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Am I the only one that noticed "40% at a maximum, more if I wanted to wipe out my emergency funds, i.e. 40% would not wipe them out, more than 40% would.
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Jun 7, 2013 16:47
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Just signed all the title company stuff, with an effective closing date on Monday. Now I swing by the title company sometime today to drop off an enormous check and get the keys on Monday afternoon.  Going from renting (paying rent up front) to a mortgage (paying in arrears) means I have one month rent free  (from a cashflow perspective) Time to blow it all on renting a moving truck and painting over the dirt-colored walls!When we put in the offer, the seller's realtor said that they couldn't go much lower than what we offered, because it would trigger a short sale situation. They also wouldn't budge on any repairs or closing costs usually paid by the buyer. In signing all the documents it showed a breakdown of what is going to the seller. After paying off the loan ($165k), his part of the closing costs (~$4k) and the realtors ($11k), the guy walked away with just $4,000 on an $184k sale  He bought that house in 2005 for $240k, lives out of state, and has been renting it out the whole time.Do never flip.
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Jun 7, 2013 17:01
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So what's going on with the loan interest rates? Or is there a better place to ask?
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Jun 7, 2013 17:01
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Wozbo posted:Or is there a better place to ask?  (Speaking very generally, rates are v. low historically, and you would expect to see them increase as the economy continues to improve and QE is wound down. However, people have been saying rates have been 'historically low' for a decade. No one knows.)
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Jun 7, 2013 17:30
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Wozbo posted:So what's going on with the loan interest rates? Or is there a better place to ask? Mortgage rates generally move with the economy. When investors are feeling confident in the economy, they pull money out of bonds and put it into the stock market. When money is pulled out of bonds, it lowers their price and increases their interest rates. Therefore when investors feel good about the economy, mortgage rates go up. The inverse is true as well. If investors are afraid that the stock market will crash, they will put their money in bonds which will lower the rates. The last two months have had generally very good economic data, which is fueling this increase in mortgage rates. Just today there was better than expected jobs numbers. Personally, I just locked a rate at 4.125% (60 day window and having a condo have bumped up my rate) since I think the economy will continue to improve and thus rates will continue to increase. Obviously this is just my opinion and rates could decrease, but unless we see another major economic downtown, don't expect 3.5% rates any time soon. Edit: all the rates mentioned in my post are for 30 year fixed. Seph fucked around with this message at 17:40 on Jun 7, 2013 |
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Jun 7, 2013 17:36
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On HOAs, a question on what I'm dealing with: We live in a roughly 300 lot subdivision, of which about 75 are unsold. It was started by one developer (Adams), bought by another during the housing crisis (Breland), then sold recently to third (DR Horton). The developers were still paying to maintain the common areas, as the neighborhood was unfinished. DR Horton immediately came in after the purchase, called for an HOA meeting to elect a board, then nobody in the neighborhood heard anything about the results for the next four months (and DR Horton never returned calls). This morning, a letter came from our new management company, setting our fees at 300 a year, which seems kind of silly for not having any common areas at all- no tennis court or pool or playground or any of that poo poo. Basically 3-4 roundabouts with a little gazebo, plus the front entrance. When I called the management company asking exactly who hired him, he told me our HOA Board. When I asked who made up the HOA Board, he delayed (still waiting on a return call with that info) but said it was probably some DR Horton employees, as they still have so many votes they can just stock the board with their people and do whatever they like. His tone suggested it was an everyday occurrence; is this something you folks have heard of before? I don't expect to be able to do much about it (other than get as many angry residents as I can to give them an unpleasant evening meeting next week) until they sell more lots; does the board have the ability to set when the next election is? Can an HOA board be recalled?
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Jun 7, 2013 17:48
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As long as the builder has control of the HOA, you're screwed.
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Jun 7, 2013 18:19
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Pretty much what I figured 
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Jun 7, 2013 18:21
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Does your HOA cover trash removal or is that done by one of your utility companies? I know our HOA covers trash removal for the community.
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Jun 7, 2013 18:58
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$300/yr for HOA fees? A lot of the HOA's I've been looking at here are between $130-200/month. Sure that's paying for common areas, exterior upkeep and landscape, but it's a hard pill to swallow. Been looking for a starter home for around 3-4 months, and everything in my price point ($130-150k) is selling in a week or less, unless it's in a less-desirable area or has major repairs needed. Do never shop
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Jun 7, 2013 18:59
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Yeah, $25/mo is pretty much the absolute cheapest HOA you can ever hope for.
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Jun 7, 2013 19:17
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rockcity posted:Does your HOA cover trash removal or is that done by one of your utility companies? I know our HOA covers trash removal for the community. Nope- nothing besides (and I'm assuming here because we're getting zero info from them) upkeep of the subdivision's grassy areas along the road, the turnarounds, insurance, fee collection etc. I know a lot of you in San Fran or NYC are probably playing a tiny violin as I say 300 a year. I understand it's not an exorbitant amount comparatively, but it does seem high for what we're paying for.
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Jun 7, 2013 19:18
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GD_American posted:Nope- nothing besides (and I'm assuming here because we're getting zero info from them) upkeep of the subdivision's grassy areas along the road, the turnarounds, insurance, fee collection etc. 300 lots * $25 is $7500/mo in costs. You should be able to request a financial breakdown of income and expenditures. It's not unheard of for some of the fees to go into developing a savings buffer to allow for one-off legal costs without needing to increase the rate perfectly in line with expenses.
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Jun 7, 2013 19:29
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His Divine Shadow posted:Top floor: Is that a sauna off the bathroom? Goddamn. That house is super cute.
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Jun 7, 2013 19:59
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Lyz posted:Is that a sauna off the bathroom? Goddamn. I'm still trying to figure out what that room is as well. It has a window in it which seems like a bad idea for a sauna. Edit: I found the builder website, but there really aren't any details on what that is. rockcity fucked around with this message at 20:10 on Jun 7, 2013 |
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Jun 7, 2013 20:05
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Spamtron7000 posted:"Emergency funds" is a good thing to have - especially if you have kids. I wouldn't wipe mine out. Yeah, I don't want to touch them, unless there is some incentive to do so in the long term, which doesn't sound like there is. silvergoose posted:Am I the only one that noticed "40% at a maximum, more if I wanted to wipe out my emergency funds, i.e. 40% would not wipe them out, more than 40% would. I think you may have not interpreted that quite right.
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Jun 7, 2013 20:30
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Belldandy posted:Yeah, I don't want to touch them, unless there is some incentive to do so in the long term, which doesn't sound like there is. It depends on if you feel like you can invest the money better elsewhere. Put it into the down payment, lower your overall interest.... your return is going to be pretty much whatever your interest rate is. So... 3.5-4%? Can you invest that money elsewhere and get a better return than that? Then you might want to consider doing something else with it.
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Jun 7, 2013 20:35
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ntd posted:Looks great. Did you put the dimensions in feet on there or is that some sort practice in architecture in Euroland? At least I assume they are in feet, seems like what they should approximate to anyway. The measurements are in square meters and that's pretty much the standard way of doing it, so you see what size the rooms are. Everything on this is metric. The little room looks like it's a storage closet. And I don't know of a single house plan I've come across yet that left out the sauna. It's Finland after all. I'm not 100% we'll go with this model, it depends on what all the extra costs will amount to, how much we can get out of this apartment, still lots of unknown factors we're trying to tie down. Cost of the land, cost of preparing the land (connecting power & water, sewer, prepping the ground for building, etc etc). There are cheaper options available if so. Also waiting for offers from various firms. I just thought this one looked the nicest. rockcity posted:I'm still trying to figure out what that room is as well. It has a window in it which seems like a bad idea for a sauna. That room is the sauna and yeah the sauna has a window. That does happen. His Divine Shadow fucked around with this message at 20:42 on Jun 7, 2013 |
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Jun 7, 2013 20:38
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His Divine Shadow posted:That room is the sauna and yeah the sauna has a window. That does happen. Hmmm interesting. I would figure that a window just wouldn't insulate the heat nearly as well as a full wall. I guess they could put a really beefy window in there.
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Jun 7, 2013 21:06
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rockcity posted:Hmmm interesting. I would figure that a window just wouldn't insulate the heat nearly as well as a full wall. I guess they could put a really beefy window in there. Not too different from winterizing a home to keep the heat in a house, I imagine.
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Jun 7, 2013 21:11
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rockcity posted:Hmmm interesting. I would figure that a window just wouldn't insulate the heat nearly as well as a full wall. I guess they could put a really beefy window in there. Pretty much all windows here are at the least double pane or more. The newest windows nowadays are hermetically sealed and filled with argon.
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Jun 7, 2013 21:25
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Wozbo posted:So what's going on with the loan interest rates? Or is there a better place to ask? The guy keeping the rates low (Uncle Sam) has decided that he no longer wants to buy bonds and is pulling out of the market. The guy was kinda an idiot but kinda a saint since he was basically lending everyone money at 1 or 2 percent. Now all thats left is everyone else and everyone else wants to see a better return on there investment.... like 4 or 5%. That means that rates are going up... quick.
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Jun 8, 2013 13:47
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GD_American posted:Nope- nothing besides (and I'm assuming here because we're getting zero info from them) upkeep of the subdivision's grassy areas along the road, the turnarounds, insurance, fee collection etc. I do lots of loans in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and other southern states. 300 a year isn't much at all for a large neighborhood HOA with few (no) services. As mentioned by another, that is most likely the savings account and something unknown and can drop in the future as that reaches its required level.
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Jun 8, 2013 13:55
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GD_American posted:Nope- nothing besides (and I'm assuming here because we're getting zero info from them) upkeep of the subdivision's grassy areas along the road, the turnarounds, insurance, fee collection etc. Our HOA is a little less than $7/month, they maintain the entrances and some ponds, that's about it. They also have to maintain property that was turned over to them by the builder, usually an empty lot here or there that was turned over to meet green space requirements that emerged since they started working on the development. Even with this low of a fee, about 50% of the revenues go directly to the HOA management firm that the company put in place, but part of that includes fee collection and sending us a 1-page generic "newsletter" each year that contains generic information about fences, decks, etc...most of which doesn't actually apply to our community.
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Jun 8, 2013 14:30
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Ok, we got the gift from my in-laws and we took some of the money and paid off all of our credit cards to the point where we have no more than a 25% of the total credit limit on them any more. We are now interested in a house that is listed at $129,000 and is approved for 100% rural USDA financing. Is mortgage insurance cheaper when you get into things like this? Do any of you have any experience with it? Also, when finally making an offer, how low it too low to go in at with the offer? I know, our buyers agent will help us with all of that, but I'm still interested to hear what you have to say. Thanks!
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Jun 8, 2013 15:42
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Downhome posted:Ok, we got the gift from my in-laws and we took some of the money and paid off all of our credit cards to the point where we have no more than a 25% of the total credit limit on them any more. I typically recommend to my clients not lowballing an offer too much: i.e. an offer that is low enough that both sides know it would never happen can be an insult to the seller, or at the very least make them unwilling to negotiate. The actual amount is hugely dependent on the market, so there's really no hard fast rule here. Basically, is it an amount that some comparable, at least somewhere nearby, would maybe-kinda-almost have gone for? Then at least you have some justification, which makes your lowball offer look less of an rear end in a top hat move and more of a reasonable first attempt. Be sure to justify your low offer - not to yourself, but to a seller. You might not have to give them your justifications up front, but if you can point at a comparable and say "this went for XYZ amount, and the house im looking at now is similar but has no pool, so I am going to subtract T dollars and make my offer based on that" you are going to be in a better position to negotiate - and plus, the seller (or at least their agent) is likely to have done the same math. The goal with any offer is to negotiate from a position of strength, and the more your offer is based on factual evidence the more you're going to induce backpedaling from the seller without necessarily pushing them away entirely. Of course if the market is super strong where you are at like it is here in Austin you might not really have the ability to negotiate at all. I Love You! fucked around with this message at 20:06 on Jun 8, 2013 |
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Jun 8, 2013 19:13
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Downhome posted:We are now interested in a house that is listed at $129,000 and is approved for 100% rural USDA financing. Is mortgage insurance cheaper when you get into things like this? Do any of you have any experience with it? Mortgage insurance on USDA/GRH loans is called the guarantee fee, you pay 2% of the loan amount upfront and then another .40% annually, divided over 12 months. You can finance the upfront fee into your loan amount, pay it upfront yourself, or split it and do a portion using both methods if you want. Keep in mind that this program has MAXIMUM income requirements, if you make too much money you cannot qualify for it. The limit is 115% of the median income for your area, this link will tell you how much you can make. http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/HSF-Guar_Income_Limits.html Captain Windex fucked around with this message at 19:20 on Jun 8, 2013 |
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Jun 8, 2013 19:17
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Downhome posted:Ok, we got the gift from my in-laws and we took some of the money and paid off all of our credit cards to the point where we have no more than a 25% of the total credit limit on them any more. Tbh if it took a gift from your in-laws to get your credit card debt down to 25% of your credit limit you probably aren't ready to own a home.
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Jun 8, 2013 19:22
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X-Posting from DIY & Hobbies. I need some help figuring out what to do with my kitchen. I like the rest of my house and I think the kitchen is a bit of an eye sore. My budget is roughly $1,500 to $2,000. Walking in through the front door:  To the left:  Straight on:  To the right:  The living room from the kitchen:  The breakfast nook: 
I know people itt have seen hundreds of homes. What would you want to see if you were the buyer?
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Jun 9, 2013 18:44
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I think using a richer wood color on your cabinetry would go a long way, and your probably want to adjust the counter-tops accordingly. A wood color like you are using in your living room coffee table would work well to contrast against the stainless appliances and the wall. 
root of all eval fucked around with this message at 20:04 on Jun 9, 2013 |
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Jun 9, 2013 19:52
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BossRighteous posted:I think using a richer wood color on your cabinetry would go a long way, and your probably want to adjust the counter-tops accordingly. That looks really good. I think that would go well with a white counter top and white subway tile.
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Jun 9, 2013 20:23
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We just put in an offer on a house this afternoon, and the seller's agent called mine to say that she didn't think her seller would accept our offer because we included the clause saying that we could back out if our survey showed that we could not put a pool in the back yard. Google satellite view shows no homes with pools in that immediate area, which struck me as odd, and is why I mentioned it to my agent. They're presenting all offers (3+) to the seller in about an hour, so I didn't have time to really consider it and just told my agent to take that clause out of the offer. Now I'm worried if that's what I really wanted. I like the idea of saving up for a nice pool in a few years. Does this sound odd to anyone? Did I make a reasonable request? To me it sounds like our offer is the front-runner, and the agent decided she didn't like the possibility of us backing out and tried to squeeze a better contract out of us while she could. It's a really nice house - 3/2.5, 2 story, 2 car garage, updated lights/faucets/paint/carpet, wood stairs (I HATE cleaning carpeted stairs), giant yard, updated kitchen with fancy smooth cooktop and convection oven, jetted garden tub and glass shower in master bath, giant walk-in closet in master, average size walk-in closet in secondary bedroom, jack-and-jill bath for 2nd and 3rd bedroom... ahhh. I hope we get it. It's perfect to grow into whenever we start a family. Great schools, too. Edit: Offer accepted!!! Still curious about anyone's thoughts on the pool clause, though. Damn Bananas fucked around with this message at 01:28 on Jun 10, 2013 |
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Jun 9, 2013 23:18
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BossRighteous posted:I think using a richer wood color on your cabinetry would go a long way, and your probably want to adjust the counter-tops accordingly. Please do not forget to update the hardware on the cabinets if you go this route.
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Jun 10, 2013 01:26
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Hashtag Banterzone posted:That looks really good. I think that would go well with a white counter top and white subway tile. I vote for counters plus undermount sink, track lighting, and a backsplash of some sort (I liked glass mosaics, but those will probably be pretty dated pretty soon - probably a it more expensive too, closer to $20/sq. ft). The upper shelving and hood don't do much for me. Also, I am not a fan of bar-height counters, just keep it at normal height but extended out further.
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Jun 10, 2013 01:40
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drat Bananas posted:Does this sound odd to anyone? Did I make a reasonable request? To me it sounds like our offer is the front-runner, and the agent decided she didn't like the possibility of us backing out and tried to squeeze a better contract out of us while she could. That's exactly what it sounds like to me, too. If you weren't the front-runner offer she wouldn't have cared, and if the sellers cared they could easily have counter-offered to accept your price but without the contingency. I think the agent was worried she'd be unable to talk the buyers out of accepting your offer, and just wants to get her commission sooner without the risk you wind up backing out down the line. If I were you I'd have either refused to remove the contingency, or removed the contingency but also lowered my bid by a significant amount. Unless of course the swimming pool thing just isn't very important to you, but if that were the case I doubt you'd have added the contingency in the first place. ...just as an aside, though: I think swimming pools are kind of horrible and I don't really get why people like them. They're horribly expensive, they're dangerous for kids to be around, they're massively wasteful of water and (if heated) power, they cost a lot to maintain, and while they can add value to your home they also can limit the potential pool (hah) of buyers. Your homeowner's insurance will be a lot higher too. Then again I think public pools are disgusting so if you love swimming I can kinda get it.
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Jun 10, 2013 01:58
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Belldandy posted:Please do not forget to update the hardware on the cabinets if you go this route. I was considering updating the hardware but I was planning on waiting until everything else to decide for sure. quote:I love espresso-ish cabinets with white-ish counters. We went with cambria torquay quartz for the counters, and empire http://eleganzatiles.com/products/r...al/newyork.html for the backsplash. That is what I am leaning toward right now. But I'll probably stick to subway tile, glass subway tile if I can afford it. I'm thinking I will raise up the cabinets and put a shelf below it. That way I get the newer tall cabinet look without as much carpentry or cost. Still not sure about range hood vs microwave range hood. And I would definitely leave the eating area normal height if the sink wasn't right there.
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Jun 10, 2013 03:01
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I don't like microwaves placed where they're too high for me (or my wife) to see in. Makes it harder to clean them too. Just one data point but if you've never lived somewhere with a high-up microwave, you might not have considered that. It sucks lifting a plate with the raw chicken you just thawed and getting a stream of cold raw chicken juice down your arm, right in your sleeve, and into your armpit.
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Jun 10, 2013 04:25
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Speaking of kitchens, this has me completely baffled. You see that really thin, red-painted wall to the left of the refrigerator?  . Please tell me it's not structural. Please don't be structural. The kitchen was redone about 6 years ago, which makes me wonder why they didn't knock that wall down when they had the chance. It's so awkwardly placed that it makes me wonder if they needed to keep it there. (I checked the unit below me and they have the same thin wall in place). The general floor plan is that of a classic Chicago brick and concrete loft, and my understanding is that, aside from the cement columns, the floor plan is open. So why is that wall there? Is it me, or is it too narrow to be a load-bearing wall? Mandals fucked around with this message at 04:47 on Jun 10, 2013 |
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Jun 10, 2013 04:43
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Looks like they need something to bolt that upper cabinet to, and also a lot of people don't like the sides of fridges so it hides that. And there's no way that's structural, a 2x4 wall isn't going to hold up any useful amount of poured concrete construction. What's behind that cabinet? Is it really as deep as the fridge or is it pullled forward, needing to be anchored to the walls on either side rather than the back wall?
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Jun 10, 2013 06:43
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That wall is on one side of a kind of cube, which is attached to the thick pillar. It's directly above the gap above the cabinet above the refrigerator. What's in there? Is it part of a staircase on the other side, or maybe an HVAC unit or something? I suspect the wall is supporting whatever that cube is there for. It doesn't have to be supporting concrete to be structural. It just has to be supporting something.
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Jun 10, 2013 06:57
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