Much Love to all the GOOD realtors out there you know who you are Real Estate |
- Much Love to all the GOOD realtors out there you know who you are
- Homebuyer/open house rant
- Can I refuse my buyer a third visit before closing the house in TN
- 2.5% Refinance for 20 years
- Selling home with structural engineer letter attached. Is it a bad idea?
- Bad realtors or expectations too high?
- Contingent vs pending
- Buying next to train tracks
- Possible to buy a cabin less than 100K in CA,OR, or WA?
- Why is my home not selling?
- Mortgage company requiring me to have homeowner's insurance higher than the home rebuild cost
- Illinois: Inspector found undisclosed roof leak. Sellers knew about it. What should I ask as a remedy?
- Bringing Funds for Closing
- Got a $6,000 bill for previous owner's unpaid property taxes... what now??
- Getting the title of a Prefab Home
- First-time buyer. How do I find a good agent?
- 2nd time VA home loan through DHI.
- Smaller house, larger yard to build a pool or larger house, smaller yard with community pool? California
- Inspection and Fences
- Should my inspector ha be found these issues?
- Preferred Lender; Do or Don’t? + Negotiations
- Our house selling & buying story
- Investing in real estate in very high cost of living area?
- House I'm looking at is supposed to have sod installed can I use this as Leverage?
| Much Love to all the GOOD realtors out there you know who you are Posted: 22 Aug 2020 10:23 AM PDT As my home buying experience comes to a close I have a new appreciation for a good realtor. My advice is not to settle for a realtor. Interview them and don't be afraid to jump ship if you are not meshing. I went through 2 realtors before finding the one. The first 2 were not bad people just didnt wow me with their service or expertise. Not proactive, didn't educate me unless I pried, and more invested in the sale closing than our happiness. Then I found the one. It was like night and day. Energy, proactiveness, teaching us things at every corner. It was such a breath of fresh air to have someone really try to understand our desires and actually help find candidates. We browse redfin and zillow like hawks yet he surfaced one to us we didn't notice that ended up being the one for us. Came on the inspection with us, held the inspector accountable and noticed things the inspector didn't. Referred us to contractors and even helped with minor projects. He earned every penny of his commission and I will definitely be working with him if I sell this house in the future. My advice to home buyers out there is invest the effort to find the right realtor for you. You will spend a lot of time with this person over many weeks or months. Make it count. Good luck [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 22 Aug 2020 11:37 AM PDT Looking for our first home and running into unusual "because that's how it's done" issues that I wish the market would rethink. Millennials want different things and COVID has changed the buyer experience, likely for good. (1) Why not post floorplans? Especially if your house is bigger/has bigger rooms than older houses surrounding it? I hate driving 20 minutes to find out that your master bedroom is 8x8 cleverly photographed with a fisheye, and similarly I've probably avoided generous bigger houses or houses with lots of closets and storage because they are unfurnished and I'm not appreciating how big they really are. (2) Photograph ALL of the rooms, please. I can't tell you how many listings I've seen that say 4 bedrooms but only have one photographed. I have to assume by default that they are tiny and have mold growing up the walls. Conversely, it's always a nice surprise when there's an unphotographed lounge, dressing room, laundry room, mud room, walk-up attic, foyer, etc. Those things make the difference between a smaller home with a tight floorplan and a generous home with room for living in. I sell a ton on eBay and the #1 thing sellers need to do is take every possible picture. It takes almost no extra effort and it could make the difference between wanting to see your house and not. (3) SHOW ME YOUR BASEMENT. Show me photos. Put it on the floorplan. List the ceiling height in the description. My number one want right is a big basement and it has become the reason we put an offer on a house or write it off. I want storage. I want a workout area. I want a place for the litter boxes not in our living area. I want floor space to air dry my clothes on a rack. It may not be legal square footage but it is still valuable usable space. For some ranches it effectively doubles your space. 95% of listings I see list basement in the listing spec but don't mention it or show it at all. WHY?! (4) Extend your open house hours. Everyone does 1-3pm on Sunday. Covid makes open houses take longer than usual. I show up to house number 1, wait while each couple goes in, sign covid form, then do my tour. By the time I'm done, it's 1:40pm, and if I'm looking at houses in different towns that means rushing over to the next and that's it. So really I can only see 2 open houses a week in that window, but I 100% show up to houses open at noon or until 4. Nobody's going to church right now, why not start earlier? (5) Update your listing if you're cancelling an open house, or at least leave a note. We showed up to a house last week and nobody was there, 30 min before ending. They are doing another this weekend, supposedly, but I'm not going to waste my precious window of time to see if maybe they're around this week. It's a dick move. (6) Why are realtors offended by this interaction? "Are you working with a buyer's agent?" "Yes." "Can you write down her name?" "Actually we're still finding ourselves and would prefer she wasn't contacted each time we see an open house." Let's go back to: I'm a millennial. I want different things from the service industry than my parents. I want to comparison shop and I don't want to be pressured to make a decision or field a bunch of calls. I want to be able to walk out of a house as soon as I've decided it's not the one without honoring a social contract of giving my realtor notes on what I like and what I don't. I don't want to drag my realtor to 20 houses only to realize they left off key details that are not standard to share (see above) and I certainly don't want every listing agent asking her if I'm interested when I'm clearly not. I'm trying to do her a favor. Why does every realtor view this as suspicious? What's a better way to look like serious buyers but uninterested in being contacted? [link] [comments]  |
| Can I refuse my buyer a third visit before closing the house in TN Posted: 22 Aug 2020 05:51 PM PDT I understand the buyer needs to see the house but this buyer is giving me bad vibes. After the first visit, the buyer asked to come to look at the house with three inspectors to which I accepted. Instead of 3 inspectors, they came with 15 to 20 people trying to sell it forward after closing. I think that because I am Hispanic they thought I didn't understand what they were talking about. These people were not inspectors!! They were having an open house with other potential buyers. Some weeks later they came to the house and asked me if they could come in for measurements. They didn't have any appointment for that day. I asked them to speak with my realtor. I asked my realtor to not give them anymore appointments but she says they have a right to visit. Is this correct? What can I do? What are my rights? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 22 Aug 2020 02:31 PM PDT This morning I saw a post on here about someone awesome refinance rate so I decided to look into it for us. We owe 450k on our home and have been paying an additional 300 every month towards principal. Our current rate is 3.5% 30year. For about 3k in total loan costs, we are able to save about 100k in interest by switching to 2.5% over 20 years. We will still be paying the same amount as we currently are (with the extra 300/month). So thank you whoever shared this morning! We used Better for our original mortgage and are using them again for refinance. Have been really happy with them. [link] [comments]  |
| Selling home with structural engineer letter attached. Is it a bad idea? Posted: 23 Aug 2020 03:35 AM PDT We are closing on another house and prepping to sell our current house. Long story short the original inspector for our current house 5 years ago missed some signs of moisture issues in the crawl space. 30k later and downspouts, gutters and French drain around house later plus 8k roof amending/ added framing support we are preparing to sell. I had the engineer come out years later during this ordeal as we'd been talking for 3-4 years while I addressed everything. While there appears to still be some puddles during very very heavy rain periods the report he wrote states that all repairs have been completed as recommended and no further repairs are needed at this time. Basically says during the first visit there was localized large amounts of puddling and after his last visit years later there was minimal water. We also have a pvc pipe sticking out under our foundation into the crawl space to catch water that wants to creep in within that area and move it away from the house. No sump needed according to him. He said he didn't notice any mold down there on the framing and the framing was in accpetable condition. House built in 1962 so this was probably happening for many years without issue. We also spoke to a separate Civil engineer that said given the house has been standing since 62 it's unlikely to have significant issues given how long the conditions have likely existed without my remediation. Also redid landscaping for grading and prettying it up a bit. So realtors what's your experience selling a home with these sorts of situations? Is this going to be incredibly hard or can I expect it to sell reasonably quickly without too much trouble I'm in Tacoma. My agent recommends we post it up front. [link] [comments]  |
| Bad realtors or expectations too high? Posted: 23 Aug 2020 02:53 AM PDT Here's something I find absolutely maddening about realtors, maybe someone here can explain it to me, or help me gain some perspective or something. If I come to you, and say, "Hey, I'm looking for a house with central air, a 3-car garage, and an in-ground swimming pool," and you start showing me a house with central air, no garage at all, and a vinyl blow-up kiddie pool, I'm supposed to think "Hey, one out of three features I told this person were must-haves. That's not bad!" Really? I don't think so. If I say I want a 5-bedroom river-front house, and you show me an apartment with three bedrooms on the opposite side of town to the river, I'm so frustrated I want to kick someone's gonads up somewhere around their nostrils. So, before I give someone an undeserved hard time, what's up with that??? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 22 Aug 2020 06:45 PM PDT We lost out on a house yet again. This time we were the second best offer out of 7 that went under contract less than 24 hours after listing. The sellers agent said they accepted the other offer but now the house is listed as contingent/active under contract when we normally just see it go to pending. Why would it go to that status instead of pending? I would also assume that it would also have a higher chance of falling through. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 22 Aug 2020 09:36 PM PDT We found an incredible property that ticked every box we had. Space, finish, location, pool EXCEPT there is a train line running behind it. Not super close, there's about 50 meters of trees between us but it's close. It's a busy freight line and I can hear it late at night 4 miles away at the Airbnb we're staying in. The only way to know how bad it is would be to spend a night at the property. Is that something I can ask to do before I complete the purchase? [link] [comments]  |
| Possible to buy a cabin less than 100K in CA,OR, or WA? Posted: 22 Aug 2020 09:34 PM PDT Open to North AZ, Idaho, and Utah as well. Is this even possible? Only requirement is that it is in a green area and not too hot. Recommendations are appreciated 🙏 Not really looking as a rental or investment property. Just looking for some peace... [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 22 Aug 2020 12:44 PM PDT We have had like 50 showings This is a joy real estate market and we have definitely listed way under the nearby home sales only because the home is basic and has no upgrades (no granite or stone or anything at all) Beside the amazing expansive hardwood floors , a good deck and finished basement (in law apartment) In my mind this is a steal at the price - but I might be biased because this is my home hahha Looking for opinions, what could I do differently to sell this beautiful home! [link] [comments]  |
| Mortgage company requiring me to have homeowner's insurance higher than the home rebuild cost Posted: 23 Aug 2020 01:01 AM PDT I just refinanced my mortgage and my new lender sent me a letter stating that I have inadequate homeowner's insurance. Essentially they want me to have coverage equal to 95% of my loan balance, even though that amount is higher than the cost to rebuild after a total loss. I spoke to my insurance company and they said it is illegal for the mortgage company to require me to insure for more than the home's rebuild cost (according to the California Civil Code 2955.5). The insurance company faxed a letter to the mortgage company stating that I am insured for the rebuild cost + 25% extra. Should this be sufficient for the mortgage company? It seems like the mortgage company is up to no good and I worry they will try to purchase additional coverage and stick me with the bill (they should already know I have adequate coverage since I gave them my declarations page when I applied for the mortgage). If they continue to insist that I obtain more coverage, who would I go to for help or to report them (i.e. California Department of Insurance or the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau)? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 22 Aug 2020 06:55 PM PDT Alright, homebuyer under contract and I need a gut-check that I'm being reasonable about this situation. Title provides a good summary: there's an active leak in a second-floor bedroom closet that my home inspector found. The leak is located where the chimney passes through the roof and an attic crawlspace—not unusual on its own. But, my home inspector, a chimney inspector, and two separate roofers cannot determine the source of the leak. Everyone but the home inspector was brought in by the sellers. Today I learned that the sellers made their own repairs to try to solve this leak in the past. To me, this shows they knew about the leak and did not include it in their disclosures. Red flag #1. My realtor, bless her soul, thinks $200 from the sellers should be plenty to cover the repair and I should be happy they're offering anything at all. $200 will not even cover the water damage to the walls, let alone finding and fixing the leak. Red flag #2. Personally, I'm very handy and willing to do the repairs on my own. That being said, I want this defect reflected in the price, and given all the uncertainty around the cause and full extent of damage I think $1,500 is reasonable. Should I be asking for more? Am I making too big a deal about this? What questions am I not asking that I should be? I'm aware there are other costs of homeownership that are going to come up, and that the sellers have no obligation to make minor repairs, but this seems like much more than a minor repair. I also have to admit, I don't think my realtor is looking out for my best interests. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 22 Aug 2020 08:34 PM PDT I will be closing on a house on Monday. I left my hometown across the country this week, before I knew the exact amount of funds needed for closing. My credit union was local, so I can no longer walk into a branch and get a cashier's check. What is the best way to bring these funds to closing? The amount is less than $10k. I do believe I opened an account at a credit union in the new city, but it is minimally funded. Would I be able to transfer into this account, and get a cashier's check from them by Monday? Or is that frowned upon for some reason for mortgages? [link] [comments]  |
| Got a $6,000 bill for previous owner's unpaid property taxes... what now?? Posted: 22 Aug 2020 09:52 AM PDT We bought our house in April 2019, everything is going fine with it except... I just got a letter from a law firm claiming we owe $6,000 in old property taxes. This absolutely isn't our debt (it even says it's from 2017 in the letter), but I'm scared we might be liable for it somehow? Here are some more details: -Online town property tax records show we have paid our taxes (2019/2020), but these records are missing for some years before we bought it -We did buy Owner's Title Insurance when we bought the house, but according to my records we only paid $119 for it and average prices for our area are more like $1000? So I'm hoping we didn't somehow skimp out on the wrong policy when buying? -The debt is owned by some big national mega-corporation, that's who is trying to collect through a local(ish) lawyer. So it's not like the town itself is coming after us, the debt was apparently already sold to this collection agency. Any help would be greatly appreciated! I've been surprised how little info came up during my last hour of Googling about it.. [link] [comments]  |
| Getting the title of a Prefab Home Posted: 22 Aug 2020 11:31 PM PDT I just bought some land that was previously being rented out to someone with a prefab home. The person had a mortgage on the home but could not pay it so left the home on the land. What would the process be to negotiate with the lender and get the title of the property? [link] [comments]  |
| First-time buyer. How do I find a good agent? Posted: 22 Aug 2020 05:26 PM PDT I have never bought a house before, but I am thinking of possibly buying a house in the bay area next year. I am just browsing houses on Redfin and Zillow, but I can't really tell which property is a good property for me. My parents were realtors (in another country) and I am interested in architecture, so I was always interested in houses I have my standards, but I would find a property I like, only to later learn about problems with the house or the neighborhood when I ask about it online. I will be reading more books on home-buying and real estate investment, but I think I need a good mentor, and a good buyer's agent. Unfortunately, I have no friend who bought a house or is knowledgeable. I've requested showing once on Zillow, and didn't like how they match an agent. They just randomly match an agent and lets me unmatch them if I'm not satisfied. (I'm not sure if I can re-match them later) My agent ghosted on me because I was too early in the stage. (I am not pre-qualified for a mortgage) I am an extremely careful buyer, even when I'm buying something small on Amazon. If I buy a house, I absolutely must have browsed many properties over at least a year, and talked to many people about it. Even when I search for an apartment, I usually take months. For realtors, I want to talk with multiple realtors over a long period of time, getting advice and being shown multiple properties, so I can comparison shop and pick one who is honest, is trustworthy and can get me a good deal (including private listings, etc.) Maybe I am being too picky, but I can't imagine spending 5x ~ 10x of my entire saving without such painstaking searching processes. I know BiggerPockets is a platform for exactly this purpose, but it wasn't fantastic, and I've seen lots of guys here complaining about BP. So here are my questions: What's your experience in real estate investing/home-buying, and what specifically have you done in order to find the perfect agent (give their honest feedback and not always trying to make a deal), mentors, and the perfect house you want to live in for many many years? What mistakes have you made in the process, and what do you wish you have done differently (or what did you do differently next time)? [link] [comments]  |
| 2nd time VA home loan through DHI. Posted: 22 Aug 2020 11:19 PM PDT I'm in escrow for the home I'm selling in San Diego. We're currently under contract to purchase a new build in Houston. I was found 100% disabled, but I'm on terminal leave until September 27th, 28th is when my benefits kick in. I've been pre approved for 350k @ 2.5%. DHI has been giving me a hard time giving me tax break of a disabled vet because I'm still active and have no va statement even though I've sent him every bit of paper work proving that I am, but I understand, it's not on my COE. The DHI loan officer sent me a loan agreement that was completely fucked up. No escrow on it, even though I'm entitled to pay property taxes through Dec. 1st, wasn't locked in.. etc. I know DHI will fix the agreement to sell the house, that's not a huge issue. My question is, should I just finance it with the funding fee included and refund it after I get my COE updated? Is the funding fee 100% refundable? The COE says "I may be elidgible". Is this decided by the lender? Or mandated by the VA. It pretty much says to contact my local lender or contact my local VA mortgage office. He's in the process of "approving" me, then applying the benefits after I'm discharged. After I saw the loan disclosure, I get a shady vibe. TLDR: is the VA funding fee refundable only if the client meets criteria, or is it up to the lender? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 22 Aug 2020 07:24 PM PDT House 1: 1971, 1340 sqft, 4 bed, 2 bath. Yard big enough to build pool. Dated. 780k. House 2: 1999, 1920 sqft, 4 bed , 2 bath. Minor cosmetic TLC such as paint because they have kids are there are scuff marks. Community pool right across the house. Yard large enough for our 14 foot trampoline and a hot hub or table and bbq. 800k What sounds like a better option for a family of 5? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 22 Aug 2020 10:08 PM PDT Does anyone know if there is a standard for yard fences? We put our own fence in with materials from a neighbor who didn't need their fence anymore. It does the trick but by far not professional. When we go to inspection for our home, will we have problems and need to get it fixed? Or do fences not have a standard? [link] [comments]  |
| Should my inspector ha be found these issues? Posted: 22 Aug 2020 03:45 PM PDT I'm sure the answer will be "It's been a month, you have no recourse," but I figured I'd ask. I hired a well-reviewed home inspection service to perform an inspection, termite check, sewer scope, and radon test for a home I purchased. It was nearly $1k for the whole shebang. The inspection was 7/16, and I just closed yesterday. Today, while doing some work in the home, I noticed the smell of natural gas in the basement, when I opened the dryer door. I called the gas company, who sent a technician who determined there was a large leak within the dryer. He shut the gas off and said I needed to have it repaired or replaced. I then went to use the washer and the cold water shutoff valve leaks while the machine is in use. It's not a huge surge of water, but it's a noticeable slow drip. The only notes regarding the washer/dryer in the inspection report is for the dryer, which says "Has a rigid vent." I get it. It's been a month. I'm fully aware that things like this can happen in 30 days. But I'm also concerned that my inspector didn't actually attempt to use the washer/dryer. It's not a huge deal, as I've already scheduled installation of a new dryer (the old one was 20+ years old), but it's super frustrating to find both of these issues with the same area of the home on day 2 pose-close. And yes, I was there for the inspection but did not follow him to the basement other than to ask where the main water/gas shutoff valves were, and to have him show me how to turn down the hot water heater (it was pumping out of the faucet at 190 degrees!). [link] [comments]  |
| Preferred Lender; Do or Don’t? + Negotiations Posted: 22 Aug 2020 09:42 PM PDT The housing market is nuts where we are, Colorado, and we have found a new home that is in our range surprisingly. We did pricing and talked with our agent and it all seems good. We have an appointment set to sign the contract, but am curious about our lender vs preferred lender. My understanding is that the preferred lender will most likely cost us more over time due to extra fees being built into the loan and that's why the builder gives credits to use them because they also get a kickback (even though that's pretty much illegal but goes unregulated.) If we go with our lender, we probably won't get any credits and may spend more on the house then because we still need some basic items in the design area, but will save money in the long run. Do I have this right? Also, any chance on negotiating on upgrades and such in such a tight housing market? I know the price is probably non-negotiable but I read about extras, but not sure if this is even an option with the way the market is here. [link] [comments]  |
| Our house selling & buying story Posted: 22 Aug 2020 08:37 AM PDT No real question here, but just wanted to share our real estate ride. In January of this year, we decided we wanted to sell our house. We'd only been there 2.5 years and it was a very nice new construction home. But we realized we just didn't love the area (had originally chosen it because it was a cheaper area). We were nervous about selling because the area was more of a buyer's market (lots of new construction so plenty of inventory). We had a great agent who advised us to list in mid Feb to beat the spring rush. We went under contract in about 10 days at a price we were quite happy with. Then Covid hit the US. We spent the entire month nervous that the sale would fall apart. We thought the buyer might pull out, or lose his job, or have issues with appraisal. But it all went fine. We moved into an apartment with the kids and kept house hunting. Then in April, my wife's company suspended operations and she got furloughed. We decided to suspend the search. Of course, during this time, a couple of houses got listed that we loved. It was frustrating. Then in June, she got her normal hours back. We started the search again. Not much inventory out there, and we were being picky on both the house and location. Finally, a possible winning house gets posted on a Friday afternoon. Everything we are looking for and one of our favorite subdivisions. We are going out of town the next morning for a week, so we go see it that night (and we love it). The house gets a couple of offers over asking, but we put in the highest one ($5k over) and get the house. We closed yesterday and are very excited. It's definitely at the high end of our budget, but we got 2.875% on a 30 yr jumbo so the monthly payment works fine. It's just crazy how the timing works. If that house gets listed just one day later when we are out of town, we don't get it (we weren't going to buy a house based on a virtual tour). [link] [comments]  |
| Investing in real estate in very high cost of living area? Posted: 22 Aug 2020 08:07 PM PDT Throwaway account because finances I have a set of very specific financial circumstances and am looking for expertise around buying real estate in high cost of living areas. I am wondering about the benefits of buying an investment property versus buying a duplex or a single family home or a combination of these. I've gotten incredibly lucky and inherited a substantial sum of money, just shy of $700K after taxes. I rent and apartment in one of the most expensive areas of the US, pay $2K a month in rent and want to stay living in this area. I have no kids, a girlfriend I don't live with and we aren't planning to move in together until her kids are out of school, maybe 6 years. I have a well paying job, about $200k a year and have about $280k in retirement. Student loans are paid off and I have no debt. I can buy an investment property here for a million dollars and have the rents cover the mortgage. Stay renting my place. I can buy a duplex or triplex for a million or so and get the tax breaks and write off the improvements to my part of the home and have the renters pay most of the mortgage. Give up my apartment. I can buy a single family home for $650k but it's just me and I don't need much so that seems like a lot of house for me. Yes the housing market is completely crazy right now and I'm going to wait for six months until all the people who can't pay their mortgages have to sell. But if YOU were in my shoes, what would you do? I'm not interested in buying anywhere outside my area, so no out of state anything's. How do I take this chunk of money and invest in real estate somehow so I can hopefully retire in 15 years? [link] [comments]  |
| House I'm looking at is supposed to have sod installed can I use this as Leverage? Posted: 22 Aug 2020 07:31 PM PDT A house I'm looking at is about to have some Sod installed but there's no sprinkler system back there I'm pretty sure sod takes an insane amount of water to maintain at least initially I was really hoping to avoid getting the sod installed and maybe use that as leverage and maybe offer a slightly less on the house. My realtor says that the sod adds more value to the appraisal. I'm just worried that the sod will die out a few months after I get the house because there's no sprinkler system and I won't be out there all day watering all the grass. It's a pretty big backyard. Also sorry in advance for the typos, voice to text. Thank you [link] [comments]  |
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