awesome. sounds very similar to what we got. ours is 4 bedrooms (but 1 will be an office), 3 full baths, 2 car garage. Two story and the whole area over the garage is a bonus room which will be nice.

2/21/2010 9:28:51 PM

Closing on the house in 5 days...

I've never felt so giddy and so depressed at the same time

2/22/2010 1:18:42 AM

depressed because of the large sum of money about to be spent?

2/22/2010 8:54:47 AM

I spent last night half awake, thinking of what-ifs.
This is new construction, so my waranty concerns are negligible. The neighborhood is only 1/3 of the way through construction (200/600). I keep worrying about what it might look like when it is done.

2/22/2010 11:30:03 AM

UGH

So, sometime between when this lady put her house on the market and when we went under contract she filed for personal/consumer bankruptcy and never told her realtor. As far as it looks right now she wasn't delinquent on the house but because of that it is currently "frozen" and they have to file a motion to unfreeze it. We were supposed to close this Friday as I've stated and the only reason it came out was because the attorney was working on the final paperwork and called her bank about something. Apparently the bank was like "uh...she can't sell that house right now"...WTF.

Apparently it is a 30 day process to do whatever they need to do to "unfreeze" this thing.

Basically, it sounds like if she had been honest upfront with her realtor, the trustee would have just needed to be involved in the process as well and we probably could have closed in the same amount of time. However, since she didn't, the attorney is just now having to contact the trustee and begin the 30 day process to review the contract, the price, conditions etc. to "approve" the sale. I don't think we should have a problem getting it approved since we went through the process not knowing she was filing for bankruptcy, so the terms weren't unreasonable. But still...having to undo, postpone, stall all the insurance, and utility stuff is going to be a pain...and there is always the chance that something else pops up. That and the fact that we have 99% of everything we own packed and taped >.<

[Edited on February 22, 2010 at 4:24 PM. Reason : ]

2/22/2010 4:12:00 PM

^ That stinks.
Tell her to reimburse you by knocking off the equivalent of a month's rent.
She just bought you a new LCD for the living room!!!1

[Edited on February 23, 2010 at 11:44 AM. Reason : l]

2/23/2010 11:43:49 AM

Haha, I would but I'm not sure 100% how this is going to work. Supposed to talk to my attorney this afternoon. The way I understand it though, the whole reason we can't close right now is because she wasn't legally able to sell her house on her own because of the personal bankruptcy and the Trustee has to agree to the terms etc. now. I would think that the Trustee would see this as a good thing and not have a problem approving the sale considering it is a pretty fair market price, you just never know. Especially if I start asking for extra concessions (but I will prod to see what kind of concessions I can get out of this for staying in it)

She is 100% current on payments, no other liens or 2nd mortgages etc. on the account. She owns her own business but since it is a personal bankruptcy and not one directly tied to her business, the house isnt considered collateral for any sort of business debts as far as we can see right now.

I'm waiting to talk to my attorney this afternoon though to get his professional opinion on the risk associated with moving forward with this house as opposed to just moving on () Hoping that the risk is low given the info I have...

2/23/2010 12:07:58 PM

^Take solace in the fact that the trustee is going to get probably a 5% cut of the sale. So as long as she had sufficient equity, it is in the trustee's personal interest to approve the deal.

2/23/2010 1:19:17 PM

Had my mom (laugh if you want, she was/is one hell of an accountant) go over my good faith mortgage estimate. She pretty much told me I was getting robbed by extra fees from the broker.

Looks like I have 3 days w/ the fiance to fill out the paperwork for our other lender option (seller's preferred lender) and hope that it is better.

We are supposed to have all the paperwork in on Friday in order to close when we are supposed to.

2/24/2010 2:10:12 AM

within the last like 2 months:
clothes dryer stopped heating ($150 repair)
HVAC circuit panel died ($400 repair)
insta-hot water tank leaking (still under warranty but waiting for free replacement)
stupid HOA wants us to repaint our front doors at our cost, but they're willing to paint it for us.... for $55

2/24/2010 5:49:09 PM

^ ouch

This whole fiasco with our seller filing bankruptcy has pissed me off. The rate expires Friday and the bank is not cooperating and will not wave the extension fee and said it will cost $1100 to extend it even though we did everything right along the way. What seems like the "obvious" solution in this case given a normal situation is to make the seller pay this fee since the fault lies 100% on their side.

Well, given the fact that the seller is under bankruptcy and I don't think her bankruptcy attorney is going to foot the bill we might be SOL on this. As much as we liked this house a ton better than nearly any others we looked at, I am not paying $1100 to extend this rate for another 30 days when we don't even know 100% that all this paperwork will slide through with no snags within the next month causing us to move on to a new house anyways.

The thing that pisses me off even more? The fact that, even if I opt out of extending this rate to avoid the fees if no one on their side steps up to the plate, when we get under contract on whatever other house we find before April 30th, I will STILL end up getting the short end of the stick when we get stuck with a higher rate because of their delinquencies.

We are in at 4.75 on this house. I asked our lender at SunTrust today (after he told me they won't waive the fees) what their current rate is...5.00% I feel like suing someone on their side for misleading us into entering into a false contract, spending money on the appraisal and mortgage application, earnest money (which we would get back luckily), and all the money getting a different house with a higher % interest rate will cost us. That plus the only other 2 houses we considered have gone under contract from the time we got under this contract until now. FML

/rant

[Edited on February 24, 2010 at 6:14 PM. Reason : ]

2/24/2010 6:12:28 PM

i've heard that Suntrust is awful. sorry man. if things fall apart and you have to back up and punt try bb&t's CHIP program (if you are a first time buyer).

2/24/2010 8:04:16 PM

i've heard that Suntrust is awful. sorry man. if things fall apart and you have to back up and punt try bb&t's CHIP program (if you are a first time buyer).

2/24/2010 8:05:00 PM

Appreciate it. I almost went with BB&T but ended up going with SunTrust. So far on the loan side everything had been fine, I just feel like it is pretty cheap that they aren't extending this for us. I know it is how they make money but it seems kinda slimy to me.

If this falls through and we have to start the process over with a different house, I might consider trying someone at BB&T again.

2/24/2010 8:23:26 PM

My wife is in new home sales so she's always familiar with the most recent programs that are ideal. good luck though. Banks FTL.

2/24/2010 8:26:23 PM

cool, I really appreciate the heads up and all that. Just when it seemed everything was going so smooth, I got smacked back into reality and realized why people hate going through the process to buy houses so much

2/24/2010 8:31:42 PM

i got in at a good time. i have no PMI, needed nothing down, and got locked in at 5% last year at this time

2/24/2010 8:33:55 PM

that is pretty good. the PMI is annoying, especially since I have the money to put 20% don't but feel better with the extra money in the bank and just eating PMI (I am putting 10% down on this house). I definitely wanted to put some down on the house though; I guess if I didn't have to worry about PMI I might not put much down but otherwise if I do have to do PMI I definitely wanted to put down 10%.

2/24/2010 9:10:49 PM

I would tell suntrust that you are going to use someone else for the financing, and see if they wave the fees to keep your business.

2/25/2010 7:29:08 AM

My friend had an awful time with suntrust. 4 months after his home was completed (he did a custom that required interest only construction loans) he still didnt have the loan completed. He had been on the construction loan the entire time. He said they were shoddy from the very beginning.

2/25/2010 9:43:43 AM

I've had a great experience with Suntrust, and by far was offered the best rates at the time i got my loan from them.

2/25/2010 2:44:59 PM

same thing as Smath, we have Suntrust and everything was great with them.



[Edited on February 26, 2010 at 8:05 AM. Reason : ]

2/26/2010 8:04:29 AM

suntrust did nothing but fuck me over

they took such a long time to get a loan organized

the builder was so impatient that they started building before the loan came

then the third time suntrust pushed back the closing date, i just stopped talking to them and another bank did the loan.

the other bank did it amazingly fast, and since the house was pretty much built we just did one close

i got some letters from suntrust saying i needed to pay them for the credit report, appraisal, office fee etc, but i just didnt reply to them and they left me alone

2/26/2010 10:40:00 AM

Id make sure you check your credit report to make sure none of that fucks you up

2/26/2010 12:54:50 PM

i have, its been a little while now, nothing on there

they kept sending letters to old address, i started putting RETURN TO SENDER, NO SUCH PERSON AT THIS ADDRESS

i mean im in the phone book now, they didnt even try that hard to find me

2/26/2010 2:50:04 PM

can anyone recommend a place to get soil? I need to build up some beds in my yard.

3/1/2010 2:00:21 PM

I would also like to know where to get soil

[Edited on March 1, 2010 at 2:37 PM. Reason : and possibly delivery for a reasonable price]

3/1/2010 2:36:42 PM

speaking of soil, what do you guys think about using mulch as filler? i have a little fishpond i want to drain. i can get mulch for free from the county recycling center and was thinking about getting a truckload to fill it in.

3/1/2010 10:06:47 PM

^ it will settle over time and you will be perpetually filling in the hole

3/2/2010 9:47:27 AM

for you people looking for dirt -> http://www.trianglelandscapesupplies.com/index.html

i haven't done business with them, but they have a location very close to my old house.

for filling in the pond, most quarries will deliver. I would recommend washed stone (so you wouldn't have to compact it), leave it about a foot low, cover with a geotextile, and then cover with topsoil.

also, if there is any (grading) construction going on near your house, if you can track down the superintendent and ask nicely, he might would deliver a load of fill dirt for you. the premise being that it is quicker to take it to your house than where ever they are taking it to get rid of it.

3/2/2010 4:07:44 PM

while I was up on the roof clearing out leaves the other day, I saw some disconcerting stuff. what do yall think?





neighbor's house for reference...


Inside the attic, duh

3/3/2010 6:56:40 PM

is there any flashing behind the siding? it is hard to see in the pic.

3/3/2010 7:31:46 PM

there is some flashing on the sides of the chimney, but the "front" with the peak, I can't tell. It's a black metal, but it's definitely there on the sides.

3/3/2010 7:33:41 PM

Thanks for getting me added, qtmfred

So I'm supposed to close on my house in April, and found out today that my appraisal came back about $4500 below selling price. I've been told that most of this is due to the amount of foreclosures in the subdivision (Its in Creedmoor). I've been told I've got two options- get the seller to come down, or have it reappraised and hope they go for a higher value. Obviously we know which one I'm pulling for.

Anyone had any issues with this? I heard it was a big problem at the beginning of the recession, but not so much now.



[Edited on March 4, 2010 at 11:37 AM. Reason : user]

3/4/2010 11:35:12 AM

I ran into this exact problem. I started out with a good appraisal. Then I had to switch banks. That appraisal came in low. Then we went back to the original appraisal, but had to pay again for it. Our situation was a little messy, but the seller in our case did not budge at all on the negotiated price. We did end up having them cover the appraisal's, but it's nerveracking that we might not have gotten the house and then been stuck with 3 appraisals worth of charges.

It's tough to step away a this point. I hope it gets worked out for you.

3/4/2010 11:41:28 AM

Yeah. I imagine it has a lot to do with how much the sellers are willing to lose, and how much they still owe.

Right now its a waiting game from what I hear. Would it be possible to get out of the contract, getting my fees back, if the deal falls through?

3/4/2010 11:52:15 AM

Pretty sure that is standard that you can back out of the sale if the appraisal is lower than the agreed price and the seller won't budge. That wasn't even a hand-written contingency on the contract we are under, it was already typed up on the official form basically.

3/4/2010 12:01:48 PM

Good deal. I appreciate all the info. We'll see how it plays out. It's a great starter place, and I really like it, so I'm hoping we get some good news.

3/4/2010 12:07:27 PM

Yea. Just read over your contract and make sure, but I know 100% that ours says that it must appraise at or above what our agreed price was.

3/4/2010 12:08:54 PM

I'm fairly confident that the appraisers cannot adjust home values based on foreclosures. My friend threatened to sue over this same situation, and they adjusted the value. They were using foreclosed values, which was considered prejudicial to the market value, which is what the appraisers are supposed to use.

3/4/2010 3:13:47 PM

Hmm, I really don't have any knowledge on that matter, however, having a lot of foreclosures in the neighborhood certainly does affect the property value, so I am not sure why an appraiser wouldn't take that into account in some form. I'd need to know more information about what exactly happened in your friend's situation, but I have a feeling his situation and this situation aren't apples:apples.

Then again I could be totally wrong.

[Edited on March 4, 2010 at 3:24 PM. Reason : ]

3/4/2010 3:22:44 PM

If the sale price of a foreclosure is taken into the appraisal, I have been 'told' this is not allowed. I can't bank on this for sure, but it makes perfect sense. A bank auctioned house is going to be sold almost always under the market value, regardless of the market, because of the type of sale. Obviously there will be a trickle down effect to the home values in a neighborhood that has a lot of foreclosures, but that isnt going to be directly tied to the foreclosure sale price.

This person works for the Department of Justice in NC and deals directly with these kind of matters, so I took his word for it.

3/4/2010 4:03:37 PM

Right, and that is what I figured you were talking about: It is not technically correct to use foreclosures in comp. calcs because their $/ft2 will skew the results. I agree with you there. (Although I have no idea whether it is legal or not, just that it certainly isn't very accurate).

However, it is a possibility that the "trickle down effect" has hurt home sales in that neighborhood more than the seller realized and thus the house could appraise for less even if the appraisers weren't actually using the foreclosed homes as comparables. This scenario was what I was originally thinking when I read his post, but this may not be the case at all.

3/4/2010 4:44:38 PM

^^wow, thats great information to know for anyone looking into selling in the near future.

in my particular case, I came back to the sellers and said I wanted the appraisal price as well as the closing costs. They bit, asking that I forgo the home warranty (approximately $400.) Well worth it to me, so I said yes- and I'll probably get my own home warranty.

On to the inspection next week... glad I took 60 days to get the closing done. This could have gotten ugly.

[Edited on March 4, 2010 at 4:45 PM. Reason : extra ^]

3/4/2010 4:44:50 PM

good deal. Hope that all works out for you!

I'm playing the waiting game right now...waiting to hear back from the seller's Trustee and bankruptcy attorney. Hopefully the news is that no creditors objected to the sale and we will be on to close by the end of this month. Right now, the motion that was submitted automatically passes on March 23rd if no one comes forward with an objection. It could pass sooner if all the identified creditors actively say they agree, but I am trying to be realistic because if even 1 creditor just chooses to not respond we have to wait out the full length of time(ie March 23rd). If any creditor's object, there is a 95% chance we just walk at that point and haul tail to get under contract on a house that is still a smart buy for us before April 30th. I'm realllly hoping it doesnt come down to that as things will get much more competitive out there and rates are already rising slightly from what I have seen.

As people pointed out earlier though, the one consolation I have right now is that no creditor should have any grounds to object, but you just never know in these situations.

[Edited on March 4, 2010 at 5:06 PM. Reason : ]

3/4/2010 5:02:26 PM

Quote :

"while I was up on the roof clearing out leaves the other day, I saw some disconcerting stuff. what do yall think?"

even if there is flashing, which there should be, it looks like the siding is cut too low and it's touching the roof. so it's gonna wick up water on the bottom face and deteriorate.

3/4/2010 5:15:10 PM

We fell in love with a house that was for sale by owner and was priced well above comps. We thought it was worth the money, but our agent was sure it would be appraised way below asking price.

After failed haggling, we were forced to move on

3/4/2010 6:09:53 PM

Quote :

"If the sale price of a foreclosure is taken into the appraisal, I have been 'told' this is not allowed. I can't bank on this for sure, but it makes perfect sense. A bank auctioned house is going to be sold almost always under the market value, regardless of the market, because of the type of sale. Obviously there will be a trickle down effect to the home values in a neighborhood that has a lot of foreclosures, but that isnt going to be directly tied to the foreclosure sale price."

I got an FHA loan and they had to have a "special" FHA appraisal even though there had already been one "conventional" appraisal (from a buyer that backed out or failed to secure financing) a few months before I closed. The appraisal came in a few thousand under the previous appraisal (which was already lower than tax value), the main thing listed was something about a high number of foreclosures in the area. The builder (new construction) wanted us to pay the difference, however, our real estate agent got them to eat the difference. Apparently with a FHA appraisal, it is valid for 6 months and only that appraisal can be used (for a FHA loan even for any future buyer for that property). No new appraisal is allowed (again only for FHA loans) unless there are some kind of extreme (disaster-level) circumstances to warrant it. I don't know exactly how they factor in the foreclosures, but they are factored into a FHA appraisal.

[Edited on March 5, 2010 at 10:36 AM. Reason : ]

3/5/2010 10:30:53 AM

^That could be why my bank told them no to the new appraisal. (I am getting an FHA backed by the USDA Rural Area loan)

I can see why it should be taken into effect. What I've been hearing lately though, is that many homes are coming back appraised lower, but having the tax appraisal come in higher. Thats BS to me, but sounds like the city/county/state really need some new revenue...

3/5/2010 11:33:53 AM

anybody planting grass this spring? i'm wondering if next week is a good time to do so...i know the earlier the better

3/5/2010 7:45:29 PM