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resident posted:You should seriously shop around. I feel like $6k in settlement costs sounds absurdly high. I refinanced $90k in January 2013 and it was around $2-3k IIRC. That would make it a no brainer for you. God I've been dumb: that $6000 number INCLUDES the first year escrow for insurance and taxes: the loan settlement is $3800. This includes the survey and appraisal fees. This actually makes the question a LOT more straightforward.
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Jan 17, 2014 01:11
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Pain of Mind posted:My wife and I are looking to buy a house in a small area between our works in the SF bay area where most of the houses were built in the 40's and are about 1200 sqft with 1 bathroom. Occasionally there are houses that are bigger, but a 1600sqft house with 2 bathrooms might be 30% more expensive than the smaller house, they get bid up a ton and it is hard to get one where someone does not just buy it in cash before offers are being accepted anyway. If you're looking to buy in SF county you may run into a holy nightmare as far as building permits are concerned. SF is very touchy about that kind of thing: http://www.sf-planning.org/index.aspx?page=2803 Good luck, though! I'm also looking to buy in SF/Bay Area and it has turned into a crazy ordeal :]
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Jan 17, 2014 05:15
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pancaek posted:If you're looking to buy in SF county you may run into a holy nightmare as far as building permits are concerned. SF is very touchy about that kind of thing: http://www.sf-planning.org/index.aspx?page=2803 Nah, we are looking in San Mateo County, so hopefully it is more reasonable there.
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Jan 17, 2014 07:24
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You are receiving this broadcast as a dream...We are transmitting from the year one nine... nine nine ...You are receiving this broadcast in order t
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This might be difficult to answer, but in general how much of an advantage to the seller is it if the buyer pays in full cash, especially if it's a private sale? This is obviously market dependent, but there's a $350k house that we're very keen on which is currently being listed privately. I have about $150k to put down on a house, but if I borrow another $150k from my parents, and pay in full cash, maybe the seller would be interested in letting it go for close to $300k - the house was won in a lottery and is brand new, so it's free money for them either way...
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Jan 17, 2014 19:29
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mik posted:This might be difficult to answer, but in general how much of an advantage to the seller is it if the buyer pays in full cash, especially if it's a private sale? This is obviously market dependent, but there's a $350k house that we're very keen on which is currently being listed privately. I have about $150k to put down on a house, but if I borrow another $150k from my parents, and pay in full cash, maybe the seller would be interested in letting it go for close to $300k - the house was won in a lottery and is brand new, so it's free money for them either way...
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Jan 17, 2014 19:30
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Pain of Mind posted:Nah, we are looking in San Mateo County, so hopefully it is more reasonable there. Managing the planning permission stage is a big question. San Mateo County is easier to get planning permission in than SF county, but it's still not a rubber stamp. A lot depends on the exact nature of the addition you're trying to do: will it fit in with the neighborhood, stay within any setback requirements, etc. Adding a single-story addition to the back of a house is more likely to be approved than adding a second story to a single-story house. Stuff that's invisible from the street is easier than stuff that alters the street view. And so on. You'll need to budget money for an architect, general contractor, materials, labor, etc., but you'll also need a large buffer to account for the inevitable cost increases when things go wrong: they tear into a wall and discover something you didn't know about that has to be fixed, they try to place a foundation but discover a soil problem, whatever. All told, you might well save money over buying a larger house; or you might not. You'll definitely enjoy less stress just buying a house of the size you want, assuming you can afford it, but if you can't afford that, you'll have to make some kind of compromise. Oh, one more thing. Were you planning on living in the house while it's being expanded? Because that is going to be miserable. cstine posted:God I've been dumb: that $6000 number INCLUDES the first year escrow for insurance and taxes: the loan settlement is $3800. This includes the survey and appraisal fees. Yes it does. That is a much more reasonable number. You should still shop around and get additional quotes. USAA has a good reputation, but given your poor credit, you may find a variety of wildly-different quotes from different lenders that depend on the specific lender's desire to expand a "sub-prime" portion of their portfolio. Rates also can change daily (or even twice a day) so the best thing is to get several quotes all on the same day, in order to compare apples to apples. If you want, you can work with a mortgage broker to do that for you (they get paid by the lender, so it should not cost you anything to do that). Try to find a broker who specializes in borrowers with imperfect credit, if you can. Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 20:38 on Jan 17, 2014 |
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Jan 17, 2014 19:37
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mik posted:This might be difficult to answer, but in general how much of an advantage to the seller is it if the buyer pays in full cash, especially if it's a private sale? To the naive seller, a cash offer can be an amazing thing. In the past two years I've seen three people sell houses at as much as $150k undervalue because they jumped the moment someone made a "cash offer." Yes, the buyers were taking advantage of old folks who didn't know better.
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Jan 17, 2014 20:35
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The cash offer is attractive because financed offers require the buyers to complete the bank's qualification process (which might fail), and the bank will require an appraisal (which might come in undervalue). In either event, the seller might have to relist their property, costing them time. In the latter event, evidence would be created that the list price is too much, which could actually cause the seller to have to sell at a lower value (or get competing appraisals) or something. Basically sellers (especially banks, but often private sellers as well) view cash transactions as far less risky, and may accept a premium (in the form of a lower sale price) in exchange for that lowered risk. Exactly how much that lowered risk is really worth is probably open to a lot of interpretation and varies from one seller to the next, but it's extremely common.
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Jan 17, 2014 20:42
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I'm buying a condo in Chicago and the inspection's only major area of concern is that the central AC unit is past its expected service life and couldn't be tested because of the cold weather. What is typical to ask of the seller in this situation? Do I just ask for a closing credit as insurance against malfunction?
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Jan 18, 2014 21:54
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10-8 posted:I'm buying a condo in Chicago and the inspection's only major area of concern is that the central AC unit is past its expected service life and couldn't be tested because of the cold weather. What is typical to ask of the seller in this situation? Do I just ask for a closing credit as insurance against malfunction?
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Jan 19, 2014 05:01
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Home warranties suck. The one that came with my house was relatively good as they go, but cost $400/yr and would only cover the HVAC up to $5k. That's prime territory for self-insuring. Either squeeze 2-8 grand out of the sellers or just plan on replacing it soon.
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Jan 19, 2014 05:11
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So I'm under contract on a house and we just had the home inspection yesterday. All the major things are new and/or in fantastic working order, and the only stuff that needs to be replaced are small and cost <$1200 (broken/cracked window and window seals, an odd light fixture in the attic needs to be boxed in with metal flashing, etc). I'm using a VA loan through Navy Federal and they're giving me $2500 towards closing costs and the seller is subsidizing $8247, which is enough to cover all closing costs anyways. I'm thinking of asking them to do the repairs and in turn I'll reduce their closing cost contributions to $7000 and make the lender spend some of their cash so neither of us are really paying for the repairs. Is this an easy amendment or is that considered to be fundamentally altering the contract and I'd have to jump through more hoops with my lender? Also, I think I'm going to walk out with some equity. It has a new roof (architectural shingles, good for 35-40 years) completely new siding, new high-quality aluminum trim, renovated kitchen, and a newish central AC unit that the inspector called the "Rolls Royce" of ACs. He was curious what the price was and he guessed $325k-$350k. It was listed for less than a week and I'm getting it for $275k. His first reaction was "well someone's realtor didn't do price comparisons before listing, if you can walk away at $275k without a bidding war it's a steal." Now instead of worrying about the VA appraisal coming in low I'm kind of worried it will come in too high. If it appraises at $325k+ and the seller wants to back out of the contract at $275k are they able to do that? I'm in Northern Virginia if that makes a difference.
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Jan 19, 2014 17:15
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Just don't tell them what it appraises at?
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Jan 19, 2014 17:37
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Hakarne posted:So I'm under contract on a house and we just had the home inspection yesterday. All the major things are new and/or in fantastic working order, and the only stuff that needs to be replaced are small and cost <$1200 (broken/cracked window and window seals, an odd light fixture in the attic needs to be boxed in with metal flashing, etc). I'm using a VA loan through Navy Federal and they're giving me $2500 towards closing costs and the seller is subsidizing $8247, which is enough to cover all closing costs anyways. I'm thinking of asking them to do the repairs and in turn I'll reduce their closing cost contributions to $7000 and make the lender spend some of their cash so neither of us are really paying for the repairs. Is this an easy amendment or is that considered to be fundamentally altering the contract and I'd have to jump through more hoops with my lender? As the previous poster said, just don't tell them. Don't even tell your real estate agent. The appraisal is between you and your lender. Make sure your mortgage officer knows that you want it kept quiet. Even though agents and lenders all want a close as fast as possible, a lot of them are generally buddy buddy and talk to each other behind the scenes, and if the sellers are friends with their agent, they might tell them.
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Jan 19, 2014 18:22
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scavok posted:As the previous poster said, just don't tell them. Don't even tell your real estate agent. The appraisal is between you and your lender. Make sure your mortgage officer knows that you want it kept quiet. Even though agents and lenders all want a close as fast as possible, a lot of them are generally buddy buddy and talk to each other behind the scenes, and if the sellers are friends with their agent, they might tell them. Oh, I thought they would get the appraisal information. Good to know, thanks!
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Jan 19, 2014 19:33
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The sellers should have paid for their own appraisal before listing the property. It's only what, $500 or so? If they didn't bother to do that, all I can think is that they were afraid it'd come in too low rather than too high. That said, don't put too much weight on the top-of-the-head valuation your inspector came up with. Appraisals have a lot more to do with comps in your immediate neighborhood, rather than how nice the A/C unit happens to be. Also the amount you are paying is a big factor in the appraisal (because the agreed-on price of the home is a strong indicator that that's the price the market will bear). Don't be shocked if the appraisal comes in at exactly the price you've agreed upon.
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Jan 19, 2014 19:54
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I looked around, but I can't seem to find anything on investment property. I have an opportunity to get a decent place, with a couple already committed to a two year lease. Is this the thread to ask questions about it, or is there another one? I didn't see anything in the OP and I can't find anything regarding that. I'm just looking for some resources that can educate me on the subject.
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Jan 20, 2014 00:48
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Sataere posted:I looked around, but I can't seem to find anything on investment property. I have an opportunity to get a decent place, with a couple already committed to a two year lease. Is this the thread to ask questions about it, or is there another one? I didn't see anything in the OP and I can't find anything regarding that. I'm just looking for some resources that can educate me on the subject. Are you paying cash for the property? If yes, and realize what it'll cost for insurance, taxes, and maintenance (as well as property management if you're not going to do it), great. If you're financing, yeah, no.
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Jan 20, 2014 00:51
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cstine posted:Are you paying cash for the property? If yes, and realize what it'll cost for insurance, taxes, and maintenance (as well as property management if you're not going to do it), great. If you're financing, yeah, no. I would be financing, but would you mind expanding on this?
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Jan 20, 2014 00:55
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Sataere posted:I would be financing, but would you mind caring to expand on this? The risk involved means that A) financing for rental properties is a lot harder to get than a primary residence and B) the interest can completely make it non-profitable - rental stuff is a complete pain in the rear end to deal with. I've only been involved with my mom renting commercial property, but jesus. People don't pay, and they they do but it's late and maybe not in full. They cause endless damage either through neglect or they just don't give a poo poo. Toilet hasn't worked and has been leaking for six months and you didn't tell the landlord? Welcome to having mold growing in one of the bathrooms! And, of course there's always the risk of a crazy hoarder, a lady with a cats that piss on everything and ruin half the house, or someone who thinks meth is a good second job. And, of course, you can't just toss people out who are wrecking your poo poo - eviction is expensive and takes FOREVER. The commercial property I talked about is completely paid for and kept full, but after taxes, and maintenance, and other poo poo it's not really profitable to have been a full-time job for the two people that it would take to properly manage it, if it wasn't being done by family.
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Jan 20, 2014 00:58
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Sataere posted:I looked around, but I can't seem to find anything on investment property. I have an opportunity to get a decent place, with a couple already committed to a two year lease. Is this the thread to ask questions about it, or is there another one? I didn't see anything in the OP and I can't find anything regarding that. I'm just looking for some resources that can educate me on the subject. Hopefully you put more effort into researching the potential investment property then you put into looking for the rental property thread: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3548312 Seriously that should be added to the OP, every other page it seems someone comes in asking about rental property purchases/maintenance. Fake edit: I'm only being a (fake) dick about it because it's SA and I don't get enough opportunities to post a sick  .
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Jan 20, 2014 01:06
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cstine posted:The risk involved means that A) financing for rental properties is a lot harder to get than a primary residence and B) the interest can completely make it non-profitable - rental stuff is a complete pain in the rear end to deal with. This post is pretty much untrue in every line. It is possible to make money on a financed property, the numbers just need to be right. You need to screen your tenants better if poo poo like this happens, if tenants keep destroying your property it's because you didn't screen them well enough. Also eviction can be easy/next to impossible depending on your state. Commercial real estate has different realities than residential, it's almost a completely different animal. Don't listen to this dip and ask questions in the Real Estate thread. No offense, but cstine, you're having trouble reading closing costs for a refi, do you think you should be giving real estate advice? http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3548312&pagenumber=1 E: Beaten
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Jan 20, 2014 01:18
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cstine posted:The risk involved means that A) financing for rental properties is a lot harder to get than a primary residence and B) the interest can completely make it non-profitable - rental stuff is a complete pain in the rear end to deal with. Thanks for the feedback. LogisticEarth posted:Hopefully you put more effort into researching the potential investment property then you put into looking for the rental property thread: The burn is well-deserved, I checked ask/tell three times before posting that, because I was sure there had to be some sort of thread. Apparently, I am just retarded.
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Jan 20, 2014 01:18
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As with owner-occupied real estate, the experiences people have with rental property and commercial property is highly, highly dependent on the market. Laws vary widely, the economics depend a huge amount on the local laws, tax rates, age and quality of property, and most importantly, the local rates for rentals vs. the local costs to buy. cstine's experience is worth reading, but can't and shouldn't be taken as (or presented as) a universally applicable scenario.
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Jan 20, 2014 19:18
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And also just plain luck. No matter how good at screening you are, some problems are unpredictable. My rental story: One of my parents' tenants paid his rent 5 years late. They'd taken him to small claims court, and got a lien on his car... but they couldn't exercise the lien without going to real court (and thus spending lawyer $$$). Some years later they were contacted out of the blue and finally got paid because he needed to clear lien.
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Jan 20, 2014 20:16
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My wife and I are looking at a house with some structural issues, and I figured I'd ask here for advice. The house is an older colonial, constructed in 1972, that was converted by the original owner at some point (1980?) to a somewhat more open plan. The structural supports seem to be under-engineered for this plan, and appear to be sagging in a few places. In addition, someone cut a notch in the top of one of the structural support beams in the basement about 4" long to run plumbing. Some of the rafters are showing signs of stress and torsion. We'd need to have a contractor replace the support beams in the basement, no question. We'd likely also need to put up a wall between the dining room and living room. However, the foundation seems sound, and shows no signs of cracking or unexpected settling. There is no leaking, mold, or other unexpected problems, and the home is otherwise in decent shape. My question is: based on the age of the home and the work to be performed, what would we be getting ourselves into beyond the scope of the planned repairs? What are other things we might need to look out for when evaluating a home that might need some structural work on top of a solid foundation?
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Jan 21, 2014 08:28
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Is there something about this particular house that makes you consider buying it despite these problems? Unless you're in some area where there's just barely any inventory I would keep looking. I think you'd be better off finding a house in good condition in the same general area than buying someones problem.
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Jan 21, 2014 16:49
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Misogynist posted:My wife and I are looking at a house with some structural issues, Don't.
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Jan 21, 2014 16:51
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skipdogg posted:Is there something about this particular house that makes you consider buying it despite these problems? Unless you're in some area where there's just barely any inventory I would keep looking. I think you'd be better off finding a house in good condition in the same general area than buying someones problem. FrozenVent posted:Don't. Vulture Culture fucked around with this message at 17:09 on Jan 21, 2014 |
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Jan 21, 2014 17:07
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You already know where the known problems are; structural issues have an impact on other elements of the building (Walls, roof) and might be indicative of other issues. Unless you're prepared to tear down the whole building and start over, because eventually that might be required, I'd stay away. What's the point of buying a house if the house isn't solid? Unless, as was mentioned, there's a severe shortage in your area. You could end up with foundations and a patch of land, basically.
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Jan 21, 2014 17:09
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FrozenVent posted:You could end up with foundations and a patch of land, basically. Well, to be fair, in high priced real estate markets that is most of what you're paying for regardless of the house on top. Not that I'm advocating for buying a potentially problematic house unless you know full well what you're getting into.
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Jan 21, 2014 18:31
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How good of a deal? That's the real question. Is the deal good enough that a tear down and rebuild, or at least completely gutting the home and refinishing everything (fixing structural issues is a lot easier without floor or wall coverings) is still in your budget? If it is, and you don't have to do that, congrats, you got a great deal. If you do have to do it, well, at least you aren't screwed because you went way over budget.
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Jan 21, 2014 22:33
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So I submitted a list of repairs that came up on the home inspection to the sellers. It was all very minor issues, some bad outside window seals and a cracked interior window pane. The crack was very strange, the rest of the house was in excellent condition and we're 90% sure it wasn't cracked when we first looked at it, and the sellers were already moved out so we think it was probably from the professional cleaners they hired. Anyways, they're paying all of our closing costs (VA loan) and I have a $2500 closing cost credit from my lender that's going largely unused. We actually met one of the owners on our walk through and she was super nice and retired military, so I offered to take $1200 off of they're closing cost contribution if they made the repairs since my lender would essentially be paying for the repairs instead of either of us. They agreed to make the repairs... and declined to take the closing cost reduction I offered them. Did I just get lucky and happen to be buying from super-nice people, or is there another reason they would turn down free money? They know we're a vet family with young kids looking to buy their first home so I'm wondering if they feel that they should make the repairs to have it move-in ready. But I'm also a jaded cynic that thinks there must be some other reason they'd turn down $1200.
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Jan 23, 2014 22:56
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Hakarne posted:They know we're a vet family with young kids looking to buy their first home so I'm wondering if they feel that they should make the repairs to have it move-in ready. But I'm also a jaded cynic that thinks there must be some other reason they'd turn down $1200.
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Jan 24, 2014 01:28
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adorai posted:There are actually honest people in the world. They thought you felt you were buying a move in ready home, and that is what they intended to sell you. Sounds like a vet helping out a fellow vet to me.
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Jan 24, 2014 02:27
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Thanks, I was hoping that was the case! I wanted to believe, and I knew if there was another angle the cynical bastards on this forum wouldn't hesitate to point it out. Hurray for good people in the world! 
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Jan 24, 2014 02:52
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If you want a more selfish point of view, it could also be a matter of pride; they want the new owner to see what excellent responsible homeowners they were and that they keep their things in good condition. Probably the vet thing though, I hear that's a pretty big deal to a lot of people.
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Jan 24, 2014 06:38
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I'm in the loan stage, and what's the deal with the escrow for taxes and insurance (I've got better than 80% LTV and it's not FHA)? It seems like it would be better to handle this myself.
krysmopompas fucked around with this message at 09:42 on Jan 24, 2014 |
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Jan 24, 2014 09:40
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Self-quoting from like 3 years ago in this thread about why escrow sucks.SlapActionJackson posted:You will receive little to no interest on a substantial chunk of money that is just sitting around. You lose flexibility to do things like paying two years of property tax every other year for the tax benefits. You will have to do extra accounting work to make sure your taxes and insurance are getting paid properly and that nothing else is screwed up with the escrow account. Your escrow payments will adjust based on the lender's formula which is probably not as accurate as what you could estimate on your own. This can lead to nasty whip-sawing of payments in certain situations. IMO, you should always waive escrow if your loan situation permits it.
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Jan 24, 2014 15:38
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Hakarne posted:Thanks, I was hoping that was the case! I wanted to believe, and I knew if there was another angle the cynical bastards on this forum wouldn't hesitate to point it out. Hurray for good people in the world! There are definitely good people in the world. I bought my house after the previous owners were foreclosed on, and they left the house in finer condition than any of the non-foreclosures I looked at. The house was move-in ready and they left all the nearly new appliances (Subzero/Wolf.. not even cheap Sears appliances), as well as the accessories, manuals, and warranty information. They also left window treatments, remotes for all the built-in lights, and even the garage door openers. After seeing other foreclosures where everything from toilets to electric outlets were stripped out and things were intentionally destroyed, I was completely blown away. I'd expect most people losing their house to at least pull out appliances to sell on Craigslist.
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Jan 24, 2014 15:58
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