alpinestars have a bit more room than a pair of jeans and are fairly long, even on the bike they have a little bit of extra material past the ankle. Not sure if that's what you're wondering or not.

Prices dropped just to get this stuff out of the house.

PM replied.

Jacket sold.

I'll take $20 for both the seat and pegs to get them out of my garage..

Shoot me a PM with what you're interested in and we'll try and work something out. Pm sent your way.

Bump. Feel free to throw out offers so I can get this stuff out of the closet.

Oh, I wasn't aware of that since I've never paid attention to others pegs. I just looked them over a bit closer and I think they may be powder coated but I don't have much experience with powdercoating so I can't say 100%. The finish doesn't feel like a spray paint finish but I can take close ups if you're interested. Thanks for pointing that out.

They're the OEM pegs so maybe? I honestly I don't know.

Updated. Just the seat and pegs left.

Alpinestars gloves and boots sold.