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Holy poo poo I have so many of those, they've started to peter out about two months in. The decent thing about my mortgage getting sold is that all the spam comes addressed to the original brokerage.
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May 25, 2011 05:28
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They don't even do filtering of any sort it seems either. I had bought a ground floor condo of a 8-unit building and was getting mail about gutter cleaning, lawn renewal, etc. Given the cost of postage, you would think they'd try to do a LITTLE bit of lead qualification, but they just blow away their money and not care because it's too much work.
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May 25, 2011 11:07
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The most amazing solicitation so far has been a couple churches. Some random old people showed up at my door, knew me by name (a little creepy) and wanted me to come worship with them at the local baptist church. I mean really?
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May 25, 2011 15:34
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We moved into a building that was almost exclusively retired old people (2 have died in the past 3 years). We are in our 30's, but that didn't stop the AARP (American Association of Retired People) from sending my wife a complimentary membership after we moved in!
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May 25, 2011 16:15
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necrobobsledder posted:They don't even do filtering of any sort it seems either. I had bought a ground floor condo of a 8-unit building and was getting mail about gutter cleaning, lawn renewal, etc. Given the cost of postage, you would think they'd try to do a LITTLE bit of lead qualification, but they just blow away their money and not care because it's too much work. The gutter/lawn care/whatever company pays a direct mail company to send out mail to a certain number of homeowners in certain neighborhoods, possibly at a certain income level. That's it. The direct mail company will use whatever lists they have, they don't care about whether the people can actually use the services they are selling.
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May 26, 2011 01:45
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Konstantin posted:The gutter/lawn care/whatever company pays a direct mail company to send out mail to a certain number of homeowners in certain neighborhoods, possibly at a certain income level. That's it. The direct mail company will use whatever lists they have, they don't care about whether the people can actually use the services they are selling. Also they are probably sending the mail as pre sorted bulk mail which is cheaper then standard first class mail (how you normally send mail). I couldn't find the rates with a quick Google search but it is cheaper.
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May 26, 2011 13:52
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Last night my bathtub started filling with gross brown water while I was running the washer, and there was water trickling out through the cap on the cleanout out front of the house. Today the plumber came and snaked out from the cleanout to the city line. The Good News: -Only out $140 for the service -Was able to clear the drain without much problem using the large blade. He hit two spots of resistance at ~30 and ~45 feet, and ran it out to ~65 feet to be sure he'd gotten to the main city line The Bad News: -We have ceramic pipe from the house to the city line -The pipes tie to the city line directly at the manhole in the center of the street -He pulled the blade out with a tangle of small roots on it So the verdict is: I will have to snake out this line every year or two as a maintenance item. The ceramic pipes are fragile and are basically socketed together with some cement around them, so there's not much that holds them together. Since I'm in California and only a quarter mile from a substantial fault, there's always a certain amount of movement and cracking, and then the plants find a way to shove roots into the pipes. If I ever have to have these pipes replaced, it will be all on me from my house out to the manhole, meaning, I'll have to pay the city to tear up a chunk of the sidewalk and street, pay to have the pipes replaced, and then pay to have the street repaired.  Fortunately, only little roots and the line seems to be totally straight (no kinks), so it should be something I can do myself with a rented 1/2" or bigger snake every couple of years. And for the moment, my 60 year old pipe is in decent condition. Anyway the point is... DO NEVER BUY
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May 26, 2011 19:29
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My wife and I are currently in a 30 year fixed rate FHA mortgage at 5% which started at about 277k. Our payments are $2111 with taxes and insurance, 1488 without. Due to the FHA streamlining thing, we are able to refinance at a lower interest rate, and pay absolutely nothing up front. The bank is going to pay all the closing costs, and due to the refund from the previously paid PMI, that will pay for any other costs associated with the refinance. My question is: the only viable option that would actually make our payments cheaper every month would be to refi into a 5 year ARM at 3.5% which would lower the payments to about $1221, capped at 1% every year after the 5 year fixed rate is up, and it maxes at 5% total. I understand that each year after the 5 years, the loan reamortizes, so I calculated that the worst I could get into at an increase of 1% every year...would be at year 10 with an 8.5% interest rate, my total loan amount at that time would be 220k for a monthly payment of $1909. In a perfect world, and if the stars aligned I would sell this house today and move, but with the economy I cannot. So I obviously do not "plan" on staying here for 5 years, but who knows what will happen. I just wanted someone to make sure my calculations were correct, and get some opinions on the matter. Thanks.
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May 27, 2011 00:34
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If you are going to move within the next 10 years you'll be much better off with the 5 year ARM. I know you've already done the numbers assuming minimum repayments but here's another set assuming you're making the same repayments of $1487.06:code:
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May 27, 2011 02:24
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I had a washer/dryer go out in one unit, an AC go out in another and had to call a plumber out to snake some poo poo out of a drain in a 3rd. So I guess May was a good month to spend $4000.
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May 27, 2011 03:03
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Cmdr. Shepard posted:Turned the AC on a few days ago and no cold air came out. A man is coming next week to take a bunch of money from me. Post confirmed. Had my freon filled up and the HVAC tech told me it would probably leak out again but he could not estimate when it would all go but if I was lucky it would last me the summer. Service charge: $220 Not even 2 weeks later, my A/C is completely gone again. Now I'm looking at a $2,600 repair/replacement. Do. Never. Buy.
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May 27, 2011 05:08
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What do you guys keep your "crap my house broke" emergency funds in anyways? I've been using an MMA and want to kick myself in the dick every time I get 6 bucks in interest every month from my lovely bank that is just buying T-bills at 0% with it anyways.
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May 27, 2011 09:14
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Bastard Tetris posted:What do you guys keep your "crap my house broke" emergency funds in anyways? I've been using an MMA and want to kick myself in the dick every time I get 6 bucks in interest every month from my lovely bank that is just buying T-bills at 0% with it anyways. MMA. I don't want to kick myself more when the market crashes, I lose my job, and half my emergency fund is gone.
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May 27, 2011 11:49
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Bastard Tetris posted:What do you guys keep your "crap my house broke" emergency funds in anyways? I've been using an MMA and want to kick myself in the dick every time I get 6 bucks in interest every month from my lovely bank that is just buying T-bills at 0% with it anyways. I've actually sent 6 "extra" payments to my lender, so the due date on the one I'll pay next week is 11/1/11. I did this initially by just making regular full payments every two weeks after we closed on the house. Didn't realize just how fast the loan would move around before settling down with the lender servicing it now, and the company who we sent our first payment to had sold the loan before it got there and didn't actually want our check... Happened again with the second payment as well  Anyway after building the initial buffer I generally send 1.5-2x the entire payment amount (principal+interest+escrow) as an additional principle payment every month. If we have a minor emergency (or pay cash for a 10 year old car) I just make a normal sized mortgage payment that month to replenish the buffer. This is on a 30 year fixed. EDIT: I have liquid and stocks/bonds as well but for month-to-month minor things this has worked for me. Also we have not had any repairs on the house that were more than $500 so far, knock on wood
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May 27, 2011 14:20
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Bastard Tetris posted:What do you guys keep your "crap my house broke" emergency funds in anyways? I've been using an MMA and want to kick myself in the dick every time I get 6 bucks in interest every month from my lovely bank that is just buying T-bills at 0% with it anyways. I just keep mine in a normal savings account. It's an emergency fund, not your investment portfolio.
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May 27, 2011 15:09
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I viewed a home yesterday that smelled so strong of cat urine I was nearly dry-heaving... The real estate agent said we'd have to completely replace all sub-floors if we were interested. What is wrong with people? Honestly, how can humans live in such disgusting filth? I'm getting ready to throw in the towel because it seems like homes in our price-rang always have some retarded 'catch' to them.
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May 27, 2011 15:48
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Kashwashwa posted:What is wrong with people? Honestly, how can humans live in such disgusting filth? If I remember correctly, cat urine has some kind of chemical in it that people get acclimatized to over time, and eventually no longer even notice the smell. Still disgusting though.
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May 27, 2011 16:08
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DJCobol posted:If I remember correctly, cat urine has some kind of chemical in it that people get acclimatized to over time, and eventually no longer even notice the smell. Still disgusting though. By acclimated I assume you mean "left without a sense of smell" ?
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May 27, 2011 16:20
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Welp, the drama with my home purchase continues. I've posted before about a house we are/were in the process of purchasing that is in probate due to the seller passing away. The administrator of her estate was about ready to sign our offer and begin escrow when the seller's ex-husband suddenly comes along and says that he has her will. Keep in mind that this is a man who cheated on his wife while she was dying of cancer, and was living with said mistress in the couple's home while she was in the hospital. Their divorce was one of the last things she did. So now we're thinking that the will probably isn't valid since it was written before the divorce, but this still has to be presented to the probate court which means a best case of a delay of a few more months. DO NEVER BUY
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May 27, 2011 23:48
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After speaking to the bank and doing more reading online, it seems most of the homes in the range (40-75k) we're looking for also qualify for the USDA Guaranteed/Direct loans. While they have no down payment, no pmi and seem tailored for "people like me", there have to be down sides as well. I'd be spending the same as rent after mortgage/taxes/etc and still be adding a few hundred a month to my general savings/oh poo poo account. Where's the gotcha?
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May 28, 2011 01:09
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Oh, and before anyone asks, yes i am married. Yes, i have a child on the way. Yes, i think i am stuck in upsate NY for 30 years or death, whichever comes first. I'm also a scrooge with my money and don't pay for nice new phones, cable tv, or fine dining.
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May 28, 2011 01:14
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Ozmiander posted:After speaking to the bank and doing more reading online, it seems most of the homes in the range (40-75k) we're looking for also qualify for the USDA Guaranteed/Direct loans. While they have no down payment, no pmi and seem tailored for "people like me", there have to be down sides as well. I'd be spending the same as rent after mortgage/taxes/etc and still be adding a few hundred a month to my general savings/oh poo poo account. - You need to pay 3% of the WHOLE loan as "insurance" with your closing costs, - You can't have a pool - You need to use a special lender - Your APR WILL be higher - The area has to have less than 10,000 people - You can only get a 30 year loan - You also have to make under a certain amount - The funds for the loan can run out - Make sure you pay attention to how much the house appraises at, you can't get the loan if it is over 3% of that - Your credit score has to be around 680 - 0 down is a dumb idea Lets also hope you have something saved up. You might be able to afford the mortgage with taxes and insurance. But remember your utilities will also go up, and crap will break, and if you don't have any equity you can't take out a loan to fix them. Also, coming from someone that lives in Upstate NY, 40-75k seems really cheap for a house, are you sure this is something you want to live in for at least 10+ years (maybe more if you put 0 down). I was thinking of getting a house with this loan before figuring out that I am not ready for a house yet. Dbhjed fucked around with this message at 04:28 on May 28, 2011 |
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May 28, 2011 04:03
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Hazardous Taste posted:Then, once everything is fixed, the inspector must come out again and do another inspection. Oh, and each time he came out, it cost us $350. So, that was $700 down the drain for the 2 houses we put offers on that the bank eventually said no to. It was $1050 for the house where my girlfriend is at now because the guy had to come out 3 loving times on account of the seller not fixing everything the first time and refusing to pay for his mistake. So all in all, $1750 went down the drain just for home inspections! And this finally leads to... Nother Anchorage goon who just closed on a house here, and wow, I'm really starting to think I lucked out here. I also bought on the east side, off of Boniface in the reflection lake area, and my experience was great. I'm kind of wondering, did your shady real-estate agent pick your inspector? The reason I ask is because every inspector I got quotes from charged $350-450 dollars for the 1st inspection, and then $75-100 dollars for any follow ups, as well according to my agent the sellers typically pay if anything more than 1 re-inspection is required. I'm honestly wondering if you didn't just get blatantly robbed by a crooked agent/inspector team. Likewise I'm under the impression that it's typically the sellers who pay for appraisals, not the buyers. I think your first point about selecting an agent is definitely the most important one after reading your horror story.
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May 28, 2011 09:46
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Just helped some friends move into a house. One guy's buying it, and 4 other people are going to be roommates for a while until he's ready to move onto the next phase of his life in the house. It's an old house. Three bedrooms are upstairs. The staircase is positioned such that you can't get a queen mattress up the stairs. Houses should deprecate like cars, so after 20-40 years we can just tear this poo poo down without remorse, because it's almost completely unlivable in this day.
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May 31, 2011 16:38
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FISHMANPET posted:Just helped some friends move into a house. One guy's buying it, and 4 other people are going to be roommates for a while until he's ready to move onto the next phase of his life in the house. Seriously? You'd tear down a perfectly livable area because of silly little issues like that?
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May 31, 2011 16:50
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quote:Houses should deprecate like cars, so after 20-40 years we can just tear this poo poo down without remorse, because it's almost completely unlivable in this day. My mother's / grandmother's shared house is nearly 100 years old, and it has the plumbing and electrical systems to prove it.  It makes sense "grandfathering" houses that were built before modern building codes existed just from a feasibility perspective, but god almighty is it a riot every time we try to put up Christmas lights. You get weird things like the power draw from the front lights causing anyone who turns on the microwave to blow the circuit breaker for the upstairs master bedroom, or the toaster causing an overload in the living room and turning off the television. My mother's monthly heating bill in the winter is over twice my rent, and apparently they can't put insulation on the house because according to the town, it'd constitute a structural change and require they bring the rest of the house up to code, which is completely impossible without demolishing it and starting over. That house is everything I need to know about DO NEVER BUY. I'll stick with an apartment and love every second of it, at least for now.
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May 31, 2011 17:49
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quote:Houses should deprecate like cars
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May 31, 2011 22:52
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FISHMANPET posted:Houses should deprecate like cars, so after 20-40 years we can just tear this poo poo down without remorse, because it's almost completely unlivable in this day. I'd prefer it the other way around, so a house built in the 60s doesn't need to move walls in its kitchen in order to accomodate new appliances. Can't get a drat bottom-freezer fridge to fit in our kitchen, the space is only 60" high.
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Jun 1, 2011 00:19
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Ozmiander posted:Seriously? You'd tear down a perfectly livable area because of silly little issues like that? This house, yeah I would. There's only one bedroom downstairs. If you can't get any furniture upstairs, that's a bit of a problem. Maybe it could be creatively renovated in some way, but this is just not a good house. Staircases should be wonder than 2.5 feet. he had to return his washer because it was too wide to fit down the stairs into the basement. It has really small rooms, which I actually like, it just fails miserably at being very livable. Bozart posted:This isn't true at all. I realize this would be bad if it were actually the case, but I don't know what could be done with this house that doesn't involve somebody taking a huge financial hit and tearing down something worth $150k (big city prices). I can't even imagine how you'd get anything at all up these stairs, no matter how small it is. There might have also been some fishy renovations going on because the "dining room" used to be a bedroom and I don't know what else has happened. If it were me I'd run as far away as possible, but oh well. I hope he doesn't find out in 3 years that the house is about to collapse because of shoddy renovations. The garage was modified with a bump at the end so the hood of a longer car could fit, but I don't think they properly supported the wall, they've got most of one end of a hip roof supported on a single 2x4 laid flat, which is itself supported by 1 2x4 on each end.
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Jun 1, 2011 00:19
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Bozart posted:This isn't true at all. But they do - the structures, at least. The IRS lets you depreciate residential buildings on a 27.5 year schedule.
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Jun 1, 2011 00:33
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I don't know about other markets, but the majority of the cost of a property where I live (Los Angeles) is in the land underneath. The structure's cost itself is small in comparison, and I would wager any structural depreciation would just be covered up by appreciation in the land's value.
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Jun 1, 2011 01:35
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Edit - Disregard, answered my question
The Shep fucked around with this message at 08:39 on Jun 1, 2011 |
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Jun 1, 2011 08:34
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Here is my fiance and my situation. I've been trying to figure out what to do but thought I would ask all of you since you're all far smarter than I am regarding this stuff. 1. We're looking to purchase a house for about $250,000 2. We have $100,000 in cash we can put towards a down payment. 3. December 2012 we will be having a $100,000 CD mature that we'd like to put towards the house as we HATE being in any sort of debt. 4. She makes 6 figures annually. My company which I am sole owner of brings in 6 figures annually but I usually reinvest much of the revenue for future growth. I draw very little, maybe $1500 a month. But the money is there if we need it. 5. We'd like to pay this house off within 3 years. Our options as I see them: A. Get a loan from a bank or like entity. If this is the best course though, what sort of loan should we look to get? How do I tell if a loan doesn't have any sort of early payoff penalty? B. A friend of mine is willing to loan us $150,000 over 3 years at 5%. That would let us purchase the house for cash and potentially get a better deal. C. Something I'm not thinking of.
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Jun 1, 2011 15:36
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The shortest home loan terms I saw were 5 year loans usually reserved for commercial property, I don't see why you wouldn't be able to get one with that kind of down payment though. Just make sure there's no prepayment penalty (it should be VERY clear in the loan docs), and great job having a nearly debt-free existence.
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Jun 1, 2011 15:54
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You could also take a look at a 3 or 5 year ARM or something like that, if banks still do those.
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Jun 1, 2011 16:08
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Since you can easily get a 30-year mortgage for 5%, your friend's deal isn't that great. You should be able to beat it handily with a 15-year mortgage, and by a lot if you get an ARM. Paying off your house entirely will ensure that you don't pay interest or have debt, but make sure it doesn't mean putting your entire "nest egg" into a single basket (residential real estate). That is to say, you should be diversifying your money. Go check the long-term investing thread for more info. Depending on how much other money/investments you have, you might be better off taking a 15-year mortgage so that you can afford to put money into retirement accounts or something. Almost all mortgages have no prepayement penalties. Be sure to state clearly that that's what you want, and you should have no problems.
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Jun 1, 2011 19:01
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Leperflesh posted:Since you can easily get a 30-year mortgage for 5%, your friend's deal isn't that great. You should be able to beat it handily with a 15-year mortgage, and by a lot if you get an ARM. ARMs make my toes curl. I realize the chance of interest rates going up substantially in the next 3-5 years is low, but still. With the 10 year note just grabbing a 2 handle, I can't see them going much LOWER. Is grabbing a 10 or 15 year fixed and paying off early a bad idea for any reason? Leperflesh posted:Paying off your house entirely will ensure that you don't pay interest or have debt, but make sure it doesn't mean putting your entire "nest egg" into a single basket (residential real estate). That is to say, you should be diversifying your money. Go check the long-term investing thread for more info. Depending on how much other money/investments you have, you might be better off taking a 15-year mortgage so that you can afford to put money into retirement accounts or something. Leperflesh posted:Almost all mortgages have no prepayement penalties. Be sure to state clearly that that's what you want, and you should have no problems.
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Jun 1, 2011 19:27
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UrbanFarmer posted:ARMs make my toes curl. I realize the chance of interest rates going up substantially in the next 3-5 years is low, but still. With the 10 year note just grabbing a 2 handle, I can't see them going much LOWER. Is grabbing a 10 or 15 year fixed and paying off early a bad idea for any reason? You have enough cash that your offer should be good, even if it is not pure cash. If your situation is as you describe it, go with the 30 year 3/1 or 5/1 ARM, and just pay it down on a 3 year amortization schedule. ARM's have a limit on how much they can adjust upwards so even if rates went to 20% in three years you'll be mostly protected. Also even if you don't pay it off totally, you're only paying interest on the outstanding balance which should be relatively small at that point. You can do a quick analysis but even if it adjusts upwards to the max for the few years after you exit the locked period, the locked period is often a good enough of a discount the fixed doesn't become the better options until a couple years after the locked portion runs out. I know several people who have ARMs and unlike the customers highlighted in the media during the foreclosure crisis (used an ARM just to get a house they could otherwise not afford) they can be very useful tools to those who are able to pay it down mostly by the end of the locked period. No reason they should make your toes curl. alreadybeen fucked around with this message at 19:40 on Jun 1, 2011 |
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Jun 1, 2011 19:35
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alreadybeen posted:ARMs
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Jun 1, 2011 20:16
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Everyone I know who has an ARM is paying rock bottom rates right now, like 3%.
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Jun 1, 2011 20:59
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