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Posted by ellice on September 13, 2008, 7:59 pm
> Jangchub wrote:
>> There is this ad on Craig's list (thank you Karen for the heads up).
>> Please take a look at these and let me know which is the best and if
>> the price is okay.
>>
>> http://austin.craigslist.org/hsh/827517746.html
>>
>> Victoria
>
>
> I don't know anything about the Touch and Sew Range, but I'd assume the
> 755 would be the most recent. My own opinion is STAY AWAY from
> computerised machines. They're just a pain. If something goes wrong, you
> need a computer technician to repair them and a simple magnet can do
> them in!
>
I had a Singer of about the same era as those shown - not the computerized.
And sold it about 9 years ago for $75 to a neighbor. It worked fine, is
good for basic sewing, zig-zags, etc. I'd stay away from the Athena - first
computerized. But, the 755 or 646 should be good for your purposes.
That said, I have a Bernina QE 155, which is computerized. But, it is not
meant for doing all kinds of big embroidery stuff. I have never, ever had a
problem with it - in nearly 10 years, and it is pretty sweet to be able to
change stitches quickly. More, changing the details of a stitch with the
computer controls is quick and makes trying things simple. I did
immediately notice the difference in machine motor power, control with the
Bernina as compared to my then 20+ year old Singer. IME, and my various
sewing friends, I'd never go to a "cheap" computerized machine. It's the
guts of the machine that makes the difference in its working, and this has
been really reliable.
> I was lucky enough to get a rather grand secondhand Brother machine very
> cheaply: it's computerised and has eleventy-splodgett stitches, but I
> really only use the straight stitch and the zig zag. On two occasions, I
> used the built-in alphabets to put ID tags on kid's Scout messkits. On a
> few occasions, I've used the three-step zig zag to hem dancewear and
> swimwear. Unless you're going to be sewing a lot of lycra or elastane,
> you really don't need the fancy stitches at all. Most of our ballet Mums
> could make perfectly good leotards and tutus with simple zig zag
> stitching anyway.
>
> Bottom line is, my ancient Singer workhorse (I think it was a 338) is
> thirty years old and goes like a rhino. It's *much* less temperamental
> than the Brother and all the parts are metal, so they'll last a lot
> longer than the plastic parts in a modern machine. I always advise
> people to go for older machines - they just go and go without missing a
> beat.
Interesting. But, Brother has found a niche with the less pricey
computerized machine, so I'm not surprised it's a bit finicky.
Ellicec
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Posted by ellice on September 15, 2008, 1:48 pm
>
>>
>>> Top posting for brevity.
>>>
>>> Thanks Ellice. I was starting to wonder where you were.
>>
>> You're welcome. Basically, exhausted - new job, lots of time running and on
>> my feet. Constant - almost no breaks - for real. Plus, we're trying to
>> straighten out a big mess with our mortgage - it's pretty catastrophic so
>> almost all my time is spent dealing with working, or paperwork, bank, etc.
>> Tomorrow - hiring a lawyer to deal with this. As we go to the poorhouse.
>>
>> ellice
>
> I am terribly sorry to hear that. I am watching Bank of America
> buying up Merrill Lynch and as the scroll on the screen goes by stocks
> are dropping and dropping and dropping. Now they all want a bail out.
> F them.
Thanks for the sympathy. It's pretty interesting. DC is one of the highest
housing markets in the country - for real. And it's significantly
expensive. When we closed on this house, it was close to the peak - and our
prior house sale had just fallen through. Long story - we're actually
preparing to sue the builders. But, in the meantime, the builders owe use
$$, and then eventually will give us a settlement - we're sure. Prices went
up about 2 more months, then levelled, then dropped. So, right now the
house appraisal will likely be about 15% less than the original one. But,
in our area, none of these larger houses (ours through the MacMansions) have
sold. Several of the smaller houses in the neighboring sections of our
development ohave, but they're about $100 K less, so we're a bit worried
about the appraisal for the refi. We ended up with not the mortgage we
preferred, though thankfully not a sub-prime, ARM. However, we're tied with
a co-signer and really needed for me to have steady income to justify us
refiing and losing the co-signer. Fortunately, even in the bad situation
we still had put nearly 30% down. But, again, we're in an area that the
changing limits WRT FHA/conventional loan limits for jumbos really matters.
It used to be $417 K, now it's $729K, and will go down to about $680 K on
Jan 1. It sounds very high to people in most of the country. But, if you
live in areas like So Cal, NY, or here - it's been really important. Even
with prices down, just barely starting to creep back - nice townhouses are
$400-500 K, and single families - not huge - say 2000 sg ft - about $530 to
start in good neighborhoods. Smaller house, older neighborhood - maybe
$425. So, housing here is easily high, and the new loan limits make it
possible to have an insured loan, so that truly makes a difference.
> The one good thing you have on your side is that the bank or mortage
> company does NOT want that house back. They have millions of houses
> sitting there doing nothing and one by one they are folding under
> their paper boxes.
Absolutely true. That is the conventional wisdom - they'd rather have
payments then deal with a foreclosure. But, for us - the truth is that a
sale would still likely bring the bank much more than our mortgage - since
we had such a large downpayment. But, I did just spend and hour
renegotiating, and I think it's all going to work out. Assuming no more
catastrophes. Too much stress - that's for sure.
Saturday we went to a seminar put on by a friend that is a big time realtor.
It was aimed at people interested in taking advantage of the foreclosure
market. But, he knows a bit of our situation, and had arranged for us to
speak with a couple of the speakers for some advice, connections for help.
The first speaker was a research, investor guy from Morgan Stanley. Gave an
excellent explanation of the situation at Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, how the
gov conservatorship will work, with some details. Very worthwhile - to
understand better. Our neighbor is the VP of acctng systems at Sallie Mae,
and we get some interesting conversations. Anyhow, the Fed's
conservatorship evidently has already had some positive effects, and looks
to stabilise the mortgage and financing industry - which does help
consumers. The next guy is a Real Estate lawyer, who is also partners in a
title firm. And spoke very well. We talked with him after, and his partner
works with people in our situation - so we're hoping he'll be able to help
us. My cousin in NJ - an attorney - said it would be worth the money to
have a local VA attorney at the least write a letter for us, do some
interceding. Finally, they had a finanve/mortgage guy. Plenty more info on
the loan limits currently, what changes in 2009, and how the limits,
percentages, etc are working. So we actually had a meeting with him after,
which gives us a way to work out our refi, besides our credit union.
> Chin up.
Thanks, we're trying.
> Victoria
Ellice
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