Real Estate: Are Home Inspectors Starting to Exaggerate and Falsify as a Form of CYA? |
- Are Home Inspectors Starting to Exaggerate and Falsify as a Form of CYA?
- PSA: A "Virtual Tour" DOES NOT Mean Putting Your Listing Photos into a Slide Show with a Zoom Feature
- When looking to buy a house is it weird to try and meet the neighbors?
- Moving/Post Closing
- How do you know if you are offering too much on a home when you can't find comparative examples?
- 7 days from close- qualify for a lower rate
- Balloon payment on Mortgage
- Home Warranty Companies (Houston, TX)
- Contacting the listing agent myself instead of my agent
- What does it mean if a bank holds onto a high-value property for years?
- UnderWriting and Unemployment
- Why are houses being sold left and right even though we are in a recession?
- CA Salesperson exam advice?
- I just want to celebrate a little-repairs
- On Saturday, lender said rate could still drop for our home. We are at 3.125% for 30 years. Lender sent time sensitive papers for us to sign to lock in rate. Should I accept or wait?
- Selling your home while living in it
- Is it a good idea to begin as a realtor during covid in Southern California?
- Will a mortgage company require some document stating that my job is remote?
- Advice needed on how to approach landlord with property concerns
- My Mom's name is misspelled on the Deed
- How willing are you to invest in Real Estate in Nigeria?
- Lender Appraisal Thoroughness Concerns
- What options do we have to determine property lines without getting a survey?
- Making large withdrawals?
- Put in offer, listing is now Off Market on Realtor, Zillow, Home Scout
| Are Home Inspectors Starting to Exaggerate and Falsify as a Form of CYA? Posted: 28 Jul 2020 07:11 AM PDT I'm starting to unload my properties and I'm shocked at some of these reports from home inspectors. They get some items correct, but many items flagged are completely wrong or greatly exaggerated. some exampled:
I've already had one buyer walk due to the inspector's report on the crawlspace and they would not believe the specialists i hired. the new buyers hired the same inspection company as a coincidence and the new report was more exaggerated than the first. massive differences in how bad the house was in the span of a couple weeks. first report said there was some moisture. the new report from a different inspector from the same company is now claiming mold throughout the crawlspace. the two reports are barely a month apart in time. what is going on with inspectors? i heard that they've been sued so much, they nit pick every item to avoid any liability, but it now appears they've become a hindrance on home sales. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 27 Jul 2020 10:30 AM PDT So annoyed with all these homes advertising a "Virtual Tour" that is not a virtual tour, it's just the same listing photos put into a slideshow with a zoom in zoom out feature. Nope, afraid that is not a virtual tour of a home. [link] [comments] |
| When looking to buy a house is it weird to try and meet the neighbors? Posted: 28 Jul 2020 10:10 AM PDT |
| Posted: 28 Jul 2020 09:54 AM PDT Obviously, moving is stressful for everyone. Trying to coordinate work that needs to be done, packing, moving service, time off, etc. is definitely tricky. But I am feeling very overwhelmed with all the stuff that needs to get done (nothing major, just several smaller things), while also wanting to move in ASAP. I would be so great full of anyone was willing to share suggestions/tips for moving/preparing to move! [link] [comments] |
| How do you know if you are offering too much on a home when you can't find comparative examples? Posted: 28 Jul 2020 07:03 AM PDT I'm looking at a 1979 contemporary in a sea of colonials. It's in a great neighborhood where very few go up for sale. Recent sales are for smaller homes and larger homes that needed cosmetic work were from 2 or 3 years ago. The house has had an addition taking it to a 4 car garage and 5,600 square feet. The current owners modernized the structure of the house while keeping their feet firmly planted in 1980. He owned a housing construction company and was particular about preventing moisture and adding insulation, etc. She is so "neat" that 20-year-old white carpet doesn't have a single stain and they never lit the wood fireplace. New roof last year. They added a new drainage system put in all around the house years ago. They added more insulation to the attic which was also in great shape. Epoxy floors in the garage and added more insulation. Bone-dry crawl space. A new HVAC system with a heat pump. The downside is its propane heat when natural gas is available. I'd need to change that to natural gas for my own sanity. What does it need? Carpet everywhere. Baby blue 80's carpet, white carpet, all old so we'd need 4,000 sq feet of new flooring. Wallpaper in every room. Kitchen is from the early 90s - pickled oak cabinets with old-school Corian and most of the appliances are from the early 90s. Bathrooms are all dated - so 3 would need to be updated. Wall to wall mirrors. Mirrors and pink built-ins everywhere. Dated low drop ceiling and wood paneling in the basement. There just aren't comparative examples of a 4 car garage house of that era with so much square feet that I can find. It's either dated and priced low, or had updates and priced high but looks like all the others. Any tips on figuring out what an appraisal would come in as before going through the whole process? I think it would clear lending appraisal, but I think there's a chance it won't or be right on the mark leaving less equity I can walk into. I'm planning to use that equity with a HELOC to make most of the updates in that first year. TL;DR: Looking at a house I love that seems priced too high but too hard to tell if I'm right. Could use tips to figure out value before the final offer. [link] [comments] |
| 7 days from close- qualify for a lower rate Posted: 28 Jul 2020 06:51 AM PDT We're 7 days from close on a $655,000 home. We qualified for a 3% 30 year fixed mortgage with 25% down. I just saw the rates are even a bit lower now... 2.875%. It would only save us about $50/ month...I'm guessing if we want to qualify for this rate, we'd have to go through the whole underwriting process again? Has anyone tried to get a better rate at the last minute? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 28 Jul 2020 11:07 AM PDT So my parents have a 20/80 mortgage. The smaller mortgage has a balloon payment of 32,000.00 due in September. My mom is the sole borrower on the loans and at the moment she is unemployed. Me and my dad both work. My boyfriend who unofficial lives with us works also. We make our monthly mortgage payments no problem but simply can't afford the 32,000.00 payment. We have enough equity in the big loan to pay it off but are struggling to find someone to refinance us since my mom doesn't have a job. Two years ago my mom was given a grant by the government for having an upside down mortgage and tried pay off the small loan completely but they denied it and took the payment off the larger loan. So right now we are just lost and any advice is welcome. [link] [comments] |
| Home Warranty Companies (Houston, TX) Posted: 28 Jul 2020 06:51 AM PDT I'm buying my first house. It's a small 1950's bungalow. About 1000 square feet. Seller is paying up to $500 for the cost a Home Warranty for the first year. I know these companies are a bit of a scam but since I'm not paying for it (directly at least) I wonder which one I should choose. I spoke with some colleagues and they cautioned me that they'll deny repairs for things like lack of maintenance records, etc. Anyway, is there any particular company that I should consider or avoid? What issues should I anticipated if I try to take advantage of the warranty. Also, since this question will likely come up I've already had the price come down $17,000 so asking to reduce another $500 won't happen. [link] [comments] |
| Contacting the listing agent myself instead of my agent Posted: 28 Jul 2020 08:20 AM PDT Hey, so I have an agent and we went to see a duplex. It needs a full rehab even though it currently has tenants in it. I'll be removing them unfortunately to get the job done. Anyway I need to go see the property again with my contractor so I can get an estimate and figure out if I want to buy this duplex. My agent is now telling me that she can't get ahold of the listing agent. I am tempted to call the agent myself. Would that be overstepping boundary's? [link] [comments] |
| What does it mean if a bank holds onto a high-value property for years? Posted: 28 Jul 2020 10:18 AM PDT I was looking through my city's real estate database and noticed that a fairly valuable piece of property has been owned by a bank for seven years. It seems unlikely to me that it would fail to sell, since it's in a very nice neighborhood near a prestigious university, so even if the house itself is in poor condition, it'd still be worth buying. The property isn't listed on the bank's REO listings. What reasons would a bank have to hold onto a property like this? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 28 Jul 2020 10:04 AM PDT So close to closing process, repairs done and VA Appraiser suppose come back out today, but then loan processor called questioning me for UW because during close down I was with Directv and we couldn't work due to can't go in houses and they are questioning why I was on unemployment etc I explained what happened.. was during a pandemic.. how worried should I be, got so close and feel like taking a step backwards.. [link] [comments] |
| Why are houses being sold left and right even though we are in a recession? Posted: 27 Jul 2020 06:38 PM PDT I am in Houston, Texas and have been looking for land or land/house combo for almost 8 months now. I thought the coronavirus had people out of jobs and ina recession. Maybe I'm ignorant but it I believed this would cause home prices to go down along with land prices, but it seems not only have there been more sales, but the prices have increased along with the sales. Will this end with the extra $600 a week? Are these even the people being approved for homes? I'm confused and while I understand that I should not be waiting for the next drop in prices, I dont want to dive in when there could be better conditions around the corner if I wait a bit. If anyone could share any insight that would be amazing. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 28 Jul 2020 09:04 AM PDT I am seeking advice I am taking the Salesperson examination is a week. I have been taking a real estate crash course class from ADHI schools which I feel has helped tremendously. I am scoring low to mid 80's on the practice exams. Is there any real estate topics the test is heavy on? I was told that the test has quite a few Real Estate Practice questions. Anything else I can expect I would be happy to hear. [link] [comments] |
| I just want to celebrate a little-repairs Posted: 28 Jul 2020 11:22 AM PDT Just a braggy post, because I'm so excited! Our buyer has no repair addendum for us!!!! Yay!!! Today is the last day of the option period too! We are getting the roof fixed (with insurance, who we had to go back and forth with to actually get them to cover what they should) but that we started that process in early June, with actual repairs finally starting on Monday, and that's all they want done. As I'm well aware of, having multiple buyers walk away, I think we can finally start getting excited. And we found a house we love and that's more perfect for us than any of the previous ones. I was actually dreading having to move farther away from my parents and not be in the school I want, but we somehow now will be living closer to my parents (walking distance, not one you'd want to do everyday but not bad). We currently live 6-7 minutes away and now will be less than 2 minutes away. I know that sounds dreadful so some but we love it, especially with a four year old my mom keeps a lot, or that she likes to make dinner and share any leftovers, and doesn't make us feel guilty for not coming over or show up unannounced and helps when someone is sick or when I've been pregnant. My husband would agree she's the opposite of /jusnotmil. It's also across on a cud-de-sac, across the street from my daughter's favorite park, which i believe Ive seen other kids come to from their houses and we are one house down from a beautiful little man made pond that my daughter likes to hunt for ducks and turtles at and can now easily just go fishing with her daddy. Also we have a great pool and no HOA and beautiful landscaping. A nice flat alley driveway (my husband really wanted an alley even though I'd prefer front entrance but we are close to the entrance to the main street) (right now we have an extreme slope driveway, probably the most that's allowable and a very hilly neighborhood so it's exhausting to just go for walks) my daughter can drive her little corvette. And the house has been updated beautifully even though it's nearly 20 years old. The only downside is it is smaller than we originally wanted (but also cheaper but almost 100k than one my husband was desperate for but gave me complete stress and sleepless nights) but still almost 1k sq ft bigger than our current one so still plenty of space when his mom comes to visit, she can have a dedicated room for herself beside our daughter's. And yes, we both enjoy our in laws lol. I also know that until we are actually moved in that anything could happen but we started talking about move last October and our house has been last since February so it's the closest we've come. Also sorry for any spelling or grammatical errors, I'm just so excited! [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 28 Jul 2020 11:19 AM PDT Lender said our rate dropped from 3.25% to 3.125% & that it is possible that the rate could drop again. He sent us time sensitive documents today with us to lock in the rate with our signatures. We both have 800+ credit scores, credit cards debt is no more than $400 between 5 cards and our only financial debt is our two car payments & her student loan. We have close to $17k in the bank but that is all of the assets we have. Should we hold out on 3% or below? I see on the papers that the lock-in expiration date is Sept 22. It is possible we will close on the house by Sept 9th. What do you all recommend? I'd love 3% or lower. [link] [comments] |
| Selling your home while living in it Posted: 28 Jul 2020 11:03 AM PDT I'm looking for tips on listing our house while still living in it . ( SF east bay suburbs ) [link] [comments] |
| Is it a good idea to begin as a realtor during covid in Southern California? Posted: 28 Jul 2020 10:27 AM PDT I have my real estate license and was going to sign with a brokerage right as the lockdowns started so I held off. That was somewhere in February. The area I live in has high cases still but I was reading that people are buying homes like crazy and I'm wondering if I'm missing an opportunity. I'm conflicted because I live with someone who is in a high risk category and wouldn't want to accidentally get them infected and I also have no idea how realtors are doing it right now in the current conditions. Is everything virtual? Since I'm a completely new agent and would need some guidance, I don't even know how that works with covid and is it worth it to sign with a brokerage right now and pay monthly fees and whatnot. Any advice is appreciated. [link] [comments] |
| Will a mortgage company require some document stating that my job is remote? Posted: 27 Jul 2020 10:14 PM PDT I live near Seattle and work as a software engineer. With COVID all work is being done remotely at least until the end of the year. My company may or may not require everyone to come back after it is over. I've looked at the shift toward remote work, noted that most startups now are doing remote only or remote first as part of the business plan and have decided no matter what happens I am never going back to the office. Our family is looking to move to Montana where we can get acreage and a better quality of life overall for the same or less cost. We would like to do that soon with interest rates being so low and before a bunch of other tech / white-collar workers flee the city driving down our property values. If my company makes everyone come back I'll get another job and we plan to keep a portion of the sale price to keep us going in a worst-case scenario where that takes longer than I expect. Something I wonder is will the mortgage broker expect proof that my work is (and will remain) remote? After all, my company is based in Seattle but I'll be applying for a mortgage in Montana. I could have a conversation with my boss, but I'd prefer to have the option of not doing so for now. [link] [comments] |
| Advice needed on how to approach landlord with property concerns Posted: 28 Jul 2020 09:52 AM PDT Need some advice I've been through alot the last couple of weeks. I suffer from anxiety, depression and have manageable OCD. Because of this, moving is absolutely TERRIBLE. It's that way because my brain never lets me rest. I'm constantly thinking about what needs to be done, how it can be done, contingency plans for if something goes wrong, and then I have my three month old and that brings up a WHOLE NOTHER SET OF PROBLEMS because it's just my husband and I moving by ourselves. We found someone to help us load the heavy stuff on the truck but that's about it. Where my problem comes in is we downgraded our apartment so that we can save money to buy a house next year. I moved from my $850/month 2 br/ 1 ba apartment on a golf course to live in a 700/month 3 br 1 ba apt basically in the hood to be closer to my job and help save money. Now I don't mind living in the hood because where I used to live back home wasn't the best. I used to live in the projects when I was a child, so I am familiar with it. What I'm not familiar with is the amount of incompetence that a apartment complex could get to. I start moving my stuff in and I notice the central air is not working. The apt complex advertised air and heating. Only the window units upstairs are working. I put in a maintenance request and all they did was add a window unit downstairs....not fix the central air. Cool that works for the summer...but what am I supposed to do for winter? Window units do not put out heat!!!! Also, prior to moving in I asked the leading agent if it was a good neighborhood and she said "you're welcome to come see how quiet it is at night...that's normally what I tell tenants and they're usually happy with it". I took her for her word. We moved in yesterday and I swear I heard gunshots....I know what gunshots sound like and that was most definitely it outside my apt. I'm just so sick. I feel like I made a huge mistake and I brought my DAUGHTER here. Advice on how to proceed would be appreciated. [link] [comments] |
| My Mom's name is misspelled on the Deed Posted: 28 Jul 2020 09:28 AM PDT My mom and dad bought their house back in the 90s in MA. Both of them are immigrants and on the deed but I just saw that my mom's name is spelled with a Z instead of X on the property tax bill. Most likely my parents won't remember who sold them the house because they paid it off over 15 years ago. Is my best course of action to hire a real estate lawyer? What would happen if my dad passes away first and my mom becomes the owner? [link] [comments] |
| How willing are you to invest in Real Estate in Nigeria? Posted: 28 Jul 2020 09:21 AM PDT Nigeria's real estate sector is booming but it also has one of the highest scam rates in the world. If you have a trusted means of confirming the authenticity of a property in Nigeria, how willing would you be to make that investment? [link] [comments] |
| Lender Appraisal Thoroughness Concerns Posted: 28 Jul 2020 09:19 AM PDT I entered into contract on a house for more than I think its market value is. If it appraises, I'm comfortable paying the number we agreed on, but I believe there is a serious discrepancy in the square footage of the house (~15% too high). As background, the sellers have four appraisals with the exact same diagrams for the high square footage assessment. I have the municipal appraisal, listings of several homes with the exact same floorplan and my own measurements (using ANSI standards) which agree on the lower number +/- 2%. I believe the first appraiser made mistakes in measuring (there are some very egregious errors) and the subsequent appraisers just reused the data from the first. I was led to believe (verbally) that I would have the opportunity to alert our appraiser of this believed discrepancy (so as not to have another lazy appraiser reuse bad data), but now my lender is telling me that we get no communication whatsoever with the appraiser until their report comes in. Now like I said, I'm comfortable at our number from a "making it a home" perspective. If I live there for 20 years, yea it would suck to overpay, but I don't really care in the grand scheme of things. BUT if plans change and I have to move in a couple years, I don't want to be stuck with a way overpriced home because of a careless appraiser and end up in the hole. Is what my lender said accurate? Do I have any recourse or am I screwed? TL;DR: lender says I don't get to alert appraiser of a serious discrepancy with past appraisals - is this true? Anything else I can do? [link] [comments] |
| What options do we have to determine property lines without getting a survey? Posted: 28 Jul 2020 09:10 AM PDT I live in the downtown area of my small city and I'm looking to get a survey done. I have a relatively normal sized lot for this area, about 50 foot wide and 100 ft deep. I was quoted at $2,000 for an official survey which sounds high to me. What resources do we have to determine where the lines are and how wide our lots are supposed to be? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 28 Jul 2020 07:24 AM PDT I am supposed to close on a property on August 11. I would like to break my lease beforehand, which requires two months rent up front in a certified check. Will the mortgage company ask to see bank statements again? Will the large withdrawal sent off a red flag? It would be about 2500 dollars. Thanks! [link] [comments] |
| Put in offer, listing is now Off Market on Realtor, Zillow, Home Scout Posted: 28 Jul 2020 06:44 AM PDT Yesterday a listing became active in a very competitive area in socal. Contacted agent minutes if posting, see home, put in an above asking offer. Today I wake up and the listing is Off Market. What does this potentially or likely mean? [link] [comments] |
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