Anonymous wrote:Thank you for stating the obvious. In general, if you have saved money, and yet you still don't know if or how to buy an appropriate priced real estate, keep renting. Or, simply re-decorate the room you still live in in your parents house.

Or they could go online, start running numbers through calculators, and also ask the opinions on others in an attempt to educate themselves in such financial matters. You know, like what the OP is trying to do. I'd wager that anyone that manages to save $150k is probably already fairly capable of handling their own financial matters, but they can't work in a void. Everyone has to learn sometime.

To the OP, I've found that the best approach is to figure out what mortgage payment you would be comfortable paying each month.(Keep in mind all other expenses and savings when finding this number, since you don't want to end up "house poor") Once you have that number, it is easy to calculate the general ballpark number for a mortgage, based on your down payment and monthly payments. Since that number will be different for everyone, I can't give you any specific advice.

It really depends on the amount of the loan, since that determines how much interest you will pay. If you were staying the full 30 years, of course the 3.5% rate would be better in the long term. The only question is whether it would be better to refinance if you end up having to sell in three years. I did some quick numbers, and it looks like the break-even point is around $300k. Basically, I checked to see which would leave you with more equity in the house three years from now, refinancing or simply applying the $2k you would use for closing costs into a one-time payment on your current mortgage. If the loan is less than $300k, then you are better off just paying towards your current mortgage. If it is more than that, you start seeing better returns on refinancing instead.

If you have a decent mortgage broker, they should be able to sit down with you and run specific numbers to tell you exactly what the difference would be three years from now, five years, etc., so you can get a better idea of the long term results of the refinance. That's what I suggest you do, since I'm using several estimates and assumptions that may or may not be accurate.(For instance, if you make more than the minimum loan payment, it will change the break-even point) I wouldn't focus on the actual interest(You aren't really adding interest, since the lower rate will more than cancel out an extra year in the long run). Instead, just focus on the amount of equity you will build up. That's all that will really matter when it comes time to make a decision.

I think this webpage covers most of the information that you are looking for, in case you haven't seen it. I'd refer to the contact numbers there for further information and questions as well.

http://dcra.dc.gov/DC/DCRA/For+Business/Apply+for+a+Business+License/Residential+Housing+Rental+License+Information/Get+a+One+Family+Rental+License

I just had my house appraised about two weeks ago, and I didn't do anything special to prepare the house. I did have a list of the updates we had done, and also, at his request, a copy of the lot survey from when we initially purchased the house. I didn't do any special cleaning, and I think most appraisers are going to be more concerned with the overall condition of the home, not how shiny the counters are.

It can be done with just a person's name and date of birth. The SS number isn't required.

Most of the newer web development projects I see starting up are using Java(Or Java-based platforms), PHP, or some of other free frameworks available. If I were you, I would focus more on Java for now, particularly since that has a lot of similarities to C#.(At least it did several years ago when I taught myself a little C#) I don't see nearly as many .NET projects starting, although there are still a decent number of existing/ongoing projects utilizing it. As for languages in general, you can't really go wrong with either C++ or Java, considering how widely they are both still used. And as long as you understand the basic underlying principles of software development, it usually isn't that hard to switch from one language to another.(I've worked extensively with both)

As for work, most of my experience has been on the government contracting side, and I'm not sure how someone would get started there.(I came from a military background, which is how I did it)

USAA does have a physical location at Pentagon Row in Arlington, https://www.usaa.com/inet/ent_blogs/Blogs?action=blogpost&blogkey=newsroom&postkey=pentagon_financial_center, which allows you to deposit cash, obtain certified checks, etc. I've been there once, to obtain something I needed to close on my current home. Before that office opened, they would usually overnight anything I needed that I would normally have obtained from a physical location. We've been using their banking services for several years now, and we love the convenience of it, particularly their online presence and customer service.

We've used some other credit unions in the past, usually for car loans, so I would recommend always checking whatever banks you are eligible for when seeking those items. But for just normal checking/saving/investing accounts, I'll probably be sticking with USAA.

If you happen to have a Verizon Fios router using your coax lines, you can use an ethernet-to-coax adapter in any room that has a cable jack.(http://www.amazon.com/Actiontec-Ethernet-Adapter-Service-ECB2500C/dp/B008C1JC4O/ref=dp_ob_title_ce) There's no setup involved(Just plug it in and it works), and the speeds are faster than wireless. I used one to provide connectivity to everything in my entertainment center. If you don't have Verizon, they have paired adapters that you should be able to use on any coax cables, but I don't have any experience with those.

The movie was actually loosely based on a true story, so it has happened. It is very rare though. Oh, and one word of advice, don't watch the sequel, "Open Water 2", which was terrible, IMHO.

Probably just a screw up. I've had numerous packages coming to me delivered to the wrong addresses, neighbor addresses, and sometimes just mixed in with a larger stack of packages going somewhere else.(By UPS, FedEx, and USPS) I've also received several packages meant for other people.(I would usually call which ever company delivered it, and they would come pick it up, if it wasn't a nearby neighbor) It will probably turn up eventually, but I'd let the shipping company deal with it and not worry about it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP here. One more thing, make sure he keeps his clearances active.

How do you keep clearances active as an unemployed retiree? I thought you had an obligation to cancel your clearance as soon as you separated from service?

You don't cancel a clearance. It just goes inactive when you leave the service.(Or any job that requires it) However, there is a two year window in which it can be re-activated if you start a new job that requires it. All he needs to do is make sure that he's not due for a renewal, which is on a periodic schedule based on his clearance level. If that is due before the two year window expires, his clearance would expire earlier.

To the OP, I would suggest both pursuing advice(And leads) from any friends in the industry, as well as the suggestions on LinkedIn and other job sites. Given the qualifications you mentioned, he should have no trouble finding work.

Anonymous wrote:Why should the school's reputation suffer because the president was fired?

Because there is a large, often bitter argument being played out in a public forum, involving the board, faculty, students, etc. No matter which side you come down on, if either, it doesn't portray the type of image that UVA would like to project. I doubt this will seriously harm them in the long run, but it is definitely detracting from the school's reputation in the short term.

Of course, in the same article, they frequently refer to it using terms such as "child rape case", "sexual abuse"(Those two terms were on CNN's front page), molestation, etc. I'm not sure why you picked that one particular phrase, which was only used once, out of the lengthy article to complain about, while ignoring the rest of the article, and I would hardly see that as evidence of how they characterized the events. From my reading of the article, it seems like the author was attempting to characterize Sandusky as a manipulative predator, particularly in the last half. That sounds fairly accurate to me.

I can usually manage a list of items without missing anything. We do have a rule that if there are more than two items, the list must be written down though. That way, I don't have to do it from memory.(Which never ended well) Since I know I'm the one who will likely have to make a last-minute grocery run if we're missing an ingredient for dinner, I have a lot of incentive to get everything.

Anonymous wrote:Even if the guise was due to "women owned" businesses and personal relationships?

If personnel or contractors are being hired using "personal relationships" as a justification, then there are all sorts of conflict-of-interest issues going on that go way beyond gender. That should be reported immediately as an ethics violation. As for the "women owned" part, that gets into a whole slew of government contracting regulations that I'm not even going to attempt to try to understand. I can state that there are generally very specific procedures and rules that must be followed though, and that's what gets a lot of people in trouble.