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Subjunctive posted:I own a house in a shortlisted city (Toronto), and hosed if I want them here. The increase in my property value isn't worth the damage to the city I'm going to spend the rest of my life in. I'm glad they eliminated San Diego - I have a house and a condo I'm inheriting here, so technically I'd be making out if property values went up, but I've already had most of my friends move away due to high cost of living here and I'd rather not lose more. Plus I work in the staffing industry, so unless we got Amazon as a client, this would chase away some of our business.
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Feb 9, 2018 23:36
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Rotten Red Rod posted:Plus I work in the staffing industry, so unless we got Amazon as a client, this would chase away some of our business. If Amazon landed, I would expect everyone not-Amazon to want lots of help hiring!
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Feb 10, 2018 02:16
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FuzzySlippers posted:We already had the house and sewer inspected. In Seattle you have to do that for any contested house as they always go for the no contingencies offer. Any house that doesn't have some weird drawback or require a lot of work in this price range are gone in less than a week on market anymore. What is the normal earnest deposit on a no contingencies offer in Seattle area?
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Feb 10, 2018 07:21
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lampey posted:What is the normal earnest deposit on a no contingencies offer in Seattle area? 15-20k even if that's more than the usual 1 or 2%. This is on houses where there are multiple offers and you are trying to come out on top. A friend had just a couple thousand earnest money (don't recall how much, < 10k) and all contingencies on his offer nearby but it was because the house needed a lot of work so no other offers. Our agent said if we really wanted to duck out we could probably keep our money (he said he had never seen someone lose earnest money) but it wouldn't be as simple without an inspection contingency. I dunno if that's true, we put in the offer assuming we wouldn't get it back and it was final.
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Feb 10, 2018 09:24
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Man, mine was more than 5%, though I’m in a hotter real estate market.
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Feb 10, 2018 19:39
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My earnest money was $2,000 lol.
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Feb 10, 2018 22:40
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My $20,000 will hopefully be 5% at least 
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Feb 11, 2018 00:09
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Did the inspection yesterday and it went pretty well -- stuff we expected, minor code violations, etc. However, the inspector told me that the HVAC and boiler are from '95. The selling agent told us during the open house and prior to signing that they were last replaced in 2009 (didn't notice myself, totally new to this). We even have printouts of the listings and a handout from the open house that lists 2009 mechanicals as a selling point. My realtor called and the selling agent said it was a mistake and/or she misunderstood the seller. Obviously we're pretty loving annoyed because we thought we had a good few years before we'd have to replace those things, and newer mechanicals definitely factored into the offers we made and the price we signed at. I'm calling my attorney tomorrow to see what he recommends (if anything) but am I screwed on this one? I have a feeling my only recourse would be to walk away on the grounds that they misrepresented the house, which I really don't want to do because we love the house despite. But gently caress me that's a big chunk of change that I was not expecting to spend right now. My only other idea is to really lean on the inspection and emphatically remind the sellers that our short term costs are going to be a lot higher, thanks to their lovely agent.
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Feb 11, 2018 19:11
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deep web creep posted:Did the inspection yesterday and it went pretty well -- stuff we expected, minor code violations, etc. However, the inspector told me that the HVAC and boiler are from '95. The selling agent told us during the open house and prior to signing that they were last replaced in 2009 (didn't notice myself, totally new to this). We even have printouts of the listings and a handout from the open house that lists 2009 mechanicals as a selling point. My realtor called and the selling agent said it was a mistake and/or she misunderstood the seller. It sounds like the inspection is a part of contingency, so you have options. You can ask them for a credit, you can ask for a replacement (unlikely since the product works) and *gasp* you can ask for a price reduction outright. Don’t let FOMO drive the decision; it was never your house to begin with!
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Feb 11, 2018 19:21
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Definitely ask for a credit over having them replace it.
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Feb 11, 2018 19:49
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Seller credit.
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Feb 11, 2018 21:00
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Even with our minimal buyer leverage we got credit for some of the things that had problems.
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Feb 12, 2018 01:55
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Sellers are elderly and are either out of the state now or will be very soon. Apparently they already passed along to my realtor that they don't want to do any repairs/replacements and will instead credit anything that needs to change which is way preferable to me. Going to push on them pretty hard on this and hopefully make as big of a dent as I can. Sounds like they're ready to pay and ideally if I can get a good chunk of it out I can buy modern, energy efficient units and save money in the long run. Got to get emotionally prepared to walk away, if not.
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Feb 12, 2018 02:51
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Uuuungh buy my flat you fucks I have been attempting to sell a 2-bed duplex flat in north London for over a year. Got a good offer last year and then the freeholder (who I have been trying to get to do repairs for ages) suddenly decides they are renovating the building which will be £70k, of which I am on the hook for 50%. It has been tortuous getting any documentation from them and everyone involved seems to be working at the slowest pace possible. Fortunately the buyers have stuck with it, I guess it will be inconvenient but they will end up with a newly re-done building. I am so sick of it and particularly the moronic leasehold system in the UK. Looking forward it all being sorted in a couple of weeks and to not having to think about it.
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Feb 12, 2018 14:40
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https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/7ww9dq/bought_a_house_in_october_huge_mistake_and/ this should be required reading for this thread, it's far too long to quote.
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Feb 12, 2018 17:05
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Photex posted:https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/7ww9dq/bought_a_house_in_october_huge_mistake_and/ Most of those things are either not actual problems or don't need to be solved now. The guy hired a lovely contractor and, more importantly, is an unreliable narrator because of his crippling anxiety.
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Feb 12, 2018 17:27
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Motronic posted:Most of those things are either not actual problems or don't need to be solved now. The guy hired a lovely contractor and, more importantly, is an unreliable narrator because of his crippling anxiety. Countless cartridges and a mop and a HEPA vac? What are the odds he tossed those expensive cartridges at <25% (heck <15%) capacity? Those things get hard to breathe through when they clog, not kill you. He probably made his house 100x worse than it was doing all that demo work, especially uncertified, and then got a clean air report. Mental illness and a drive of "everything must be perfect" should not drive decision making is the lesson here.
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Feb 12, 2018 17:37
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I remember his post in /r/homeimprovement about his asbestos plaster, he's absolutely crazy about asbestos. Even the 9x9s which are nothing he is worrying about. He needs to see a therapist about this anxiety and get through it.
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Feb 12, 2018 18:15
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I am really confused at the combination of 'I am terrified about any sign of asbestos anywhere' and 'Sure I guess I will skip proper abatement and let this uncertified contractor knock it out'.
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Feb 12, 2018 18:18
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Asbestos is fine until you start hacking into it willy-nilly
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Feb 12, 2018 18:56
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Jesus that guy sounds psychotic. I bet his family is having a great time living around him right now. Why the gently caress would you buy a house from the 1920s without testing it for asbestos if you're deathly afraid of asbestos? E: can't wait for the follow up thread: "Asbestos ruined my marriage"
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Feb 12, 2018 19:27
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You can't do a pre-purchase inspection that is destructive without permission from the seller, and the seller would never permit that. So he literally could not have tested things like floor tiles and plaster for asbestos before buying. That said, yeah, dude's got mental issues.
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Feb 12, 2018 20:00
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Are all lenders roughly equal from a cost perspective? If interest rates are basically set by the Fed, is it worth shopping around with different lenders? Will I see large differences on closing costs or is the mortgage industry basically a commodity?
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Feb 13, 2018 16:38
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tortilla_chip posted:Are all lenders roughly equal from a cost perspective? If interest rates are basically set by the Fed, is it worth shopping around with different lenders? Will I see large differences on closing costs or is the mortgage industry basically a commodity? Yes. Because most people think they're all the same or don't know they're allowed to shop it around and negotiate pricing. Get 3 bids for the same loan and compare them. Pretty much the only thing you need to worry about is their ability to close within the deadline. You will likely see thousands of dollars in difference between lenders. Some are as simple as "This bid is entirely identical but this one says Mortgage Fee: $2,500" or whatever - It's the ticketmaster game but without the monopoly. Get your bids on Loan Estimate forms, this is a HUD form - accept no substitutes. Compare the boxes and fees, then literally just call the other banks and say "I have a bid here that shows Box A at $1000 less" (ignore that this banks box B is lower, it's not relevant.)
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Feb 13, 2018 17:18
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Thank you so much for this advice! This should totally be in the OP. I just discovered a ~10K difference in origination fees.
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Feb 13, 2018 18:29
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tortilla_chip posted:Thank you so much for this advice! This should totally be in the OP. I just discovered a ~10K difference in origination fees. You're welcome. I charge 10%.
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Feb 13, 2018 18:40
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Just to add: mortgage interest rates are not set by the FED, and they are only loosely coupled to the overnight discount interest rate that the FED sets. Mortgages are part of a marketplace that has supply (banks seeking to loan money) and demand (buyers seeking to borrow money). Rates respond to changes in supply and demand. While the FED may only change the overnight discount rate a few times a year, mortgage interest rates can change as often as twice a day. For this reason it's important when comparing deals between lenders to get all your quotes within as narrow a window of time as possible. A mortgage broker can do this for you - the broker I worked with was getting around 20 quotes each time he checked. Generally the rate was close to or identical across all these lenders on any given day (but the fees were wildly different between lenders, as H110Hawk said), but when checked again one week later, rates had changed by as much as an eighth of a percent.
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Feb 13, 2018 18:48
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Just had our offer accepted $5k under list. Ended up finding a place a few months before we had originally anticipated so things aren't quite together. Choosing a home inspection service off Angie's List isn't a bad thing, right? Have to choose a lender, definitely comparing costs closely. Other than that and getting homeowners insurance, anything else I should be doing in the short term?
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Feb 13, 2018 23:07
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Usually you starting looking for homeowners insurance after your mortgage has been approved (not pre-approval)
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Feb 14, 2018 00:23
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tortilla_chip posted:Are all lenders roughly equal from a cost perspective? If interest rates are basically set by the Fed, is it worth shopping around with different lenders? Will I see large differences on closing costs or is the mortgage industry basically a commodity? Interest rates are definitely not set by the fed. We got rate quotes from 4.25%-3.375% for our thirty year fixed no points loan. All within a 2-3 week window. The highest quote came from a mortgage broker and quicken loans. The best quote came directly from a big bank. I spent tens of hours shopping loans and it was the best investment of my life given that we will be in the house for a long long time.
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Feb 14, 2018 01:11
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How good are the online search tools? For example, if I put in parameters into Zillow's mortgage search tools, I get a variety of rates. Are there other places I should be checking, like with my bank (Ally), or somewhere else? Original pre-approval was from SoFi, got a better quote from searching through Zillow. Incidentally, best rate on 15% down was 4.5%, looked like rates on 30 yr term are 4.2 at best now.
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Feb 14, 2018 02:10
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The answer is yes all of be above. The best rate is not advertised. You’ve gotta get it out of them by making lenders compete against each other for your business. Why stop at one bank? Use brokers, use online lenders, use better.com, use hsh.com. Do your homework and get all the rate quotes. Get LEs. Good luck.
Mandalay fucked around with this message at 10:08 on Feb 14, 2018 |
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Feb 14, 2018 10:05
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Chu020 posted:Just had our offer accepted $5k under list. Ended up finding a place a few months before we had originally anticipated so things aren't quite together. Choosing a home inspection service off Angie's List isn't a bad thing, right? Have to choose a lender, definitely comparing costs closely. Other than that and getting homeowners insurance, anything else I should be doing in the short term? Try to get a sample report. Most inspectors make these available. You can see how detailed they are and also check what kind of credentials they have. I would go off angies list review before a realtors recommendation
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Feb 14, 2018 11:05
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Mandalay posted:The answer is yes all of be above. The best rate is not advertised. You’ve gotta get it out of them by making lenders compete against each other for your business. Why stop at one bank? Use brokers, use online lenders, use better.com, use hsh.com. Do your homework and get all the rate quotes. Get LEs. Good luck. This is it in a nutshell. It's all business. They have a risk profile they're looking for internally. If they are a Freddie/Fannie shop (most non-big-banks are) then it's going to be pretty darn close. If you have any problems along the way talk to the underwriter on the phone plainly about why it's not the risk they think it is - in the end a certain amount of their book is a judgement call. I found personally rocket mortgage and sofi were always way more expensive and better.com was the cheapest. This may not be the case for you. I got about 5 loan estimates and talked to all of them about their fees. Paid something like $2000 for a refi - around $1000 cheaper than the next closest competitor which was some no name bank off zillow. Most of these banks aren't in it for the interest. Your loan is sold as a mortgage backed security in the few weeks following closing. If you have a special case where the loan isn't Fannie/Freddie then they might be but you are probably paying for it in the rate.
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Feb 14, 2018 15:05
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So in my situation the Costco (!) referred lenders ended up being the way to go.
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Feb 14, 2018 15:26
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tortilla_chip posted:So in my situation the Costco (!) referred lenders ended up being the way to go. Funny, I had the opposite experience with Costco and had a great one with the first match on Zillow. Shows you have to look all over I guess.
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Feb 14, 2018 17:54
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Each area is different but in my area, the independent mortgage brokers typically have the lowest closing costs compared to the big banks who typically have the highest. I would almost always recommend to shop around only with local banks, local credit unions, and local independent mortgage brokers. They not only tend to have the lowest costs, they are typically more flexible too. And as someone rightly said earlier, all things being equal, you want someone who is capable of closing the loan on time (or sooner!) because that is honestly the #1 thing that delays closings. Any good realtor or real estate attorney is going to know the lenders who are cheap and/or can close a loan in the promised amount of time (or at least who to stay away from).
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Feb 14, 2018 19:40
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H110Hawk posted:
Some institutions sell the loan but retain servicing in house. This is the best of birth worlds because you get the cheaper rate of a confirming loan with the convenience and service of dealing with one bank that you presumably like if you went with them.
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Feb 14, 2018 20:33
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H110Hawk posted:Yes. Because most people think they're all the same or don't know they're allowed to shop it around and negotiate pricing. Get 3 bids for the same loan and compare them. Pretty much the only thing you need to worry about is their ability to close within the deadline. You will likely see thousands of dollars in difference between lenders. Some are as simple as "This bid is entirely identical but this one says Mortgage Fee: $2,500" or whatever - It's the ticketmaster game but without the monopoly. This is great info, I have some follow up questions of you dont mind. Would this entail getting an appraisal done for each bid? We are just looking at one mortgage company right now and the main things putting us off looking at more than one are the amount of paper work required to even get an approval letter combined with having to pay hundreds of dollars for an appraisal. We have our mortgage approval letter now and are hoping to close in the next two months or so (this is a co-op in NYC so everything takes ages.) We never got anything like a loan estimate form from the lender we are working with. How much of this process will I need to go through in order to get a loan estimate form from another lender? Sorry if I sound totally clueless here, it's because I am...
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Feb 14, 2018 20:37
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Loan estimates are easy to get and usually only involves giving some information about what you're trying to buy and a hard pull on your credit. You do NOT get an appraisal when you get a loan estimate. Appraisals are only done when you've decided on a lender and is how they verify you're not stupid enough to pay 500k for a 100k house. edit: well, maybe the buyer is that stupid, but the bank isn't - which is why they get the appraisal. Your loan will be for the appraised value - down payment, and if it's under your offer then you'll have to negotiate with the sellers and/or pony up some cash.
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Feb 14, 2018 21:16
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