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I'd actually consider it more for a new build vs an older house. Most mechanicals and appliances follow a kind of bathtub curve but most older houses stuff is kinda spaced out. On a new build everything is likely in the early 3 year window of common problems AND probably crappy builder grade stuff. In addition to the "These extra modification charges" they also frequently make you jump through complex hoops to get re-imbursed and knowing the average goon most of us would spend the couple hundred on repair and then not bother filling out a form, mailing it, potentially faxing it, etc. So generally they aren't a total scam but they almost certainly will make more money on you than you will on them.
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Feb 22, 2024 15:38
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New homes are under warranty. Not a 3rd party one.
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Feb 22, 2024 15:40
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Many sellers will include one for a year. Several of these also cover a one time rekeying of the house. So it can save you a couple hundred right off the bat.
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Feb 22, 2024 16:05
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Sirotan posted:If a seller if throwing in a home warranty as part of the sale then that's cool, I had a friend who ended up with a free furnace out of that deal, and I personally saved about $800 on a furnace repair with mine. The odds are more likely that you'll get nothing out of it though or the servicer will make it as difficult as possibly to use the benefit. That was my situation. Back many years ago I bought a 15 year old condo and got a home shield warranty with the purchase. The entire AC system failed a few months later and the home shield covered a full replacement. I sold the condo a year or so later. Again, like most insurance, functionally a scam in statistical terms, but might work out for you if you get unlucky.
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Feb 22, 2024 16:23
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I had an issue with the hot water in our guest shower that multiple plumbers couldn't figure out so on a whim I called the home warranty that was thrown in by the PO and they sent out a man who was the platonic ideal of what you would expect a plumber to look like. Within 5 minutes he figured out the issue and said he'd be back after he was able to order the part. 5 months later and after the warranty expired he came back and installed it and since it was initiated during my warranty coverage it wasn't an issue.
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Feb 22, 2024 16:24
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Warranty providers are generally set up to string you along long enough for you to either give up and pay for your own fix/replacement or you get outside of the warranty period. There will usually be a limited number of authorized providers in the area with relatively long wait times. Those providers aren't paid very well by the warranty company so the only way they make money is to either do a half-assed bandaid repair and rush to the next job or quickly recommend a replacement which requires that you (not the warranty company) pay an unusually high amount for them to bring various things up to current code. You can frequently cancel the policy and get a refund for the unused time period.
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Feb 22, 2024 16:45
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Spikes32 posted:Many sellers will include one for a year. Several of these also cover a one time rekeying of the house. So it can save you a couple hundred right off the bat. Ours covered rekeying up to like 6 locks for a small service call fee, but we couldn't request it for like... I wanna say 3-4 weeks after closing for some reason?? Totally worthless. I just called a locksmith, paid a little more, and it was done the day of closing.
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Feb 22, 2024 19:27
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sirbeefalot posted:Ours covered rekeying up to like 6 locks for a small service call fee, but we couldn't request it for like... I wanna say 3-4 weeks after closing for some reason?? Totally worthless. I just called a locksmith, paid a little more, and it was done the day of closing. You have to give someone a fighting chance to be able to come rob your house. It's only sporting.
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Feb 22, 2024 19:43
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:That was my situation. Back many years ago I bought a 15 year old condo and got a home shield warranty with the purchase. The entire AC system failed a few months later and the home shield covered a full replacement. I sold the condo a year or so later. Had a similar situation. The compressor went in the "free" year I had after buying... except it was the middle of a heat wave and the usual lowest tier model they wanted to install wasn't available. Like anywhere. So they had to install a higher tier. And then they charged me a huge amount for the refrigerant. 
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Feb 22, 2024 19:45
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I got a furnace blower and a couple of r-22 charges when those were getting expensive.
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Feb 22, 2024 19:48
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SlapActionJackson posted:You should absolutely be skeptical of any 3rd party warranty you are pitched, ever. They are almost always pure profit for the warranty company. This is exactly what happened to me in Dec 2022. I posted about it in one of the home threads. The furnace died right before a BRUTAL sub 0 cold snap (I have two young kids) and the home warranty company hired a really lovely contractor. They said "good news! the new furnace is completely covered... unfortunately these "modifications" aren't." So of course the home warranty company will only cover standard labor and parts which makes sense. Thus the contractors just come up with a whole bunch of completely made up "modifications" and charge for it. I felt this was a scam so I visually documented everything before and after. After they refused to refund me the modification part of the cost I eventually filed a complaint with the licensing board (at the suggestion of somebody here). Nearly a year later I got a call "whoops so sorry we messed up and didn't mean to ACTUALLY overcharge you here's a refund!" Scam artists all the way down.
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Feb 22, 2024 19:56
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Well, poo poo, I was going to call mine to take care of my leaky dishwasher, but am now glad I found the replacement o-ring for $10 on Amazon.
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Feb 22, 2024 20:02
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SlapActionJackson posted:You should absolutely be skeptical of any 3rd party warranty you are pitched, ever. They are almost always pure profit for the warranty company. Extremely this. Any warranty you pay extra for is 99.9% likely to be a scam.
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Feb 22, 2024 20:57
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Our realtor bought us a home warranty that would cover AC and the compressor etc since we live in a relatively dry, warm climate. The 1 year warranty is about to expire but was a nice gesture and saved the anxiety about wether or not we would have to replace the AC that summer, after emptying out most of our non emergency bank account to buy the house. Instead of the realtor, and just buying a home warranty yourself seems unwise. But some people don't believe in actuarial tables* and like spending money to feel better about minimizing risk so you do you *Despite the SS administration using them
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Feb 22, 2024 21:44
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Cyrano4747 posted:It's also pretty much a guarantee that the replacement units they give you will be the lowest tier of rental grade bullshit. The 20 year old dishwasher from my PO started leaking from the tub onto the floor, and needed to be replaced. Home Warranty of America (garbage company) gave me like $100, lol. I happily bought a Bosch 300. If I could not afford a nicer unit like the 300, I would have been pissed, but I knew the warranty was garbage.
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Feb 22, 2024 23:04
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Thanks so much for all of the perspectives. Grateful for this community and the advice- it’s been really helpful lurking this thread over the past few months. I’ll figure out where the money for the warranties my realtor is sharing with me is coming from, and if I can just hold on to that instead.
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Feb 22, 2024 23:17
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Sounds like a lot of companies are scummy. For our house the sellers declined to buy the warranty so our buying agent paid for two years of a policy. We did use it in the first years and we pretty satisfied with what we got: - Actually found someone to repair the AC in the hottest part of summer, within one day - Had in the first years of covid when everyone was booked and we always had someone within 24 hours for issues or repairs to the kitchen sink, fridge, oven and another HVAC issue - Met some repair people I liked and claimed to have specializations for certain appliances we have. The original previous owner was in the HVAC business and the system is not like anything else in the neighborhood, he spared no expense I think I chatted with some of the people who picked up the job and they've said the warranty policies have gotten worse over the years. Ten years ago they could come in a do anything they needed to fix the issue. Now they're limited to holes of a certain size, parts, and what else they have for whichever uber-esque assignment service comes up. That said, the original company we used was bought out and it seems like unsurprisingly, consolidation is leading the downward trend of worse policies, higher deductibles, and higher premiums. I would not recommend one if you're not elderly and have extra cash.
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Feb 23, 2024 00:10
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What should I know or learn or think about before I consider buying a lot to build a house on? Where to start?
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Feb 23, 2024 00:14
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:What should I know or learn or think about before I consider buying a lot to build a house on? Where to start? Do you have access to unimaginably large sums of money? Most desirable land for building is already taken which means that building somewhere else is a wildly expensive proposition in almost all cases.
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Feb 23, 2024 00:30
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Beef Of Ages posted:Do you have access to unimaginably large sums of money? Most desirable land for building is already taken which means that building somewhere else is a wildly expensive proposition in almost all cases. No, no. Like a developed but unbuilt lot in an actual neighborhood. I'm not trying to homestead in the wilds or some poo poo.
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Feb 23, 2024 00:31
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still the same developers buy a big chunk of land and lay out lots and then build; but sometimes communities zone a bunch of lots and put in a road and leave it to individuals to do it, and the main reason they do that is because no developer wants to touch it... because it's gonna be insanely expensive to build compared to the local prices for houses, for one reason or another there might be rare exceptions but they're rare and so you need to probably start by asking (like, investigating) why this specific lot in this undeveloped spot is totally going to be easy to plop a house on, in terms of utilities, regulation, drainage, ease/cost of pouring a foundation that won't slide or crack, access to main roads, rights of way, easements, restrictions, etc. etc. there are loads and loads of build-your-own developments that are, essentially, scams, and loads of private owners of lots trying to get their money back because they've discovered that their dreams of a custom home aren't really feasible IMO a big clue is to see how many of those lots have already got houses on them, if it's less than 50% it's probably going to be a real bad time for you e. keep in mind that a developer putting up 50 houses has a massive advantage in terms of bulk costs, hiring subs to work for several months in one go, etc. compared to an indvididual builder, so if a developer doesn't think the lots in this spot are economical i.e. profitable, that means they're doubly extra bad for an individual who hasn't got all those bulk discounts and economies of scale
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Feb 23, 2024 00:48
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:What should I know or learn or think about before I consider buying a lot to build a house on? Where to start? Do a thread search this topic has been beaten on relentlessly Is this like, a ~quarter acre lot in a subdivision of an actual city, and you're less than a ten minute drive from a gas station and a store that sells fresh produce, or is this a ~10 acre ranchette 40+ minutes from the nearest big box store serviced by the county and sheriff? That makes a big difference
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Feb 23, 2024 00:53
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cosmic gumbo posted:they sent out a man who was the platonic ideal of what you would expect a plumber to look like. Mario came to your house? That's pretty cool. tumblr hype man fucked around with this message at 01:22 on Feb 23, 2024 |
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Feb 23, 2024 01:10
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Hadlock posted:Do a thread search this topic has been beaten on relentlessly half acre but yes. Leperflesh posted:
This is a neighborhood from the 70's that my in-laws have lived in for like twenty years. They seem to be slowly developing a few lots every year. At any given point there's a couple lots open for sale but never more than a couple. Hadlock posted:Do a thread search this topic has been beaten on relentlessly if there's something specific I should be reading, could you link me to it? i don't even know what to start searching, hence the questions.
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Feb 23, 2024 01:17
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:half acre but yes. https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3131399&pagenumber=1339&perpage=40&userid=0#post537753709 This is the last time someone asked a similar question and got shouted down Keywords for search might be "buildable" and "vacant lot". If you do a search for "historic district" there's probably an alarming number of results as well Your situation sounds less hopeless though. About twice a quarter somebody wanders in here with "look at this unbuildable land! how should I build a house where nobody else bothered to for the last 200 years?"
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Feb 23, 2024 01:53
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Hadlock posted:
Ok yeah searching this seems to be the closest hit Hadlock posted:There is no vacant land for sale worth buying for less than $150k/acre, generally yeah, the open lots in the area I was looking at are hitting around this on either side. In theory I could swing it if the build cost wasn't too crazy, but not with what I have liquid; I'd have to either sell or re-mortage the place i'm in currently. I'm not in a huge rush to do that given current loan rates but I'm gonna need to move at some point in the next few years just to be in a better school zone, so scouting out my options.
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Feb 23, 2024 02:16
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The real question is why isn't there a house there already? You're not going to be able to know what the cost will be until you know what defect has prevented anyone from building there up until this point, and how much it will cost to fix that.
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Feb 23, 2024 02:19
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Cyrano4747 posted:The real question is why isn't there a house there already? You're not going to be able to know what the cost will be until you know what defect has prevented anyone from building there up until this point, and how much it will cost to fix that. Yeah, and that's not a question anybody here can answer, so fair enough. Presuming the answer is "this neighborhood has restrictions that limit rate of development" or something otherwise surmountable, what are "reasonable" expectations and how would the process work? e.g., . . .if the lot costs 150k, and another 300k to build a house on it, I take a loan on the current house, spend that money buying and building, wait a year or however long, sell old house? What are the hiccups and hurdles to expect in that process?
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Feb 23, 2024 02:35
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You should probably talk to a loan broker who specializes in this kind of stuff for the state you live in. You're probably looking at some kind of construction and/or bridge loan. Local banks and credit unions might be more amicable to loaning money to someone who's never built a house than say, BoA or Wells Fargo Or, go at it the other way, reach out to the local builders in your area and see what their financing options are; they're likely deeply hooked into the local ecosystem and creditors might not even talk to you until you have an MOU signed with an in state GC I was looking at a 10 acre ranchette and due to XYZ I qualified for a partially forgivable building loan from the local (but state run) agricultural credit Union-bank, but that's not gonna work for a half acre in suburbia If you want to build a duplex or multiple units (think ADU) on the lot, you might qualify for FHA stuff but it varies wildly Hadlock fucked around with this message at 02:50 on Feb 23, 2024 |
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Feb 23, 2024 02:47
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Search design build or custom builder contractors in your area and see the examples they can offer on websites or in person. That should give you an idea of costs and if you need their help to get a builder mortgage.
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Feb 23, 2024 02:48
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Guess who locked themselves out of their new house within an hour of moving in?  In my defense, the lock setup on this house loving sucks. The front door has two deadbolts: one controlled by a key and one controlled by a keycode. Then there's a side door that's locked with a key, but isn't a deadbolt: you can lock the door, then step outside and let the door close behind you. I used the keycode to get in, turned around, closed the key-using deadbolt, went out the (locked) side door, and let it close behind me. The keys were in the kitchen. I never picked them up. Had to call a locksmith basically immediately and stand around in the cold until he showed up. 
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Feb 23, 2024 03:10
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Hadlock posted:You should probably talk to a loan broker who specializes in this kind of stuff for the state you live in. You're probably looking at some kind of construction and/or bridge loan. iv46vi posted:Search design build or custom builder contractors in your area and see the examples they can offer on websites or in person. That should give you an idea of costs and if you need their help to get a builder mortgage. Thanks, I think that answers my questions for now at least. Appreciated.
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Feb 23, 2024 03:27
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Also, whoever gets stuck with your loan will probably have never done one involving construction before, so expect it to be like pulling teeth, and (frequently) getting their supervisor/manager involved. Like over half of loan personnel have been let go since the industry has seen about 10% of regular volume
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Feb 23, 2024 03:43
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Hadlock posted:Also, whoever gets stuck with your loan will probably have never done one involving construction before, so expect it to be like pulling teeth, and (frequently) getting their supervisor/manager involved. Like over half of loan personnel have been let go since the industry has seen about 10% of regular volume And even in the best of cases you're still not getting by with any kind of timely builld without 25% of the build price in liquid cash to grease the skids and keep things moving when even the best of banks/construction loans disburses tranches. This is only more complciated based on your local code enforcement which will almost definitely be part of the signnoff on build phases before the bank will disburse more money.
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Feb 23, 2024 03:57
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the most recent contractor I interacted with, who did my mother in law's remodel, flatly stated he no longer does work for people who are paying with a construction loan, period. Because he can't pay his crew with money the bank is withholding until he jumps through whatever asinine hoops they throw in his way constantly. The banks require regular, documented proof that each incremental payment has been spent specifically on the construction, and documenting a build that way is very hard to do when you are running a company that sends different subs to different sites to do various work depending on poo poo like the weather, when supplies finally show up, the shifting whims of the customer, and the challenges of keeping skilled trades fully staffed with competent people these days. Can't really blame him but if that's common among the best contractors - and I suspect it is - it may mean you're inevitably hiring the sort that are either naïve about the difficulties, or have to take those jobs cause no gently caress'll hire them for the good work. e. I'm in the SF bay area and it's been insanely hard to find any contractor, much less a good one, for the last oh... decade, I guess, but especially the last five years. Your mileage may vary depending on location. It may also be easier for a $350k job than on a $70k one.
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Feb 23, 2024 07:59
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Just in case it seems like the thread is dog piling you, they just don’t want you to be set up for failure or taken advantage of. For sure, every situation can be different, but usually poo poo is stacked against you. It sucks but that’s reality realty lol
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Feb 23, 2024 09:00
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Rotten posted:Just in case it seems like the thread is dog piling you, they just don’t want you to be set up for failure or taken advantage of. Nah, once I got past all the people desperately trying to stop me from trying to homestead in the middle of the wilderness or otherwise sign up for the real estate equivalent of nigerian prince scams, posts like Leperflesh posted:the most recent contractor I interacted with, who did my mother in law's remodel, flatly stated he no longer does work for people who are paying with a construction loan, period. Because he can't pay his crew with money the bank is withholding until he jumps through whatever asinine hoops they throw in his way constantly. The banks require regular, documented proof that each incremental payment has been spent specifically on the construction, and documenting a build that way is very hard to do when you are running a company that sends different subs to different sites to do various work depending on poo poo like the weather, when supplies finally show up, the shifting whims of the customer, and the challenges of keeping skilled trades fully staffed with competent people these days. Hadlock posted:Also, whoever gets stuck with your loan will probably have never done one involving construction before, so expect it to be like pulling teeth, and (frequently) getting their supervisor/manager involved. Like over half of loan personnel have been let go since the industry has seen about 10% of regular volume these were extremely helpful. Overall it looks like building would be theoretically possible with a few big IFs (checking out why the lot hasn't already been built on; finding a decent contractor; getting a construction loan set up in a workable way; etc) that are theoretically surmountable (I think I know who I'd need to talk to locally, actually) but would take a lot of work and overall probably be more hassle than I really want to deal with. Either way I'm in no particular rush, given the current loan rates vs where we are in our existing mortgage. We just need to be in a better school district at some point in the next three to five years. Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at 14:14 on Feb 23, 2024 |
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Feb 23, 2024 13:45
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A lot of hoops to jump through to live near your in-laws
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Feb 23, 2024 14:27
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Ungratek posted:A lot of hoops to jump through to live near your in-laws It's free child care !
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Feb 23, 2024 14:28
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:It's free child care ! My BIL did the math once on how much he's saved living near his mother and being able to drop his daughter off with her. Just child care expenses, not even getting into poo poo like having a reliable baby sitter. It was loving insane. Like, they're putting a serious dent into college savings by just auto-depositing a fraction of the annual costs in their area for the child care they aren't shelling out for. I think he said it was something like $15k/yr where he is? And that was the cheap version after she was no longer an infant - infant care is apparently gently caress off crazy expensive.
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Feb 23, 2024 14:35
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