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Turkey Farts posted:It's not that he can't explain it. It's that he was recommended by a friend and my interactions with him have been brief and limited to email atm. This one's on me because he shouldn't have to be the one explaining this stuff to me for the first time. "Hey that Loan Estimate form you sent over with no handwritten notes on it? Yeah, let's schedule 30 minutes to go over it I'm so lost on what these terms mean. I'm available: time, time, time." If he balks, walk. (My broker tried playing the handwritten notes game. Noooooooooooope.)
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Nov 27, 2018 18:35
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I'm reluctant to trust anyone who's selling me something, so I would probably want to have a good idea what the answers should be before I asked my broker. https://michaelbluejay.com/house/ has enough information so that you can ask the right questions and interpret the answers.
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Nov 27, 2018 18:35
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Residency Evil posted:Christ this drama continues. We agreed on a price and signed off on what we thought was our final offer on Friday, with the sellers supposed to cosign on Saturday. Nothing Saturday. Then it turns out they were on a ski trip and would sign Sunday. Nothing Sunday. Then it turns out they were on a ski trip AND waiting to talk to the sellers of the house that they're buying to get an extra 10-20k in assistance in closing costs to try to make up for the selling price of their home. This is not going to end well. Holy poo poo they signed; right before midnight before their other contract expired!
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Nov 28, 2018 12:28
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Residency Evil posted:Holy poo poo they signed; right before midnight before their other contract expired! Congratudolences!
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Nov 28, 2018 14:16
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Motronic posted:Congratudolences! Homeownership is eternally questioning - do I own this, or does it own me?
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Nov 28, 2018 17:15
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What's up with mortgage companies not following up? Wife and I are building a house in a new development. We're approved through the builders mortgage arm, but wanted to check some others out to see if we could get a better rate/longer rate lock. So far, we've tried two and neither have gotten back to us after we've filled out the initial applications. Are they just backed up, or are they crappy and we should move on? Of course now we're outside the 30 day window so it's another hard inquiry.
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Nov 28, 2018 20:09
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Try a mortgage broker, maybe? They'll chase down a bunch of quotes, and they get paid by the lender so it costs you nothing.
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Nov 28, 2018 20:19
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Omne posted:What's up with mortgage companies not following up? Wife and I are building a house in a new development. We're approved through the builders mortgage arm, but wanted to check some others out to see if we could get a better rate/longer rate lock. So far, we've tried two and neither have gotten back to us after we've filled out the initial applications. Are they just backed up, or are they crappy and we should move on? Yeah lots of places are crap. Make sure you check your spam folders, and they may be behind on followups due to the holiday weekend. Though sometimes web forms do just get lost. Omne posted:Of course now we're outside the 30 day window so it's another hard inquiry. Stop it, no one cares, certainly not your lender. You will sign a little form that has all of the pulls on it that says "This is all for this loan, and nothing resulted in a line of credit." The internet as a whole's obsession with individual pulls and 20 point swings in fake FICO scores is ridiculous.
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Nov 28, 2018 20:47
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EAT FASTER!!!!!! posted:Homeownership is eternally questioning - do I own this, or does it own me? I wonder if my wife and I can hide that we bought a home from everyone at work.  Got a 4.25% 10/1 ARM. Hopefully this works out well. Residency Evil fucked around with this message at 23:01 on Nov 28, 2018 |
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Nov 28, 2018 22:57
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lol if you give a gently caress about mortgage agents checking your credit, the whole point of building a credit score is for things like this once you own a house then it's time to go nuts on credit card reward offers
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Nov 28, 2018 23:05
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Residency Evil posted:I wonder if my wife and I can hide that we bought a home from everyone at work. Just lie and tell them you are renting it on a 10 year lease.
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Nov 28, 2018 23:35
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Is title insurance a common thing they want to screw you on? The estimate by my mortgage guy is thousands more than the estimate my broker gave me...
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Nov 29, 2018 03:04
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Residency Evil posted:Is title insurance a common thing they want to screw you on? The estimate by my mortgage guy is thousands more than the estimate my broker gave me... Thousands in difference sounds awful high. I recently paid about $2800 for all the lender's title insurance F U fees and $500 on my (optional) title insurance on about a half-million property. Check with the mortgage company if it's something you can shop for. In most cases, it is.
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Nov 29, 2018 03:23
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B-Nasty posted:Thousands in difference sounds awful high. I recently paid about $2800 for all the lender's title insurance F U fees and $500 on my (optional) title insurance on about a half-million property. Yeah, I was surprised too. I'm getting quoted almost $6k which sounds insane. Looks like I'll shop a bit.
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Nov 29, 2018 03:28
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Residency Evil posted:Yeah, I was surprised too. I'm getting quoted almost $6k which sounds insane. Looks like I'll shop a bit. Wow. In California I seem to recall title insurance being $500/shot. You can shop that as I recall. What is so expensive about title research there? Edit: nope 2700 total for both. H110Hawk fucked around with this message at 05:39 on Nov 29, 2018 |
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Nov 29, 2018 05:35
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Strangely enough title insurance is regulated as hell here in Texas. Rate gets set by the state.
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Nov 29, 2018 05:47
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Residency Evil posted:Is title insurance a common thing they want to screw you on? The estimate by my mortgage guy is thousands more than the estimate my broker gave me... Make sure you're comparing apples to apples. "Title insurance" that your lender requires you to purchase protects THEM. "Owners title insurance" or "enhanced title insurance" (two different levels of coverage) covers YOU after the property has been purchased. And hell yes you can shop these services.
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Nov 29, 2018 17:06
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Motronic posted:Make sure you're comparing apples to apples. "Title insurance" that your lender requires you to purchase protects THEM. "Owners title insurance" or "enhanced title insurance" (two different levels of coverage) covers YOU after the property has been purchased. And hell yes you can shop these services. And you double super want title insurance. If something comes up where you need it it's a massive bargain. The price is so low compared to what they will have to do if you wind up with a valid claim.
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Nov 29, 2018 17:11
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H110Hawk posted:And you double super want title insurance. If something comes up where you need it it's a massive bargain. The price is so low compared to what they will have to do if you wind up with a valid claim. Absolutely. And in PA it's all the same policy - I think in some states the owner's side is seperate. So in REs case he's shopping for one single policy to cover it all. And RE, having seen the property you're closing on you want enhanced. That will cover things years later like "turns out my fence/driveway was actually on my neighbor's property."
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Nov 29, 2018 17:18
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Motronic posted:Absolutely. Thanks man. Is this something I should have a lawyer take a look over? The title insurance company has an arbitration clause in the agreement: I assume that's pretty standard?
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Dec 4, 2018 23:15
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Residency Evil posted:Thanks man. Is this something I should have a lawyer take a look over? The title insurance company has an arbitration clause in the agreement: I assume that's pretty standard? Unfortunately arbitration clauses are pretty inescapable now. I didn't see a single enhanced title insurance offer without one, and I did have my attorney look it over and got a "yeah.....this is standard language now."
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Dec 5, 2018 00:14
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Residency Evil posted:Thanks man. Is this something I should have a lawyer take a look over? The title insurance company has an arbitration clause in the agreement: I assume that's pretty standard?
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Dec 5, 2018 05:26
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Hoooly poo poo the $195 I spent on having a camera put down the drain is the best 200 bucks I've ever spent. The terracotta pipes outside the house to the sewer are filled with tree roots. We'll see how this goes over with the sellers. Other stuff included some leakage issues around the chimneys, some potential wood damage to the garage on one side, and some minor roof repairs. Pretty positive news except for the drain. We'll see what these sellers say.
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Dec 6, 2018 19:53
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One last thing: do I definitely want enhanced title insurance? It's about $500-600 difference.
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Dec 7, 2018 15:48
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Yeah the enhanced one is the one that actually covers you not the lender. Ideally youll never need it, but it falls under incredibly well spent extra 600 bucks if you ever did.
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Dec 7, 2018 15:51
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I love that in TYOL 2018 - There are still 10,000 forms that can't be electronically signed, and must have your "exact" signature. - Everything is still god damned legal size. I have a nice fireproof safe for all my important documents but it's smaller so I have to cram everything into it like a Neanderthal
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Dec 7, 2018 15:56
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gtkor posted:Yeah the enhanced one is the one that actually covers you not the lender. Ideally youll never need it, but it falls under incredibly well spent extra 600 bucks if you ever did. Sorry, the standard one covers me as well, doesn't it? Enhanced includes things like inflation protection.
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Dec 7, 2018 16:14
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Residency Evil posted:Sorry, the standard one covers me as well, doesn't it? No. It covers the lender. https://pa-titlecompany.com/why-you-need-title-insurance/
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Dec 7, 2018 16:46
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EFB by the very guy I said covered this lol
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Dec 7, 2018 16:46
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Looking to potentially buy a house (in PA) that was built 1890. My current house was built in 1955, so I'm not as experienced in the potential bullshit that can accompany a truly old house. Is there anything major I should be on the lookout for outside of the usual stuff? Will be getting an inspection but also looking to educate myself a bit. What I know so far: -Maybe lead paint? -Gas radiators for heat -Knob and tube (is this actually an issue?) -Old plumbing Spring Heeled Jack fucked around with this message at 17:38 on Dec 7, 2018 |
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Dec 7, 2018 17:26
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Spring Heeled Jack posted:Looking to potentially buy a house (in PA) that was built 1890. My current house was built in 1955, so I'm not as experienced in the potential bullshit that can accompany a truly old house. Is there anything major I should be on the lookout for outside of the usual stuff? Will be getting an inspection but also looking to educate myself a bit. Something that I didn't realize would be as big of a pain in the rear end as it was when I bought my old house is outlets - there were almost no 3 prong outlets, and the few 2 prong ones that were there were spread from here to eternity. I had some long extension cords laid out because I was too lazy/cheap to get an electrician to put some grounded plugs in.
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Dec 7, 2018 17:46
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Spring Heeled Jack posted:Looking to potentially buy a house (in PA) that was built 1890. My current house was built in 1955, so I'm not as experienced in the potential bullshit that can accompany a truly old house. Is there anything major I should be on the lookout for outside of the usual stuff? Will be getting an inspection but also looking to educate myself a bit. If you don't know what you might be getting yourself into, I'm going to recommend against buying a house that old. Problems will range from asbestos/lead to outdated plumbing/electrical to very poor energy efficiency to crumbling structure. Unless the previous owners have spend considerable money and effort trying to bring this stuff into the current century, you better be ready to open up your wallet. Probably the most important thing is to hire a structural engineer to inspect the foundation and any other general construction they can. Don't listen to the "it's been standing this long, herr durr" bullshit that people like to say. Many older houses are quite literally crumbling to the ground. You don't want to be the one holding that hot potato when the music stops.
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Dec 7, 2018 17:47
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Spring Heeled Jack posted:Looking to potentially buy a house (in PA) that was built 1890. My current house was built in 1955, so I'm not as experienced in the potential bullshit that can accompany a truly old house. Is there anything major I should be on the lookout for outside of the usual stuff? Will be getting an inspection but also looking to educate myself a bit. The radiators would generally be hot water from a gas or oil fired boiler. Old wiring and plumbing you’d want to replace over time anyway. Known and tube isn’t as bad as people say as long as it hasn’t been messed with. The biggest sign of possible issues with houses that old, in my opinion, is renovations. People likely cut into good, original wood. Hack up plumbing. Tie in to and extend knob and tube. This is the poo poo that’ll really cause you issues. Honestly, I’d rather see some water stained plaster than nice new drywall in a house that old if I were buying it. Then there’s possible asbestos and lead water supply lines.
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Dec 7, 2018 18:06
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Looking at the foundation is a good point, and you should also try to find out what has been done regarding any of the systems, like electrical, plumbing, gas, and insulation. If the owners don't know, assume it's not been done or done badly. For instance, just because you have a new electric panel, doesn't mean that the wiring has been updated - someone may have just swapped the panel and tied all the old wiring back into it, so what's in the walls is still ancient. If no one has tackled the insulation, it is probably terrible by any modern standard. Ask the inspector to make a note of things that are not up to current code. These may not be a big issue, but it's a good thing to know about - for example, the railings on our stairs are below current code height. You can decide something like that is ok, but it's useful to know because code is usually set to the minimum standard for a reason, and you'll want to decide if you're ok being below that - also if you do some renovations you would generally need to bring other things in the area to code, which is good to plan for. Medullah posted:Something that I didn't realize would be as big of a pain in the rear end as it was when I bought my old house is outlets - there were almost no 3 prong outlets, and the few 2 prong ones that were there were spread from here to eternity. I had some long extension cords laid out because I was too lazy/cheap to get an electrician to put some grounded plugs in. If you have K&T that has not been disturbed or mistreated in it's lifespan it's might be fine, but this will also mean it's restricted to the sparse outlets and possibly low ampage of the original installation. Also K&T screws with your ability to add/improve insulation, so if you have K&T you probably also have dismal insulation in the house.
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Dec 7, 2018 18:08
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Jealous Cow posted:The radiators would generally be hot water from a gas or oil fired boiler. Obviously I'll get a better idea when I go to look this weekend, but from the photos it all looks original. No crazy hosed-up 'french country' renos or otherwise. Original 6' baseboards, hardwood, etc.
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Dec 7, 2018 18:20
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One problem with Knob and Tube (beyond maybe burning your house down) is you'll have to jump through more hoops to get your house insured and it'll cost more.
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Dec 7, 2018 18:29
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Spring Heeled Jack posted:Looking to potentially buy a house (in PA) that was built 1890. My current house was built in 1955, so I'm not as experienced in the potential bullshit that can accompany a truly old house. Is there anything major I should be on the lookout for outside of the usual stuff? Will be getting an inspection but also looking to educate myself a bit. Let's start with this: is it an old wooden house or an old stone farmhouse? Because the latter is even worse to deal with. The next most important question is basically how much maintenance and updating has been done? Because that makes all the difference. I've been in barely updated 1800s/1700s houses that you couldn't even reasonably get a washer and dryer into (despite it being a large home) with insufficient electrical (still running on a 60 amp fuse box) with original windows and a 40 year old oil burner retrofit that took up most of the basement with low hanging pipes, etc. I've also been in immaculately restored and modernized versions of the same.
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Dec 7, 2018 19:45
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Spring Heeled Jack posted:Looking to potentially buy a house (in PA) that was built 1890. My current house was built in 1955, so I'm not as experienced in the potential bullshit that can accompany a truly old house. Is there anything major I should be on the lookout for outside of the usual stuff? Will be getting an inspection but also looking to educate myself a bit. Recent old house buyer here - 1910 (or older) Victorian, in a mostly unadulterated state (lots of original stuff, both desirable and not, but no major renovations). My husband and I are crazy people and deliberately sought out an old not-updated house. The problem was that good updates like new wiring and plumbing and extra bathrooms came packaged with hideous remodeling that would have been more troublesome and costly to undo than it would be to fix old wiring/plumbing. I definitely agree that past renovations are a big potential point of concern, more so than stuff like old pipes and wiring, which are known/expected factors in an old house. With past renovations, you have no clue what's going on with them until you rip them open, and you either find competent proper work (if you're lucky) or the stuff of nightmares (probably more likely). As for your points: - Presence of lead paint is extremely likely. Options are encapsulation or abatement (check out local laws for handling this). We signed a lead waiver thing to promise not to get mad/sue if we find lead (because we will find lead). It's standard practice. Asbestos is way less likely - 1890 is a bit before asbestos mining and production became heavily commercialized. You'd most likely find it in the form of pipe insulation, I think. - Radiators (full of hot water heated by gas boiler) totally own and should be a plus. They keep the house cozy and warm without drying out the air or blowing dust and allergens around. - As others have said, knob and tube is only really a problem if it's been tampered with (like in shoddy renovations). I am in PA too and we had no problem getting the house insured. This is something we will fix piecemeal as we restore various parts of the house. - The only plumbing issues we're dealing with so far are leaky fixtures (which are not old). The bathroom and probably the plumbing was redone in the 30's, so it's likely not all original, but still super old. We will eventually replace it because we want bigger pipes (to prevent the person in the shower from getting scalded if someone else so much as touches a cold water spigot), not because it's broken/bad. So yeah, old houses have more poo poo for you to deal with, but on the other hand, they are built with materials of a caliber that doesn't exist anymore (I love my gigantic old growth joists) and if you find one that was built well and also well maintained, it will be a very good house for a long time yet. And they have detailing that's just not done anymore (if some rear end in a top hat hasn't stripped it out).
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Dec 7, 2018 21:47
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Queen Victorian posted:So yeah, old houses have more poo poo for you to deal with, but on the other hand, they are built with materials of a caliber that doesn't exist anymore (I love my gigantic old growth joists) and if you find one that was built well and also well maintained, it will be a very good house for a long time yet. I just have to point out this is NOT because "they don't build them like they used to." It's because of survivor bias: only the very best are still standing. Queen Victorian posted:And they have detailing that's just not done anymore (if some rear end in a top hat hasn't stripped it out). That is definitely true. Which brings me to an actual point: you want to make sure that are insured for replacement value if these things matter to you. Because if you have the wrong type of insurance and suffer a loss you will NOT get anything close to the same back unless you have both the correct insurance and photos/documentation of what things are supposed to look like.
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Dec 8, 2018 00:27
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Motronic posted:I just have to point out this is NOT because "they don't build them like they used to." It's because of survivor bias: only the very best are still standing. Oh indeed - that's why I mentioned making sure the house was built well to begin with and also maintained. Plenty of old houses were built like crap (many of which are no longer standing), and even plenty of ones that were originally built very well might have faced issues like bad roofs and other deferred maintenance problems over the years and have deteriorated as a result. quote:That is definitely true. Which brings me to an actual point: you want to make sure that are insured for replacement value if these things matter to you. Because if you have the wrong type of insurance and suffer a loss you will NOT get anything close to the same back unless you have both the correct insurance and photos/documentation of what things are supposed to look like. Oh yeah, this is important to consider. We made sure to get the "remake it exactly as it was" option which was decidedly more expensive, but the standard option was 200k complete rebuild and bottom shelf repair payouts. 200k would get us a small builder grade shitbox, not a huge Victorian. So yeah, the conundrum is that we paid like 220k for this house, but it would cost 500k or more to build it today. We also wanted to be covered sufficiently for partial damage - like if a drunk careens into our porch and smashes our vestibule and its parquet floor, I want a new vestibule with a parquet floor, not a fiberglass replacement door from Home Depot.
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Dec 8, 2018 01:42
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