Lipps... 2 Q's

Lipps- I have 2 questions for you. 1 tech and 1 real estate.

I have a 61" RCA DLP TV. I noticed last week that up in the top left corner of the screen, there is a triangle, equivalent to a small slice of pizza, where the picture is much darker then the rest of the screen. I wouldn't call it black, because you can still see the picture, and colors behind it, but its is much much darker than it should be. You may have no idea, but I was just asking for a generic diagnosis, if you had one. I thought it may be something to do with the mirrors, but I have no idea.

As for my other question, I would like your opinion on real estate here at the beach. I know we are in a buyers market, and what are your thoughts on how things will be in the near future. As I am in the market for a new home in a 6-8 month time frame, do you expect any major movements either way? I know that the market is so saturated now, so I think prices may drop even a little more. Also, if you have an opinion on buying at Pre-construction prices, or would existing homes be a little cheaper in the same neighborhood?

And on that note, are there any communities that you would recommend visiting? I'm very interested in the Berkshire Forest area, by River Oaks, as I love how it is set up, and looks very suburban, nice brick, and nice landscaping, like in the north. I'm disgusted with the CF area, with all the houses on top of each other, and the cheapness. I loved The Gates down in Surfside, but its almost out of my price range which is Mid 200's, max. I would prefer to stay south of 501, as I have close friends that live in Pawleys, but I am more than willing to listen to anything you throw out.

Lipps -

Thanks so much for taking the time to respond. I believe it is a rear projection. Here is a link that shows the model # and any other relative information you may need.

My email is in my profile, so if you would like to add anything else off the record, I would greatly appreciate that. It would be great to pick your brain about the area real estate in private conversation.

I have copied and pasted your response to read again later, but the woman is trying to drag me out the door so we can get down to Brookgreen Gardens and enjoy the evening.

Feel free to delete this thread, if you would like. I look forward to talking more off the record.

Thank you so much, I appreciate everything more than you know.

Oops, heres the link

That's very interesting to hear.

Just curious as to what you know about foreclosures around here. Is it easy to get your hands on a nice house, or is it harder than most think?

Ok Lipps, my TV is basically shot. I took it apart, and found that the mirror tunnel, inside the light engine, has became junk. The mirrors were held together with glue, and it has since melted and the mirrors shifted, causing the triangle in the corner.

I spoke with a very helpful guy in Florence. He's an RCA certified tech and said this part is not available, except for a total replacement of the light engine. The part is ~$700, with a flat rate install fee of $150. I'm going to need a new lamp so figure in another $250 or so. So we're looking at a  AT LEAST $1100 to fix this damn thing, plus a drive out to Florence to drop it off, and another ride to pick it up. He also said that this part will fail again in roughly the same time frame, just because its what they do. So if I fix it, in < 3 years I'll be looking at the same thing.

I'm thinking I just need to go ahead and buy a new TV.  61" is wayyy too big for my current apartment, and even if I get a new house, I still wouldn't have a big enough living room to hold that. Obviously my youth let me down a few years ago when I bought it.

I'm thinking about getting a plasma in the 45"-50"ish range. Is that what you would recommend? I think DLP's are a no go for me anymore, since lamps don't last, and the trouble I've had with this one so far. I read that LCD's aren't that good for watching sports on because of the delays and whatnot. So is plasma the way to go? I'm 95% sure that I will be making the purchase at Best Buy or Circuit City so I can get at least a 4 year extended warranty. Any recommendations as to which store to go to for that?

Oh yea, and for the housing update, I believe we have decided on the Berkshire Forest community. I will know more at the end of the month for sure. But will all of the incentives they are offering, its really hard to pass up.  We're pretty set on the detached townhomes. We own the house and land, and the irrigation, landscaping, and yard maintenance is included in the POA's. They are a little lofty @ $160 per month, but they are applying $3k towards those.

We'll be living in a "lower end" house for the development, ours will be about $235k or so, so that should keep most of the riff-raft out. Let me know if you've heard anything else that could be beneficial.

Thanks man.

Ok Lipps, time for another session of "Tutor Hoopsstar." 

What am I going to be looking at for taxes on a $250k house? Just a general estimate. I'm thinking about $2000 for the year, would be a nice and high estimate.

Also, what about insurance? Since it is west of the Waterway, I'm thinking about $1500 would be a high guess?

The guy from Centex told me it was about $1200 on his $300k house in the same development, so I'm thinking $1500 would be a good overestimate? Do those numbers sound decent?

Also, what do you know, if anything, about PMI insurance when you don't put at least 20% down?

As always, thanks for all the help.