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We just tried to go to an open house today that was listed earlier this week on redfin, showed up 40 minutes after it was supposed to start. No open house signs, lights off, looked like owner was still living there. We thought maybe we got the time or day wrong. There were 4 other cars waiting nearby. When we got out they did as well, someone was waiting for someone else to make a move. Nobody home. Definitely not an open house today. Lol it was weird and I wonder what the person inside the house was thinking when hundreds of people show up to your home on a Saturday afternoon.
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Mar 20, 2021 23:53
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We had the same thing happen pre-pandemic when we were looking to rent and started to think maybe we could buy instead. The agent had info sheets out and the house was vacant, but the agent never showed up and the house was locked. We and about three other couples hung around for half an hour or so before bailing. Still have no idea what happened.
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Mar 21, 2021 00:18
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Verman posted:We just tried to go to an open house today that was listed earlier this week on redfin, showed up 40 minutes after it was supposed to start. No open house signs, lights off, looked like owner was still living there. We thought maybe we got the time or day wrong. There were 4 other cars waiting nearby. When we got out they did as well, someone was waiting for someone else to make a move. Sounds like a good prank to pull on your enemy tbh
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Mar 21, 2021 00:20
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We just started really trying to find and buy a house in earnest about a month ago, and Jesus my head is swimming with everything I've learned and absorbed over that span. I also go through cycles of "there's no way we find what we're looking for" and "the world is our oyster" just about, like, hourly. I'm getting better and more savvy with the facts and such, but the emotional side of it is throwing me for a loop. Oy.
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Mar 21, 2021 00:30
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Toaster Beef posted:We just started really trying to find and buy a house in earnest about a month ago, and Jesus my head is swimming with everything I've learned and absorbed over that span. I also go through cycles of "there's no way we find what we're looking for" and "the world is our oyster" just about, like, hourly. I'm getting better and more savvy with the facts and such, but the emotional side of it is throwing me for a loop. Oy. This is definitely a thing. It can be overwhelming, especially if you don't have a lot of cash to throw around. But look at the upside: you'll have a Too Much Mustard Compound when you're done. 
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Mar 21, 2021 11:41
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good sir welcome to the mcmansion that stick figure comics built
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Mar 21, 2021 12:20
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I thought this was a pretty good article that summed up the current market. https://www.idahostatejournal.com/n...516cf9b1bd.html article posted:As of March 16, there were 29 single-family homes for sale in the Pocatello and Chubbuck area. Only four of those homes were listed for under $200,000 and Johnston described them as “fixer-uppers with sloping floors.” Just good sober reporting
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Mar 21, 2021 14:07
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I'm currently trying to buy in the Northern Virginia area in close-ish proximity to where Amazon HQ2 is going to be, because it's also close to all the places I could theoretically work for the next 25 years. Last month has been absolute hell. 1) Every house will sell the same day - if you can't get a viewing the day it's listed, ideally early in the morning, you won't get to see it 2) You have to waive everything. That house is as-is and you had better hope you have the cash for a low appraisal 3) The sellers want to close within 30 days, ideally 25 or sooner 4) The sellers are going to ask for 2-4 months of living rent free before moving. It's not really an ask though, you can take it or you can gently caress off I'm currently 0 for 2 on offers, both times ~40k over asking (535 -> 575, other was 585 -> 625) and I lost both. First to a bid of +65k, second to an all-cash offer. I should note that I'm bidding on ~1500sqft, 2br/2ba 3-level townhouse-style condos. My coworker who is NOT looking in this particular part of Arlington is currently 0 for 10 on offers elsewhere in NoVA. Her last one was +50k over asking, everything waived, 4 months free rent, and buyer pays all closing costs. She did not get it. This poo poo is stupid. edit: Forgot to add that a house popped up on the MLS at 0034 on Thursday, I texted my agent at 0600, he got back to me at 0700 and said there were 8 offers already and we couldn't get a viewing until 1630. I said not to bother.
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Mar 21, 2021 16:52
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My inspections are complete and it's looking good. Probably need to replace some old windows at some point and the a/c is old as hell and there's an ungrounded outlet and the panel is old but fine. Little bits of piddly poo poo, no major items. Structural engineer said the foundation looks good but I should repair the parging crack, it was probably damaged from the mega freeze we had a month ago. It's a miracle I squeezed in an inspection, WDI inspection and a structural engineer in 3 days after going under contract. I think I'm going to die from stress, haven't had a night of good sleep over the past week. Now I get to shop for insurance and wait to see how low it appraises
biceps crimes fucked around with this message at 20:28 on Mar 21, 2021 |
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Mar 21, 2021 20:19
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Well that's all pretty encouraging. The cracks in the parge could have gone either way, but if it's just cosmetic that cheap and easy to fix.
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Mar 21, 2021 21:41
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Does anyone have suggestions on insurance shopping? I’m at that point now (got conditional approval woo) and have no loving idea what I’m doing.
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Mar 21, 2021 23:42
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Pilfered Pallbearers posted:Does anyone have suggestions on insurance shopping? I’m at that point now (got conditional approval woo) and have no loving idea what I’m doing. Doesn't matter much if you don't have the time right now. They have to prorate your refund so you can choose just anything that gets the mortgage and deal closed and then go back to it after closing to find the right policy. My shopping advice is to contact several independent brokers near you and talk to them, get quotes. It's not the kind of thing you want to do well tied up in a housing transaction.
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Mar 21, 2021 23:54
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Motronic posted:Doesn't matter much if you don't have the time right now. They have to prorate your refund so you can choose just anything that gets the mortgage and deal closed and then go back to it after closing to find the right policy. So basically just take whatever I can find/whatever the mortgage bank throws at me and they’re required to refund me the unused portion if I find something else?
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Mar 22, 2021 00:01
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lmao update on the house somebody tried to sell me in the middle of the tenant's lease: the sellers' agent claims that the tenant has already gone under contract for a condo of her own, and that she can close by a week before our agreed-upon closing date Her contract is still under attorney review (like my contract) of course so nothing's certain yet but if this works out I can buy the house after all Christ what a rollercoaster
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Mar 22, 2021 00:09
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Pilfered Pallbearers posted:So basically just take whatever I can find/whatever the mortgage bank throws at me and they’re required to refund me the unused portion if I find something else? Yeah, it's easy(ish) to change insurers at any time. You'll need to make sure you get a declarations page from your new place because whoever buys your mortgage will want a copy. Most of them will accept a PDF of it. Maybe start with whoever insures your car. Bundle discounts can be great. Once you've closed and moved you can do a serious audit of all of it with an independent broker.
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Mar 22, 2021 00:20
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Tricky Ed posted:Yeah, it's easy(ish) to change insurers at any time. You'll need to make sure you get a declarations page from your new place because whoever buys your mortgage will want a copy. Most of them will accept a PDF of it. Yeah highly recommend an independent insurance broker. They do all the work, often get you lower rates than you could get yourself, and in the end they get a commission from the insurer, not from you.
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Mar 22, 2021 00:26
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Pilfered Pallbearers posted:Does anyone have suggestions on insurance shopping? I’m at that point now (got conditional approval woo) and have no loving idea what I’m doing. To start with you can just call whomever does your renters insurance and tell them you're house shopping and need a homeowners quote. It will probably wind up being "good enough" to get you through closing and not require you to go through any hoops other than describing the house. I solved that by emailing my state farm agent the zillow link and saying "it looks like this. If it burns down, I want it to look like this again, just with all my stuff in it." There are some terms you will need to become familiar with like "Actual Replacement Value" for your contents and "Guranteed Replacement Cost" (there are like 5 options for this one, it's for the structure. I can't figure out what to Google but I know State Farm has to tell me every year which one I have.) Throw on sewer backup and maybe service line coverage for good measure. That way if the sewer backs up day 1 you get a little help. Your lender will try to yell at you / trick you into having the insurance value be the purchase price of the home or the mortgaged amount. Reply: "Isn't that illegal?" and see if it's suddenly the replacement cost of the improvements - the thing you're actually insuring. Get enhanced/owners title insurance too. (Cue a bunch of people here arguing it's not necessary, I bought it, I suggest others do the same. It's basically coverage for the dirt instead of the house.)
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Mar 22, 2021 00:47
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I know what title insurance is but haven't heard of this enhanced kind. So it's for like damage to the land?
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Mar 22, 2021 01:11
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GunnerJ posted:I know what title insurance is but haven't heard of this enhanced kind. So it's for like damage to the land? That was a very hand-waivey description on my part. Here in the peoples republic of california it's called "owners", apparently in PA they call it "enhanced" (I learned that from Motronic.) It's basically things that gently caress up your title to the property that you had no way of knowing. So jimmy the dipshit shows up 10 years down the road with an easement to bulldoze your property? They in theory help you tell jimmy to gently caress off and/or make you whole. Now if it was recorded properly onto your title and they showed it to you in your title report they laugh and hang up on you.
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Mar 22, 2021 01:22
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Oh okay, yeah everyone should get that!
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Mar 22, 2021 01:33
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H110Hawk posted:That was a very hand-waivey description on my part. Here in the peoples republic of california it's called "owners", apparently in PA they call it "enhanced" (I learned that from Motronic.) It's basically things that gently caress up your title to the property that you had no way of knowing. So jimmy the dipshit shows up 10 years down the road with an easement to bulldoze your property? They in theory help you tell jimmy to gently caress off and/or make you whole. Now if it was recorded properly onto your title and they showed it to you in your title report they laugh and hang up on you. And the title insurance "you" have to buy isn't for YOU, it's for your lender unless you do this. As H110 said, cue people saying how it's not necessary, situation will never come up, they won't pay out if it does.........
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Mar 22, 2021 01:34
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Motronic posted:And the title insurance "you" have to buy isn't for YOU, it's for your lender unless you do this.
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Mar 22, 2021 04:41
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We just did lemonade If the house burns down we're getting a kitchen with laminate kitchen counters and linoleum floors, but they will send you a mortgage closing quote and get the deal done I'm sure when we have more energy, we'll go back and go through the exhausting gauntlet of comparison shopping etc
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Mar 22, 2021 04:41
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PageMaster posted:Our southern California closing has the sellers paying the owners title insurance and us paying the lenders title insurance, but in not sure if that is the normal setup though. Sellers had a couple liens on her and her husband so that's may be why they were told to do it. Read that title report closely. Ask appropriate questions. Mechnics liens will survive your closing. You cannot close with a clouded title. (Well, you can as long as the ltv doesn't exceed your part of the equity... See where I'm going here?) That type of lien is what say a general contractor puts on your title to guarantee payment for work. If there is concern you should engage a real estate attorney to double check the work. Hadlock posted:We just did lemonade I would FUD-based recommend against this. Just pick a major carrier in your area and it will be good enough. Literally half of my friend group had their house flood within hours or weeks of closing. Lemonade is cheap for a reason. If there is a Farmers or State Farm or Amica rep in town just go ask them for a bid. Seriously though if you don't have renters insurance get it. Today. So your friend helps you move, slips and falls, breaks their stupid leg. Now they sue you. I would rather it be state farm's problem than mine. H110Hawk fucked around with this message at 04:58 on Mar 22, 2021 |
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Mar 22, 2021 04:52
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FWIW I have car insurance with Geico (for a competitive rate) and they quoted me very competitive condo insurance, so I went with them for now. Although in my state they don't directly sell it, they're more of a broker, so it's Travelers but I'll pay and service through Geico. Lemonade's quote was right in line with theirs.
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Mar 22, 2021 05:27
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Hooray my friend is finally firing her lovely real estate agent!  I’d gotten vague bad vibes from this agent since the beginning despite not really having much to go on other than a few stories from my friend, but not enough to confidently recommend firing. Also they had some prior connection/friendship (which I presume is now a burning bridge) so I didn’t want to talk too much poo poo without knowing the full picture. Anyhow, my friend is like a week out from closing and is at her wits’ end with this agent and shared some email exchanges with me and some other friends and holy gently caress  It was unbelievably rude and unprofessional and also accusatory and dismissive and full of inaccuracies and gaslighting (like agent insisting that she’d reminded my friend about X multiple times when in fact she’d not once reminded my friend about X). Just super unpleasant and my friend is super strung out because not only is her agent incompetent she’s also a huge bitch. Otherwise, some other examples of the agent’s shittiness: - Didn’t present my friend with a single property on her own, so it was 100% my friend digging up listings on Zillow and linking to her agent. - One of the listings my friend found ended up being a particularly bad flip that was hilariously overpriced and also fraudulently misaddressed in order to place it in a desirable neighborhood. Agent dismissed the fraud as a mere marketing tactic to get more people to look at it who otherwise would have passed it over due to its true location (yeah no loving poo poo most people are going to pass over a garbage flip for 320k when they see it’s on a street full of 80k houses and blight and not actually in the fun good neighborhood a block from restaurants and shops). My agent would have been like haha nope gently caress this house. - My friend’s dad gifted her some money to contribute to the down payment. The agent somehow interpreted this to mean that my friend’s dad and/or (nonexistent) family trust was the actual buyer of the house. - Tried to bar my friend’s long term boyfriend from being present at the inspection, arguing that he was the buyer’s daughter’s boyfriend and not a relevant stakeholder or something. - Got pissy when my friend brought in her own agent (an excellent one a mutual friend had used - guy torpedoed multiple deals during mutual friend’s house hunt by being astute and thorough as gently caress) after I advised her to (as per thread advice). - Arranged timing on tasks/transactions that would have had my friend (who is Jewish) doing prohibited stuff during Passover. Agent is also Jewish so there’s no excuse there. - hosed off on vacation during a crucial stage of the process and referred friend to another agent at the office who wasn’t actually fully available, and also told my friend to essentially engage with the seller directly about something or other. - Being generally useless as a guiding hand/advocate in the home buying process. Friend is doing so much legwork and dealing with so much bullshit that my husband and I never experienced because our agent made sure it was all magically taken care of. I don’t even think I’m remembering all the things, there was so much. As for why my friend didn’t fire this piece of poo poo agent earlier, it was not knowing any better initially and not picking up on the agent’s shortcomings/bullshit (first time home buyer), and then mostly sunk cost fallacy. Moral of the story is to fire your agent early and often and that there is no sunk cost with buyer agents. Also don’t hire a friend as your agent unless you’re willing to see the friendship get destroyed.
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Mar 22, 2021 07:24
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Queen Victorian posted:Hooray my friend is finally firing her lovely real estate agent! This was the last straw with our original agent. We lost a bidding war because our agent was in the air flying to Mexico during the final bidding, had not disclosed this flight conflict earlier Our replacement agent was so good that we referred her to my brother in law and they snatched up the very first listing they worked with her on. Their comment: "wow she makes a lot of money, we talked to her on the phone maybe 4 times the entire deal" which, imo, just means she's got things under control. I think they closed in 21 days. With our old agent it would have dragged on forever Fire your agent early and often
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Mar 22, 2021 07:35
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H110Hawk posted:Read that title report closely. Ask appropriate questions. Mechnics liens will survive your closing. You cannot close with a clouded title. (Well, you can as long as the ltv doesn't exceed your part of the equity... See where I'm going here?) That type of lien is what say a general contractor puts on your title to guarantee payment for work. If there is concern you should engage a real estate attorney to double check the work. I looked and there was one renovation contractor lien that the seller took care of already. I also see notices for the mortgage and a home equity loan which will be paid off with the sale. The odd ones out were some federal taxes owed by the seller that I assume will be paid off in the sale, and a court judgement for payment by the seller's ex husband, who is no longer an owner as of years ago, but it popped up on the title pull as an associate of the seller? I asked the title company to tell me how that is resolved and if there's any risk there.
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Mar 22, 2021 08:35
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PageMaster posted:I looked and there was one renovation contractor lien that the seller took care of already. I also see notices for the mortgage and a home equity loan which will be paid off with the sale. The odd ones out were some federal taxes owed by the seller that I assume will be paid off in the sale, and a court judgement for payment by the seller's ex husband, who is no longer an owner as of years ago, but it popped up on the title pull as an associate of the seller? I asked the title company to tell me how that is resolved and if there's any risk there. Title insurance is usually a good idea, but in your case you might want to see if you can get the premium deluxe title insurance. The last thing you want is the ex husbands step children coming after your house when ex husband dies of covid-23 right after you finish remodeling the kitchen
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Mar 22, 2021 09:06
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H110Hawk posted:
Yikes. That's scary. We have Lemonade for renter's and they submitted a quote for closing. It's already done and too late to change--we close this week--but we'll be shopping around once we are settled. It's not an optimal situation, but it's fixable, I hope. At this point I am just trying to push through the last few days of escrow so we can get in the house and then reevaluate. I always felt like Lemonade was too cheap to be any good, but it was fine for renting. I will probably go with a local State Farm agent once we reevaluate. Also I'm not loving that I've asked them twice to keep the renter's insurance for two weeks past closing, since we're not moving right away, and they keep saying yes, that's fine, no problem, and later confirming our renter's policy will end when our homeowner's policy begins. Like, is this really that hard? loquacious, I'm glad to hear you're finally getting some possible good news! I'm pulling for you! Maggie Fletcher fucked around with this message at 16:13 on Mar 22, 2021 |
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Mar 22, 2021 16:10
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Hadlock posted:This was the last straw with our original agent. We lost a bidding war because our agent was in the air flying to Mexico during the final bidding, had not disclosed this flight conflict earlier I got my friend in touch with my agent (who I was originally going to refer my friend to before she jumped the gun and went with her agent who turned out to be poo poo) to see if my agent could take over the deal and see it through closing, since they were the same real estate office brand. Unfortunately, their respective brokerage offices are not actually affiliated so my agent couldn’t easily be swapped in at this point (which is why bad agents need to be fired early - you don’t want them clinging on past the point of no return and still taking partial commission that they absolutely do not deserve even after you’ve fired them). Still, my agent had a nice long call with my friend, lent a sympathetic and knowledgeable ear to her complaints, and gave her some solid advice about how to proceed. My friend said it was like night and day and previously had no idea what to expect from an actually good agent. I just wish I’d been quicker on the draw getting my friend hooked up with a known good agent when she first started looking at houses.
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Mar 22, 2021 16:42
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Maggie Fletcher posted:Yikes. That's scary. We have Lemonade for renter's and they submitted a quote for closing. It's already done and too late to change--we close this week--but we'll be shopping around once we are settled. Yeah it will all be fine. Make sure you email their support and just put plainly: "Renters Policy 1234 termination date: April 30, 2021. Homeowners policy start date: March 25, 2021. Both policies will be in force during the overlapping period. Please confirm." Don't bother putting more than that, then if they term your Renters policy early don't get the email or anything (don't open it). If nothing happens until your final inspection / handover of keys, pocket the money. If something does happen then you have proof of when you intended to terminate. If they reply to your ticket with anything incorrect reply back adding the word "Incorrect, " to the beginning. This is something a real agent would handle no problem. Queen Victorian posted:Still, my agent had a nice long call with my friend, lent a sympathetic and knowledgeable ear to her complaints, and gave her some solid advice about how to proceed. My friend said it was like night and day and previously had no idea what to expect from an actually good agent. At least they will know in the future, and they will call this person first thing. Your agent just did the bare minimum and probably won a client for life, plus your friend will probably refer them to others. It's the cheapest form of marketing around, but also the most powerful. Make sure your friend puts a negative review up of the realtor on yelp or whatever. Just stick to opinions: "Did not enjoy my experience with this realtor. Would not use them again and I do not recommend them."
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Mar 22, 2021 17:29
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I don't remember if this was being discussed in this thread or the ownership one, but I just came across a listing for a house that cures all your "basic grey/beige walls" fatigue.
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Mar 22, 2021 17:41
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marjorie posted:I don't remember if this was being discussed in this thread or the ownership one, but I just came across a listing for a house that cures all your "basic grey/beige walls" fatigue. I was a line cook in a previous life, and I love commercial restaurant equipment, but I'm not sure if having like a Panda express cooking station in your house is a good idea, or even legal...
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Mar 22, 2021 17:58
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Maggie Fletcher posted:It's not an optimal situation, but it's fixable, I hope. At this point I am just trying to push through the last few days of escrow so we can get in the house and then reevaluate. I always felt like Lemonade was too cheap to be any good, but it was fine for renting. I will probably go with a local State Farm agent once we reevaluate. It's been said in here before, but a reputable independent local agency is the way to go. They will ask you what you're looking for in coverage and shop it around to dozens of providers. They handle all the leg work for you. I have ours check again every year or so, and if there is something better they also do all the legwork for switching us over. I get emailed a link to docusign everything and it's handled. I will never go back, it is superior in every way compared to trying to shop options on your own.
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Mar 22, 2021 18:00
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marjorie posted:I don't remember if this was being discussed in this thread or the ownership one, but I just came across a listing for a house that cures all your "basic grey/beige walls" fatigue. I looked at one last week that had wallpaper that basically looked like Christmas presents. Thought about making an offer but it needed a good 20k of work to be move in ready and I ended up finding something I liked way more, which of course I lost the bid on so now I’m 0 for 5.
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Mar 22, 2021 18:02
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$50k in commercial kitchen stuff, builder grade dishwasher from 20 years ago. Odds are that thing has enough makeup air? I would bet "no."
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Mar 22, 2021 18:16
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Dross posted:I looked at one last week that had wallpaper that basically looked like Christmas presents. Wow, I love how it's applied on every few walls too. Like consistently inconsistent. That's so bizarre! Edit: H110Hawk posted:$50k in commercial kitchen stuff, builder grade dishwasher from 20 years ago. Odds are that thing has enough makeup air? I would bet "no." I don't know a lot about it, but I'm guessing this  is the outer vent for that big hood, and all that looks commercial too so maybe? But again I don't know if there's more to it than that. Excellent point about the dishwasher, though.
marjorie fucked around with this message at 19:02 on Mar 22, 2021 |
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Mar 22, 2021 18:56
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H110Hawk posted:$50k in commercial kitchen stuff, builder grade dishwasher from 20 years ago. Odds are that thing has enough makeup air? I would bet "no." Isn't makeup air relatively cheap and easy to do, compared to other renovations? Maybe a couple thousand bucks for some sort of attic vent? I don't know anything, just asking
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Mar 22, 2021 19:03
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We gave our list of repair requests to the seller. They agreed to most things, and did not agree to a few minor things that we're okay to sort out after move in. Now we're down to 2 main issues in negotiations. First is split rafters in attic that we want taken care of prior to move in. Seller seems convinced this issue is covered by new roof installation warranty when it's clearly a separate issue. Realtor is confident that we'll get this taken care of. Second issue is greywater distribution location. Well inspector and septic inspector can't tell where wastewater distribution goes since the basement is now a fully finished in-law. Finished in-law was a really big selling point for us, and was supposedly done with all the right permits and wasn't just a DIY. In their inspection reports, septic said, "Determine exact discharge location for wastewater from water treatment system. If discharging into septic system, then remove and install a water treatment wastewater (WTW) disposal system, per CT public health code." Well, who figures this out, how much does it matter, and how much will it cost to correct? Septic inspectors say greywater shouldn't go into the septic tank per code. Called the well company who installed it when the home was built in 2002 and they said whelp, it almost certainly goes into septic since that was common practice at the time and code changed in 2014. Seems like transitioning to a dry well or mini leaching system to find out where it is and redirect greywater elsewhere would require getting into the drywall which feels like a big headache. Technically nothing is malfunctioning right now, but we have a large family and expect to put more strain on the greywater system with laundry, dishes, showers, etc. I'm not sure how hard to press on this - does anyone here have any advice?
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Mar 22, 2021 19:30
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