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    Saturday, September 19, 2020

    Home Unlabelled Real Estate: 2.49% interest rate!

    Real Estate: 2.49% interest rate!

    September 19, 2020

    Real Estate: 2.49% interest rate!

    2.49% interest rate!

    Posted: 18 Sep 2020 07:27 PM PDT

    YALL IM SO EXCITED WE GOT APPROVED FOR A 2.49% interest rate on our new house! 30 year fixed conventional! Tear of joy y'all!

    submitted by /u/xsweetnlowx
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    How to walk away from nightmare investment?

    Posted: 19 Sep 2020 04:44 AM PDT

    The short: bought a HUD home as a rental for my two kids to keep a room over their heads. Home inspection was "house is solid, needs lots of cosmetic work". Overwhelmed with the amount of work and it hasn't ended, ripped off by poor contractor work, if it could break it has. I am capable of doing cosmetic repairs and have been, it getting beyond my capabilities. Had the bathroom subfloor replaced and new floor installed, shoddy work and now I have a possible leak/mold issue. I am out of funds, out of strength, and not sure what to do. Owe 39K on this, HUD home purchase. I think I have taken on more that I can handle and I am over my head. Owe 39k and wouldn't know what its worth in "as in" condition. Came here before for suggestions and ideas and came to the conclusion then I could probably take it slow, keep on moving forward and eventually it would get better. Now I am not so sure? Fix one thing and three things break. Aside from cosmetic, looking at: Tear up bathroom and redo again, door framing issues, multiple deck work and probably a host of things I am not even yet aware of. How can you walk away? How can I without suffering more financial affects? What is the best course of action in deciding if it is worth it or not to continue. Sorry but I have no one to ask and I realize I my lack of experience and knowledge got me to this place. Thanks.

    submitted by /u/Sonshinesas54
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    Real estate is a hell of a drug

    Posted: 19 Sep 2020 02:02 AM PDT

    I've always enjoyed real estate from a hobby perspective, but it's been so interesting the last couple of years.

    I bought my first house in the late 90's. I remember being so scared like most of the first time home buyers. Fortunately I had a great real estate agent walk me through it and it worked out well.

    Last year I bought 2 homes (1 to live in, 1 as rental), that were marketed wrong by the sellers / realtors, and were sitting on the market for months. Both were amazing homes, but more importantly they just seemed undervalued compared to the area.

    This year I sold the rental home during Covid time, to the tenants who loved the house and needed to own it. Priced fairly according to comps, I ended up selling it for market value at $70k above what I paid for it. That closed in June.

    Then in July we found an amazing house that was coming to market. My wife and I fell in love and had to have it. The house had 30 offers over 2 days. We had to bid over asking, waive appraisal, and put 60% cash down on it to win over the competing offers. We just closed on that house a few week ago.

    In August, we put our current home on the market to sell, so we could move to the new house. Our current house got a full price offer in the first 1 hour on market. We decided to take it and not risk having more people walk through the house and we didn't want to be too greedy. We just closed on the sale of current house today. For the privilege of living in this house for 1 year, we made about $80k in profit above what we paid a year ago.

    It's pretty crazy time to be buying / selling real estate right now. Hope all the first time home buyers hang in there and ride this journey out to future home enjoyment and appreciation. It will be worth the struggle to get the house you will really enjoy, and build for your financial future.

    I went from real estate newbie in the 90's, lived the wild ride from 2000 - 2006, lived through the downturn from 2008 - 2013, and crazy Covid real estate market of 2020. Went through the best of times, and the worst of times. Learned that as a home owner, I have control over when to sell, and when to rent house out. You can choose not to sell when prices take a short term dip, and choose to sell when market is good.

    Hang in there future home owners...the reward is worth the struggle, long term, if you find that beautiful home you can afford.

    I'm still pinching myself that I just had 3 huge deals close in the span of 3-4 months in this crazy market...unreal.

    submitted by /u/UIUC_grad_dude1
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    Trying to buy our first house, and it isn’t going well

    Posted: 19 Sep 2020 08:22 AM PDT

    Hello all! Hubby and I are trying to buy our first house so we can start our family. Unfortunately our budget isn't too high, about 230, ideally under 225. The thing is, literally every time we find a house that fits our needs (3b/2bath), it sells before we can even contact our agent. It's starting to feel really hopeless. Any tips or advice at this stage? We are pre approved up to 230 with a 3.5% interest rate. It feels like investors are just pulling any and every home in my area, making it impossible for actual home buyers to get anything. Our landlord wants us out of our rental property ASAP and we're starting to panic. Any advice is welcome.

    submitted by /u/imabee89
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    Looking for tools on buying raw land.

    Posted: 19 Sep 2020 09:04 AM PDT

    I have always dreamed of buying raw land and building a home. Unfortunately it seems most online real estate tools are focused on homes for sale. I am looking for general advise on purchasing land. Not a huge quantity, just an acre or two, it could be anywhere as I work remotely, preferably within 30 minutes of a city.

    submitted by /u/slyfly22
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    Looking at buying a fixer upper for my first home and want to know if my plan is even viable.

    Posted: 19 Sep 2020 09:15 AM PDT

    A few basic facts:

    Married 6 years. $145K income. Downstate Illinois. FICO around 760-780. Pre-approved up to 450K at 2.3%.

    Skip this paragraph if you don't care about why we are considering it. We are looking to buy a home because we are having a baby and need more space. We have looked at homes in the $300K-350K range but decided that was biting off more than we think we can chew, so we decided to look at cheaper homes with the tentative plan to live in the home for a few years and then move into a larger home and keep this home as a rental.

    We found a townhouse in a neighborhood that consists almost entirely of townhouses. Seller wants 185K. The property was built in 2014 but was evidently not treated well by the current owners. The issues we found are listed below:

    Possible structural issues

    • There's a room in the basement with the carpet ripped out where the concrete is just exposed. While there are no other signs of water damage, isn't that a red flag that water could have gotten in there?

    • The main area on the first floor (kitchen, dining room, etc.) has a cathedral ceiling. At the "peak" of the ceiling, there's about an 8" spot where paint has chipped/peeled away. I don't know what usually causes that but do not want to have to replace the roof.

    Cosmetic issues: Generally speaking, whoever built or last renovated the home clearly did it about as cheaply as possible, and the owners clearly didn't take good care of the home, either.

    • Paint: About 2/3 of the rooms need repainted or at least touched up. They are painted a neutral gray color which I don't mind, but there are several spots in each room where paint is ripped off or scraped off. We could paint ourselves and have several friends who could help us paint if needed. We think we could do this for less than $1,000.

    • Doors: Several doors were hung wrong and have been damaged by scraping up against the door frame. I can't remember how many there were, but since Home Depot has solid doors for $120 and I'm confident it was less than 8 doors, I'm going to say it was 8 and that replacement will cost $1,000 although it would surely actually cost less. The frames would have to be replaced as well, but the doors I saw at Home Depot included the frames.

    • Flooring: In addition to the basement issue, the first floor has this cheap laminate flooring that has bubbled up in a bunch of places, clearly from water being spilled and getting underneath it. It would all have to go. All in all, I estimated removing the bad flooring and installing tile floors in the kitchen and laundry room; hardwood in the dining room; and carpeting in the master bedroom and basement bedroom at about $6,000.

    • Cabinets: Almost every cabinet in the house has been scraped up and is showing wear. I estimated a cost of $7,000 to replace them with new ones.

    • Countertops: The countertops are quartz and in good shape, but depending on what cabinets we pick, we may not be able to keep the countertops. Estimated $5,000 to replace them even though it might not be necessary.

    All in all I estimated our repair costs at up to $20,000. I have a hard time telling what I could sell the house for post-repair since there haven't been many sales in the neighborhood lately. I also don't really know how to estimate what we could get in rent if we went that route. Any tips here would be appreciated.

    Other red flags: Judging by the number of business cards on the counter top, 8-10 other realtors have also shown the house recently, and yet the house has been on the market for 2 months.

    All in all I was thinking of offering $150K with the explanation that the house needs TLC and maybe actually spending $160K, if I can prove that there are no structural issues with the home (have a trusted family friend who built houses for 40+ years who I'd want to have look at it).

    Is my logic sound here? Am I missing anything? Would this be a big mistake? Or am I wasting my time making such a low offer?

    submitted by /u/N0S0UP_4U
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    Buyer potentially damaged plumbing then backs out

    Posted: 18 Sep 2020 01:53 PM PDT

    I just really need to paint this picture for you. Accepted an offer on a home we've lived in for years. Buyer asked for a number of repairs, some legitimate, others dumb... One of the issues was tightening up the plumbing of the shower. Hot marker in our area, And not an active leak so we said no.

    On Monday my dad and I tightened toilets to the floor. On Tuesday my father in law (licensed electrician) repaired some electrical issues. On Wednesday we then advised the buyer of what repairs we've made and that the rest we don't agree too. He says, "I'd like to go back in tonight to double check how much work I'll need to do myself". Fair enough, he goes through and then Thursday morning he backs out, saying he's afraid of "latent issues the inspector may have missed", wtf but whatever a-hole thanks for wasting my time.

    My realtor reaches out to another couple that placed an offer to let them know it's available again. They said they're interested but would like to walk through again Friday at 12. So here we are, I get a call from my realtor and she says, "they're asking if you know what the water stain on the kitchen ceiling is from". WHAT WATER STAIN. We immediately rushed over and sure enough about a 3x3 foot stain right on the kitchen ceiling that felt wet. There was no stains on that ceiling the entire duration we lived there and my father in law was just there Tuesday and would've said something because it's VERY noticeable. The access to the shower plumbing is through a little door in a closet and that was removed from the hinges and sure enough there was water in there. The buyer was the only other person in there and 2 days after he's in and backs out of his offer there's a leak???? F that guy.

    Now, I know there probably isn't anything I can do because we have no way of proving nobody else was in there until the other walk through. BUT WHAAAAAATTTTTTT!!!!!

    Sorry for the rant, just curious if this has happened to anyone else because I'm FUMING

    submitted by /u/datz_awk
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    Do I have unreasonable expectations of my Buyers Agent?

    Posted: 19 Sep 2020 06:35 AM PDT

    I want to keep this as short and sweet as possible in hopes I might be able to get some feedback to help me navigate through an experience that's new to me and to decipher if i'm possibly being petty and overly expectant... too forgiving... or just right.

    here are some of the things I think that have bothered me or rubbed me the wrong way (not really in numbered order but wanted to make it easier if someone only wanted to reply to certain points )

    (TL;DR at bottom)

    ​

    1. After I asked her twice to set up an MLS autopull for my email with specifications I was looking for (because MLS is bs and doesn't offer clients the ability to filter practically anything.. for real)... after she finally did, it was all specifying filters I didn't need and the pull literally has shown the same four houses I've downvoted since she set it up over a month ago. (has not updated it since, despite me trying to casually bring it up and reminding her)
    2. She has only ever sent me two listings to look at that she found for me, both being on the bad side of 'an option' for the 'needs' I keep reminding her are non-negotiables (not to mention the lack of finding my wants)
    3. we have been under contract three times for three different houses in the month since I've been looking. I know how much time I put into searching listings and trying to get ahold of her to set up showings... and everything else in between, I also know the money we lost in inspection fees.. but I feel like I need to just get back on the horse every time.. not dwell.. move forward, or else itd be easy to get stuck in a pity party, which wont help me stay motivated and keep hope... she is the opposite.. I know she gets paid when I make a purchase, but it seems like if she makes any efforts to show that she's not completely disappointed, its minimal, and I feel like I have to get her spirits back up to even want to start again (which... again... she... hasn't done any research I know of on any kind of regular basis to make a sale happen)
    4. we had to walk away from the third house three days ago (crazy structural issues that our engineer quoted 32k to repair)... very late the next night (morning really) I sent her a list of 10 or so houses I had scavenged on MLS to find, a with one or two make/break questions I couldn't get answers to, but I knew she could find in her MLS login ... she only sent me a quick email back that next afternoon saying she'll be out of town for the next week and will reply when she is able to, but that she'd be taking time to work every day.... she has not gotten back to me about any of them yet and my favorite of the ones I sent is already under contract with another buyer.
    5. do my very best to navigate the shitty MLS portal every day.. sometimes several times a day.. for new potential homes, i only email or text them to her when have a make/break question on them or if I'm certain I want to set up a time to view it.. she usually replies within a few hours to a text, but more times than not responses like "no. termites" or "no. mold" or something that could be true, but there are also times I'll send her three that I make sure to show real excitement for that just got on the market and I feel like we have to act fast... before she even responds to my texts I've lost the opportunity to view/make an offer on 3 houses I really felt had potential.... if I send more than two houses in one text or email, there is a guarantee that she will not comment on most of them in her response....
    6. I. do my very best to navigate the shitty MLS portal every day.. sometimes several times a day.. for new potential homes, i only email or text them to her when have a make/break question on them or if I'm certain I want to set up a time to view it.. she usually replies within a few hours to a text, but more times than not responses like "no. termites" or "no. mold" or something that could be true, but there are also times I'll send her three that I make sure to show real excitement for that just got on the market and I feel like we have to act fast... before she even responds to my texts I've lost the opportunity to view/make an offer on 3 houses I really felt had potential.... if I send more than two houses in one text or email, there is a guarantee that she will not comment on most of them in her response....
    7. She called the morning before asking if I was still interested in scheduling a full morning/afternoon, and if the next day would work so I could view 5 homes i had showed high interest in one trip over; that evening she called and asked what two were my favorites so she didn't have to spend all day to see all 5... I explained that I like them each fir different reasons, and my partner had a different favorite lineup so i want to be sure to be fair and not cut his out; she was clearly annoyed but when I asked her why she wanted to change the plan she brushed it off and agreed to see all five..... not even two hours later she called again saying that I need to pick my top three now so that we could see them all.. I told her I thought we agreed on the 5 and she said 'well I really need to slow it down with working so much'... I politely held my ground, suggesting if she could get the disclosures for one of the homes, I might be able to use them to cross it off the list... fast forward calls again complaining about the time itd take to see them all (I thought it would be best to just pick the quickest route between them all instead of bouncing all over the place)... ultimately she called, said she has an appointment she needs to make at 3pm and that if I had to see them all I needed to be at the first one at 8 am... meaning i'd be waking up at 2 am to leave... she sounded unpleasantly surprised when I agreed to it... after viewing first two houses she disclosed that the meeting set up last minute and was to get drinks with a rich client ....... which.. just... really rubbed me the wrong way that she called me asking me to spend the day viewing houses, then put the pressure on me to cut the plan in half because she ....wanted to go out for afternoon drinks?

    ​

    ​

    ​

    ​

    TL;DR

    I'm first time buyer;

    buying out of state about 5 hours away;

    strong sellers market (not uncommon right now);

    I made sure that on our initial meeting I was completely transparent about being willing to communicate through whatever her preferred method was (email/text/and call depending on situation, which works very well for me as well)

    I also made sure to establish that I have the bittersweet situation of being out of work (COVID) and would make myself available, even at the very last minute if ever the opportunity came up to view a listing that fit my needs and wants and i would have time to get there

    i also asked if spending an afternoon with one client (me) would be something she would be willing to do if ever there were a situation where multiple listings are available to show that could work for me and I wanted to be able to maximize my trips up and back.

    submitted by /u/kittychunk
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    Can I defer closing until after all items from inspection are fixed?

    Posted: 19 Sep 2020 07:31 AM PDT

    I am in the process of buying a new build townhome in Florida. I have been working alone with no realtor so have been trying to figure out how to be my own advocate. Because it's a new construction, I was told that the inspection is already done by the builder and county but I did not feel comfortable so I paid for my own inspection. We were there for about 3 hours yesterday. He tested everything thoroughly from what I saw while I marked the cosmetic items. He provided me at the end with a 77 page report with pictures and details on everything we saw. Nothing major really came out but we wanted to be super detailed.

    My closing is currently set for 9/30 but my question is, do I really have the power to say I am not signing until every item I've called out is fixed? I'm a young female and like I said do not have a realtor so am scared of being taken advantage of.

    submitted by /u/BlueOrchid4
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    First time home buyer : I feel like it’s moving too fast, does it normally move this fast?

    Posted: 19 Sep 2020 03:41 AM PDT

    My wife and I walked into this house and we loved it immediately. We got an inspection on Tuesday. Thursday evening I received the documents and the photos. Friday afternoon, they called and said we need to get the contract started by next week. My realtor said it's a sellers market, houses have been closing in a week or so in the area that I'm in. I need to move quickly or they will be moving on to another buyer since they are always getting offers.

    So my issue is here is that there's water stains in an area of the house. Not a big area, but it's where the boilers, laundry and the electrical box is at. Ideally I would want to negotiate. (I have pics if anybody wants to see) But my wife thinks we should just go as is. I feel pressured and everything is moving too fast for me. From your experience/expertise what do you guys think?

    submitted by /u/pepermintpatty
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    What is the process to turn a single home into a 2 or 3 unit property?

    Posted: 19 Sep 2020 06:55 AM PDT

    I have a single home and would like to change it into a 2 or 3 unit property. I assume I need to get permits, fill applications..but I don't really know where to start. Do I get started at the local city hall with filling applications? Or do I hire a real estate lawyer?

    submitted by /u/Forkiks
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    How soon after buying a house does it make sense to refinance jumbo loan?

    Posted: 19 Sep 2020 06:32 AM PDT

    Some personal circumstances will change quite a bit in a few months that I think will allow me to get a significantly better rate than what I locked in for my mortgage. What are the downsides of trying to refinance ASAP?

    submitted by /u/chitownblerd
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    What are the main the differences between selling real estate and owning to rent real estate? Pros and Cons?

    Posted: 19 Sep 2020 09:50 AM PDT

    I'm in the Southern California market and am a 20 something debating getting my real estate license or trying to save up and just buy a rental property.

    submitted by /u/curi0s1tycat
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    Jumbo mortgage refinance?

    Posted: 18 Sep 2020 08:19 PM PDT

    Hi everyone,

    I'm located in California.

    I'm hearing all these stories about people getting great rates/refinance rates.

    Since I have a jumbo loans, no lender is giving less then 3.5%. Is there no hope for me to try and get a refinance rate under 3 for a jumbo loan?

    submitted by /u/lilribbit
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    Who is Paying Broker/Lender in this type of FSBO Escrow?

    Posted: 19 Sep 2020 09:03 AM PDT

    I am currently in Escrow as Buyer with a family friend FSBO deal where I am covering 1.5% agent fee (also friend) to represent both sides. This arrangement was already set up and I offered to cover the 1.5% to lower buying price.

    I just locked in my rates and have my estimated loan costs including a good idea of cash needed to close. Planning to do zero points 2.75% APR 30 year with loan origination fee waived.

    I am just curious if my Lender gets shorted in this type of FSBO deal as I have read that Brokers usually get 1.5-2% for a new loan and I am a bit ignorant as to where he gets his profit or gets paid if I am getting a competitive rate, with no origination costs?

    submitted by /u/Thrice91321
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    Bank foreclosing on a possibly contaminated property that I need to sell

    Posted: 19 Sep 2020 08:59 AM PDT

    How is it possible that "remolded" appears so often in real estate listings?

    Posted: 18 Sep 2020 06:44 PM PDT

    I look at real estate listings across three states in the West and I keep coming across the word "remolded" being used in place of (at least I assume) the word "remodelled." I've seen it so many times that I'm starting to wonder if this is an autocorrect problem or if it is being caused by something other than bad spelling. Do the listing realtors actually mean "remolded"?

    N.B. I am using the British spelling: "remodelled". The U.S. spelling is slightly closer to "remolded" but still not sure how you end up with "remolded" from "remodeled".

    submitted by /u/diamondheadhibiscus
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    I need help. My parents desperately want me to help them buy a house.

    Posted: 19 Sep 2020 08:24 AM PDT

    So I'm in a bit of situation. Me and my parents are immigrants. They are desperately trying to convince me to help them buy a house. I'm not so sure I want to because I know of all the issues that could arise or at least I think I do. My parents never really taught me anything about personal finance growing up so I have learned everything I possibly could myself. I have a great credit score and a decent income enough to where I have been approved by my self. My parents on the other hand messed up their credit with bad credit card decisions and not paying off some other loans in time so bad that I had to help them get out of debt. Since then they have made better decisions and I have helped them get back on track and they have started rebuilding their credit. I made my mom cry today by rejecting to help them get a house together. I feel terrible but I also feel like by not agreeing with them I would be helping them in the long run. I am 21 and thinking about moving out on my own or investing in some property. I have agreed to helping them in the past but I'm not sure I understood what I wanted when I said I would help them. Does anyone have any experience with situations like mine? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I feel really bad about going back on my word.

    submitted by /u/RdJesus
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    Los Angeles, 24 offers!

    Posted: 18 Sep 2020 10:21 PM PDT

    Anyone else trying to buy in LA right now? We have offered (and lost) on three houses since May and each one had a ton of offers including cash with ZERO contingencies. The latest one had 24 offers and the listing agent said they were countering 7. We were not even one of them. We offered enough over comps (that had closed within days of our offer), to think we had a shot.

    House price under $800k. Excellent credit, high income, very little debt (1k left of student loan payments), solid lender. But it just feels like we cannot compete in this market with so many buyers dropping lending contingencies (we have dropped appraisal contingencies).

    Should we just give up? Will the market ever cool down? I'm totally open to leaving LA but my partner loves it here and wants to stay.

    submitted by /u/midninties
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    Multiple pre-approvals if offer already accepted?

    Posted: 19 Sep 2020 08:03 AM PDT

    Sorry if this is a silly question. We are making an offer on an off-market house (so no competing offers, we are negotiating with seller, agreed on a price, just drafting up the agreement now). We plan to close in January. Is it worthwhile to get multiple pre-approvals from different mortgage brokers? (Our offer is contingent on being preapproved soon.) One of us is self-employed with fluctuating income for the year so it's not a slam dunk, although we have a large amount of liquid assets. Is it rude to get pre-approved through multiple brokers when we aren't actually applying for the mortgage and rate shopping until November?

    We already gave approval for Broker A to run our credit, but he presented us with a really limited range of possible scenarios, all VA jumbo just with different % down. Broker B was explaining that we should also look at conventional, different rate lock options, and get creative with multiple HELOC/mortgage options to compare. We haven't given Broker B the go ahead to run credit yet bc I don't want to waste anyone's time - but I also want to make sure we are getting the best deal.

    Thanks for your help, Reddit!

    submitted by /u/imabroodybear
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    First time buyers

    Posted: 19 Sep 2020 06:56 AM PDT

    My wife and I have a great interest rate on our loan (2.3%) which makes things feel secure from the borrowing end. We're interested in new construction. Do we need to hire a realtor to buy a new build?

    submitted by /u/Daywalker85
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    Books to read

    Posted: 18 Sep 2020 09:55 PM PDT

    What are your recommendations on what books to read? I'm specifically interested in learning more about foreclosed properties.

    submitted by /u/izner82
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    Building a giant localized arch / Converting old oil platforms into cities

    Posted: 19 Sep 2020 04:30 AM PDT

    Hi

    I longer was thinking about new ways of living and creating a new living space. As real estate is very expensive in most of the countries, I was thinking about creating a city on the sea. Now I am thinking on how to implement this.

    Do you think it would be possible to do it in a crowdfunding way?

    Would it be a viable option or would it be to remote for most people?

    The supply with food would be difficult too. Would you use vertical farms or just supply it via ships which as a result would be additional costs.

    If you have any further ideas I would be happy to discuss it.

    submitted by /u/Losspost
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    Just bought a house in March and now have an out of state job opportunity

    Posted: 18 Sep 2020 07:29 PM PDT

    We never thought this would happen but we have a chance to move to an area we love but we just bought a house. We bought it for $469k and put $200K down. We've put $10k in improvements into it - California closet and built out a mud room that was unfinished. How screwed are we? The market we're in is warm to hot. Can we ask a realtor to lower their commission? Any tax implications? New job won't contribute to relocation. Any advice?

    submitted by /u/jenilynne
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