Real Estate: Do your inspections! |
- Do your inspections!
- Some macroeconomic data comparing the current market to 2008 for perspective.
- Loan Officer quits the day the loan is set to close
- Cigarette Smoke?
- 2 weeks to sign on my house and i lost my job due...
- Buying House In Unfavorable Area
- Need some advice
- Removing a Driveway
- Do we need an inspector or structural engineer or contractor?
- Montgomery County MD
- How to ensure we are chosen for rental property? Is it a strategy to offer more than the listing price / offer a larger security deposit?
- Paid ~$70K (20%) over asking. Yes, it appraised! Yes, it's a great investment!
- Benefits of concrete slab/no basement houses
- Will buying a condo for less than it appraises for effectively lower the value of the property and the surrounding properties?
- Help! The sellers are not moving out by date given to us!
- (Advice needed) Seller Financing
- I am looking leasing a rental property (still occupied) but it currently smells strongly of pot — I don’t want to live somewhere there smells like weed. Does pot smoke “stick” to paint/carpet the same way cigarettes do or will it dissipate with open windows for a few days? Is there hope?
- How does new multi family development across the street affect home values?
- What online rent collection service do you use for commercial properties?
- I'm looking to get a land loan, but I can't find a lender who will do more than 5 years on a loan.
- Best online school/Florida
- Appraisal comes back low - due to covid forbearance?
- Closing credits
- Should half of earnest money forfeited by a buyer go to the listing agency?
- Fraudulent Charges cause score to drop during final stages of closing on home.
| Posted: 21 Apr 2021 01:09 AM PDT Here is a quick rundown of something I just walked away from - The claim was the house was renovated/flipped and no corners were cut in the process. Viewing the property and home, things looked like they were done well. It was described as move-in ready and on the surface, you might agree. The only red flag was that 2 buyers walked away over the past 1-2 months. The seller's agent told us that the other buyers were 'stupid to walk away' and that the only problem found was low water pressure (home had well and septic). They told us before we made an offer that the seller was motivated to make a deal and they would "fix all water issues before closing." So we put in an offer and it was accepted. They gave us 1 week for inspections and wanted to get a signed contract by today. So last week, my wife and I opted to get a full inspection with all the addons. We just wanted to make sure that the water was the only problem but what we found was much more than anticipated. The inspection revealed:
The list goes on but these were some of the items that if we didn't get into the crawl spaces of the house and really check it out, we may not have realized without a full inspection. On the surface, you wouldn't have noticed or seen these things. Also, the list went on with less significant items. Anyway, I'm glad we did the inspection as I believe it saved us a money pit of problems. I can't imagine buyers opting to forego inspections but to each their own. We ended up walking away and rescinding our offer. [link] [comments] |
| Some macroeconomic data comparing the current market to 2008 for perspective. Posted: 21 Apr 2021 08:24 AM PDT There's been a lot of discussion about whether or not we're in a bubble, and most of it has focused on anecdotes. Many of these anecdotes are illustrative (yes, it's crazy competitive now, and yes, you really can lose your shirt if the market crashes), but let's switch things up a bit and look at some data. First of all, inflation-adjusted prices really are up to 08 levels: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=Dk5j But that's about as far as the similarities go. Housing vacancy was higher than normal and increasing (aka housing surplus) leading up to 08 and lower than normal and decreasing now (aka housing shortage): https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/USHVAC Inflation-adjusted rents were stable while inflation-adjusted monthly mortgage payments increased leading up to 08, while rents have increased considerably in the last five years vs mortgage payments fluctuating but overall stable (mortgage payments calculated including principal plus interest assuming average rates for a 30-year fixed): https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=Dk4P Monthly supply of houses was increasing rapidly leading up to 08 vs approximately stable now: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MSACSR Is it a bubble? We'll have to wait and see. But it's pretty clear that the market dynamics leading up to 08 are different in virtually every respect besides price than current market dynamics. Proceed with caution, and remember that doing nothing is still a risk. [link] [comments] |
| Loan Officer quits the day the loan is set to close Posted: 20 Apr 2021 11:50 AM PDT I'm actually speechless right now. We had a 21 day loan contingency in our offer, which expired yesterday April 19. We emailed and called our loan officer, at Citi Bank, starting April 16 to get the status of the loan. All of the emails bounced back saying the inbox is full. To make matters worse, the loan officer's assistant was out on vacation. We finally received a text message at 5 PM on the 19th stating our loan was in day 10 of a 13 day underwriting period. Fortunately, we bought ourselves some more time with the sellers to figure out what's gong on. Today (April 20), we finally get a hold of someone at Citi and they tell us our loan officer quit yesterday and we are now assigned to a new loan officer. All of this while the loan was set to close yesterday. Now they're saying we need to wait until next week for the loan to close. I'm shocked, amazed, baffled, and perplexed - to say the least. I really just had to vent. We're trying to get the sellers to extend the appraisal contingency. Fortunately, escrow isn't set to close until the end of May - so we have some time. Has anyone dealt with something like this. I want to pull a Karen and ask to speak to the manager! EDIT: I understand the LO quitting didn't cause the delay in loan approval. It's more of an issue of being left in the dark days before the loan was set to close. Also, people don't usually leave a job on a whim, unless he was fired on the spot. Thus, he could have given us a heads up before he was leaving and introduced us to his replacement. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 21 Apr 2021 02:41 AM PDT My husband and I are first time buyers. We just read through the inspection report that was done today and found that the inspector noted the smell of cigarette smoke. We didn't notice it when we viewed the property. Do buyers often ask their realtors to check to see about indoor cigarette smoking habits of the sellers of a house for sale? [link] [comments] |
| 2 weeks to sign on my house and i lost my job due... Posted: 21 Apr 2021 05:44 AM PDT What action should I take, if any. My wife is on the pre approval with me that I submitted and can put in her name I think. My employer parted ways with me due to an injury and no foreseeable improvement for me. My wife and II are 2 weeks from buying our first house, and now I am worried I might not be able to finalize. The pre approval has been submitted to the sellers realtor and earnest money in escrow. I am buying directly from the seller. 185000 for a 2 bedroom townhouse. And yes we can afford it on one income plus my disability. Any help and commentary welcome.. ******Update. Thank you all for the advice, I am contacting the lender today and moving this into my wife's name, as well as copying my attorney to figure out some recourse as to the way my employer has handled this. There is a lot more details but I am not gonna get into that. You all gave me some reassurance today and for that I am grateful. [link] [comments] |
| Buying House In Unfavorable Area Posted: 21 Apr 2021 08:29 AM PDT Hi all, My uncle's best friend is moving and he might want to sell his house for me off market. I am not too experienced in this, but I think I would just need to get a Title company to do the paperwork. The house itself has been redone, the backyard is stunning and has a backhouse that was also redone (not sure if he got the permits for it), the problem is the house is in an area that I dont see myself potentially living in; however, with some realtors telling me that people are offering ridiculous amounts over asking price with like 20-30 bids, I feel like this is a good opportunity regardless of the area? It is in North Hollywood, Los Angeles. 3Bd 2Ba, 1600 sq ft living space with the back house and a huge backyard. He's willing to discount the house 6% since we wont go through a realtor. Any thoughts on this? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 21 Apr 2021 06:56 AM PDT Need some advice about release Made an offer on a house and it was over asking price. My realtor said if I really like the house to buy 'as is' as that's how I'll get the house. I did that and it was accepted. Was supposed to close on the house but when saw it three days before closing, the hvac wasn't working. On the disclosure it said that it was working but was from 2006. The seller also hid defects in the structure of the house with furniture. There was a big cutout in the wall and siding ( not the door- the actual wall ) for a dog door. When we initially saw the house it was covered from inside and outside in the sunroom with furniture. Even though the hvac compressor wasn't working when we saw it the seller said it did. And sent my realtor a picture of the thermostat showing the temperature change in the room to what she set it to (first 65 then 75). But you can trick a thermostat to read differently with blowing a fan on it or putting something warm like a blow dryer toward it. So we said we wanted to see it before closing to see that compressor works and the vents blew out air because it wasn't when we saw it three days before. The seller refused us seeing it again. So we did not close on the house. I have signed the release form so she got the earnest money even though she was the one who lied about it working when it didn't. I asked my realtor for a copy of the release form that the seller signed and my realtor said she will send it to me when she receives it. The seller already put the house back on the market- my question is can she put it on the market if she hasn't signed a release from another contract? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 21 Apr 2021 08:03 AM PDT Hi - sorry this might be the wrong sub. I bought a house a couple of months back. It's on a fairly small suburban lot, about a third of which is dedicated to the driveway that can hold 3-4 cars (depending on the size). At the end of the driveway, there's a detached garage that space-wise could support being a one-car garage, but I don't think it's been used in that capacity by any former owner. I like gardening and don't predict I will ever own more than one car. I would like to remove about 2/3's of the driveway and put in grass + raised beds. That would render the garage useless as a space to store a car, but would not impact it in its current usage. How badly would this hurt my home value? [link] [comments] |
| Do we need an inspector or structural engineer or contractor? Posted: 21 Apr 2021 07:29 AM PDT We've been going back and forth on this beautiful townhouse that has been on the market for over 200 days. It's without a doubt a fixer-upper. But it has more charm and character etc than anything else we've seen. And it's HUGE so in theory with some investment it could sell for much more than it is right now, or be divided into a primary home and 1-2 rental units. Somebody has been living there, so it is habitable. The seller has already informed us of a plumbing issue that was estimated at 12K. But there are definitely other things that are immediately obvious like windows, a new boiler, etc, But given its size and age I am nervous about what else is hidden. Before we put an offer we wanted to get a real understanding of what it would mean to own it now and in the next 5 years. Including an estimate on some basic upgrades--bathroom, moving W/D to another floor, windows, etc. We're willing to put some money into having that knowledge and would love to get your opinion on who that professional (s) would be. We got a quote from an inspector for $700, haven't heard back from the contractor yet. But already $700 is more than I was considering for one service. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 21 Apr 2021 09:33 AM PDT Not sure if anyone knows this or has any idea but when doing home searches in Montgomery County MD I notice that the vast majority of properties tend to be in Germantown, Gaithersburg. Why is that vs other areas of the county. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 21 Apr 2021 09:23 AM PDT So to give some background: Me and three friends (all guys about 23 years old) are looking to rent a place in the phoenix area. We haven't been having too much luck in a market this hot since we aren't necessarily a landlord's first choice. We have found a listing that we love for a price below what we are willing to pay, but it is not yet available to tour and is essentially requiring you to apply sight unseen and then have a personal tour at a later date. My question is: what can we do to ensure that we are selected? If we were to apply and not offer any higher rent or security deposit I'm fairly certain we would not get selected. Is offering a higher rent even something that is done in this market? If so, I don't see any way to do it on their website and I'm assuming this type of thing would be negotiated verbally with the landlord/listing agent. [link] [comments] |
| Paid ~$70K (20%) over asking. Yes, it appraised! Yes, it's a great investment! Posted: 21 Apr 2021 09:01 AM PDT We finally got our house. Well it's just me buying since my girlfriend has been unemployed since the pandemic began. I had put in 2 other offers in late 2020. The first one I went over $11K and lost by like a thousand. The next one, I went all in or so we thought with $30K over asking but someone put in $70K over. This year, we lost out on a couple of houses before even putting in an offer because sellers were accepting offers and cancelling showings on the same day the house listed. After this, there it's been mostly periods of lull with nothing much coming on the market. Then, we started looking at "coming soon" houses, trying to get a leg up on the competition. Before it hit the market, we saw the best house we'd seen in our price range yet, a modest little mid century brick ranch house with a two car garage in a great location that was walking distance to parks and shopping. Our realtor found out it was coming on the market the on Friday and she was up early in the morning trying to book at the exact minute it became available. I was also refreshing the app trying to see when it became available. My realtor had stepped away from her computer for 10 minutes; I saw it become available; and when my realtor tried to book 10 minutes later, the house was booked for the whole day. We did book it the next day. The house was better than the pictures. It was the opposite of 3,000+ sqft McMansions where neighbors are an arms distance away with the yard extending twenty feet to the back of the house and ten feet to the front and since there isn't enough land to build out so building up means you have to go up and down the stairs. This house had a beautiful backyard with just the right balance of trees making for a open, green sunny lawn yet with enough mature trees to look like an open area of a lush forest with squirrels frolicking and birds singing. The big backyard was surrounded by a tall privacy fence which made it feel completely secluded. And the neighbors were a good distance away with driveways even a much further away all while the location was close to everything including downtown. We fell in love with this but it would mean a lot of others would as well especially since it was ranch. I own a small end unit ranch townhome and now and then we get letters from realtors of older people asking us to sell it to their clients who are looking exclusively at ranches. So I felt like I had to go $70K over just to have a chance but it was a struggle to get over the regret that we could have bought the same place for high $200Ks in 2018-19 or low $300K last year and now we were going to pay over $400K. What helped me get over this was I had money that I didn't know what to do with. I had made some good money on the huge big tech runup in 2020 and I had cashed most of it out because there was a correction. Also, I had cashed out six figure amounts of Bitcoin in January and March. Since most of my net worth was already invested in the stock market in retirement accounts and I still had a decent amount in crypto since I don't plan on ever selling all my Bitcoin, I didn't want to buy more stocks or crypto. We had a paid off townhouse but this house could be our forever home. What else were we going to do with our money?! Also, it made sense to keep some cash to buy the dips and play the inflation hedge by leveraging to buy property with historically cheap debt. So I offered $70K over, no contingencies, $20K DD and stating that I'd cover any appraisal gap. The seller still asked for a letter, maybe to decide between offers. We were surprised we got it -- I mean there were 40 offers. Ten days later, we were even more surprised that it appraised $70K over! The comps that the appraiser used were all houses that sold within the last couple months and some were houses that just sold the previous week. So all in all, even though we paid 20-25% more than last year for the same house, we're thrilled with getting our forever home. The fiscal policies and climate have inflated all asset prices so like a lot of people we actually made more than 25% off our investments last year while being locked down at home and saving more than before. And while the dollar value of the house has gone up, the price we paid for the house in relation to other assets has actually declined. Like Billionaire investor Ray Dalio keeps saying on CNBC, "Cash is trash!" What matters is assets people actually want. So not only are we getting a forever home but we're also diversifying our net worth into a SFH in great location in a growing area (Raleigh/Durham market) by leveraging cheap debt which is a great hedge against inflation. Inflation is already happening. I will rent the townhouse for passive income. I am never selling assets for USD unless it is to buy another asset. [link] [comments] |
| Benefits of concrete slab/no basement houses Posted: 21 Apr 2021 06:40 AM PDT I'm thinking of purchasing a property without a basement , built on a concrete slab. My first thought was , no basement = no costly basement/foundation repair surprises. After doing some research I've found that may be somewhat true, but doing electrical and plumbing repairs can be more difficult. Is it true that houses built on slabs would have stronger foundations? Also what other pros and cons would there be? Besides the fact of not having the basement area/storage. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 21 Apr 2021 08:21 AM PDT I have lived in my condo for 7 years and we decided to finally purchase it from my landlord. He agreed on a price that I think is a screaming deal. Since the appraisal is based on comparable sales in the area if I buy this at a huge discount will that affect the value of my neighbors condos and possibly my own? [link] [comments] |
| Help! The sellers are not moving out by date given to us! Posted: 21 Apr 2021 07:22 AM PDT Do we have a leg to stand on if we go into mitigation? Background story: I recently purchased a home in Colorado and did a rent back situation with the sellers. In the contract we gave them 60 days to move out from the closing. The sellers informed us in writing at closing (3/31/21) that they found a new place and would be moving out by 4/17. With that information we gave our notice to our landlord that we would be moving out by 4/30. We contacted the sellers on 4/17 asking if they were all set to be out that day so we could start our moving process and was told then that their new place fell through. We asked how much more time they needed and finally got an answer from them on 4/20 that they needed at least a couple weeks into may. Our current rental is already leased for 5/4 and was told by our landlord that we will need to be out by 4/30. This puts us in a rough position of having to find a place to live for at most a month. Because the sellers put us in this situation by giving their notice and then not informing us until their "move out" date that they need more time, are we able to ask for them to cover our storage and rental costs? Or are we in a position where we can tell them that they must be out by 4/30 even though the original contract says 5/31? Any advice would be greatly appreciated! [link] [comments] |
| (Advice needed) Seller Financing Posted: 21 Apr 2021 11:05 AM PDT Has anyone successfully negotiated a seller financing, where instead of borrowing money from the bank you pay the owner a large down payment and monthly installments? If so please let me know if any pitfalls, what to watch out for, any advice really. I have a unique situation where there is a house for sale. The house was built in 1922, and the original family has lived there the entire time. The owner is 77, on social security, and can not keep up with maintenance. The house has been neglected for a while, and because of that the house is not eligible for a traditional bank financing. The house has a lot of sentimental value to the owner, she lived in that house her entire life. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 21 Apr 2021 10:57 AM PDT |
| How does new multi family development across the street affect home values? Posted: 21 Apr 2021 10:56 AM PDT We are in the process of purchasing a home and during the inspection period we discovered that there is going to be a large multi family development built directly across the the street from the house. The first phase of building will share the street with this house. The area is zoned for single family housing, but the developer is going to be building a small house with an attached junior ADU and another full size ADU on the same lot. So 3 different residences on the same lot. There will be about 230 residences in the area zoned for 82 single family houses. How would this impact our property values in the future? We are thinking that we need to request a significant price reduction since the seller didn't disclose this when we made the initial offer. [link] [comments] |
| What online rent collection service do you use for commercial properties? Posted: 21 Apr 2021 10:37 AM PDT For residential properties, I see that a lot of people recommend Cozy.co and Avail.co for managing their properties expenses and for online rent collection, and it seems like these could also be used in the same way for commercial properties. However, I want to see what commercial property managers use for online rent collection and for managing property expenses? Maybe there are better sites specifically designed for commercial properties? [link] [comments] |
| I'm looking to get a land loan, but I can't find a lender who will do more than 5 years on a loan. Posted: 21 Apr 2021 10:30 AM PDT Looking to buy an empty lot and build on at a later time. I can only find a handful of lenders, and none of them want to do more than 5 years for the loan period. The land is in rural Nevada, and every credit union I've talked to has no interest. For me, 5-year loan payments would be pushing me out of my comfort zone. I was hoping to find someone who could do an 8 year loan if possible. Don't really know where else to look to be honest. Edit: Forgot to say: Most popular personal loan lenders such as SoFi, offer more than 5 years, but state that their loans cannot be used for real estate. This is one of the reasons I'm having a hard time finding lenders. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 21 Apr 2021 09:41 AM PDT Hey everyone, I am interested in starting my real estate career. That being said I have been having some difficulty in choosing which online school to use. So far everyone tells me Gold Coast, although when I look online schools like real estate express sound appealing because of the price difference, both schools have high reviews. If possible I would greatly appreciate some feedback on which school is the better option or if there is another school you all recommend. Thanks, Thatdudeguy [link] [comments] |
| Appraisal comes back low - due to covid forbearance? Posted: 20 Apr 2021 08:33 PM PDT I am under contract to buy a home and just received the appraisal back. The final appraisal was $10k less than the contract price which seemed low compared to recent comps in the neighborhood. However, I am struggling with the loan officer's explanation. He said "appraisals coming in low has become quite common since appraisers are being very conservative due to the COVID issues and concerns over future foreclosures once the forebearance period comes to an end. The foreclosures will drive home values down. You can approach the seller and ask to lower the price based on this appraisal. If the seller won't budge, you can make up the $10,000 difference at closing." So the potential of future foreclosures are baked into appraisals? This doesn't seem correct. I know the buyer so we are not using agents. I imagine purchase prices will exceed appraisals in this environment but the rationale doesn't make sense. Has anyone else been given this reason or have insight into this? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 21 Apr 2021 09:33 AM PDT Hello, I am in the process of buying my first home in NY. We agreed on a price with the sellers, who agreed to closing credits/concessions to cover the cost of some things that will need repair after closing. My lender is now telling me that they do not recognize seller concessions. They are telling me we (buyer/seller) have to lower the sale price by the concession amount to receive the value of the agreed upon concession. This is NOT what I wanted. I was told by my agent and attorney that due to the credit, I would be leaving the closing with more cash in my pocket which I was going to use for the repairs. Lowering the sale price by the concession amount helps long term, but it requires me to dip into my own savings up front to pay for the repairs. I do not want this. The bank is adamant that this is how they will do it. My attorney isn't doing a very good job explaining the whole concession process to me either. Can anyone tell me how seller credits/concessions typically work in NY, and what other options I may have to leave closing with more cash in my pocket? I'm very frustrated here. Thank you! [link] [comments] |
| Should half of earnest money forfeited by a buyer go to the listing agency? Posted: 21 Apr 2021 09:04 AM PDT Hello! Hoping to have a discussion on this topic. In my state (Maine), the standard listing agreement says that half of earnest money forfeited by a buyer will go to the listing agency. My first thought was, "what a rip off to the seller." BUT then after thinking more about it, I'm not so sure. If we've gotten to the point of a buyer losing their earnest money, we've probably been under contract for a couple of weeks, possible a month or so, inspections have been done, a lot of time (usually) in negotiating and paperwork. The point of the buyer losing the earnest money is to somewhat compensate that wasted time and effort and for the seller potentially losing out a sale from turning other buyers away. In this particular market, it's not likely to mean the house sits on the market for a while, but in a more "normal" or a buyer's market, it could really make a difference. And it's a difference for the listing agent, too. They've put in a lot of work for nothing and delayed their commission if it delays the sale. I've never been in this position, the couple of times deals fell through with my sellers, it was well within the contingency period, so there was no question of the buyer getting it back. Of course, the next question, not covered in the listing agreement, is if the agency actually shares that half of the earnest money with the listing agent. [link] [comments] |
| Fraudulent Charges cause score to drop during final stages of closing on home. Posted: 21 Apr 2021 08:36 AM PDT I got a notification this morning that my credit score dropped 38 points due to two reasons:
I am in a panic and wondering what I should do. I have already reported the fraudulent purchases to the credit card company and they started their investigation process. I just know that before closing a final review is done and they are going to see my credit score has changed with the new information. What do it do? Any help is appreciated. [link] [comments] |
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