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Don't thank me yet, it's a tip about his year-long attempt to buy a house from Bank of America. 
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Sep 14, 2012 16:26
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Blugh...regardless, any advice is a help; we're first time buyers, and were told the process is long, but didn't yet realize what that really meant.
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Sep 14, 2012 17:21
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BlueArmyMan posted:Blugh...regardless, any advice is a help; we're first time buyers, and were told the process is long, but didn't yet realize what that really meant. If you're getting antsy you could always jump the gun and raise the offer to your "best and final offer" to see if they accept. Seems to me that if they are waiting a week or more to counteroffer you based on what their bank tells them, that its unlikely they have multiple offers. That would mean they don't have a strong bargaining position. I don't know if this is good advice or not - a lot depends on your situation and the market, but you should know that the buyer definitely has the ability to influence the seller in this way. Aren't blind negotiations fun?
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Sep 14, 2012 17:26
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Loads of fun...I'm feeling a weak bargaining position too, but naturally don't want to pay more than necessary. My wife and I aren't under a timeline really, just getting antsy on not hearing anything.
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Sep 14, 2012 17:52
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BlueArmyMan posted:Loads of fun...I'm feeling a weak bargaining position too, but naturally don't want to pay more than necessary. My wife and I aren't under a timeline really, just getting antsy on not hearing anything. We just went through this too, and all that kept going through my mind was that episode of the Simpsons where Homer was waiting to hear Mr. Burns' offer to buy back his teddy bear. "I gotta call Burns! Maybe I can still get that drink!"
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Sep 14, 2012 18:09
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If the deal isn't sweet, move on. The house will probably fail inspection and you are going to be disappointed anyway.
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Sep 14, 2012 18:36
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BlueArmyMan posted:My wife and I have put in an offer on a house, and we've been told that the seller is going to counter, but is waiting on word from Bank of America as to what the loan payoff will be before coming back with a number. We put in our offer a week ago, and have been waiting ever since for the counter number. Is it a drawn out process to get a mortgage loan payoff from a bank, or am I just being overly impatient? BoA payoffs can be ordered over the phone normally, shouldn't take that long. Is this a short sale? Their loss mitigation teams can take forever to agree to a short payoff which would explain the delay. The sellers may also just be using it as a bargaining tactic.
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Sep 14, 2012 19:50
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BlueArmyMan posted:My wife and I have put in an offer on a house, and we've been told that the seller is going to counter, but is waiting on word from Bank of America as to what the loan payoff will be before coming back with a number. We put in our offer a week ago, and have been waiting ever since for the counter number. Is it a drawn out process to get a mortgage loan payoff from a bank, or am I just being overly impatient? Whenever I got an offer in the past it always had a time limit on it of no more than 24 or 48 hours. Next time I would suggest putting a limit on it. It will force them to make a decision and everyone can get on with their life. I could call my bank right now and have the payoff in less than 5 minutes, the holdups seems like a farce. If it were me I would call my realtor and retract the offer, then they can counter if they want on their own time. Any sign of trouble like this in the beginning only suggest more problems in the future.
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Sep 14, 2012 21:18
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Captain Windex posted:BoA payoffs can be ordered over the phone normally, shouldn't take that long. Is this a short sale? Their loss mitigation teams can take forever to agree to a short payoff which would explain the delay. The sellers may also just be using it as a bargaining tactic. Not a short sale or foreclosure, just a for sale by owner (non-public listing). There was a divorce at some point, and I think the seller wants out from under the house, but still wants to maximize the price. I can understand that, but come on, if you're going to counter, do it. The house is on a side street, so it's not like there are tons of people seeing it to flood in offers. It has almost everything my wife and I want (fenced yard, short commute, master suite), so we will hold out as long as needed...but it's just kind of frustrating to wait for seemingly no good reason.
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Sep 14, 2012 21:20
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It seems I have finally fed aimloan.com enough documents to satisfy the underwriter. We're approved - 3% for 15 years on an investment property. Even qualified for a property inspection waiver, so I don't have to bug the tenants with an appraiser. Now to schedule an appointment to do the closing and review the paperwork to be sure that no unexpected costs worked their way onto the HUD-1. Re-financing - all of the hassle of getting a mortgage, none of the new-house excitement.
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Sep 15, 2012 00:57
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oTHi posted:A question for AusGoons, specifically Melbourne Goons if possible. I am looking to purchase a house, however, it looks like the only places available in my price range are apartments, in a fairly dodgy suburb, Springvale. :iamafag: I haven't seen answer to this question, nor am I in Australia, but the general view is that Australia is going through the same type housing boom that the US went through a few years ago. Seriously, rent. Do not buy an overpriced apartment and lock yourself into an expensive mortgage, when the mining money goes away, when the market pops, when China goes into recession, you don't want to be stuck in a tiny apartment in a dodgy suburb. EDIT: "Land appreciates in value" is something that people who sell land say. All assets go UP in value and DOWN in value with the market. FunOne fucked around with this message at 18:56 on Sep 15, 2012 |
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Sep 15, 2012 18:49
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Just a heads up to new buyers, keep an eye on your statements and such when adding additional principal payments online. With Nationstar Mortgage, they recently made it possible to pay online via Western Union when done during a certain time frame. Here's a screenshot. Ignore the black markout lines, that's them attempting to fix it, and fail following payment again.  Look at the date 08/02/2012. Notice how instead of the usual $2000 added principal, the system decides to break it into a second payment and then the remainder as additional principal. The whole point of this change is to waive the $6.95 fee. Instead I lose about $700...
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Sep 17, 2012 00:31
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It appears that you've been regularly making a normal mortgage payment: some goes to principal, some to interest, and some to escrow. Plus $7 in "fees" (I pay no "fees" to pay my mortgage so that seems like a hosed up deal to me but let's skip that for now). So then you also make an extra $2k payment because you are accelerating your mortgage payoff. All of that goes to principal of course. On 08/02, they instead split the total amount, and apply half of each payment to principal... and half to interest, even though the two interest payments add up to double what you owe in interest on your loan? What? And they also doubled up your escrow payment. My guess is that they somehow thought you were making an early payment for next month: like, oh, I'm going on vacation, please withhold this money for next month's payment. Except they collected money for interest you haven't accumulated yet, which I'm not sure but I suspect is not allowed, period. I don't think you actually "lose" $700: half is in your escrow account (which is your money, even if someone else is holding it), and half is in limbo but surely must be applied to either interest or principal or both, eventually. It's a messed up situation though. Also, is anyone else paying $6.95 in "fees" just to make a payment (regular or extra) on their mortgage? Because I don't pay a dime to make payments on my mortgage, and I don't really buy any kind of hosed up rationale for having to pay someone money in order to pay them money. "Oh it's a pay us money fee, we charge you when we charge you." Just seems wrong.
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Sep 17, 2012 00:56
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Why would you want to pay your mortgage via western union?
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Sep 17, 2012 01:10
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Sometimes I pay a fee to make an online payment with USBank. Probably what that is (?)
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Sep 17, 2012 01:19
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Spamtron7000 posted:Sometimes I pay a fee to make an online payment with USBank. Probably what that is (?) My guess was going to be that you had the mortgage company setup an automatic withdrawal from your checking account and they are charging you a convenience fee for the service.
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Sep 17, 2012 01:36
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Leperflesh posted:Also, is anyone else paying $6.95 in "fees" just to make a payment (regular or extra) on their mortgage? Because I don't pay a dime to make payments on my mortgage, and I don't really buy any kind of hosed up rationale for having to pay someone money in order to pay them money. "Oh it's a pay us money fee, we charge you when we charge you." Just seems wrong. If I had to pay fees to pay my own mortgage, I'd go apocalyptic. It is wrong and I personally think it's the "gotcha" clause for people who don't bother to read the tiny print in their mortgage applications. I told my broker to tell the bank to take any and all fees for any type of penalty off my application (except the normal late payment fee), and then at closing, I read them again, every last word on every last one of those 75+ pages. I've been paying +$50 principle on every mortgage payment (shut up, I'm poor  ) and yes, even +$50/mo really adds up over time. If I had to pay early payment fees, they'd erode that principle gain pretty badly. It's not worth it.Read your documents, people. Make sure you know what you're getting into.
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Sep 17, 2012 01:47
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Leperflesh posted:It appears that you've been regularly making a normal mortgage payment: some goes to principal, some to interest, and some to escrow. Plus $7 in "fees" (I pay no "fees" to pay my mortgage so that seems like a hosed up deal to me but let's skip that for now). Believe me, I was pissed after only owning the home for 6 months before the loan owner switched from Flagstar to Nationstar. I didn't pay a fee for paying online with Flagstar. When I was forced to use Nationstar, there were no other options to pay online except through their lovely western union system that demanded a fee. I was pissed off, but I conceded and still would rather pay the loving fee instead of having $3000 dollars floating around as a check in the mail and having to wait forever to see the numbers go through their website. Nationstar started waiving fees through their changed system 45 days ago because there was a high demand for a fee-less option. That's when things took a bigger turn for the worse for me. Every month now it's going to take my additional principal ($2000) and subtract ANOTHER regular payment from it (949 total or whatever), and leave the rest for additional principal (in this case 1051). Why? I believe because it's a bug in the system, it is after a recent change. When it says Addtional principal: 2000 before I press that submit button, I want it as additional principal dammit, nothing else. So the question now is, if I leave this fuckup alone, will it benefit me or the loaner better. Will I lose more to interest or not? At this rate my owed escrow (remember it's just property tax and insurance) for the year will be paid off twice as fast, but that's it. I guess the second half of the year (if I continue to let this weird poo poo go on into 2013) when I continue to do additional principal $2000 after regular payment, it will become $2241.191 addition p. TL:DR Whatever my mortgage lender is doing, I'm losing out due to paying more interest and less principal. So new home owners be wary of online payment systems. ijii fucked around with this message at 03:06 on Sep 17, 2012 |
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Sep 17, 2012 02:33
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Does your bank have an online bill pay system? My bank just sends them a check on my behalf for me. I actually prefer to take 5 minutes and run into the bank and draw a cashiers check for my mortgage. It's easier for me.
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Sep 17, 2012 03:07
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My wife and I are 2 weeks from our closing date (Oct 1) and we're smack in the middle of negotiating on repairs with the seller. The seller hasn't seen her house in at least 2 years, and has been renting it out. There's definitely a ton of stuff that popped up during the inspection - including lots of safety/structural/infestation issues, but also a million little things. I'm not worried about the nickel and dime items like some chipped paint and a water damaged vanity or small stuff like that. So we're basically asking the seller to address the big ticket items that will certainly compromise the house sooner rather than later (like a badly needed new roof, extensive INTERIOR wall rot, etc.), but we're getting some resistance. I know it's a kind of a dance that she and the listing agent have to play with us, but it's nerve wracking as poo poo. We're not stupid - I mean, there's just no practical way we can bend on these major items, but I'm worried that combination of not seeing these problems for herself, and maybe the possibility that she has a screw loose would make her sour this deal. Essentially, if we walk away, she'd be crazy to let the house sit over the winter (which begins pretty soon up here in Vermont) without making some of the bigger repairs. We have a backup plan if this house falls through, and we'd basically only be out $500 for the inspection fee, but even though I feel like we hold all the cards it's still up to the seller to not do something stupid... Did I make a dumb mistake by not using some of the smaller problems as a bargaining chip to take off the table so we can get these big issues addressed?
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Sep 17, 2012 03:21
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tiananman posted:My wife and I are 2 weeks from our closing date (Oct 1) and we're smack in the middle of negotiating on repairs with the seller. The seller hasn't seen her house in at least 2 years, and has been renting it out. There's definitely a ton of stuff that popped up during the inspection - including lots of safety/structural/infestation issues, but also a million little things. I'm not worried about the nickel and dime items like some chipped paint and a water damaged vanity or small stuff like that. It's hard to say. Some sellers are very unreasonable when it comes to making obviously-needed repairs or appropriately pricing the house with regards to its condition. If a seller isn't doing a pre-inspection to cover most of those things BEFORE negotiations begin, and then is still not addressing them as issues at the time of closing, you're not dealing with a seller that has a reasonable plan for selling her house. Buying a house that has massive repair/upkeep requirements is always a tricky prospect, so I wish you the best in figuring out the best course to take here.
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Sep 17, 2012 04:21
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daggerdragon posted:I've been paying +$50 principle on every mortgage payment (shut up, I'm poor Hey, feel good about that $50/mo, that puts you ahead of 95% of mortgage owners right there. $50/mo on the average home loan saves $15k and 2 years from your mortgage.
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Sep 17, 2012 05:29
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So my wife and I are stuck in our condo and want to find a way to move on. We're underwater and are looking for advice on how best to proceed. We bought this place back in 2007, just before the crash by like 3 months. For some specifics: Our original principle balance was 186k. Original price was 196k. Our interest rate is a ridiculous 7%. Estimated value of our place at this point is only about 130k. We have never missed a payment or been late. We are also backed by Freddie Mac. We looked into harp 2.o with bank of America, twice, and was denied without reason (when pressed the rep just said that the computer says it was denied without a reason). With a month of that, our servicer rights were sold off to a debt collector (Ocwen). Every other bank we have attempted to use harp to refinance has said that they are only supporting the loans they already service. We're in good shape financially I guess as we make approx 90k a year, and I have an 804 rating, my wife has 746, but that is due to the fact that more stuff is in my name. Ever since we were sold to this debt collector that apparently cannot refinance through harp since they aren't a bank, I've had wicked anxiety about our finances. We are paying the bills but we both just want to move on with our lives, buy a real house with a yard and not have to worry about the dogs barking and downstairs neighbors. Hell even posting this is giving me anxiety issues, so we're just looking for any help and guidance we can get.
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Sep 18, 2012 00:54
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KGBAgent185 posted:So my wife and I are stuck in our condo and want to find a way to move on. We're underwater and are looking for advice on how best to proceed. We bought this place back in 2007, just before the crash by like 3 months. I took at a look at the Ocwen website, and they just seem to be another Mortgage servicer, so I don't think that really matters. Is your question really "Should I walk away from my mortgage?"
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Sep 18, 2012 01:36
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daslog posted:I took at a look at the Ocwen website, and they just seem to be another Mortgage servicer, so I don't think that really matters. I didn't know if there were some programs that we didn't know about, or what to do.  E: also while we haven't had a problem yet (knock on wood) they don't have a shining reputation.
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Sep 18, 2012 02:40
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KGBAgent185 posted:my question is more what are our options. The thing about Ocwen is that they won't refinance using any of the government programs except hamp? The one where you can get a temporary adjustment only under distress or something. It really sounds like your options boil down to "bring cash to closing" or "mail in the keys."
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Sep 18, 2012 03:35
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Dik Hz posted:It really sounds like your options boil down to "bring cash to closing" or "mail in the keys." "talk to bank about short sale" is the middle ground here.
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Sep 18, 2012 03:48
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KGBAgent185 posted:So my wife and I are stuck in our condo and want to find a way to move on. We're underwater and are looking for advice on how best to proceed. We bought this place back in 2007, just before the crash by like 3 months. Is the only reason you and she are unhappy with the condo because it's underwater or the loan rate? If it's more that you both want a different setup I would think sucking it up and spending money on the gap to a new home is really the only option
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Sep 18, 2012 12:34
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This is KGBAgent185's wife. Some of the ideas we have tossed around were trying to refinance so that our mortgage payment would be less and we'd be able to sock away more money and be able to pay our way out or we'd perhaps have the option of renting out our condo. Right now we'd be eating $500+ a month of our mortgage payments (seems we could get about $1250 in rent a month). Renting isn't ideal, and I know it is rife with headaches, but it is something we were tossing around. Of course, if we can't refinance, that is probably not going to be an option. We also are interested in talking to a lawyer or ... just someone who knows what the gently caress we should do (cause clearly we don't ...). If it ends up being that we have to save up $50K and suck it up, that's what we'll have to do. We just (stupidly) believed we'd be able to move out of here after about 5 years, and now we are more stuck than ever. We ultimately would like a chunk of acreage with a little house on it, but that dream is infinitely far away right now. Is there any kind of a website someone can recommend where we could find someone to give us advice? We are in Southern NH if that is any help. Thanks for the advice so far, we appreciate it.
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Sep 18, 2012 14:33
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RurouNNy posted:This is KGBAgent185's wife. Some of the ideas we have tossed around were trying to refinance so that our mortgage payment would be less and we'd be able to sock away more money and be able to pay our way out or we'd perhaps have the option of renting out our condo. Right now we'd be eating $500+ a month of our mortgage payments (seems we could get about $1250 in rent a month). Renting isn't ideal, and I know it is rife with headaches, but it is something we were tossing around. Of course, if we can't refinance, that is probably not going to be an option. We also are interested in talking to a lawyer or ... just someone who knows what the gently caress we should do (cause clearly we don't ...). If it ends up being that we have to save up $50K and suck it up, that's what we'll have to do. We just (stupidly) believed we'd be able to move out of here after about 5 years, and now we are more stuck than ever. We ultimately would like a chunk of acreage with a little house on it, but that dream is infinitely far away right now. Is there any kind of a website someone can recommend where we could find someone to give us advice? We are in Southern NH if that is any help. Thanks for the advice so far, we appreciate it. I guess I'm still a little unclear as to what you're trying to do, then. If the dream home is currently not an option, are you both just incredibly unhappy in your current condo? Are you anticipating the value of the property dropping further? Or is it just the financing at this point that is unacceptable? If it is the last option, then yeah, you should look into getting some professional advice, but if they aren't willing to allow refinancing options that is pretty limiting. Sometimes a short sale is a possibility if you are otherwise going to be unable to keep up payments but it's not something I'd outright recommend pursuing either.
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Sep 18, 2012 17:01
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I Love You! posted:I guess I'm still a little unclear as to what you're trying to do, then. If the dream home is currently not an option, are you both just incredibly unhappy in your current condo? Are you anticipating the value of the property dropping further? Or is it just the financing at this point that is unacceptable? It is probably still unclear because we don't know what we want to do ... but to sum up: We have a condo that is about $50K underwater. We aren't fans of the condo lifestyle and want out. We can afford our mortgage payments, so I don't think a short sale is going to be an option. Since our interest rate is so high, it is cutting into what we could be putting away (playing with some calculators, we'd save almost $500 a month, putting us into the range where renting would be doable too). I am having trouble imagining the property value is going to keep dropping (as dramatically), but the way things have been going, it is in the realm of possibilities. The simplest solution seems to be just to get our mortgage payments down so we aren't throwing quite as much of our money down that house shaped hole. Looking for professional advice, who should we be talking to? A real estate lawyer? Financial adviser of some kind? Some other occupation I don't know about?
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Sep 18, 2012 17:19
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This may be the dumbest question in the world, but Rurounny's situation made me think of it again. If you owe on a mortgage for a house/condo, and the lender doesn't want to refinance, why can't you seek out another lender to start a new mortgage that includes paying off the old one (assuming no prepay penalties)? Essentially buy the house from yourself? I guess this could run into issues with down payments and such, but given the vulturesque nature of lenders, I'd assume they'd be all about stealing revenue from someone else in this way.
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Sep 18, 2012 17:38
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Because no one will loan you $180,000 when your collateral is only worth 130,000.
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Sep 18, 2012 18:05
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emocrat posted:Because no one will loan you $180,000 when your collateral is only worth 130,000. Didn't stop 'em the first time  Yeah, that does make sense. So if one weren't underwater it'd be possible?
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Sep 18, 2012 18:58
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I think there are programs for underwater borrows to refinance. I would try those. Even if you have to finance the unsecured portion separately I would do that if it is cheaper overall.
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Sep 18, 2012 19:00
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Well yeah, what you are describing is just a standard refinance which happens all the time. I would guess the vast vast majority of mortgage refis are with a new company. I did one recently myself. The basic process is you apply with a bank or a broker, they look at how much money you need to pay off the old loan, they look at your credit worthiness and ability to make the payments and they look at the value of the collateral (the house). If those things are acceptable and you agree to the terms then they pay the old loan in full, and generate a new loan with their institution.
emocrat fucked around with this message at 19:05 on Sep 18, 2012 |
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Sep 18, 2012 19:03
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New Hampshire is a recourse state for mortgages, so as far as I see it you have 3 options. 1: Suck it up and wait it out. 2: Discuss a short sale with a real estate attorney 3: Walk away from the mortgage but take a major hit to credit, and probably get sued for the difference between sale price of condo and balance of your mortgage. Knowing that you can afford the condo, but just don't want to make the payment anymore I can't see a lender agreeing to a short sale, which really leaves option 1 or 3 on the table.
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Sep 18, 2012 19:11
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They're stuck in the position many are in and the only thing that could make sense for them from a policy perspective would be to subsidize a principal reduction for them because even these newfangled refinance programs are for those that want to stay in their home, not for those wanting to leave.RurouNNy posted:We can afford our mortgage payments, so I don't think a short sale is going to be an option. As a comedy option, you could get a government job and they'll pay for the differences when you relocate.
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Sep 18, 2012 21:37
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necrobobsledder posted:They're stuck in the position many are in and the only thing that could make sense for them from a policy perspective would be to subsidize a principal reduction for them because even these newfangled refinance programs are for those that want to stay in their home, not for those wanting to leave. Thanks everyone, though you've mostly just confirmed my fears =\ At this point we're just going to stick it out. Hopefully some bank, somewhere, will let us refinance. HARP stuff might catch on or get updated ... little glimmer of hope ;_; And this info on the short sale puts my mind a little at ease should anything happen to us. We already made it through an almost 2 year stint of KGBAgent185 being out of work, and we still made all of our payments. Figures, I just got a somewhat significant raise after sticking it out with my company for a long time and that seems like it will be a negative when trying to get help. On the bright side, it will help us pay our way out of this hole. We should be the poster children of why you shouldn't buy 
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Sep 18, 2012 22:38
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oTHi posted:A question for AusGoons, specifically Melbourne Goons if possible. I am looking to purchase a house, however, it looks like the only places available in my price range are apartments, in a fairly dodgy suburb, Springvale. :iamafag: Melb goon here. I think just reading all the other posts in this thread is a good gauge on what not to do. The amount of people underwater on their homes does seem incredible to us here but look at these people stuck in their places. The idea of being unable to upgrade out of a 2 bedroom apartment terrifies me! Keep watching the prices, they are slowly heading down so it could happen. My boyfriend and I could afford to buy a 2 bedroom apartment where we are now renting, and a house in Clayton (he refuses to go to Springvale) but we are just waiting and saving. I'd love to be able to buy a house where we are now, but even a 50% drop on 1.2 mil is too much money. I know how you feel though, I really want to own, not pregnant but have that nesting feeling.
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Sep 21, 2012 00:35
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