House Buying Thread

Postby **skullman80** » Mon Jun 01, 2015 10:35 am

On Friday the mortgage company got back to me and said they wanted various notarized legal filings from my mother and sister proving that I don't owe them money and they won't sue me for the money I don't owe them.

So my poor handicapped mother is catching a bus downtown this morning to have this signed before a notary. I hate everything about this so much, I spent the entire weekend sick to my stomach over it.

Yeah the process sucks. Taking a "gift" from my mother in law when my wife and I bought our house was the biggest PITA ever. The hoops you have to jump through are crazy. I hope it all eventually works out for you as it did for us.

Postby **Troy Loney** » Mon Jun 01, 2015 11:01 am

How long do you need to be in possession of the money before you don't have to prove anything?

After my mom inherited my uncles estate in 2012, she gave 10K to me and my sister. I started an investment account that's up to $24K now and plan on using that for the down payment when I buy.

Postby **CBear3** » Mon Jun 01, 2015 11:11 am

I hate trying to get my house ready to go on market. Clean this, repair that, touch it up again, etc. With both of us working full time and the three toddlers either wanting to help, or fighting with each other if left alone for more than 5 minutes.

Postby **Miami Vice** » Mon Jun 01, 2015 11:33 am

How long do you need to be in possession of the money before you don't have to prove anything?

After my mom inherited my uncles estate in 2012, she gave 10K to me and my sister. I started an investment account that's up to $24K now and plan on using that for the down payment when I buy.

They ask for 2 months of bank statements. But they wanted me to go back even further to prove where exactly it came from, probably for KYC/Patriot Act/anti money laundering purposes.

This isn't being driven by the mortgage underwriter, but from the title company. They're worried someone will put a lien against the property for money I [don't] owe them.

Postby **LITT** » Mon Jun 01, 2015 12:17 pm

How long do you need to be in possession of the money before you don't have to prove anything?

After my mom inherited my uncles estate in 2012, she gave 10K to me and my sister. I started an investment account that's up to $24K now and plan on using that for the down payment when I buy.
They ask for 2 months of bank statements. But they wanted me to go back even further to prove where exactly it came from, probably for KYC/Patriot Act/anti money laundering purposes.

This isn't being driven by the mortgage underwriter, but from the title company. They're worried someone will put a lien against the property for money I [don't] owe them.

they just want to make sure you arent borrowing money to qualify to borrow more money. we had the same issue

Postby **Silentom** » Mon Jun 01, 2015 12:58 pm

Went to look at a house in Richland Twp. Almost tripped over a 5+ foot black rat snake in the driveway. Needless to say my wife didn't want the house anymore, hahaa.
City slicker.
Who trips on a snake??

Walked down the steps from the front door, turned towards the garage and there it was. (Never lived in the city, either.

)

Postby **King Colby** » Tue Jun 02, 2015 2:46 pm

How long do you need to be in possession of the money before you don't have to prove anything?

After my mom inherited my uncles estate in 2012, she gave 10K to me and my sister. I started an investment account that's up to $24K now and plan on using that for the down payment when I buy.

What kind of investment account? Thats uh quite a yield

Postby **King Colby** » Tue Jun 02, 2015 2:51 pm

Is it true that if you are under a lease with an apartment complex and you buy a house (in PA), they have to let you out with no penalty? I heard this from someone recently and haven't researched it yet.
No way is that true.

Not true. But worst case scenario your landlord/management company is a dick and wont try to fill the apartment earlier to help you and you end up paying the rest of your rent - small potatoes compared to buying your house

Postby **Troy Loney** » Tue Jun 02, 2015 2:56 pm

How long do you need to be in possession of the money before you don't have to prove anything?

After my mom inherited my uncles estate in 2012, she gave 10K to me and my sister. I started an investment account that's up to $24K now and plan on using that for the down payment when I buy.
What kind of investment account? Thats uh quite a yield

Yeah, it would be. But i've put new savings in it since I opened it.

Postby **robbiestoupe** » Tue Jun 02, 2015 4:48 pm

Went to look at a house in Richland Twp. Almost tripped over a 5+ foot black rat snake in the driveway. Needless to say my wife didn't want the house anymore, hahaa.

may have been in my front yard! Where were you looking so I can keep my shovel handy?

Postby **Silentom** » Wed Jun 03, 2015 7:45 am

Went to look at a house in Richland Twp. Almost tripped over a 5+ foot black rat snake in the driveway. Needless to say my wife didn't want the house anymore, hahaa.
may have been in my front yard! Where were you looking so I can keep my shovel handy?

West Stag Dr in Fawn Haven.

Postby **robbiestoupe** » Wed Jun 03, 2015 10:08 am

Went to look at a house in Richland Twp. Almost tripped over a 5+ foot black rat snake in the driveway. Needless to say my wife didn't want the house anymore, hahaa.
may have been in my front yard! Where were you looking so I can keep my shovel handy?
West Stag Dr in Fawn Haven.

I'm just on the other side of Turner Rd...I'll be on the lookout!

Postby **Silentom** » Mon Jun 08, 2015 8:22 am

Spoilered for size

On another note- had an offer accepted over the weekend. First time home-owner!

Postby **Miami Vice** » Mon Jun 08, 2015 8:28 am

Last Tuesday I was told that my paperwork was in order and I could schedule my closing for Friday. I was still nervous they'd renege on something, but that was a positive.

Thursday afternoon my agent sent me the preliminary HUD-1 form, which says how much money I need to bring to the closing. It was about 40% higher than I anticipated. I double checked all my math and thought that if a few of the numbers were taken away, it would be close to that figure. So i assumed I was just looking at it differently.

Nope, turns out they figured the closing date as June 5 2012, which had me paying thousands in taxes for the last 3 years. I still wasn't sure if I read the paperwork right so I called my agent to confirm the amount I needed to bring in a cashiers check.

I get to the closing and they're 40 minutes late (the settlement company). First, the seller's dead wife's name was on all the paperwork, necessitating a reprint. Second, as I started signing, I noticed a number of pages had June 5 2012 as the settlement date. Third, my check was for $261 too little, at which point I thought I was going to implode. Fortunately they let me write a personal check for that amount.

As we were going over the amounts the elderly seller started fuming and demanding to know what changed in the numbers - he thought he was getting that extra money in back taxes. So that was ultra uncomfortable.

After I finished I promptly went to the bar, feeling equal parts excited and equal parts doomed.

Postby **Silentom** » Mon Jun 08, 2015 8:30 am

Yikes, hope you had some tums. I don't look forward to the wave of paperwork coming our way.

Postby **large garlic** » Mon Jun 08, 2015 9:07 am

We're supposed to be closing on the sale of a condo in Florida and the purchase of a house in Pittsburgh this week, and both sales have stupid little outstanding issues that are holding them up.

I recognize why things can't be like this anymore, but when I bought my first house in 2003, all I did to get a loan was walk into a bank with a letter from my school promising to pay me a modest stipend as a grad student (I hadn't even started yet) and a check for $10K from my parents for the down payment.

Postby **robbiestoupe** » Mon Jun 08, 2015 9:20 am

I don't miss those days. Someday, somebody smarter than me will come up with a way to circumvent a lot of the issues that come with buying/selling a house. I really think much can be done regarding the buyer/seller relationship. Each hire their own spokesperson when in reality I think most of the negotiation can be done 1 on 1. I believe there is much misunderstanding and misinterpretation (not to mention any backhanded misguidance) between the two agents and the people they represent.

Then there's the issue of chopping away at all the unnecessary fees that come with buying/selling a house. I can't believe it costs me 10's of thousands of dollars to sell something I own.

Postby **Miami Vice** » Mon Jun 08, 2015 9:43 am

I think if your bank is 100% definitely keeping your mortgage then some of the financial background stuff could be made easier. The problem is that they don't plan to keep them, and therefore the real customer in the transaction isn't the guy buying the house, its the guy buying the mortgage. He is the person that needs to have their concerns addressed. If he isn't happy there is no point making the home buyer happy.

Beyond that it is a bit surprising that technology hasn't disrupted the whole model more. Some costs cant be changed, like deed costs and taxes, but most of the other ones seem like they could be chipped away at.

One thing where tech has made an impact is in electronically signing documents. Up until the closing I signed every little amendment on my phone.

Heres a business idea: appraisal and inspection in one. Speaking of inspection, I was really happy with Randy Payne from Quality Home Inspections. His prices were clear on his site and you could tell he just loved his job. He was really excited to see some original features in the house, the sort of "they dont make em like they used to" kind of things he got a kick out of seeing. I'll hire him again in a few years to help me look for warnings.

Postby **mac5155** » Mon Jun 08, 2015 1:36 pm

A place down the road just went up for sale... we believe it's REO. Called the realtor today and waiting on a call back. It would be awesome to get this place for really cheap. It's a brick ranch with a basement, and they're asking $60k. Unless there are some huge deficiencies, it's worth that.

Postby **tifosi77** » Mon Jun 08, 2015 1:46 pm

Last Tuesday I was told that my paperwork was in order and I could schedule my closing for Friday. I was still nervous they'd renege on something, but that was a positive.

Thursday afternoon my agent sent me the preliminary HUD-1 form, which says how much money I need to bring to the closing. It was about 40% higher than I anticipated. I double checked all my math and thought that if a few of the numbers were taken away, it would be close to that figure. So i assumed I was just looking at it differently.

Nope, turns out they figured the closing date as June 5 2012, which had me paying thousands in taxes for the last 3 years. I still wasn't sure if I read the paperwork right so I called my agent to confirm the amount I needed to bring in a cashiers check.

I get to the closing and they're 40 minutes late (the settlement company). First, the seller's dead wife's name was on all the paperwork, necessitating a reprint. Second, as I started signing, I noticed a number of pages had June 5 2012 as the settlement date. Third, my check was for $261 too little, at which point I thought I was going to implode. Fortunately they let me write a personal check for that amount.

As we were going over the amounts the elderly seller started fuming and demanding to know what changed in the numbers - he thought he was getting that extra money in back taxes. So that was ultra uncomfortable.

After I finished I promptly went to the bar, feeling equal parts excited and equal parts doomed.

OMG, what a goat screw. Thankfully the most stressful thing we've had to deal with in buying and selling was when the underwriter wanted to do a reappraisal of the house because the guy we were buying the house from only paid $X in February, and we were agreeing to buy it for 2.5 times that amount in November. It was a flip, so that sort of disparity is common, but it triggered an automatic re-do for the appraisal. It caused some anxiety for us because we had waived our appraisal contingency to win the house.......... there was never really a doubt that the re-appraisal would come in on song, but our antacid consumption was off the charts for 3-4 days.

Postby **tifosi77** » Mon Jun 08, 2015 1:51 pm

A place down the road just went up for sale... we believe it's REO. Called the realtor today and waiting on a call back. It would be awesome to get this place for really cheap. It's a brick ranch with a basement, and they're asking $60k. Unless there are some huge deficiencies, it's worth that.

Have you ever bought REO before? It has its own unique set of challenges, mainly in communication and in things the seller is willing to do to conclude a deal (as in improvements/repairs). First house we bought was REO; made an offer in mid-November, didn't even get an acknowledgment until a couple days after Christmas when they countered. The bank wanted the property off their books by year end (or at least under contract), and we were apparently the only action despite being fully $75k under their asking price.

Postby **mac5155** » Mon Jun 08, 2015 2:02 pm

Never bought period. We would like to look at it first obviously, we went and snooped all around yesterday outside. No doubt that it needs work, but its definitely in our price range and neighborhood that we'd like. Plus a brick house is just that.. well built. Do banks usually list stuff way above their "interest" in the property? i.e. if the previous owner owed $80,000, will they list it for $120,000... or just list it for $80,000 and be done with it?

Postby **tifosi77** » Mon Jun 08, 2015 3:05 pm

REO is not the same as a foreclosure auction. When selling a foreclosure, they will more or less just try to recover their loss. But if the property is not sold at auction and the bank takes full possession, then it becomes REO and is more or less a regular home sale. They'll ask what they believe to be fair market value for the house, but it will in most cases be an as-is transaction. (Meaning the bank won't do any improvements to the property, even they are deemed necessary by your lender.)

Postby **Troy Loney** » Mon Jun 08, 2015 3:21 pm

Sounds like the kind of deal where you'll need to make a cash purchase.

Postby **mac5155** » Mon Jun 08, 2015 3:54 pm

And at the price that they're asking, we basically could. That's why it's enticing.