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mastershakeman posted:Of my friends in Chicago (average age ~30) that have bought or are about to buy, all but one are going for condos. They buy into the 'pay myself rent' and 'I'll sell it in a few years and make money' traps, but with constant rent increases, it's hard to convince them to just keep renting. The only people who seem happy renting are those who are in horrible places that are extremely cheap. What is the argument against paying myself rent? Some of my friends pay $1200 for a single bedroom apartment. It is closer to downtown than they could get a house in that price range, but that is a solid mortgage payment or at least 75% of one a little further away. There would be other fees that come up, of course, but it doesn't seem unreasonable to me. I'm not trying to argue one way or the other, but I see it as your friends do and don't follow why it's a bad idea.
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Jul 1, 2014 22:58
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At least where I'm at, you can't buy even close to the same location for the same monthly costs as renting. My 1-bed apartment (rented condo, actually) in almost-downtown Seattle is 1400/mo with garage parking, and I'd have to go 20 miles outside the city for a mortgage of only 1400/mo (or poo poo, even 2000/mo). And that's not accounting for maintenance, taxes, etc. or anything not to mention how many hours per week of my life I would waste commuting. Except for condos, there's basically nothing in the city proper for under 400k and even that's bottom of the barrel. And even the cheapest of the cheap junky condos are still 200k.
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Jul 1, 2014 23:02
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Guinness posted:At least where I'm at, you can't buy even close to the same location for the same monthly costs as renting. Prices are much more reasonable in Chicago at least. Including mortgage, taxes, and assessments the condo I'm buying will be around $1,800/mo (of which $400 will go towards equity to start). A similar apartment in the same area would run around $1,600-$2,000/mo, and would probably increase every year. Not to mention tax advantages esquilax fucked around with this message at 23:13 on Jul 1, 2014 |
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Jul 1, 2014 23:10
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I find there's a sizable overlap between older people who tell you about how buying a house is building equity and people that have almost zero in long term savings.
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Jul 1, 2014 23:17
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esquilax posted:Prices are much more reasonable in Chicago at least. Including mortgage, taxes, and assessments the condo I'm buying will be around $1,800/mo (of which $400 will go towards equity to start). A similar apartment in the same area would run around $1,600-$2,000/mo, and would probably increase every year. What's your monthly HOA/maintenance fee? also, PCjr sidecar posted:Keep in mind that your monthly mortgage+insurance payment is a lower bound for monthly costs, whereas rent is effectively an upper bound; additional maintenance and upkeep can add up quickly. in a well actually fucked around with this message at 23:49 on Jul 1, 2014 |
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Jul 1, 2014 23:47
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PCjr sidecar posted:What's your monthly HOA/maintenance fee? $200 or so, included in the $1,800. Why?
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Jul 1, 2014 23:57
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I want to preface this with an important statement: I do not believe buying a condo is a bad idea, no matter what. I do think most people considering it should also consider the more strict underwriting requirements of buying a condo with a conventional loan. I don't know what is going to end up happening to Fannie/Freddie in the future, but the reality is that after 2009 the underwriting standards for condos became more strict than those of a single family house. While it may not matter for your purchase, you can bet it will eliminate at least some potential buyers when you get ready to sell.
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Jul 2, 2014 00:14
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esquilax posted:$200 or so, included in the $1,800. Why? It wasn't clear if that was included in the $1800 (it's often not.)
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Jul 2, 2014 00:34
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skipdogg posted:If someone comes into this thread and says I'm 40 years old and a working professional in Seattle and I want to buy a condo. I'm not married and I don't plan on having any kids. I do enjoy living in an urban area and it matches my lifestyle.... almost everyone would recommend that person buy a condo.
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Jul 2, 2014 02:57
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skipdogg posted:I couldn't have said this better if I wanted to. This should be stickied at the top of the thread and referenced anyone even thinks about buying a condo.
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Jul 2, 2014 03:56
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Economic Sinkhole posted:Consider all the angles of condo ownership. I lived in my girlfriend's condo for a year and a half before she could sell it and we bought a house. To me, a condo seemed like all the worst things about owning a house combined with all the worst things about living in an apartment, with an extra layer of bullshit spread thick on top in the form of the HOA. Every situation is different and a lot of people are very happy with their condos, but I could not wait to get the hell out of there. this this this a million times this. my girl owned a condo and after a year of living with her I was going loving nuts. after 5 years and about the time we got married, I was literally depressed every day because I had to live in that shithole. (it was a very nice, very expensive fancy condo in Atlanta. but a shithole, for all the above reasons). we now own a house and I'm waiting for someone to pinch me I'm so happy with it. and we paid like 30k out of pocket for the privilege of moving/buying another property, all said and done. so really someone has already pinched me, and I'm still happy. do never loving buy a condo. edit : comedy option, I think I posted this in this thread already, but I started attending board meetings the last year we lived there, and realized just how incompetent the board was after going over their financials. I raised hell by reviewing point by point their P&L statement at the last board meeting I went to, so much so that the incoming board members came to me asking for me to take up the outgoing treasurer's position on their board. hilariously, it was a week after we had put an offer in on our house, so I got to lol about it to them. argh and christ though. these folks were doing poo poo like taking advances out on their reserves to repaint the hallways, when they had serious mold problems going on affecting the structural integrity of the building. The wood on people's windows were literally molding and rotting off the side of the building, and they were repainting the loving interior hallways with money they technically didn't even have budgeted for the year's repairs - and then saying they didn't have the money to fix the mold because they had spent all this other money on repainting the hallways. AND THEN SAYING THEY HAD TO RAISE THE HOA FEES TO REPLENISH THE RESERVES, WHICH BARELY EVEN EXISTED IN THE FIRST PLACE. AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH KILL ME NOWWWWWWWWWWWW 
mindphlux fucked around with this message at 07:14 on Jul 2, 2014 |
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Jul 2, 2014 07:02
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Let's not forget that the "lol just throwing money away" also applies to condos in that paying $200-400 a month in HOA/Condo Association dues means maybe it goes to exterior maintenance or maybe you discover the board has been embezzling it and there's no money for exterior maintenance. Yeah, an $800 a month condo payment looks great (and less than renting!) next to a $1200 a month housing payment, but add in dues and what are very likely increased utilities (the condo I rent is so poorly insulated and sealed you can feel the wind blowing through the cracks in everything in the winter) and I suspect it evens out.
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Jul 2, 2014 08:10
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Mortgage: $325. HOA: $145. Includes water/sewer, trash (2 days a week), exterior insurance, lawn maintenance, pool, tennis courts, sidewalks, probably a few other things. The only thing I don't make use of are the Tennis courts. Anyway, it's rather hard to find a neighborhood where I live that doesn't have a home owners association. Sure it was only $30 a month where I used to live but my water bill would range from $35-50+ bucks (higher in the summer) and I had to put a lot of money into exterior maintenance and lawn care all year round. My lawn and home actually looked great compared to 95% of the community but unfortunately I ended up next to the window peeping, letter writing, lawn snobs. So while everyone else was getting away with parking their cars in the road, unkempt lawns, oil stains in their driveway, busted mailboxes and unpainted shutters I had to pay someone to pressure wash my driveway/house once a year and spend a lot of time/money maintaining a yard to keep the HOA off my back. So to me it's definitely worth the equivalent of a Internet bill to avoid having to do all that. HOAs suck but a couple neighbors with no lives can make the experience much worse. Sephiroth_IRA fucked around with this message at 14:29 on Jul 2, 2014 |
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Jul 2, 2014 14:13
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I'm two weeks from closing on my first home, everything's approved through my mortgage loan originator, all forms and paperwork are signed (including my Mortgage Certificate of Credit program), and I've started packing up my apartment. It's going to feel so good to go from 761 sq.ft where my rent has increased yearly to almost 1900 with (relatively) stable payments. At the same time, dreading the ~$10,000 I'm going to be putting down. Does anyone have a good checklist of "here's all the poo poo you should get in order before you move to a house for the first time"? My close date is the 15th, but my apartment lease doesn't end until August 25th, so I'm under no real urgent pressure to move in immediately. Obviously I don't want to have a vacant house sitting there for a few weeks, but I think it would be a good opportunity to take care of poo poo in the new place before it's filled with all my furniture and other things. I'm considering painting at least a few rooms of the interior, including the living room, dining room, and downstairs den area, which are probably around 700 sq. ft in total. Having no professional painting experience or tools, should I just bite the bullet and pay a pro to get in there and do it right? I feel like I could do it myself, but painting a house in the middle of summer while moving sounds like hell and full of possibilities to drip paint on my hardwood floors. ex post facho fucked around with this message at 16:52 on Jul 2, 2014 |
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Jul 2, 2014 16:49
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Painting is pretty easy, especially in an empty house. Like most things if you spend time on the prep and use quality materials you should be fine. Just put a bunch of drop cloths down and you don't have to worry about paint drips. Even then a standard interior latex will clean up really easy. When I painted my daughters room, I just watched a couple of youtube videos on how to paint a room and I was all set. The biggest thing for me was transition area between the wall and the ceiling, but once you get the technique down it was pretty easy.
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Jul 2, 2014 17:10
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skipdogg posted:Painting is pretty easy, especially in an empty house. Like most things if you spend time on the prep and use quality materials you should be fine. Just put a bunch of drop cloths down and you don't have to worry about paint drips. Even then a standard interior latex will clean up really easy. When I painted my daughters room, I just watched a couple of youtube videos on how to paint a room and I was all set. The biggest thing for me was transition area between the wall and the ceiling, but once you get the technique down it was pretty easy. Exactly that. If you have special circumstances, painters may make sense. Like 12 foot ceilings, large holes to patch and texture, a scorpion mural, etc. It's not hard, you're just going to be somewhat slower than a pro painter for at least the first half of your project. Just follow all the directions to be kind to your brushes and rollers. The DIY fix it fast thread can give advice on materials. I really like Dunn Edwards Sparta Zero, which is a low VOC paint that goes on very nicely, is about $25/gallon, and doesn't stink (smells like wet dirt when you put it on). When I priced painters for my house before deciding to do it myself, 4 out of the 5 pro outfits were going to use that paint anyway. Whatever you do, buy a low odor and low VOC paint. You don't want to be breathing in paint fumes for months.
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Jul 2, 2014 17:21
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a shameful boehner posted:Does anyone have a good checklist of "here's all the poo poo you should get in order before you move to a house for the first time"? My close date is the 15th, but my apartment lease doesn't end until August 25th, so I'm under no real urgent pressure to move in immediately. quote:Obviously I don't want to have a vacant house sitting there for a few weeks, but I think it would be a good opportunity to take care of poo poo in the new place before it's filled with all my furniture and other things.
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Jul 2, 2014 18:09
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I got an ADT sign off of Ebay a few years ago after hearing about some break ins. I've never been robbed and have peace of mind. The sign does more work than the security system anyway. I also just leave a cheap low watt CFL on near my kitchen window while I'm at work, if you're really concerned a clock radio doesn't use much energy either. edit: So my wife led me to believe that the realty company she was using would stage our home for free, including furniture but it turns out that they only some things (cribs, fake tvs, etc) which I should have figured. So right now my house is completely empty but we've installed new carpet, painted, replaced the vinyl and fixed some things we probably should have fixed when we bought the house including installing 2 missing ceiling fans, and repairing some outlets that didn't work. Any advice? My realtor says that she gets a lot of feedback by virtually staging the home but I'm not so sure about that. I'm also apparently competing with both my neighbors at the moment but thankfully the couple to the right listed their house for $160 even though it's significantly smaller than mine. My other neighbors (the window peepers) listed theirs for $149 even though it's probably worth more than that and is only a little smaller than mine. The last time I talked to them it turned out they pretty much did what I did and bought their new house first so I have the impression they just wanted to get out while the market is better. I'm not sure how much it costs to stage a home. There's a benefit if it's cheaper than my $1035 monthly mortgage payment, maybe I should ask around. Sephiroth_IRA fucked around with this message at 18:47 on Jul 2, 2014 |
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Jul 2, 2014 18:34
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Cheesus posted:Anything flooring related (refinishing, carpeting, carpet cleaning, retiling) will be magnitudes easier and more convenient in an empty house. I had ~4 months between buying my house and moving in, and we did all of the floors, wallpaper removal, painting etc before moving in, and it was a lot easier than dealing with crap in the house. Cheesus posted:If you're really that worried about an empty house being a target for vandals, setup a timer and attach it to a single light in a room visible from the road. During these 4 months some punk kids egged the empty house, so a light on a timer probably isn't the worst idea.
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Jul 2, 2014 22:35
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If you only have a limited amount of time to paint, paint the areas that will be full of furniture first - bedrooms and living rooms. It's easy to paint a hallway after you've moved in. Kitchen is somewhat easy if you don't mind not eating in it for a day or two, and can move all your pots and poo poo somewhere, but not a bad idea to prioritize it over a hallway, bathroom, or (especially) the exterior. Seconding doing the flooring if you're going to do flooring. Especially if you're going to refinish a hardwood floor. Sanding is very messy and you don't want any of your belongings in the house if you're going to sand down floors, because the sawdust will go around tarps and get into absolutely everything. Sealing the wood is also really nasty, you will want to not have to breathe in the house for a day or two after you do that. (And if you're using anything toxic, for gently caress's sake get a respirator.) Before you move in, have utilities turned on. Take a shower, run the dishwasher, check the hot water heater is working, run A/C and heat for a few hours each. Flush every toilet a few times, and inspect all piping for leaks and stuff. You probably already had inspections before you bought, but a house that's sat empty for a while can develop sudden leaks and stuff as the pipes have dried out inside and then get wet again, seals shrink and then re-expand, and so on. A week or two before you move, pick up a moving packet from the post office and fill it out so your old mail will get forwarded to your new address even if you forget to update your mailing address with one or more contacts. You can have mail for the new address held at the post office until you move in, so it doesn't pile up on the doorstep (a sure sign a house is vacant, regardless of lights on timers, is a heap of mail/newspapers/etc on the porch). If you have timed sprinkler systems and stuff get those working too. Especially if the sellers did some nice landscaping and now it's going to be neglected for a couple weeks, you don't want that fresh sod to die or all the flowers to die just because the water was off or nobody programmed the sprinkler timer or something. Just before moving day, get in there with a vacuum cleaner, broom, and cleaning supplies and just clean everything. Especially areas where you're going to be putting carpets and furniture, places you won't be able to clean regularly once you're moved in. Wash windows, especially any high-up windows you can only get to with a stepstool or ladder. Check all the lightbulbs and get them working before you move in. It'll be nice if you wind up trying to unpack after dark not to have to go find a lightbulb or something. Basically it's all the stuff you'd do before you moved in to anywhere, but with the awareness that unlike all the rental places you rented before, there's no landlord taking care of poo poo or cleaning things up before you arrive. Having the luxury of a couple of weeks to do upgrades, paint, repairs, and cleaning before you move in is great, so make the best of it. You're going to be busy as hell for a few weeks after you move in, unpacking and dealing with bills and trying not to stress out, so you won't want to also be trying to paint a bedroom or fix a cracked window or a leaky drainpipe.
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Jul 3, 2014 00:23
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Sephiroth_IRA posted:I'm also apparently competing with both my neighbors at the moment but thankfully the couple to the right listed their house for $160 even though it's significantly smaller than mine. My other neighbors (the window peepers) listed theirs for $149 even though it's probably worth more than that and is only a little smaller than mine. That's pretty scary as a buyer, if you know that three houses in a row are all for sale though.
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Jul 3, 2014 00:41
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Just to combat a lot of the negativity here about buying a condo, here's my story. Bought my condo 2 years ago for 320k, similar properties are selling now for 370k (Boston). Renting a similar two bedroom in the area with the same amenities would be about $2400 a month, my mortgage (with PMI / taxes) is only $1800. Condo fee is $175. I have a roommate (personal friend) who I charge for a room and split the utilities, so my monthly out of pocket is only about $1350 for everything. I have had to pay for many expenses related to plumbing, including a new water tank and a new dishwasher. I don't mind this though- because I own the place, I was able to buy a top of the line dishwasher like I wanted, rather than accept the lovely econo-washer a landlord would have bought. With the tax write-off for renting out half the condo plus the mortgage interest deduction, I get a nice chunk back during tax time. I don't rely on the roommate for rent money, I can easily afford it without him, I just enjoy his company. The neighbors are fine and the neighborhood is great. Overall, buying the condo was an excellent decision and I'm so much happier than I was renting.
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Jul 3, 2014 01:20
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Whoa. Didn't realize how anti-condo this thread was! But thanks for the advice everyone. For the record, the place I'm considering is actually a townhome, but I'm sure most of what's been said still applies. (HOAs can be God-awful, if you have bad neighbors you're completely hosed, etc.) Mostly what's motivating me is price. It's hard to find a house I like that's affordable, and this townhome I'm thinking about is in a great location and looks like a luxurious place. All the houses I've found that are in my price range are on the higher end of price, and they just don't look as nice- I would be paying more to settle. Plus my parents live nearby, and I'm already taking an increasingly larger role in taking care of their house as they get older. The thought of taking care of two houses, mowing and cleaning up two yards is rather draining. I'm not saying a house is out of the question. In fact, I would ultimately rather live in a house than a townhome/condo. It's just that I don't really seem to mind community living as maybe most of the people here, and the houses I've found so far don't really seem appealing. However, I haven't actually looked at any of these places yet, so I can't jump to any conclusions. I will definitely keep in mind all that's been said though. Looks like by far the most important factor in owning a condo is the HOA- I'll be sure to ask for all the details well before I even consider buying. I may even reconsider buying altogether. I'm 30 and not married, so maybe it's a good idea to stay with renting until I get a better idea of where I'll be in the next 5-10 years. I'm mostly just trying to get some insight on my ideas from more experienced people. Also, what about that idea I had of renting out the place eventually- totally hairbrained? Does anyone have any success doing this?
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Jul 3, 2014 03:20
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Ugh, appraisal came in $65k low. Mortgage broker mentioned he had worked with this guy last year and the appraisal was $100k lower than the second appraisal they inevitably had to order. I randomly googled this guy's name and it turns out he was an appraiser on some tax court deal where he came in $160-180k lower than the two other appraisal experts in the case. The judgement was that this guy's appraisals had no weight. Figures we get the low-ball appraiser from hell 
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Jul 3, 2014 03:39
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If a condo would work for me I'd definitely consider one. A lot of the buildings here in KC have 20 something year property tax abatements which would cut a lot of the pain of HOA fees. Unfortunately I have way too much poo poo that makes a condo not at all feasible unless it has an actual garage. So I'm stuck fighting over the few houses that pop up every month.
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Jul 3, 2014 03:42
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_areaman posted:Just to combat a lot of the negativity here about buying a condo, here's my story. Boston, Seattle, Chicago, San Fran, and other places like that are exceptions to the rule. Your experience won't mirror someone who's thinking about buying a condo in the other 95% of the country.
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Jul 3, 2014 03:46
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baquerd posted:That's pretty scary as a buyer, if you know that three houses in a row are all for sale though. Yeah but it really is just a big coincidence. Thankfully the one that has been listed for a month or so has already sold.
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Jul 3, 2014 04:29
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Come to think of it, the only people I've ever heard of that had good HOA experiences were not in the major urban areas at all. Places like random suburbs in Texas, Arizona, and Colorado. Namely, labor costs and housing costs in general are much, much cheaper than in the major metropolitan areas along the coasts.canyoneer posted:I find there's a sizable overlap between older people who tell you about how buying a house is building equity and people that have almost zero in long term savings. Vinny the Shark posted:It's just that I don't really seem to mind community living as maybe most of the people here, and the houses I've found so far don't really seem appealing. HOAs, like most concepts, sound great, but the devil is in the details as usual and most HOAs are just not managed well to make them any bit of an advantage for its stakeholders. Maybe in another decade or two when HOAs are better regulated and the fall-out of the over-building craze of the recent housing boom has simmered over would I think HOAs on average might be ok to deal with over a long term. Vinny the Shark posted:Also, what about that idea I had of renting out the place eventually- totally hairbrained? Does anyone have any success doing this? You have to separate the idea of a place that you live in from a place you rent out pretty quickly so you can approach being a landlord as a business and keep you from going insane. That discussion really doesn't belong in this thread though I believe.
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Jul 3, 2014 16:18
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Leperflesh posted:Just before moving day, get in there with a vacuum cleaner, broom, and cleaning supplies and just clean everything. Especially areas where you're going to be putting carpets and furniture, places you won't be able to clean regularly once you're moved in. Wash windows, especially any high-up windows you can only get to with a stepstool or ladder. My biggest moving regret was not hiring someone to give the house a good, deep clean before moving in (well, second biggest- my biggest regret was severely underestimating just how much poo poo I had crammed into my apartment).
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Jul 3, 2014 19:35
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Vinny the Shark posted:Also, what about that idea I had of renting out the place eventually- totally hairbrained? Does anyone have any success doing this? Plenty of people have success, and plenty don't. Landlording is not the free money people like to believe. There can be a lot of work involved (and/or paying a lot of your potential profit to a management company), and bad market conditions or bad tenants can cost you a lot. One thing in particular to watch out for is if the HOA has a limit on rental units (or a minimum of owner occupied units). You are likely to end up unable to rent out when you want to if there's a low limit (and if there's a high limit or no limit, it can pick up a lot more of the downsides of apartments, so that's not necessarily better).
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Jul 3, 2014 19:55
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GOOD HOAs will somehow be able to enforce in some manner that owners register that the place is occupied by a renter. BAD (or just lax honestly) HOAs will have no idea how many units are actually owner occupied or by tenants. This matters because communities that have a greater than n% renter occupation rate are not able to get FHA loans anymore for new buyers. The limits depend greatly upon what the HOA decides and can enforce through some measure in the end. An HOA with rental limits doesn't matter if they have no way of enforcing by penalizing owners for not registering and by periodically checking somehow if a unit's occupied by said owner. The HOA I was in had zero idea and while everyone had a gut feeling the renter percentage was about 70%, we couldn't even get any motion through on actions because more than 70% of the owners didn't even live in the country normally in the first place, so nothing happened any which way.
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Jul 4, 2014 00:49
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My wife and I are interested in buying a home, but the real estate agent told us there is a "discoloration" issue. This means there could be mold, and we'd have to sign a waiver to see the house. There are also two special loan types the house requires, but I don't have the details because I haven't gotten the information from the agent yet. The house is currently at ~60% of it's previous market value, and it looks like someone purchased it approximately one year ago for twice its current price. Regarding the possible mold, I've read what I can find about the issues and clean-up that come with a home with mold. We would need to get a inspector to test, and then mold remediators to inspect if anything is found and give us an estimate of repair costs. At this point we haven't gotten to see the house closer than looking at the property and looking in the windows. I've done some research to find if it is in a flood plain or any issues like that (it's not in a flood plain). From what I can tell if the house has a mold issue then it has a water issue somewhere. That could be either the roof or the basement/foundation allowing water in, or perhaps some other problem I haven't considered. So does anyone have an suggestions or advice related to this kind of purchase? I'd like to consider the house seriously because with such a reduced price, it would be much easier to clean the problem professionally and confirmation that it's cleaned completely and correctly. From estimates I've seen this could range from $5-30k in costs of cleanup. I would try to determine this cost before we purchased this, in fact it would really be a requirement before purchasing it.
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Jul 4, 2014 03:11
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Former meth lab, move on. Actually I don't know that and I'm kidding, but why the hell hasn't your agent gotten you better information? If you are approaching the selling agent directly - don't do that. Get your own, or at least get a lawyer.
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Jul 4, 2014 03:16
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slap me silly posted:Former meth lab, move on. Actually I don't know that and I'm kidding, but why the hell hasn't your agent gotten you better information? If you are approaching the selling agent directly - don't do that. Get your own, or at least get a lawyer. It's a clean house, so fortunately I think meth lab is out. I was considering the agent or lawyer but hadn't decided yet. I think we'll do that because
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Jul 4, 2014 03:22
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I have only bought one house and I had an agent, not a lawyer. Might do it differently next time because the agent was an idiot. I just know that the seller's agent is going to be actively working against your best interest so you can't take anything they say or don't say seriously.
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Jul 4, 2014 03:25
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downout posted:It's a clean house, so fortunately I think meth lab is out. I was considering the agent or lawyer but hadn't decided yet. I think we'll do that because A lawyer is who you need once you have already decided on a house and need legal paperwork done and need someone to navigate the treacheries of house-buying... once you have settled on a house. But it sounds like you are still in the looking stage, so what you need is your own real estate agent. A good one will represent you, take you around to houses, play hardball with listing/selling agents, and give you advice about stuff like, "Well this listing agent is full of poo poo and hiding stuff so you should walk." They will be the ones who act as your middleman to submit an offer and stuff like that (which comes before you need a lawyer). Caveat being agents are a complete mixed bag and there are tons of poo poo buyer's agents who don't actually give a poo poo about your interests (they just want their commission ASAP) so definitely shop around and interview a few. You can have a lawyer a bit earlier, during negotiations since mold issues and all, but negotiations happen after initial offer.
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Jul 4, 2014 16:01
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ExtrudeAlongCurve posted:A lawyer is who you need once you have already decided on a house and need legal paperwork done and need someone to navigate the treacheries of house-buying... once you have settled on a house. I think we are too early in the looking phase to go to the lawyer yet. We're going to see if we can find a decent agent in our area, and go from there.
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Jul 4, 2014 19:19
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Condos are ok in certain circumstances. People just need to realize that you are not just buying the unit, you are buying a part of the building as a whole, and both pieces are important factors in the purchasing decision. I of course had no idea about that when I bought my condo, but I got real lucky. Massive reserves, great association, well managed, and about $300 a month in dues for a big two bedroom in a doorman/elevator building, including satellite tv and the best internet service I've ever had in my life. By the way, if any of you rich fucks are considering buying, I got approved for a 30 yr jumbo (20 down) at .25% under the bankrate 30 yr rate, no points or anything.
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Jul 5, 2014 03:04
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Lixer posted:Both the original furnace and water heater are past their normal life spans. Roof has minor hail damage so I think we're going to see if their insurance will cover it first. Other than that I just would want to spread some additional insulation around and replace some flashings. And to update; they agreed to $1.5k credit, getting the HVAC serviced and a leak fixed ( looked like someone had stepped through a vent at one point), and getting their insurance to say that the roof is insurable. And this is where the relatively smooth process ends. Their insurance adjuster came out and apparently it was more than minor damage to the roof and it needs to be replaced. The insurance is balking and dragging their feet with the sellers so I've been asked to see if I can get my insurance to cover it until it gets replaced (sellers would give me extra credit to cover it.) From talking to others, it seems doubtful that my insurance would do that and my lender has issues with lending on a house with pending repairs. I'll have to make some calls on Monday, but it seems like things may be at an impasse....and closing was originally planned for July 17. I think my rate lock is good for an additional 15 days, but I'm still a bit worried.
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Jul 7, 2014 01:30
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We had the final walkthrough yesterday. The only weirdness seems to be that in lieu of converting 2 outlets near the wet bar to GFCIs, they simply removed and covered one with a big piece of tape or something, and I don't know if the other one is on a GFCI circuit with the obvious GFCI somewhat nearby. Rest looks pretty good aside from some wall painting we need to do that was covered by poo poo hanging on the walls. Closing is wednesday. Does anyone have any experience with LP during the switch? There's an item on the HUD Settlement Statement that I'm trying to figure out what the gently caress: LP PRORATION 500 gal x 10% @ $2.59 = $129.50 This is the first I'm hearing of this. The LP tank is leased through a local co-op. The price I was quoted a few days ago for propane by the co-op is $1.80, give or take. What is this other thing? Am I paying something here to buy up the previous owners' remaining LP credit with the co-op? If so, where did that price come from and what is the 10%? So far I haven't been able to get any answers on this, but I suppose it was the weekend so I have a couple days to figure it out yet. It's not a huge amount of money in the grand scheme of things, but it'd pay for a nice dinner out with the wife to celebrate the house.
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Jul 7, 2014 12:30
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