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I recently replaced some 50 year old single pane windows in my house, and in the bonus room, there was... absolutely no insulation at all between the paneling and exterior wall. (I figured it was thin and flimsy considering how thin it had been in the kitchen, but poking in and seeing nothing just made me laugh.)
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Dec 12, 2011 18:49
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Molybdenum posted:Wow, I should've checked this thread over the weekend. The house has a modern breaker box with 200amp service, so load shouldn't be an issue. Don't do this. Seriously, you're ASKING for problems. That lead pipe should VERY VERY VERY VERY much concern you, even though you're saying it's not leeching now. This is expecially problematical if you're EVER on planning on having kids there. I wouldn't touch this house unless you get it for that $18k they originally paid for it, and spend the $80k fixing all this poo poo. Edit: the wife who did water testing asked if you did TWO tests for lead: run the water for a few minutes AND one where it's been sitting overnight. The results you'll get from the second one will probably return results that should concern you.
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Dec 12, 2011 19:11
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we only did the sitting overnight one.
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Dec 12, 2011 20:35
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Kalli posted:I recently replaced some 50 year old single pane windows in my house, and in the bonus room, there was... absolutely no insulation at all between the paneling and exterior wall. (I figured it was thin and flimsy considering how thin it had been in the kitchen, but poking in and seeing nothing just made me laugh.) People used to put on sweaters in the winter and just deal with 55 degree houses. Now if the internet goes out people start killing each other.
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Dec 12, 2011 23:01
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Elephanthead posted:People used to put on sweaters in the winter and just deal with 55 degree houses. Now if the internet goes out people start killing each other. To provide a brief followup to my situation; I sold my house! For me, the month between going under contract to closing was stressful. I felt that because of what I perceive to be economic uncertainty in the country, that at any time, the deal could fall part. Luckily it didn't.
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Dec 12, 2011 23:37
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We're sending a notice to perform letter to our seller BofA to get their poo poo together or else we walk from this house. This sucks.
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Dec 12, 2011 23:48
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FCKGW posted:We're sending a notice to perform letter to our seller BofA to get their poo poo together or else we walk from this house. The worst bank in the country strikes again!
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Dec 13, 2011 05:52
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I don't know if this is the right thread for it, but I'm 27 and have some friends who are around my age and considering buying a house. So far, their rationale seems to be a combination of MUST BUY WHILE PRICES ARE LOW and RENTING IS THROWING MONEY AWAY. For the first one, it's worth mentioning I love in a coastal city where housing prices have not dropped that much. How do I convince them that they are being stupid? Personally I don't plan to buy a house until I get married and start thinking about kids.
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Dec 13, 2011 07:09
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cstine posted:The worst bank in the country strikes again!  "So it looks like your short sale approval letter is expired, we're going to need an updated letter" "......gently caress"So glad I'm not on the broker side of things, poor bastards.
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Dec 13, 2011 07:18
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enraged_camel posted:How do I convince them that they are being stupid? Personally I don't plan to buy a house until I get married and start thinking about kids.
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Dec 13, 2011 07:32
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cstine posted:The worst bank in the country strikes again! Look at that, 30 minutes after they got the letter suddenly all the paperwork has been approved!
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Dec 13, 2011 08:49
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enraged_camel posted:How do I convince them that they are being stupid? Personally I don't plan to buy a house until I get married and start thinking about kids. BTW, there's some ghost towns popping up in China with real estate prices dropping 30%+ in a year. And everyone said China's got a strong economy.
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Dec 13, 2011 17:29
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enraged_camel posted:How do I convince them that they are being stupid? Personally I don't plan to buy a house until I get married and start thinking about kids. I'm married with one toddler and another kid on the way and I still regret buying my house. I much rather be renting my current house from someone else and have the option to move when I feel like it.
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Dec 13, 2011 19:30
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So, my broker just emailed me to let me know he had to relock my mortgage's rate due to timing out on my possibly maybe some day house. It went from 3.75 to 3.875. I think my parents/inlaws hate me since they last refinanced in double digit days.
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Dec 14, 2011 02:25
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Ozmiander posted:So, my broker just emailed me to let me know he had to relock my mortgage's rate due to timing out on my possibly maybe some day house. It went from 3.75 to 3.875. Your broker should be able to find you a rate just as low, if not lower, than it was 30 days ago, unless something odd is going on with your particular situation. Mortgage rates fall to record lows - CNN Rates have hit the low they set back in October (when I financed). Still, going from 3.75 to 3.875 is going to cost you something like $10 a month so it's not a big deal.
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Dec 15, 2011 20:56
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Hey does this look like a legit site in which to apply for a Harp 2.0 loan? http://www.harpprogram.org/index.php It looks crappy and even a little sketch, but who knows in this industry and with this program. Its a .org and not .gov or .com which further confuses me. The whois makes it seem like a private lender, which is fine, I just don't want my name to be sold to marketing lists. edit: out of scottsdale, AZ second only to Florida when it comes to fly-by-night mortgage companies. I'll pass. CatchrNdRy fucked around with this message at 00:30 on Dec 16, 2011 |
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Dec 16, 2011 00:21
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CatchrNdRy posted:Hey does this look like a legit site in which to apply for a Harp 2.0 loan? I'm gonna be honest with you, I work with a lender and a lot of times it really does not matter if you are trying to avoid lists. Getting calls from a whole slew of people when you are trying to refinance is what ends up being the experience for a lot of people. Just ask to opt out of all contact, and hang up once you find something you are comfortable with. It honestly just as easy for the people calling if you do that and it should eventually stop the calls from coming.
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Dec 16, 2011 04:06
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gtkor posted:I'm gonna be honest with you, I work with a lender and a lot of times it really does not matter if you are trying to avoid lists. Getting calls from a whole slew of people when you are trying to refinance is what ends up being the experience for a lot of people. I know I just emailed a lender's general site about 3 months ago and though they've died down I'm still getting calls. Home Retention Solutions and the Mortgage Law Group call multiple times a week, sometimes the same dude congratulated me on qualifying for my refinance (I didn't apply to poo poo). I don't know whether to feel anger or pity.
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Dec 16, 2011 22:54
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A little bit of both to be honest. I've had people tell me that when they are using our automated dial system they cant stop the number from being dialed once it starts, even if they see a note that someone was trying to avoid further calls but the last person who called them didnt opt them out correctly. I remember having to use the system and seeing notes that this person cant ever be contacted at work only to see that no one removed the work number. Anyway, have you already refinanced with Harp? If you have you might not be able to use harp 2.0, so that might be something to consider anyway.
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Dec 17, 2011 23:17
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gtkor posted:A little bit of both to be honest. I've had people tell me that when they are using our automated dial system they cant stop the number from being dialed once it starts, even if they see a note that someone was trying to avoid further calls but the last person who called them didnt opt them out correctly. No I didn't as my mortgage was 130% underwater and the limit was 125% for Harp I. Now there is no limit, but a surprising dearth of advertisements for it. I understand the automatic system isn't going in till March, but if I can get someone to manually underwrite it, well thats 3 months + of savings. I should qualify, I have a Fannie 30 year fixed, I've never been late for payments, and have owned the property since 2007.
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Dec 17, 2011 23:31
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I've lurked this thread off and on for a year or so, knowing that my fiance and I may be headed to home ownership soon. Well it looks like we may be there, but after reading through all the "Do never buy" posts again, I thought I'd run our situation past the thread. We have not yet been pre-approved due to a hurdle: My credit. Besides being an idiot college student and wrecking it, I'm also in the midst of fighting an "unpaid loan" that was, in fact, paid. It's been reported as unpaid for 12 months. My credit as a result is 560. As soon as this issue is cleared up, that should improve quite a bit, hopefully above the acceptable range. I've been extremely vigilant about my credit for the past 18 months, carrying high balances and paying them off in full and on time, if that gives you a hint of how bad it was before! Lesson absolutely learned. We are hoping to have this cleared up this week so we can visit a lender. My fiance's credit is great. I'm not sure the number but it's over 750. We have no public debt, I pay a $450/mo car payment to my father. We plan to buy together since we'll need both our incomes. He makes $2000 a month gross, I make $2200 gross plus dividends of about $6000 a year from a family business. so $4200 a month income plus dividends. In our area and for our market (http://www.city-data.com/county/Carteret_County-NC.html) that's pretty good. We also have a very comfortable nest egg thanks to Uncle Sonny. About $50-$75 K of this money will be our down payment. Haven't decided whether to do more or less yet. The money is in a safe place, not really making or losing anything as the market sucks. So I'm not sure if pulling out more to tie up in the house is smart or not, advice would be welcome here. We are looking in the $175-$225 range, so we'd finance $100 to $175 K. Here's the fun part: These are our top 3 houses at this point, and one of these or something similar is what we'll be looking for. Market is moving pretty slow around here for modest single family homes. Via https://www.ccrealtors.org MLS: 11-1388, 11-3898 and 11-2155. So, do never buy, or maybe yes buy?
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Jan 2, 2012 17:24
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Bright Lights On posted:We plan to buy together since we'll need both our incomes. He makes $2000 a month gross, I make $2200 gross plus dividends of about $6000 a year from a family business. so $4200 a month income plus dividends. What are property taxes on these?
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Jan 2, 2012 17:50
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Bright Lights On posted:I've lurked this thread off and on for a year or so, knowing that my fiance and I may be headed to home ownership soon. Well it looks like we may be there, but after reading through all the "Do never buy" posts again, I thought I'd run our situation past the thread.
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Jan 2, 2012 18:01
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CatchrNdRy posted:No I didn't as my mortgage was 130% underwater and the limit was 125% for Harp I. Now there is no limit, but a surprising dearth of advertisements for it. I understand the automatic system isn't going in till March, but if I can get someone to manually underwrite it, well thats 3 months + of savings. Please please please post as soon as you find someone willing to do a different-lender HARP 2 refinance. I'm in AZ (200% LTV  ) but my Freddie-Mac loan ended up getting serviced by Provident, and they don't give a gently caress about HARP.
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Jan 2, 2012 19:57
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PoliSciGirl posted:Right now, go get pre-approved pronto. No, don't do this until you get your credit cleared of that error. You won't have a realistic idea of what you can be approved for until then. I advise you to get married to your fiance before you buy a house together. I am not maligning your relationship... but weddings are extremely stressful, and buying a house is extremely stressful. Doing both at the same time, or in rapid succession, is just masochistic. Your tax status also changes when you marry, which may or may not affect the deductability of interest (you can deduct the interest on your mortgage, but it's only worth doing if your total itemized deductions exceed the standard deduction, so keep that in mind when crunching the numbers). Also... yeah, I don't know jack about your relationship, but a lot of people get engaged and then it doesn't work out. Have you and your fiance lived together for a year or more? It could affect what kind of house you wind up wanting. Anyway it sounds as though you have the down payment and monthly payment affordability pretty solid, assuming both of your incomes are well-established and secure (the bank will want to see you've each been in those jobs for 2+ years). Get that credit issue fixed pronto and your options will be pretty good.
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Jan 2, 2012 21:13
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gvibes posted:Just applying rules of thumb relating size of mortgage to gross income, the upper end of your scale seems like a pretty big stretch for you. Property taxes will be around $400 a year, no city taxes. Also no water bill, but of course septic/well upkeep. It is at the upper level of our "official" income. I also am a partner in a business which extends my income ($6000/yr avg dividends). I'm expecting our payment to be around 900/mo with taxes and insurance if we finance 150 k. We've kept up with $750 in rent plus a $100 water bill (will not have water in any home we buy) when we were making less than we are now, so that shouldn't be much of a stretch. The nest egg is a quarter million, so we have a cushion in case of emergencies even after putting 50-75 down. Leperflesh posted:No, don't do this until you get your credit cleared of that error. You won't have a realistic idea of what you can be approved for until then. Wasn't planning to until it's cleared. I'm hoping this situation will be fixed this week. I have no idea how much it will affect my credit, but getting rid of 12+ months of negative reporting should put me in the "good" range I think. I know "good" isn't awesome when getting approved for a loan, but with the cash in hand I think we'll have more leeway. Leperflesh posted:I advise you to get married to your fiance before you buy a house together. I am not maligning your relationship... but weddings are extremely stressful, and buying a house is extremely stressful. Doing both at the same time, or in rapid succession, is just masochistic. We've lived together for 20 months at this point and have a very solid relationship. Finances are already combined, etc. The only change will be the location we're living in plus the homeowner responsibilities. We'll ask about the tax issues. We're already considering getting the civil ceremony over with soon if taxes and/or insurance (his is changing at work soon) would make that make sense. And as far as wedding planning goes, I hope it's stress free! Mom and dad are paying (no financial issues added there for us) and my first goal is to NOT make it a stressful affair. We just want a great party for our friends and all the parents agree. I hope it works out that way!
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Jan 3, 2012 00:01
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At your age why don't you just pay for this house with the cash and forego the whole mortgage mess altogether? Starting your life debt free is an amazing thing to do and your nest egg will be more than replenished in no time. Take the bank out of the equation and be in a place that the vast majority of Americans would love to be in, let alone at your age (which I assume is your 20s). E: provided the nest egg isn't in retirement accounts. I assumed it wasn't since you mentioned tapping into it.
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Jan 3, 2012 01:17
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Yes, I'm 24 he's 26. We're hoping to channel some of it into interest-earning investments as soon as those types of investments exist again. Eggs in multiples baskets type stuff. We would always have the option to prepay on the mortgage if those investment opportunities don't develop.
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Jan 3, 2012 02:05
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Bright Lights On posted:Yes, I'm 24 he's 26. We're hoping to channel some of it into interest-earning investments as soon as those types of investments exist again. Eggs in multiples baskets type stuff. We would always have the option to prepay on the mortgage if those investment opportunities don't develop. I don't know who received the money, you or your boyfriend. But make sure you get a pre-nup. My cousin married a guy and she had a large sum of money, given to her by her parents and she put the money into a million dollar home. They got a divorce and he ended up taking 500k (half) of the money she inherited and used to pay for the home.
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Jan 3, 2012 03:36
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Given how cheap interest rates are for prime borrowers there is no reason to put down more than 20%.
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Jan 3, 2012 03:39
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Bright Lights On posted:Yes, I'm 24 he's 26. We're hoping to channel some of it into interest-earning investments as soon as those types of investments exist again. Eggs in multiples baskets type stuff. We would always have the option to prepay on the mortgage if those investment opportunities don't develop. There's something to be said about not managing trying to squeak out a meager x% return over your mortgage interest rate. Own the house free and clear and take that $900/mo and start funding your retirement/education accounts as well as any other investment goals you have. No need to make things complicated because we as a country feel debt is necessary.
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Jan 3, 2012 03:53
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TraderStav posted:There's something to be said about not managing trying to squeak out a meager x% return over your mortgage interest rate. Own the house free and clear and take that $900/mo and start funding your retirement/education accounts as well as any other investment goals you have. No need to make things complicated because we as a country feel debt is necessary. But there's still something comforting about having those assets in liquid form. We do plan to sit down with a financial adviser at some point too to discuss options.
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Jan 3, 2012 04:16
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Regardless of your financial situation, getting tied down to a piece of property that young is something I would advise against. You have no idea where your life will take you, the headache of property ownership just isn't needed at your age.
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Jan 3, 2012 05:12
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TraderStav posted:There's something to be said about not managing trying to squeak out a meager x% return over your mortgage interest rate. Own the house free and clear and take that $900/mo and start funding your retirement/education accounts as well as any other investment goals you have. No need to make things complicated because we as a country feel debt is necessary. I see where you're coming from, but think about it this way. Their nest egg likely represents a large fraction - probably the majority - of their combined net worth. It would be a bad idea to tie that large of a portion of their wealth into a single asset class, nevermind a single asset. One of the fundamentals of building and preserving wealth is to diversify. What you are advocating is the opposite. I think it's well worth 4% APR to keep a big chunk of that money out of their local real estate market and in something different - say, a combination of domestic and international mutual funds, spread evenly between stock funds and bond funds. The important thing would be to preserve the money (and not spend it), so that in the event that the house loses a ton of value and then they want to sell, they can comfortably cover the difference while getting out (and taking a huge bath). A house, of course, is a terrible investment, so this is all kind of silly in that respect: they're on the hook for the entirety of any depreciation (and gain the full benefit of any appreciation) regardless of how much cash they put in, so it's not quite the same as decisions about how to diversify one's retirement plan, for example. But there's the chance that real estate could fall while (say) stocks rise, allowing the diversity of their position to cushion a fall that if they had all their money tied into the house, they'd be unable to mitigate.
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Jan 3, 2012 09:53
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skipdogg posted:Regardless of your financial situation, getting tied down to a piece of property that young is something I would advise against. You have no idea where your life will take you, the headache of property ownership just isn't needed at your age. We're not worried about this, as I'm set to take over two family businesses (with 20+ years of profitability in this community) in this area within the next 5-10 years. Moving isn't something we want to do anyway, as we love this area; it's home. The house will be ours for years to come. Leperflesh posted:I see where you're coming from, but think about it this way. Their nest egg likely represents a large fraction - probably the majority - of their combined net worth. This is true. Leperflesh posted:A house, of course, is a terrible investment, so this is all kind of silly in that respect: they're on the hook for the entirety of any depreciation (and gain the full benefit of any appreciation) regardless of how much cash they put in, so it's not quite the same as decisions about how to diversify one's retirement plan, for example. But there's the chance that real estate could fall while (say) stocks rise, allowing the diversity of their position to cushion a fall that if they had all their money tied into the house, they'd be unable to mitigate. We're not looking at this purchase as profitable investment, but a place to live. I think that difference is key. However I've followed the market here as it bubbled and fell, spoken to real estate professionals and discussed it with my father (whose business IS real estate - buying, selling, building, renting) and our area hasn't seen nearly the depreciation that most of the country has. We're a tourist beach town where retirees have always flocked and continued to do so after the bubble burst. Assuming we aren't literally underwater as a community, the house should retain much of its value just because of its location along the coast. Of course we both know nothing is a sure thing, so keeping our assets spread out will likely be the best decision, as you've said.
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Jan 3, 2012 23:37
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Yeah, the point was more to counter the idea that you should buy a house outright (using your entire nest egg to do so). The general theme of not looking at a house as an investment is something I've ranted about at great length in this thread previously, though. Don't let past performance imply future performance, though! I don't know which shorefront community you're part of, but it's entirely possible for previously lovely oceanside towns to turn into shitholes (or more probably, experience an unexpected downturn) in just a handful of years. Anything from being hit by a hurricane, to the discovery of a superfund site, to criminal malfeasance on the part of some prominent city politician. That risk is unavoidable no matter where you live, of course! It's the reason why geographical diversification is one component of a good asset diversification plan. So, yeah: buy a house you want to live in, get the best deal you can, make sure you can always afford the payments, and then don't worry about whether it goes up or down in value. It's (a lot) like buying a Lamborghini; OK, it'd be great if it turns out to be an instant classic and collectors drive the price up in ten years, but it's more likely to be a giant money pit. That doesn't mean nobody should buy one, though; you don't buy a Lamborghini because you want to make a wise investment in the automotive sector. Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 02:53 on Jan 4, 2012 |
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Jan 4, 2012 02:51
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I checked the first few and last few pages of the thread and didn't spot anything specific, so I'll ask here: My wife and I are planning on working with a home builder this coming spring to build our ideal home. What should we be aware of when dealing with a home builder compared to a realtor for a pre-existing home? We've already scoped them out, they've won all kinds of awards and their work is backed by the Tarion warranty (http://www.tarion.com/Pages/default.aspx) We've also spoken with their sales rep in depth and he has been very helpful in answering all of our questions and doesn't seem too high pressure. I know that most builders don't make a whole bunch on their base homes, and then get you on the upgrades. Does anyone have any good tips for negotiating a sweet deal, lots of free upgrades and the like? We're in a comfortable position right now, we don't need to move out and can stay and save for as long as we want. We're in London Ontario, if that helps! It's very exciting. It could easily be the best or worst decision we've ever made. Things we know: We're terrible for not renting, we're too young, we should get 3 separate home inspections during the process, one after the foundation pouring, one after the framing and one when complete, have a lawyer read everything, prepare to get screwed in some way or another. Bonus question round: Is there any real upside to taking a mortgage with our bank (RBC) at 4.09% instead of a web-based company such as ING Direct who can apparently give us 3.45% with the same terms? When we asked our bank this they said basically that having the branch available with in-person reps you can talk to was totally worth the extra grand a year in payments. Having a hard time swallowing it.
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Jan 4, 2012 06:16
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Seik posted:Bonus question round: Is there any real upside to taking a mortgage with our bank (RBC) at 4.09% instead of a web-based company such as ING Direct who can apparently give us 3.45% with the same terms? When we asked our bank this they said basically that having the branch available with in-person reps you can talk to was totally worth the extra grand a year in payments. Having a hard time swallowing it. If you're the kind of person who likes to do all of your banking in person, and your bank will warrant that they will not just sell your loan to another servicer anyway, then it might be worth a small premium to go with them, but it's not worth anything near 64bp. If you're a normal person who does all of your banking online or on the phone, there is no value whatsoever in going with your local bank. Go with whoever is cheapest.
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Jan 4, 2012 06:32
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SlapActionJackson posted:If you're the kind of person who likes to do all of your banking in person, and your bank will warrant that they will not just sell your loan to another servicer anyway, then it might be worth a small premium to go with them, but it's not worth anything near 64bp. Awesome, thanks. We are indeed normal goony people. 4.09 is advertised as their special rate too, with the regular being something like 4.54. The difference in monthly payment amount is massive. It's surprising that such a wide range of rates exist, I would have figured the variance would be much smaller to remain competitive.
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Jan 4, 2012 06:40
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Seik posted:4.09 is advertised as their special rate too, with the regular being something like 4.54. The difference in monthly payment amount is massive. It's surprising that such a wide range of rates exist, I would have figured the variance would be much smaller to remain competitive. I'm not. Most large banks' retail mortgage operations are hilariously uncompetitive with what a good broker can find for you. To complete the irony, it's often those same banks wholesale rates that the broker is rate shopping for you. Get a few GFEs and make sure you're factoring in all origination and discount points for an apples-to-apples comparison.
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Jan 4, 2012 07:05
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