|
HOWEVER, after about 4 days of constant discussion with various parties, it looks like Everything Is Going To Be Ok (The lender has made an amended offer, the incentive may still be on the table). If I could go back, I would probably do whatever it took to exchange earlier, incentive or not... do never buy.
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2015 14:52
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 30, 2024 11:09 |
|
|
We've found a house we think we're ready to move on. The one sticking point we're still unsure about - it shares a driveway with the house next door. Anybody have horror stories re: shared driveways?
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2015 16:11
|
|
|
Oh look the original lender got back to me. Honestly, the only reason to stay with him is because we are this far in the process and I'm getting back about a grand on discount points that I wouldn't be with the new lender. gently caress I hate everything about realty.
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2015 16:42
|
|
|
You are going to be really unhappy later on in the process with an unresponsive lender. Shop around and use their discounts as leverage. The "Internet Lender" that I had who my realtor/title company were worried about were always on the phone with me within like 5 minutes of any contact, which was important in the end.
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2015 17:07
|
|
|
As a Millennial I posted:We've found a house we think we're ready to move on. The one sticking point we're still unsure about - it shares a driveway with the house next door. Anybody have horror stories re: shared driveways? I don't have any personal stories, but this was in the news in my area recently: http://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2015/04/neighbors-driveway-dispute-drags-on-in-chevy-chase/slide/1/ Basically, hope the neighbor you share a driveway with isn't batshit crazy.
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2015 17:24
|
|
|
Andy Dufresne posted:You are going to be really unhappy later on in the process with an unresponsive lender. Shop around and use their discounts as leverage. The "Internet Lender" that I had who my realtor/title company were worried about were always on the phone with me within like 5 minutes of any contact, which was important in the end. Do this. I got an extra $2k in lender credits with a local lender by sending them the fee sheet of the best quote I had received.
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2015 17:57
|
|
|
Maybe I'm just a cynic but my guess is 1-5% of any "shared __________" stories are going to be horror stories when it comes to real estate.
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2015 18:34
|
|
|
uwaeve posted:Maybe I'm just a cynic but my guess is 1-5% of any "shared __________" stories are going to be horror stories when it comes to real estate. I live on a shared street.
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2015 18:43
|
|
|
We "share" a driveway with our neighbor. The original owners I guess we're about to put a small fence in prior to us buying because they have the short metal posts at the divide between the driveways. We haven't had any issues yet apart from a friend of mine who hadn't visited before parked on their side by accident once but it was resolved.
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2015 18:46
|
|
|
As a Millennial I posted:We've found a house we think we're ready to move on. The one sticking point we're still unsure about - it shares a driveway with the house next door. Anybody have horror stories re: shared driveways? Some friends recently bought a house with a shared driveway easement thing. They've had a lot of headaches with it, similar to that story linked above. Have you said hello to the neighbor?
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2015 19:39
|
|
|
Epitope posted:Some friends recently bought a house with a shared driveway easement thing. They've had a lot of headaches with it, similar to that story linked above. Have you said hello to the neighbor? I have not. We're going to check out the house once more before deciding, so I'll go knock on his door while we're there. FWIW, the current owner says the guy's super nice. But who knows how long he'll be living there, or if he'll enjoy us coming and going at all hours of the night?
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2015 20:26
|
|
|
I'd always advise knocking on all the close neighbors doors before putting in an offer on a house, just say hi and that you're thinking of making an offer and ask them about the hood. Having experienced the wonders of illegal gang run marijuana grow operations next door (SWAT snipers used my roof for that raid), bipolar motorcycle people, and the shirtless alcoholic screamer lady as neighbors has opened my eyes to how important that is.
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2015 21:37
|
|
|
Pryor on Fire posted:Having experienced the wonders of illegal gang run marijuana grow operations next door (SWAT snipers used my roof for that raid), bipolar motorcycle people, and the shirtless alcoholic screamer lady as neighbors has opened my eyes to how important that is. I hope you simuntaneously had these people as your neighbors on three sides of your house.
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2015 21:45
|
|
|
It certainly is worth making sure you take a close look at title in the transaction. Right of ways and things like that are not super uncommon but all you have to do is look at that thread in E/N where the crazy neighbor was trying to take back MAH LAND. It can have some impact on the future marketability as well, but again it doesn't need to be a super big deal.
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2015 22:49
|
|
|
You could also end up like this guy's neighbor: http://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/2o3g9g/neighbors_stupidly_caused_themselves_to_be/ Update here: http://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/2ooy1x/update_my_neighbors_caused_themselves_to_be/
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2015 23:09
|
|
|
I just park on the street.
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2015 23:19
|
|
|
Citizen Tayne posted:I just park on the street. That's not always a good answer. Some cities have street sweeping for certain times of the week or only available parking on one side of the road. From what I've seen searching around online for houses, sharing anything about a house with a neighbor will eventually cause some troubles of some sorts. I'd want to minimize the amount of sharing to bare minimum if at all possible. Just do a search on fence related issues and you'll come up with a ton of people arguing over trees and all sorts of stuff, but most homeowners have to deal with that. Add in a shared driveway and you'll just be very likely to have some sort of trouble with somebody at some point. I guess it comes down to a personal thing. Do you want to deal with potentially horrible people taking up all the spots in the driveway if it comes up?
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2015 23:33
|
|
|
Thesaurus posted:I hope you simuntaneously had these people as your neighbors on three sides of your house. That would be pretty hilarious but no I'm just old and have had lots of neighbors over the decades of owning several places. The sometimes legal but usually not marijuana grow thing is becoming a huge concern in Colorado now, the overpowering smell can just take over a neighborhood. I have one realtor friend who now walks the neighborhood sniffing thoroughly before agreeing to list a house because she's been sued twice now in the past few years for selling a house and then the new buyers were not happy about the constant smell of drugs with no recourse besides selling.
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2015 23:57
|
|
|
Eryxias posted:That's not always a good answer. Some cities have street sweeping for certain times of the week or only available parking on one side of the road. oh yeah, I know. I just park on the street because there are no driveways or garages around here.
|
|
#
?
Apr 22, 2015 00:10
|
|
|
Assuming you live somewhere where it snows, whose responsibility is shoveling the shared driveway?
|
|
#
?
Apr 22, 2015 01:35
|
|
|
Aquatic Giraffe posted:Assuming you live somewhere where it snows, whose responsibility is shoveling the shared driveway? Who is the driveway being shared with? If it was a roommate/duplex neighbor I would just offer to do it for a price.
|
|
#
?
Apr 22, 2015 01:43
|
|
|
I have a shared driveway. I think you have to assume that you are occasionally going to have to knock on your neighbor's door because you have been blocked in by someone, and assume that you may need to foot the bill for upkeep or do all the snow shoveling, in case you have a jerk neighbor. I have had no problems with mine at all, but when the driveway needs to be re-paved -- who knows?
|
|
#
?
Apr 22, 2015 04:46
|
|
|
Seems like my area has a ton of shared driveways, not really two houses next to each other though. Cincinnati with the hills kind of leaves flat parts of land mixed in with the hills, so you get a lot of flag lots. You might have 2-5 houses all share the same stretch. The fun part is in the price range I've been looking there have been a lot of older driveways, so the question has come up of who owns what, how plowing is handled and all that fun. Usually it's wording like "it's assumed this nice guy plows and we give him a gift at Christmas" sort of deal. Now if a 1/4 mile driveway needs to be replaced, you are the first house on the driveway 10 feet in, how do you split that bill with asshat neighbors knowing realistically you only "consume" 5% of it?
|
|
#
?
Apr 22, 2015 12:33
|
|
|
Well fannie and freddie now have a requirement that if they buy a mortgage on a property with a shared driveway, there either has to be a signed shared drive agreement (you should have one if you buy a property with a shared drive), or heaven forbid, the bank making the mortgage has to guarantee the loan if the shared drive goes bad. Normally the first house does not need this agreement because they don't need permission to drive on their land. Really the last house uses the most of the driveway and should pay the most upkeep, but practically each person usually ends up responsible for the part in their yard. My neighbors are much richer than me and just fix my section when they get tired of slowing down for the potholes. That works fine for me. I have not signed any new agreement though there is one that didn't get transferred to me because I bought a REO craphole.
|
|
#
?
Apr 22, 2015 15:26
|
|
|
Economic Sinkhole posted:You could also end up like this guy's neighbor: http://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/2o3g9g/neighbors_stupidly_caused_themselves_to_be/ Man I need more updates on this. Looks like it kinda died out. The whole thing is hilarious and I want to see how hosed the neighbors get.
|
|
#
?
Apr 22, 2015 16:35
|
|
|
couldcareless posted:Man I need more updates on this. Looks like it kinda died out. The whole thing is hilarious and I want to see how hosed the neighbors get. Yeah, I'd love to see the ending, but by reading through I bet the lawyer told him to shut up and stop posting till after its all settled in court or whatever.
|
|
#
?
Apr 22, 2015 16:57
|
|
|
So what are the opinions on town houses? I've found a good one that's within my price range in a good area, but am wondering if there are any other negatives aside from the hoa (and what it covers or lack thereof). Are they considered to be the worst of both worlds?
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2015 03:30
|
|
|
In most places townhomes are going to be considered Condo's. Unless you are looking at a legal description that says the word townhome in it, might as well just consider it a condo and work from there.
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2015 04:18
|
|
|
Eryxias posted:Yeah, I'd love to see the ending, but by reading through I bet the lawyer told him to shut up and stop posting till after its all settled in court or whatever.
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2015 04:37
|
|
|
I have never been more livid in my entire life. Just to warn you, most of this post is going to be complaining. The bank we're borrowing from started the loan process on the 4/14, even though we originated the loan on 3/20 with an estimated closing date of 4/23. I thought to myself, "well, that's not a lot of time. I guess they know what they're doing, though." Through emails from both myself and my realtor, the loan officer gave non-committal answers but said if anything came up that would interfere with the closing date that he'd let us know. It's a fair answer. Whatever. So, this Monday (4/20), I'm told that I should be receiving an email with a list of conditions that need to be met in order for the loan to continue. At this point, I'm thinking it can't be anything too crazy since it's this close to closing. Certainly they'd give me a head's up. I don't get an email on 4/20. It's 4/21, and I don't get an email until 3PM. I rush home and start working on the conditions. I get a few better scans of some documents, cross some T's, dot some I's and send it off. By the time my realtor does their part and everything's back in, it's right at 5PM. BANK'S CLOSED~! Weeee~! Better luck next time, buddies~! I wake up today and make sure they have the documents. The person apparently didn't get the email, or it was lost among the billion that was thrown at them. Whatever. I send my part again. We ask how to plan for the closing date at this point and how far back this pushes us. "Getting tax transcripts usually takes 3-5 days to process." Uh, what? So, off to the IRS for me! 2013 taxes are no problem. 2014 isn't on file, though. Errrrr.....wh-what? "You owed $70. Did you pay it?" What? Apparently, I paid someone to do my taxes so they could fail to mention that I owed anything for federal. But, as I look through my returns now, the last page in the stapled set, attached to a folder is definitely is a voucher that says I owe some money. Neat. That's a good place to staple a piece of paper that I would need. I regularly flip through pages of meaningless (to me anyway) text and numbers in the off chance that any of that is something that my tax professional, who has been doing this for 20+ years, may have forgotten to mention to me. I take my 2013 returns to the bank (because I want to make sure these loving files are in the proper hands). I tell the individual the circumstances of what's going on. I pay the taxes online by suggestion of the bank worker (no one at the IRS really mentioned it. Thanks, guys) and give them a receipt showing that they were paid. A week late on a sub-$100 tax bill. ...N-neat...Yeah. "Neat" is the word I'm looking for. Nevermind that I'm told "We still need the 2014 returns, or a statement saying that the 2014 ones aren't on record yet so we can use the 2012 ones instead." Back to the IRS! I got to take a number and wait in line twice today. drat, I'm fancy! So, I get the statement and the 2012 transcript--cause gently caress it, I'm here. I might as well. Also, take in mind, no one told me I could get the transcripts online until the first trip to the IRS. That's some neat info to not mention, guys! I'm glad everyone just assumes I pull my tax transcripts on the regular and know there's a functional government website that holds this information, and is readily available from an internet connection. Maybe next time, just start with that step. I bet they're amazing at giving cooking instructions. "Step 1- Gather ingredients. 2- mix ingredients. 3- scoop out dough and place on a cookie sheet. 4- cook for 10 minutes. 5- btw, I've had cookies the whole time, I don't know why you're doing any of this." And yet, I know I'm going to get the information that, "we can't use your 2012 returns because you didn't have a schedule C." Haha~! YEAH, I KNOW! That's what was keeping me from getting a loan in 2013, you assholes. So, that's where I am right now. Closing date is nowhere in sight at the moment. The sellers are waiting desperately for this to go through so they can close on the house they're moving to out of state. It's a bank owned property, and every day they're late on closing, they're getting fined. We've already placed utilities into our name for tomorrow because... that's what you do when you're fairly sure you're getting a house in a few days. We've given notice to our apartment that we're out by May 1st. We're still being charged until the middle of May because our apartment loves it when you break a lease, but if it runs anywhere past that, then we're homeless because the apartment's already reserved for someone else after May 15. So, just throwing this out there, but... why the hell would a bank not tell you that things are going to be delayed? It's not the first mortgage they've ever processed. They know how this poo poo goes. It's a day and 2 hours before closing and they're finally giving me conditions? I got it finished, but come on. This is a mortgage tease. "Mmm, yeah, everything is going great. We're probably on schedule. We'll let you know when there's an issue." and just before you stick it in, they're like, "This position is weird. Also, your cat is staring at us." The bank has already admitted that it's their fault. And, I had the fun of getting everything ready to go in roughly a day. Had I known I would be doing a lot of the footwork, I would have started it in March. I'm trying to stay sane in all of this, but it's not working too well. I could use some reassuring words, advice, or anything at this point--mainly because I'm sure that tomorrow is going to be more of the same. Wish me luck. 
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2015 05:20
|
|
|
What were you and your agent doing between 3/20 and 4/14
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2015 11:32
|
|
|
All I can say is it's temporary. You will likely wind up with the house and good story for beers, and you can look back on this and laugh.
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2015 12:23
|
|
|
At least in my case, the 'bank' turned out to be at least 3 companies, many offices and distant teams - your lender may too not have their poo poo together from your perspective as each person you end up speaking to can only tell you what their computer is telling them. If they've admitted fault, maybe you could get some form of compensation?
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2015 12:29
|
|
|
I had contacted my mortgage company to get pre-approved before even looking at homes. I made an offer on a townhome and began the *real* loan process on 2/20. We did not close until last Thursday 4/16. We were supposed to have been clear to close on 3/23 and closed on 3/27. Even though my file went to underwriting on 3/8, I don't think they even began looking at it until 3/20, because that's when I first started getting requests for stuff. The biggest hangup was the IRS tax transcript request. We had to submit it 3 or 4 times, with a 2-3 business day delay each time. But even through all that, they were asking me for stupid poo poo right up until the end in addition to that, like a written statement that I had inquired with Wells Fargo on 2/2 but decided to go with my lender instead. Lyer posted:So what are the opinions on town houses? I've found a good one that's within my price range in a good area, but am wondering if there are any other negatives aside from the hoa (and what it covers or lack thereof). Are they considered to be the worst of both worlds? Condo < Town house < real house Just make sure it's not a "Town House-style condo." The difference is land ownership. You don't own any land with any type of condo, you just own "the air between the walls, floor, ceiling." If your town home blows up or blows away, at least you have *some* value in the land it was on. Not true with any type of condo. I'm in the same boat as you, where the real houses in my price range were all pretty much fundamentally broken in some way, so I compromised and bought a town house. The HOA is only $57/month which is cheap for this area. All they really do is dictate what kind of fence I can have and that I can't change the color of my side of the home unless my connected neighbor changes to the same color, too. They also prevent other owners from doing anything too stupid or illegal. Of course, it's all going to depend on the neighbors you're connected to. I've barely had contact with mine, but they seem nice so far (one week in). We'll see what ways they devise to drive me crazy.
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2015 12:39
|
|
|
That actually makes me think, if you own a condo, and suddenly the whole condo building just gets completely demolished due to some freak accident, what happens? I assume the whoever owns the building has some legal obligation to reconstruct the building? I'm pretty curious how this would play out.
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2015 15:09
|
|
|
Typically the structures are covered under a master policy and your insurance just covers the inside stuff. You would only really be boned if your HOA didnt cover reserves or have enough in its budget. Having said that, in a lot of cases that would probably be the end result, since lets face it, most people are paying enough in dues to cover catastrophic damage to the structure. Especially if you are in one of those weird condo conversion dealies, where the structure was not originally set up as a condo and became one somewhere dwn the line.
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2015 15:11
|
|
|
Well assuming your condo association is somewhat adequately managed, they will have insurance that will pay to rebuild the condo. If you are not dead you can move back in when they are done. You need your own insurance to cover the non mechanical items between the walls like your SNES collection.
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2015 15:12
|
|
|
BEHOLD: MY CAPE posted:What were you and your agent doing between 3/20 and 4/14 I assume it was the smallest, most elaborate circle jerk in history. One where no one touched anything, and yet there's still jizz everywhere... uwaeve posted:All I can say is it's temporary. You will likely wind up with the house and good story for beers, and you can look back on this and laugh. Yeah. At this point, the seller is too invested to completely back out or anything like that. It's just extremely frustrating to have to deal with. Isambard K. Brunel posted:At least in my case, the 'bank' turned out to be at least 3 companies, many offices and distant teams - your lender may too not have their poo poo together from your perspective as each person you end up speaking to can only tell you what their computer is telling them. If anything, I'd hope they pay the seller's fines that they're accumulating by not closing on their house. Looking at it now, it was a mistake for them to have the closing dates so close to each other, but this could have easily been avoided with a little more communication from the bank. I'm past my freaking out stage of yesterday, and now it's settled into a jaded, apathetic rage. It's like... I'm not even mad, just... disappointed. 
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2015 15:31
|
|
|
Nilryna posted:settled into a jaded, apathetic rage house_buying.txt
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2015 15:40
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 30, 2024 11:09 |
|
|
couldcareless posted:That actually makes me think, if you own a condo, and suddenly the whole condo building just gets completely demolished due to some freak accident, what happens? I assume the whoever owns the building has some legal obligation to reconstruct the building? I'm pretty curious how this would play out. The condo association has insurance to cover the building from the studs out. Sometimes it will also cover walls-in, but frequently you need to buy an HO6 condo owner's policy. Most lenders require walls in coverage.
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2015 15:51
|
|
