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DJCobol
May 16, 2003

CALL OF DUTY! :rock:
Grimey Drawer

Nocheez posted:

Huh? I had my loan open for less than 5 years, and the very day I hit 78% LTV I sent a letter and got PMI/MIP dropped from my bill.

New FHA rules say you have a minimum of 5 years. 2 down, 3 to go!

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ExplodingChef
May 25, 2005

Deathscorts are the true American heroes.
Welp, we just closed today on our first house. That was...incredibly anticlimactic. An hour of signing stuff and bullshitting with our realtor and mortgage broker (who looks like Maggie Gyllenhaal with purple hair) and we got the keys. I expected hours of hand cramping and forms.

FunOne
Aug 20, 2000
I am a slimey vat of concentrated stupidity

Fun Shoe

ExplodingChef posted:

Welp, we just closed today on our first house. That was...incredibly anticlimactic. An hour of signing stuff and bullshitting with our realtor and mortgage broker (who looks like Maggie Gyllenhaal with purple hair) and we got the keys. I expected hours of hand cramping and forms.

It doesn't FEEL like you just spend tens (or hundreds) of thousands of dollars does it?

lapse
Jun 27, 2004

DJCobol posted:

New FHA rules say you have a minimum of 5 years. 2 down, 3 to go!

New as in when?

Does it apply retroactively to all loans that haven't had the insurance eliminated yet? Or just to loans issued after _____ date?

DJCobol
May 16, 2003

CALL OF DUTY! :rock:
Grimey Drawer

lapse posted:

New as in when?

Does it apply retroactively to all loans that haven't had the insurance eliminated yet? Or just to loans issued after _____ date?

I bought in may of 2011 and it was definitely in place then. Not sure if its retroactive or not. I would guess not though.

Leperflesh
May 17, 2007

It was in place when I originally bought in December 2009, so this isn't a super new thing. It's only FHA loans, of course, not standard loans.

QuarkJets
Sep 8, 2008

Weinertron posted:

I understand that this is a personal decision, but if your mortgage is under 4% then its incredibly likely that putting that $600-800 a month towards an index fund or mix of funds will beat 4%, and later you could pay off your mortgage in one huge chunk if you so desire with the earnings.

On the other hand, if the stock market takes a bad turn then suddenly all of those >= 4% earnings don't count for poo poo, so it's not like that 4% is risk-free. It's a complicated question. Frankly, I think that paying down the mortgage now makes more sense even if you're likely going to make more money with an index fund. Although investing in retirement funds first should be a no-brainer (401k to get employer matching, then Roth IRA because Roth IRAs rule, then think about paying extra on the mortgage or opening another investment account)

But yeah, it's a personal decision like you said.

Leperflesh
May 17, 2007

Another factor is that paying down your mortgage improves your debt-to-income ratio, which in turn improves your borrowing ability (theoretically, many other factors obviously apply). If you have plans to borrow a significant amount of money down the line (second home? student loans for your kids? start a business?), maximizing your credit rating and borrowing capacity could have some affect, I suppose.

Mandals
Aug 31, 2004

Isn't it pretty to think so.
Looking to buy a home this spring. Anything I should be concerned about with respect to taxes, specifically deductions? I read somewhere that the amount that I claim as unreimbursed expenses (form 2106) against the your 2012-1040’s AGI (Adjusted Gross Income), will be deducted from my annual income. And that lenders can only recognize (& use) what you disclose and pay income tax to IRS.

Midge the Jet
Sep 15, 2006

The new MIP collection pterms affect my job directly. For the best way to see exactly what terms apply for the loans based on LTV and term, as well as the closing date requirement for loans before the terms become effective, I suggest reading the mortgagee letter that is published online:

http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/documents/huddoc?id=13-04ml.pdf

There is a table explaining the information on page 3. Page 1 gives details on the effective dates.

Captain Windex
Apr 10, 2005
It'll clean anything.
Pillbug

Mandals posted:

Looking to buy a home this spring. Anything I should be concerned about with respect to taxes, specifically deductions? I read somewhere that the amount that I claim as unreimbursed expenses (form 2106) against the your 2012-1040’s AGI (Adjusted Gross Income), will be deducted from my annual income. And that lenders can only recognize (& use) what you disclose and pay income tax to IRS.

Your 2106 expenses will be deducted from your qualified income, the other deductions on pages 1 and 2 and schedule A of the 1040s have no bearing on your income qualification. Some income types are non taxable so depending on what you receive it's not necessarily a problem if it's not on your tax returns, but if we've got your your current W2 and your 1040s show you didn't report any W2 wages or something like that, we're gonna have some issues.

Pfhreak
Jan 30, 2004

Frog Blast The Vent Core!
Well, I'm signing documents on Monday to get our house bought!

Holy. poo poo.

So I need a big mega cashier's check or to wire the cash over. This is how I enter the landed gentry, right? From here out I can collect the value of the work of the peasants on the estate? Is that difficult or what?

slap me silly
Nov 1, 2009
Grimey Drawer
It's a bit of a slog in the early years. Frankly I'm still waiting for my first chicken.

QuarkJets
Sep 8, 2008

Pfhreak posted:

Well, I'm signing documents on Monday to get our house bought!

Holy. poo poo.

So I need a big mega cashier's check or to wire the cash over. This is how I enter the landed gentry, right? From here out I can collect the value of the work of the peasants on the estate? Is that difficult or what?

Only if you can rear an heir will your hold on your house be secure.

Pfhreak
Jan 30, 2004

Frog Blast The Vent Core!

QuarkJets posted:

Only if you can rear an heir will your hold on your house be secure.

Oh, so is that a different megathread?

Pillowpants
Aug 5, 2006
We're making an offer on a townhouse tonight!

The problem with this and a lot of the other things we've looked at is that my real estate agent seems to think that they won't appraise for what we're offering.

Example: The seller owes 200k on the townhouse so they put it on the market for 200k, but all the comparable places in the unit sold for around 170. This makes me wonder why appraisals end up being part of the closing costs. Why wouldn't you just get the house appraised before you put it on the market?

sheri
Dec 30, 2002

Because whatever bank the buyer is financing through is going to want to do their own assessment of what the house is worth prior to committing money for it. The seller likely has no idea what bank/fianancer the seller is going to use.

Sephiroth_IRA
Mar 31, 2010
If they don't take your offer then let it go.

gvibes
Jan 18, 2010

Leading us to the promised land (i.e., one tournament win in five years)

Pillowpants posted:

Example: The seller owes 200k on the townhouse so they put it on the market for 200k, but all the comparable places in the unit sold for around 170. This makes me wonder why appraisals end up being part of the closing costs. Why wouldn't you just get the house appraised before you put it on the market?
It's not like there's a whole lot of science to it.

I tried to re-fi not too long ago, it appraised for X. I tried again a few months later, it appraised for X+35k.

Berlin Swing
Jan 23, 2006

The husband and I would like to buy our first home in a year or so, trying to get our credit in shape now - we've been told we need 3 open lines of credit each. He has two small student loans and a credit card, all in good standing. I have a student loan that's paid off and a car loan in good standing. I'm opening a credit card to get my third line of credit just to build my score.

When I bought the car two years ago, we were told that we couldn't get the low interest rate that was advertised because "student loans don't count". This was my first car-buying experience and I was pretty terrified of the whole thing and I didn't even think about having a parent cosign or anything. Lesson learned.

So my question is, when we go to apply for a mortgage in a year or two, will we be told we just don't have enough in our credit history because they're not considering the three student loans? Also, this may be a dumb question, but does it matter that my student loan has been paid off for the past two years? The account is still listed as open on my credit report. Thanks!

Robo-Pope
Feb 28, 2007

It has big taste.

Pillowpants posted:

We're making an offer on a townhouse tonight!

The problem with this and a lot of the other things we've looked at is that my real estate agent seems to think that they won't appraise for what we're offering.

Example: The seller owes 200k on the townhouse so they put it on the market for 200k, but all the comparable places in the unit sold for around 170. This makes me wonder why appraisals end up being part of the closing costs. Why wouldn't you just get the house appraised before you put it on the market?

This is why they have the awesome default clause that you can go back into negotiation if it doesn't appraise for at least the offer price. The only part that sucks is that if you're not willing to pay more than appraised value, and the seller won't bring down the price, then you don't have a house and are likely out the cost of an appraisal.

Dik Hz
Feb 22, 2004

Fun with Science

Berlin Swing posted:

When I bought the car two years ago, we were told that we couldn't get the low interest rate that was advertised because "student loans don't count". This was my first car-buying experience and I was pretty terrified of the whole thing and I didn't even think about having a parent cosign or anything. Lesson learned.
Car dealers make more money on financing than on cars. They will lie through their teeth to get you to pay a higher APR.

Captain Windex
Apr 10, 2005
It'll clean anything.
Pillbug

Berlin Swing posted:

So my question is, when we go to apply for a mortgage in a year or two, will we be told we just don't have enough in our credit history because they're not considering the three student loans? Also, this may be a dumb question, but does it matter that my student loan has been paid off for the past two years? The account is still listed as open on my credit report. Thanks!

Depends on the type of loan and the bank. We only require 2x12 month trade lines for conventional and they don't have to be currently active as long as you have an acceptable AUS response. Student loans don't "count" when you're in the deferment period since you aren't making any payments, but once you're 12 months into the repayment period on them it's a perfectly viable trade line. Glancing over our FHA guidelines it looks like they require 3x12 month trade lines, no indication that I can find that they have to be active.

rockcity
Jan 16, 2004
Well, the search for a new home has officially started. Yesterday I had a conference call with SA's own Have Some Flowers! to help my fiancee and I find a realtor here in Orlando. My fiancee and I spent a good chuck of last night scouring through listings for a while as well, not that we hadn't been already. I feel pretty good about things so far. The next step is to talk to a broker and get pre-approved. Does anyone have any experience with mortgage brokers in the Orlando area?

Elephanthead
Sep 11, 2008


Toilet Rascal
After 9 months of slightly working on getting the clear to close on my refi underwriting has finally agreed to cost my new 30 year loan at 3.5% lender pays all closing costs. This is going to save me $2200 in interest the first year. Come on inflation, daddy needs a house payment the size of a cheeseburger meal and a mid level eatery.

slap me silly
Nov 1, 2009
Grimey Drawer
And my refi at 3.125% just went for final underwriting, which is gonna have much the same outcome for me. Woot :hf:

japlanet
Oct 15, 2012
Do never buy!

Our floor drain in the basement started backing up when we showered about 6 months after we moved in to our house. Got a plumber to come by and snake it - he said there was a building trap so his snake couldn't go past the foundation. He quoted us $3600 to pull up the concrete and remove the trap, install a backwater valve ($2000 rebate from the city), then see from there what would need to be done. The issue was getting bad and we were leaving on vacation in a week and a half so I foolishly said ok and didn't get another quote. He said that the worst case scenario was that the outside sewer lateral was cracked and/or full of roots and would need to be replaced out to the property line and said that the total for this worst case scenario would be $5000-6000.

So I signed the quote for the $3600 work and gave my credit card for a $1600 deposit.

Next day, I'm at work, pop by at lunch, it's clear that the lateral is full of roots. I agree to doing the 'full' job in replacing the sewer lateral. Guy says he will have to take some measurements for the final price. I have to go back to work and leave my boyfriend in the house with them. That afternoon I get a call from the bf that the new total is $5500. I say fine, at this point we don't have a working sewer until the job gets done.

When I get home I realize that there is now a second quote for $5500 detailing the outside work - signed by my boyfriend, not me - it mentions some of the inside work but does not explicitly replace the first $3600 quote. I try to get a hold of the guy who did the quotes but he has left for a week for Mexico - and won't be back until after we've left for vacation. I assume it's fine, that the $5500 replaced the $3600 since that's what my boyfriend was told and because that's in line with the original 'worst case scenario' number he gave us the day before. And anyway, who wouldn't quote the new job total?

In the next week the work gets done - finally finished the Friday before we are set to leave on vacation. I get a call from the office now asking for final payment - of $9100!!

I paid the $5500 I expected to pay and refused any further payment until we get back from vacation and speak to the original guy who did the quotes. But they have my CC number . . . As well they have not yet given me the paperwork I need to get the $2000 rebate from the City.

I meet with the guy tomorrow - what are my strategies?

Can they come after me for the $3600 if I pay the $5500 I thought the job would be?
My bf signed the 2nd quote (I alone own the house), is that binding?
Do I have any recourse for the fact that they deceived me/us verbally and wrote the quotes ambiguously?
If they charge my credit card can I do a charge back?

We are in Ontario, Canada for legal issues.

Leperflesh
May 17, 2007

japlanet posted:

I meet with the guy tomorrow - what are my strategies?

Can they come after me for the $3600 if I pay the $5500 I thought the job would be?
My bf signed the 2nd quote (I alone own the house), is that binding?
Do I have any recourse for the fact that they deceived me/us verbally and wrote the quotes ambiguously?
If they charge my credit card can I do a charge back?

We are in Ontario, Canada for legal issues.

Probably anything anyone says here, who isn't a Canadian lawyer, isn't as useful as what you should do immediately which is call a Canadian lawyer.

But in my amateur opinion, your boyfriend's signature constitutes an authorized agent acting on your behalf. E.g., you authorized him to bind you to a legal agreement, and therefore his signature representing you is binding. From the contractor's perspective, he had reason to believe that your boyfriend had authority to permit the work; unless you're willing to go after your boyfriend for fraudulently signing something on your behalf, that angle is probably a no-go.

However, I also agree that your understanding that the $5500 was a quote for the entire job is probably legally binding too, unless the second estimate clearly indicates that it is for work not covered by the first estimate, and vice-versa, e.g., the two estimates are for two different jobs.

But none of this matters if they decide to press the issue, and since it's for several thousand dollars I imagine they will choose to press the issue.

Call a lawyer immediately.

Dik Hz
Feb 22, 2004

Fun with Science

japlanet posted:

I meet with the guy tomorrow - what are my strategies?

Can they come after me for the $3600 if I pay the $5500 I thought the job would be?
My bf signed the 2nd quote (I alone own the house), is that binding?
Do I have any recourse for the fact that they deceived me/us verbally and wrote the quotes ambiguously?
If they charge my credit card can I do a charge back?

We are in Ontario, Canada for legal issues.
It could very well be a miscommunication between the plumber and his office. If it's anything else, you're probably going to need an attorney. No amount of amateur internet lawyering is going to put your mind at ease. Your expectations are not unrealistic, though.

kmcormick9
Feb 2, 2004
Magenta Alert
My wife and I are in the market to buy in an area that hasnt been hit very hard by the housing crash. We have been preapproved for the amount we know we can afford and have been touring with a realtor. Looking for some advice here on several subjects.

First, dealing with new home builders, specifically Ryan Homes. While looking at a short sale in a new neighborhood, the realtor took us to the model where we were given the hard sell by the salesman about why we should buy a new construction house instead of the existing house(that his company built). Another offer got accepted on the short sale and we're supposed to meet with the salesman again tomorrow. Ive been doing my research on Ryan and have been getting nervous. I know that options are going to quickly drive these houses up to a point that we can no longer afford, but how much wiggle room do we have in negotiating? Will checking the boxes of what we want and naming the price we are willing to pay and walking away if not accepted work?

Second, GOOD houses in this area have been lasting less than a week. We toured one that needed some rehab, but would otherwise have been out of our budget that we liked. It went under contract the day we toured it, but its back on the market again. Should we be taking a second look at it? It is livable as is and we could do the work that it needs while staying there.

skipdogg
Nov 29, 2004
Resident SRT-4 Expert

kmcormick9 posted:

First, dealing with new home builders, specifically Ryan Homes. While looking at a short sale in a new neighborhood, the realtor took us to the model where we were given the hard sell by the salesman about why we should buy a new construction house instead of the existing house(that his company built). Another offer got accepted on the short sale and we're supposed to meet with the salesman again tomorrow. Ive been doing my research on Ryan and have been getting nervous. I know that options are going to quickly drive these houses up to a point that we can no longer afford, but how much wiggle room do we have in negotiating? Will checking the boxes of what we want and naming the price we are willing to pay and walking away if not accepted work?

No, this won't work. Ryan has sold many other homes at their pricing levels to other folks in the neighborhood. They might deal on back end stuff like free upgrades, or closing costs being paid, but they will not deal on the price of the house. Selling you a house for less than other comparable houses in the area could drive down prices and end up pissing everyone off. People are very protective of the 'property values'. When we bought our house the builder gave us almost 28K in 'free' upgrades. Then wanted to finish the street we were on, I have a utility easement on my lot making it less than ideal so they offered tons of 'free' upgrades to the property. They didn't budge one red cent off the listing price though.

quote:

Second, GOOD houses in this area have been lasting less than a week. We toured one that needed some rehab, but would otherwise have been out of our budget that we liked. It went under contract the day we toured it, but its back on the market again. Should we be taking a second look at it? It is livable as is and we could do the work that it needs while staying there.

Depends. If you have an ample amount of money already in your pocket for rehab, and you're handy, AND you know what you're getting into MAYBE. If you're asking though I generally would advise against it.

Rehabbing a house while living in it can be very stressful, especially if you're doing primary rooms like the kitchen or master bathroom. Your wife will quickly tire of having to go to the other side of the house to pee in the middle of the night because the master bath has been torn down to the studs for the last 2 months. Either have a lot of funds to throw at things to get it done fast, or have somewhere else to live.

kmcormick9
Feb 2, 2004
Magenta Alert

skipdogg posted:

No, this won't work. Ryan has sold many other homes at their pricing levels to other folks in the neighborhood. They might deal on back end stuff like free upgrades, or closing costs being paid, but they will not deal on the price of the house. Selling you a house for less than other comparable houses in the area could drive down prices and end up pissing everyone off. People are very protective of the 'property values'. When we bought our house the builder gave us almost 28K in 'free' upgrades. Then wanted to finish the street we were on, I have a utility easement on my lot making it less than ideal so they offered tons of 'free' upgrades to the property. They didn't budge one red cent off the listing price though.


Depends. If you have an ample amount of money already in your pocket for rehab, and you're handy, AND you know what you're getting into MAYBE. If you're asking though I generally would advise against it.

Rehabbing a house while living in it can be very stressful, especially if you're doing primary rooms like the kitchen or master bathroom. Your wife will quickly tire of having to go to the other side of the house to pee in the middle of the night because the master bath has been torn down to the studs for the last 2 months. Either have a lot of funds to throw at things to get it done fast, or have somewhere else to live.

Thanks for the tips.
The "rehab" I speak of is basically undoing elderly couple neglect- carpets, floors, painting walls, fixing/replacing broken fixtures. The master bath could use some updating but thats a pay a contractor down the road job.

Konstantin
Jun 20, 2005
And the Lord said, "Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.
If you do decide to buy, and if it is at all possible to do so, I'd recommend staying at your current home for an extra month or so while you renovate your new home. This sort of thing goes so much quicker when you don't have to deal with moving around furniture and other personal items.

NJ Deac
Apr 6, 2006

kmcormick9 posted:

My wife and I are in the market to buy in an area that hasnt been hit very hard by the housing crash. We have been preapproved for the amount we know we can afford and have been touring with a realtor. Looking for some advice here on several subjects.

First, dealing with new home builders, specifically Ryan Homes. While looking at a short sale in a new neighborhood, the realtor took us to the model where we were given the hard sell by the salesman about why we should buy a new construction house instead of the existing house(that his company built). Another offer got accepted on the short sale and we're supposed to meet with the salesman again tomorrow. Ive been doing my research on Ryan and have been getting nervous. I know that options are going to quickly drive these houses up to a point that we can no longer afford, but how much wiggle room do we have in negotiating? Will checking the boxes of what we want and naming the price we are willing to pay and walking away if not accepted work?

Second, GOOD houses in this area have been lasting less than a week. We toured one that needed some rehab, but would otherwise have been out of our budget that we liked. It went under contract the day we toured it, but its back on the market again. Should we be taking a second look at it? It is livable as is and we could do the work that it needs while staying there.

Here are some general thoughts on working with a builder, based on our recent decision to build new and our negotiation with the builder:

Builders are much less likely to negotiate on the final purchase price of the house than private sellers. This is because the final purchase price becomes a part of public records and drives the comparable prices for every other house they sell in the neighborhood (this is how Zillow knows what every house in your neighborhood sold for and when it was last sold). If they lower the price for you, essentially they have to lower the price for everyone, since otherwise it will gently caress with the appraisals of the other houses in the neighborhood.

However, you SHOULD press hard for upgrade concessions and closing cost credits. I would suggest handling this by identifying the base level of options you want from the house, and asking that the builder throw in those upgrades as a concession, along with a credit to apply towards additional upgrades. If cash for a down payment is tight, you can also ask for closing cost concessions, but most of the time the maximum available via closing cost concessions is reduced by either state law or by the mortgage lender (in order to prevent the builder from essentially giving you a kickback, thus screwing up your loan-to-value calculations). Also, many builders run their own financing companies, so you may be able to negotiate an interest rate buydown or promotional rate.

We were able to negotiate roughly $20k in concessions (in the form of a design center allowance and a few options we asked them to throw in) from our builder on a $~500k contract price, but this is very much variable based on your negotiation skills, how well the particular community has been selling, what phase of construction the builder is in (they will likely be more willing to negotiate on the last few homes in the development), and various other factors.

You also need to know the base level of upgrades that you are getting for the base price. In particular, our realtor identified Ryan homes as a builder that does some good work, but also tends not to include much in the way of a base level of upgrades. Make sure you tour the model with the builder's representative and get a breakdown of every feature that they added to the model which isn't included in the base purchase price (there will be quite a few of these items). Stuff like extra recessed lighting fixtures, granite countertops, upgraded molding, tile backsplashes, extra ceiling fan boxes, and the like can add up very quickly. Also make sure to tour one of the builder's inventory homes in the neighborhood so you can see what a base level of upgrades looks like - again, make sure you ask what has been added to the inventory home so you know what you will have to pay extra for.

Builders frequently start new homes in popular floor plans to accommodate buyers who don't want to wait the 4-6 months for construction to complete. Every month the builder has to hang onto one of these homes is a net loss for them, so they are more inclined to do what it takes to get them sold. As such, you will always get a better deal on an "inventory" or "spec" home than a "build-to-order" home, where you choose the lot, the floor plan, and all of the options. It's like the difference between negotiating for a car the dealer has on his lot, vs. one special ordered to your exact specifications from the dealer - you may have to settle for a color you don't like as much, but you'll get a better deal in the end. You can also frequently get builders to make changes to inventory homes to make a sale - don't like the second floor carpet or the color they painted the master bedroom? Put in an offer contingent on them changing the things you don't like. Obviously they will be more inclined to make finishing level changes than large structural changes (e.g., they'll maybe finish an unfinished room or repaint a bedroom, but they probably won't knock out a wall to turn a 2 car garage into a 3 car).

The best of both worlds is if you can identify a new start on a spec home after the builder has committed to building that floor plan on that lot, but before the construction gets very far. Then you can still make any option selections that might be much more difficult if you wait longer. For example, the builder is much more likely to throw in surround sound system pre-wiring in the family room if they don't have to take down the drywall to do so.

It's worth taking a walk around the neighborhood and introducing yourself to anyone in the neighborhood out walking their dogs or the like, to get an idea of what post-build support has been like from the builder. Ask about things like how well they've supported the HOA, how available they are to fix warranty repairs while they're still on site, and the like. Also make sure to ask the builder about their long term schedule for the community. If you get relocated across the country and have to sell your house in 3 years, you don't want to be competing with the builder because if the price points are similar, no one is going to take your ratty old "used" house when they can have a brand new one built to their specifications with a full warranty from the builder at the same price.

Bacteriophage
May 2, 2005
CELLUAR LYSIS!
Ok hopefully someone can help us understand this because our realtor isn't being very helpful.

So we're first-time buyers in the process of buying a house and the appraisal just came back around $15k under what they have the house listed for. We're fine with that because it gives us room to negotiate right? We like the house but we're not in love with it and we already feel like we're paying too much for it. The sellers get in touch with us and want US to pay for a new appraisal. Our realtor agrees with them, but isn't it sort of in our best interests if the appraisal is lower than the asking price? Why in the world would we want to pay for another appraisal, if the sellers wanted a higher appraisal shouldn't they pay for it?

Arrghh I just don't knnooowww :psyduck:

skipdogg
Nov 29, 2004
Resident SRT-4 Expert

Where are you in the purchasing process of this house? Have you already made an offer? You probably need to walk away from this transaction.

Robo-Pope
Feb 28, 2007

It has big taste.

Bacteriophage posted:

Ok hopefully someone can help us understand this because our realtor isn't being very helpful.

So we're first-time buyers in the process of buying a house and the appraisal just came back around $15k under what they have the house listed for. We're fine with that because it gives us room to negotiate right? We like the house but we're not in love with it and we already feel like we're paying too much for it. The sellers get in touch with us and want US to pay for a new appraisal. Our realtor agrees with them, but isn't it sort of in our best interests if the appraisal is lower than the asking price? Why in the world would we want to pay for another appraisal, if the sellers wanted a higher appraisal shouldn't they pay for it?

Arrghh I just don't knnooowww :psyduck:

There is no reason to get a property appraised twice, besides being butthurt about the answer. If they don't like the appraisal they can bite you.

There's also no reason for you to pay more than the property is worth. Offer them at most the appraised value, and if they're not willing to sell the house for what it's worth, walk away. On a side note, are you buying entirely in cash? If you're getting a loan, you'll be paying cash for anything above appraisal value (plus your normal down payment).

Also, if your realtor did not tell you any of that, it may be time to find a new realtor.

Robo-Pope fucked around with this message at 01:13 on Feb 13, 2013

ntd
Apr 17, 2001

Give me a sandwich!

NJ Deac posted:

We were able to negotiate roughly $20k in concessions (in the form of a design center allowance and a few options we asked them to throw in) from our builder on a $~500k contract price, but this is very much variable based on your negotiation skills, how well the particular community has been selling, what phase of construction the builder is in (they will likely be more willing to negotiate on the last few homes in the development), and various other factors.

You also need to know the base level of upgrades that you are getting for the base price. In particular, our realtor identified Ryan homes as a builder that does some good work, but also tends not to include much in the way of a base level of upgrades. Make sure you tour the model with the builder's representative and get a breakdown of every feature that they added to the model which isn't included in the base purchase price (there will be quite a few of these items). Stuff like extra recessed lighting fixtures, granite countertops, upgraded molding, tile backsplashes, extra ceiling fan boxes, and the like can add up very quickly. Also make sure to tour one of the builder's inventory homes in the neighborhood so you can see what a base level of upgrades looks like - again, make sure you ask what has been added to the inventory home so you know what you will have to pay extra for.



Just reinforcing some of this...we are building right now with a major home builder and can give you our version of the process. it pretty much aligns with all of this, our builder was really good about giving us a "spec sheet" of the model home and any inventory homes we looked at, this was basically the house pricing with all of the options listed and priced out....it was really awesome to have that as we looked at model and inventory homes. They also were more than happy to give us the key to look at inventory homes and homes under construction, we looked at places in probably five developments and houses in various stages of completion and with various levels of upgrades, really gave us a great idea of what level we were good with and what we felt better about having upgraded ourselves (for example, hardwood in the living room was one thing we'd rather have done by someone else so we stuck at the lower end).

Not all builders we met with gave it to us, but the one we eventually built with gave us a printout of EVERY available option on our house including the prices, so we were able to price things out on our own instead of getting a sales pitch.

We got 5k of included options and a what amounted to be about 3.5% for down payment by taking advantage of a program they have where we do easy poo poo (put in window well around egress window, hand towel bars/tp holder, paint the front door, spray foam penetrations and hose spouts, plant 3 shrubs and do a coat of interior paint (the one thing that is not a small job). Outside painting the rest is something that can be done on a weekend. Ryan Homes has this I think, I seem to recall some blogs about it...we briefly looked at Ryan in a different city.

Where we live there are basically no 4 bedroom houses (3 kids) on the market unless we added 100k to our price range, what is available is a lot of places with a basement bedroom or old house in need of TONS of work which we just don't feel comfortable with.

ntd fucked around with this message at 02:02 on Feb 13, 2013

Mary Fucking Poppins
Aug 1, 2002
How hard is it to get approved for a mortgage as a single person with not much credit history but a good salary with no gaps in employment since I graduated in 2008? I don't know what my credit score is, all I know is that my student loans and credit card have always had on time payments and I have no negative remarks. My student loans (currently $4,000 at 2.14% and 7,000 at 3.3%) I've been paying on-time every time since 2008 (some started as early as 2004 with interest-only payments until I graduated in 2008). But I never had a credit card until last June. I've had that on auto-pay from my checking ever since, using about 10% of my $6,000 limit for everything but rent. No other lines of credit and my car was bought in cash.

Anyway, I have 4.5 months expenses saved for emergencies, I max my employer's 401k match and my budget gets me to $35,000 towards a house by next March (the earliest I would intend to purchase). The $35,000 in total is intended to be a 20% down payment of a $130,000 house plus 7% extra earmarked for closing costs and initial repair expenses. My max price is $150,000 and my plan is to keep saving past March if I have to move closer to that $150,000 mark. In my city that price range gets me a pretty nice 2-3 bedroom house in a pretty good neighborhood.

Is the 7% extra a good target for closing costs and initial repair expenses? (Ideally I'd like to use some for furniture, too.) I'm comfortably saving a bit over 50% of my take-home for the down payment. A mortgage payment + interest + homeowner's insurance + taxes would be about equal to my current rent ($850), so once I bought a house, I would have a lot of breathing room to save for future home maintenance expenses. Anything I'm missing here?

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Leperflesh
May 17, 2007

You look like you're in great financial shape to me. The only warning sign I see in your post is that you mention you're buying a house as a single person. I'd caution you that your time horizon for keeping this house should be 8-10+ years; are you sure you want to buy, if there's a chance you might meet someone and want to get married during that time? Major life changes can be severely hampered if you own a home that is suddenly inconvenient for whatever reason - your prospective spouse works too far away from your house to comfortably commute, or the home is too small for the family you want to have, or whatever.

This is of course a personal decision and nobody can really answer such a question but yourself - you don't need to talk about it here, either, I'm not being nosy. Just make sure you've really carefully considered the level of commitment you're making to a particular property in a particular location for the next (approximately) decade of your life.

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