I started the process of loan pre-approval today. I get irritated every time I sign a lease with my apartment complex as it's always just barely worth staying here over buying.
I found a condo a few blocks away that I really like and the payments would be nearly identical, and definitely lower over the next 5 years as rent ALWAYS goes up. I'm hoping to just stabilize my cost of housing and gain a bit of equity and freedom in doing so.
What are things you wish someone had told you when going through this process? What was the worst part?
Keep or be able to easily find documents on any non-standard deposits you've had into your accounts. Like, an unusually large business expenses reimbursement, inheritances, etc.
I started the process of loan pre-approval today. I get irritated every time I sign a lease with my apartment complex as it's always just barely worth staying here over buying.
I found a condo a few blocks away that I really like and the payments would be nearly identical, and definitely lower over the next 5 years as rent ALWAYS goes up. I'm hoping to just stabilize my cost of housing and gain a bit of equity and freedom in doing so.
What are things you wish someone had told you when going through this process? What was the worst part?
For me the main thing was that I wish I had talked to an actual person for my preapproval, and not just done an online form, because there was some more nuance in it than I realized and I had to do more work to get approved, but a lot of that was particular to my job situation.
Also, just be aware that once an offer is accepted, things will start moving very fast and you will get very busy.
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MichaelLCIn what furnace was thy brain?ChicagoRegistered Userregular
Some casual acquaintances of ours recently moved cross country, house still for sale. We pass their house to get to the school bus stop and I noticed some garbage strewn around their cans. Brought over a broom & pan to clean up.
Lifted the garbage lid to find a shit-covered live raccoon trapped in there. Ended up tipping the can and shaking the thing out. Thinking I probably should have had the city send it to a farm up north though.
Sent a message to the real estate agent. They did not care.
Picture of nasty raccoon:
Seriously, it's gross.
Wait.
Wait.
Wait.
Why was the can full of shit in the first place!? That was a lot of shit! Was it the raccoon's shit. Why is there so much shit in that trash can!
Bare Minimum wire up from where the modem is to where the places where high definition TV will be played, or I guess Google Stadia now. Both are massive bandwith hogs and no need to clog up the wifi with it.
What are things you wish someone had told you when going through this process? What was the worst part?
To add on to what the other responses have said (which I agree with), be aware that the amount you're "preapproved for" is NOT a recommendation for what you can afford. You need to work that out yourself, and the bank will be much more conservative when they go to actually underwrite a potential mortgage than they are during preapproval.
Be sure to consider the mortgage payment plus escrow and/or taxes in your monthly expense calculations, plus some amount more for upkeep and maintenance.
Moving is absolutely exhausting. Every part of my body is sore and it feels like you're just dealing with hurdle after hurdle.
Biggest snafu we've had so far is that we had a custom boardgame table made about 4 years ago and the movers couldn't get it out the basement for the life of them. We were literally on the verge of sawing a $4000 custom table in half just to get it out of the house for closing tomorrow.
As a last ditch effort I decided to call the guy that made it for us as his wife works with me. He literally dropped everything and came over right away with a technician and they were able to disassemble the table and get it out in a matter of 15 minutes. Not only that but, because our movers had finished yesterday he even threw it on his truck and traveled clear across town, moved it into our new house, and reassembled it. He absolutely refused to take any money and said, "I just wanted to make sure you guys could still enjoy it."
I seriously almost cried after all the stress of the week. Gonna go find a nice bottle of bourbon for them both as a thank you. Faith in humanity restored.
Moving is absolutely exhausting. Every part of my body is sore and it feels like you're just dealing with hurdle after hurdle.
Biggest snafu we've had so far is that we had a custom boardgame table made about 4 years ago and the movers couldn't get it out the basement for the life of them. We were literally on the verge of sawing a $4000 custom table in half just to get it out of the house for closing tomorrow.
As a last ditch effort I decided to call the guy that made it for us as his wife works with me. He literally dropped everything and came over right away with a technician and they were able to disassemble the table and get it out in a matter of 15 minutes. Not only that but, because our movers had finished yesterday he even threw it on his truck and traveled clear across town, moved it into our new house, and reassembled it. He absolutely refused to take any money and said, "I just wanted to make sure you guys could still enjoy it."
I seriously almost cried after all the stress of the week. Gonna go find a nice bottle of bourbon for them both as a thank you. Faith in humanity restored.
Out of curiosity, what was needed to disassemble the table? Did you take notes for next time?
I did indeed. That said, the bigger issue was just finessing it up the stairs as even partially disassembled you still have to deal with the width/height of the whole table. I think the movers were being a bit too precious about hurting the table or scuffing the walls up.
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MichaelLCIn what furnace was thy brain?ChicagoRegistered Userregular
Some casual acquaintances of ours recently moved cross country, house still for sale. We pass their house to get to the school bus stop and I noticed some garbage strewn around their cans. Brought over a broom & pan to clean up.
Lifted the garbage lid to find a shit-covered live raccoon trapped in there. Ended up tipping the can and shaking the thing out. Thinking I probably should have had the city send it to a farm up north though.
Sent a message to the real estate agent. They did not care.
Picture of nasty raccoon:
Seriously, it's gross.
Wait.
Wait.
Wait.
Why was the can full of shit in the first place!? That was a lot of shit! Was it the raccoon's shit. Why is there so much shit in that trash can!
Look, I didn't know them super well, so don't want to presume anything. But my guess is when the can was overflowing more than a week ago, the raccoon either was already in there or climbed in after the cans were put away. So that thing could have been in there for a week or more.
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AbsoluteZeroThe new film by Quentin KoopantinoRegistered Userregular
I started the process of loan pre-approval today. I get irritated every time I sign a lease with my apartment complex as it's always just barely worth staying here over buying.
I found a condo a few blocks away that I really like and the payments would be nearly identical, and definitely lower over the next 5 years as rent ALWAYS goes up. I'm hoping to just stabilize my cost of housing and gain a bit of equity and freedom in doing so.
What are things you wish someone had told you when going through this process? What was the worst part?
I wish someone would have told me you need to purchase insurance for your new home before you actually own the goddamn thing.
I started the process of loan pre-approval today. I get irritated every time I sign a lease with my apartment complex as it's always just barely worth staying here over buying.
I found a condo a few blocks away that I really like and the payments would be nearly identical, and definitely lower over the next 5 years as rent ALWAYS goes up. I'm hoping to just stabilize my cost of housing and gain a bit of equity and freedom in doing so.
What are things you wish someone had told you when going through this process? What was the worst part?
Be sure to research condo values in your area, too. It's a gamble regardless, but you don't want to buy into a condo market at its height when no one is buying condos and they are building 600 more down the road.
I started the process of loan pre-approval today. I get irritated every time I sign a lease with my apartment complex as it's always just barely worth staying here over buying.
I found a condo a few blocks away that I really like and the payments would be nearly identical, and definitely lower over the next 5 years as rent ALWAYS goes up. I'm hoping to just stabilize my cost of housing and gain a bit of equity and freedom in doing so.
What are things you wish someone had told you when going through this process? What was the worst part?
I wish someone would have told me you need to purchase insurance for your new home before you actually own the goddamn thing.
I started the process of loan pre-approval today. I get irritated every time I sign a lease with my apartment complex as it's always just barely worth staying here over buying.
I found a condo a few blocks away that I really like and the payments would be nearly identical, and definitely lower over the next 5 years as rent ALWAYS goes up. I'm hoping to just stabilize my cost of housing and gain a bit of equity and freedom in doing so.
What are things you wish someone had told you when going through this process? What was the worst part?
Be sure to research condo values in your area, too. It's a gamble regardless, but you don't want to buy into a condo market at its height when no one is buying condos and they are building 600 more down the road.
Alternatively, condo's tend to be a much more rent-able asset down the line if you're looking into that long term.
Condo prices have leveled off significantly and this particular unit has gone down in asking because it's a 1 bedroom / 1 bathroom...
But it's right behind a Whole Foods and one of the nicest outdoor malls and park I've ever seen. It has an attached garage and a parking space.
I basically only look when my lease is renewed each year and I'm fucking tired of paying $30 per cat (3 cats) and $25 for a "valet" trash service on top of waste management fees. Valet trash means they rip out all the dumpsters and force you to pay for a guy to come around with a Ford F150 four nights a week and pick the bag up from outside your unit. That's $115 in non-services that I can't get rid of that piss me off every year in addition to the average rent increase of $80 / month. My rent check with all associated fees and services was $1500 last month. Mortgage with HOA, insurance and property taxes will be $1500/month. In 5 years my rent will be at least $1,750.
Loan has a rate of 3.875%
Why does this feel like I'm doing the SAT/ACTs with amounts of money that don't even sound like real numbers? I'm waiting for them to ask me for a semen sample and proof I'm not an alien.
Condo prices have leveled off significantly and this particular unit has gone down in asking because it's a 1 bedroom / 1 bathroom...
But it's right behind a Whole Foods and one of the nicest outdoor malls and park I've ever seen. It has an attached garage and a parking space.
I basically only look when my lease is renewed each year and I'm fucking tired of paying $30 per cat (3 cats) and $25 for a "valet" trash service on top of waste management fees. Valet trash means they rip out all the dumpsters and force you to pay for a guy to come around with a Ford F150 four nights a week and pick the bag up from outside your unit. That's $115 in non-services that I can't get rid of that piss me off every year in addition to the average rent increase of $80 / month. My rent check with all associated fees and services was $1500 last month. Mortgage with HOA, insurance and property taxes will be $1500/month. In 5 years my rent will be at least $1,750.
Loan has a rate of 3.875%
Why does this feel like I'm doing the SAT/ACTs with amounts of money that don't even sound like real numbers? I'm waiting for them to ask me for a semen sample and proof I'm not an alien.
Valet trash is just the worst. I'm still not sure if they just have a good salesman on staff, if management wanted the extra parking lot room, or if this was an attempt to stop people who didn't live there from coming by and throwing away stuff, but it was worse in every respect. The pitch sounds good (just leave your trash outside your door and someone will pick it up), but there's a bunch of rules put into place because otherwise the path to your apartment gets lined with garbage, then people don't follow the rules anyway, so you have a bunch of rules to follow and there's still garbage lining the path.
Anyway, I'm in a similar boat. I'm waiting for mortgage pre-approval to finish up, at which point there's a condo I've been looking at.
Ok, here's an important question I don't see you addressing: how do you know you're not an alien?
Because when the loan officer stuck a probe in my ass he said I felt the appropriate amount of pain for my species and was eligible for further review.
Ok, here's an important question I don't see you addressing: how do you know you're not an alien?
Because when the loan officer stuck a probe in my ass he said I felt the appropriate amount of pain for my species and was eligible for further review.
That's standard procedure right?
Did they warm up the probe first?
If not then yeah, no worries, that's standard procedure.
You new homeowners, don't think that your costs don't go up every year once you have a mortgage. We have to adjust our escrow every year, to the tune of roughly $20-30/mo avg increase. This year it's a bit higher.
When we first bought, I didn't realize this was a thing so getting a $250 bill after the first mortgage year wasn't something I was prepared for.
It's less than rent increase, but I just want to point out you aren't immune from it by becoming a homeowner.
You new homeowners, don't think that your costs don't go up every year once you have a mortgage. We have to adjust our escrow every year, to the tune of roughly $20-30/mo avg increase. This year it's a bit higher.
When we first bought, I didn't realize this was a thing so getting a $250 bill after the first mortgage year wasn't something I was prepared for.
It's less than rent increase, but I just want to point out you aren't immune from it by becoming a homeowner.
Oh good, it’s not just me then. Got my notice and thought this the bank pulling some crap on me.
You new homeowners, don't think that your costs don't go up every year once you have a mortgage. We have to adjust our escrow every year, to the tune of roughly $20-30/mo avg increase. This year it's a bit higher.
When we first bought, I didn't realize this was a thing so getting a $250 bill after the first mortgage year wasn't something I was prepared for.
It's less than rent increase, but I just want to point out you aren't immune from it by becoming a homeowner.
Oh good, it’s not just me then. Got my notice and thought this the bank pulling some crap on me.
I internalize this as increasing parallel to the property value. I'm hoping anyway.
You new homeowners, don't think that your costs don't go up every year once you have a mortgage. We have to adjust our escrow every year, to the tune of roughly $20-30/mo avg increase. This year it's a bit higher.
When we first bought, I didn't realize this was a thing so getting a $250 bill after the first mortgage year wasn't something I was prepared for.
It's less than rent increase, but I just want to point out you aren't immune from it by becoming a homeowner.
If it's going up every year then either your bank is bad at calculating escrow, or maybe your taxes/insurance costs are going up? Ours bounces back and forth, some years we owe a few hundred to rebalance, other years we get a check for a few hundred. It's hard to make it come out perfectly all the time so they recalculate it every year to figure out what we need to pay.
It's mostly increases but we've had 1-2 recent years where it was either nearly even or we got a minor refund. Most of the years it's been an increase, though.
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That_GuyI don't wanna be that guyRegistered Userregular
edited November 2019
I'm glad my escrow comes right out of my mortgage payment. I don't have to worry about getting 2 bills. In fact, when I got a better rate on my homeowner's insurance my total monthly went down by about $30 a month.
Edit: This is one of the reasons I recommend going with an independent mortgage broker instead of a bank or credit union. He referred me to a great independent lawyer. They both worked super hard to walk me through the process and made sure to get me the best experience possible. I've heard so many horror stories that make me glad I found the guy I did.
We went through an independent broker when we bought 7 years ago. Our mortgage got sold to Wells Fargo a year later.
Mine got resold a couple of times. It's been living at M&T for the last year. I'm thankful that nothing else changed. I just pay M&T every month and they handle filling the escrow account.
AbsoluteZeroThe new film by Quentin KoopantinoRegistered Userregular
My property taxes go up every year like clockwork, because the county finds another 10k in property value each year. Where are they finding it? Must have been hiding in my bushes.
My property taxes go up every year like clockwork, because the county finds another 10k in property value each year. Where are they finding it? Must have been hiding in my bushes.
Yeah, our taxes go up a bit every year too, though it's capped as to how much it can increase in a year. So right now there's a massive discrepancy between our taxable value and our assessed value. That gets reset anytime the house is sold, so I feel sorry for the next owner if we sell as their property taxes will be way higher than we've been paying.
Mortgages going up $20 a month because taxes increased on your property is better than a landlord pegging out the max they can do a year relative to what your rent is just because they can and not because they actually have to deal with increased property tax (they do but it's not anywhere near the maximum rent amount).
People are usually okay with increases as long as they're e: not punitively large.
bowen on
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
Eeegads.
I just started the pre-approval process (and by "just started" i mean, i have an appt for it on monday) but this is all kind of freaking me out on home ownership.
I dont mind where i'm at right now (renting), and i'm financially stable. However, it would be nice to have a place with a bigger garage, more space, and a basement i can actually build a studio in.
But now im starting to wonder if i'm biting off more than i can chew....
Eeegads.
I just started the pre-approval process (and by "just started" i mean, i have an appt for it on monday) but this is all kind of freaking me out on home ownership.
I dont mind where i'm at right now (renting), and i'm financially stable. However, it would be nice to have a place with a bigger garage, more space, and a basement i can actually build a studio in.
But now im starting to wonder if i'm biting off more than i can chew....
It's definitely overwhelming! Definitely still having doubts. But also pretty excited.
Also, seeing the year 2050 on the loan documents kind of spooked me a bit, lol.
(in my case, our homeowners insurance premium and policy changed so this isn't a huge surprise)
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Donovan PuppyfuckerA dagger in the dark isworth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered Userregular
I don't understand why there is still an escrow account after the house has been closed, the old owners have their money, and the mortgage is with the bank. Who is the escrow account holding money for at that point? The bank is billing you monthly for the mortgage, the old owners have their money, what is even the purpose of still having an escrow account open?
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KetarCome on upstairswe're having a partyRegistered Userregular
I don't understand why there is still an escrow account after the house has been closed, the old owners have their money, and the mortgage is with the bank. Who is the escrow account holding money for at that point? The bank is billing you monthly for the mortgage, the old owners have their money, what is even the purpose of still having an escrow account open?
Some lenders require an escrow account for your property taxes and homeowners insurance. Rather than paying those two yourself, you end up paying a portion of the yearly amount due with each mortgage payment that you make. It is held in escrow and then your lender makes the payments on your behalf at the appropriate time.
It's most typical when you put less than 20% down when buying, and can generally be opted out from once you've hit 20% equity.
Posts
Keep or be able to easily find documents on any non-standard deposits you've had into your accounts. Like, an unusually large business expenses reimbursement, inheritances, etc.
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
For me the main thing was that I wish I had talked to an actual person for my preapproval, and not just done an online form, because there was some more nuance in it than I realized and I had to do more work to get approved, but a lot of that was particular to my job situation.
Also, just be aware that once an offer is accepted, things will start moving very fast and you will get very busy.
Ha, that's what my wife said. Get some crows and I've got a steady stream of income.
Wait.
Wait.
Wait.
Why was the can full of shit in the first place!? That was a lot of shit! Was it the raccoon's shit. Why is there so much shit in that trash can!
Thanks guys.
Be sure to consider the mortgage payment plus escrow and/or taxes in your monthly expense calculations, plus some amount more for upkeep and maintenance.
Biggest snafu we've had so far is that we had a custom boardgame table made about 4 years ago and the movers couldn't get it out the basement for the life of them. We were literally on the verge of sawing a $4000 custom table in half just to get it out of the house for closing tomorrow.
As a last ditch effort I decided to call the guy that made it for us as his wife works with me. He literally dropped everything and came over right away with a technician and they were able to disassemble the table and get it out in a matter of 15 minutes. Not only that but, because our movers had finished yesterday he even threw it on his truck and traveled clear across town, moved it into our new house, and reassembled it. He absolutely refused to take any money and said, "I just wanted to make sure you guys could still enjoy it."
I seriously almost cried after all the stress of the week. Gonna go find a nice bottle of bourbon for them both as a thank you. Faith in humanity restored.
Out of curiosity, what was needed to disassemble the table? Did you take notes for next time?
Look, I didn't know them super well, so don't want to presume anything. But my guess is when the can was overflowing more than a week ago, the raccoon either was already in there or climbed in after the cans were put away. So that thing could have been in there for a week or more.
I wish someone would have told me you need to purchase insurance for your new home before you actually own the goddamn thing.
Be sure to research condo values in your area, too. It's a gamble regardless, but you don't want to buy into a condo market at its height when no one is buying condos and they are building 600 more down the road.
:0 Well, thanks for telling me, lol.
Alternatively, condo's tend to be a much more rent-able asset down the line if you're looking into that long term.
But it's right behind a Whole Foods and one of the nicest outdoor malls and park I've ever seen. It has an attached garage and a parking space.
I basically only look when my lease is renewed each year and I'm fucking tired of paying $30 per cat (3 cats) and $25 for a "valet" trash service on top of waste management fees. Valet trash means they rip out all the dumpsters and force you to pay for a guy to come around with a Ford F150 four nights a week and pick the bag up from outside your unit. That's $115 in non-services that I can't get rid of that piss me off every year in addition to the average rent increase of $80 / month. My rent check with all associated fees and services was $1500 last month. Mortgage with HOA, insurance and property taxes will be $1500/month. In 5 years my rent will be at least $1,750.
Loan has a rate of 3.875%
Why does this feel like I'm doing the SAT/ACTs with amounts of money that don't even sound like real numbers? I'm waiting for them to ask me for a semen sample and proof I'm not an alien.
Valet trash is just the worst. I'm still not sure if they just have a good salesman on staff, if management wanted the extra parking lot room, or if this was an attempt to stop people who didn't live there from coming by and throwing away stuff, but it was worse in every respect. The pitch sounds good (just leave your trash outside your door and someone will pick it up), but there's a bunch of rules put into place because otherwise the path to your apartment gets lined with garbage, then people don't follow the rules anyway, so you have a bunch of rules to follow and there's still garbage lining the path.
Anyway, I'm in a similar boat. I'm waiting for mortgage pre-approval to finish up, at which point there's a condo I've been looking at.
Because when the loan officer stuck a probe in my ass he said I felt the appropriate amount of pain for my species and was eligible for further review.
That's standard procedure right?
Did they warm up the probe first?
If not then yeah, no worries, that's standard procedure.
When we first bought, I didn't realize this was a thing so getting a $250 bill after the first mortgage year wasn't something I was prepared for.
It's less than rent increase, but I just want to point out you aren't immune from it by becoming a homeowner.
Oh good, it’s not just me then. Got my notice and thought this the bank pulling some crap on me.
I internalize this as increasing parallel to the property value. I'm hoping anyway.
If it's going up every year then either your bank is bad at calculating escrow, or maybe your taxes/insurance costs are going up? Ours bounces back and forth, some years we owe a few hundred to rebalance, other years we get a check for a few hundred. It's hard to make it come out perfectly all the time so they recalculate it every year to figure out what we need to pay.
Edit: This is one of the reasons I recommend going with an independent mortgage broker instead of a bank or credit union. He referred me to a great independent lawyer. They both worked super hard to walk me through the process and made sure to get me the best experience possible. I've heard so many horror stories that make me glad I found the guy I did.
Mine got resold a couple of times. It's been living at M&T for the last year. I'm thankful that nothing else changed. I just pay M&T every month and they handle filling the escrow account.
Yeah, our taxes go up a bit every year too, though it's capped as to how much it can increase in a year. So right now there's a massive discrepancy between our taxable value and our assessed value. That gets reset anytime the house is sold, so I feel sorry for the next owner if we sell as their property taxes will be way higher than we've been paying.
People are usually okay with increases as long as they're e: not punitively large.
I just started the pre-approval process (and by "just started" i mean, i have an appt for it on monday) but this is all kind of freaking me out on home ownership.
I dont mind where i'm at right now (renting), and i'm financially stable. However, it would be nice to have a place with a bigger garage, more space, and a basement i can actually build a studio in.
But now im starting to wonder if i'm biting off more than i can chew....
It's definitely overwhelming! Definitely still having doubts. But also pretty excited.
Also, seeing the year 2050 on the loan documents kind of spooked me a bit, lol.
Some lenders require an escrow account for your property taxes and homeowners insurance. Rather than paying those two yourself, you end up paying a portion of the yearly amount due with each mortgage payment that you make. It is held in escrow and then your lender makes the payments on your behalf at the appropriate time.
It's most typical when you put less than 20% down when buying, and can generally be opted out from once you've hit 20% equity.