Real Estate: Kitchens and the great why. |
- Kitchens and the great why.
- Can I walk away from this deal?
- The importance of a thorough final walkthrough - almost learned the hard way!
- Do I have unreasonable expectations of my agent?
- [NYC] Does anyone have any experience with Emigrant Mortgage?
- How does a real estate agent tell you if your offer was accepted?
- Closing Issues - Do I Have Any Recourse?
- What are my options?
- Thinking of relocating, need advice...
- Refinance $400k 15 year fixed at 2.125%
- Buyer's nightmare agent won't go away
- Water Test Positive for Lead
- Lost a bid based on lender
- Trying to buy an adjacent property with little capital
- Buying a condo in NYC, considerations?
- Builder quoting 10k more because of lumber shortage.
- Things you wish you knew
- The title report shows “judgement” on it but doesn’t really tell me much more?
- Buyer Agent asking me make up for Commission
- FOMO on other/better houses after submitting an offer
- Average Property Management Fee In Dallas-Fort Worth?
- Moving into my condo this week. I am a first time property owner. I saw the previous post yesterday about things to do first. Any differences for a condo?
- (X-Post from r/legaladvice) Buying residential property in Virginia with potential environmental issues
- How to Value (compensate) Developer Role
| Posted: 01 Sep 2020 08:26 AM PDT So, my wife and I have been looking at houses, and I'm noticing a very annoying to me trend. The stoves and or just stove tops always seem to be crammed into an area with very little usable space next to it. My current kitchen is the same way and it is driving me nuts. All the room I have is these tiny little corners next to the stove that already have stuff taking up space, and even if that stuff was moved its not much real usable space. Anyways I digress, but why this particular design choice, and has anyone else noticed this? [link] [comments] |
| Can I walk away from this deal? Posted: 01 Sep 2020 04:31 AM PDT I'm currently under contract on a 2 unit property. The house is in great shape apart from a few things.
We have a modified inspection contingency that states "For informational purposes only - if repairs are $5k or more, buyer may terminate." I haven't decided anything yet, but do you think I can walk from this even though the current boilers are technically working? My realtor says we can and I feel as though we can but I wanted to see what you guys think. Thanks. [link] [comments] |
| The importance of a thorough final walkthrough - almost learned the hard way! Posted: 31 Aug 2020 06:39 PM PDT Had my final walkthrough on my new condo at 9:30am today before a closing at 11. I've been in escrow for three weeks (fast close!) Me to my agent: sure, an hour should be plenty of time! How much could go wrong in three weeks in a 1br condo? Well, I walked in and was doing all the usual things, checking lights, running the appliances, etc...then, a light brown stain on the living room ceiling caught my eye. Having been through this rodeo a number of times in my last condo I immediately speculated it was water damage. Upstairs after some scrounging around my agent and I found water in the water heater pan and dampness nearby. 🙃 The property is an estate sale and part of my offer included an inspection for info purposes only, but no contingency/power to negotiate fixes (this was also in the winning offer when I sold my condo last month, except the buyer never did any inspection at all.) But my inspection showed no issues with water damage or the water heater so I was on pretty solid footing as far as this being a new issue. My agent had some back and forth with seller's agent but we settled on $4K in escrow to identify issue and eventually repair ceiling (which will have to be cut open later this week by plumber - it's likely a clogged drain that is backing up into the water heater pan.) Hopefully it won't actually be extensive enough to require $4K in work but wanted to cover the bases just in case. Only closed about 90 minutes late but definitely added A LOT of extra anxiety to the day. Will be a pain to deal with but feeling relieved I caught the issue in advance. TL; DR do a thorough walkthrough close to closing...but maybe leave yourself a little time in case there are any major issues. [link] [comments] |
| Do I have unreasonable expectations of my agent? Posted: 01 Sep 2020 07:03 AM PDT We put our house up for sale via Redfin about 2 weeks ago. During the pre-listing prep, our agent was helpful and communicative. We had some issues with the contractor she recommended, but usually a text to her got the ball rolling again and we were able to list for what seems like a competitive price for our area (We're right below the average for our area, and technically the lowest priced in the neighborhood). The photos were done professionally with 3D walkthru and all that jazz. We have the housed staged based on her recommendations and are essentially living like guests in our own house right now. Watching the sales feed, there's a steady stream of homes selling in our area and the folks we've talked to said they were getting multiple competitive offers within days of listing. The listing got hundreds of views in the first 72 hours and our agent went as far as to say we should probably keep our schedules pretty clear for the first week because we need to be ready to respond. Now, we're 12 days and 2 beautiful weekends in and we've had 2 showings and no offers. I suppose that's a pretty short period of time compared to historical markets, but it seems to go counter to everything we've seen and been told about things currently. At the very least, I expected more showings. I voiced my concerns lightly Sunday evening, asking if perhaps there were things we could improve or change in the listing to help get more attention, or if there were alternative means of marketing that might work better (our home is prime location for someone working at the cities biggest employer). I didn't really feel like I got any concrete, actionable advice other that this is weird, but brushed it off as perhaps me being antsy. She told us yesterday that one of the people that saw the place wants to come back today for a showing with the tentative plan to make an offer. However, we've not had any schedule requests roll through, nor any additional information. I worked for one of Redfin's digital competitors for several years and am familiar with how the search relevancy rankings work and effect things, and it's a bit concerning that we're already slipping down the SRPs without having really any notable activity in a supposedly competitive sellers market. Assuming this showing doesn't happen/turn into a competitive offer, would it be unreasonable for us to request a meeting to discuss the strategy moving forward, even though we've only been on the market for 12 days? Basically, I want to try and find out what isn't working and what needs to change. Are we priced too high? Is she taking advantage of any network connections? Is something in our listing that's turning off potential buyers before they even see it? Basically, is it unreasonable for us to call our agent and say, 'Why isn't this working?' [link] [comments] |
| [NYC] Does anyone have any experience with Emigrant Mortgage? Posted: 01 Sep 2020 07:50 AM PDT We're in the NYC area and have gotten decent quotes for Emigrant's rates and fees. My main concern is that I haven't found any reviews for Emigrant Mortgage, but I've seen less than satisfactory reviews for Emigrant Banking. [link] [comments] |
| How does a real estate agent tell you if your offer was accepted? Posted: 01 Sep 2020 08:20 AM PDT We are first time home buyers and just put our first offer in yesterday! We were told they were deciding last night. So we are hoping we might hear back today. But I am super nervous and now obsessively checking email, text, missed calls, etc. How do they usually inform you if your offer was accepted or not? Phone call? text? [link] [comments] |
| Closing Issues - Do I Have Any Recourse? Posted: 01 Sep 2020 08:35 AM PDT Yesterday, I was due to close on the purchase of a house at 10 AM. I'll provide a timeline of the events below: 8:00 AM - I initiated my wire transfer in the amount stipulated on the latest set of closing documents I had received from the lender. 10:00 AM - I begin signing the closing documents, noting that the mortgage documents at closing (as provided by the lender) differed from the ones I sent via wire transfer. At the time, we believed we would be short about $80. 10:30 AM - After reviewing the closing documents, it was revealed that the Lender did not include a $5K credit from the seller. We received new documents and I was told that I should expect a check for the overpayment. 11:30 AM - It's revealed that neither of the wire transfers (from myself or the lender) had been received. We're told to get lunch and see if there's any update afterwards. 1:30 PM - We return from lunch; no wires had been received. I called my bank and was told my wire transfer was under review. The Lender asserts that they have initiated their wire transfer. 4:00 PM - The wire funds leave my bank account. I received confirmation of receipt from the lawyers a half hour later. The Lender continues to assert that they've initiated the wire. 11:30 AM (Today) - I am told that the wire transfer still has not been received by the lawyers. So, I've left closing without a house, and it's not based on any non-performance on my part (to my knowledge). Do I have any recourse against the lender for their failure to produce funds on the closing date? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 01 Sep 2020 07:00 AM PDT So I found a house that intetested me. I went through a realtor and put in an offer. My offer was accepted and an inspection on the house was done. The inspection results came back with way more problems than I had thought. Therefore, I want to pull my offer and not buy the house. Unfortunately, the realtor is saying that because the offer was accepted, I can not back out. Is this true? I havent signed any contract or purchase documents, only an offer lettet that was accepted by the current owners. Can I back out of this or am I stuck? Thanks. [link] [comments] |
| Thinking of relocating, need advice... Posted: 01 Sep 2020 08:12 AM PDT So my wife and I are considering relocating from Massachusetts to Maine. We live in a very desirable part of Massachusetts (Cape Cod). The Zestimate on our house right now is about 300,000. Our mortgage is paid in full... We have a HELOC with a $50,000 limit and we've used about $40,000 of that. (I assume we have to pay this off before we sell the house, but we are not in a cash position to do so right now so it would probably take a couple years...) My house is in good condition, but could use some minor repairs (trim painting ect) that I will take care of this fall. I guess the thing here is, we have never attempted anything like this before. I've lived in my home state all my life, so for us this is quite daunting. I really just need some basic advice as to what our options are for accomplishing this. Would we sell our house first and then try to find temporary housing?? Would we attempt to buy our new home first and then sell afterwards. Seeing as our home is paid off, I would like to try and have the same situation in our new state. We would like to use the money from the sale of our house and pay our mortgage in full on the new house... Forgive my ignorance, I probably sound like a complete idiot, but that is why I'm asking for advice... Thanks [link] [comments] |
| Refinance $400k 15 year fixed at 2.125% Posted: 01 Sep 2020 09:13 AM PDT Got my mortgage last year for $400K at 3% with Better. Owning was at 2.125% this weekend, so I called them and got the rate. I had Better Mortgage match it and cover most of closing costs, comes out to 2.15% APR. [link] [comments] |
| Buyer's nightmare agent won't go away Posted: 31 Aug 2020 03:51 PM PDT I've got a fun one for you: We put our Southern California SFH on the market last month, got multiple offers within a week, reluctantly turned down a solid 20%-down to go with a 5%-down because the finances looked solid and we were suckers for the love letter provided. Appraisal contingency waived and 10-day inspection contingency. Pretty sweet, right? Wrong. Turns out buyers are working with an incredibly unscrupulous agent who started breaking every rule in the book only a few days in (like not following all the strict COVID protocols ... that's a whole other story). Major red flags all over the place. The last straw was when she admitted to my agent that the buyers need us to come down on price because they are in a financially shaky position and can't really afford the house. Looks like the scheme from the beginning was to make a super high offer to get their foot in the door and she was probably BSing them that she could "talk us down" later. So, I reacted the way any seller would in a hot market: I said sorry your buyers made an offer they couldn't really afford ... I am going to run the other direction now as fast as I possibly can. Have a nice day. (Not in so many words, but you understand.) So ... we're going with our first back-up offer, which feels so much better. Problem is for some unknown reason, agent from hell won't sign the cancellation of the purchase agreement with the buyers we unwisely selected ... we are not sure why. Our theory is she's been lying through her teeth to everyone (buyers included) and now doesn't want to get exposed when all the paperwork comes out, and she's desperately trying to cook up some weird scheme to stall us from moving forward with our BU offer. My agent says not to worry, because the contract is void anyway, because he served her with a notice to perform when she failed to remove contingencies long after the 10 days passed. And it's been more than 48 hours, so the contract is void. My being the Nervous Nancy that I am, I just want to exercise my right to cancel the agreement so that she goes away once and for all and we don't have to deal with her any more. As it is she is holding up her client's EMD, which I am sure they can't be very happy about. So, I can't make sense of anything going on, because it doesn't make sense. All I know is that this is a seller's market, and I shouldn't have to be taking crap from a shifty buyers agent, and yet, she doesn't seem to be out of the picture yet and it's annoying the hell out of me. I'm breathing down my agent's neck to get rid of her, and I won't be satisfied until I see a signed piece of paper that she is gone for good. If you have read this far thank you. I am not even sure if I am just venting with an audience who understands or seeking comforting advice. Either way, thank you! *** EDIT *** Quick update for y'all (in case you are interested): Mystery solved. Turns out she had the buyers sign the cancellation days ago ('cuz her clients want their EMD back ... duh) and didn't have the professional courtesy to let my agent know, because she was pissed for having egg on her face for losing the sale and wanted to make him twist in the wind. Since yesterday was the first business day after the NBP, our escrow office confirmed that that sale was cancelled and escrow closed so we are clear to move ahead with our BU buyer. AMEN! [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 01 Sep 2020 04:38 AM PDT So buying a (1955) house that's on city water, in an area where most people don't bother testing the water unless it's on a well. The home inspector recommended testing the water due to the age of the pipes. Sure enough, double the epa reference level for lead. Everything else (including pH) is within range. The test was water from a bathroom tub, because the house is occupied by the seller and I guess they need to let the water remain in the pipe for a certain amount of time before testing. Options seem to be getting an RO filter in the kitchen (and only drink from that) or replace pipes, correct? Getting a plumber out there asap to evaluate. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 01 Sep 2020 07:18 AM PDT Hi everyone, First-time home buyer here feeling absolutely gutted that we lost our bid on a home. My husband and I have excellent credit, no debt, and got our pre-approval letter from Quicken. We are approved for almost 2x as much as this house was listed for so we can absolutely afford it. We were planning to use a local lender but hadn't decided which at the time the house of our dreams came on the market. We are shopping in a hot market with little to no inventory. I had the opportunity to put in an offer when I viewed the house on Friday, but since it was only the 3rd house I'd seen, my husband wasn't with me and I was with my in-laws, I felt overwhelmed and unsure. It wasn't until the next day after they has received a full price offer that I was ready to put one in over asking. By Sunday, they had multiple full price offers. We were told we were one of the highest, but they didn't like our lender and the other couple wrote a letter and sent them a photo. They did accept our backup offer, but I am sure the deal with the first couple will go through because the house seems to be in great shape. I am overwhelmed with emotion. My realtor really thought we had it because our offer was strong, but I wish he would have encouraged me to put in an offer the first day. When we first started working together, he said "in this market, if you even a little bit like something, we need to put in an offer" so why did he let me "take my time" when trying to decide what we wanted to do. I knew I loved it, I just had cold feet. Now I'm worried nothing as good will come on the market, but that's just silly right? This is all part of the process? If you're still reading, thank you. Not sure what I'm looking for here. Maybe just some support from people who have gone through this before? Feeling very heartbroken! [link] [comments] |
| Trying to buy an adjacent property with little capital Posted: 01 Sep 2020 07:17 AM PDT Hello, all—I'm looking for any additional ideas here, as I think I might be out of options, which is fine if so. We recently purchased a home on a few acres in Indiana. There's an empty lot of an additional few acres next to us, with woods. It hasn't been developer in the 50 years that our subdivision has existed due to being in a partial floodplain and its awkward location, requiring an easement for access. We like the woods and also don't like the idea of a driveway cutting through the front portion of our yard (via the easement) if someone were to develop it. When we moved in, we met the land owners and they expressed they weren't looking to develop the land for 5-10 years—we let them know if they decided not to develop it, that we'd love to purchase it. After only a year after having purchased our home, they've contacted us to let us know they're putting it on the market, which is way earlier than expected. This is so soon after our home purchase that we don't have enough capital built up to buy it outright or secure a loan, as far as I can tell. I've spoken with a few banks/credit unions so far and am not having any luck. The cashflow isn't an issue, we purchased a home well within our means and have very little debt and extra cashflow. It's more so that the land is empty and we have no plans to build, so this alone limits our loan options, since we're looking at a lot/land loan, which have very short repayment plans, higher interest rates, and higher up front down payment requirements. Coming up with $20k (~20% of the approximately $100k price) for a down payment is doable, but I can't find a loan program that would fit for us. The lot loans we've found have been 12 month repayments with double digit interest rates, which is just not at all possible. We don't have enough equity in our newly purchased home to draw from and I don't think it wise to borrow from my 401k to pay for the land either. To make the issue more complicated, with interest rates being so low right now, I can't even get some banks to call me back. A local lender yesterday tried going through various options and came up short yesterday. The final suggestion was to ask for money from family to purchase the land or to contact the seller to gauge interest in a seller-financed option. Any additional ideas that y'all would have? If you think of specific loan types and know of good banks, please let me know as well. [link] [comments] |
| Buying a condo in NYC, considerations? Posted: 01 Sep 2020 09:15 AM PDT Hi all, Manhattan real estate has been in decline for the past few years pre-covid and is now seeing even sharper declines as many leave the city during the pandemic. I am thinking the next few months may be my opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream of owning in the city—a small studio or one bedroom in $600-750K range. My intention is to use it as a primary residence for at least a few years. One key factor is to find an HOA that allows short-term leases, as being able to AirBnB the property is part of the long-term plan. What factors would you consider in timing this decision? Any pitfalls I should be aware of? Any advice from more experienced folks here would be massively appreciated. [link] [comments] |
| Builder quoting 10k more because of lumber shortage. Posted: 01 Sep 2020 09:13 AM PDT I am planing to build my home in spring, all the builders are charging at least 10-15k more quoting lumber shortages. Is this something which could go down in near future when this covid thing settles down ? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 01 Sep 2020 08:34 AM PDT I am looking at buying a condo with my fiancée in Spring, that's when our lease is up. I am in a hot market and there is not much on the market right now, and we've been advised to 'wait-it-out' What are some things you wish you knew about the HOA before buying? Or other condo advice in general, things too look out for or consider. We do plan on eventually having the condo as a rental when we buy a house in up coming years. [link] [comments] |
| The title report shows “judgement” on it but doesn’t really tell me much more? Posted: 01 Sep 2020 04:41 AM PDT Hi all my title report shows "judgement"(s) on it but doesn't say much more. This is my second house and I honestly have been going through so much paperwork(and working full time) I forgot to go through this. I noticed tonight three judgements show up. I'm not seeing anywhere in our sale agreement where I've agreed to pay for any liens from debtors and I honestly don't know what I'm looking at. How does this work? I'm past inspection and appraisal and going to underwriting tomorrow. I emailed the title to my broker and agent asking as well but anxious so thought I'd ask here. I also didn't read anything in the title insurance saying I was responsible for those debts. I read through my mutual acceptance and disclosure form and don't see anything we signed saying we'd take responsibility of any debts. I'm not on the hook now for their debts, am I? Here's an example of what I'm seeing. I've cleaned it up to protect identities. Am in Washington state. This link is of the title insurance report. Looks like the above is listed under schedule b2 Update Here's our 22T Also going through all the title exceptions one of the judgments is showing up in there. What's up with that?! Update 2 GREAT NEW REDDIT. MY BROKER CALLED ESCROW AND CONFIRMED ALL LIENS WERE REMOVED FROM THE TITLE WOO HOO! Lesson to home buyers. This is my second house and I made too many assumptions that the title was in good standing because of a purchase I made on my current house. DONT ASSUME THE TITLE IS OK EVEN IF ITS A GOOD NEIGHBORHOOD READ IT THEN READ IT AGAIN BEFORE YOUR CONTINGENCY PERIOD ENDS. [link] [comments] |
| Buyer Agent asking me make up for Commission Posted: 31 Aug 2020 10:32 PM PDT First time home buyer here trying to purchase a home in the 200 to 250 k arrange. My agent hasn't been able to find something I liked and I was able to come across a home within my range. I chose the home and asked for the showing. Within hours we were able to lock down an offer. The seller agent is providing 2%. Not sure how to verify it, but this is what I was told. Now my agent is asking me to pay $1000 to the commission in the paperwork after the agreement has been signed. It also stated this is because they were able to "show" me the home I don't feel comfortable with this. Should I just refuse this? [link] [comments] |
| FOMO on other/better houses after submitting an offer Posted: 31 Aug 2020 11:34 PM PDT I've submitted 3 offers this past month, no luck on any of them. Each time though, as soon as I submit - I get worried that another house is going to come up for sale that's better. I'm usually offering the top of my budget as I'm in a high cost area - usually having to sacrifice something I want, like a pool... I just keep getting the fear of the whole package showing up after I buy a place.. Anyone else get this? [link] [comments] |
| Average Property Management Fee In Dallas-Fort Worth? Posted: 01 Sep 2020 10:01 AM PDT I plan to buy a new home and rent the current home out. I don't really enjoy landlord tasks so I'm planning on hiring a company to manage the rental for me. I ask around and fees vary from 7% to 14%. What is a good average for property management fee in DFW? Location: DFW, TX [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 31 Aug 2020 09:58 PM PDT Change the locks is on the top of my list but are there any other things that differ with a condo? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 01 Sep 2020 09:53 AM PDT So I am getting ready to buy my first home from a long time family friend and investor in a business of mine. I actually lived in this house as a kid when my parents rented the house from his father. The property has an unheard of almost six acres of land in a densely packed neighborhood. Ideally I would love to be able to subdivide this land in the future. At the rear of the property there is an abandoned coal mine that has been capped by the state mining agency. I remember from when I was a child that the sinkhole that was present before the mine was capped was filled with lots of trash- everything from household waste to entire cars, not to mention the likelihood of waste materials from the mining operations that happened there in the nineteenth century. As the landowner- would I be responsible for any environmental issues that could arise from what the previous landowners did? Is there any sort of protection clause I should put in the purchase agreement (This is a for sale by owner, with owner financing) to protect me from any potential liability? I have attorneys that I deal with regularly that can help with the specifics, but would rather go to them with as many questions answered as possible. [link] [comments] |
| How to Value (compensate) Developer Role Posted: 01 Sep 2020 09:30 AM PDT I am a real estate agent and have my general contractor's license as well. I was approached by a recently retired developer about working on a condo project with them that is different than any other project I have done. He already owns the lot and has the financing secured. He wants to spend most the winter out of the area, and does not want to do all the development work on this project. My role would be to do all the leg work of the project. Meet with urban planning, condo associations, zoning, city council, architects, estimators, etc. I will work with them to get all the permits and approvals in order and try to maximize ROI on the construction to sale price. During construction I would be listed as co-GC and assist his in house GC. I need to submit a proposal for my compensation and I do not have any idea how to value the role. It would be structured as a modest salary, a share of the profits of the project, then I would get the listing contracts at the end of the project. I have no idea what kind of profit share is appropriate to ask for in compensation for this type of role. I think I want to structure it as X% of any amount over a margin of Y, but any advice on what would be fair numbers to plug in there would be appreciated. Thanks [link] [comments] |
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