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Tezer posted:what should I be looking for? What's the advantage of using a third-party lender instead of my current bank (ING)? My experience has been that most banks' retail loan offerings aren't all that competitive compared to what a good broker can find for you, and that's the appeal of a 3rd party lender. What you want to find is someone who is easy to work with, and will guarantee the Good Faith Estimate items under their control (so they don't lowball you while you're shopping and then screw you at closing) Applying does not obligate you to complete the deal with them. You can and should ask for estimates/GFEs from multiple sources to find the best deal. You should do this in a relatively short period of time though. You want all of your credit report inquiries to come within a 30 or 60 day window so that the credit score algorithm groups the inquiries as one.
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Jun 23, 2011 14:47
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Slap is correct, and I'll add that you also want your estimates done very close to each other because interest rates change daily, so the rate someone offers you is highly dependent on what day you ask. I used a mortgage broker who specialized in FHA loans. The broker is paid by the lender, so (at least in theory) it's free to use one. The one downside I had was that my broker was very busy, so sometimes it took a couple days for him to respond to questions. But once we were making an offer and it was go-time, he did fine and I believe we got the best deal we could have.
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Jun 23, 2011 23:19
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It's a good thing I didn't buy like I was considering doing a month ago. I am renting now and I love my apartment, but I had to spend over $5000 on furniture and other miscellaneous items that I simply didn't have and didn't know I would need, and I haven't even properly decorated the place yet. If I'd have bought I would've spent even more, not to mention all the out of pocket closing costs - I'd be ridiculously poor right now.
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Jun 27, 2011 19:07
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So my husband and I are in the process of buying a house. We ended up buying something that's quite a bit less than we can actually afford with the idea that if the market continues to go down, we'll lose money but not more than we can afford to lose. An issue came up during inspection and I'm not sure how we should handle it. The house is older, but mostly updated throughout. We noted that most outlets had three prongs, which seemed to match the updating on the rest of the house. Also, the disclosure and some of the descriptions of the house indicated the wiring had been updated. However, the inspector found that these outlets aren't grounded at all - someone just put three prong sockets on the old wiring. And the wiring hasn't been updated at all - it's all old knob and tube. Obviously we can't ask them to update the wiring or pay to have it done because it's a big job. My husband feels that we were misled and that the price we offered was based on a house that had been fixed up and that it's not really worth what we will be paying for it. Anyone have any thoughts on how to handle this? Our realtor is so laid back that he's not much help. Just says to do what we want.
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Jun 28, 2011 12:43
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So you did the inspection before you bought the house, the inspector told you about the bad wiring, and you bought the house anyway?
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Jun 28, 2011 12:56
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slowfoot posted:Obviously we can't ask them to update the wiring or pay to have it done because it's a big job. My husband feels that we were misled and that the price we offered was based on a house that had been fixed up and that it's not really worth what we will be paying for it. Yes you can ask for this to be fixed, and in fact your attorney should advise you you to do this. You can also ask for a price reduction. In my experience the negotiation typically starts with asking the inspection issue to be fixed. Of course there are no guarantees, and the seller can always chose not to cooperate. But if you don't ask, you won't get anything. And the discussion about whether to buy our not should come after bringing the issue up with the seller. Also, realtors are worthless. They don't represent your interest. Your attorney does, what does he say about your situation?
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Jun 28, 2011 13:29
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Tezer posted:What's the advantage of using a third-party lender instead of my current bank (ING)? You shouldn't have any accounts at the bank you have your mortgage with. If you ever miss a payment, the bank will withdraw the money from your account, charging you large fees, especially since the withdraw probably overdrafted the account. If your current bank has the best rates, by all means get the loan from them, but close your other accounts and take them somewhere else. Edit: Sourced from a .gov website Konstantin fucked around with this message at 14:28 on Jun 28, 2011 |
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Jun 28, 2011 13:35
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Konstantin posted:You shouldn't have any accounts at the bank you have your mortgage with. If you ever miss a payment, the bank will withdraw the money from your account, charging you large fees, especially since the withdraw probably overdrafted the account. If your current bank has the best rates, by all means get the loan from them, but close your other accounts and take them somewhere else. Everything I have ever heard on this issue says this isn't the case and that just because you have a checking/savings account with the same bank as your mortgage does not give them the right to auto draft your mortgage payments from it. Source?
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Jun 28, 2011 14:03
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daslog posted:So you did the inspection before you bought the house, the inspector told you about the bad wiring, and you bought the house anyway? We are under contract, so no we haven't bought the house yet. hey santa baby, thanks for the advice. We actually don't have an attorney, just my cousin (who is a practicing attorney) giving us advice. And his advice was to basically ask for a reduction in price. We'll obviously ask them to fix all the safety issues found during the inspection. But I don't think we can ask them to update the wiring throughout the house (would be like asking for a new kitchen). I was just curious what others have done in this situation. ETA: Also, the house has an active termite infestion, goddamn. We may just walk away from the deal and keep looking, but it sucks already having around $1000 invested already.
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Jun 28, 2011 14:25
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I'd run screaming if I were you. Remember the stuff you find during inspection is probably only part of what is actually wrong, inspectors don't catch everything.
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Jun 28, 2011 14:46
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slowfoot posted:We may just walk away from the deal and keep looking, but it sucks already having around $1000 invested already. You can't look at it this way - the $1,000 wasn't an "investment" in this house, it was part of the cost of looking for a house in general. And what you've received from that $1K is the intelligence to not buy this house under any circumstances. And really, that amount is nothing compared to the amount of money you have the potential to lose. Bad wiring and termites? That really just means that there are even more problems that you haven't already found. Looking at the $1,000 as an investment you need to get back is like saying "well, I already lost a thousand bucks at blackjack, time to put another thousand down and earn it back!" Just walk away.
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Jun 28, 2011 14:59
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You should have a clause in your purchase agreement to back out if the results of the inspection come back unsatisfactory. If not, you signed a really one-sided PA and need to eat that cash and run. You do not want to own a home with blatantly faulty wiring AND a termite infestation. These two things are terribly expensive to fix, and may never get the termites completely out.
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Jun 28, 2011 15:20
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Yeah, we can get out of the contract if we want to. It's now more an issue of timing - we need to move for my husband's job, but we're running out of time to find a place that we can close on before the move. Plus, we're out of state buyers so we'll need to go on another house-hunting trip if we do back out.
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Jun 28, 2011 15:37
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Is there any reason you two can't rent for awhile once you move? You are in a really bad position to buy being out of state.
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Jun 28, 2011 15:40
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slowfoot posted:Yeah, we can get out of the contract if we want to. It's now more an issue of timing - we need to move for my husband's job, but we're running out of time to find a place that we can close on before the move. Plus, we're out of state buyers so we'll need to go on another house-hunting trip if we do back out.
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Jun 28, 2011 15:41
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Well, we are familiar with the area, we're just far away right now. I'm not going to buy a house we haven't seen in person. We thought about renting (and are still thinking about it), but there just aren't that many suitable rentals available in areas we want. We have a lot of pets and a baby, so we aren't as mobile as we used to be. My husbands job will also pay for moving expenses, but only for one move, so there's that issue too... It's just kind of a lovely situation. I think the wiring issues will be resolved - the knob and tube wiring isn't faulty, it's just old - we're just disappointed it's not updated. We are asking the sellers to pay for an electrician to come out and write up a report and an estimate.
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Jun 28, 2011 15:53
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You're underestimating what a bad house can cost. If you can't find another house in time, look into kenneling your pets, getting storage for your stuff, and checking into an extended stay hotel or a short term rental. Whatever you spend on that will be nothing compared to the money pit that house sounds like. Also, get another realtor when you do look at other houses, they are a dime a dozen and he should really be helping you out more.
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Jun 28, 2011 16:21
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slowfoot posted:Well, we are familiar with the area, we're just far away right now. I'm not going to buy a house we haven't seen in person. We thought about renting (and are still thinking about it), but there just aren't that many suitable rentals available in areas we want. We have a lot of pets and a baby, so we aren't as mobile as we used to be. My husbands job will also pay for moving expenses, but only for one move, so there's that issue too... Money solves the issue of pets, just keep offering more until the landlord agrees. You will be saving a lot more in the long run... do NOT buy a lemon!
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Jun 28, 2011 16:46
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Konstantin posted:You're underestimating what a bad house can cost. If you can't find another house in time, look into kenneling your pets, getting storage for your stuff, and checking into an extended stay hotel or a short term rental. Whatever you spend on that will be nothing compared to the money pit that house sounds like. Also, get another realtor when you do look at other houses, they are a dime a dozen and he should really be helping you out more. No, I understand what a bad house can cost. I don't think this is necessarily a bad house - it just has one issue (the wiring) that I feel we were misled on. The lack of updated wiring is not a deal breaker - we looked at plenty of other houses that had old wiring. This house does have a lot of updates that we like (new windows throughout, new ac, new furnace, new bathroom and kitchen) and the rest of the inspection report was good. Aside from the termite issue, which we are looking into further. It's an 80 year old house so it's going to have some issues. I don't think we're going to find anything else in our price range (< $100,000) that doesn't have similar issues. We have quite a bit budgeted for repairs/emergencies. I know I keep waffling on this...
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Jun 28, 2011 17:02
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Wiring can be expensive but at least it's a known issue. The termites, though... ugh. Whatever infestation has been located by your inspector, you can safely assume is only part of the problem. Merely tenting and fumigating the house may be insufficient. You may have to tear open walls, replace subfloors, support pillars, stairs... it's an open-ended thing, and even when you've fixed everything (at the cost of many thousands of dollars), you can basically guarantee that some time in the future you will get termites again. They don't just go away. Your perception of time pressure is convincing you to buy something you shouldn't. You can rent an entire house for a year or more, for the amount of cash you could potentially be in for with a termite-ridden house which you also need to tear out all the wiring and replace (plus whatever else turns out to be wrong with it). Run away!
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Jun 28, 2011 17:19
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slowfoot posted:No, I understand what a bad house can cost. I don't think this is necessarily a bad house - it just has one issue (the wiring) that I feel we were misled on. The lack of updated wiring is not a deal breaker - we looked at plenty of other houses that had old wiring. This house does have a lot of updates that we like (new windows throughout, new ac, new furnace, new bathroom and kitchen) and the rest of the inspection report was good. Aside from the termite issue, which we are looking into further. It's the biggest purchase you're likely to ever make. It's worth the effort to look until you find something you have nothing to waffle about, rent until then.
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Jun 28, 2011 17:22
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slowfoot posted:Well, we are familiar with the area, we're just far away right now. I'm not going to buy a house we haven't seen in person. We thought about renting (and are still thinking about it), but there just aren't that many suitable rentals available in areas we want. We have a lot of pets and a baby, so we aren't as mobile as we used to be. My husbands job will also pay for moving expenses, but only for one move, so there's that issue too... If you are concerned about paying for moving expenses, you are in no financial position to buy a house.
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Jun 28, 2011 22:53
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slowfoot posted:We actually don't have an attorney, just my cousin (who is a practicing attorney) giving us advice. The price of hiring an attorney to consult with and be with you at closing is a tiny, tiny cost in comparison to the peace of mind of having someone trained and well versed in all the hosed-up real estate law there is. Would you consult a foot doctor on a heart transplant?
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Jun 29, 2011 00:16
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sheri posted:If you are concerned about paying for moving expenses, you are in no financial position to buy a house. Thanks for the concern, but we're fine. We'll have around $60,000 in the bank after the down payment and closing costs, etc. And we're buying well, well below what we've been approved for - our mortgage payments will be half of what we now pay. I'm more concerned with moving and having to store our stuff indefinitely. Also, kenneling our pets is not an option for us. My cousin is a lawyer who deals exclusively with real estate issues, so it's actually a pretty good deal. I didn't mean to downplay what he's been doing for us.
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Jun 29, 2011 03:16
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2nd-ing the "termite damage? run tha gently caress away" sentiment. There are a ton of houses out there on the market take your time and find the right one without any issues, much less a nightmare one like termites. I have seen houses that looked perfectly OK but were half eaten through once you started to go into the walls. You will likely not know the true extent of the damage until after you've bought the place and pulled open the walls. Your kid will not become deformed if you rent for a while nor will your pets die if they stay in a kennel for a while and storage is dirt cheap for someone in your finanical position much less vs. the cost of even a cheap home. You got $60k in the bank after a what, 10-20% downpayment on a $100k home, and you worry about storage? Come on you gotta be kidding. At least get the price knocked down $10-20k more or something for termite damage if you can't let the place go.
PC LOAD LETTER fucked around with this message at 04:21 on Jun 29, 2011 |
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Jun 29, 2011 04:19
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slowfoot posted:ETA: Also, the house has an active termite infestion, goddamn. We may just walk away from the deal and keep looking, but it sucks already having around $1000 invested already. I understand rushing, I had to do it in the past when my parents told me they were selling the house from under me, so I rushed and picked a house that I regret buying (the one I am now losing). THERE IS A BETTER HOUSE OUT THERE (and yes, in your price range too)! Re-evaluate neighborhoods, you might find one that you at first dismissed is really not bad. Hell, I dismissed good portions of my area based on what I heard years ago and looking at the same areas now, a few are better than what my current neighborhood has become (a LOT less vacant homes, for one). You are pre-approved. You have a high-percentage down-payment. Real estate agents should be tripping over themselves to serve you. Find a better agent.
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Jun 29, 2011 06:33
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I was in the same position 6 months ago and could easily dismiss homes that weren't perfect (and I had a few small problems after the purchase). This is a huge purchase and your buying conditions mean that you're a plum customer- don't be afraid to leverage that. The whole process went way easier when I was financing less than 80%.
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Jun 29, 2011 08:05
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Yeah, we still might walk away. We're going to ask for about 10K off the price most likely. I don't think the sellers will do it because the purchase price is so little already. My husband talked to the termite guy last night and he said he found no signs of live termites or their poo poo, but did find one small corner of the basement subfloor that had a termite gallery, which I assume is the holes they make in wood. We are asking the sellers to have a structural engineer out to evaluate the damage. If there's a problem we certainly won't buy. Also, termite guys says it will cost around $700 to treat the house. Is that low? I've had it done before and remember it being a lot more, but maybe that's just because it was in CA.
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Jun 29, 2011 12:24
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slowfoot posted:Yeah, we still might walk away. We're going to ask for about 10K off the price most likely. I don't think the sellers will do it because the purchase price is so little already. As someone that just had to deal with termites, you're going to be looking at a couple hundred bucks to kill them, then thousands upon thousands to repair what they did. And they'll be right back to keep eating your house, so a couple hundred in outside traps so you know when to spend another couple hundred to get your house sprayed again. Its a perpetual problem, not just a one time spray and done.
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Jun 29, 2011 13:44
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Yeah, I'm leaning towards 'move on', but my husband would still like to get more inspections. There are other options we liked that are still on the market. There aren't any newer homes in any of the areas we like. This house has pretty much everything we want (sans termites, etc). I know we're going to run into problems with every house we look at: older home + low price = not everything will be perfect or updated.
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Jun 29, 2011 14:51
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slowfoot posted:Yeah, I'm leaning towards 'move on', but my husband would still like to get more inspections. There are other options we liked that are still on the market. With the size of your down payment and such, perhaps you need to raise your price a little. It sounds as if the only reason that this one is meeting your needs is because of the electrical and termite problems. If it were not for that this home would be in a higher price range, that should serve as a clue to it's true value.
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Jun 29, 2011 14:56
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Just FYI anywhere where dirt meets wood is an ingress point for termites, and most treatments only hold them back for about a year.
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Jul 1, 2011 07:57
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Is there a logical way to use Michael Bluejay's rent vs. buy calculator if I'm buying a house with two friends? If I put in the data as if I'm the only buyer, the result of rent vs. buy won't be correct for my situation, so how do I use this calculator to only factor my portion of the purchase? We're looking at a max price of 250k, with at least 10% down. I have the least saved up between the three of us, so my portion of the down-payment will be less than my friends' (probably about $3k), and I will also be paying less into the mortgage (say 20% instead of an equal 33%). Does that all make sense?
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Jul 2, 2011 16:47
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OlSpazzy posted:Does that all make sense? No, Do Never Buy. I think that is Do Never Buy2 when you are saying you are buying a property with two of your bros.
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Jul 2, 2011 16:54
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Ok, let me rephrase the question: Is it possible to use that calculator for a "tenancy in common" arrangement? And if so, how do I do it?
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Jul 2, 2011 17:26
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OlSpazzy posted:Ok, let me rephrase the question: You can rephrase your question as many times as you want. But I think you were able to communicate your intentions clearly the first time. But let attempt to rephrase what Arzakon said: DON’T EVER BUY A HOUSE WITH TWO OF YOUR FRIENDS! THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY IT WILL WORK OUT FINE. THERE ARE HUNDEREDS OF WAYS THIS CAN SCREW UP! AND IF (WHEN) IT DOES YOU WILL LOSE YOUR FRIENDS, LOSE MONEY, OR BOTH!!! AND I DON’T CARE IF YOUR ONLINE CALCULATOR TELLS YOU IT’S A GOOD IDEA! Also, just so you know, if you do it anyway, there is no such thing as “my portion”.
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Jul 2, 2011 17:39
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OlSpazzy posted:Ok, let me rephrase the question: Not to dog pile on you, but you do need to realize that arrangements like this seem to have about a 10% success rate. Even if you could personally swing 50% of the price (in case someone drops out / dies / disappears off the face of the earth / whatever), you are still at great risk, and the only way to cover your rear end properly involves getting a lawyer. That said, the calculations should be pretty straightforward. Just run the numbers for a house valued at 1/3 of the price and everything should jive (other than the human factors that will most likely make this fail). Just make sure you're accounting for everything people typically ignore like maintenance, utilities, tax, insurance, etc.
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Jul 2, 2011 18:01
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House Buying Megathread: The answer is NO.
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Jul 2, 2011 19:05
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Yeah but the answer here is especially no. A tenancy in common is a business relationship, with a contract. It's like buying a condo, except a lot worse. You can easily be in a situation where the other stakeholders prevent you from selling your stake; or (worse) where you are suddenly liable for the entire mortgage. This is not a situation where you want personal relationships interfering. At some point someone is very likely to lose their job, or have a sudden financial expense, and you do not want your "bro" asking you to please float his mortgage payment this month and feeling obliged to do it because you don't want to lose your friendship. Or worse, someone goes bankrupt, walks away from the debt, and guess what? You're unable to sell his portion because it now belongs to his lender, or whatever. It's a legal morass. Don't do it. Especially don't do it without the advice of a good lawyer experienced in TICs specifically. Especially especially don't do it with your friends or family members.
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Jul 2, 2011 20:46
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It is seriously a terrible idea with the potential to ruin your credit rating and your friendships. I would suggest renting a room from them instead. I know it sounds sucky and I know you're probably excited about living with friends in your own house but I promise you it is a bad idea to get involved in this. General advice from this thread is not to buy a place that you're planning to live in less than 5 years. In five years, any one of you could have gotten a job in a different city or just gotten an urge to move to a different place. Any one of you could have met someone and decided to settle down and have kids, or met someone who gets a great job offer in a different city. One of you could lose your job. One of you could just totally flake. Two of you get into a fight and don't want to live together any more. One of you gets a gf/bf that the others don't like and it becomes serious enough that they want to move in. One of you gets into an accident and can't work, and unemployment isn't enough to cover the bills. One of you leaves a cigarette burning and a house fire destroys part of the house. Someone gets drunk and breaks something big but can't afford to fix it. The roof starts leaking in one room and it turns out it needs replacing but you don't have savings to fix it. The market tanks and you are now underwater on your mortgage, and you disagree about whether or not to continue paying or sell. You really don't think any of these possibilities are likely for three young people in the next five years? You won't even have built up any equity by then; closing costs will be double your initial contribution to the down payment. Please reconsider doing this.
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Jul 2, 2011 21:23
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