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Looked at a few houses today, one definitely has some potential. Needs a few updates, but it's well under my budget and in a really good place(West Plaza area for KC folks). My agent is going to try and find some comps, and I'm probably going to make an offer.
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May 16, 2014 00:28
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On my end, countdown to closing looms. Two weeks as of tomorrow! Just got approved by the condo president, who was extremely old, and they told me that even though everyone has to sign off on no pets, there are so many old people that they allow small dogs. I do love corgis.... I was stuck in a weird spot because my lender wanted proof of internal insurance and the paid premium before closing, but the insurance companies I've checked out want closing papers before paying them or else there is a surcharge. I worked it out with the lender that they would provide me with the loan commitment letter and I would use that to show whatever insurance company I go with that I was definitely closing in a few days. I'm actually having trouble finding interior insurance since I don't know which companies are terrible, etc. Many insurance companies like State Farm refuse to write policies in Florida so I am looking at Citizens, Universal, etc. and I really don't know who is a ripoff and who will run out the door with my cash in a briefcase if things go tits up. Incredulous Dylan fucked around with this message at 00:57 on May 16, 2014 |
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May 16, 2014 00:42
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Nilryna posted:My credit score is 734 and my spouse and I are looking at a house. We're absolutely in love with it, considering it meets all of our needs, and future expected needs. It's the house we would have forever. I'm kind of freaking out and wondering if 734 is enough to qualify for a good loan--especially since I work from home and I'm not the main source of income in the household. It's one of the more important factors in determining basic program eligibility and your interest rate. Not sure what type of loan you're getting, but 734 is the 2nd best tier for conventional loans in terms of rate pricing and will qualify you for pretty much any standard program. FYI, for royalty income it's not really projected income - you'll have to provide your last 2 years of tax returns with the schedule E showing the royalty earnings as well as current documentation to support that it will continue for at least 3 years. Depending on why you're getting royalties that might be oil rights leases, publishing contracts, etc. If your spouse is on the loan the lower of your middle credit scores is what will be used though to qualify, so if they have crappy credit that could be a problem if you can't income qualify on your own.
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May 16, 2014 01:56
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couldcareless posted:Indian burial ground? This is basically my only deal breaker... The house was built in 2002, so I'm not sure too much could come back bad on an inspection--at least, I'd hope not. It was a custom built house by the owners, and they lived next door during the construction of it, so they were pretty meticulous when it came to making sure everything was on the up-and-up. I think the only thing I'd have to worry about is the roof needing to be replaced soon, and maybe the termites thing, but it's brick veneered, so I don't know how effective that is with keeping the critters away... Knowing my luck, it doesn't. Captain Windex posted:It's one of the more important factors in determining basic program eligibility and your interest rate. Not sure what type of loan you're getting, but 734 is the 2nd best tier for conventional loans in terms of rate pricing and will qualify you for pretty much any standard program. FYI, for royalty income it's not really projected income - you'll have to provide your last 2 years of tax returns with the schedule E showing the royalty earnings as well as current documentation to support that it will continue for at least 3 years. Depending on why you're getting royalties that might be oil rights leases, publishing contracts, etc. If your spouse is on the loan the lower of your middle credit scores is what will be used though to qualify, so if they have crappy credit that could be a problem if you can't income qualify on your own. I've no idea what my spouse's credit score is. We'll soon find out, since we're doing all our meetings and such on Monday. I was just really antsy last night and had to find mine out. And with that, I've given myself an extra step of calling up Experian and canceling their drat service. Yay for a lack of patience. The royalties come from self-publishing, but it's been very consistent every month, and as long as I continue to work, it keeps going up. Luckily, I've been doing it for right at 2 years, so I guess that's a saving grace. The only reason I could see my spouse not having a very good score is just because of a lack of trying. They have no credit cards, and have a car payment that is actually a few months ahead--but no real history behind them to say "This person pays their bills like a champ!" I have faith that it'll work out as long as we're not out-priced by someone else. I can't see it going very fast, though, since the house is custom built with certain handicap additions, which neither my spouse or I need at the moment, but we do both suffer from illnesses that could lead to a need for them at some time. And, even with the additions, the design and layout doesn't scream "THIS HOUSE HAS MANY HANDICAP ACCESSIBLE THINGS!" It's more like, "Oh hey, did I mention, the wider doors and larger rooms work out great if you happen to be in a wheelchair and need the space to turn around in?"
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May 16, 2014 03:23
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Going up against a couple other offers again. Don't really feel comfortable going over asking on this one, might have to take out the seller covering up to $2k in closing costs. Very glad I went full asking. I was worried about going a little under and losing a house over a thousand bucks. Edit: said gently caress it and went just a little over asking hoping it will give me the edge. Edit 2: Just can't win. Accepted one of the other offers. Really want to find out what the people beating me are offering so I can figure out what I need to do to win. fknlo fucked around with this message at 17:37 on May 16, 2014 |
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May 16, 2014 16:34
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fknlo posted:Going up against a couple other offers again. Don't really feel comfortable going over asking on this one, might have to take out the seller covering up to $2k in closing costs. in a market like this I think shorter financing contingencies can be a major plus. If you can get your lender to agree to turn poo poo around ASAP, that can be a plus. I bid 5k over on the house I'm closing on, had really short turnarounds in my offer, and won over a couple other bids. Inspections and appraisals came back, and I got the seller to fix a bunch of poo poo and they're back down to list price - but we were able to secure their interest initially by the promise of being able to close quickly. (well, and I guess putting in a bid over asking)
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May 16, 2014 17:57
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fknlo posted:Going up against a couple other offers again. Don't really feel comfortable going over asking on this one, might have to take out the seller covering up to $2k in closing costs. Buying a house is such a crazy experience. I found myself having to constantly rein in my sense of scale for big numbers. Put in an offer at $185 and the seller countered at $190? Ehh, sure. And then a moment of clarity. "That is $5,000 dollars, which is a ton of money. I really need to think about this."
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May 16, 2014 18:39
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canyoneer posted:Buying a house is such a crazy experience. I found myself having to constantly rein in my sense of scale for big numbers. I just went $500 over asking. It's a tiny 2 bedroom place. Love the location, but I didn't really feel it was worth jumping up to $150k to get. I'd do that and the appraisal would come back at $140k or something, and then I'm stuck trying to negotiate back down and maybe coming up with even more money. My agent seems to think we're getting beat by similar offers that are putting more money down. Why does the amount being put down make any kind of difference to the seller? I'm going way under what I can actually afford, and the financing isn't going to fall through. Not getting a place because I don't have $50k sitting in the bank is stupid.
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May 16, 2014 18:46
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fknlo posted:My agent seems to think we're getting beat by similar offers that are putting more money down. Why does the amount being put down make any kind of difference to the seller? As someone who has sold a house and took a (slightly) lesser cash offer over the one with the biggest gross, I can shed some light: A bigger down payment means you not only have the assets, but also that you very likely have your financial poo poo together and are less likely to have issues with loan approval. It also means that if the appraisal comes in a bit low for some reason, you have some cushion before you cross 80%, 90%, or 95% LTV, which will have an impact on your loan and ability to close. So from a sellers perspective, bigger down means less risk of the deal falling through and less bullshit along the way. Other things I looked for as a seller to compare offers: Proposed closing date, and likely ability to hit that date - sooner is better for most sellers Contingencies or lack thereof - the fewer the better. Cash deals don't require finance contingencies, and are best. Shorter option periods - Goes hand in hand with quick closing Bigger earnest money deposit - Shows financial wherewithal and commitment to the deal
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May 16, 2014 19:42
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Closing next Wednesday, just heard back from my LO that I have some more conditions.... A) explain 2 addresses that show up on my credit report that I didn't list as residence. - I put some extra addresses on a credit card so I can have stuff delivered to work and they were reported to the credit bureaus. B) explain why my employer has no physical presence in my state. - I work remotely. I guess I should feel lucky this is all that came up. (So far)
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May 17, 2014 00:53
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Following up on my previous posts, the seller agreed to credit me $3,000 towards closing costs to make the necessary repairs on the property which I identified, which I think should be enough to fix the issues with the dielectric connectors, GFCI outlets in the kitchen and slow to drain sink/tub. What's cool is that based upon the interest rate I was quoted from my loan officer, my closing costs were covered. So now that $3,000 credit will actually go towards reducing my rate "by at least 1/8th of a point if not more", which is awesome. I'm going to basically have no closing costs and get a fixed rate close to 4.5% or 4.375%. 
ex post facho fucked around with this message at 01:00 on May 17, 2014 |
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May 17, 2014 00:57
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canyoneer posted:I get it. You get it. That doesn't mean it couldn't turn into a big public relations outcry Actually it wouldn't because to get those discounts the power company gets to call them up and tell them to shut down to keep the AC on when everyone is cranking it because it is 105 degrees out.
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May 17, 2014 01:33
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My Zillow ad has brought in another benefit. Remax hates Zillow and has offered to sell my house for 5% instead of the usually 6% or 7% money grab. 4% if they represent both parties. If you are thinking of listing with Remax might try this trick. I also am investigating splitting my lot in two and building my new home right next to my current home. The city is actually not impossible to work with on this. I will be my own shoddy general contractor and developer.
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May 18, 2014 11:43
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Cranbe posted:Holy poo poo. Do you own a 8,000sqft house in Alaska or something? Are you sure you don't have a marijuana grow operation in your basement?
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May 18, 2014 23:03
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BGE is cheap as poo poo (~9c/kwh), you were just using a lot of power. Lots of houses in Maryland have heat pumps which are pretty inefficient when it gets really cold.
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May 19, 2014 18:06
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It didn't make much sense at the time given we did alright at about $150 / mo the previous year and we did nothing different and my landlord was a friend that lived there for a while and he was really surprised and wanted to get out thermal cameras to figure out if there's a leak. It wasn't particularly cold that year and was maybe just a little below freezing. I had baseboard heating so it certainly wasn't a heatpump either. I think the rate we had at the time was being adjusted funny and it had gone up to nearly 12 c / kWh. But I'm in Virginia now and my rate of 5.2 c/kWh is even lower than when I was in Washington state and that's supposed to be one of the lowest in the country.
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May 19, 2014 18:13
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City has dashed my hopes of free money by being greedier then me. They want half my lot in new right of way in order to approve the subdividing. This unfortunately would split the current house in two. Time to run for mayor.
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May 19, 2014 21:09
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canyoneer posted:Buying a house is such a crazy experience. I found myself having to constantly rein in my sense of scale for big numbers. We had this but with 15k, and we went for it because it was the only house that we liked in our price range that didn't immediately sell as soon as we saw it. In retrospect we should have stuck to our guns mid way (+7.5k over our original offer) because our inspection didn't turn up some reasonably expensive to fix matters. Somewhat shockingly to me we found a house that our realtor and I ran both comps on independently and both of us using different properties came out ~ 50-70k under their asking price. This is with our Realtor feeling I was being generous. They offered to knock 20k off the list but we couldn't justify it as it was somewhat out of our range. It sold less than a week later for 5k over their asking price. Houses are crazy poo poo.
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May 19, 2014 21:51
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Closing moved from Wednesday to Friday because the lender isn't ready. Apparently they for some reason were using a target closing date 9 days after what I requested and were surprised to learn last Friday that I wanted to close 5/21.
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May 20, 2014 02:04
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I'm closing on Thursday, and when I said 'hey I'm gonna get the home inspector we used to come out and do a re-inspection on the work the seller had done' (roof repair, crawlspace cleared out of old HVAC trash, sealed up, vapor barrier replaced, some major leak fixes', my realtor was like, "I'm not really sure we need a reinspection, that will probably be a waste of your money". turns out the joe blow the seller hired (allegedly for $2800 no less) didn't A. do 1/10th of the roof work he was supposed to, B. didn't even touch the poo poo in the crawlspace, C. definitely didn't install a new vapor barrier, and D. basically just caulked up some leaks. best $75 I've spent in a while. :/
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May 20, 2014 04:29
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Man, "fire your realtor" just is always the best answer.  Not actually saying that, but if there's major work to be done, why wouldn't you want a reinspection?
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May 20, 2014 14:57
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silvergoose posted:Man, "fire your realtor" just is always the best answer. Always Be Closing. Leave sleeping dogs lie.
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May 20, 2014 16:44
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So it looks like the buyer of the first house I wanted to put an offer on is having financing issues and the seller says I get first dibs. One big issue is the house next door that I did put an offer in on. It was a lot nicer for the same price. Like at least $5-10k in upgrades nicer. Can I use that to try and knock some money off or is the seller likely to tell me to pound sand since the house will almost definitely sell to someone that didn't see the house next door at asking? Seller is also the listing agent, so he'll doubly know that he won't have any issues selling it. On one hand, I'm going to put money that I'll almost definitely never get back to get it up to par with the one next door. On the other hand, I have first shot at getting a house without getting outbid on it. What if financing on the house next door falls through too? 
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May 20, 2014 17:33
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fknlo posted:So it looks like the buyer of the first house I wanted to put an offer on is having financing issues and the seller says I get first dibs. One big issue is the house next door that I did put an offer in on. It was a lot nicer for the same price. Like at least $5-10k in upgrades nicer. Can I use that to try and knock some money off or is the seller likely to tell me to pound sand since the house will almost definitely sell to someone that didn't see the house next door at asking? Seller is also the listing agent, so he'll doubly know that he won't have any issues selling it. This is a difficult question to answer because you haven't given any details. $5-10k would be peanuts in Los Angeles, but maybe it is 10% of the asking price in your area? The best you can do is negotiate in good faith. If you think that means you won't get the house, then you have to decide if you want to make a deal under those circumstances. Disclaimer: I have never tried to buy a house before but I find the subject really interesting.
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May 20, 2014 19:37
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MickeyFinn posted:This is a difficult question to answer because you haven't given any details. $5-10k would be peanuts in Los Angeles, but maybe it is 10% of the asking price in your area? The best you can do is negotiate in good faith. If you think that means you won't get the house, then you have to decide if you want to make a deal under those circumstances. This is on a $175k house, so it's a pretty good chunk of money. I feel I'd be stupid to not at least go after it without any competition. I really did like it when I first saw it, and without the next door house I'd probably just go full asking right off the bat. My agent is out of town, but I'm going to talk to him tonight so we can form a game plan and go from there. He thinks that the house next door and the previous deal falling through should work in our favor. I have multiple options for financing on top of my pre-approval, so I'm hoping he just wants to sell it quickly to someone who shouldn't have issues with getting the money.
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May 20, 2014 19:51
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fknlo posted:This is on a $175k house, so it's a pretty good chunk of money. I feel I'd be stupid to not at least go after it without any competition. I really did like it when I first saw it, and without the next door house I'd probably just go full asking right off the bat. My agent is out of town, but I'm going to talk to him tonight so we can form a game plan and go from there. He thinks that the house next door and the previous deal falling through should work in our favor. I have multiple options for financing on top of my pre-approval, so I'm hoping he just wants to sell it quickly to someone who shouldn't have issues with getting the money.
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May 20, 2014 23:16
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gently caress. The A/C on my new house is busted. Leaky evap coil - repair cost upward of $1700 on a 15 year old unit. Here are the facts leading up to today: 1. No disclosure from sellers regarding any AC problems that they knew of - they didn't say anything about leaks or having to recharge it. Other houses we looked at at least gave us the courtesy of telling us "Small leak, we had it recharged last year." 2. We toured in early April when temperatures were moderate, and had it inspected when temps were below 60 degrees F, so we didn't have any opportunity to test the AC. 3. On the day of our final walkthrough, May 4th or thereabouts, the house was a balmy 82 degrees F and the sellers left fans running. (This suggests they knew there was a problem at least 5 days before closing.) We thought they were trying to keep their energy bills down before they moved out. We would have done the same thing. 4. The sellers paid for a home warranty. The home warranty company is also an area HVAC company and they said the evap coil is shot, and they will not cover it under our buyer's warranty as this doesn't just happen overnight and is definitely a preexisting condition. I asked if the sellers should have noticed the problem - the repairman gave an emphatic "Yes!" He had to charge it almost completely, putting 5 pounds of refrigerant in a system that should hold 5.5. Do I have grounds to pursue anything against the sellers?
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May 20, 2014 23:57
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Cenodoxus posted:gently caress. Ask an attorney. For some non-lawyer, non-legal thoughts: It can't hurt to ask them for cash to cover it, but at the end of the day, you may have to decide if it's worth going to court over and attempting to collect on. Edit for some additional non-legal, very much layperson thoughts: I think what is typically protected is "latent defects"—things which pretty much could not be discovered without removing fixtures or parts of the house. A diligent enough search might have been able to uncover the defect in the A/C unit, even if it wasn't cold enough to use it (I don't know for sure). Cranbe fucked around with this message at 00:06 on May 21, 2014 |
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May 21, 2014 00:03
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Cenodoxus posted:gently caress. I feel as though your general inspector should be part to blame for this. Despite the temp outside, he should have checked the heating and cooling functionality of the HVAC.
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May 21, 2014 00:22
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Plan on pressing my mortgage officer on locking in the interest rate tomorrow. Been so busy getting everything set that I didn't think to do so earlier and closing is on the 30th! I'm well into the highest credit range and putting 20% down, plus the condo would be considered qualified since the association has tons of cash in reserve. I popped some info into Lending Tree just to see what other lenders might offer and give me something to negotiate around. I don't want to pay 5%, which my officer originally described as the "worst case" interest. It is still on the updated GFE that I just received tonight, however... I just did the Lending Tree thing a few minutes ago and already see 4.625% with the same terms and a higher estimated purchase price (since they use a range estimate). Meanwhile, a family friend who normally lives in another country just moved into a local condo and said they would have the movers drop off whatever didn't fit. I pulled up to my place today to see a ton of boxes with a full dining set, couch, cabinets/shelves, porch set, nice TV stand, multiple rugs, etc! Incredulous Dylan fucked around with this message at 01:40 on May 21, 2014 |
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May 21, 2014 01:38
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Enjoy the next few months of constant phone calls from lenders you've never heard of. Thanks Lending Tree.
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May 21, 2014 01:55
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eddiewalker posted:Enjoy the next few months of constant phone calls from lenders you've never heard of. Thanks Lending Tree. If you ever feel lonely and need some attention just buy a house.
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May 21, 2014 02:39
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That's a lot more expensive than getting even a top escort or hooker (at $2000 / hr from what I can guess), and you can certainly pay a hooker to just talk to 100% legally to be honest.
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May 21, 2014 02:51
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Incredulous Dylan posted:I popped some info into Lending Tree just to see what other lenders might offer and give me something to negotiate around. I don't want to pay 5%, which my officer originally described as the "worst case" interest. It is still on the updated GFE that I just received tonight, however... Congratulations on the condo  If you can't get below 5%, find a different lender. I'm putting 5% down in a conventional loan and with a credit score just above 800 I was able to lock in 4.5% with no closing costs. Doesn't seem like there's any reason why you couldn't get similar especially with a full 20% down. ex post facho fucked around with this message at 03:05 on May 21, 2014 |
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May 21, 2014 03:01
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necrobobsledder posted:That's a lot more expensive than getting even a top escort or hooker (at $2000 / hr from what I can guess), and you can certainly pay a hooker to just talk to 100% legally to be honest. But mortgage lenders give happy endings at a greatly reduced incidence rate from escorts.
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May 21, 2014 04:04
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gently caress. I was casually looking for duplexes and SFHs with garages and stumbled upon the perfect one on Monday night. Now it's Wednesday morning and the seller has until noon to accept my counter-offer. That went fast.
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May 21, 2014 13:37
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Cenodoxus posted:gently caress. I bought a place that turned out to have major sewer issues; requiring a new main line to the tune of $7-10k. This wasnt disclosed by the sellers, and I even had a plumbing company provide records of many years of repeatedly snaking the main line - so the burden of proof was even tackled. I contacted quite a few attorneys, and every single one said it's doable, but my up front costs would exceed the cost of repair, and while I'd likely end up on top in the end it would be a significant amount of time and effort and money out of pocket in the interim, with the possibility still existing of losing (possibly significant amounts of) money. Basically: for a $1700 repair, you're probably SOL, even if it kinda sucks to swallow. Our story had a happy ending, but not really pertinent here
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May 21, 2014 14:57
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couldcareless posted:I feel as though your general inspector should be part to blame for this. Despite the temp outside, he should have checked the heating and cooling functionality of the HVAC. Agreed, all it takes is to run it for a minute and drop a thermometer on the vent cover. Conditioned air should have a measurable differential 15-20 degrees below ambient, with the values recorded in the inspection. If it's cool out you can get a false reading with a marginally working system, but a system almost empty of refrigerant would have been near ambient at the vents. The inspector should have caught it.
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May 21, 2014 20:10
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He said it was below 60 outside, the inspection company may have had a policy not to run units below that due to the possibility of damaging them. I'm not sure how likely that is, but our inspector did the same thing.
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May 21, 2014 20:55
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Walked posted:Basically: for a $1700 repair, you're probably SOL, I would disagree on this point, although it's still going to be a huge pain in the rear end without any guarantee of success. $1700 is small enough that you should be able to pursue it in small claims court, which will minimize the amount of lawyer time you have to pay for.
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May 22, 2014 00:06
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