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QuarkJets
Sep 8, 2008

best reason to garden is to attract bees and other pollinators (such as butterflies), they're cool to watch

i intentionally let my basil develop flowers because the bees love that poo poo, once the flower stalks get a little long then I trim them off and get new nice new leaves within a week

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Pryor on Fire
May 14, 2013

they don't know all alien abduction experiences can be explained by people thinking saving private ryan was a documentary

Wait what? You have a flaky dude a $2k deposit and now you're happy about this because you can just back out whenever?

This is indeed starting to feel like chapter one of those epic VA loan horror stories, I'm starting to see why they have such a reputation. I mean hopefully it all works out of course, just lots o risk.

Ixian
Oct 9, 2001

Many machines on Ix....new machines
Pillbug
Genuinely curious: what is so bad about VA loans? Are they magnets for stupidity or just inherently bad?

I still have my VA eligibility today (I was honorably discharged from the Army in 1992) and never used it. Never really had a reason to since I never bought a house I didn't have at least 20% or more to put down on. However I've had it drilled in to me for years that the VA loan is one of the Great Benefits to Thank You for Your Service and in the back of my head always wonder if I missed out on something.

fknlo
Jul 6, 2009


Fun Shoe

Ixian posted:

As I learned first hand about 3 years ago (having heard but not experienced it) swarming bees are the best bees. A huge fuckoff pile of them up in a tree looks and sounds scary as poo poo but they are chill as gently caress. And if you have beekeepers around (it is the new millennial/old man hobby these days) they will come blow smoke and get them for free. Some of them could probably be talked in to paying you - a bunch of honeybees looking for a new hive (which is what a swarm like that is) are worth a lot.

I didn't go that route (trying to charge the beekeeper), I was just happy to see them gone, but I felt stupid after watching the dude fan a bunch of smoke, throw a box over the whole lot while on a ladder, and walk off, without even wearing a beekeeper suit.

Now bees taking residence in a house wall can be a different story. First: Are they actually bees? If they aren't hairy and/or are building paper nests, etc. then you are hosed and need to get an exterminator. If they are actual honeybees and have built a nest of honeycombs it's easier, but those bees are gonna be way less chill about you dicking around with their food source. A beekeeper may still be willing to get them for free but you should take the best pictures you can get of dead samples + the nest first because most of them won't talk to you otherwise.

They were honeybees and they were pretty chill the whole time. Being in my ceiling for like 12 hours probably helped. I paid some bee removal specialists way too much money, but it's what they do for a living and probably better than some random dude showing up and knocking holes in walls looking for them.

My neighbor who is a contractor(but doesn't do brick) was pretty optimistic about that crack just needing tuck pointing. I loving hope he's right.

minivanmegafun
Jul 27, 2004

Ixian posted:

A beekeeper may still be willing to get them for free but you should take the best pictures you can get of dead samples + the nest first because most of them won't talk to you otherwise.

There's a beekeeper in Chicago that bikes around to grab swarms, she's great.

https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20160414/back-of-yards/got-beehive-problem-let-this-beekeeper-deal-with-it

Christobevii3
Jul 3, 2006
Carpenter bees are assholes though. They have no stingers so you can just go around pimp slapping them to death.

Told the sellers on my house to gently caress off, I'll walk if you don't fix the a/c and change the water heater or cut the price $4k. Have two houses I'll offer on tomorrow at 4pm if they gently caress around.

gtkor
Feb 21, 2011

Ixian posted:

Genuinely curious: what is so bad about VA loans? Are they magnets for stupidity or just inherently bad?

I still have my VA eligibility today (I was honorably discharged from the Army in 1992) and never used it. Never really had a reason to since I never bought a house I didn't have at least 20% or more to put down on. However I've had it drilled in to me for years that the VA loan is one of the Great Benefits to Thank You for Your Service and in the back of my head always wonder if I missed out on something.

There really isn't anything bad about VA loans, though the guidelines can be a bit cumbersome compared to other programs. You have to pay a funding fee, so for a borrower who can budget the 20% its hard to really justify the additional upfront cost in order to have less equity in your home.

You have more required inspections through the VA and additional property rules, but assuming you have a cookie cutter house it doesn't have to be the end of the world. As long as you pass the property guidelines, and you can meet residual income guidelines, its a good program.

Problem!
Jan 1, 2007

I am the queen of France.
I'm hoping it's just the sales lady who's a dumb idiot (not outside the realm of possibility). We have a meeting with the construction manager coming up so I'm not going to get super mad till we see how that goes.

I know several people who've built with these folks before and are happy with their houses so I'm not ready to walk yet just because the sales office is staffed with dumbasses.

Problem! fucked around with this message at 15:06 on Jun 14, 2017

Elephanthead
Sep 11, 2008


Toilet Rascal
That crack is from settling. That corner of the brick ledge sunk. (This is an uneducated guess so you don't have to disclose it on your checklist). Anyone is going to notice a tuck point fill job that big.

Thoguh
Nov 8, 2002

College Slice
Got some quotes back about repairing the pipe under my foundation that has corroded through. The actual plumbing part is pretty trivial but they want a couple hundred per foot to do the concrete work. Looks like I'm going to make myself handy with a concrete saw and sledgehammer.

Of course, the camera only found the first part of the pipe that was corroded. Once I open it up I might find out I have to replace a bunch more. Do never buy and get your drains scoped as part of your inspection if you do.

couldcareless
Feb 8, 2009

Spheal used Swagger!

Thoguh posted:

Of course, the camera only found the first part of the pipe that was corroded. Once I open it up I might find out I have to replace a bunch more. Do never buy and get your drains scoped as part of your inspection if you do.

Video pipe inspection was the very first one we called out when we were shopping. More often than not it's going to unveil the biggest deal breaker in a sale

fknlo
Jul 6, 2009


Fun Shoe

Elephanthead posted:

That crack is from settling. That corner of the brick ledge sunk. (This is an uneducated guess so you don't have to disclose it on your checklist). Anyone is going to notice a tuck point fill job that big.

If I get a brick guy out and he tells me that tuck pointing is all it needs I'll be ok with that. My life doesn't work like that so I'm going to have to redo at least 3 walls in my basement.

paternity suitor
Aug 2, 2016

I own a house now, pray for me. I need to paint though. What should I expect to pay per square foot for a painter? I've always done my own painting but I just don't think I have the time.

sephiRoth IRA
Jun 13, 2007

"Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality."

-Carl Sagan
Thanks for the advice folks. We got a quote from a specialist for 15k for the foundation. We put that into our modified offer with an additional 5k for random shenanigans/repairs.
Honestly, all told, this house needs like 25-30k of repairs in the next 4 years so we felt our offer was fair.

The sellers said they could go down 5k more only. We told them to get hosed.

cheese eats mouse
Jul 6, 2007

A real Portlander now
I'll be stalking this thread. I'm thinking of buying a house where I currently live within the next year. It's an up and coming neighborhood with the neighborhood literally across the train tracks having house prices double what they are here and that's literally about a mile away. I rent in the neighborhood and I really like living here. I'm a block from a nice park, 5 minutes from the interstate, 10-15 minute drive from all the places I like to eat and drink along with a walk to some fun bars. I just started a new job I like and I don't have to deal with much traffic. Someone just bought the house 2 houses next to me which was vacant for the first year I was here and then did huge remodel and flipped it yesterday. There are people moving back in and the city just reassessed it at a higher tax rate. I'm single and don't have/want any kids, but the elementary school has a really good rating. But really I'm buying because I really like my neighborhood and can see myself here for a bit since I've already been here almost 3 years. The houses here were built in the 1890-1900 and even survived a flood in the 1940s.

So numbers
My current rent is $645 a month for a 750 sq ft place and I'd be going up to about 1,000-1500 sq ft for around $750 a month with taxes and insurance.

My monthly debt servicing is $530 a month and I make $65,000 a year and houses here sell for about 80-120k.

Am I still in do never buy territory?

cheese eats mouse fucked around with this message at 15:09 on Jun 16, 2017

Ixian
Oct 9, 2001

Many machines on Ix....new machines
Pillbug

cheese eats mouse posted:

I'll be stalking this thread. I'm thinking of buying a house where I currently live within the next year. It's an up and coming neighborhood with the neighborhood literally across the train tracks having house prices double what they are here and that's literally about a mile away. I rent in the neighborhood and I really like living here. I'm a block from a nice park, 5 minutes from the interstate, 10-15 minute drive from all the places I like to eat and drink along with a walk to some fun bars. I just started a new job I like and I don't have to deal with much traffic. Someone just bought the house 2 houses next to me which was vacant for the first year I was here and then did huge remodel and flipped it yesterday. There are people moving back in and the city just reassessed it at a higher tax rate. I'm single and don't have/want any kids, but the elementary school has a really good rating. But really I'm buying because I really like my neighborhood and can see myself here for a bit since I've already been here almost 3 years. The houses here were built in the 1890-1900 and even survived a flood in the 1940s.

So numbers
My current rent is $645 a month for a 750 sq ft place and I'd be going up to about 1,000-1500 sq ft for around $750 a month with taxes and insurance.

My monthly debt servicing is $530 a month and I make $65,000 a year and houses here sell for about 80-120k.

Am I still in do never buy territory?

Rule number one is don't buy a house as a speculative investment, which is what you seem to be leaning towards. That is also rule number 2 through 10.

Another rule is don't buy a house that was built 100+ years ago unless you really know what you are doing and want to really get in to the arcane hobby of dealing with old house problems. And you will have old house problems even if you get a "good" one.

As with any house you buy and especially with an old one you also have to budget in repair costs over the time you own it. You are going to spend that money whether you budget it or not. The fact that you won't really know what that amount is is part of the fun of owning a house, and I'm betting one that old is going to be full of surprises.

Yes, if you buy one and it really does "double" in value or otherwise go up, and you take care of it and flip in a few years you'll be skipping to the bank and yes, that happens to people. What happens to more people happened in 2007-2010 and the entire country is still dealing with that fallout.

TLDR: Don't buy a house as an investment.

skipdogg
Nov 29, 2004
Resident SRT-4 Expert

paternity suitor posted:

I own a house now, pray for me. I need to paint though. What should I expect to pay per square foot for a painter? I've always done my own painting but I just don't think I have the time.

Too many variables. Where do you live? (hot construction markets will have higher rates), Who supplies the paint? Do you want a professional company or are you OK with someone doing it as a side gig?

Get some recommendations from friends or folks on Nextdoor. I really hate the Nextdoor app/site but it can be useful for stuff like this. One of my neighbors found a good exterior paint guy and folks in the neighborhood have been keeping him busy with work just by word of mouth.

Elephanthead
Sep 11, 2008


Toilet Rascal
In Indianapolis I paid ..90 cents a square foot for ceilings and double paint the walls and closets in an empty house I bought the paint. Total was $3,000. I would judge them as semi professional. The commercial painters wanted $9,000, they supplied the paint. I was happy with the job the ladies I hired did. Paint was probably $1,500. The house was a pretty clean repo.

buffbus
Nov 19, 2012
Does anyone know to what extent it is reasonable for a buyer to contact an appraiser? Basically there are no valuation problems but the appraiser half-assed the forms and is unresponsive to the lender's requests to clean it up. This is the only thing preventing a clear to close and it has been stalled for a week now.

Ixian
Oct 9, 2001

Many machines on Ix....new machines
Pillbug

buffbus posted:

Does anyone know to what extent it is reasonable for a buyer to contact an appraiser? Basically there are no valuation problems but the appraiser half-assed the forms and is unresponsive to the lender's requests to clean it up. This is the only thing preventing a clear to close and it has been stalled for a week now.

Tell your realtor, who is getting paid for this kind of thing, to get on his rear end pronto. They usually have a lot more leverage because while you will probably never use or hear from this appraiser again they will.

If you are your own agent in this deal then you're the one getting on his case :)

therobit
Aug 19, 2008

I've been tryin' to speak with you for a long time

buffbus posted:

Does anyone know to what extent it is reasonable for a buyer to contact an appraiser? Basically there are no valuation problems but the appraiser half-assed the forms and is unresponsive to the lender's requests to clean it up. This is the only thing preventing a clear to close and it has been stalled for a week now.

It can kill a transaction.

Edit: the proper way to address it is going up the chain at your lender. If the appraiser feels like you are trying to influence him you may need a whole new loan application.

therobit fucked around with this message at 20:27 on Jun 16, 2017

QuarkJets
Sep 8, 2008

cheese eats mouse posted:

I'll be stalking this thread. I'm thinking of buying a house where I currently live within the next year. It's an up and coming neighborhood with the neighborhood literally across the train tracks having house prices double what they are here and that's literally about a mile away. I rent in the neighborhood and I really like living here. I'm a block from a nice park, 5 minutes from the interstate, 10-15 minute drive from all the places I like to eat and drink along with a walk to some fun bars. I just started a new job I like and I don't have to deal with much traffic. Someone just bought the house 2 houses next to me which was vacant for the first year I was here and then did huge remodel and flipped it yesterday. There are people moving back in and the city just reassessed it at a higher tax rate. I'm single and don't have/want any kids, but the elementary school has a really good rating. But really I'm buying because I really like my neighborhood and can see myself here for a bit since I've already been here almost 3 years. The houses here were built in the 1890-1900 and even survived a flood in the 1940s.

So numbers
My current rent is $645 a month for a 750 sq ft place and I'd be going up to about 1,000-1500 sq ft for around $750 a month with taxes and insurance.

My monthly debt servicing is $530 a month and I make $65,000 a year and houses here sell for about 80-120k.

Am I still in do never buy territory?

It sounds to me like you enjoy the area. If you don't mind settling down in the same place for the next 5+ years and you have the finances then it'll probably work out fine.

I'd suggest making a full accounting of your costs. In addition to the mortgage, taxes, and insurance, you should also look at the additional costs in water, electricity, gas, and maintenance. If the house is bigger than your apartment then it's going to cost more to cool and heat. If it has a lawn that you want to grow stuff on, it will cost more water (a fuckton more, 75% of our water bill is just from grass and we're pretty conservative with the sprinklers). Figure out how much you'll probably need to spend in maintenance. Figure out how much your time is worth to have to do all of the routine upkeep and maintenance poo poo that your landlord was dealing with for you while you've been renting.

Do you have a down payment? Do you have an emergency fund in addition to your down payment?

Elephanthead
Sep 11, 2008


Toilet Rascal

therobit posted:

It can kill a transaction.

Edit: the proper way to address it is going up the chain at your lender. If the appraiser feels like you are trying to influence him you may need a whole new loan application.

This, your lender should be pitching a bitch to the appraisal wrangler that assigned you this ahole appraiser that can't fill out a form. They are not getting what you paid for.

Tricky Ed
Aug 18, 2010

It is important to avoid confusion. This is the one that's okay to lick.


cheese eats mouse posted:

I'll be stalking this thread. I'm thinking of buying a house where I currently live within the next year. It's an up and coming neighborhood with the neighborhood literally across the train tracks having house prices double what they are here and that's literally about a mile away. I rent in the neighborhood and I really like living here. I'm a block from a nice park, 5 minutes from the interstate, 10-15 minute drive from all the places I like to eat and drink along with a walk to some fun bars. I just started a new job I like and I don't have to deal with much traffic. Someone just bought the house 2 houses next to me which was vacant for the first year I was here and then did huge remodel and flipped it yesterday. There are people moving back in and the city just reassessed it at a higher tax rate. I'm single and don't have/want any kids, but the elementary school has a really good rating. But really I'm buying because I really like my neighborhood and can see myself here for a bit since I've already been here almost 3 years. The houses here were built in the 1890-1900 and even survived a flood in the 1940s.

So numbers
My current rent is $645 a month for a 750 sq ft place and I'd be going up to about 1,000-1500 sq ft for around $750 a month with taxes and insurance.

My monthly debt servicing is $530 a month and I make $65,000 a year and houses here sell for about 80-120k.

Am I still in do never buy territory?

There are a few red flags, but you might be okay to start looking in a few months.

  • Your monthly debt service isn't insubstantial. If you can pay some of that down quicker you should work on it.
  • How's your credit score? If it isn't in the 700s (ideally 750+) work on it. Open another credit card and/or extend the limits on your existing ones. And for the love of God don't use any of it. You get points for not using all the credit you have available.
  • Old homes have old problems that they are hiding. If you aren't bitten by the original wiring and plumbing that's still there, you'll be bitten by the shortcuts and structural problems created when the previous owner ripped them out. Make finding the best home inspector in your area your first priority, but even then there WILL be hidden problems in your walls.
  • $750/month certainly seems doable within your budget, but you'll need to have a good buffer saved for emergencies (mostly appliance or HVAC related) that you didn't need as a renter. A good number to have in savings is 25% of your expected house value. 20% will go to the down payment and the other 5% will get eaten by closing costs, inspections, and all the stuff you'll find that needs fixing as soon as you move in.
  • I'm not kidding about this, there are terrible things hidden in the walls of every house you're looking at. Watch episodes of "Holmes on Homes" until you are scared of homes in general before you start looking.

All that said, you have some positives. You sound like you've got stable employment, you know the area you're in really well, prices don't seem unreasonable, and if the more common life changes happen to you (spouse, kids) you're probably okay to stay a long time anyway. Don't let the rising market force your hand. There will always be another house.

Dik Hz
Feb 22, 2004

Fun with Science

cheese eats mouse posted:

I'll be stalking this thread. I'm thinking of buying a house where I currently live within the next year. It's an up and coming neighborhood with the neighborhood literally across the train tracks having house prices double what they are here and that's literally about a mile away. I rent in the neighborhood and I really like living here. I'm a block from a nice park, 5 minutes from the interstate, 10-15 minute drive from all the places I like to eat and drink along with a walk to some fun bars. I just started a new job I like and I don't have to deal with much traffic. Someone just bought the house 2 houses next to me which was vacant for the first year I was here and then did huge remodel and flipped it yesterday. There are people moving back in and the city just reassessed it at a higher tax rate. I'm single and don't have/want any kids, but the elementary school has a really good rating. But really I'm buying because I really like my neighborhood and can see myself here for a bit since I've already been here almost 3 years. The houses here were built in the 1890-1900 and even survived a flood in the 1940s.

So numbers
My current rent is $645 a month for a 750 sq ft place and I'd be going up to about 1,000-1500 sq ft for around $750 a month with taxes and insurance.

My monthly debt servicing is $530 a month and I make $65,000 a year and houses here sell for about 80-120k.

Am I still in do never buy territory?
It sounds like you can afford it, but be careful. Neighborhoods can change for the worse as much as they can change for the better. If you're on the edge of the neighborhood, you're the first one to lose value if the good neighborhood shrinks.

totalnewbie
Nov 13, 2005

I was born and raised in China, lived in Japan, and now hold a US passport.

I am wrong in every way, all the damn time.

Ask me about my tattoos.
poo poo. I wasn't going to buy a house, I'm not going to buy a house, I found a house for a great price in a decent area. For reference, a better location would be something like 50% more money for 30-40% less house. It meets a lot of my requirements: gas stove, open layout, decent size. Location isn't ideal but, again, there's no way I can do better without forking out a ton.

So now I'm applying for a loan and contacting a buyer's agent tomorrow, because that house will be gone within the week (doesn't help that I'm going on vacation Thursday-Sunday, ugh - kind of).

I've been looking up things like questions to ask buyer's agents, etc. and they all say similar things, but can anyone point out the 1-2 most important questions to ask and/or biggest red flags? I would do a lot more reading myself (and plan to tonight) but, like I said, I haven't got much time.

Regarding inspections, I haven't read up on how to find a good inspector yet but will try the usual ways, but anyone have any tips?

Especially if anyone finds a particular blog post or whatever about buyer's agents, mortgage terms/pitfalls/whatevers, and how to select inspectors, that would be awesome.

In the end, if I don't get this house it's not the end of the world, but it's such a good deal I feel like I need to at least get moving on it, knowing full well that I am probably overly excited right now and definitely do not want to rush into it. Again, for my own benefit: if I don't get the house then I continue my current pretty sweet deal for my rental place and everything is still fine.

Ixian
Oct 9, 2001

Many machines on Ix....new machines
Pillbug

totalnewbie posted:

poo poo. I wasn't going to buy a house, I'm not going to buy a house, I found a house for a great price in a decent area. For reference, a better location would be something like 50% more money for 30-40% less house. It meets a lot of my requirements: gas stove, open layout, decent size. Location isn't ideal but, again, there's no way I can do better without forking out a ton.

So now I'm applying for a loan and contacting a buyer's agent tomorrow, because that house will be gone within the week (doesn't help that I'm going on vacation Thursday-Sunday, ugh - kind of).

I've been looking up things like questions to ask buyer's agents, etc. and they all say similar things, but can anyone point out the 1-2 most important questions to ask and/or biggest red flags? I would do a lot more reading myself (and plan to tonight) but, like I said, I haven't got much time.

Regarding inspections, I haven't read up on how to find a good inspector yet but will try the usual ways, but anyone have any tips?

Especially if anyone finds a particular blog post or whatever about buyer's agents, mortgage terms/pitfalls/whatevers, and how to select inspectors, that would be awesome.

In the end, if I don't get this house it's not the end of the world, but it's such a good deal I feel like I need to at least get moving on it, knowing full well that I am probably overly excited right now and definitely do not want to rush into it. Again, for my own benefit: if I don't get the house then I continue my current pretty sweet deal for my rental place and everything is still fine.

My only advice as someone who has bought houses several times is if you feel like there is any kind of time pressure or "this won't last/ever come up again" or the like, take a deep breath and walk.

You are asking for trouble otherwise. There is absolutely nothing about buying a house via a Mortgage that makes the process more worthwhile because of artificial scarcity factors. Every time I have seen one of these situations with a friend or relative it had more to do with what they were trying to move out from than what they wanted to move in to. That is a bad position to start with when it comes to the financial commitments involved.

devicenull
May 30, 2007

Grimey Drawer

totalnewbie posted:

poo poo. I wasn't going to buy a house, I'm not going to buy a house, I found a house for a great price in a decent area. For reference, a better location would be something like 50% more money for 30-40% less house. It meets a lot of my requirements: gas stove, open layout, decent size. Location isn't ideal but, again, there's no way I can do better without forking out a ton.

So now I'm applying for a loan and contacting a buyer's agent tomorrow, because that house will be gone within the week (doesn't help that I'm going on vacation Thursday-Sunday, ugh - kind of).

I've been looking up things like questions to ask buyer's agents, etc. and they all say similar things, but can anyone point out the 1-2 most important questions to ask and/or biggest red flags? I would do a lot more reading myself (and plan to tonight) but, like I said, I haven't got much time.

Regarding inspections, I haven't read up on how to find a good inspector yet but will try the usual ways, but anyone have any tips?

Especially if anyone finds a particular blog post or whatever about buyer's agents, mortgage terms/pitfalls/whatevers, and how to select inspectors, that would be awesome.

In the end, if I don't get this house it's not the end of the world, but it's such a good deal I feel like I need to at least get moving on it, knowing full well that I am probably overly excited right now and definitely do not want to rush into it. Again, for my own benefit: if I don't get the house then I continue my current pretty sweet deal for my rental place and everything is still fine.

There is almost certainly a reason why it's so cheap...

totalnewbie
Nov 13, 2005

I was born and raised in China, lived in Japan, and now hold a US passport.

I am wrong in every way, all the damn time.

Ask me about my tattoos.
^^^ EXACTLY. Which is why I'm half excited half wary, and not going to jump in blind.

Ixian posted:

My only advice as someone who has bought houses several times is if you feel like there is any kind of time pressure or "this won't last/ever come up again" or the like, take a deep breath and walk.

You are asking for trouble otherwise. There is absolutely nothing about buying a house via a Mortgage that makes the process more worthwhile because of artificial scarcity factors. Every time I have seen one of these situations with a friend or relative it had more to do with what they were trying to move out from than what they wanted to move in to. That is a bad position to start with when it comes to the financial commitments involved.

But I think in terms of talking to a buyer's agent and getting pre-approved for a mortgage, it's pretty risk-free, right?

The only reason I'm moving on this is because it checks off most of the boxes and I think the steps I'm moving on right now are pretty low-risk (interviewing agents + loan pre-approval). Like I said, I'm absolutely okay with staying where I am (it's a pretty sweet deal) so I won't be putting in an offer before I go on vacation or anything insane. If it's gone by next week (probably will be) then oh well, another deal will come around. But if not then I can slow down and put some more thought/effort into it.

I'm sure I'm just repeating a lot of bad situations' famous last words, but I feel like I'm very cognizant of the psychological factors in my feelings right now.

By the way, 2 other things - it backs up to a park with what looks like a soccer field directly behind (with a bit of a space between, about 3/4 the length of the lot to the sideline) but there's some low hedges. Also the driveway is not paved. These aren't, to me, big red flags (though the driveway will probably have to be paved at some point, which won't be cheap - making this not as good of a deal, for sure).

totalnewbie fucked around with this message at 01:34 on Jun 20, 2017

H110Hawk
Dec 28, 2006

totalnewbie posted:

^^^ EXACTLY. Which is why I'm half excited half wary, and not going to jump in blind.


But I think in terms of talking to a buyer's agent and getting pre-approved for a mortgage, it's pretty risk-free, right?

The only reason I'm moving on this is because it checks off most of the boxes and I think the steps I'm moving on right now are pretty low-risk (interviewing agents + loan pre-approval).

Heck you can put in offers with various contingencies that will get you out for $0, your agent will know how to do this. Foundation, roof, sewer, electrical, plumbing, roughly in that order are the biggest gotchas from a $ and destroy your house perspective. After that the penalty for error drops off quickly with things like forced air (hot or cold), water heater, stuff like that. Talk to friends and find an inspector who actually crawls and around, measures, and doesn't just say everything is "inaccessible."

Elephanthead
Sep 11, 2008


Toilet Rascal
You can also find a shady agent that will delay handing over the earnest money check for a week until you get back on top of the offer with contingencies. I find that if it was really a good deal though it would have sold before the listing even hit the MLS. (See first sentence about unethical real estate agents.)

fknlo
Jul 6, 2009


Fun Shoe
Brick guy says he can tuck point that crack :toot:

Just need to fix the bee hole and I should be able to get the house listed.

baquerd
Jul 2, 2007

by FactsAreUseless

Ixian posted:

My only advice as someone who has bought houses several times is if you feel like there is any kind of time pressure or "this won't last/ever come up again" or the like, take a deep breath and walk.

Sometimes though, it's not far off the mark. For me, it was finding affordable, family sized housing with a private yard within walking distance of public transit. I've seen a grand total of one other house in the area in the last two years come on the market.

Ixian
Oct 9, 2001

Many machines on Ix....new machines
Pillbug

baquerd posted:

Sometimes though, it's not far off the mark. For me, it was finding affordable, family sized housing with a private yard within walking distance of public transit. I've seen a grand total of one other house in the area in the last two years come on the market.

Rent instead? If it is that good a market good rentals should also be around. There really shouldn't be any time-based pressure to buy a house that outweighs other considerations, such as rushing in to a deal/accepting concessions you wouldn't ordinarily.

Diving in because of market pressure/availability means you're looking at the property as an investment, and your primary residence isn't an investment even if in the end it looks like one.

Christobevii3
Jul 3, 2006
Freddie Mac loan is saying I own a home currently despite it being a manufactured home with wheels and when purchased the land and the home were listed independently on the legal filing with the state and legally never immobilized. Nobody cares to listen to what the state law says. They're saying I'll qualify if I gift it to my parents though.

Christobevii3 fucked around with this message at 13:14 on Jun 21, 2017

baquerd
Jul 2, 2007

by FactsAreUseless

Ixian posted:

Rent instead? If it is that good a market good rentals should also be around. There really shouldn't be any time-based pressure to buy a house that outweighs other considerations, such as rushing in to a deal/accepting concessions you wouldn't ordinarily.

Diving in because of market pressure/availability means you're looking at the property as an investment, and your primary residence isn't an investment even if in the end it looks like one.

There's zero rentals with those qualities in my area, and I wouldn't describe it as a good or fast market. The point is that sometimes, houses have rare qualities that are important to you, but not necessarily to other people, so that they don't command a big price premium. These may pop up rarely, and it may be worth it to you to pay a small premium for such properties in order to secure housing that has the qualities that you find important.

If it helps clarify, "private yard" means to me that I can't see any neighbors houses anywhere at any angle, which means a private wooded area, not just fenced in (unless it was like a 15 foot fence).

totalnewbie
Nov 13, 2005

I was born and raised in China, lived in Japan, and now hold a US passport.

I am wrong in every way, all the damn time.

Ask me about my tattoos.
So I spent the day talking to lenders and people come in all shapes and sizes, huh. One thing I heard, though, was that without doing a credit pull, basically whatever rates you're quoted is more or less useless.

There was one guy I had talked to a couple months ago who explained a bunch of stuff to me and sent me a big spreadsheet he uses for calculations that's been pretty helpful, so I'm pretty inclined to go with him. Found him through eLend, though the spreadsheet I got has a cardinal financial graphic in it. FWIW my friend who bought a house recently got his loan through Cardinal Financial

Called another lender who seemed normal, though the rate I got came with a 2500 fee which I would break even on in 5 years. Alright, fair enough, I guess. Aim Loans.

Third lender was, uhh, I think she was kind of new. She let slip that she'd only(only?) done 10 loans so far and talked and talked and talked, nervous I think, about how it was really selling their services and she sure told me about some of them. Also offered to put me in contact with an agent who will refund me 0.75% of the commission - only they've got a program like this! Not so hot on this one - she seems nice enough but a bit inexperienced. On, and their loans are fully underwritten! New American

Fourth lender was quicken loans and my friend works there, so I got a referral to their "VIP Friends and Family" department. Guy was likewise not very willing to quote any interest rates and seemed sort of meh after I didn't really want my credit pulled. 1150 fees. Quicken Loans

Then I got a call from Loan Depot and he quoted me a 1600 fee and some not-as-competitive rates. Seemed like an alright guy. Gave me some "real advice" and warned me about people quoting me good rates but only because of points that I'd "bought", which would be sprung on me when I got the paperwork in front of me. Seems alright. Loan Depot

Which leads me to believe that I should talk to the first guy some more, but ultimately it comes down to the rates I get offered, which leads me to ask - I'm going to go ahead and let the first guy pull my credit, but is there any reason not to let Quicken Loans and maybe one more lender pull my credit as well? I know I don't want it to be pulled too many times, but this seems alright.

Separately, how do you really start the conversation with an agent? I looked online for questions to ask and okay sure, they're good questions, but I don't know if I want to call someone up and be like "Hey, I'm going to interview you to be my agent". Dunno, seems a bit crass. Same friend as earlier referred me to the agent he used and I talked to him briefly - seemed like a nice enough guy, and I was going to call another agent whom I had met, but I honestly don't know what to say. I guess just, I'm a new home buyer, can you go through the steps with me or what...?

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

totalnewbie posted:

I know I don't want it to be pulled too many times, but this seems alright.

Go to everyone you are considering and have them all hard pull inside of a month and the bureaus treat it as one pull......they get that you are shopping for the same type of loan product when it's a bunch of mortgage lenders, so it doesn't hammer your score.

H110Hawk
Dec 28, 2006

totalnewbie posted:

So I spent the day talking to lenders and people come in all shapes and sizes, huh. One thing I heard, though, was that without doing a credit pull, basically whatever rates you're quoted is more or less useless.

:words:

Separately, how do you really start the conversation with an agent? I looked online for questions to ask and okay sure, they're good questions, but I don't know if I want to call someone up and be like "Hey, I'm going to interview you to be my agent". Dunno, seems a bit crass.

You're about to give this agent ~3% of the purchase price of the home as payment for their services. Call them up and say "I am a total rookie in this whole home buying thing, how does it work? So-and-so gave me your number." See how they treat you.

Motronic posted:

Go to everyone you are considering and have them all hard pull inside of a month and the bureaus treat it as one pull......they get that you are shopping for the same type of loan product when it's a bunch of mortgage lenders, so it doesn't hammer your score.

Exactly this. The credit reporting agencies have extremely sophisticated algorithms they use to figure out what you're going and if you're a bad idea. Shopping around a mortgage is perhaps the least penalizing thing you can do. Your score floats more in a given month than it will doing 5+ soft pulls to get a mortgage. Don't over think it. The computer is smarter than you, and anything "weird" is easily explained to a real live person.

It's all math. Call up the people who seemed the least shady and authorize a soft credit pull once you are ready to be serious about moving forward. Have them provide you with a Loan Estimate - this is where all those stories about how the other lenders all have snakes for hair and eat kittens for dinner become plain. Compare and contrast them, then call around and call people out on high prices.

My anecdote with going through a recent refi? Cardinal Financial spun me that story about how the Other Guys (better.com) were giving that low rate based on me buying points and their Box A $2500 fee was a better deal than better.com's lower Box A fee with a lower interest rate. It wasn't, but it was easy to compare because I had all the offers in a standardized form.

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Photex
Apr 6, 2009




also don't forget the agent works for you, not the other way around.

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