Home buying questions I should know, but I don't

We've been in the same house 20 years, and we're thinking about selling and upgrading. Since it's been so long,I have a few questions:

1. I currently have a mortgage, but we only owe $25k on the mortgage. I didn't pay it off early because it's 2.75%.

2. I'll have enough saved that once we sell our house, we won't need a mortgage for the new house. The new house will be a new model.

What does this process look like? Do we make a contingent offer on the house based on the potential sale of our current property? How long do these go for? Do builders usually go along with these contingent offers? Do i need to put any money down?

Since I won't be getting a mortgage, do I need an assessment? Anything else I can skip out on?

What are people paying to move these days? From one DSM suburb to another, 2,500 sqft house, etc.. Movers you would recommend?

Anything else I should be aware of.

Not a question, but my god the Des Moines metro has high property taxes.
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Kickin’ It with Bret Culbertson and Michael Brandtner: Cy-Hawk, life as a specialist, and more

Grant Mahoney rides solo as he welcomes on Cyclone Legend Bret Culbertson to discuss his ISU journey and the infamous Shaggy game before welcoming on fellow Cyclone Legend Michael Brandtner to talk through the McCarney-Chizik-Rhoads eras and more. Presented by Kelderman Manufacturing.


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***Official St. Louis Cardinals Thread***

Gonna get this started since I don’t think anybody’s made one since last year. Interested to hear thoughts on the direction the organization is going in.

They want to focus on getting youth playing time and they’ve kind of took steps toward that but they’ve also haven’t. They still have Matz and Mikolas taking rotation spots (although I think Matz will be in the bullpen). Gray and Contreras were approached to see if they wanted to be traded and they want to stay. Helsley and Fedde have been held onto. Goldy not resigned, Arenado trade rumors are ramping up again. Contreras move to 1B allows Herrera and Pages to be the tandem at C. The hold up that in my opinion needs to happen is the Arenado trade. There’s a snowball effect of that move to get more young guys time. It allows Gorman to get the 600 at bats the organization wants at his natural position, Donavan everyday 2B, Nootbaar in LF (better corner outfielder than CF), mix between Scott/Siani in CF, and Walker everyday at bats in RF, Burleson a split between 1B/DH/OF, Saggese regular at bats. As far as pitchers go, McGreevy needs to be given 150+ innings as a starter (which is why I think Matz will be in the bullpen). We’ll see Quinn Matthews early this year too if he continues to excel in AAA. Tink Hence, health willing, will see time at the end of the year. So they’re still kind of still stuck in neutral of this “reset” with Arenado still on the team and when he moves then I think they’re headed in the direction they want. This year is all about seeing what these young guys have and if it’s something Chain Bloom can build on right away or he has a lot of work to do.

RV village parking passes

Anyone know the best way to try and get an RV village parking pass on the secondary market? I tried getting a pass of my own through Cy Club but they were sold out.

Or if someone has one they are looking to sell for a single game, LMK. I’d prefer a game besides the rivalry game because that’s a little too intense for my RV tailgating preferences.

Thanks!

Cyclones in Madden & NBA 2K

Well now that we're full swing of the off-season with the NBA Finals now concluded I've been doing research to keep me busy...my latest? Finding every former Cyclone to be included in the Madden Franchise and the NBA 2K Series. Unfortunately I could not find data for Madden 01 and before. I'm going to include a link the first tab is Madden 2nd is the nba 2k games. Most of the information came from https://maddenratings.weebly.com/madden.html

I hope I found every player but I am human so if I missed one please let me know. Also I've never included a weblink for a Google Doc on this website so let me know if there's any issues. I am adding it as a pdf file but I'm unsure how the tabs work. Anywho here it is!

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Williams & Blum: Hoops roster construction notes, and Baylor fans are mad

Chris Williams & Brent Blum made Baylor fans mad last week, apparently. Plus, Iowa State adds a prep guard to its 2026 basketball roster. The early verdict is positive with Dom Pleta. The guys hypothesize how T.J. Otzelberger is building his roster for the future. Presented by Mechdyne.


The General's terrible anger unleashed

Roaming about topics on the Web, I just now tripped across this. Do Americans today understand we had a Wild Man leading the Revolution?

New Ad Thread

Starting a new thread hoping it will stand out and something will be done. These timed popups and redirects are getting out of control and are making the site completely unusable. Half of the redirects aren't even showing an ad, just a white screen. The only way to get rid of them is reloading the page. I've almost given up posting on threads because half way through typing the page has to be reloaded and the post is lost.

2025 Iowa vs ISU

Things are really starting to shape and I had to do this just to break it down for myself and see if ISU has a chance. I’m putting out both teams best lineup.


125 - Poulin Dec Peterson. Stevo won the h2h at NCAA. 3-0 ISU
133 - Ayala Dec Ortega 3-3
141 - Frost Dec Bailey. Repeat of NCAA. 6-3 ISU
149 - Ech Dec Estrada. 9-3
157 - Caliendo Dec Paniro. 9-6
165 - Kennedy Dec Euton. 9-9
174 - Arnold Dec MJ. 12-9 Iowa
184 - Ferrari maj Dean 16-9 Iowa
197 - Elam Dec Endene 16-12
285 - Bastida Dec Kueter. 16-15

Guys this is going be a tight one. Iowa has more sure things. Hard to see them losing at 57-84. Some of these matchups could get kind of wonky. Let’s hope we get both teams at full strength.

A Cold War Tale (Obituary)

This falls into the TL/DR category... But it's a great true story. Presented in the Obituary, of all things.

Click on the Obituary tab if the link doesn't take you there

A 10-15 minute investment in your time, but I could not recommend it more highly

Sad news to share

This news was broken in a CF mafia thread but I thought it deserved it's own thread for those who might not check the mafia thread.

Last Friday CF member @Farnsworth passed away.

He heavily participated in gaming part of this site but that's far from all he was.

He often pitched ideas to us at On That Note and participated in OTN threads.

But most of all he came to CF for the reason the majority of us are here in that he loved Iowa State.

He was a CF OG as he goes back to 2006. I never got to meet him in person but we had very candid pm conversations which I will treasure.

** Halloween Party Mafia **

Welcome to my Halloween party! Make yourself at home, but I need to ask you for a favor while you’re here. You see, there’s been an influx of troublemakers that have moved into the area. These guys will do anything to make my life a living hell, and I suspect, will try to ruin this party. I suspect they will do their best to blend in and be difficult to detect. I need your help to find them before they destroy the party.
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The party has started, and everyone is having a fantastic time. We’ve got drinking games, Mummy Wrap, and Halloween trivia and more! All of a sudden, the power goes out and panic fills the air. In the midst of all the yelling, sounds of doors slamming and cabinets opening can be heard throughout the place.
However, I was a couple steps ahead. I had a backup generator with local cops on standby in case things got messy. Once the lights come on, the cops appear. I go through the invitation list, and notice there’s way more people here than expected. There are no signs of anyone escaping, so some of these people have to be the troublemakers that moved in. I need to give the cops a list of who broke in, will you help?
Each day, everyone in the party will vote for who they think broke in. That person will be sent to jail. The cops aren’t night people, so at night, things will get a little funky…but hopefully not too funky.


NOTE: Everyone has a costume to differentiate themselves, however, regular innocents do not know what their costume is. Revealed when eliminated.

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Some of you were paying more attention to Cash’s warnings then others, and these people have special roles, listed below. Everyone is town:
Samuel Loomis (Doctor): Heals one person each night (cant be same person back to back nights, preventing them from being attacked. They can only heal themselves one time throughout the game.

Sherlock Holmes
(Investigator): Investigate one person each night.

Hagrid (Jailor): Can send one person to jail for the night.
  • The Jailor can anonymously talk to their prisoner through me. At max of 3 messages a night.
  • The jailor can turn the prisoner in, hence eliminate them.
  • The prisoner can’t perform their night ability, and is safe from all attacks.
    • Anyone targeting the prisoner will be told the prisoner is in jail
  • If prisoner is a target of the mafia, can't pick them the following night.

Dexter Morgan (Vigilante): Must Eliminate one person at night. Wins with town. If hits a town member, gets psychic ability before next kill.

Mewtwo (Psychic): On odd nights, has a vision of 33% of remaining players, at least one will be mafia. On even nights, has a vision of 25% of remaining players, at least one will be town.

Cupid (Matchmaker): Can target one person at a time. They can talk to each other throughout the game. If Cupid’s target dies, Cupid can target another member to talk to.

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Mafia Roles:

The mafia can eliminate one player a night. Rest of mafia not listed below are regular members:
Al Pacino (Godfather): Will appear as a regular innocent to the investigator and psychic reading. He can’t be killed at night.

James Doakes from Dexter (Evil Detective): Mafia detective. Will be told if a member is a special or regular innocent.

Sabrina Spellman (Witch): Each night, pick a player and their action will not occur (doesn't work on jailor). Can’t pick the same player in back to back nights.

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GAME RULES

1. There will be no editing of posts.
2. The day will run from 7 a.m. Central through 9:05 p.m. Central, with the exception of Fridays, which will end at 7:05 p.m. Central.
3. Votes will count until 9:05 Central as stamped by the Cyclone Fanatic clock (7:05 p.m. Fridays).
4. Votes must be BOLDED or they will not count. If you are posting on mobile and don't get the formatting correct to bold the post, your post will not count.
5. No PMs between players unless your role allows it.
6. If you vote twice without rescinding, your first vote will count.
7. Specials will have until 8 a.m. to get stuff in. If everything comes in early I will do a night report, if not then I will do a morning report.
8. Missing a vote for two days total will result in a clap.
9. Do not directly reveal your role - though you may claim to be a regular innocent whether you are or aren’t actually a regular innocent. (The mayor actually doesn't care about this rule)
10. I reserve the right to change the rules if I feel that it's necessary. Any changes will be clearly labeled.
10b. You must post more than 5 times in a 5 day window.
11. In the case of ties in the lynching process, Random.org will be used to make the final decision.
12. Ghost post using off-color font.
13. If you have any questions about the game, PM the host (me).
14. HAVE FUN!

Raise a glass to 1776!

It’s my habit to watch four scenes from the movie 1776 on July 4th then follow with a toast (one, or maybe more, beers). Thought I would post here should anyone be of similar mood.


The fireplug: John Adams. May 1776 no movement toward independence vote. 'Open Up A Window' is a reference to deliberations in secrecy with closed windows and guards posted at windows outside. Philadelphia sweltered. The issue was preventing public factions from applying pressure on delegates and creating stalemate.

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Savage scene: Slavery the Divisive Impediment to Independence. ‘Who Stinketh Most, Charleston or Boston?’ New England culpability in the slave trade. (Who remembers Holling Vincouer from ‘Northern Exposure’? He’s still ticking along at age 95.)

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John Hancock signs the Declaration, humorous short scene.

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Final dramatic signing scene

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On That Note: Open Grill

In anticipation of 4th of July weekend, we’re focusing on terms related with grilling and cookouts.

Key words (in title/lytics): Barbecue, grill, griddle and related aspects. Also acceptable: Burger, hot dog, marinade. Some flex with creativity, if it stays close to the grilling concept. Picnic probably OK, too.

“On That Note” is presented each week on Cyclone Fanatic by @MeanDean, @CycloneRulzzz and cyclones500.

Last week’s OTN: Toast (and Marmalade)

Here's one to start the fire:

“Where hamburgers sizzle on an open grill night and day.”

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