Real Estate Advice

You'll need to refi and depending on your current rate it may not be worth it.

There is no other way out of it? So I'll be throwing that money away forever?

I'd reccommend going with a title company over a lawyer. I look at it this way, all a title company does is real estate all day. A lawyer does real estate, divorces, personal injury, etc. Going to a lawyer is like going to a general practioner to get brain surgery.

Just my $.02.

Saden, you said you paid NO closing costs? I would love to see the HUD1 on that one.

He may not have had to pay any closing costs if he wrote into the contract that the seller would pay his closing costs for him.

You'll need to refi and depending on your current rate it may not be worth it.

You may be right, but I was under the impression that PMI is cancelled after reaching 22% of LTV. If that's not the case, then I thought you could request in writing to have PMI cancelled once sufficient proof (ie, appraisal) is provided. I had never heard of having to refinance, but then again it's not something I keep up to date on.

You may be right, but I was under the impression that PMI is cancelled after reaching 22% of LTV. If that's not the case, then I thought you could request in writing to have PMI cancelled once sufficient proof (ie, appraisal) is provided. I had never heard of having to refinance, but then again it's not something I keep up to date on.

Partially correct. I assumed you meant based on an increased market appraisal.

The HPA of 98 mandates that PMI is cancelled immediately upon reaching 22% equity based on original purchase price.

After some research I realized I was wrong. With the super low rates most people have been refinancing to create higher equity, cancel PMI and reduce rates and payments. Now with rates leveling out it is probably not in your best interest to refi so you can request PMI be cancelled once you reach 20%equity or if you provide sufficient evidence that you now have 20% equity due to market value increase. I have never heard of someone doing this but I don't think it is terribly uncommon. Just lately it has been because of market conditions. Usually there will be some type of wait time involved before PMI can be cancelled. I guess 2 years is the norm. That is wait time from loan origination.

[quote=Schneed10;300107]

Buyers' agents only make like 1% commission from the sale, so their incentive is to not spend too much time with you, because they could be putting their efforts into selling a house which gets them 5 or 6% commission. So they'll tend to urge you to bid higher on a house you like, just to increase the chances of pushing a deal through.

It's generally a good idea not to go with the home inspector that comes recommended by the agents (either buying or selling). Those inspectors have relationships with the agents. All agents want to do is push transactions through quickly; if the inspector is willing to downplay problems with the house, it increases the chances that the transaction will go through. And if the inspector does this for the agent, the agent will feed the inspector more business. [quote]


gotta say thats some pretty wild speculation on your part...

Buyer's agent's have alot at stake, and make more than 1% on a transaction. You SHOULD always interview agents before you sign up with anyone... you can tell who is in the business for the long haul and who's out to make a quick buck. A professioal realtor will want your transaction to go as smoothly as possible and advise you as correctly as possible to meet your needs, because if you don't get referrals in the real estate business you will die...

The inspector/agent relationship conspiracy theory is pretty bogus too.... It would take one phone call to get an inspector's license jerked if it was found that he overlooks something on a transaction on purpose... or that he consistantly misses things. Walk with your inspector no matter what they say and look over his report. Make sure it is thourough.

If you're in northern VA, WV, or MD I can give you a guy who is amazing. Also, buyer's agents are more useful if you're not sure about title research and things like that. You can get into a world of hurt if someone who knows the biz is set against you and you don't have someone representing your interests... knowledge is key in transactions consisting of HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS OF YOUR MONEY!!!

knowledge is key in transactions consisting of HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS OF YOUR MONEY!!!

Absolutely. One agent said to me once when we were about to sign a contract, and I always remember this, "Ok so this is going to be a 1/4 million dollar deal."

He did so to make sure the impact of the amount of money was understood.

This is all great info. I'm in a similar boat as SGG, but about six months off from actually buying a house. I've done a ton of research, but it seems like the best info comes from unbiased people that've been through the process.

This thread could be helpful to a lot of people around here, since the majority of us are 20 something's. I don't know if it's worthy of a sticky, but it should at least be archived so it doesn't get buried.

Most of the top tips have been covered and I emphasize, STAY AWAY FROM ARMs!!!!!

One home inspection is fine, but make sure the inspector is not a contractor who could potentially make money off of doing the repairs. An inspection company that ONLY does inspections will be the most honest and fair since they have no chance of doing repairs and cashing in on them.

Most of the top tips have been covered and I emphasize, STAY AWAY FROM ARMs!!!!!

One home inspection is fine, but make sure the inspector is not a contractor who could potentially make money off of doing the repairs. An inspection company that ONLY does inspections will be the most honest and fair since they have no chance of doing repairs and cashing in on them.

Yeah. If you are a current home owner and have an ARM I apologize in advance but in my opinion you have made a very bad move. ARMs are hideous creations by banks to be able to offer more loans for more money to less qualified people. To do so they have to offset all of their increased risk somehow so that should clue you into how bad ARMs really are compared to standard loans. Right now all the people who jumped into an ARM 4 and 5 years ago are starting to really realize what kind of problems they can cause. Avoid them at any cost. If you have to hold off on buying a house or have to buy less house then do so. But don't jump into an ARM so you can qualify to buy a $500,000 house. Buy a $250,000 house wait 2 years and sell for profit(hopefully) then take your increased equity and move up. It is the safer and less expensive way of doing it over the long haul. And when it comes to primary housing you are ALWAYS talking about the long haul.