All Encompassing Mortgage and Real Estate Thread

[UTPhil2006 3754]

12 hours ago, Mach 1 said:

JFC the dumbfuckery involved in both issues is astounding, but the curbing off of the driveway rather than feather it to meet the sidewalk elevation blows me away.

Mike Holmes is in Canada, not too far away.  He needs to get in there and crack some skulls.

This.  Such little, easily avoidable errors

[UTPhil2006 3754]

On 4/22/2019 at 4:51 PM, Nonbryan said:

What are the appropriate upgrades, and budget to do those upgrades, that I should do for a house that I am about to sell?  The house is 15 years old and in a golf course community.  We are thinking about updating all the appliances, putting in new flooring, painting interior and exterior, changing out the ac units outside, and replacing the fence.  Anything else we should do or not do?

What did you end up deciding on this?  What city is this in?

[52-80 18962]

Any of y'all done Quartz countertops?  I like the looks.  I read it's actually a bitch in terms of easily staining, chipping, etc

[CooterBrown 17695]

Have had zero issues with our quartz countertops.

[Chewbacca 7612]

1 hour ago, 52-80 said:

Any of y'all done Quartz countertops?  I like the looks.  I read it's actually a bitch in terms of easily staining, chipping, etc

Quartz is great.  It's definitely the way to go.

[52-80 18962]

How are yours constructed?  As a full thick slab?  I'm looking at this caesarstone thing and it's like a 1cm layer atop basically wood core/lattice.  Guess it doesn't really matter, and probably better for weight anyways

[Chewbacca 7612]

1 hour ago, 52-80 said:

How are yours constructed?  As a full thick slab?  I'm looking at this caesarstone thing and it's like a 1cm layer atop basically wood core/lattice.  Guess it doesn't really matter, and probably better for weight anyways

Full slab is what ours are.  But they're basically impervious to heat and stains.  And if you spill some red wine on your white counters (ours look like marble), a little Bar Keeper's Friend takes it right out in 10 seconds.

[Nonbryan 173]

On 5/3/2019 at 8:02 AM, UTPhil2006 said:

What did you end up deciding on this?  What city is this in?

It's in Austin.  We have started to update the kitchen and going to slowly tackle the other updates.  Still trying to decide what the best plan of attack is.

[HRSchenker 2215]

Apparently some folks in my neighborhood are being bamboozled by cash buyers. They are offering exactly what the owners are looking for, signing a contract, and then a week later backing out only to send a new offer $30-40k lower than desired. All of their backoff offers have moved on so they're having to start the process all over.

[UTPhil2006 3754]

4 hours ago, HRSchenker said:

Apparently some folks in my neighborhood are being bamboozled by cash buyers. They are offering exactly what the owners are looking for, signing a contract, and then a week later backing out only to send a new offer $30-40k lower than desired. All of their backoff offers have moved on so they're having to start the process all over.

Do you know the Name of the company?

[Gil Bang 25509]

Apparently some folks in my neighborhood are being bamboozled by cash buyers. They are offering exactly what the owners are looking for, signing a contract, and then a week later backing out only to send a new offer $30-40k lower than desired. All of their backoff offers have moved on so they're having to start the process all over.

Happens every day, in every market.

[Pato del Muerto 51914]

Sounds like that initial contract was pretty shitty. 

Cash offers shouldn’t need much time, and a decent sized earnest money deposit shouldn’t be a big deal. 

[Dbeasy 14733]

Sounds like that initial contract was pretty shitty. 
Cash offers shouldn’t need much time, and a decent sized earnest money deposit shouldn’t be a big deal. 

The earnest money doesn’t come into play until after the option period. Need to up the option fee.

[Pato del Muerto 51914]

Or eliminate the option period. 

But then you have to address what happens if the home inspection comes back with issues, but you’d have to do that anyway. 

[HRSchenker 2215]

6 hours ago, UTPhil2006 said:

Do you know the Name of the company?

Neighbors won't give me their name but it's a solo guy. They had a week option and no penalty walk out clause. Apparently they signed the contract Sunday night and then backed out last night with a different offer. House was on the market for $315k and new offer was $275k.

How do you prevent stuff like this from happening @Gil Bang? 

[Chewbacca 7612]

Neighbors won't give me their name but it's a solo guy. They had a week option and no penalty walk out clause. Apparently they signed the contract Sunday night and then backed out last night with a different offer. House was on the market for $315k and new offer was $275k.
How do you prevent stuff like this from happening [mention=1111]Gil Bang[/mention]? 

Is he Indian?

[UTPhil2006 3754]

12 hours ago, HRSchenker said:

Neighbors won't give me their name but it's a solo guy. They had a week option and no penalty walk out clause. Apparently they signed the contract Sunday night and then backed out last night with a different offer. House was on the market for $315k and new offer was $275k.

How do you prevent stuff like this from happening @Gil Bang? 

Higher option fee.

[Catpfish 618]

You really can't stop it from happening.  A higher option fee might work, but you really aren't going to get much that way.  Possibly the best way is to shorten the option period as much as you can and do all that you can to keep the other potential buyers aware of how things stand in hopes that they will wait a few days to see if the contract is going to progress. 

[vicerous 167]

Anyone have experience removing PMI based off current value (BPO)? Based on my latest appraisal I should be well within the 75% LTV req but I'm not sure how much a BPO could typically differ. From my research it sounds like they mostly go off comps rather than a full blown appraisal of their own. 

[Sparky 149]

The investor in your loan would likely dictate the valuation method.  In addition I've seen some where value increase due to market price increase causing a lower LTV is not enough, they want to see capital improvements as well.  But again that could depend on the investor.  Call your servicer and they can tell you the process to go thru to petition to remove it.  

Edited May 9, 2019 by Sparky

[Pato del Muerto 51914]

That would be bullshit if true. Loan to value. Any combination of loan principal decreasing and home value increasing to cross the threshold should work. 

If the property appraised and sold for the new value and the same investor provided the same size loan that’s currently attached, they wouldn’t demand MI. 

[Sparky 149]

I agree but the investor dictates how the loan is serviced and they want to hold onto that revenue from the PMI so they make it difficult to get out in cases.  I was shocked when I saw it as well because more people are petitioning to get out of PMI with the market prices going up I've seen it might not be as simple as it seems.

Edited May 9, 2019 by Sparky

[UTPhil2006 3754]

6 hours ago, vicerous said:

Anyone have experience removing PMI based off current value (BPO)? Based on my latest appraisal I should be well within the 75% LTV req but I'm not sure how much a BPO could typically differ. From my research it sounds like they mostly go off comps rather than a full blown appraisal of their own. 

Call your loan servicer 

[vicerous 167]

Sorry, I should clarify -

Given the life of my loan I need to be < 75% LTV (of current). Latest tax appraisal value puts me under that mark.

Loan servicer requires 100$ to get a BPO to establish current value so I'm wondering how close I can expect that to be w/ appraised - will they low ball me? Just pay to find out?  

[deft 6747]

But like sparky is saying, a lot of banks get really crafty with defining the V in value as whatever it was when the loan was written. They don’t want your pmi to go away; it’s free money.

 

 

If the actual lender is implying that you could get it appraised through them and lose the pmi and it only costs your $100, you should have called yesterday.

 

Do. It. Now.

[Sparky 149]

A $100 to potential save more than that monthly seems like a good investment.  If not there yet it should give you a idea of how much more you have to go.  The request I’ve seen require a full appraisal out of pocket.  The cost of that will make you think about it twice.

Edited May 9, 2019 by Sparky

[deft 6747]

Yeah but doesn’t an appraisal cost around $600 or so or am I off the mark?

[drewlaws 126]

Sorry, I should clarify -
Given the life of my loan I need to be Loan servicer requires 100$ to get a BPO to establish current value so I'm wondering how close I can expect that to be w/ appraised - will they low ball me? Just pay to find out?  

I did it this year and the realtor that came out to do the appraisal gave me a value much higher than market. I was friendly to him and he left his card behind. I wish I had done it way sooner.


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[MNLonghornFUKM 8780]

On 5/5/2019 at 10:56 AM, HRSchenker said:

Apparently some folks in my neighborhood are being bamboozled by cash buyers. They are offering exactly what the owners are looking for, signing a contract, and then a week later backing out only to send a new offer $30-40k lower than desired. All of their backoff offers have moved on so they're having to start the process all over.

Cash buyers are hilarious. I had try to low ball by about 80 grand than what I ended up getting. I pretty much told him to pound sand after I stopped responding to his bullshit. But i guess if they find the right desperate seller...

Edited May 10, 2019 by MNLonghornFUKM

[Sparky 149]

2 hours ago, deft said:

Yeah but doesn’t an appraisal cost around $600 or so or am I off the mark?

I think that it’s closer to $800 but yeah requiring that over a simple BPO is ridiculous.

[Pato del Muerto 51914]

2 hours ago, deft said:

Yeah but doesn’t an appraisal cost around $600 or so or am I off the mark?

My experience is a decade old, but it used to be around $225 for a fnma drive by, $350 for a full conventional, and $450 for fha. 

Maybe a $50 bump for rural or jumbo.

Doesnt mean a mortgage broker won’t take the opportunity to upcharge it on the reg z though. 

 

Edited May 10, 2019 by Pato del Muerto

[deft 6747]

Still even at $800, if you know it’ll come back positive and that the lender will remove pmi then it’s a no brainer. $800 is only a few months worth of pmi vs never paying again on that property.

[UTPhil2006 3754]

14 hours ago, deft said:

Yeah but doesn’t an appraisal cost around $600 or so or am I off the mark?

This is pretty standard.  Just depends on scope/type/etc.  About $495-800 depending on the details.  One thing our main lender is offering now is Appraisal Waiver checks.  It has to meet a few qualifications (No investment properties, no cash out refis, no duplex/triplex, etc,) but it takes only a quick few seconds to see if the property qualifies and could potentially save 500-800 bucks and save some time in UW.  Two homes (SFR purchases) recently we've done qualified for it.

[MNLonghornFUKM 8780]

Still even at $800, if you know it’ll come back positive and that the lender will remove pmi then it’s a no brainer. $800 is only a few months worth of pmi vs never paying again on that property.

One regret with last house was not getting rid of pmi. I dont have it anymore with my new house. Ef that

[Pato del Muerto 51914]

39 minutes ago, UTPhil2006 said:

This is pretty standard.  Just depends on scope/type/etc.  About $495-800 depending on the details.  One thing our main lender is offering now is Appraisal Waiver checks.  It has to meet a few qualifications (No investment properties, no cash out refis, no duplex/triplex, etc,) but it takes only a quick few seconds to see if the property qualifies and could potentially save 500-800 bucks and save some time in UW.  Two homes (SFR purchases) recently we've done qualified for it.

Flagstar was doing appraisal waivers 15 years ago. High credit borrowers coupled with some automated computer comp system 

[UTPhil2006 3754]

5 hours ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Flagstar was doing appraisal waivers 15 years ago. High credit borrowers coupled with some automated computer comp system 

Yeah it's always kind of been around, they're just making it more prevalent and doing the behind the scenes stuff on it as well to make it moreso.

[UT_OB1 2193]

@UTPhil2006  

hey phil - do y’all go to 75% LTV cash out on investment duplexes?  

Edited May 10, 2019 by UT_OB1

[UTPhil2006 3754]

14 hours ago, UT_OB1 said:

@UTPhil2006  

hey phil - do y’all go to 75% LTV cash out on investment duplexes?  

70%

[UTPhil2006 3754]

On 5/9/2019 at 4:43 PM, vicerous said:

Sorry, I should clarify -

Given the life of my loan I need to be < 75% LTV (of current). Latest tax appraisal value puts me under that mark.

Loan servicer requires 100$ to get a BPO to establish current value so I'm wondering how close I can expect that to be w/ appraised - will they low ball me? Just pay to find out?  

Just a small note, although may come up if it's close -- should be 78% to drop MI.

[luke duke 6359]

Or you could just stop being poor and put 20% down.

[GottaB 585]

Or you could just stop being poor and put 20% down.

That’s hard for many. I get it, stop being poor is funny. But as a part of a dual income family pulling in decent money, a VA loan is the only reason we were able to buy a home when we did in our thirties. You can be not poor and still not be able to collect $60k. Saving $60 grand for a down payment an average home in the Austin suburbs with college loan debt and paying rent is really hard. Not everyone is ready to buy, but trying to save money while paying a fuckton for a decent rental with a reasonable commute (and the related tolls) around Austin is tough.

As a home owner, home prices and ever increasing property taxes will be the death of me.

[UTPhil2006 3754]

I'd say less than 50% of our borrowers put down 20%

[Lobwedgephil 1139]

Any recommendations for Home Owners Insurance? Closing on a house at the end of the month, and have a quote from USAA, but it seems high. But they are my current provider and have good customer service, just not sure if the high cost is worth it or not. 

[UTPhil2006 3754]

@C-Man probably can point you in the right direction

[HRSchenker 2215]

I used ASI for my home insurance. $300k coverage and I pay $755 a year for it.

[C-Man 26535]

42 minutes ago, Lobwedgephil said:

Any recommendations for Home Owners Insurance? Closing on a house at the end of the month, and have a quote from USAA, but it seems high. But they are my current provider and have good customer service, just not sure if the high cost is worth it or not. 

Yeah, happy to take a look. How big is the house? Where is it located? We'll be more successful if we market the entire account -- home, auto, valuables, umbrella, etc. Sending a DM.

[drt 631]

We've had stellar service from Amica, and bundled auto & umbrella to get additional discounting.  It's also slightly higher than your average SF/Geico like USAA, but the service and rebate make up for it IMO.

[Pato del Muerto 51914]

Got a good price from progressive, though it’s not carried by they themselves. Never had cause to use it so can’t comment on the servicing side. 

[52-80 18962]

...

Edited May 15, 2019 by 52-80

[Dbeasy 14733]

I second Phil’s recommendation to find an independent agent that can shop anyone. I was on USAA for thirty years until their quote for a Houston house was so outrageous I was forced to look elsewhere. The agent found other options that were excellent and way cheaper. The bloom is off USAA. I still use them for auto but I may shop that too.