Real Estate: A reminder to ALWAYS have a thorough inspection and randomly look under your house |
- A reminder to ALWAYS have a thorough inspection and randomly look under your house
- I felt ready to buy a house, but my dad told me it's a bad idea and now I don't know how to feel
- Does anyone else get completely turned off of a property when the listing price is completely unreasonable?
- First Time Home Seller
- Looking at a double - how does shared parking work?
- Kitchen in entrance of coop
- Question On Property Tax
- Brand new agent. Brand new area.
- Major structural issue with home we just purchased that was not in inspection report or disclosed.
- Found serious issues with the home I’m buying. Who is responsible?
- Can I buy bypass agent to buy a house
- Waiting on PMI Certificate before Clear to Close
- General question - Boston suburbs
- Too Early to Re-Finance? (TX)
- Closet width non-standard. How to find right fitting sliding doors?
- Home Closing Issue Question
- Dumb Mistake - Breaking a Lease - Not Sure If I Can.....
- Using Margin Loans To Refi Mortgages for Investment Real Estate?
- To buy or wait (SoCal)
- Mortgage Rate Search Engine?
- Uneven 2nd floor and squeaky 3rd floor. Is it red flag?
- Is the inspection referenced for the assessment?
- Feeling down about the process
- Different loan estimates from broker and lender
| A reminder to ALWAYS have a thorough inspection and randomly look under your house Posted: 23 Oct 2020 04:06 PM PDT My client decided to sell the house they bought 2 years ago. They had a guy come replace the flooring and subfloor in the bathroom before listing. I came over to look at the house and talk to them about what our plan was, etc.. I walked into the bathroom and the floor felt weird. The guy was literally still there but he assured us that everything was good. It was the "floating flooring" that made the floor feel squishy... I told my client that they need to have someone come look because something wasn't right. I peeped into the crawl space and it looked like a mess. Sooo come to find out, when they bought the house 2 years ago, they didn't have an inspection. They had a family member look over everything... He said everything was fine... The downstairs toilet had been replaced by the previous owners just before they bought it.... without a seal. So for 2 years they have been flushing the toilet with no ring under the toilet. The entire subfloor and joists are rotten and have to be replaced. This will cost them around 15-20k. Insurance won't cover it because it's considered a maintenance issue that wasn't dealt with. Always get a proper inspection and make it a habit to look under your house monthly. Maybe set a reminder to look any time you replace your air filter. It could save you a lot of time and money in the long run. [link] [comments] |
| I felt ready to buy a house, but my dad told me it's a bad idea and now I don't know how to feel Posted: 24 Oct 2020 10:33 AM PDT My dad told me I need to wait until I'm "really ready" to buy a house, once I'm settled and married. I'm worried that by then inflation will have driven prices up really high, and interest rates will be going up eventually. He says I'll be "up to my eyeballs in debt", which I suppose is true. My dad's approach to finances is more Dave Ramsey-like. He has never had a credit card because he doesn't believe in taking on debt; he pays cash for everything. Even his house. He paid 110k in cash for our family home in like 1993. He does have investments that are doing well though so he's not keeping all his money in cash in the walls and stuff lol. Maybe he is just old-fashioned though. Could I please get some objective input from you guys? My stats are: I'm 23, have no debt, have a 730 credit score, and am a software developer. I make 63k gross. I have: 30k in cash 20k in 401k 12k in Roth IRA 8k in a taxable brokerage I am looking at a wide range of houses. Two that I particularly like are 1) a 2bed/1bath home for 84k in an up-and-coming area that is kind of ugly besides its original hardwoods, but it's livable for sure, 2) a 3bed/2bath home for 170k in an area that was up-and-coming like 10 years ago but is now pretty solidly "up", it's gorgeous and would need nothing done to it except maybe some updates to the kitchen. The low monthly payment for the first one is really appealing to me. My boyfriend is a contractor and said he would help me fix things up if needed. What do you guys think? My concerns are:
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| Posted: 24 Oct 2020 10:33 AM PDT A house recently came on the market for $225,000 more than its recent comps (which were already over $100,000 more than their comps thanks to the pandemic). People looking for homes at the price they listed for (725) would not even be looking at that part of the neighborhood to begin with! I know they won't sell for that much, but listing for that much makes me assume they are greedy, unreasonable people that I don't want to deal with. Another house, that we sort of liked, did the same thing. They listed for 805, went under contract for 725, but went back on the market for 685 (most likely didn't appraise). Despite liking the house, we passed on seeing it because the original listing price was a huge turn off. At least with that house they put actual work into it, unlike the one that was just listed that hasn't been updated since the 90's. Don't these agents and sellers know that it's not a good look to be that out of touch with the market they are selling in! [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 24 Oct 2020 09:27 AM PDT We plan on selling our home in NJ. I was going through some of the closing costs we will need to pay, but I wanted to know how much sales tax will we need to pay once our property is sold? Thanks! [link] [comments] |
| Looking at a double - how does shared parking work? Posted: 24 Oct 2020 10:28 AM PDT The house we're looking at is an upper/lower double with a single width driveway and garage in the back with space for 2 cars in front of the garage (but if there's a car in front on one side, the car on the far side can't get past it to go down the drive). Street parking accessible except for overnight in the winter. How exactly does that work without the tenants blocking each other in constantly? It's an extremely common set up around here, but we've never lived in one. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 24 Oct 2020 07:48 AM PDT Hi, I am looking at coops and one of the places that I am looking at has the kitchen in the entrance so once you open the door the stove is to the right and the refrigerator is to the left with cabinets and countertop continuing as you walk. What are your thoughts on a kitchen in the entrance? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 24 Oct 2020 07:46 AM PDT Looking at single and multi family homes in the Philadelphia Suburbs. (Not in Philadelphia zip code) I've noticed that not only are property Taxes high, but the assessed values of the property are very low. For example: a 200,000 dollar market value home will be assessed by the municipality as having a value of $90,000 and will cost roughly $5k annually in property tax. Is this large discrepancy between FMV and Assessed value something to worry about? I worry about buying a property and having the township re-asses it in a few years which would make the property tax too high to afford along with the mortgage. Any advice would be helpful. Thank you all! [link] [comments] |
| Brand new agent. Brand new area. Posted: 24 Oct 2020 10:11 AM PDT So I know everyone has their own little tricks for first time agents. What's yours? I hear there are apps that take a % and are essentially lead generation but what are they? Or am I living in a dream world and need to just dial for dollars? Which I don't want to do. Let me know what you guys think! I'm in south Florida and I'm so excited to get started! I just signed on yesterday. [link] [comments] |
| Major structural issue with home we just purchased that was not in inspection report or disclosed. Posted: 24 Oct 2020 10:08 AM PDT My partner and I purchased a house in September which we moved in about a month ago. We had an home inspection and walkthrough done with a reputable company and they found no major issues. This also was not disclosed by the sellers even though there's evidence that someone attempted cover it up. The issue is with the addition to the house which is an attached garage with a three season porch on top of it. We haven't used the porch much yet but we were in it earlier this week and after closing the blinds we noticed light coming in through the entire corner of the room. We checked it out and found that the garage and three season porch are separating from the right side of the house from the roof all the way to the bottom level. The stucco is torn from the exterior and the bolts holding the frame of the room to the rest of the house have pulled away from the wall exposing a 1 inch wide gap to the outside. The gap runs to the roof to about half way up the house, turning into a crack the closer it gets the the garage. It is easily visible from outside but was not documented as one of the cracks in the inspection. It also appears there was a poor attempt to cover it with silicon caulk from inside the porch by a previous owner to prevent the air from coming in and that has separated further by a half inch from whenever they did that. There are fibers of the separated wall sticking to it from when it was connected. The floor and trim are also pulling away up to the center of the room as well. We went through our inspection report and the issue was never mentioned. It was also not disclosed by the sellers, they only mention some hairline cracks in the stucco of the garage but this is significantly larger than a hairline crack which someone attempted to cover it up at some point. Anyone have advice on what I do next or expect to do as we pursue this issue? We contacted the inspection company and they have not replied to us. Our realtor is coming to check it out and also potentially reach out the to former seller. Is this something to prepare to get a lawyer for? Any advice would be appreciated, thanks! [link] [comments] |
| Found serious issues with the home I’m buying. Who is responsible? Posted: 24 Oct 2020 06:11 AM PDT My spouse and I are first time home buyers. We are in contract with a buying agent and we are currently in contract on buying a home. We had a heating and air inspector come out and test the furnace and a/c unit. Furnace passed with flying colors, the duct insulation needs to be completely redone, and the a/c is leaking freon. He couldn't give us an exact price but he said it would be between $1000-$3000 to repair the A/C. We informed our buying agent and the person told us it is our responsibility to pay to have it fixed. That we need to raise our offer so they (the sellers) will fix it. At this point I'm ready to walk away from the house. Our offer is already maxed out on the properties value. And our loan company literally will not pay a penny more than the house is work. And I don't want to be in $5,000+ in repairs the moment I move into the home. The house doesn't have any appliances other than the stove top and oven, which are 20+ years old. The carpet is horrible. It has holes in it, and it at the very least needs to be stretched. What are my options here? Any advice I understand are just opinions and I'm thankful for them. [link] [comments] |
| Can I buy bypass agent to buy a house Posted: 24 Oct 2020 06:00 AM PDT I've been looking for house for a while, very limited houses in the market in Melbourne. Found one recently, but very hard to deal with this particular agent. ( there were so many great agent on the way tho...) this particular one is driving me crazy. First phone call told me, if you just looking, don't even bother, after I just said hi and thanks for calling back. Second phone call, took me two days messages to finally got a call back. Inspected today, assistant said will give me a call this arvo, of course no call at all. Still waiting for the sec32 to put offer, didn't mention price at all yet. Apparently due to lock down, took longer to have sec32. Understanding they are busy, but being so arrogant and so hard to get to talk to..... wondering if possible bypass them, and talk to owner directly will be an option.????? [link] [comments] |
| Waiting on PMI Certificate before Clear to Close Posted: 24 Oct 2020 05:43 AM PDT Does anyone know how long it takes for the lender to obtain the PMI certificate? We are supposed to close on the 29th and my LO said this the last item the lender needs before issuing CTC. And, it sounds like the lender ordered the certificate on the 23rd but I am trying to verify - thanks!! Really hoping to not have to push or delay the closing, we are closing on the current and new home the same day and will have to scramble if delayed! [link] [comments] |
| General question - Boston suburbs Posted: 24 Oct 2020 09:27 AM PDT I've been told that buyers have slowed down, in anticipation of the election and resurgence of COVID, and that activity is down (residential, upper end of the market). Any brokers have a point of view on this? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 24 Oct 2020 09:10 AM PDT My wife and I recently bought our first home; we've been here for two months as of yesterday and won't even be making our second mortgage payment until Nov. 1st. That said, we are already being inundated with offers to refinance our home. Rocket Mortgage has called my cell, countless companies have sent us mailers, etc. Buying our home in the summer of 2020 obviously had it's advantages as far as our mortgage went - we only put down 3% (first time home buyers program through a CU) and we locked in an interest rate at 2.875, despite neither of us having glowing credit. We have a decent amount of savings and dependable employment/income, as well as some side hustle-esque income that'll likely return next year/whenever COVID allows that, while not necessary for us financially, would provide an even better cushion month to month. Right now, our monthly payment is a little under $2k. While it's affordable for us and there is nothing technically wrong with the situation we find ourselves in, OBVIOUSLY I'd be dumb to pass up an opportunity to lower our monthly payments as long as there aren't any long term net negatives with a new arrangement moving forward. So, I guess my question is - Is it too early to refinance? Or at least look into the options available? What should I be looking out for and are there any downsides to doing so? Or is it really as simple as "if I can find a better arrangement, go for it!" I'll admit I know little about the process, and while I spent a lot of time educating myself about the home buying process and feel really happy with how things worked out for us, I had never considered the fact that there may be options to refinance right away that could benefit us financially. [link] [comments] |
| Closet width non-standard. How to find right fitting sliding doors? Posted: 24 Oct 2020 08:32 AM PDT Our house has a bedroom with a closet with no sliding doors. Its width is 80 inches. When looking at Home Depot, the only doors available are 72 in (36in doors x2) and 96 in (48in doors x2). Where can I find ones that fit? Will I need to custom order them? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 24 Oct 2020 06:26 AM PDT Hi r/realestate, I am posting this for my in-laws because they do not reddit... Anyway, they are moving out of state and my FIL is borrowing from his 401(k) to purchase a new home until their old home sells. Once it sells they will return the funds to the 401(k). The issue here is that they were supposed to close over 2 weeks ago but due to the incompetent owner of the small 401(k) management company, he has refused to wire the funds to the home builder and has given excuse after excuse as to why there was a delay. Then once he finally decided initiate the wire he took taxes out on the funds!!! So they were only able to give the builder 174k instead of 250k. Because of this, they were unable to close yet again until the full amount can be wired. In the meantime my in-laws have had to pay for a hotel stay because they have nowhere to go. Do they have any legal recourse? I don't think any laws are being broken and it might be a civil matter. Should they demand reimbursement for their hotel stay because they have been unable to close on the home? Not sure if this is the best sub...but my post in r/legaladvice got no traction Thanks in advance! TL;DR In-laws are delayed in closing on their new home purchase due to incompetent fund management company. EDIT: home purchase is FL, fund management company is located in OR. [link] [comments] |
| Dumb Mistake - Breaking a Lease - Not Sure If I Can..... Posted: 23 Oct 2020 08:39 PM PDT So I found a really great place to buy. Good price, nice location. I did not expect to find a place so soon but it was (to me) too good to pass up. I started on the whole process and now next week I've got inspection setup and I'm supposed to post a down payment. Closing was/is scheduled for November 30th. Then I remembered my lease. I thought it was month to month but it turns out it isn't. I signed it just last September. I called my landlord and he said he would be willing to keep my security deposit plus one month's rent. I was OK with that but this was just over a phone conversation and now I'm worried he's going to renege on the deal. He's a nice guy (even said how bad he feels about losing me). But what if he holds me to harsher terms like making me pay all the rent till next August? How far (on average) do landlords take these things? I'm really, really worried because I love the place I want to buy. I know he's got the legal right to hold me to the lease but do many landlords do that? Any advice out there? Thanks.... [link] [comments] |
| Using Margin Loans To Refi Mortgages for Investment Real Estate? Posted: 24 Oct 2020 06:05 AM PDT I have been thinking a lot about using margin loans to refi some loans in my buy & hold investment real estate portfolio (not using it as a bridge loan, but permanent financing). I know…I know it sounds like a bad idea on the surface, but as I dug into it more the idea seems to have some merit. First of all, Interactive Brokers (a legit public company) has AMAZINGLY low margin rates. It is 1.59% for $100k or less and 1.09% for $100k to $1M. The rate is based on the Fed Funds rate + 150 basis points (or 1.5%) for loans under $100k or + 109 basis points for loans between $100k and $1M. My sense is the Fed Funds rate will stay low for a while. Looking at this chart the Fed Funds rate has been around 2% or less since 2007. The financial crisis set off what I believe will be a fairly long low interest rate environment. I don't have a crystal ball, but we may be in a situation where it will be difficult for the Fed Funds rate to get to more than 5% anytime soon. So if I can get a loan at this rate, it seems very attractive. But here are some of the cons. Finance 101 says you should never fund a long term asset with a short term financing vehicle. Rates could change. Interactive Brokers may raise their rates. A whole lot can change because this rate is variable. My counter to this is if I can get a cheaper rate, but still apply the same payment, I can pay off my loans a lot sooner (probably 10 yrs vs 30 years) and escape before rates go up too far. Another con is if my securities drop in value, I will get a margin call. My counter to that is most of these securities are blue chip stocks and one is a S&P 500 ETF. So they are some what stable. Also, I will only borrow 10% of the securities value so they would have to drop 90% for a margin call to happen. Here is my portfolio. I was thinking about first paying off the 4.17% loans in my portfolio. This is a line of credit that I can pay down (or pay off completely) and always keep it in case the margin loans rates spike above the 4.17%. I feel comfortable starting here because this line of credit is up for renewal in Nov '24 anyway so I don't think I'm taking a tremendous amt of interest rate risk by doing this move. Then the big question is do I take the short-term margin loans and pay off either the 20-year loans or 30-year loans. Those rates are 5% and 5.5% respectively. This is where it becomes a more difficult decision. Having a locked-in interest rate for 20 or 30 yrs is safe, but damn 1.59% is hard to pass up!!! I would love to hear this group's opinions on this. I'm sure I have not thought about all the angles on this. Thank you. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 23 Oct 2020 07:19 PM PDT My husband and I have a little over $20K in savings and plan on saving an additional $5-8k before our apartment lease is up next August. My husband believes we should begin looking into purchasing a home but I'm not sure if now is the time to buy with everything going on. Are housing prices expected to drop? We live in Rancho Cucamonga for reference. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 23 Oct 2020 09:40 PM PDT Is there a site like Priceline or Kayak or Hotels.com but for mortgage estimates? Just put in your info: earnings, credit, etc. and they generate the best rates and options for you and break down the line items. It seems like a big pain in the ass doing it lender by lender and then deciding from there who to go with. I know there are mortgage brokers that can do this but then sometimes you have to pay them at closing. I think I have a fantastic deal right now with an in-house lender thru a builder but don't want to have buyers remorse if I find out later I could've saved more elsewhere. Thanks Team! [link] [comments] |
| Uneven 2nd floor and squeaky 3rd floor. Is it red flag? Posted: 24 Oct 2020 03:29 AM PDT First time buyer here. There is this colonial 3 story townhome I really like. It was built in 1980s. Basement has a walkout. Dining room and kitchen is on the 2nd floor. There is a dry wall between dining room and kitchen. On the Dining room side, the floor is sagging along the dry wall. Everywhere else seems to be flat. Dining room has wood floor and kitchen has tile 3rd floor has carpet throughout. In some areas, the floor squeaks when I step on them. Are these red flags? How much would it cost to fix squeaky floor on 3rd level and sagging on 2nd level? If I don't fix them, how long can they hold before I absolutely need to fix them? I will definitely have inspection on the house if I were to buy it. Now I am not sure if I should make the offer or not. My realtor doesn't seem to be bothered by these. She says these are common and do not indicate structural issues. [link] [comments] |
| Is the inspection referenced for the assessment? Posted: 23 Oct 2020 10:42 PM PDT This seems like a logical question, but there wasn't any easy answer on Google and my parents can't remember, ha. Thanks for any input on the appraisal process. [link] [comments] |
| Feeling down about the process Posted: 23 Oct 2020 08:28 PM PDT Hey all, I know there's been a bunch of these lately but I just need to vent. I live in the expanded Denver Metro area and I've been looking for houses for the last 3 months. I got out of the army in December and I've been saving up enough to have a decent nest egg for a va loan with a few contingencies. I've submitted numerous offers up to 25k over asking with a 5k appraisal gap contingency and each time im beat out by price and appraisal gap. It's just so disheartening and I feel like the VA loan isn't looked on well. And from what it seems like the markets just been devouring itself and I feel like I'll never get a foot in the door so to speak. Thanks for your valuable time, I hope you all have a good weekend. [link] [comments] |
| Different loan estimates from broker and lender Posted: 24 Oct 2020 02:23 AM PDT I am a first time home buyer. I submitted "Uniform Residential Loan Application" to a loan officer at a local broker. Origination charges in my application include only these items: - %0 for discount points - 995 Lender fee A few days later I got a loan estimate from the lender (NewRez) that is different from the one in my application. Specifically, it has - 2,394 for 1.088% points - No lender fee - Hosts of other items (e.g., title - closing preparation fee, title - survey required by title, etc) that do not appear in my application to the local broker. As a result, total loan costs differ between 3,895 and 5,895. This is the third time I got a loan estimate from the lender that is different from the terms specified in my original application. Every time this happens I asked the loan officer to fix the numbers and he said he would do it, but basically nothing has changed. The loan officer once said that final mortgage disclose would be the same as the one in the original application. Is the broker going to take care of the discount points and newly added fees as he mentioned? Any advice/insights would be appreciated. [link] [comments] |
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