Real Estate: My home buying journey and mistakes! |
- My home buying journey and mistakes!
- What’s the one thing you wished you knew before you sold your house?
- Should a first homebuyer aim to buy a multi-family home or a cheaper single family home?
- One week from closing and this happens...
- Bought a Condo, Didn’t know about Remodel Status
- Realtor dropped a bomb today.
- What's the best sign we can put on our front door to encourage people to wear booties and mask without offending or scaring them away?
- Selling our place and everything was going perfectly until the buyer backed out...
- Best time of day for shooting house photos?
- Advice needed!
- Cash Out Refinance - Rental Property
- Citizenship status and home buying
- Am I crazy?
- Changing Jobs as I Buy My First Home
- Inspection Tomorrow: Any last minute tips that you wish you'd known before you went to your home inspection?
- Paying commission as a buyer
- Disclosure by home owner on their Covid-19 status
- Seller failed to disclose AC Issue
- Home inspection before new construction home warranty runs out
- Question for the Real Estate Agents (NV)
- Seller wants to back out
- The apartment I rent is being sold and the real estate agent, I feel, is overstepping boundaries.
- Buyer asked for an amendment
- Looking for advice on a house without a garden!
- Living in the UK and interested in the idea of Part Exchanging
| My home buying journey and mistakes! Posted: 25 Jun 2020 06:12 AM PDT My wife and I always joked about wanting a complete remodel. When it came to buy, we viewed a few and wow so much work. We elected to go with a house we knew needed some work but was liveable. We elected for no inspection, kept our appraisal and financial contingencies. Offer sent 5/15 5:45pm Offer accepted 5/15 7:13pm Going great so far! We obtained a previous inspection report from two months prior, Minor things. Needs a slight grade, Furnace is 18 years old, water heater is 11 years old. Outlets need replaced. Water was off for a year and a half Time to close We are set to close at 9am the next day. Great! No issues or hiccups, per our lender and agent smooth transaction. Until less than 14 hours to go my lender calls me and says we aren't closing at 9am. The Insurance agent has sent a policy that has a typo four times and isn't responding.. shit We scramble but no luck that nice. Agent gets the policy corrected as my agent went to their office to make sure they got it. Side note: They spelled JPMorgan wrong and entered the wrong address. Great! Corrected document sent, lender gives the OK. Closing attorney says hold up and squeezes us in at 3pm the same day. No more drama right? Oh no... we didn't get the inspection. Surprise, we turn the water on. Test everything, and the main drain pipe for the sewer is leaking every time a toliet is flushed. son of a... Get a plumber out, $490 later with a discount and it's fixed! Great! Oh the refrigerator doesn't fit? Time to remove the overhead cabinets.... What's this? They cut lines running to the breaker box because they never updates from 100 amp to 200 amp.. ALWAYS GET an INSPECTION So here I wait to spend another $1900 to change from 100 amp to 200 amp so I can connect my Dryer and replace my outlets. A $500 inspection could have saved me 4K, the 4K could go up from here. Be vigilant! [link] [comments] |
| What’s the one thing you wished you knew before you sold your house? Posted: 24 Jun 2020 07:42 PM PDT I learned a bunch of stuff when I bought my house (and I won't make the same mistakes again). But now I'm looking to sell my house. What's a hard-won lesson that you learned that could help a newbie? [link] [comments] |
| Should a first homebuyer aim to buy a multi-family home or a cheaper single family home? Posted: 25 Jun 2020 10:23 AM PDT Hello, my girlfriend and I are beginning to look at buying our first house together in about a years time. I was curious what this thread has to say. We are both very interested in being sensible and putting our money in the best position but I'm unsure which is a better option. Depending on the area some duplex properties can be almost double the price of a reasonable single-family home. We are both great savers and are in our early-mid 20s. My question is, should we aim high and buy a duplex for the added rental income, or aim to buy and payoff a single family home much quicker? Thank you for your time. [link] [comments] |
| One week from closing and this happens... Posted: 24 Jun 2020 09:24 PM PDT Our mortgage broker emailed to say that my husband's credit report "expired", because it had been 90 days since it was pulled. After it was pulled it was noted that his score went down. So therefore, our mortgage insurance was gonna have to go up. Why did his score drop? Because they pulled his credit and he got dinged for another hard inquiry. Two things: 1. WTF? They pulled his credit and dropped his score and WE have to pay for it?? There was no other reason for his score to be lowered.
Does this seem extremely shady and wrong to anyone else? Or is this typical last week of escrow stuff? Because it seems nuts to me and I'm furious. [link] [comments] |
| Bought a Condo, Didn’t know about Remodel Status Posted: 24 Jun 2020 11:45 AM PDT I recently bought my first property in the form of a condo in downtown Chicago (April 1). The place was remodeled right before selling with the exception of one final piece of work needed, which was the microwave. The seller apparently had some issues with the placement of the microwave and ran out of time before COVID hit to finish it. During inspection and negotiations, I received a credit for this work to be done later. I was totally fine with this, but I just found out today that the unit needed to have a post-remodel inspection by the building engineer that was never done. They even came to my unit and pointed out a few things that they knew about before i bought the place that would need to be completed (they pretty much said: no big deal, you'll need to just pick up where he left off). I was not informed that this had not passed a building inspection yet when buying the place. Do I have any recourse as to why this was not disclosed by A) the seller B) the building or C) the inspectors I used for purchase? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 25 Jun 2020 08:58 AM PDT So this one might be a bit complicated. Here's some basics for my family: Mom: 20k in savings (dwindled from 100k with new house expenses and medical emergencies). 20k in credit card debt. 19k in car loan. I don't know many monthly payment amounts. about 5k a month in retirement income. The houses: New house: 1,800 square feet, two levels, 3 br, 3 full baths. will finish in a few weeks, probably have about 160k in a mortgage at the end of it. So the plan was to sell the old house, my parents had anchored on 265k for it. that would be enough to handle all the debts except the mortgage on the new house, and leave some money lefter over to restock moms savings. My father is entering into early stage dementia and full blown mental implasticity. He decided he would sell the house himself because he has some pretty profound emotional issues surrounding wealth and property. (he grew up devastatingly poor in rural texas) I would raise the idea of a realtor and he would refuse to entertain it. My mother knows a realtor, but doesn't trust he'd do a good job, so she wouldn't entertain a realtor because she didn't want to hurt our friends feelings. Which means that we (my brother and I) have been operating for 2 years under the assumption that they know what they're talking about and have a good plan. My brother is more successful at making them change their minds, and so a realtor was called and did a walk through. She believes, as it stands, the house is worth about 160k. With 30-50k in renovation, we could begin to approach 250, provided the market doesn't collapse from covid. So here are my questions:
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| Posted: 24 Jun 2020 04:39 PM PDT We just put our house on the market a couple of days ago and had a couple of showings yesterday. We have a 10 month old who crawls around the house so we'd like to keep the floors clean. We were told by our realtor that any showings will require everyone to wear at least a mask. We left a basket on the porch filled with booties for their feet, some gloves, a stack of masks and a trashcan to dispose of them when they're done. Out of curiosity, we looked into our ring doorbell's recordings and one couple didn't have a mask, refused to wear the booties, and on top of that, we heard their realtor tell them "no you don't have to wear any of that." Obviously, this was very frustrating for us because we had to clean the house again when we got home. Any advice would be appreciated. [link] [comments] |
| Selling our place and everything was going perfectly until the buyer backed out... Posted: 25 Jun 2020 10:56 AM PDT So my boyfriend and I live in a condo that he owns (he bought it before we met). He has been living there for almost 4 years and I for 1 year. It's a studio (although 550+ feet so fairly big for a studio) but we wanted a bigger place to live, especially since it is the 2 of us now. Fortunately, there's a brand new development opening up across the street and we decided to rent there. BEAUTIFUL units and our unit is 1+1 and 850 square feet. It's huge compared to our old place. We actually know the owners of the unit (his parents bought it as investors) so we are renting from them. But there's a legal rental agreement and everything, so the process of renting from them is very standard (although they are giving us a bit of a discount). Anyways, the move in date for the new place was mid-June so we decided to list our condo mid-May. Everything was going extremely well. Within a week of listing our condo, we got a conditional offer. Everything was going well with that as well, and the closing date was the end of June. However, about a week before we moved into our new place the buyer backed out. He was a first time home-buyer (about 23 years old) and the condo has a special assessment coming up and he didn't like the uncertainty around all of that. My boyfriend agreed to pay the cost of that (about 3k), but the buyer didn't want to deal with any of that in his very first home (fair enough). Also, 2 days before the buyer backed out, we get a leak in our ceiling (OF COURSE this would happen then!). My boyfriend had a leak in the same spot about 3 years ago. It was fixed (clogged drain in the unit above) hasn't happened since. Hasn't happened once in three years. But it decided to leak again right before we were about to close. There have been several thunderstorms over the past few weeks, and nothing has happened since. The management was not able to access the unit above as the residents weren't responding and they're not able to go into units without notice due to COVID. The issue could be one of 2 things: 1) clogged drain in the unit above or 2) envelop leak, which is an issue the entire building has been dealing with and what the special assessment will fix. And again, we will pay for the special assessment. So, fast forward a few weeks and we have moved to the rental condo (been living here for 1.5 weeks now) and our old place is still on the market. The realtor is re-listing it over the next day or so (it took so long to re-list as we thought we may have had interest from a private buyer) at a reduced price. To be fair, we actually pushed the realtor to list it higher than he wanted when we first listed it. But now we are reducing the price by $5000 of the original price. The realtor also mentioned that the condo has recently been marked as "unsold" on realtor websites and there has been very little interest in it over the past week or so. This REALLY worries me. His plan is to re-list it at a new price, with a new description and using new pictures. The place itself is beautiful. The building is about 6 years old. The unit has beautiful floors, and granite countertops. It's also in the best location in the entire city. This location is one of the most sought-after places in the city. The place includes parking as well. This is really stressing me out because I really don't want to be paying for 2 places at once for very long. The 2 places will likely cost us about 3k per month total. I am a grad student so I'm not rich, although do have a ton in my savings if we need to resort to that. My boyfriend and I can technically afford to pay for both of these places. We have enough in our joint account to completely cover the mortgage for the old place for 2 months. And we earn about 5500 per month after taxes between us. So, although we won't be able to save nearly as much holding down 2 places, we can afford it. But it's definitely less than idea as we would both like to grow our savings account. And I recently started earning a bit more money and was hoping to just put it towards my savings. My fear is not being able to ever sell this place due to the issue with the water leak. If it was just the special assessment, that's fine as we will cover that. But this random water leak, which just decided to start after 3 years with nothing, is making me scared it won't be able to sell (especially since the market isn't great). I have never sold a house before nor bought one so I am not sure how much of an issue this will be. I understand that the buyer didn't want to deal with it as he is a young guy and is likely very unfamiliar with all of this. What are your recommendations? Do you think that re-listing it at a reduced price could help significantly? Should we do some touch ups (such as painting any marks on the walls) to make it more appealing? Should we consider renting it our instead (although since our new place is more, we will lose some money in the short term)? EDIT: The water leak is very small and just in one corner of the room. There is a bit of paint pealing and discolouration in the ceiling that we are planning to paint over. EDIT: Realtors will now be made aware of the special assessment upfront and told that we will pay for it. So we won't have an issue again with a buyer backing out last minute [link] [comments] |
| Best time of day for shooting house photos? Posted: 25 Jun 2020 04:43 AM PDT Taking interior and exterior shots. May be used for a listing. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 25 Jun 2020 10:36 AM PDT In Louisiana. The house we're looking at was built in 1985, it sits on a little over 1 acre of land. It was foreclosed last year and is bank owned after it did not sell at auction. It's a 2-Story, 3 bed 2.5 bath home and looks rather decent. Listed for $85,000. The condition is listed as a C5. After inquiring about it, the agent stated that there are issues with: plumbing, foundation, AC, sewer (well water), and roof. This would be our first home (starter home) and it's worth 200k+. We know it would need major renovations, giving us a leg up in negotiations, but we're unsure at the amount of money we're looking at spending for the Reno. Based on your experience, what price range should we purchase the house for and what costs are we looking at for the renovation? [link] [comments] |
| Cash Out Refinance - Rental Property Posted: 25 Jun 2020 06:46 AM PDT Has anyone done a cash out refi of a rental property recently (last 1-2 months)? I'm wondering what mortgage company to look at. It's a small loan ($40-$50K), so I have historically had trouble getting it financed. I paid cash for the property a few years ago and would like to get that capital back for another project. Thanks! [link] [comments] |
| Citizenship status and home buying Posted: 25 Jun 2020 10:26 AM PDT Hello! Random question. I am here on a work visa but have been here for many years. It's not set to expire until the end of 2022 and I have a pretty good chance of going for residency next. My lender never asked if I was a citizen or not. I've sent all my documents, I have everything in line. 2018 and 2019 taxes, bank statements, pay stubs (I've been at the same job for 4 years I'm a teacher) copy of my drivers license (which states in there temporary since I'm not a permanent resident) Everything is in check and has been smooth, the lender company has every document they could possibly need. I am currently in underwriting and should be finishing the process soon. I guess my question is will citizenship status affect anything ? I just realized they simply asked for paperwork but no one ever really asked about status. I am in Texas by the way [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 25 Jun 2020 10:23 AM PDT I'm about to finish up my undergrad degree and I have a crazy idea. I'm 22, earning roughly $40,000 USD per year at the moment. I have $15,000 saved and I want to become a realtor. When I was in high school I shadowed a local realtor and helped them with everyday mundane tasks to really understand what being a realtor is like (this was in CA). Anyways, I want to move to an entire new country and become a realtor. Ideally in a fairly large city (longon is one example). I have savings and a steady job for now. How big of a risk is this? Am I just being young and naive? I have no debt, a lot of ambition, and many years to come in my future. Thoughts? [link] [comments] |
| Changing Jobs as I Buy My First Home Posted: 25 Jun 2020 09:44 AM PDT I've been working in the mortgage lending industry now for about 5 years. So I know that changing jobs in the middle of a mortgage transaction is ill-advised and can often cause issues. My question is more in the specific timing. In short if I give, let's say 2 months notice that I'm leaving, will HR know and thus not give me a sufficient VOE when I go to close on my home? Or will the VOE say "yes, currently employed" and then I'm okay? I guess I'm looking for underwriters who may have seen this. So, I want to get a mortgage with my current company (it's a small family-owned bank, they offer a rate discount and their pricing is lower than any bank I've worked for). However, I'm leaving the bank after I close for another job with more money (however, it's 70% commission). My plan right now is to close 9/1, give notice 9/2 and start at the other company 2 weeks later. The issue is, I feel really bad for the dept and I want time to train a replacement (everyone is so nice and kind here, I don't want to screw them over, but I cannot say no to the money $10k to $30k more at new job). So, if I close 9/1 and my last day is 9/14, if I give notice today, will that affect the VOE when I go to close on my home? Or will HR tell UW that I'm "currently active" and leave it at that? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 25 Jun 2020 09:14 AM PDT Hello all! I [F28] am a first time home buyer buying a property in need of modern updates - kitchen/bathrooms need updating; some carpets will need to be replaced. Mostly, the home is in between what Chip & Joanna Gaines see as a "Fixer Upper" but is not so ghastly as the sight-unseen homes that the Flip or Flop hosts would take a gamble on. I put in an offer for less than the house was listed for and got a counter offer for still less than the house was listed for. The previous buyer backed out of the sale but my realtor wasn't able to get any additional information other than "the house is old and it was too much $$ for the buyer to want to buy." Whatever. That made me KNOW I need to get an inspection. The house has a 3 year old roof and a 3-4 year old HVAC system. The crawlspace under the house on first look doesn't seem to be entirely terrifying. I know that I have a subfloor issue around the toilet in the master bathroom and this will probably be the first thing that needs to be repaired/replaced and possibly before I even move in. I am worried about this the most - if it turns out there needs to be an entire remodel in the bathroom, I don't want to be stuck with having to do that since this remodel is clear upon looking at the area - there is already mottled subfloor in view. My parents have redone/fixed up basically every house they've ever moved into so some basic repairs and renovations don't frighten me. I will be doing all of my own painting, floor replacements, lighting replacements, landscaping. My boyfriend has a wood shop and he is going to build me some custom shelving in my master bathroom/closet... so I am/have access to people that are handy... and Youtube. The things that require skill and code enforcement are what I'm worried about here - electrical wiring/plumbing/foundational issues. Anything you want to share with me before I go into this process tomorrow? I have already prepaid for the inspection - the property currently has renters in it so my realtor has arranged for them to be gone and I have access to all spaces/structures on the property. I also have paid for a separate termite inspection along with the home inspection. Final piece of information: located close to downtown in Knoxville, TN | the house was built in 1920. Thanks in advance! [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 25 Jun 2020 08:57 AM PDT Has anyone ever heard of paying a commission as a buyer should the listing agent take the listing at less than 3% to buyers agent? E.g. if the seller wrote the selling contract as 2.5% to sellers agent and 2.5% to buyers agent the buyer would be responsible to covering any gap of less than 3.0% (.5% if example listed) to their buyers agent. Had an agent ask for this and I've never seen it yet. I get it with Redfin and all the rest out there just was surprising at first glance - buyer being responsible in any commission gaps. [link] [comments] |
| Disclosure by home owner on their Covid-19 status Posted: 25 Jun 2020 12:53 AM PDT Hello, has anyone used or seen used at a closing a legal document where a home seller admits if they or anyone they have allowed in their home has knowingly had Covid-19? The closing attorneys are asking home buyers and sellers to sign about this before people come in their business to do a closing. Just curious if anyone has seen something similar signed by a home seller. Thank you! [link] [comments] |
| Seller failed to disclose AC Issue Posted: 25 Jun 2020 08:11 AM PDT Can anyone advise of an appropriate course of action for this scenario? It's a competitive market out there and in order to secure a deal on a home in my desired neighborhood, I had to waive the inspection contingency. The seller agreed to let me have an informational inspection and it was discovered the Central AC Unit was not functioning. I originally submitted my offer (waiving the inspection contingency) based upon the seller disclosure form, which did not indicate the AC had any known issues. I am under the impression I am entitled to a functioning AC Unit on the day of close as I did not agree to buy the house in "as-in" condition. It's the middle of summer and as far as I'm concerned, the AC not functioning is a known material defect. The seller claimed they did not know it was broken, but when we visited the house for the first time, all the windows were open and an AC window unit was stored away in the attic. Is the seller responsible for the full cost of fixing/replacing the unit? Obviously this has occurred prior to close and the seller has since acknowledged it is not functioning. As the buyer, I feel like it's not a concession to request all of the major systems in the home be functioning on Day 1, especially considering nothing of the contrary was disclosed as such. Any advice would be appreciated. [link] [comments] |
| Home inspection before new construction home warranty runs out Posted: 25 Jun 2020 07:50 AM PDT Hey Reddit, Over the years, we have helped a handful of clients purchase new construction homes that come with the builder's 1 year warranty. I'm wondering how many of you (either RE agents or homeowners) have done a home inspection around month 10 or 11 to identify any major issues to have the warranty cover before it expires? We thought this would be a good value add for our clients if we helped coordinate and / or even cover the cost as a client gift on closing. Would love your thoughts! [link] [comments] |
| Question for the Real Estate Agents (NV) Posted: 25 Jun 2020 07:30 AM PDT Me and my girlfriend have been putting offers on houses in Nevada. The Las Vegas market is pretty hot right now and we are getting out bid by people going over asking. Question. When your clients put in bids and are out bid, do you notify them with a call or text? Our current agent doesn't let us know when we get out bid and the only way we find out, is when the listing is moved to "pending". Is this normal? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 25 Jun 2020 07:19 AM PDT So we are under contract on a home. Seller asked if we could postpone our inspection to have done at same day as there city inspection. We signed an amendment stating ok, and scheduled the inspection. Our agent contacted there agent when he never received the amendment signed by them. Thats when they stated they wanted to back out because of bigger offer presented to them. I am worried they are now going to use the fact we didn't get the inspection done within original contract timeline to get out of contract. Any advice, we are scrambling to get an inspection done now but not sure whats going to happen. I know at this point they wont be willing to negotiate anything that comes up with the inspection but we still want to proceed. [link] [comments] |
| The apartment I rent is being sold and the real estate agent, I feel, is overstepping boundaries. Posted: 24 Jun 2020 06:56 PM PDT So this has been going on for over a week, I rent one of three family apartments in this house. I'm the only one who isn't drastically susceptible to COVID-19 so all the showings are through my apartment. I've had agents take their masks off inside, text me at 7am for a showing at 11am, make me wait and then not even show. Now they want me to allow them access while I'm not home. I wanna know the legal ramifications of me refusing to allow them inside, the agents have been inconvenient and overall intrusive while also jeopardizing my health. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 25 Jun 2020 05:47 AM PDT Hi, I accepted an offer to purchase my home that had two contingencies, inspection and appraisal. The inspection came back good but afterward, the buyers submitted an amendment requesting we provide 5k credit. They said this is because the HVAC is old. I asked my agent how they could submit an amendment that isn't based on either of their contingencies. He thought if an appliance was beyond it's expected working life, it could be considered a defect and therefore falls under the inspection. Is this reasonable? Thanks for any guidance. [link] [comments] |
| Looking for advice on a house without a garden! Posted: 25 Jun 2020 01:53 AM PDT Hello everyone! I'm looking for a bit of advice if possible around a house that my partner and I have gone sale agreed on. We managed to get our mortgage approved on Monday last week and Sale Agreed on Thursday in a mad turn of events. We both love the house and can really see it being our first home, there was a question right at the start about whether we would own the small backyard. It's a communal area that looked to be owned by the local council, the real estate agent assured us that it was owned by the house. Yesterday we found out that it wasn't... now we still love the house and would like to go ahead with the sale but not at the original price agreed. The thing is this is the first time we have ever bought a house and cannot work out how you put a value on something like a garden or renegotiate from there. Also the survey was completed and there's probably in the realm of 5k worth of work to be done on the house too, should that come off the agreed price also?!? Any help would be greatly appreciated! [link] [comments] |
| Living in the UK and interested in the idea of Part Exchanging Posted: 25 Jun 2020 12:19 AM PDT Hello, me and my wife are from the UK and are interested in the idea of part Exchanging our home instead of conventional selling. My parents advised us that you can part ex your home for another home and the home that youre buying doesnt need to be a new build. After doing a bunch of internet searching it seems i can only find offers for part ex with new builds. Are my parents simply wrong in this instance? Me and my wife would like a new build but we feel our budget won't stretch that far and so we would be more than happy getting a house that has already been lived in. Any help or advice anyone can give me would be greatly appreciated. Thank you :) [link] [comments] |
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