Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

driver100

henryn said:

driver100 said:

That reminds me....one of my tennis buddies just sold his boat.....for $40000.
He got a down payment so far $5000.
He is wondering how to make sure he actually gets the rest of the money.
He said even certified checks (Canadian spell it cheques) are forged these days. It can take days for the bank to find out the check was phony, and then they take the money back out of your account.
He is thinking of having the buyer wire the money into his account, and making sure the bank confirms the money is in his account before the buyer drives away.

driver100 said:

That reminds me....one of my tennis buddies just sold his boat.....for $40000.
He got a down payment so far $5000.
He is wondering how to make sure he actually gets the rest of the money.
He said even certified checks (Canadian spell it cheques) are forged these days. It can take days for the bank to find out the check was phony, and then they take the money back out of your account.
He is thinking of having the buyer wire the money into his account, and making sure the bank confirms the money is in his account before the buyer drives away.

Hard not to trust a cashier's check, prepared in your presence, by a bank teller inside the branch bank.

Sounds good....I am trying to think of "What could possibly go wrong".

btw...good luck with the house foundation....hope it is OK, don't need those kind of problems.

venture

explorerx4 said:

Eastern CT has a big foundation problem.
https://portal.ct.gov/DOH/DOH/Programs/Crumbling-Foundations

Interesting that the aggregate is destroying the concrete. I wonder why they didn't know that when they were using it? Or maybe they did, but greed took over.

Much of the infrastructure failure I have witnessed while working construction is lack of compaction. What is built on improperly compacted soil will eventually fail. A nearby baseball stadium has ongoing problems related to that; as well as pouring concrete on frozen soil.

sb55

oldfarmer50 said:

qbrozen said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Say, anybody run into this problem?

We got a check from the IRS to resolve an issue on last year’s return made out to both me and my wife. We decided to put into her account so she could pay some bill and we both signed it.

I took it to the bank and they refused to deposit it in her account because they couldn’t verify my wife’s signature. Huh? They said they could only deposit it in a joint account.
Did they think I stole our joint check and had my girlfriend forge my wife’s signature and then as part of my diabolical plan decided to hide it in my wife’s account?

However, what they would do is cash the check for me and then take the cash and deposit it in her account. Double HUH?

Is it me or does that defy logic?

I sort of went through something similar when the IRS finally paid out my parents final tax refund like 2 years after death. By then, I had closed out their accounts. Even though I am the executor, and have all the proof to that effect, the bank wouldn't let me deposit it. The made me re-open an account in parents' names to deposit the check, which I could then immediately transfer into my own account.

Same happened to me two years after I closed my mother’s estate and she got a rebate check from some credit card class action.

I got a check last week made out to the company I used to own in LIC, NY sold in 2007. It was a AT&T class action payment for $8.47. I have no idea how they found me in Vermont, but I just signed the back an put it in my regular checking account. My little local bank didn't question it.

kyfdx

henryn said:

I woke up to the sound of construction work, very close. There are several houses under construction in my neighborhood, but none that close. This turned out to be a foundation repair for my next door neighbor. They did a quick job, and were pretty neat about it, considering. I asked about the cost -- $600 per pier, and her house required 19 piers.

There are 5 houses in a row here from the same builder, same year (2005), all slightly different, but not much. And yes, I have observed a few minor cracks in the sheetrock, and I have had to adjust a couple of the interior doors, but nothing major. Keeping my fingers crossed …

That really sucks, but the price seems reasonable.

henryn

kyfdx said:

henryn said:

I woke up to the sound of construction work, very close. There are several houses under construction in my neighborhood, but none that close. This turned out to be a foundation repair for my next door neighbor. They did a quick job, and were pretty neat about it, considering. I asked about the cost -- $600 per pier, and her house required 19 piers.

There are 5 houses in a row here from the same builder, same year (2005), all slightly different, but not much. And yes, I have observed a few minor cracks in the sheetrock, and I have had to adjust a couple of the interior doors, but nothing major. Keeping my fingers crossed …

That really sucks, but the price seems reasonable.

$11,400 sounds "reasonable"? Yipes! I have no idea what the going rate for foundation repair is these days, but that sounds like a big chunk of change to me.

henryn

oldfarmer50 said:

henryn said:

driver100 said:

That reminds me....one of my tennis buddies just sold his boat.....for $40000.
He got a down payment so far $5000.
He is wondering how to make sure he actually gets the rest of the money.
He said even certified checks (Canadian spell it cheques) are forged these days. It can take days for the bank to find out the check was phony, and then they take the money back out of your account.
He is thinking of having the buyer wire the money into his account, and making sure the bank confirms the money is in his account before the buyer drives away.

driver100 said:

That reminds me....one of my tennis buddies just sold his boat.....for $40000.
He got a down payment so far $5000.
He is wondering how to make sure he actually gets the rest of the money.
He said even certified checks (Canadian spell it cheques) are forged these days. It can take days for the bank to find out the check was phony, and then they take the money back out of your account.
He is thinking of having the buyer wire the money into his account, and making sure the bank confirms the money is in his account before the buyer drives away.

When I purchased that used work truck, nearly 2 years ago now, that was from an individual. After I drove the truck, and we agreed on the price, I asked him to accompany me to the nearest branch of Chase bank. Which was easy, as they have branches everywhere, at least in this part of the country. There, I had the teller prepare a cashier's check, payable to him, and hand it to him.

Hard not to trust a cashier's check, prepared in your presence, by a bank teller inside the branch bank.

That’s what I would do for any transaction over $5k. I wouldn’t want to handle much more cash than that.

And you're going to be treated like a suspected drug dealer if you show up at the bank or credit union with a huge wad of cash. That happened to me about 10 years ago when I sold a used car for $8k in cash. And this was at the credit union, where I had known the teller personally for several years. She was polite, and apologized for the necessity, but the law required her to take my picture before allowing me to deposit the cash.

ab348

When I bought my current ATS, I expected to be able to do the same thing I did at that same dealership the previous 2 times I had bought a new car there - give them a cheque for my down payment. But nooooo, not this time. They had changed their policies and required a certified cheque or bank draft. I was not happy that they didn't mention that earlier. I said maybe I should just go get cash, and they said they wouldn't accept that either. I don't know whether to blame the dealership or the government.

stickguy

henryn said:

kyfdx said:

henryn said:

I woke up to the sound of construction work, very close. There are several houses under construction in my neighborhood, but none that close. This turned out to be a foundation repair for my next door neighbor. They did a quick job, and were pretty neat about it, considering. I asked about the cost -- $600 per pier, and her house required 19 piers.

There are 5 houses in a row here from the same builder, same year (2005), all slightly different, but not much. And yes, I have observed a few minor cracks in the sheetrock, and I have had to adjust a couple of the interior doors, but nothing major. Keeping my fingers crossed …

That really sucks, but the price seems reasonable.

$11,400 sounds "reasonable"? Yipes! I have no idea what the going rate for foundation repair is these days, but that sounds like a big chunk of change to me.

in abstract it is a lot of money. But for work like that sounds like a steal these days.

kyfdx

stickguy said:

henryn said:

kyfdx said:

henryn said:

I woke up to the sound of construction work, very close. There are several houses under construction in my neighborhood, but none that close. This turned out to be a foundation repair for my next door neighbor. They did a quick job, and were pretty neat about it, considering. I asked about the cost -- $600 per pier, and her house required 19 piers.

There are 5 houses in a row here from the same builder, same year (2005), all slightly different, but not much. And yes, I have observed a few minor cracks in the sheetrock, and I have had to adjust a couple of the interior doors, but nothing major. Keeping my fingers crossed …

That really sucks, but the price seems reasonable.

$11,400 sounds "reasonable"? Yipes! I have no idea what the going rate for foundation repair is these days, but that sounds like a big chunk of change to me.

in abstract it is a lot of money. But for work like that sounds like a steal these days.

Yup.. 19 piers.

driver100

henryn said:

oldfarmer50 said:

henryn said:

driver100 said:

That reminds me....one of my tennis buddies just sold his boat.....for $40000.
He got a down payment so far $5000.
He is wondering how to make sure he actually gets the rest of the money.
He said even certified checks (Canadian spell it cheques) are forged these days. It can take days for the bank to find out the check was phony, and then they take the money back out of your account.
He is thinking of having the buyer wire the money into his account, and making sure the bank confirms the money is in his account before the buyer drives away.

driver100 said:

That reminds me....one of my tennis buddies just sold his boat.....for $40000.
He got a down payment so far $5000.
He is wondering how to make sure he actually gets the rest of the money.
He said even certified checks (Canadian spell it cheques) are forged these days. It can take days for the bank to find out the check was phony, and then they take the money back out of your account.
He is thinking of having the buyer wire the money into his account, and making sure the bank confirms the money is in his account before the buyer drives away.

When I purchased that used work truck, nearly 2 years ago now, that was from an individual. After I drove the truck, and we agreed on the price, I asked him to accompany me to the nearest branch of Chase bank. Which was easy, as they have branches everywhere, at least in this part of the country. There, I had the teller prepare a cashier's check, payable to him, and hand it to him.

Hard not to trust a cashier's check, prepared in your presence, by a bank teller inside the branch bank.

That’s what I would do for any transaction over $5k. I wouldn’t want to handle much more cash than that.

And you're going to be treated like a suspected drug dealer if you show up at the bank or credit union with a huge wad of cash. That happened to me about 10 years ago when I sold a used car for $8k in cash. And this was at the credit union, where I had known the teller personally for several years. She was polite, and apologized for the necessity, but the law required her to take my picture before allowing me to deposit the cash.

I guess they want protection from it being drug money or money laundering. You can't trust no one these days.

driver100

See the blue house that is right on Lake Erie. A guy bought it and he rents it out to AirB&B users. The guy that owns the road up to the house built a fence on "his roadway" so now you have to leave your car a block away, and walk through a small space on one side of the fence, or take a boat to get to the house. The town says they can't do anything, the AirB&B guy has to go to court.
The owner of the road didn't like the wild parties going on, decided to end it.


Unfortunately the 2 homes on each side are affected.

https://www.thespec.com/

28firefighter

So, let me get this straight, people buy property nested behind another parcel. They buy it WITHOUT a clearly documented easement (on the title for both properties) granting them access to the driveway across this individual's property...then put it on AirBnB without telling the driveway owner....and are surprised that landowner put up a fence to stop it?

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

stickguy

airbnb seems to have really run it's course. a wonderful concept that like most of them, got perverted by scammers and scum artists.

kyfdx

I don't blame him. Maybe, the AirBnB guy will sell his "investment", and everyone can go back to normal.

jmonroe1

@28firefighter said:
So, let me get this straight, people buy property nested behind another parcel. They buy it WITHOUT a clearly documented easement (on the title for both properties) granting them access to the driveway across this individual's property...then put it on AirBnB without telling the driveway owner....and are surprised that landowner put up a fence to stop it?

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

————————————————
If the court finds in favor of the fence builder (which sounds likely), that guy could pick up a piece of lake front property at a very lowball price.

Like we’ve all heard before, “they ain’t making anymore usable lake front property”.

jmonroe

ab348

Went out this aft to pick up a few groceries. Got home, pressed the built-in remote in the ATS, garage door opens, I park inside, get my things, go to leave and press the button on the wall to close the door, nada. Light is on but nothing happens. Unplugged it, waited, plugged it back in, still nothing. Now I have to try to troubleshoot the damn thing. It is only a few years old, doesn't get much use. Where's that *&^%$#! manual? Grumble grumble.

Edit: Found the manual. Went back out with the remote and reattached the runner/chain to the release I had to disconnect earlier to close the door. Worked fine up and down. Turns out what is not working is the hard-wired button by the person-door that I use to close it most of the time as I'm returning to the house. Hmmm.

henryn

driver100 said:

See the blue house that is right on Lake Erie. A guy bought it and he rents it out to AirB&B users. The guy that owns the road up to the house built a fence on "his roadway" so now you have to leave your car a block away, and walk through a small space on one side of the fence, or take a boat to get to the house. The town says they can't do anything, the AirB&B guy has to go to court.
The owner of the road didn't like the wild parties going on, decided to end it.


Unfortunately the 2 homes on each side are affected.

https://www.thespec.com/

As a person who lives directly across the street from two AirB&B party houses, I can sympathize with the fence builder. I only wish I had some kind of option like that. Unfortunately I don't, I just call the law every time they get noisy late at night and / or block the street.

venture

ab348 said:

When I bought my current ATS, I expected to be able to do the same thing I did at that same dealership the previous 2 times I had bought a new car there - give them a cheque for my down payment. But nooooo, not this time. They had changed their policies and required a certified cheque or bank draft. I was not happy that they didn't mention that earlier. I said maybe I should just go get cash, and they said they wouldn't accept that either. I don't know whether to blame the dealership or the government.

Weird.

When I bought this BMW in January I gave them $5,000 in cash (all they would take), put $5,000 on a cash back credit card (all they would take), and gave them a check for $5,000.

I just checked with BMW Financial Services to find out if there is a limit on how much I can pay every month. It's $7,500. I wonder why? I also found out it's a bit of a pain to pay it off - mail a certified check, etc.

henryn

ab348 said:

When I bought my current ATS, I expected to be able to do the same thing I did at that same dealership the previous 2 times I had bought a new car there - give them a cheque for my down payment. But nooooo, not this time. They had changed their policies and required a certified cheque or bank draft. I was not happy that they didn't mention that earlier. I said maybe I should just go get cash, and they said they wouldn't accept that either. I don't know whether to blame the dealership or the government.

Interesting. When I purchased the 23 Silverado a few weeks ago, I wrote the dealership a personal check for almost $40k. No problems, no questions.

Wait one, I just remembered something -- Before I ever got to the finance office, the salesman asked me how I was going to pay. I told him by check, and he said they would have to run a credit check on me in that case. I signed the form allowing the credit check, no problem. It seemed to me like a reasonable precaution.

henryn

venture said:

ab348 said:

When I bought my current ATS, I expected to be able to do the same thing I did at that same dealership the previous 2 times I had bought a new car there - give them a cheque for my down payment. But nooooo, not this time. They had changed their policies and required a certified cheque or bank draft. I was not happy that they didn't mention that earlier. I said maybe I should just go get cash, and they said they wouldn't accept that either. I don't know whether to blame the dealership or the government.

Weird.

When I bought this BMW in January I gave them $5,000 in cash (all they would take), put $5,000 on a cash back credit card (all they would take), and gave them a check for $5,000.

I just checked with BMW Financial Services to find out if there is a limit on how much I can pay every month. It's $7,500. I wonder why? I also found out it's a bit of a pain to pay it off - mail a certified check, etc.

That's pretty strange. Back before the current madness, car manufacturers would often offer a big incentive to get you to take their captive financing. I seem to remember $750 as a common amount for that incentive. I, and everyone else I knew, would take that $750 and then refinance at the credit union for a much lower interest rate. There was never any problem about the refinancing either, and that definitely required that they accept the entire amount owed in one single payment.

As long as the dealership had treated me fairly, I would wait 91 days before refinancing. If they managed to p___ me off, then all bets were off.

imidazol97

henryn said:

ab348 said:

When I bought my current ATS, I expected to be able to do the same thing I did at that same dealership the previous 2 times I had bought a new car there - give them a cheque for my down payment. But nooooo, not this time. They had changed their policies and required a certified cheque or bank draft. I was not happy that they didn't mention that earlier. I said maybe I should just go get cash, and they said they wouldn't accept that either. I don't know whether to blame the dealership or the government.

Interesting. When I purchased the 23 Silverado a few weeks ago, I wrote the dealership a personal check for almost $40k. No problems, no questions.

Wait one, I just remembered something -- Before I ever got to the finance office, the salesman asked me how I was going to pay. I told him by check, and he said they would have to run a credit check on me in that case. I signed the form allowing the credit check, no problem. It seemed to me like a reasonable precaution.

On the last two car purchases, the guy doing the paperwork in finance asked how I was going to pay. Each time I was writing a check. I assume they checked with the bank in some way to be sure I had that much
in cash checking and to encumber it in some way til they could run the digitized check through.
I recall one of the guys asking if I already had the money in checking, in case I was going to move the money from savings to checking.

venture

imidazol97 said:

henryn said:

ab348 said:

When I bought my current ATS, I expected to be able to do the same thing I did at that same dealership the previous 2 times I had bought a new car there - give them a cheque for my down payment. But nooooo, not this time. They had changed their policies and required a certified cheque or bank draft. I was not happy that they didn't mention that earlier. I said maybe I should just go get cash, and they said they wouldn't accept that either. I don't know whether to blame the dealership or the government.

Interesting. When I purchased the 23 Silverado a few weeks ago, I wrote the dealership a personal check for almost $40k. No problems, no questions.

Wait one, I just remembered something -- Before I ever got to the finance office, the salesman asked me how I was going to pay. I told him by check, and he said they would have to run a credit check on me in that case. I signed the form allowing the credit check, no problem. It seemed to me like a reasonable precaution.

On the last two car purchases, the guy doing the paperwork in finance asked how I was going to pay. Each time I was writing a check. I assume they checked with the bank in some way to be sure I had that much
in cash checking and to encumber it in some way til they could run the digitized check through.
I recall one of the guys asking if I already had the money in checking, in case I was going to move the money from savings to checking.

I don't know if the average F&I person is stupid or a liar. I do know that I almost always make them angry.

tjc78

@28firefighter said:
So, let me get this straight, people buy property nested behind another parcel. They buy it WITHOUT a clearly documented easement (on the title for both properties) granting them access to the driveway across this individual's property...then put it on AirBnB without telling the driveway owner....and are surprised that landowner put up a fence to stop it?

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

I agree with your statement 100%. What I want to know is why the township allowed it. This house is now a safety issue. What if an ambulance needs access quickly ?

28firefighter

@tjc78 said:

@28firefighter said:
So, let me get this straight, people buy property nested behind another parcel. They buy it WITHOUT a clearly documented easement (on the title for both properties) granting them access to the driveway across this individual's property...then put it on AirBnB without telling the driveway owner....and are surprised that landowner put up a fence to stop it?

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

I agree with your statement 100%. What I want to know is why the township allowed it. This house is now a safety issue. What if an ambulance needs access quickly ?

I can’t say what would happen today, but I can tell you with 100% certainty a fence wouldn’t have stopped us if it was the only means of ingress.

This is going to end up with the cottage owners paying a hefty sum to the driveway owner for an easement. Probably more than the cottage is worth.

tjc78

@28firefighter said:

@tjc78 said:

@28firefighter said:
So, let me get this straight, people buy property nested behind another parcel. They buy it WITHOUT a clearly documented easement (on the title for both properties) granting them access to the driveway across this individual's property...then put it on AirBnB without telling the driveway owner....and are surprised that landowner put up a fence to stop it?

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

I agree with your statement 100%. What I want to know is why the township allowed it. This house is now a safety issue. What if an ambulance needs access quickly ?

I can’t say what would happen today, but I can tell you with 100% certainty a fence wouldn’t have stopped us if it was the only means of ingress.

This is going to end up with the cottage owners paying a hefty sum to the driveway owner for an easement. Probably more than the cottage is worth.

Without question. Only way out of this one is to pay. Wonder if there was any non-disclosure from the original seller. Can’t imagine any realtor not guiding their buyer either away from this or suggesting the easement route from the start.

oldfarmer50

venture said:

ab348 said:

When I bought my current ATS, I expected to be able to do the same thing I did at that same dealership the previous 2 times I had bought a new car there - give them a cheque for my down payment. But nooooo, not this time. They had changed their policies and required a certified cheque or bank draft. I was not happy that they didn't mention that earlier. I said maybe I should just go get cash, and they said they wouldn't accept that either. I don't know whether to blame the dealership or the government.

Weird.

When I bought this BMW in January I gave them $5,000 in cash (all they would take), put $5,000 on a cash back credit card (all they would take), and gave them a check for $5,000.

I just checked with BMW Financial Services to find out if there is a limit on how much I can pay every month. It's $7,500. I wonder why? I also found out it's a bit of a pain to pay it off - mail a certified check, etc.

My last two car purchases required a bank check. I can understand that since there are many tales of dealers getting bad personal checks and losing cars.

The cash thing is probably so they don’t get robbed on the way to the bank.

What a world.

I used cash for almost all my regular purchases. During the pandemic I accumulated quite a bit just in case. Now I have a sock drawer full and I’m reluctant to put it in the bank because of the anticipated hassle and form 8300.

driver100

tjc78 said:

@28firefighter said:

@tjc78 said:

@28firefighter said:

So, let me get this straight, people buy property nested behind another parcel. They buy it WITHOUT a clearly documented easement (on the title for both properties) granting them access to the driveway across this individual's property...then put it on AirBnB without telling the driveway owner....and are surprised that landowner put up a fence to stop it?

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

I agree with your statement 100%. What I want to know is why the township allowed it. This house is now a safety issue. What if an ambulance needs access quickly ?

I can’t say what would happen today, but I can tell you with 100% certainty a fence wouldn’t have stopped us if it was the only means of ingress.

This is going to end up with the cottage owners paying a hefty sum to the driveway owner for an easement. Probably more than the cottage is worth.

Without question. Only way out of this one is to pay. Wonder if there was any non-disclosure from the original seller. Can’t imagine any realtor not guiding their buyer either away from this or suggesting the easement route from the start.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The guy who sold the house says all the details about the private road were in the sales agreement. He says he has let people use his private road because there were no problems, he did it out of kindness. The county can't do anything about a private road. The buyer of the house says his investment is worth nothing and he won't be able to pay for it if he can't have access and rent it out .

Just a guess but the details were probably in the agreement, and everyone thought the private road would never be a problem. The realtor probably mentioned it, but the new owner probably didn't want to hear about it...so let it go.

stickguy

not sure what I will do when the new Maverick arrives since I am planning to pay cash for it (well, not greenbacks, but no financing). I assume they will take a bank check. Not sure I want to wire that much to them before I have the truck in front of me and keys in hand.

jmonroe1

@driver100 said:

The guy who sold the house says all the details about the private road were in the sales agreement. He says he has let people use his private road because there were no problems, he did it out of kindness. The county can't do anything about a private road. The buyer of the house says his investment is worth nothing and he won't be able to pay for it if he can't have access and rent it out .

Just a guess but the details were probably in the agreement, and everyone thought the private road would never be a problem. The realtor probably mentioned it, but the new owner probably didn't want to hear about it...so let it go.

————————————————
That’s a few guesses and probablies.

I’m willing to bet (call it a guess if you like) the fence builder is in the cat seat. Another bet is he never dreamt he’d be the owner of lake front property 20 years ago.

jmonroe

Michaell

oldfarmer50 said:

venture said:

ab348 said:

When I bought my current ATS, I expected to be able to do the same thing I did at that same dealership the previous 2 times I had bought a new car there - give them a cheque for my down payment. But nooooo, not this time. They had changed their policies and required a certified cheque or bank draft. I was not happy that they didn't mention that earlier. I said maybe I should just go get cash, and they said they wouldn't accept that either. I don't know whether to blame the dealership or the government.

Weird.

When I bought this BMW in January I gave them $5,000 in cash (all they would take), put $5,000 on a cash back credit card (all they would take), and gave them a check for $5,000.

I just checked with BMW Financial Services to find out if there is a limit on how much I can pay every month. It's $7,500. I wonder why? I also found out it's a bit of a pain to pay it off - mail a certified check, etc.

My last two car purchases required a bank check. I can understand that since there are many tales of dealers getting bad personal checks and losing cars.

The cash thing is probably so they don’t get robbed on the way to the bank.

What a world.

I used cash for almost all my regular purchases. During the pandemic I accumulated quite a bit just in case. Now I have a sock drawer full and I’m reluctant to put it in the bank because of the anticipated hassle and form 8300.

You should at least invest in a safe. My folks had one for cash, other important valuables, and documents.

venture

oldfarmer50 said:

venture said:

ab348 said:

When I bought my current ATS, I expected to be able to do the same thing I did at that same dealership the previous 2 times I had bought a new car there - give them a cheque for my down payment. But nooooo, not this time. They had changed their policies and required a certified cheque or bank draft. I was not happy that they didn't mention that earlier. I said maybe I should just go get cash, and they said they wouldn't accept that either. I don't know whether to blame the dealership or the government.

Weird.

When I bought this BMW in January I gave them $5,000 in cash (all they would take), put $5,000 on a cash back credit card (all they would take), and gave them a check for $5,000.

I just checked with BMW Financial Services to find out if there is a limit on how much I can pay every month. It's $7,500. I wonder why? I also found out it's a bit of a pain to pay it off - mail a certified check, etc.

My last two car purchases required a bank check. I can understand that since there are many tales of dealers getting bad personal checks and losing cars.

The cash thing is probably so they don’t get robbed on the way to the bank.

What a world.

I used cash for almost all my regular purchases. During the pandemic I accumulated quite a bit just in case. Now I have a sock drawer full and I’m reluctant to put it in the bank because of the anticipated hassle and form 8300.

I feel your pain, though I doubt you would be in any trouble if the revenuers came a knocking. They aren't looking for a tomato salesman.

I've just been paying cash for things I have done around the house, such as water heaters, tree trimming, new patio door (coming up), etc. Unbelievably, they still take cash and seem happy about it.

kyfdx

tjc78 said:

@28firefighter said:

@tjc78 said:

@28firefighter said:

So, let me get this straight, people buy property nested behind another parcel. They buy it WITHOUT a clearly documented easement (on the title for both properties) granting them access to the driveway across this individual's property...then put it on AirBnB without telling the driveway owner....and are surprised that landowner put up a fence to stop it?

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

I agree with your statement 100%. What I want to know is why the township allowed it. This house is now a safety issue. What if an ambulance needs access quickly ?

I can’t say what would happen today, but I can tell you with 100% certainty a fence wouldn’t have stopped us if it was the only means of ingress.

This is going to end up with the cottage owners paying a hefty sum to the driveway owner for an easement. Probably more than the cottage is worth.

Without question. Only way out of this one is to pay. Wonder if there was any non-disclosure from the original seller. Can’t imagine any realtor not guiding their buyer either away from this or suggesting the easement route from the start.

Considering the cost of that fence, I doubt there is any amount of money that guy would take to give the current owner an easement. He doesn't want a party house, next door.

The only way the guy can sell is if he can get the buyer to negotiate an easement before purchase.

oldfarmer50

driver100 said:

tjc78 said:

@28firefighter said:

@tjc78 said:

@28firefighter said:

So, let me get this straight, people buy property nested behind another parcel. They buy it WITHOUT a clearly documented easement (on the title for both properties) granting them access to the driveway across this individual's property...then put it on AirBnB without telling the driveway owner....and are surprised that landowner put up a fence to stop it?

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

I agree with your statement 100%. What I want to know is why the township allowed it. This house is now a safety issue. What if an ambulance needs access quickly ?

I can’t say what would happen today, but I can tell you with 100% certainty a fence wouldn’t have stopped us if it was the only means of ingress.

This is going to end up with the cottage owners paying a hefty sum to the driveway owner for an easement. Probably more than the cottage is worth.

Without question. Only way out of this one is to pay. Wonder if there was any non-disclosure from the original seller. Can’t imagine any realtor not guiding their buyer either away from this or suggesting the easement route from the start.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The guy who sold the house says all the details about the private road were in the sales agreement. He says he has let people use his private road because there were no problems, he did it out of kindness. The county can't do anything about a private road. The buyer of the house says his investment is worth nothing and he won't be able to pay for it if he can't have access and rent it out .

Just a guess but the details were probably in the agreement, and everyone thought the private road would never be a problem. The realtor probably mentioned it, but the new owner probably didn't want to hear about it...so let it go.

I’d sue the lawyer who represented the buyer. Isn’t that what you’re paying him/her to look out for?

oldfarmer50

Michaell said:

oldfarmer50 said:

venture said:

ab348 said:

When I bought my current ATS, I expected to be able to do the same thing I did at that same dealership the previous 2 times I had bought a new car there - give them a cheque for my down payment. But nooooo, not this time. They had changed their policies and required a certified cheque or bank draft. I was not happy that they didn't mention that earlier. I said maybe I should just go get cash, and they said they wouldn't accept that either. I don't know whether to blame the dealership or the government.

Weird.

When I bought this BMW in January I gave them $5,000 in cash (all they would take), put $5,000 on a cash back credit card (all they would take), and gave them a check for $5,000.

I just checked with BMW Financial Services to find out if there is a limit on how much I can pay every month. It's $7,500. I wonder why? I also found out it's a bit of a pain to pay it off - mail a certified check, etc.

My last two car purchases required a bank check. I can understand that since there are many tales of dealers getting bad personal checks and losing cars.

The cash thing is probably so they don’t get robbed on the way to the bank.

What a world.

I used cash for almost all my regular purchases. During the pandemic I accumulated quite a bit just in case. Now I have a sock drawer full and I’m reluctant to put it in the bank because of the anticipated hassle and form 8300.

You should at least invest in a safe. My folks had one for cash, other important valuables, and documents.

Not a bad idea but if I did get a safe I’d get one like this:

ab348

My neighbor Ralph is a good guy who lives alone now after his wife died some years ago. He has a daughter who visits him occasionally and this weekend was one of those times. She drives a newish Honda Pilot. I saw her there yesterday afternoon standing behind it at the end of the driveway talking on her cellphone for some time, seemed odd but didn't think anything more of it. This morning I heard the rattle of a diesel engine outside bright and early and I look out to see a rollback truck had been summoned. As I watched the process I saw that the Pilot was incapacitated. It would start, but the front wheels were locked up solid like the transmission was stuck in Park. The tow guy used some sort of sliding pads under the front tires to move it out of its spot and onto the deck of the truck. Hope it is still under warranty.

snakeweasel

Two days later, he gets back to me. The electronic copy of the check had been refused by the credit union, because the account number was wrong. It seems the scanner used by the IRS was so bad that it read the account number on the check incorrectly. Hard to believe, but true. Those funny looking numbers on the bottom of the check are written in a font that is optimized for machine reading, not human reading, and yet their scanner failed. The failed transaction was not tied to my account at the credit union, as those electronic transactions do not include a name, only the account number.

I don't know if this still holds true (probably not) but those funny looking numbers used to be printed using magnetic ink which I understood was how the early scanners were able to read them. I suppose now OCR has advanced beyond that.

It still holds true. Magnetic ink allows the scanner to read the numbers even if there is writing over the numbers. It also detects fraud as an machine would reject photocopies of checks.

snakeweasel

That reminds me....one of my tennis buddies just sold his boat.....for $40000. He got a down payment so far $5000. He is wondering how to make sure he actually gets the rest of the money. He said even certified checks (Canadian spell it cheques) are forged these days. It can take days for the bank to find out the check was phony, and then they take the money back out of your account. He is thinking of having the buyer wire the money into his account, and making sure the bank confirms the money is in his account before the buyer drives away.

That reminds me....one of my tennis buddies just sold his boat.....for $40000. He got a down payment so far $5000. He is wondering how to make sure he actually gets the rest of the money. He said even certified checks (Canadian spell it cheques) are forged these days. It can take days for the bank to find out the check was phony, and then they take the money back out of your account. He is thinking of having the buyer wire the money into his account, and making sure the bank confirms the money is in his account before the buyer drives away.

When I purchased that used work truck, nearly 2 years ago now, that was from an individual. After I drove the truck, and we agreed on the price, I asked him to accompany me to the nearest branch of Chase bank. Which was easy, as they have branches everywhere, at least in this part of the country. There, I had the teller prepare a cashier's check, payable to him, and hand it to him. Hard not to trust a cashier's check, prepared in your presence, by a bank teller inside the branch bank.

That’s what I would do for any transaction over $5k. I wouldn’t want to handle much more cash than that.

And you're going to be treated like a suspected drug dealer if you show up at the bank or credit union with a huge wad of cash. That happened to me about 10 years ago when I sold a used car for $8k in cash. And this was at the credit union, where I had known the teller personally for several years. She was polite, and apologized for the necessity, but the law required her to take my picture before allowing me to deposit the cash.

That doesn't sound right. I would like to see that law. There is paperwork that they have to legally fill out if it's 10K or more but not for less.

stickguy

my wife got caught in that paperwork issue once. When my son was in HS I was treasurer for the marching band parents association. We had an annual band competition that made us a lot of money (our big fundraiser) but that was pretty much all cash, that I ended up taking home Saturday night to count and get a deposit ready. For some reason I was not going to be home the next day (sunday) when TD bank was open so I sent her with it. But, it was over 10k so triggered the reporting, and IIRC since her name was not on the account they would not even take it from her.

I think I had to go do it Monday, after setting some aside for next time we needed cash (it was just over) to avoid the reporting when I deposited $9,800 instead.

snakeweasel

@28firefighter said:
So, let me get this straight, people buy property nested behind another parcel. They buy it WITHOUT a clearly documented easement (on the title for both properties) granting them access to the driveway across this individual's property...then put it on AirBnB without telling the driveway owner....and are surprised that landowner put up a fence to stop it?

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

————————————————
If the court finds in favor of the fence builder (which sounds likely), that guy could pick up a piece of lake front property at a very lowball price.

Like we’ve all heard before, “they ain’t making anymore usable lake front property”.

jmonroe

Depending on the situation and laws you might have a easement by perscrition situation there allowing the owner of the beach house use of the driveway.

snakeweasel

When I bought my current ATS, I expected to be able to do the same thing I did at that same dealership the previous 2 times I had bought a new car there - give them a cheque for my down payment. But nooooo, not this time. They had changed their policies and required a certified cheque or bank draft. I was not happy that they didn't mention that earlier. I said maybe I should just go get cash, and they said they wouldn't accept that either. I don't know whether to blame the dealership or the government.

Weird. When I bought this BMW in January I gave them $5,000 in cash (all they would take), put $5,000 on a cash back credit card (all they would take), and gave them a check for $5,000. I just checked with BMW Financial Services to find out if there is a limit on how much I can pay every month. It's $7,500. I wonder why? I also found out it's a bit of a pain to pay it off - mail a certified check, etc.

I would think that unless that $7,500 limit is in your finance contract they can't legally enforce that limit. And what if you want to pay off the loan?

venture

snakeweasel said:

When I bought my current ATS, I expected to be able to do the same thing I did at that same dealership the previous 2 times I had bought a new car there - give them a cheque for my down payment. But nooooo, not this time. They had changed their policies and required a certified cheque or bank draft. I was not happy that they didn't mention that earlier. I said maybe I should just go get cash, and they said they wouldn't accept that either. I don't know whether to blame the dealership or the government.

Weird.

When I bought this BMW in January I gave them $5,000 in cash (all they would take), put $5,000 on a cash back credit card (all they would take), and gave them a check for $5,000.

I just checked with BMW Financial Services to find out if there is a limit on how much I can pay every month. It's $7,500. I wonder why? I also found out it's a bit of a pain to pay it off - mail a certified check, etc.

I would think that unless that $7,500 limit is in your finance contract they can't legally enforce that limit. And what if you want to pay off the loan?

I'm not sure what's in the contract. I didn't look at that part. Not a big deal though. I can pay with my normal Bill Payer thingamabob on my credit union site.

You can pay it off early, but you have to print out the paperwork on their web site and mail it with a certified check.

Being the weirdo that I am, I'm thinking about getting it down to a few dollars and then getting a certified check and mailing it. That would take 2 months. I can wait.

venture

snakeweasel said:

That reminds me....one of my tennis buddies just sold his boat.....for $40000.
He got a down payment so far $5000.
He is wondering how to make sure he actually gets the rest of the money.
He said even certified checks (Canadian spell it cheques) are forged these days. It can take days for the bank to find out the check was phony, and then they take the money back out of your account.
He is thinking of having the buyer wire the money into his account, and making sure the bank confirms the money is in his account before the buyer drives away.

That reminds me....one of my tennis buddies just sold his boat.....for $40000.
He got a down payment so far $5000.
He is wondering how to make sure he actually gets the rest of the money.
He said even certified checks (Canadian spell it cheques) are forged these days. It can take days for the bank to find out the check was phony, and then they take the money back out of your account.
He is thinking of having the buyer wire the money into his account, and making sure the bank confirms the money is in his account before the buyer drives away.

When I purchased that used work truck, nearly 2 years ago now, that was from an individual. After I drove the truck, and we agreed on the price, I asked him to accompany me to the nearest branch of Chase bank. Which was easy, as they have branches everywhere, at least in this part of the country. There, I had the teller prepare a cashier's check, payable to him, and hand it to him.

Hard not to trust a cashier's check, prepared in your presence, by a bank teller inside the branch bank.

That’s what I would do for any transaction over $5k. I wouldn’t want to handle much more cash than that.


And you're going to be treated like a suspected drug dealer if you show up at the bank or credit union with a huge wad of cash. That happened to me about 10 years ago when I sold a used car for $8k in cash. And this was at the credit union, where I had known the teller personally for several years. She was polite, and apologized for the necessity, but the law required her to take my picture before allowing me to deposit the cash.

That doesn't sound right. I would like to see that law. There is paperwork that they have to legally fill out if it's 10K or more but not for less.

***
I seem to remember that it was $5000 at one time. I also think it doesn't have to be $10,000. It could be less, but if the bank has a suspicion, they can fill out the form.

venture

stickguy said:

my wife got caught in that paperwork issue once. When my son was in HS I was treasurer for the marching band parents association. We had an annual band competition that made us a lot of money (our big fundraiser) but that was pretty much all cash, that I ended up taking home Saturday night to count and get a deposit ready. For some reason I was not going to be home the next day (sunday) when TD bank was open so I sent her with it. But, it was over 10k so triggered the reporting, and IIRC since her name was not on the account they would not even take it from her.

I think I had to go do it Monday, after setting some aside for next time we needed cash (it was just over) to avoid the reporting when I deposited $9,800 instead.

***
One time I was depositing money into my nonprofits' account. The young lady insisted that I had to sign the deposit slip. I did, but I also said that I don't care who deposits money, I just care who takes money out. The irony eluded her.

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

my wife got caught in that paperwork issue once. When my son was in HS I was treasurer for the marching band parents association. We had an annual band competition that made us a lot of money (our big fundraiser) but that was pretty much all cash, that I ended up taking home Saturday night to count and get a deposit ready. For some reason I was not going to be home the next day (sunday) when TD bank was open so I sent her with it. But, it was over 10k so triggered the reporting, and IIRC since her name was not on the account they would not even take it from her.

I think I had to go do it Monday, after setting some aside for next time we needed cash (it was just over) to avoid the reporting when I deposited $9,800 instead.

Be careful of that. They’ll arrest you for “structuring”.

stickguy

Discussed with the wife about taking our cash and paying everything off (house and RDX) and trying the debt free lifestyle. Though to be comfortable my maverick money has to go into the pot, meaning I would need to find a relatively inexpensive spare car (preferably a truck). Which is where the plan pretty much fell apart.

Finding a good used car buy, especially in the rust belt, is probably impossible these days.

sb55

stickguy said:

Discussed with the wife about taking our cash and paying everything off (house and RDX) and trying the debt free lifestyle. Though to be comfortable my maverick money has to go into the pot, meaning I would need to find a relatively inexpensive spare car (preferably a truck). Which is where the plan pretty much fell apart.

Finding a good used car buy, especially in the rust belt, is probably impossible these days.

Dave Ramsey would be proud of your debt free lifestyle

sda

I wasn’t ready to replace the tires on the Passat and thought I might get a couple more months out of them but I received a 25% off offer plus multiple rebates that I was eligible for made for solid savings. I replaced at 36k the Bridgestone RE97s that came originally on the car with Good Year ComfortDrive which received positive test results and customer feed back per Tire Rack. They do seem quieter, track and ride well as they should being new. The Bridgestones were wearing evenly and overall were decent tires. They had around 3-4/32 at replacement..you can see the wear bar just starting to show. The new tires have 11/32. Still money I didn’t want to spend.

kyfdx

stickguy said:

Discussed with the wife about taking our cash and paying everything off (house and RDX) and trying the debt free lifestyle. Though to be comfortable my maverick money has to go into the pot, meaning I would need to find a relatively inexpensive spare car (preferably a truck). Which is where the plan pretty much fell apart.

Finding a good used car buy, especially in the rust belt, is probably impossible these days.

What is your rate on the mortgage?

sda

As a preventive measure I had a 4 wheel alignment done at the same time the new tires were installed.

henryn

My experience with depositing cash involved $8k, definitely well under 10k. My limited knowledge in that area said that the cutoff point was at 10k, and I asked the teller. She said the laws changed after 9/11. I asked her what the new limit was, and she hemmed and hawed and never answered. This was all about 10 years ago, things very well may have changed again since then.

On the subject of being debt free, that was one thing I was determined to do before I retired. I was carrying quite a bit of debt when my only son graduated college in 1994. Starting then, my (ex)wife and I worked off all our debt with the exception of car payments and mortgage. And we (mostly) managed to stay that way, with the occasional exception of some large expenditures (new A/C unit for the house, etc).

And then when I started planning retirement, I wanted to be 100% debt free. And I did do so. I do use a credit card for convenience, but everything is paid every month when it comes in. I am getting by quite nicely on my Social Security and the RMD (Required Minimum Distribution). I did have one big expenditure recently, paying cash for that new Silverado. But the majority of those funds were from when I sold the last nearly new truck, almost 2 years ago, for $37.5k.