I got an email from my handyman last night with a couple questions about how to handle some issues. The questions and my responses are below.
The outlet by the kitchen counter has burned wires and the wire are too short to install a new GFCI outlet. New wires should be pulled. What would you like to do?
Based on the other electrical issues you've found and mentioned below, I'll get an electrician out there to do this. Please mark which outlet this is.
In the addition, there are 4 outlets that the wiring is too short to change the outlets. These could be left as is or we could pull new wire. Advise.
If the outlets look OK, we can keep them. If they are broken or have burn marks on them, mark them and I'll have the electrician fix them. My goal in replacing the outlets was to make them look nice, so if they look OK, there is no need to replace them.
Do you want to keep the shelving in the laundry room?
Yes.
Did you find the light switch for the laundry room?
Nope.
The paneling in the fireplace room does not have drywall behind it. Do you want to drywall over the paneling or leave it alone?
Let's drywall over it.
On the wall where the cabinets were removed, there is some romex wire sticking through the wall and it is live. Do you want to put a light there? Terminate the wire?
Terminate the wire.
There is a leak in the ceiling at the ceiling fan in the front room. Do you want me to locate this?
Go ahead and try. Don't spend more than a day trying to find it though. If you can't find it, I've got a roof guy I can call.
There is a light fixture in the addition off of the kitchen that has a missing globe. Do you want this fixture replaced? New globe?
A new globe is fine.
I am not sure how you numbered the bedrooms, but as you look down the hallway bedroom #1 is on the left, bedroom #2 is the next on the left, and #3 is on the right. There is an electrical problem in bedroom #1 & #2. Three of the outlets have the wiring backwards (standard is black = hot & white = common), meaning that the problem is else where. These are wired in a series. Do you want me to trouble shoot this problem?
I numbered them the same as you are. I'll have the electrician look at these.
The tub drain is also plugged. Do you want me to take care of this?
Yes please.
There are three ceiling fans in the house. One in the front room, one in bedroom #1, and one in bedroom #2. The one in bedroom #2 does not work. The one in bedroom #1 is the same style as the front room. You asked for tow to be replaced. Which two?
The one that doesn't work in bedroom 2 and the one in bedroom 1. Leave the one in the front room as is.
The light in bedroom #3 does not have a globe. Do you want to replace this with the same style as we did for the laundry room and kitchen?
Yes please.
The front door locks are not working correctly all of the time, would you like these replaced and keyed the same as the lock that is already installed?
I'm not sure what you are referring too. I've already had a locksmith out there who rekeyed everything. I know the "deadbolt" lock on the door is a bit tight. The latch doesn't catch very much. That one couldn't be on the same key as the other locks because the lock was made by a different manufacturer.
What color do you want the kitchen counter top?
Beige or tan, anything neutral.
What color of vinyl tile do you want?
White or off-white.
What color of paint for the inside?
White.
What color of paint for the outside?
I don't really care. Brown, tan. Again, something neutral that blends in with the neighborhood.
Last weekend, we just had our first rain in 143 days. It rained for almost 24 hours straight and I was wondering if any leaks would be found in the roof.
It sounds like some good progress is being made. When I meet the electrician out there, I'll take a look at things. I do like the fact that this guy uses email. It's easy for me and everything is in writing, so nothing should be forgotten (hopefully).
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Three Loans Made Via Prosper.com
I've got three loans funded now through Prosper.com:
The 8.85% loan was made to Gualberto. Don't default, Gualberto - I know where you blog! :-)
I've got another bid out for a $200 loan. That listing won't end for another 10 days, so it could be a while before I find out if I got that one.
All my loans are less than a week old, so there haven't been any payments yet. My average interest is 15.36%, after Prosper takes their 0.5% service fee.
One thing I would like to see is an email notification when I have won a loan. Currently, you need to log in to the site to see the status of your bids. Also, an email notifying me when a payment has been made would be nice. Of course, that might already be implemented - I haven't gotten a payment yet, so I can't tell - but so far, I don't think I've received any system generated emails from Prosper, so I'm guessing I won't get one for payments either.
Another thing I'd like to see would be some clarification of how their bidding process works. Prosper lenders bid an amount and minimum interest rate they will accept for a loan. Multiple lenders are grouped to reach the borrower's requested loan amount. I'm a bit unclear about how Prosper determines who the winning lenders are.
For example, someone wants to borrow $1,000 @ 10%. The current bids are, in order of date received:
$500 @ 10%
$250 @ 9%
$250 @10%
There are enough bids to fund the loan and the resulting loan would be $1,000 @ 10%. However, suppose the bidding is still open for another day and now someone else comes in and bids $100 @ 8%. What happens?
It's probably not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but the engineer / programmer in me is curious to see how this situation is handled. It's a bit more complicated than the standard eBay auction model, since there are two variables involved.
- $100 @ 8.85%
- $100 @ 15.00%
- $100 @ 23.75%
The 8.85% loan was made to Gualberto. Don't default, Gualberto - I know where you blog! :-)
I've got another bid out for a $200 loan. That listing won't end for another 10 days, so it could be a while before I find out if I got that one.
All my loans are less than a week old, so there haven't been any payments yet. My average interest is 15.36%, after Prosper takes their 0.5% service fee.
One thing I would like to see is an email notification when I have won a loan. Currently, you need to log in to the site to see the status of your bids. Also, an email notifying me when a payment has been made would be nice. Of course, that might already be implemented - I haven't gotten a payment yet, so I can't tell - but so far, I don't think I've received any system generated emails from Prosper, so I'm guessing I won't get one for payments either.
Another thing I'd like to see would be some clarification of how their bidding process works. Prosper lenders bid an amount and minimum interest rate they will accept for a loan. Multiple lenders are grouped to reach the borrower's requested loan amount. I'm a bit unclear about how Prosper determines who the winning lenders are.
For example, someone wants to borrow $1,000 @ 10%. The current bids are, in order of date received:
$500 @ 10%
$250 @ 9%
$250 @10%
There are enough bids to fund the loan and the resulting loan would be $1,000 @ 10%. However, suppose the bidding is still open for another day and now someone else comes in and bids $100 @ 8%. What happens?
It's probably not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but the engineer / programmer in me is curious to see how this situation is handled. It's a bit more complicated than the standard eBay auction model, since there are two variables involved.
Friday, March 10, 2006
House 3: Rehab Under Way
I hadn't heard from my handyman Mark (not his real name) this week, so I gave him a call. I mailed off my check to him on Tuesday morning and was hoping to hear that he got it and would be getting started soon. Turns out he started yesterday! Sweet!
He said he's got most of the trash inside the house removed and now he's working on the trash outside. He had one question. Apparently, under the pile of all the junk in the room with the fireplace, there was a small, low wall. (A picture can be found in this post. It's the one titled "This is a room just off the converted room.") I didn't notice it before because some windows and wood paneling were leaning up against and stacked on top of it. Mark wanted to know if he was supposed to remove that wall. He guesses the old owners were trying to make a bar because behind this short wall is where the cabinets that I'm having removed are hanging. He also mentioned the wall is very unstable. I told him to remove it.
I feel better now that the rehab has been started. First, it's good to know that progress is being made. Second, I'm glad to see Mark was true to his earlier word that he would be able to start the job towards the middle of this week.
He said he's got most of the trash inside the house removed and now he's working on the trash outside. He had one question. Apparently, under the pile of all the junk in the room with the fireplace, there was a small, low wall. (A picture can be found in this post. It's the one titled "This is a room just off the converted room.") I didn't notice it before because some windows and wood paneling were leaning up against and stacked on top of it. Mark wanted to know if he was supposed to remove that wall. He guesses the old owners were trying to make a bar because behind this short wall is where the cabinets that I'm having removed are hanging. He also mentioned the wall is very unstable. I told him to remove it.
I feel better now that the rehab has been started. First, it's good to know that progress is being made. Second, I'm glad to see Mark was true to his earlier word that he would be able to start the job towards the middle of this week.
Thursday, March 9, 2006
Prosper.com Once More
I really hate to be negative about Propser.com. I really want it to succeed. I want to be able to report good things about it. It's getting hard.
Let me preface what I am saying by noting Propser.com is still relatively new and should be expected to have some bugs to work out.
On to my complaints.
1. My transfer of funds from my checking account into Prosper was supposed to be completed today. Funds were removed from my checking account on the 7th. Today, the 9th, they are still not showing up in my Prosper account. This may be the fault of ACH and not Prosper, however, so I suppose I have to cut them some slack. Nevertheless, one of the more common complaints on Prosper's discussion boards is the length of time it takes to get funds into Prosper. Additionally, I find it strange that funds going the other way are very quick. For example, to verify an account, Prosper makes two small deposits into your checking account. I've linked two accounts and both times, the deposits have shown up in 1 business day. Why does it take 5 times longer for funds to move the other direction? Even if this is the fault of ACH, Prosper is taking a big publicity hit on this. I did see on the discussion boards that they are looking into speeding this up. As I mentioned before, why do they have to use the ACH network? Why can't they use Cirrus or some other ATM network?
2. Are Lenders allowed to be in Groups? I spent some time going over the rewards program that Prosper has for group members and leaders. Besides being overly complicated, I can't find any benefits to a lender for belonging to a group. I emailed Prosper's Customer Support about this and this is the response I got:
3. There seems to be no benefit at all to a lender to belong to a group. This may be because lenders are not supposed to be allowed in groups and I was only allowed in through some glitch. I would like to see lenders be allowed in groups. That way, lenders and borrowers with common interests can be matched up easier. I would like to lend money to members of my group, especially if there is some sort of benefit to me besides the interest I get from the loan. I also think allowing lenders in a group would help foster a closer community within that group. (Of course, I want to be able to lend outside my group as well.)
I don't know. I continue to have great hopes for Prosper and I am anxious to start lending through it, but there still seems to be some kinks that are very annoying.
Let me preface what I am saying by noting Propser.com is still relatively new and should be expected to have some bugs to work out.
On to my complaints.
1. My transfer of funds from my checking account into Prosper was supposed to be completed today. Funds were removed from my checking account on the 7th. Today, the 9th, they are still not showing up in my Prosper account. This may be the fault of ACH and not Prosper, however, so I suppose I have to cut them some slack. Nevertheless, one of the more common complaints on Prosper's discussion boards is the length of time it takes to get funds into Prosper. Additionally, I find it strange that funds going the other way are very quick. For example, to verify an account, Prosper makes two small deposits into your checking account. I've linked two accounts and both times, the deposits have shown up in 1 business day. Why does it take 5 times longer for funds to move the other direction? Even if this is the fault of ACH, Prosper is taking a big publicity hit on this. I did see on the discussion boards that they are looking into speeding this up. As I mentioned before, why do they have to use the ACH network? Why can't they use Cirrus or some other ATM network?
2. Are Lenders allowed to be in Groups? I spent some time going over the rewards program that Prosper has for group members and leaders. Besides being overly complicated, I can't find any benefits to a lender for belonging to a group. I emailed Prosper's Customer Support about this and this is the response I got:
At this time, lenders cannot be members of groups. However, if you wish to associate yourself with a particular group, you can check a checkbox on the bidding page that will add your screen name to the "Lenders who support us" list on the group home page.This is outright wrong. I belong to the WealthBuilders Group, a group for people borrowing to create wealth in the spirit of Rich Dad, Poor Dad. My role in Prosper is defined as a Lender. There is obviously some sort of disconnect here. When I look at my Profile screen, it says I do not support any groups. When I go to the Group tab of the My Account page, under the title "My Group", it shows the WealthBuilders group. Under that, in a different section, it says "You currently do not have any active group requests and are not a member of a group." Yet if I look at the members of the WealthBuilders group, I am listed as a member.
3. There seems to be no benefit at all to a lender to belong to a group. This may be because lenders are not supposed to be allowed in groups and I was only allowed in through some glitch. I would like to see lenders be allowed in groups. That way, lenders and borrowers with common interests can be matched up easier. I would like to lend money to members of my group, especially if there is some sort of benefit to me besides the interest I get from the loan. I also think allowing lenders in a group would help foster a closer community within that group. (Of course, I want to be able to lend outside my group as well.)
I don't know. I continue to have great hopes for Prosper and I am anxious to start lending through it, but there still seems to be some kinks that are very annoying.
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