In that case, digging up my post from the last thread.
Expect closing costs to be close to 5% of the cost of the house. You'll have inspection, escrow payment, first couple mortgage payments up front, etc. And don't forget to budget moving costs/any cleaning you want to do before you move in (accessing ducts is easier before furniture is in, etc)
Third-Party Fees - Appraisal, Flood, Closing, Title Insurance, Transfer taxes
Prepaid Items - The amount of interest that accrues from the date of your loan’s funding to the end of the month when the funding occurred. For example, if your loan was funded on June 10, the prepaid interest should reflect 20 days to cover the period from June 11 to June 30. Since your first mortgage payment on September 1st will cover the interest from August; in order to be all caught up the interest from the month of closing needs to be paid upfront. It is industry best practice to use 15 days as an estimate, since the exact date of your loan closing is still unknown.
Lenders require that borrowers purchase homeowner’s insurance, also known as hazard insurance. The lender will require an upfront payment at closing to cover a full year’s premium of homeowners insurance, as required by the policy provider.
Lenders require an initial escrow deposit to start your escrow account. Escrow accounts (sometimes referred to as impound accounts) are set up to pay certain property-related expenses, such as property taxes and homeowners insurance. These expenses are usually paid once or twice per year, but your lender will break them down into monthly installments and add them to your mortgage payment each month.
It's all stuff you probably expect to pay, but you may not realize you need to pay it all at once. That should factor in your down payment, depending on how tight on cash you are.
You're paying to see if the house is valued as high as the bank already agreed to loan you. So you're paying exclusively for a reason for the bank to refuse your loan amount.
You're paying to see if the house is valued as high as the bank already agreed to loan you. So you're paying exclusively for a reason for the bank to refuse your loan amount.
Plus the appraiser gets to see the listing numbers and your offer before they make the appraisal.
If they tank too many sales, nobody wants to work with them. The appraisal comes in right around the offer price a surprising amount of the time.
What I've never understood is how an appraisal works if there's a bidding war. Do they appraise it to the list price or the purchase price? (I can assume appraisers matching the purchase price have caused some of the superinflation that's been happening)
What I've never understood is how an appraisal works if there's a bidding war. Do they appraise it to the list price or the purchase price? (I can assume appraisers matching the purchase price have caused some of the superinflation that's been happening)
Appraisal is to the purchase price. But the thing is that when there's a bidding war as of late, you usually have someone paying cash, who doesn't need to appraise.
What I've never understood is how an appraisal works if there's a bidding war. Do they appraise it to the list price or the purchase price? (I can assume appraisers matching the purchase price have caused some of the superinflation that's been happening)
Appraisals are not supposed to be based on any of the prices involved in the sale. They’re supposed to look at recent sales of other houses for comparisons and do adjustments based on particulars. What the appraiser told us though was that most of the time as long as the comparisons are in the same range they just appraise at the negotiated sale price.
When we bought we put in at around 40k over asking (stupid Portland market). Appraisal was at our sale price.
"The world is a mess, and I just need to rule it" - Dr Horrible
In a bidding war people end up paying the overage to the appraisal in cash or an unsecured loan.
If you have 80k, I'd recommend putting down 60-70, with the remainder being your initial house improvement/oh shit fund.
5-10k events can happen with houses (boiler going out, roof leaking and needing replacement), so it helps a ton to already have a healthy backstop initially.
What I've never understood is how an appraisal works if there's a bidding war. Do they appraise it to the list price or the purchase price? (I can assume appraisers matching the purchase price have caused some of the superinflation that's been happening)
Appraisals are not supposed to be based on any of the prices involved in the sale. They’re supposed to look at recent sales of other houses for comparisons and do adjustments based on particulars. What the appraiser told us though was that most of the time as long as the comparisons are in the same range they just appraise at the negotiated sale price.
When we bought we put in at around 40k over asking (stupid Portland market). Appraisal was at our sale price.
A good appraiser will do that.
I offered 100k, then walked down to 80k on my house. Appraiser said the house is worth 130k.
not a doctor, not a lawyer, examples I use may not be fully researched so don't take out of context plz, don't @ me
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AbsoluteZeroThe new film by Quentin KoopantinoRegistered Userregular
House prices are dumb. I'm not sure what I've done to make my house worth 50k more than when I bought it. I painted a fence? I'm pretty sure the county just wants more taxes out of me.
House prices are dumb. I'm not sure what I've done to make my house worth 50k more than when I bought it. I painted a fence? I'm pretty sure the county just wants more taxes out of me.
We bought our house for $255k in January, was appraised at $259k during the sale, and we just got a property tax assessment at $277k. We are still waiting for the yard to be installed - I'm expecting that once that's done, the house will most likely be valued at $290k - $300k.
House prices are dumb. I'm not sure what I've done to make my house worth 50k more than when I bought it. I painted a fence? I'm pretty sure the county just wants more taxes out of me.
We bought our house for $255k in January, was appraised at $259k during the sale, and we just got a property tax assessment at $277k. We are still waiting for the yard to be installed - I'm expecting that once that's done, the house will most likely be valued at $290k - $300k.
House prices are dumb. I'm not sure what I've done to make my house worth 50k more than when I bought it. I painted a fence? I'm pretty sure the county just wants more taxes out of me.
We bought our house for $255k in January, was appraised at $259k during the sale, and we just got a property tax assessment at $277k. We are still waiting for the yard to be installed - I'm expecting that once that's done, the house will most likely be valued at $290k - $300k.
Challenge that assessment with your appraisal.
I don't think I can, because the house has actually had work put into it since we bought it (it's been painted, we've had air conditioning installed), so the appraisal (which has to be based on the current condition of the house) didn't have all those value adds.
I offered asking price because I'd been sniped multiple times when trying to low ball.
Appraisal came in 20k under. My agent (who used to be an appraiser) couldn't believe it and argued it with other comparables (which, when he showed them, seemed closer to my house than the ones they used) but there was no budging.
Owners dropped half the distance, I had to pay the other half out of pocket, even though the bank "approved" me for like 250k more.
Still annoys the hell out of me.
4 months later, due to the market rising, estimated value had blown past that valuation.
Usually towns will do you a solid for at least one assessment cycle as you don't want to piss off your residents.
You should be able to get it dropped at least to purchase without much effort as the town will generally not want another thorn in their side over a few bucks.
My buddy who is a commercial property tax attorney here in Cook county (which does assessments every 3 years) tells me that it's never not a good idea to appeal your assessment every time. At least in this county, they'll never raise it beyond the initial assessment, so you really have nothing to lose.
You're paying to see if the house is valued as high as the bank already agreed to loan you. So you're paying exclusively for a reason for the bank to refuse your loan amount.
Plus the appraiser gets to see the listing numbers and your offer before they make the appraisal.
If they tank too many sales, nobody wants to work with them. The appraisal comes in right around the offer price a surprising amount of the time.
Imagine that.
What's funny is that I hear a lot of times when you try to refinance to get a better rate, suddenly the appraisals start coming in lowballed.
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AbsoluteZeroThe new film by Quentin KoopantinoRegistered Userregular
I previously posted this to the se++ houses thread, but this is the thread that mentioned luxury vinyl planking for floors, so here's the result:
We redid our basement; changed old worn out carpet for new LVP, repainted/cleaned walls, moved some cupboards around, put more storage on top of them, mounted inset electric fireplace in them, got new couch that doesn't unfold into a bed and is thus comfy to sit on, which is what we do 99.99% of the time:
As for the floor itself, like someone mentioned upthread, it was super easy to put down, and cost $2/square foot, which is pretty reasonable, especially for something that will most likely get food/drink spilled on it and have abuse from cat/puppy. For some reason, when the house was made / when the previous owners put in the walls, they did it super wonky, so none of the corners are 90 degrees and the room is four inches wider at one end than the other, which made for some pretty annoying cuts to get the planks to match up properly, but it worked out in the end, and all the worst bits are under the cupboards.
Easy to make, more versatile than a chin-up bar. (tucked in a corner behind the camera is a bunch of free weights, and sort-of-jigsaw-together foam tiles I can put down to protect the floor; when it was carpet it wasn't a big deal to put exercise stuff on there, but I want to avoid wrecking the new floor for at least a little while)
If I recall, someone in this thread had a Walabot, right? I need to find studs in my old place, much of which is behind plaster and lathe and also drywall, sometimes, as well as tile then plaster and lathe. It seems to be a mix, as all 100+ year old places are. I guess the new Walabot DIY Plus supports plaster and lathe. So is this a worthwhile purchase or am I just better off trying to magnet option (which won't work over tile.) The other factor complicating factors is that in places this old, studs aren't necessarily 16" apart. Often they can be 18" or even 24".
My second experience with a disclosure form, this time as the seller.
Don't know.
Don't know.
Don't know.
Don't know. (ok, maybe I know, but I'm not admitting to it legally)
Don't know.
Don't know.
Don't know.
Yes?
No...wait, nah, let's not commit, Don't know.
Don't know.
(Hands it back to realtor sheepishly)
My second experience with a disclosure form, this time as the seller.
Don't know.
Don't know.
Don't know.
Don't know. (ok, maybe I know, but I'm not admitting to it legally)
Don't know.
Don't know.
Don't know.
Yes?
No...wait, nah, let's not commit, Don't know.
Don't know.
(Hands it back to realtor sheepishly)
*sigh*
It varies by area but if it is discovered, like through social media posts... That a seller lied on a disclosure form you can be sued and would almost certainly lose so I guess friendly advice for everyone is:
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ShadowfireVermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered Userregular
We paid to have someone mow our yard today. Best $60 we've ever spent.
We paid to have someone mow our yard today. Best $60 we've ever spent.
I cannot for the life of me find someone to do ours. I've called about 5 different people and they're all not taking on any extra work because it's been so nice
So I had to do it myself this morning like an animal
The one about the fucking space hairdresser and the cowboy. He's got a tinfoil pal and a pedal bin
+1
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FairchildRabbit used short words that were easy to understand, like "Hello Pooh, how about Lunch ?"Registered Userregular
Here in the suburbs of the Northeast, we've had about three feet of rain in the past two weeks and it looks like Scotland. The great thing about living in a condo ? I'm already paying someone else to mow the lawn, which they need to do daily, it's been growing in so quickly.
KetarCome on upstairswe're having a partyRegistered Userregular
Called to set a cancellation date for cable and internet at our current place with the idea of switching to a new provider for internet only at the new address. The customer retention person I ended up on the phone with did a hell of a job though, and I agreed to do internet only with them at the new place. Gigabit internet, no data cap, all installation fees waived, and new customer pricing of $80/month. Didn't seem likely I could beat that from what I'd seen looking at pricing from other providers, so why not.
If I recall, someone in this thread had a Walabot, right? I need to find studs in my old place, much of which is behind plaster and lathe and also drywall, sometimes, as well as tile then plaster and lathe. It seems to be a mix, as all 100+ year old places are. I guess the new Walabot DIY Plus supports plaster and lathe. So is this a worthwhile purchase or am I just better off trying to magnet option (which won't work over tile.) The other factor complicating factors is that in places this old, studs aren't necessarily 16" apart. Often they can be 18" or even 24".
The Walabot is very nice to use, because it gives a detailed view of the wall, not "there's a stud here".
KetarCome on upstairswe're having a partyRegistered Userregular
We now own a house. Can't take posession just yet, as we agreed to let the sellers stay in until July 1st when their new house becomes available, but we make $100/day in rent for the period that they're staying on.
Better though, was going to the closing and having our attorney tell us that we were getting a $5,000 credit from our lender. This was certainly news to me and had not been in any prior closing disclosure, so the attorney double checked all the paperwork and had the employee from the title company verify that the lender was indeed wiring the $5,000. And they did. So we ended up leaving today with ownership of a great house that we wanted and a check for nearly $5,000 since we had now significantly overpaid the wire transfer deposit.
5 minutes ago my mortgage broker called and explained that it was a complete error on someone's part at his firm. "We like you, but not that much." They can't figure out who made the error though, and it doesn't matter because they legally can't do anything about it. We just got 5,000 free dollars. As he put it, "It's like Monopoly - bank error in your favor."
So we are planning a very nice dinner and a nice bottle of wine and I absolutely agreed to give our mortgage broker a glowing review online when he asked
Posts
In that case, digging up my post from the last thread.
You are paying to insure the bank in exchange for them lending to you with less than 20% down.
You're paying to see if the house is valued as high as the bank already agreed to loan you. So you're paying exclusively for a reason for the bank to refuse your loan amount.
Plus the appraiser gets to see the listing numbers and your offer before they make the appraisal.
If they tank too many sales, nobody wants to work with them. The appraisal comes in right around the offer price a surprising amount of the time.
Imagine that.
Appraisal is to the purchase price. But the thing is that when there's a bidding war as of late, you usually have someone paying cash, who doesn't need to appraise.
Appraisals are not supposed to be based on any of the prices involved in the sale. They’re supposed to look at recent sales of other houses for comparisons and do adjustments based on particulars. What the appraiser told us though was that most of the time as long as the comparisons are in the same range they just appraise at the negotiated sale price.
When we bought we put in at around 40k over asking (stupid Portland market). Appraisal was at our sale price.
It’s really just to make sure that the sale price isn’t absurdly high or low in a way that’s trying to screw either the bank or your taxes over
If you have 80k, I'd recommend putting down 60-70, with the remainder being your initial house improvement/oh shit fund.
5-10k events can happen with houses (boiler going out, roof leaking and needing replacement), so it helps a ton to already have a healthy backstop initially.
A good appraiser will do that.
I offered 100k, then walked down to 80k on my house. Appraiser said the house is worth 130k.
We bought our house for $255k in January, was appraised at $259k during the sale, and we just got a property tax assessment at $277k. We are still waiting for the yard to be installed - I'm expecting that once that's done, the house will most likely be valued at $290k - $300k.
Challenge that assessment with your appraisal.
I don't think I can, because the house has actually had work put into it since we bought it (it's been painted, we've had air conditioning installed), so the appraisal (which has to be based on the current condition of the house) didn't have all those value adds.
I offered asking price because I'd been sniped multiple times when trying to low ball.
Appraisal came in 20k under. My agent (who used to be an appraiser) couldn't believe it and argued it with other comparables (which, when he showed them, seemed closer to my house than the ones they used) but there was no budging.
Owners dropped half the distance, I had to pay the other half out of pocket, even though the bank "approved" me for like 250k more.
Still annoys the hell out of me.
4 months later, due to the market rising, estimated value had blown past that valuation.
You should be able to get it dropped at least to purchase without much effort as the town will generally not want another thorn in their side over a few bucks.
THEY GROW
What's funny is that I hear a lot of times when you try to refinance to get a better rate, suddenly the appraisals start coming in lowballed.
Prepare to be up to your eyeballs in these fucking things.
We redid our basement; changed old worn out carpet for new LVP, repainted/cleaned walls, moved some cupboards around, put more storage on top of them, mounted inset electric fireplace in them, got new couch that doesn't unfold into a bed and is thus comfy to sit on, which is what we do 99.99% of the time:
As for the floor itself, like someone mentioned upthread, it was super easy to put down, and cost $2/square foot, which is pretty reasonable, especially for something that will most likely get food/drink spilled on it and have abuse from cat/puppy. For some reason, when the house was made / when the previous owners put in the walls, they did it super wonky, so none of the corners are 90 degrees and the room is four inches wider at one end than the other, which made for some pretty annoying cuts to get the planks to match up properly, but it worked out in the end, and all the worst bits are under the cupboards.
:winky:
It's for incredibly difficult sexual positions.
Don't know.
Don't know.
Don't know.
Don't know. (ok, maybe I know, but I'm not admitting to it legally)
Don't know.
Don't know.
Don't know.
Yes?
No...wait, nah, let's not commit, Don't know.
Don't know.
(Hands it back to realtor sheepishly)
*sigh*
Wait, fake?
It varies by area but if it is discovered, like through social media posts... That a seller lied on a disclosure form you can be sued and would almost certainly lose so I guess friendly advice for everyone is:
I cannot for the life of me find someone to do ours. I've called about 5 different people and they're all not taking on any extra work because it's been so nice
So I had to do it myself this morning like an animal
The Walabot is very nice to use, because it gives a detailed view of the wall, not "there's a stud here".
Better though, was going to the closing and having our attorney tell us that we were getting a $5,000 credit from our lender. This was certainly news to me and had not been in any prior closing disclosure, so the attorney double checked all the paperwork and had the employee from the title company verify that the lender was indeed wiring the $5,000. And they did. So we ended up leaving today with ownership of a great house that we wanted and a check for nearly $5,000 since we had now significantly overpaid the wire transfer deposit.
5 minutes ago my mortgage broker called and explained that it was a complete error on someone's part at his firm. "We like you, but not that much." They can't figure out who made the error though, and it doesn't matter because they legally can't do anything about it. We just got 5,000 free dollars. As he put it, "It's like Monopoly - bank error in your favor."
So we are planning a very nice dinner and a nice bottle of wine and I absolutely agreed to give our mortgage broker a glowing review online when he asked