OT: House Buying

[KidsSeeGhosts]

Depends how much you'd like doing that/what break even would be?

I'm not an expert at all, but I'd rather gouge my eyes out than deal with tenants

It wasn't that bad for us until this year where we got some tenants who had never lived in non-high rise before. Have no idea how to do any basic home maintenance (snaking drains, light a pilot light, etc.). Been torture to deal w/ out of state.

 

[slattimer]

We nearly missed our closing date last summer and our rate lock which would have sent me to fucking Pluto because the jerk off builder couldn't get sod in until literally the morning of close.

A friend of my wife's family I thought was going to go to Pluto when they bought all of their trusses for their home pre-lumber explosion, guess when they went to get them to put the trusses up for their home, they were gone...post lumber explosion.

 

[slattimer]

Thank you - great supply of information. I know that we could probably refi if that opportunity arises again, it's just disheartening to know what kind of deal we could have gotten two years ago lol.

Is the 20% down payment a month? We could muster at least 10% from anything in the 280-400k range (which is what we could afford).

Was in your boat a few months ago, but we didn't really have a choice, because the area we moved to had no rentals, and very little in terms of homes that would fit our family. I felt like we made out pretty good on our rate at the time. We got it under 6% in April/May, when I called my buddy he made the comment, I have no idea how you got that because we're a fully percent higher. We didn't pay down points or any of that shit.

But as others have mentioned, buy now, refi later. We'll do that at some point, but our payments are pretty comfortable even with the higher rates, and we were in the similar range that you're looking in.

 

[slattimer]

It wasn't that bad for us until this year where we got some tenants who had never lived in non-high rise before. Have no idea how to do any basic home maintenance (snaking drains, light a pilot light, etc.). Been torture to deal w/ out of state.

Should make future tenants take a stupid test besides the other checks...

 

[iruletheskool]

Which is smart or even asking for people to donate to your house fund rather than buy you shit that you really end up not needing.

Ik this is the thing to do but grinds me when peers ask for honeymoon/house cash at their weddings

 

[Baron Winnebago]

That's why you marry into a Mexican family with a constant stream of people who would love to move into a nice home..and because they are Familia, even if they fuck something up, they will fix it before they apologize for it. Hell, they will come over and fix shit in your home too...

Not all of us galaxy brain out passive income

 

[Baron Winnebago]

A friend of my wife's family I thought was going to go to Pluto when they bought all of their trusses for their home pre-lumber explosion, guess when they went to get them to put the trusses up for their home, they were gone...post lumber explosion.

Oh my.

 

[Baron Winnebago]

Ik this is the thing to do but grinds me when peers ask for honeymoon/house cash at their weddings

You're getting a spinning appetizer platter and you're fucking pretending to like it like a real American, imo

 

[slattimer]

Oh my.

Yeah, I thought a murder was going to occur….

 

[2010sarenevercomingback]

Ik this is the thing to do but grinds me when peers ask for honeymoon/house cash at their weddings

Just put random crap on your registry from a big retailer & return it for cash later.

Your good friends won't care, and the whiners who do will never visit.

 

[HCFord1]

Just put random crap on your registry from a big retailer & return it for cash later.

Your good friends won't care, and the whiners who do will never visit.

My wife and I did most of our registry at Macy’s since NYC has that flagship one in Herald Square. I think on the day of our wedding they slashed prices on a ton of the stuff we got by like 30% so I saw an opportunity and called to see if they would credit us the difference. They said no, and I told them that I could just return everything for full purchase price store credit and then repurchase it at sale price, to which they said “yes, you can.” I told them that it would be a pretty big inconvenience for our local store but they said I needed to actually bring the stuff in.

So I loaded up the car, walked inside and explained the situation to the customer service guy, and he went and got me a pallet to bring everything inside on. Spent the next hour or so standing there while he processed all of the returns, issued the store credit, and then repurchased every item at the sale price. After that I walked away with all of the same stuff I started with plus over $1k in store credit. Fortunately the customer service guy was friendly about it. I told him that I tried to avoid him having to do all of that, but that $1k is $1k.

 

[Baron Winnebago]

My wife and I did most of our registry at Macy’s since NYC has that flagship one in Herald Square. I think on the day of our wedding they slashed prices on a ton of the stuff we got by like 30% so I saw an opportunity and called to see if they would credit us the difference. They said no, and I told them that I could just return everything for full purchase price store credit and then repurchase it at sale price, to which they said “yes, you can.” I told them that it would be a pretty big inconvenience for our local store but they said I needed to actually bring the stuff in.

So I loaded up the car, walked inside and explained the situation to the customer service guy, and he went and got me a pallet to bring everything inside on. Spent the next hour or so standing there while he processed all of the returns, issued the store credit, and then repurchased every item at the sale price. After that I walked away with all of the same stuff I started with plus over $1k in store credit. Fortunately the customer service guy was friendly about it. I told him that I tried to avoid him having to do all of that, but that $1k is $1k.

Two dudes making the best out of a bad situation

 

[nscottie]

My wife and I did most of our registry at Macy’s since NYC has that flagship one in Herald Square. I think on the day of our wedding they slashed prices on a ton of the stuff we got by like 30% so I saw an opportunity and called to see if they would credit us the difference. They said no, and I told them that I could just return everything for full purchase price store credit and then repurchase it at sale price, to which they said “yes, you can.” I told them that it would be a pretty big inconvenience for our local store but they said I needed to actually bring the stuff in.

So I loaded up the car, walked inside and explained the situation to the customer service guy, and he went and got me a pallet to bring everything inside on. Spent the next hour or so standing there while he processed all of the returns, issued the store credit, and then repurchased every item at the sale price. After that I walked away with all of the same stuff I started with plus over $1k in store credit. Fortunately the customer service guy was friendly about it. I told him that I tried to avoid him having to do all of that, but that $1k is $1k.

Sounds like you both handled like adults. You treat the customer service guy like a human and it typically works out okay. Congrats on the credit

 

[Toe]

Just hit one year since I closed on my house. According to online estimates, the value of my house has dropped a bit since I bought it. I think it'll be heading back up soon enough, though. It's 5 minutes from a big new highway that's supposed to open next year, and I think there's gonna be a lot of development around here in the next ten years.

As others have said, don't go house poor. I ended up buying a place that was only about 70% of the maximum loan amount I was approved for. It was a 'light' fixer-upper - basically it needed a lot of little things that I felt OK taking on myself, but the big things were solid.

For me, the biggest thing that I got from my realtor was that she was able to point out things about houses that I probably would've missed myself. Like they might not be certified home inspectors themselves, but a good, experienced realtor has seen enough shit that they can spot a lot of red flags. But I can say from experience that they're not all like that! If a realtor is just kinda letting you check things out on your own, or is only talking about the nice things, you might wanna find a new one.

And by the way, this is why you don't sign a long-term exclusivity contract with an agent - you don't wanna be stuck with them if they suck. Same goes if there's anything in the contract about them possibly acting as double agents, where the same person acts as the realtor for both buyer and seller - how are they supposed to represent the best interests of both sides? Big red flag.

But yeah, I think having a realtor can be nice just for sanity checking things, and maybe providing some reality checks too.

In hindsight, I could have saved some money by signing a 6-month lease at my old place, but I just went month to month instead. Ask the place you're renting from what your options for renewal are, and ask what the month-to-month rental rate is too.

Don't count on a fed rate cut anytime soon. We're probably still in for at least one more rate hike, with cuts not coming until next year at the earliest. And if we do end up in a 'soft landing' scenario, rates might not come down much at all.

Shop like crazy for rates! Hit up every comparison site and local agents. I ended up with a local broker that I think is just a one man business, but he got me a great rate (relative to when I purchased, which was after rates had started going up). When you apply to get qualified, check and make sure they're just going to do a 'soft pull' on your credit, which won't impact your credit score or anything.

They will also help protect you by lining up a great inspector and helping you write things into the purchase agreement to protect you.

Gonna have to disagree with you on that one. Realtors have a vested interest in getting you to close successfully and as quickly as possible. Because of that, it's in the realtor's best interest that the inspector not find any issues! Definitely find your own inspector, don't use the one your realtor suggests.

 

[Jim14510]

Depends how much you'd like doing that/what break even would be?

I'm not an expert at all, but I'd rather gouge my eyes out than deal with tenants

I'll do it

 

[Drue629]

@jickey moseph
I didn't have time to read through this whole thread but for starters...Yes, you should absolutely have a realtor represent you. It costs you nothing as a buyer. The seller pays for your realtor's commission.

As others have said, interest rates will come down. There are benefits to buying a home when rates are high. Way less competition for starters. Seller concession is another huge one. I'm seeing some clients get upwards of $10k in concessions. This can be used for a 2-1 interest rate buydown. So instead of a 6.5% interest rate, you could have a 4.5% interest rate for the first year with no cost out of your pocket. Rates will probably reach that 4-5% mark within 18 months.

When that happens everyone and their mom is going to be out looking at houses and we're still going to have an inventory problem so that means higher prices and 20+ offers again.

The housing market will not crash. Even if the economy completely goes into the shitter 2008-2009 will never happen again. Plus, let's say worst-case scenario the house you buy loses some value, and you're still making payments to lower your principal loan amount every month vs paying 100% rent to someone else. I could go on and on about the benefits of buying right now.

Smart people buy when rates are high.

 

[Baron Winnebago]

@jickey moseph
I didn't have time to read through this whole thread but for starters...Yes, you should absolutely have a realtor represent you. It costs you nothing as a buyer. The seller pays for your realtor's commission.

As others have said, interest rates will come down. There are benefits to buying a home when rates are high. Way less competition for starters. Seller concession is another huge one. I'm seeing some clients get upwards of $10k in concessions. This can be used for a 2-1 interest rate buydown. So instead of a 6.5% interest rate, you could have a 4.5% interest rate for the first year with no cost out of your pocket. Rates will probably reach that 4-5% mark within 18 months.

When that happens everyone and their mom is going to be out looking at houses and we're still going to have an inventory problem so that means higher prices and 20+ offers again.

The housing market will not crash. Even if the economy completely goes into the shitter 2008-2009 will never happen again. Plus, let's say worst-case scenario the house you buy loses some value, and you're still making payments to lower your principal loan amount every month vs paying 100% rent to someone else. I could go on and on about the benefits of buying right now.

Smart people buy when rates are high.

I bought when the rates were low and frankly I don't like your tone, fella

 

[...TrueColors...]

I would certainly defer to people that do this for a living and other experts.

But several life circumstances placed me in the market to buy earlier this year. After looking in the surrounding omaha area, I decided I wasn’t going to write a huge check that puts my loan 40k over what the appraisal of the home would be.

So I decided to look in a smaller community that had school district upgrades funded and find a house where the bones (foundation, roof, HVAC, siding) are all in great shape; but the rest of the house needs some TLC.

I was able to find that and I was able to “make money on the buy” where I have a nice chunk of equity in the house already.

If you look for deals and aren’t afraid to use a drill and a saw, you can find a nice house.

If you’re looking for a turnkey property in Gretna, Millard, Papillon, or Bennington; Good fucking luck and prepare to pay 40k over asking.

 

[HuskerDocCo]

alright u stupid sumbitch, Nancy and I bought a new build house down in AZ back in 2020 and closed March 2021. And by GAT DAM we closed w/ a 2.87% interst rate !! Let me look at what the zillows says how much more it’s worth….hmmm…fvck….it’s worth a little over 100k than what we bought it for. at one point it in 2022 it was over 250k but we weren’t gonna find anything that we liked so we stayed put.

next 2-5 years tho lookin at buyin a second home, not sure where. so just makin sure we arent strung out w/ low bean prices.

 

[mcgradynu]

Happy Friday, tpb. I will preface that my wife and I are in no rush to buy a house, but we are thinking about beginning that process. We would be first-time home buyers. We got married last month, and with that being said, we paid for it all ourselves and do not quite have the capital and funds we would have if we hadn't.

Our (my) biggest question for all of you elderly and more wise folks of the board... does anyone know what the fuck is going to happen in this economy? I've heard many different things and I'm unsure if the economy potentially tanking would benefit first-time home buyers like us... or if it would impact it at all. I have noticed that 30-year mortgage interest rates have dropped (lol) a bit since the beginning of the year (sitting at 6.8%~ish at the moment). In that same breath, I read an article that said nearly 90% of borrowers have rates below 3%.

Extremely frustrating that the market is still in the absolute shitter and people whom bought a house two years ago, not only got low interest rates, but have seen the market value of their property raise and raise.

So I guess our questions...

1. Do we need to have a realtor for any other purpose than placing a bid for us?
2. Do we wait and renew our lease for another year?
3. General market thoughts?
4. What does the build process look like if we were to go down this path?

Thanks, tpb.

My mom is a realtor so I’m biased but I also have some more insight as to the value a good realtor brings. All realtors are not equal. Should you use a passive realtor that doesn’t really know the market and municipalities in depth in the area you are looking? No. But find one that does and it’ll make your life a lot easier. The market right now is weird - traditional buying process has been altered but it’s getting a little back to normal. Those alterations to the process though typically were not in the buyer’s interest. A good realtor will make sure you’re protected and getting the best value in the neighborhood that’s right for you. There are a lot of halfway decent realtors however that really don’t add a lot of value.