u/MechEngineer232

I went to my first open house last month on a home that was listed at $115,000, when I got there I asked if there were any offers after I looked around, and she said they were already around $40,000 over, I think the home went for around $70k over asking, very discouraging. I’ve also talked with a bunch of people who’ve bought homes who had this problem as well. Some I know who bought their homes from an auction, which they used someone I know to buy it initially, and in turn they buy it from him with the mortgage.

Context: 27M, married w/7 month old, single income, Western NY, $80k income. No debt, $10k saved atm, which has taken a while to do. My budget is anything under $150k. With my income, that’s the most I can absolutely do. I’d like to keep my mortgage under $1400/month to leave room for utilities.

I’m looking to put down $5K as a down payment, no idea what to expect for closing costs. I’ve heard anywhere from $1k-$20k, which has made me extremely hesitant to buy. I don’t know how much to save up, I’m aiming for around $15k-$20k.

Anything encouraging would really help, as I’m having a hard time with this. My wife and I would like to own a home, many of our friends do, and it’s hard to watch them own while we rent. One of our friends has his parents pay for the down payment, which I don’t have. Makes me really sad and discouraged. Many of them had a home before the pandemic, so their homes appreciated extremely well, and they used that to buy their homes. I’m really trying to stay patient, but it’s very hard seeing your friends buy homes and while you struggle to even get a decent down payment outside your emergency fund.

I’ve considered moving as well. I’m a Mechanical Engineer and could get a job elsewhere, but homes here are cheaper than the median price nationwide.

Currently on my first AI data center project in New York, and my company is seeing a big uptick in data center work across the country.

I’m a Mechanical Project Engineer with 3.5 YOE in MEP and am trying to get a better understanding of the industry from people who work directly in it.

A few questions:
* Are you seeing the same growth in AI data centers, and do you think it’s sustainable long term?
* How concerned should communities be about the amount of water these facilities use?
* Is there any realistic risk of water contamination from cooling systems or treatment chemicals, and have these concerns affected your projects?

I’m also trying to separate fact from fiction. I’m still very new to these data centers and just genuinely curious. There’s a lot of information online claiming data centers are contaminating water, ruining people’s homes and communities, or causing major environmental problems. I’m not looking to argue either side, I genuinely want to hear from people with firsthand experience and better understand what concerns are legitimate and what may be misconceptions. My first thought is that this is extremely overblown and that they are taking the few bad places where there are issues and saying that this is what happens everywhere.

We will have a week off and are 8-0 in the playoffs. Great start. However, the Spurs are a totally different beast. Wemby is a huge game changer, I don’t like him, especially after the ethical basketball comment he made to spite the Thunder. However he’s an unbelievable force and a great player.

The Spurs have the perfect team to compete with the Thunder. They’re quick, got 3 great guards in Castle, Fox, and Harper. All of them can hang with our guards, and get to the rim with the best of them. Vassel and Champagnie are great 3 & D role players. Wemby is Wemby. Truly a generational talent. Barnes, Kornet, Bryant and Johnson are all solid players as well off the bench that all provide good minutes. This Spurs team is playing like they have been here before, and a lot of that has to do with their culture and coaching. They’re a great organization, there’s a reason they’ve won 5 NBA championships and went to the playoffs for 22 straight seasons.

If Jalen Williams can come back and take some of the load off SGA, and the supporting cast can hang defensively with their guards, and the Thunder as a whole limit Wemby on offense, I can see the Thunder beating the Spurs. We’re deeper, and we offer more versatility when it comes to our bench. Jaylin Williams can stretch the floor, Kornet can’t for example.

However, I believe this series all comes down to how we stop/handle Wemby. He can change the offensive strategy of their opponents like no one else I’ve ever seen, as well as the defensive strategy. I can see us ultimately winning this series, but I’m definitely not as confident as I was vs Phoenix and LA. I can see us losing this series as well. We played great against them the one time we beat them in the regular season, and if we can keep that same game plan we can do it.

Definitely looking forward to this series (pending if they beat Minnesota). Haven’t wanted to see the Thunder beat a team in the playoffs so bad since the OKC-GSW series.

Our family got a Walmart Plus subscription back in January because we were trying to make life a little easier. Since then, it has honestly been one of the most useful subscriptions we’ve had.

The biggest benefit has been the free grocery delivery and free shipping. Since we have a new baby, it’s made my wife’s life so much easier. My wife is able to do our grocery shopping right from her phone and have everything delivered to our home, which saves her from having to spend hours going out shopping with a newborn.

We also upgraded to the InHome delivery service, which has been another huge benefit for us financially. Since the deliveries are done through Walmart’s InHome service, we don’t have to worry about adding delivery tips to every order. Over the course of the year, that alone saves us more than $400, and only cost us $40 to add this service, which has made a real difference for our family budget.

Another huge help has been the convenience. Between work, family responsibilities, and trying to manage our finances wisely, being able to order groceries and household items quickly has reduced a lot of stress. We can compare prices easily, stick to a list, and schedule deliveries around our work schedules.

We’ve also really enjoyed some of the extra membership perks. The included subscription to Peacock has been a nice bonus for entertainment at home without needing to pay for another separate streaming service. I’m a basketball fan, and since some games are streamed on Peacock, it’s been nice to get access to watch those games. The 25% off Burger King digital orders has also been nice whenever we go to eat there.

Overall, I’d recommend it if you think you’ll use the delivery feature.

Idk about that offensive foul on SGA. I just thought it was a good move to try to get away from Austin Reaves, but to upgrade that to a fragrant one I thought was a little over the top. Yes, Austin Reaves did get hurt, but he put his hands where SGA could hook him.

Been a Thunder fan since I was 13, never liked the Knicks. Grew up on Westbrook and Durant, stuck with them thru thick and thin. Never liked the Knicks. Couldn’t do it. I love the small market OKC.

LET’S DO THIS. THUNDER UP!!!