Mortgage Closing Scam - Came Extremely Close To Losing $80K Real Estate |
- Mortgage Closing Scam - Came Extremely Close To Losing $80K
- FL- Developer has bought about 1000 acres of vacant woods around me. There are only myself and 5 neighbors that live in the middle of this property. The developer is attempting to annex the property into the city limits, and they have asked us to join them in becoming part of the city... Why?
- Redfin Predicts a More Balanced Housing Market in 2022
- Two years in, and still have massive buyers remorse
- Place offer on house 7 weeks ago
- Thinking of taking legal action against the seller or city, do I have a case?
- Buyer failed Time of Essence but is suing us
- Seller asked for $500/day on top of purchase price for late closing
- Contingencies no longer exist????
- Seller won’t allow utilities to be turned on - please help?
- FTH buying an old house and got an inspection - seeking second opinion
- Which Lender to go with!!
- Rent in new location before buying?
- NY Closing disclosure mistakes - who do I talk to?
- Brokerages
- How to calculate DTI?
- What is a realistic, reasonable solution to the housing market?
- Survivorship on title
- Working with realtor
- Exiting Forbearance
- Can I get a house?!!
- Foundation Issues - should we run!?
- Do you think a housing bubble will happen in 2022?
- Contractor damaged house-advice needed
| Mortgage Closing Scam - Came Extremely Close To Losing $80K Posted: 18 Nov 2021 05:44 PM PST As the title suggests, I came tantalizingly close to falling for a mortgage closing scam during the process of purchasing a new co-op apartment. Wanted to share my stupidity and thoughts in the event that it can help others. My wife and I are in the final stretch of an arduous closing process on a co-op. As is the case with many co-op purchases, small local lenders, local real estate agents and small legal firms are involved on both sides of the deal. Needless to say, with the small players involved, security protocol is lax at best - learned that the hard way. This process has been very tiresome and emotionally draining with many email chains being passed containing my attorney, seller's attorney, my lender and the attorney for my lender, over the course of 6 months. The scammer somehow (to the best of my knowledge) breached my lender and then posed as the paralegal for my lender. This was a name I recognized, has been on the past chains and had the valid signature and email that I had seen in past chains. Email came from her (only to me) congratulating me on my upcoming closing stating that my closing disclosure has been finalized (it has), and instructing me to wire the funds of $80K-ish to the attorney in order to make our upcoming closing deadline. The amount was/is extremely close to the final amount we owe for closing. No glaring issues with grammar and punctuation - consistent with her other messages. I immediately reached out to my attorney asking if they knew about this and if the funds matched what they were told we needed for closing but did not hear a response. If I was thinking clearly, the story would have ended there as I waited for my attorney to respond. But no, I let my emotion get the best of me, panicking that I can't be the one to hold up the closing process and had to get down to the bank to get this processed. Pulled up the wire instruction details, saw the header of my lender's attorney, their address bank and routing info, Chase Bank, all seemed legit in the moment. Keep in mind I have never been through this process before and I was hell-bent on completing this transaction so we can close. Sat down with the agent processing my request and discussed the process. I forwarded her the wire instructions and she and I reviewed together. She noticed "Doha Worldwide" as the account name (I blindly overlooked this) and she immediately said "this looks suspicious." I called the number on the email signature (one number off from the attorney's office), got an out of service message then saw the sending address: [closingoffice7@gmail.com](mailto:closingagent7@gmail.com) - I knew then that this was less than legit. Called the attorney directly, spoke to the "real" paralegal and she confirmed that a direct wire transfer request from her only is not protocol and this is suspicious. The bank agent/guardian angel prevented the transmission after her suspicions were confirmed. Typing all this to state that the signs were there had I been calm enough to look for them. I let my emotion consume my actions and nearly had a disastrous financial result. Filed a report when I got home with the Internet Crime Complaint Center (https://www.ic3.gov/) Trust me, I feel idiotic for going so far in the process to potentially wire the funds. You hear about scams, how they'll never happen to me, etc, etc. What is unique about this is how specific and targeted the attempt is - the timing, knowing we will be imminently closing and amounts involved. We are this close to closing, have been paying countless fees along the way (appraisal, processing, commitment, settlement fees, on and on) and are petrified of holding up this deal and everything falling apart. With tensions high, the risk for falling for fraudulent schemes increases dramatically. To those going through this process: -Call and confirm any requesting entity of a wire transfer to validate the request - I failed to do this initially and should have been my first step. -Call and confirm every possible step with your legal counsel, broker and/or lending agency. -Demand that you be told what your financial obligations are - in writing - from those verified contacts and that you will be given time to verify, validate and complete each and every transaction. If this helps just one person, then my embarrassment to admit how close I came to falling for this will be worthwhile. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 18 Nov 2021 05:01 PM PST I have no interest in this, but I am just curious, why would they care whether or not our 6 properties, which is just about 5 acres, would join them in annexing into the city? I asked them point blank why it would benefit them, and they said it really wouldn't, so then why tf would they make a house call to ask me to? They offered to cover the application fee, but it would increase my taxes (by a small amount). I really want to know what they have to gain by getting us to join them in becoming part of the city. The guy with the company did mention that our properties would be an "enclave" if we don't join the city. [link] [comments] |
| Redfin Predicts a More Balanced Housing Market in 2022 Posted: 18 Nov 2021 07:11 AM PST Prediction #1: Mortgage rates will rise to 3.6%, bringing price growth down to earth Prediction #2: New listings will hit a 10-year high, which will hardly make a dent in the ongoing supply shortage Prediction #3: Rents will increase by 7% Prediction #4: Homebuyers will relocate to affordable cities like Columbus, OH, Indianapolis and Harrisburg, PA over the Sun Belt Prediction #5: People will vote with their feet, moving to places that align with their politics Prediction #6: Condo demand will take off Prediction #7: Homebuyers will take climate risks seriously Prediction #8: Housing policy will become central to political battles about climate change Prediction #9: iBuyers will focus on perfecting a niche service instead of market domination Prediction #10: The DOJ will crack down on how real estate agents are paid https://www.redfin.com/news/Housing-Market-Predictions-2022/ [link] [comments] |
| Two years in, and still have massive buyers remorse Posted: 18 Nov 2021 01:10 PM PST Two years ago I bought a home in Raleigh, NC. The home was in a cute neighborhood, very centrally located. We got it under asking and were thrilled. But then the first night I spent in the house I found something that I could not live with: massive road noise. To the south of the home is very busy road with traffic lights, but people treat it as a highway. In between are tons of tall trees, homes, and nearly a mile of space. The odd thing is that when the wind blows from the North you can't hear this road, at all. The backyard is so quiet that you can take a nap in the backyard. Of course when we toured the house, the wind was blowing from the North... So every room in the house you can hear cars. Not the "woosh" of a road, but people literally stopped and then putting the pedal to the floor. It sounds like a NASCAR track. In order to remedy this I tried the following:
Honestly this barely helped. Even as I type this I hear VROOOMMMM over and over and over. Emailed the city council and police chief several times to deal with people drag racing, and they don't even care to respond. I have this beautiful backyard that I spend so much time on and I can't even enjoy it. The moment you step outside its the Fast and Furious. So I need to get out. But the problem is, the local housing market is in-fucking-sane and people are paying $50k over asking and getting outbid. Houses are going site unseen with no inspection. So I feel like I'm stuck if I want to move and still stay in the same city. So here I am two years later and I still have massive buyers remorse. No idea where to go next, any ideas? [link] [comments] |
| Place offer on house 7 weeks ago Posted: 19 Nov 2021 03:23 AM PST Hi, so my wife and I place a offer on a house 7 weeks ago that was to be settled before it hit market. As of today we have not been able to contact the agent selling the property at all by any means the office says he's here may I ask who calling then he has magically stepped out. The house has been listed as of 2 hours ago we where the first offer as it hadn't been shown as of time we seen it. Now it's a signed contract by agent and ourselves. Just wondering what our next plan of action can be, are we just at the mercy of said agent till he calls or denys offer or can we place another on top of the last. Any help would be appreciated [link] [comments] |
| Thinking of taking legal action against the seller or city, do I have a case? Posted: 18 Nov 2021 11:19 PM PST Hey everyone, so good news up until this morning I guess you could say. I closed last week after 2 months on a parcel here in my hometown. It would have been a perfect spot because there are utilities connected to the lot and the land is flat, plus it is zoned single-family. I went to the City planning and engineering department this morning with my builder to start the permit process and was informed the land is not buildable and no permits can be issued because there is no second Street access for the fire department, I guess this has been an ongoing issue they said for over 10 years of getting a secondary Street in place where supposedly the developer needs to fund the secondary fire Access Lane, there are custom million-dollar homes there that I'm guessing we're either built before the rule or somehow received an exclusion I would think. I'm in a frustrated predicament and I'm thinking I've reaching out to an attorney to either sue the seller seller for false advertising or sue the city for allowing me to build, I would feel that if it is that much of a hazard they would have stepped in and taking the necessary procedures to install a secondary access. Here is an excerpt from the listing of the property too: ," vacant land in central Murrieta , come envision your custom built dream home in a neighborhood surrounded by million-dollar homes. Sellers has plans to build a home of 3500 sqftbuyer to check with City and verify all information to satisfy selfproperty qualifies for financing all utilities connected" I get that it says in the listing to check with the city and satisfy self but it implies you can come build your dream home and the seller had plans to build their home, nowhere in the listing does it specify land is un-buildable due to city fire restrictions So long story short I was curious if maybe I had a case to either go after the seller just to get my money back, 175,000.00 , or go after the city to either make them build that fire lane themselves or let me build given the surrounding properties? Thanks again for reading, I'm just in a little bit of a pickle as of today and not sure the best way to proceed forward just yet [link] [comments] |
| Buyer failed Time of Essence but is suing us Posted: 18 Nov 2021 06:26 PM PST We have a Time of Essence contract after fighting with the buyers for our house for 6+ months. They have failed to close 3 times and after the last time we sent them a Time of Essence clause to close within 30 days or forfeit the purchase contract. They needed a new appraisal and today the appraiser came to the house and told us that it would be 10 days for her report to even go to the bank. This would put us well pass the date for the Time of the Essence. A little more back story on this is that we originally gave them access to our house to make repairs in which afterwards they refused to give us our keys back. Come to find out they were illegally storing their stuff on our property. We had to change all the locks on the house and garage. After failing the 3rd time to close I also offered to reimburse them on all the repairs they had to do for the bank which were all cosmetic for them to break the contract early because I didn't want them to loose out on money after failing to close a 3rd time. They refused. Today we informed them the bad news that they were not going to close on time and once again offered to reimburse them the money they spent on making cosmetic repairs the bank wanted and even offered money on the repairs that they made that were not necessary per the bank that they took upon themselves to do without permission. They refused and told us that if we do not grant them an extension and let the time of the essence run out they will take us to court to force the sale. Do I have a good case if they take me to court on not continuing the sale of the house? Me and my family have been displaced since April 2021as we were originally suppose to close May 2021 living with other family because we cannot get another loan as we have been still paying for this house. At this rate we figured we would move back in for the winter if they failed to close but now they are going to sue. What should I do? [link] [comments] |
| Seller asked for $500/day on top of purchase price for late closing Posted: 18 Nov 2021 07:31 AM PST So here's the deal, I've been under contract on this house for a ~5 weeks now. We had agreed to an extension to last Monday, 11/15 for an additional 1% earnest money which I paid. So now I'm in 2% earnest money, and .1% option. So 2.1% Earnest Money is now with title. My lender didn't finalize and finish paperwork until last night, 11/17. So I'm a few days out of the dates. The original closing date was 11/5, and I extended it to 11/15 (even though I originally asked for 11/19, but thought I could finish by the 15 so I agreed). The seller now came forward and said he wants $500 for every day after that original date that we close. So basically he wants me to cut him a check for $1500 this morning now at the closing time, after I've cleared to close and we're ready to sign papers at title for appointment today. He was posturing about being an attorney, etc etc. I declined, and said I would be there to sign the papers today. My Lender told me since I'm cleared to close, there will be a case for me to get my Earnest Money if the seller backs out. What is the community's thoughts? Edit: the seller signed. [link] [comments] |
| Contingencies no longer exist???? Posted: 18 Nov 2021 04:33 PM PST I am in NC. I bought a house in 2009. I am looking to sell it and buy another. I just met with a realtor who said contingencies no longer exist. This seems crazy. Is this the case? [link] [comments] |
| Seller won’t allow utilities to be turned on - please help? Posted: 18 Nov 2021 09:58 AM PST We found our dream home and were supposed to close December 1st, but it was pushed back for undisclosed "title issues." Now, the bank that owns the property is refusing to allow us to turn on utilities. An electrical inspection is a condition of our appraisal, which we need to get our loan. For this reason, we need power to be turned on. We've offered to turn utilities on ourselves and pay for rewinterization if we didn't end up with the house somehow. They still will not sign the paper that authorizes our agent to turn on the utilities. We can't afford an appraisal waiver as it doubles our down payment. Is this even legal? It looks like we're going to have to back out right now and I'm devastated. We're in Michigan btw. [link] [comments] |
| FTH buying an old house and got an inspection - seeking second opinion Posted: 18 Nov 2021 06:38 PM PST Right yall, rip me a new one. House in the 60s. Crawl space has been encapsulated and has a dehumidifier, but the dehumidifiers filter is very dirty and there's fungus down there. Cracked joists due to previous owners installing new heavy appliances. Floor is sloped right underneath them. Cloth wiring. Cast iron pipes that are near the end of their life. Same thing with hvac. Prooobbabbblly abestos. Should I run? House is in the best location I could ask for. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 18 Nov 2021 10:15 PM PST Buying a New Construction - Builder has a Lender (Inspire homes). I have a credit score of (TransUnion -791/Equifax-801) and a job history of close to 6 years with the same employer. I was given a Mortgage APR of 3.20% fixed for Conventional loan. My Agent has asked me to shop around for more Lenders but not sure where to start. There are too many players in the Mortgage market and I am lost in them. Is 3.20% a good rate for me? I see a Lender offer 2.8% but can't identify what is the catch. Help. [link] [comments] |
| Rent in new location before buying? Posted: 18 Nov 2021 11:54 AM PST We need to relocate about 1.5 hours south of where we live now. We were planning to buy and move next spring or summer. My husband has been working remotely but will need to resume the long commute in January. We intend to stay in our home for at least 12 to 15 years. Would it be better to rent in the new location for a year so we can check out the different towns/neighborhoods, or would it be better to work with a realtor and just go ahead and buy, continuing the commute until we find something we can buy? My husband hates the commute, and we were thinking of renting an Airbnb one night a week, but that will get costly. [link] [comments] |
| NY Closing disclosure mistakes - who do I talk to? Posted: 18 Nov 2021 07:07 PM PST About to close. Reading through Closing Disclosures and I think there are errors, from multiple payments for flood to the seller credits being off to various other things. Do I contact the bank's mortgage UW, the mortgage lender, or my attorney? Or all three? One such issue is that I'm the buyers agent because this is my property, so I'm entitled to a 1% commission. We agreed the seller would credit us at closing towards closing costs for that 1%. That isn't in the disclosure. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 19 Nov 2021 12:14 AM PST Hello, I just recently got licensed and I'm currently looking for a brokerage. I'm working part time and would like to start my RE career. I'm just curious what's normally the best brokerages for new agents? I've asked multiple people and the majority say exp, however I'm not sure if they're just recommending me the company because of the commission they get. I'm also thinking of joining a solo broker, but I don't know if it would be the best option since there will be no team. I want mentorship and support for my first transactions. I would also not like to spend a large portion of money on desk fees. I'm thinking of KW, but I've been hearing negative comments about the fees. Any suggestions would help. Thank you! [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 18 Nov 2021 11:10 PM PST I'm a little confused what counts as debt what isn't in terms of getting mortgages. Married no kids We pay. $500 in total for student loans (for both of us) (the total combined loan amount is 40k No car payment. Car insurance just under $200 for 2 cars No "real" credit card payment (as in, ALL of our expenses go on CC, but we do pay it off at end of month, so while the payoff is 1-2k that's literally all the expenses besides rent) $2000 in rent (I assume this doesn't count since it will be replaced by your new mortgage debt payment?) I'm not sure what other bills count so might be missing something. Like, does 401k IRA count? Does phone bill, life insurance pet insurance and other like long term care ADD stuff counts (these ones are paid directly through my company payroll) [link] [comments] |
| What is a realistic, reasonable solution to the housing market? Posted: 18 Nov 2021 09:29 PM PST Many threads have discussed how the changing housing climate will make America a higher renting country vs owning, hurting the middle class's ability to grow financially. Some have proposed banning investment properties, or raising taxes on non-primary residence homes. I'm not sure what a legal way of doing this would be, and worry that just adding fees or taxes would just lead to further higher rents passed to the renter. Has anyone thought of a legitimate, reasonable plan to slow the growth of housing prices, while increasing the rate of homeownership for middle/lower class and future generations? One solution would be zoning law changes, or creating financial incentives for builders to build more starter homes. Increasing WFH jobs nationwide could alleviate regional shortages. Are there any other ideas out there that governments could consider to improve the outlook? Preferably something that isn't completely partisan but has a chance of passing as a bill/law. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 18 Nov 2021 09:26 PM PST I own a house with my former boyfriend. He has decided he would rather not be in the relationship and said that I can stay (duh, I am half owner) but because I am still in love with him, I cannot stay. It's too hurtful and fresh. He refuses to buy me out (1/2) or sell altogether. But I cannot move without the money that I have invested. I am also a SAHM for the last 3 years for my adult son with a severe TBI. What can I do? Is there anything that I can do? In SC [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 18 Nov 2021 05:04 PM PST We started working with a realtor and then found some land that is listed by the owner, not using a realtor. Can we just break away from our realtor and represent ourselves? I'd plan on giving our realtor some sort of thank you gift since it's not anything she did wrong. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 18 Nov 2021 01:12 PM PST Hi please advice I am going crazy, I am exiting Forbearance. Freedom Mortgage are only qualifying me for COVID-19 First Claim. I rejected it once and they came back offering the same one. I requested them to see if I could qualify for a loan modification to lower my payments. They said that if I reject COVID-19 FIRST CLAIM Twice that they can't offer it to me again. Is that true?? They did say that they can send me the paperwork to apply for the loan modification, but that if I don't qualify, they wouldn't do COVID-19's first claim? Can someone please tell me if that's true? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 18 Nov 2021 01:33 PM PST I live on Long Island, my fiancé and I make about 133k a year (teacher-4 year & sales- at this company 1 year) . After taxes and including his residual we bring home 7k a month. We have 38k saved. We were hoping to put 30k down. We have combined student debt of 130k. And credit cards combined at 7k. We both have perfect credit! We currently are living home, we could stay and save more but my question is would it be possible to get approved for a 550k mortgage? Help please! Thank you! [link] [comments] |
| Foundation Issues - should we run!? Posted: 18 Nov 2021 03:13 PM PST Looking at house that seems to have some foundation issues. Floor noticeably sagging in the master bedroom and a large crack in the wall. Closet door won't even close. Any thoughts on the issue? I know foundation issues usually scare people off, but I'm trying to be logical about it. The house is priced to include a big fix. We'd be willing to pay up to 50k to get it corrected but don't want to get into a teardown situation or a total money pit. I figure we can get estimates and back out if the cost is astronomical. Is this a bad thing to even get ourselves into? This house hits all our wants and houses like this aren't exactly popping up all the time. It's a small house (1400 sq ft), 1 floor, no basement. Built in 2001. In Denver where expansive soil seems to be an issue. [link] [comments] |
| Do you think a housing bubble will happen in 2022? Posted: 18 Nov 2021 05:00 PM PST Edit: Thanks for everyone's input on my housing bubble question. [link] [comments] |
| Contractor damaged house-advice needed Posted: 18 Nov 2021 07:57 AM PST I bought a home back in March of this year and so far something is always going wrong. The most recent incident being that I was getting the roof replaced and the contractor left the tarp off and the rain got in damaging the roof and walls. He is fully insured and so am I. Insurance says they will cover everything and will cover this month's rent however they will not cover my tenants temporarily hotel stay until the repairs are complete. That total will be equal to the the amount I will receive from the insurance company however I still have $1300 that I have to out of pocket due to mortgage of the house, property managment fees for handling the situation (I'm our of state), and a temporary initial hotel fee for the tenants when the accident initially happened. Tenants don't have any renters insurance. What can I do to recoup that money? [link] [comments] |
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