Real Estate: I did it. 39/m closing on my first house tomorrow (today). Little bit of my story. |
- I did it. 39/m closing on my first house tomorrow (today). Little bit of my story.
- Who are all these "cash buyers" I keep hearing about
- Selling and living with a toddler
- I am thinking about becoming a part-time realtor. Any one have experience in doing this successfully?
- [Question] What are ways to settle for as little as possible?
- Six month seller leaseback?
- How does building work?
- Title insurance company wants me to idemnity then due Covid-19
- 3 person joint mortgage?
- Good article on private (non-GSE) loans in forbearance and the implications.
- Experience transferring ownership of property after death?
- California LA County- I own my home and rent it out. I haven't received payment in 2 months, can I evict?
- Seller in a hot market
- First Time Homebuyer Anxiously Awaiting Appraisal
- Renting. Want to buy the place
- Questions About Process to Buy Land to Eventually Build
- NJ SFH Inspections and HO Warranty
- FSBO - I'm the home owner and selling it myself, do I have to leave, or can I show the home?
- For real estate agents/brokers
- [Boston] Buying a property when there's a border dispute
- What would you do? Walk away or take a chance? (TX)
- First time buyer (Houston, TX USA). Tax question regarding tapping into Roth/investment accounts for down payment.
- Help with repair requests after inspection (sellers)
- Why is it such a sellers market if unemployment is so high?
| I did it. 39/m closing on my first house tomorrow (today). Little bit of my story. Posted: 15 Jul 2020 01:02 AM PDT I have 10 hours to go. Can't sleep. All of my life I rented. With the rental market where I live ridiculously high and hard to find a decent apartment anyway since I am a felon I decided enough was enough. Plus I enjoy working around the house, lawn care, stuff like that. I don't have much money. I am on thin ice but took advantage of the VA loan (lenders call it a loan, I know it isn't an actual loan from the VA). 0% down. I got jacked with a 3.5% interest rate though right after paying off a bunch of debt and getting my credit up past that 720 mark, so it could be lower. But it all happened so fast. The market where I live is hot. The houses/property I am seeking are molten. First day sellers. Private sales. Pocket listings. A house with an good acre, country setting, near the lake (hard not to find a house near a lake in East TN though), not stuck in a subdivision, lots of woods (pew pew[when legal]). I had the pre-approval already and was off my rocker kind of angry seeing these properties sell so fast. I contacted the realtor for a property I wanted and told him if anything wrong happens to hit me up, but we both knew that how was gone. Got to talking and decided to go with him as an agent. After all he sold the house (which was probably sold before listed). Ah, a glorified door un-locker. I was of course too good for an agent having a decent amount of experience with houses; what to look for in terms of quality/damage and all that. What I found out and what ultimately led to my(our) success was the networking and social skills he possessed and why I am glad I had an agent (also it was free). So here come the MLS emails. Convenient. It was shocking to see all the listings go pending so fast. It turned into "get up, (realtor), we are going now"! Which worked. A listing popped up about this time in the AM (3am, US) and I texted and emailed him. Called him at 6am. I said to make an offer site unseen. He advised to look first. I drove out there and said okay, I am looking, now what? After he said I should probably leave he was able to get a first showing. I had to be aggressive because we both agreed the house was going that day. So I said offer list price, I pay closing costs. He added in the offer was only good until later that afternoon. As I left 3 other cars were pulling up. Ah, fuck. A couple hours later, at the end of a fishing pier down the road, picking through a bird's nest on my caster (I threw a flutter spoon hard into the wind) I get the good news. Offer accepted. It was a juxtaposition of emotion. Being sunburnt, working to save a lot of braided line, wondering if the lure was even going to be retrievable after sitting at the bottom so long, I finally made the first step real step into home ownership. Now I said this was a VA loan (we will call it that from now on). It is supposed to be terrible and complicated. Not really. I had the house inspected, got the lovely horror story of a report, and went on to have my agent work a deal with the sellers to cover repairs. Then the VA appraisal came around and I was shitting bricks thinking the appraisal would be low. Fun fact - any building on the property needs to pass the VA's minimum property requirements and if it doesn't it needs to be fixed or not covered in the appraisal. Luckily for me everything came around fine and it even appraised high. [INSERT UNDERWRITING] At least if I am ever audited by the IRS I know what the expect. Finally got everything worked out. From the offer being accepted to closing later today it took 46 days. I ran into some issues because of not having enough credit. Not score but lines of credit or credit history (all my credit from before I went to prison was gone so I only had a short history). Non-traditional credit was needed but took extra time. I also HAD to link my account to the PLAID system which took time because I wasn't into it at first. Then after whoever it was looked at my account repeatedly I was cleared to close. I picked up the closing documents early to review so I can ask questions and get info quickly instead of just signing stuff. The final closing disclosure is neat also. One thing to note about using a realtor from that specific site, he was able to do some good negotiation using better people skills than I have (when the owner showed up during the inspection I went up to him and not so nicely asked "who are you" thinking he was someone coming to look at the property or something). Also if using the website or app (and I don't know if this is bullshit or not) I was able to get a fair discount on a security system. They also have a "utility concierge" to help setup utilities but I had already done that. It might be useful to some people. So there are lots of DIY house buying apps/programs but it might not be bad to consider having an agent, even if you think you don't need one. Saved me a lot of money. So in the end I'm too excited to sleep, it is almost over, I hope I'm not counting my chickens before they hatch. I am doing the final inspection right before closing. But even after closing and I take possession there is plenty to do. I keep having people tell me not to have a property survey (maybe should have done that already) but I need to have specific information. Hopefully I didn't get screwed since the deed describes the property lines as basic as I have ever read. " From that cedar tree X feet to that rock, over by (person who no longer lives) property" sort of thing. I guess back then they didn't care. It is easy to see where informal lines are but right near the back is a cave, the entire area being loaded with caves used to hide slaves escaping the south during the war between the states here in the U.S. Apparently part of an underground railroad. Anyway I am just writing for fun now and doubtful anyone made it this far. But if you did I appreciate it. And if you are a first time home buyer I suppose a lot can happen depending on the market in your area and what you are looking for so I can't really give any advice. For me it was being aggressive with the offer and having an agent with people skills to help. Good luck to everyone. [link] [comments] |
| Who are all these "cash buyers" I keep hearing about Posted: 14 Jul 2020 03:29 PM PDT I keep seeing posts from others on here being beat out by cash buyers -- not only cash buyers, but cash buyers who can also offer well above the asking price. For those of you in the industry, has this always been prevalent or are you seeing a spike in cash buyers? I know the plural of anecdote is not data, but there do seem to be a lot of posts about this lately. If there is a spike, what do you think is behind the rash of cash buyers? If they're really paying all cash, they're not being motivated by lower mortgage rates, right? Is it safe to assume the majority of cash buyers are investors looking to flip/resell or rent the properties? I mean, if you have $600k cash on hand to pay for a house, I'd assume you'd actually be living in houses worth above $1MM. But, maybe I'm making the wrong assumptions. [link] [comments] |
| Selling and living with a toddler Posted: 15 Jul 2020 08:24 AM PDT First time posting here. Trying to sell our little home while still living here with a toddler. It's a nightmare getting the place clean for viewings. Last viewing I thought the place was super tidy but we got feedback that it was still too cluttered. Realtor suggested putting some stuff in storage but we have nothing available. It's a buyer's market and we'll never be able to compete with showhomes or empty places. Anyone been through this? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 15 Jul 2020 06:32 AM PDT I am unable to commit to full time hours, but real estate has always interested me. i have a lot of connections in the area that I live in, which makes me think thay I could drum up a fair amoumt of business. Is it possible to work as a part time realtor and make some extra cash or is this a full time, must be available at all times kind of thing? Thank you [link] [comments] |
| [Question] What are ways to settle for as little as possible? Posted: 15 Jul 2020 10:37 AM PDT Hi, I applied for a loan from a lender to cash out money from my property. After signing loan docs, the title company picked up a judgment from the county back in 2014. I would like to settle for as little as possible. Any suggestions? Sorry if I didn't word it right, hopefully you can understand. -Stacey [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 15 Jul 2020 08:43 AM PDT Seller requesting this because they have some sort of remodel going on in the house they are buying but need cash out of this one. I think it's crazy for a couple of reasons. 1. Property in question is about $1M and is getting bid over asking, so unless sellers are going to bear the mortgage, insurance, everything, who's going to want to do that? I've known of buyers throwing in a couple of weeks for free, but never heard of seller asking for this long. 2. Don't all primary housing loans have some sort of occupancy clause? I imagine rules have become loose enough to even have such ridiculous demands, so it's possible with jumbo and I'm just not aware? Or are people just participating in fraud? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 15 Jul 2020 08:31 AM PDT So I'm approved for 225k which is a good amount by my area. How do I build instead of buy? Been striking out with bidding wars and losing, my contractor said he could build at my price easily. How does this work? Do I just go to the bank and say I want to build instead? I'm sorry for such a naive question. I'm totally ignorant in this stuff. [link] [comments] |
| Title insurance company wants me to idemnity then due Covid-19 Posted: 15 Jul 2020 02:10 AM PDT We're getting ready to sell our home in PA, and the closing packet has an INDEMNITY & UNDERTAKING AGREEMENT (COVID -19 GAP) included that includes covenants that I will idemnify and defend the title insurance company for any claims that arise between the date they issued the policy and the date the deed is recorded because Covid-19 has impacted government offices and made recording and research harder. Is anyone signing this? It's an open-ended promise to protect them against all claims, attorney fees, etc. And to pay them any costs they have incur within 30 days of demand. In exchange for this, they pay me $1. Isn't it backwards for me to protect the insurance company? Who can afford surprise legal fees and possible encumbrances on property? This also blindsided me at the closing for our new house last month, and I refused to sign. We completed the sale without it. It seems ridiculously one-sided, and I'm kinda pissed it's being pushed on consumers, especially now that offices are reopened here so the ostensibly cause didn't exist. Am I reading it incorrectly, or is it as horrible as it appears? What have others done? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 15 Jul 2020 05:51 AM PDT Cutting to the chase; MIL (retired) and FIL (still works while collecting ss) will be living with us in our new home. Husband is out of work atm but will contribute when things start to "pick back up." Anywho, we still plan to go forward with our plans to purchase. FIL and I qualify for a $3,300 mortgage together but would like to stretch it a tad further. If we combine MIL's fixed (SS) income, our monthly would roughly be around $3750. Question; How likely would it be for a lender to approve 3 people on a home loan? Has anyone done it before? If so pls drop some insights. Also, If it can't be done then, meh. What can I do. Greatly appreciate you all! [link] [comments] |
| Good article on private (non-GSE) loans in forbearance and the implications. Posted: 15 Jul 2020 07:17 AM PDT Article says 11% of non-GSE loans are in forbearance vs ~8% of gov't loans. This is the first I'm seeing that number from any reliable source. My advice to anyone with one of these loans, who is not able to work out a satisfactory resolution, is to talk to a local real estate attorney. The banks have well-paid attorneys working for them, if you're in a position where you might potentially lose your house don't try to navigate that without representation. AT LEAST spend a couple hundred bucks to get a consult. [link] [comments] |
| Experience transferring ownership of property after death? Posted: 15 Jul 2020 07:15 AM PDT Grandparents passed away years ago, and we need to transfer the deed for their piece of property into my mother's name. We have my grandparents' will in-hand. County clerk says they need a signed, notarized, original "document" for them to record for transfer of deed, but won't say anything else except "go talk to a lawyer". All we need is a simple template to fill out and get notarized. Anyone have experience transferring ownership after death without using a lawyer? Located in Texas. EDIT TO ADD: The will was probated years ago. For some reason, the probate process did not result in the deed on that piece of property changing names. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 15 Jul 2020 10:42 AM PDT I only ask cause I think they pushed back the moratorium until September. Also, I own home so no mortgage. TIA [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 15 Jul 2020 06:51 AM PDT We listed our house yesterday and had an offer 3 hours later. We have showings booked all day today and I am so grateful. We are in a hot market and our house is in a very attractive price range. I'm curious how it comes across to you if you know a house already has an offer. Our realtor let all of the realtors coming to see the house today know we already have an offer. Does that make people decide to not come look or does it usually incentivize a better offer? The house we are moving to is nearly $100k more than our current home and we had to beat out 4 other offers. I don't want to be greedy but we are hoping we can get an even better offer with this kind of interest. [link] [comments] |
| First Time Homebuyer Anxiously Awaiting Appraisal Posted: 15 Jul 2020 06:41 AM PDT This is my first post here so forgive me if this isn't the right place. My husband and I live in a very competitive market. Houses are only up for 24 hours before multiple offers come in. We put in an offer earlier this summer and got beat out by a cash offer. We went over 15k asking plus added a free lease back for six months (the sellers were building a new property). Come to find out in 24 hours, the house had six offers-- all over asking. Fast forward to a few weeks later and we finally had our offer accepted on another property in the same neighborhood. We offered 20k over asking and now we are awaiting the appraisal. Everything up until this has been so smooth. The sellers are even giving us $2,500 at close to put in an air filter throughout the house because they know we are first time home buyers and want it to be perfect for us. I'm so nervous it won't come back with what we offered because I also want to be fair to the sellers and give them what we offered. We have a cushy downpayment and can afford a $10k difference if the appraisal comes back low but now the entire $20k if it comes back at the original listing price. Is there another world where it would even come back lower than the listing price?? A lot of houses in the area are selling for a similar offer price, and the house in question is on half an acre, with an incredible view of a dam and has amazing curb appeal- it also has a "grandma suite" downstairs with a separate kitchenette. So, what is the likelihood our appraiser will come in at our offer? I've read multiple things that say how 90% of the time appraisers will come in at offer... is this true? Any insight helps a ton. [link] [comments] |
| Renting. Want to buy the place Posted: 15 Jul 2020 10:13 AM PDT My lease up next month. It will switch to monthly when it is. I'm pretty happy with my place. I'd like to buy it. Landlord bought it, and 100 other homes from a slumlord as a package deal, a year before I moved in. They spent time and money fixing it up. I keep the house and yard clean. Being a good tenant is important to me. The rent is automatically withdrawn, never late. As a landlord with that many homes, many of them in rough shape, might you be interested in selling? I don't want to mention that I am interested in buying it because I don't want them to think that I am about to leave. I'm not. If I don't buy this, I will stay here for months before I seriously consider another place. I don't want them to try to force me into a new lease either. I am sure the best answer is to have clear communication with them and hope they do the same in turn. But... got any thoughts or insight? [link] [comments] |
| Questions About Process to Buy Land to Eventually Build Posted: 15 Jul 2020 06:14 AM PDT My husband and I want to buy land to eventually build on. We will want to build on the land in about a year but want to find a nice piece of land to secure our dream location now. I am totally inexperienced in buying land but I've been researching the process and there seems to be much to consider when choosing if a piece of property. What I can't seem to find information on is where to begin the process of inquiring about a piece of land. Do we call the listing agent of the land and let them know that we are interested in seeing the property? Do we need our own agent? Who drafts a contract for the land purchase? Is there an expert we can consult to make sure we are not forgetting anything important when considering the purchase of land to build on? Any advice on the process of buying land would be helpful! [link] [comments] |
| NJ SFH Inspections and HO Warranty Posted: 15 Jul 2020 09:48 AM PDT Finally landed on a house in NJ and are scheduling inspections. We have a great inspector, but we also want to get the sewer line inspected. My question is -- if we get the sewer line inspected and there's a serious issue, will the seller fix it or can they say no? And will future potential buyers have to be made aware of the sewer line issue or not? If we get the sewer line inspection, we want to be able to force the seller to fix any major issues. Knowing that future buyers will have to be informed about any potential issue, will likely force the seller to fix any serious issues. Otherwise, it would probably be wise to NOT get the inspection and have the homeowner's warranty cover it. Because if we get the inspection, then it won't be covered under that warranty. I think. Please advise. TIA! [link] [comments] |
| FSBO - I'm the home owner and selling it myself, do I have to leave, or can I show the home? Posted: 15 Jul 2020 09:46 AM PDT |
| For real estate agents/brokers Posted: 15 Jul 2020 09:45 AM PDT Hello all! I would like to become a real estate agent in the state of FL. Which online course is the best/most recommended to complete the required training hours? I thank you and appreciate your feedback! [link] [comments] |
| [Boston] Buying a property when there's a border dispute Posted: 15 Jul 2020 05:44 AM PDT I saw a house that I liked and put in an offer*. When I toured the property, the seller's agent mentioned that the fence between the neighbor was installed "a little incorrectly". After a few back/fourth questions it emerged that indeed there was a problem when the fence was installed....25 years ago. The seller only recently discovered the issue and contacted the neighbor. The neighbor protested and got an attorney involved to threaten an adverse possession claim.
The land in question is a bit irrelevant as the land which would be "mine" is on the neighbor's side of the fence. When I saw the property, I didn't see any of this other land and the configuration of the land is such that it would be of no use to me as I'd have to move a whole retaining wall and a fence in order to gain access to just a few extra feet.
The seller and I, in principle, negotiated a mutually acceptable price and I submitted an offer but I made sure to include a bit of language about the offer being contingent on resolution of issues with the neighbor.
The seller is proposing to the following:
I will be discussing this with my attorney, but wanted to query the community in case someone's had a similar experience and am looking for whether there are any questions that I need to ask, or specific edge cases that I need to make sure I'm contractually protected from.
Appreciate any insight folks may have!
[link] [comments] |
| What would you do? Walk away or take a chance? (TX) Posted: 15 Jul 2020 09:27 AM PDT My wife and I are currently under contract for a house in a HCOL city. The house isn't perfect, but it fits our needs and is within our budget (very hard to do in our area). We came out on top of a >10 person bidding war. Everything was going smoothly, until the septic inspection found that the 40 year old fiberglass septic tank had a massive crack going down the middle. The whole thing needs to be replaced. The challenge is that since the time the original septic tank was put in, the city code has been updated and would now require at a minimum a denitrification system and potentially a switch to an aerobic septic system given the small lot size (~0.5 acres). The idea of having to spray the water above ground is not appealing, as that would effectively remove our front yard for kids to play in. I'm no expert on septic, but from what I have learned, even though the water is "clean," we couldn't risk having kids rolling around in the grass. I confirmed with the city that the house can't connect to sewer. I guess I am just looking for somebody to reaffirm what I think we know, that we need to walk. Is there any reason to take a chance buying this house (assuming the seller's agree to a 50-60k discount, the upper estimated cost to totally rip out and replace the existing system), or do we just need to cut our losses. This isn't our dream house, but it worked, it is just hard to let go after all the effort we invested into the process. Has anybody gone through this before? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 15 Jul 2020 09:07 AM PDT I have a lot of my investments in New York Life. I have always contributed post-tax since my company offers no matching funds and I wanted my money available. They're telling me now that I can't pull funds from my Roth accounts because the accounts are not 5 years old yet (I set them up around 2017). I now have to sell shares from my investment accounts to get the money I need for a deposit. This is kind of upsetting to me because I have a lot invested in Amazon and it's experiencing a lot of growth right now so I don't want to sell that off (and I will need to sell some to afford a 20% downpayment) but more importantly I was very clear with them when I setup my account that I didn't want my money tied up like this. Aren't there allowances that would permit me to tap into my Roth investments for a first time house purchase? I believe that rules have loosened up due to Covid. [link] [comments] |
| Help with repair requests after inspection (sellers) Posted: 15 Jul 2020 09:06 AM PDT We are selling our first home and just received the repair request after inspection. The house is older, but the only updated house in this price range in the area. Its an as is contract. It's cheaper than way uglier houses in the same area, because we were hoping for a quick sale. The market is hot and we received a full price offer after 3 days. The roof and AC are old and we were worried about it, but there were no comments on it. Here are the requests - Septic tank professionally emptied/cleaned out and drain field professionally assessed and regraded as required. Repairing/replacing the wood siding to resolve the Wood Destroying Organism (Fungi) specified in WDO report. We will have to get it reinspected once repairs are completed. Repairing/replacing the wood siding to provide proper clearance around home to help prevent wood rot fungi from occurring again. Repair/replace outdoor shower hot water valve. Repair/replace main water entrance line valve. Replace the three receptacles in the kitchen with GFCI. Enclose service wiring to water heater unit in protective conduit. We know some of the siding (just a couple small spots) isn't in perfect condition and the house was priced to reflect that, so we've already decided we aren't agreeing to that. We were considering saying yes to septic and some of the other small things, but some of the requests seem small and petty to me, the hot water valve on the shower works but is only $5 to replace. What would you agree to fix, if anything? [link] [comments] |
| Why is it such a sellers market if unemployment is so high? Posted: 15 Jul 2020 08:48 AM PDT Please help me understand, because I know low mortgage rates are a big driving force in attracting people to buy and also the price they're willing to pay. But what else is driving this sellers market? Logically you would think a lot of people would be selling their home because they got laid off from work which would balance the market a bit more. How long do you guys see this sellers market sustaining? Are we due for a small drop in prices or possibly a big drop? [link] [comments] |
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