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Orange_Lazarus posted:One thing I've discovered about wanting to find a deal in real estate is that realtors don't want you to find a deal. One realtor even basically told me over the phone "look honey, that one just aint worth my time". Do not contact the owner's realtor. Conflict of interest in a bad way for you. If you don't trust the buyers' agents you've worked with do you at all have any friends or friends of friends who are trustworthy?
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Feb 15, 2014 05:03
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Yeah, that's what I will do next time, my wife's friend just got her realty license and I'm sure she wouldn't mind helping us out. Even though things are going just OK with the realtor I have right now (I trust them) I can just tell they don't care much about the property because I mean who would? Splitting commission on a 50k property is chump change when you could be working on a $200-300k property. Going over all the forms and poo poo just made me realize how good people from wealthy families have it. This guy I know has a cousin that's a brain surgeon, a brother that's a lawyer, another brother that's an accountant, a sister that's a realtor, etc. My dad drove a UPS truck and my brother chops wood. Nothing to be ashamed of but nothing that really benefits the other either. Sephiroth_IRA fucked around with this message at 05:29 on Feb 15, 2014 |
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Feb 15, 2014 05:25
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Orange_Lazarus posted:Yeah, that's what I will do next time, my wife's friend just got her realty license and I'm sure she wouldn't mind helping us out. Even though things are going just OK with the realtor I have right now (I trust them) I can just tell they don't care much about the property because I mean who would? Splitting commission on a 50k property is chump change when you could be working on a $200-300k property. I was lucky. A good friend of mine runs his own contractor business and is childhood friends with a licensed realtor/appraiser. Neither one has anything to do with being wealthy - both are pretty blue-collar.
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Feb 15, 2014 05:55
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Orange_Lazarus posted:Actually the more I read about this 2-10 warranty the shittier it sounds, it's weird that they have a ton of complaints with the BBB but still have an A+ rating with them. Too bad I'm at work and can't look further into it. At least the seller is paying for it. Wanted to respond because I have a 2-10 policy. It's worth having the seller pay for, and get the plan with the reduced deductible. They can be frustrating to follow up with but its worth the money with an older home. I had a drain pipe leak and even though exploring for the leak wasn't covered I came out ahead compared to paying for the plumbing and drywall out of pocket. That said, I've had one of their contractors not follow 2-10s policies and get taken off the work order, and another didn't respond to calls from me or 2-10, both for the drywall work. You don't get to pick the contractor so if one is slow to respond you have to call 2-10. Its absolutely YMMV but overall I'm satisfied. Just don't be afraid to tell them you aren't happy. BBB has nothing to do with quality, its basically marketing. As long as they pay their bills and respond to the complaints it doesn't matter if the review was valid. They keep their rating.
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Feb 16, 2014 04:06
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What's the general consensus on condos? I'm not ready for a full-on house but I'm in a job and area I can see myself staying in for at least a few years, and it'd be nice to be paying myself instead of an apartment complex. I can get something fairly comparable to my apartment and drastically lower my monthly payment (or keep it about the same with a 15yr) even including HOA fees. Am I missing something obvious?
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Feb 16, 2014 15:15
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Pudgygiant posted:What's the general consensus on condos? I'm not ready for a full-on house but I'm in a job and area I can see myself staying in for at least a few years, and it'd be nice to be paying myself instead of an apartment complex. I can get something fairly comparable to my apartment and drastically lower my monthly payment (or keep it about the same with a 15yr) even including HOA fees. Am I missing something obvious? Any special assessment for repairs to the building, property taxes, market fluctuations. How long do you see yourself staying in that condo? Also keep in mind that you're only "paying yourself" after HOA fees, mortgage interest, broker commission, closing costs, taxes, maintenance...
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Feb 16, 2014 15:30
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Pudgygiant posted:What's the general consensus on condos? I'm not ready for a full-on house but I'm in a job and area I can see myself staying in for at least a few years, and it'd be nice to be paying myself instead of an apartment complex. I can get something fairly comparable to my apartment and drastically lower my monthly payment (or keep it about the same with a 15yr) even including HOA fees. Am I missing something obvious? Flexibility and closing costs. Condos can be more difficult to buy/sell depending on the area and so may be more restrictive in terms of flexibility. If you get fired it's easier/better to be able to sublet an apartment and have your down payment saved up so you don't starve/live with your parents than it is to try to sublet a condo (maybe can't) and then sell it.
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Feb 16, 2014 15:32
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I just put in an offer on a townhouse yesterday. The risk of major assessments or shifts in the market are low enough and the monthly cost difference between renting is high enough that it seems to make sense. There's an identical place up for rent for $300/month more than my mortgage+dues+insurance so I have an out if I decide I hate living there or I lose my job. The upfront cost isn't too huge of a dent in my savings and if the recent rent increase keeps up I'll pay it back in 2-3 years. The biggest factor for choosing this over renting is that my rent went up 6.5% over last year, which was 5% over the year before. Still nervous as hell. 
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Feb 16, 2014 18:12
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I'm closing on a house this Friday. I'm getting it for $275k with all closing costs covered and the VA appraisal came back at $280k. The previous owners were a married couple, one being retired military and the other a contractor. As such, everything major (windows, roof, siding, etc.) is less than 3 years old with top of the line materials and installation according to the home inspector. My rent for a 2 bedroom apartment is 1715/month with all utilities, and I need to move up to a 3 bedroom for kids and the cheapest for rent here is $2100. My mortgage on a 4 bedroom house with insurance and taxes is $1612/ a month, and with the way rent has been increasing I'll be even with renting a 2 bedroom by next year even factoring in utilities. In comparison to a 3 bedroom apartment, even with $300/month utilities I'll still be saving $200/month right when I move in and the savings will grow exponentially every year. I used a banks realty program and I get paid $1400 for closing with them, and I don't have a rent/mortgage payment for March so that's another $1600 in my pocket. Basically, I'm pocketing an extra $3k by buying a house and saving hundreds of dollars a month right off the bat. I was super apprehensive about buying, now I'm wishing I had been able to do it sooner. Thanks to everyone in this thread for all the help and advice!
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Feb 16, 2014 19:19
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Anyone know if there is a such a thing as a jumbo renovation loan? In know that, in conforming-land, there are 203ks, but I am looking for a >417k loan (maybe).
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Feb 16, 2014 22:53
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gvibes posted:Anyone know if there is a such a thing as a jumbo renovation loan? In know that, in conforming-land, there are 203ks, but I am looking for a >417k loan (maybe). The Fannie Mae Homestyle Renovation program would be the conventional equivalent of a 203k. The program does allow for the high balance non conforming loan limits, but the eligibility is determined by the county your property is located in. You can search for your address at the following to link to see if your county is eligible, and if so to what dollar amount. https://commlend.efanniemae.com/LoanLimitGeocoder/pages/Online.aspx Assuming the property is a 1 unit, you'll be looking at the field labeled "2014 (HBL) Permanent High-Cost Area loan limit: 1-unit dwelling" in the results. If there's no dollar amount listed then you're limited to the $417,000 conforming loan limit on a conventional loan.
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Feb 17, 2014 06:07
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FrozenVent posted:Also keep in mind that you're only "paying yourself" after HOA fees, mortgage interest, broker commission, closing costs, taxes, maintenance... Somebody here said it best: the amount you spend on rent is a maximum, the amount you spend on your mortgage+taxes+HOA is a minimum.
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Feb 17, 2014 17:47
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Rooster Brooster posted:Somebody here said it best: the amount you spend on rent is a maximum, the amount you spend on your mortgage+taxes+HOA is a minimum. Gonna have to remember that one, thanks.
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Feb 17, 2014 18:40
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Pudgygiant posted:What's the general consensus on condos? I'm not ready for a full-on house but I'm in a job and area I can see myself staying in for at least a few years, and it'd be nice to be paying myself instead of an apartment complex. I can get something fairly comparable to my apartment and drastically lower my monthly payment (or keep it about the same with a 15yr) even including HOA fees. Am I missing something obvious? Do you have a down payment? If not, keep renting. Buying with a low down and only living there for a short term means that even if you're lucky enough to get a tiny bit of equity, you waste it all paying the realtors when you sell. Plus you assume the risk for all repairs, so renting is almost always the better option for a short term. Also, if you can't afford to rent and save up a down payment, you really can't afford to own.
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Feb 18, 2014 02:03
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I found a really small ranch house on some real estate search engine that was discounted from $25,000 to $15,000. I started looking at it and said "you know what, gently caress it, this would be a good first home and it's more room than the apartment I'm renting now". I googled the address to find more pictures of the house, and hey, it was condemned last month and is scheduled for demolition in a week.  How the hell can a real estate company get away with trying to dump their losses like that?
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Feb 18, 2014 04:31
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EugeneJ posted:I found a really small ranch house on some real estate search engine that was discounted from $25,000 to $15,000. I started looking at it and said "you know what, gently caress it, this would be a good first home and it's more room than the apartment I'm renting now". The land itself is worth something... Often quite a bit.
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Feb 18, 2014 06:09
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EugeneJ posted:I found a really small ranch house on some real estate search engine that was discounted from $25,000 to $15,000. I started looking at it and said "you know what, gently caress it, this would be a good first home and it's more room than the apartment I'm renting now". At a certain point if a house needs significant work and will only be worth 15-25K when it is done, it makes no sense to fix it. Maybe it has been stripped of its mechanicals or there are other foreclosed homes on the block. You could easily put more than the book value of the home into fixing it. Bulldozing is a much cheaper option.
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Feb 18, 2014 06:26
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Cranbe posted:The land itself is worth something... Often quite a bit. Yeah, seriously, in high demand urban areas most of the value is the land. The house that sits on top of it is only a fraction of the value. Conversely, it's why real estate even with big houses is dirt cheap in low demand sprawl areas. The land is hardly worth anything.
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Feb 18, 2014 06:52
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Thanks for the advice! It's in an area that's Denver suburbs right now but could easily blow up in the next few years, there's a monster amount of construction going on right now. I'm not terribly worried about liquidity, and even if it becomes an issue I can't really see myself being in a position where I'd have to sell very quickly. Average length of time before contract is around 2 weeks in this area according to my realtor. I have a bit saved up for a down payment, but I qualify for a VA loan. Is there any real reason not to do it? My mortgage broker ran the numbers and it'd be roughly the same per month with 10% down and any other loan type (except with an ARM but gently caress that). Obviously I'd walk in the door with some equity if I do a down payment, but at this point having some cash on hand seems more important.
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Feb 18, 2014 12:23
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Pudgygiant posted:Thanks for the advice! It's in an area that's Denver suburbs right now but could easily blow up in the next few years, there's a monster amount of construction going on right now. I'm not terribly worried about liquidity, and even if it becomes an issue I can't really see myself being in a position where I'd have to sell very quickly. Average length of time before contract is around 2 weeks in this area according to my realtor. 2006.txt
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Feb 18, 2014 13:26
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Oh I'm absolutely not hinging on it by any means. The way I'm looking at it, I'm paying right around $1400 for my apartment, I can get a very similar condo or townhouse for a slightly lower monthly payment (not huge, but a bit) including HOA, and even if I build just a bit of equity into it I'm still better off than I am now.
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Feb 18, 2014 13:36
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Pudgygiant posted:Oh I'm absolutely not hinging on it by any means. The way I'm looking at it, I'm paying right around $1400 for my apartment, I can get a very similar condo or townhouse for a slightly lower monthly payment (not huge, but a bit) including HOA, and even if I build just a bit of equity into it I'm still better off than I am now. It's not that you're making a mistake or you shouldn't do it, it's just that you should read the rent=cap! mortgage = floor post a few above for a reason why not. That's the big reason in your case, to the extent there is one.
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Feb 18, 2014 13:49
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Pudgygiant posted:Oh I'm absolutely not hinging on it by any means. The way I'm looking at it, I'm paying right around $1400 for my apartment, I can get a very similar condo or townhouse for a slightly lower monthly payment (not huge, but a bit) including HOA, and even if I build just a bit of equity into it I'm still better off than I am now. Just watch out for all of the extra expenses.
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Feb 18, 2014 14:28
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Most new houses don't require much maintenance, but I would never agree to buy a house that isn't already built/ finished. These builders hire terrible subcontractors that will do as little as possible. You also don't know what the finished subdivision is going to be like. I would try to buy either one of the last house built, or better the model home if I were buying in a subdivision new. The model is usually extremely supervised by the builders top guys and is done right. How long is the commute going to be when the boom is done and the roads are packed? What is the terrible local government going to do when they find out they need 3 new schools and 7 fire departments? Oh the horror the horror of suburbia.
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Feb 18, 2014 15:07
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Elephanthead I get what you're saying, just wanted to dispute the whole terrible local government part of it. Although a Koch subsidiary did just win a maintenance contract on the servicing highway, so who the hell knows.
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Feb 18, 2014 15:47
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Pudgygiant posted:Oh I'm absolutely not hinging on it by any means. The way I'm looking at it, I'm paying right around $1400 for my apartment, I can get a very similar condo or townhouse for a slightly lower monthly payment (not huge, but a bit) including HOA, and even if I build just a bit of equity into it I'm still better off than I am now. Six percent (typically) of your house's sale cost gets taken in commissions when you sell, so if you have less than 6% equity, you have no actual equity. Also, if the home declines in value, you can wind up with negative equity. This is called being underwater, and it may mean that you literally cannot sell if the bank refuses to do a short sale for you, leaving you with no option but to stay put and keep paying for a house you owe more than it's worth on, or, default and get foreclosed on/declare bankruptcy. The less down payment you have, the more the above scenarios become possible.
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Feb 18, 2014 19:43
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Yep. To dogpile on what the previous posters said... Homes could generously be called "piggy banks that you can live inside". Your $1,400 monthly rent is housing expense, so let's say you buy somewhere with a mortgage/prop tax/insurance/HOA total of $1,200. Probably less than $250/month of that is applying towards principal, or going into the piggy bank. The other $950 of that is "housing expense": interest, property tax, insurance, HOA dues. The ratio of "piggy bank money" to "housing expense money" does get better through the life of the loan. Then when you add in the other mentioned stuff (extra transaction costs of buying/selling, incremental utilities, maintenance, repairs etc.), it's no longer an easy calculation. In my opinion, condos combine the worst parts about renting and owning. I would only ever consider it if I lived somewhere where land is crazy expensive, like in the city center of a big expensive city (Seattle, NYC, SF, LA, Chicago), on an island, or right on the beach.
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Feb 19, 2014 00:23
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canyoneer posted:In my opinion, condos combine the worst parts about renting and owning. I would only ever consider it if I lived somewhere where land is crazy expensive, like in the city center of a big expensive city (Seattle, NYC, SF, LA, Chicago), on an island, or right on the beach. Buying a condo in Seattle is a money-losing proposition. You can typically rent an equivalent unit for less than or equal to HOA+mortgage. Some of the worst I've seen are people buying the newer condos with $1k monthly HOA dues and $5k monthly mortgage payments when they could've signed a multi-year lease for the same unit for $2800/mo.
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Feb 19, 2014 00:55
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Rent is going up fast around Seattle, especially in lower priced units. I'm looking at places in Renton that are selling around 100k and renting at 1300+.
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Feb 19, 2014 02:00
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oxbrain posted:Rent is going up fast around Seattle, especially in lower priced units. I'm looking at places in Renton that are selling around 100k and renting at 1300+.
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Feb 19, 2014 03:06
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Man, I wish I had gone to the credit union a week ago but they were closed for three days due to the snow (south.txt) and President's day. For first time buyers they had an adjustable rate 30 year mortgage that would be locked at 3.5% for 7 years and it could only increase/decrease by 2% per year after that, max interest rate would be 9%. They would also pay the closing costs and an independent appraisal  If interest rates ever got bad I would just pay off the loan early so I think it's a really good deal.
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Feb 19, 2014 04:39
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We are buying a house in San Francisco and we finally have a property that sent us a counter-offer, so it is likely we will be able to get a house at last.... We've been pre-approved by the bank and have a lot of our paperwork ready to go, and I've read a bunch of resources about home buying, but I'm still really confused about title insurance. So basically it covers the fact that we are going to own this new house. Title insurance is a one-time purchase, right? You don't need to re-buy it until the house exchanges hands?
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Feb 19, 2014 09:27
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Pudgygiant posted:Oh I'm absolutely not hinging on it by any means. The way I'm looking at it, I'm paying right around $1400 for my apartment, I can get a very similar condo or townhouse for a slightly lower monthly payment (not huge, but a bit) including HOA, and even if I build just a bit of equity into it I'm still better off than I am now. To give you an idea of the sunk costs, I'll relay to you a relatively cheap example. I just bought a house for $80k and closed on it yesterday. I had to approximately pay the following (on top of the 20% down payment): $500 for home inspection (including pest and radon testing) $400 for appraisal $3500 for closing costs and real estate attorney. Also, the sellers had to pay about $7500 at closing: $5000 for realtor comission $2500 for other closing fee stuff. Now, the $4,400 is straight sunk cost no matter what. The difference between renting and total home cost (PITI) has to overcome that $4,400 as well as all the money that I will have to spend on repairs (we immediately are going to have regrading work done that I imagine will be at least $3000). If we sell the house, the $7500 they spent is likely a lower bound, so at least that much more would be sunk cost (I really really never want to move again, I hate the property ladder game). Just giving you some numbers to think about. Our purchase is on the cheap end of what people are normally talking about.
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Feb 19, 2014 13:21
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Chin Strap posted:To give you an idea of the sunk costs, I'll relay to you a relatively cheap example. I just bought a house for $80k and closed on it yesterday. I had to approximately pay the following (on top of the 20% down payment): One of the things that's worth considering is that you're born short housing. You always, always need a place to live. So if you're building equity in your house and you're moving up the property ladder and property prices are generally rising then you're never going to be able to cash out until you finally stop buying and move to Baja to live out your golden years working a taco stand on the beach. That's not terrible except that look at 2007 and what happens if you time the market poorly. Also, compare your rate of return on housing appreciation vs investing the cost to own - cost to rent. Edit: for what it's worth there's smart money lined up on both sides of the housing prices are going up vs oh noes another bubble debate.
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Feb 19, 2014 13:43
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builds character posted:One of the things that's worth considering is that you're born short housing. You always, always need a place to live. So if you're building equity in your house and you're moving up the property ladder and property prices are generally rising then you're never going to be able to cash out until you finally stop buying and move to Baja to live out your golden years working a taco stand on the beach. Yes. I'm not interested in the whole making money aspect of this house. I'm interested in something I am staying put in forever precisely because I don't think of it as an investment, and I'm definitely not trying to buy the maximum I can possibly afford (our house cost less than half my annual income). This was just to give some example numbers to Pudgygiant.
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Feb 19, 2014 13:47
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Chin Strap posted:Yes. I'm not interested in the whole making money aspect of this house. I'm interested in something I am staying put in forever precisely because I don't think of it as an investment, and I'm definitely not trying to buy the maximum I can possibly afford (our house cost less than half my annual income). This was just to give some example numbers to Pudgygiant. This is exactly where me and my fiance currently differ. She believes in living in the same house for the rest of her life. I picture it as an investment stepping stone that will lead to better things. There's been a lot of disagreement over it, but I think when/if she starts seeing the equity as a potential for real money, she will get it.
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Feb 19, 2014 14:32
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couldcareless posted:This is exactly where me and my fiance currently differ. She believes in living in the same house for the rest of her life. I picture it as an investment stepping stone that will lead to better things. There's been a lot of disagreement over it, but I think when/if she starts seeing the equity as a potential for real money, she will get it. Hello! I am a time traveler FROM THE PAST... *spooky music* builds character posted:One of the things that's worth considering is that you're born short housing. You always, always need a place to live. So if you're building equity in your house and you're moving up the property ladder and property prices are generally rising then you're never going to be able to cash out until you finally stop buying and move to Baja to live out your golden years working a taco stand on the beach.
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Feb 19, 2014 14:35
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Well the ultimate goal (probably next stop sometime in 15 or so years) is build our own. I can't see me walking away from something I designed the way I want.
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Feb 19, 2014 14:38
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Orange_Lazarus posted:Man, I wish I had gone to the credit union a week ago but they were closed for three days due to the snow (south.txt) and President's day. I am not sure this is better then a 30 fixed rate mortgage of current market rates. You are taking all the risk of inflation and in 7 years you will have hardly paid down any equity. Unless you have a stockpile of cash no loan will have a cheaper rate. Are 30 year rates not around 4% still?
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Feb 19, 2014 15:20
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jomiel posted:We are buying a house in San Francisco and we finally have a property that sent us a counter-offer, so it is likely we will be able to get a house at last.... We've been pre-approved by the bank and have a lot of our paperwork ready to go, and I've read a bunch of resources about home buying, but I'm still really confused about title insurance. So basically it covers the fact that we are going to own this new house. Title insurance is a one-time purchase, right? You don't need to re-buy it until the house exchanges hands? Yes, the basic point of the title policy is that the insurer has reviewed the county records and is guaranteeing that you, or the seller, actually legally owns the property. If that turns out to not be the case due to say missing a recorded deed transfer or something like that and the real owner sues and wins the property back the title company will reimburse you for the amount of the policy. Typically on a purchase there will be both an owner's and lender's policy which protects their respective interests. You usually only buy it when you buy/sell the home, or if you refinance though you may be able to get a discounted rate depending on the time-frame since you bought if you use the same title company.
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Feb 19, 2014 17:01
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