Page 29

Quote :

"2) what kind of damage will be done to my credit (750 avg) by running 2-3 mortgage applications? i don't think much, but i just want to see what u guys think about it..."

Try to get all the reports pulled close together, say within a week of each other. Supposedly the credit scoring system does not penalize you for shopping around for the same type of credit within a 2 week window. I have always heard they classify multiple inquiries (for the same type of credit) in a short time period as one.

Personally I think it is unethical and discourages competition for the credit reporting agencies to penalize you at all for shopping around. It should be illegal. We have the technology today to immediately report when a new account has been OPENED and that is what they should be going by if they want to penalize customers for credit activity.

If you have not checked your credit reports lately I would pull a triple (all 3) report from http://www.truecredit.com Then you know where you stand going in and if there are any mistakes (there commonly are) you wont have to be surprised by that when you get to the loan officer.

4/30/2008 9:45:06 AM

Quote :

"she says as a first time home buyer i won't have to pay origination costs, points etc. i'm just a wee bit skeptical since it seems like kickbacks can be common when there's this much $ sloshing around."

There are some program like there out that, but there's a good chance your rate will be higher. It's like you're buying discount points, except the opposite.

Quote :

"1) what are the things to look out for when evaluating a mortgage provider? i'm planning on reading up on it, but what are the major things to look out for?[quote] I shopped around at the big providers. I didn't want to use some random online place that I had never heard of. I found that banks gave me the worst rates. I also applied at a few places my friends/realtor suggested. [quote]2) what kind of damage will be done to my credit (750 avg) by running 2-3 mortgage applications? i don't think much, but i just want to see what u guys think about it..."

I agree with ^

Quote :

"3) Will I get GFE (good faith estimates) from each application, or do you specifically have to ask for them?"

They should. Why else would you apply? You won't get one by just getting pre-qualified, but you should get one from every place you formally apply. I insisted they all e-mail me. They usually sent pdfs, but someones spreadsheets. Compare the rates as well as the 800? costs

[Edited on April 30, 2008 at 9:54 AM. Reason : ]

4/30/2008 9:54:13 AM

I know this is probably a tough question to answer because there are so many variables...

What would you expect the value of a house to be, with these specs:

20+ years old
1100 sqft
carport
1.5 acres
Siding and roof are 10 years old
All windows need replacing
Carpet needs tossing
HVAC unit is most likely as old as the house.
Location is about 2 miles SE of I95 (rural), not in city limits.

EDIT: I also need to mention it's in Johnston County, 5 miles SE of Smithfield.

The most I would feel like I would pay for a house like this is 85k, maybe less due to the work needed.

Just seeing what you guys think? We're renting it now, but it's family owned. Lots of things to consider here.

[Edited on April 30, 2008 at 10:02 AM. Reason : ]

4/30/2008 10:00:34 AM

1.5 acres, I'd say a tad higher, but then again I don't know anything about that location

4/30/2008 10:06:39 AM

I think it may be less than that, probably closer to 1 acre.

here's a map of the area (http://tinyurl.com/5g6kc)

Mostly farmland. House is 2 down from Casey Road.

Interesting how much tinyurl sucks....

this should work
http://tinyurl.com/6qj5m2

[Edited on April 30, 2008 at 10:18 AM. Reason : ]

4/30/2008 10:15:13 AM

who are some good lenders around the Raleigh area?

I'm starting to compare GFEs and want to add a couple more to the mix

5/1/2008 11:03:20 AM

someone buy my house

http://www.fmrealty.com/site/property/listing.asp?mlsID=1000076


Walking distance to Bojangle's.

and a bar (Ben's Place)

5/1/2008 11:28:32 AM

nice place

i like the cabinetry

5/1/2008 11:32:05 AM

I hate the cabinets, but like the patio.

5/1/2008 11:35:46 AM

someday i'll be able to afford a house like that.

someday.

5/1/2008 11:47:39 AM

engineering ftw!

5/1/2008 11:48:55 AM

Anyone know of any books or documentation regarding creating a multi-family house out of a single home?

It is pretty common at the beach for a two story house to be sold as two separate units, each with it's own entrances/exits, kitchen, bath, and living areas. I'm assuming some sort of association has to be set up and transferred to the two new owners after you convert a house to multi-family. Where would you learn about this, or would you just get a good real estate lawyer and tell them to set it all up?

5/1/2008 12:20:39 PM

259 for a 3 bedroom vinyl house on a cement slab

LOL

5/1/2008 4:10:47 PM

Quit hating.

I'm sure a lot of people are wishing they had bought DRTaylor's house next door a couple of years ago when he offered it up on here.

[Edited on May 1, 2008 at 5:14 PM. Reason : s]

5/1/2008 5:13:54 PM

Quote :

"Walking distance to Bojangle's."

It is nice to see some good marketing for a change.

5/1/2008 6:18:48 PM

^^ yeah, we cut it loose to friends for $30,000 (about 10%/year annualized) less than that plan has been selling for recently (it's smaller than mr. digital's). we came away with a nice gain and sold it to them a little below market so they walked into equity and it's been going strong since.

in hindsight, we really should have gone another $5-10,000 and it still would have been fair for everybody since we threw in all the appliances and some other stuff.

win for them, we rented it from them for a month for $1 and got to move into the new place nice and seamless, win for us

there just aren't any detached single family homes at that price point in the area so there is still some room to go.

i drove by the bojangles coming back from a client call and missed it greatly, there's also a lowe's foods there - now it's a 30 min round trip to that type stuff and it won't ever change down here since we won't have the population density to get any real retail. there's a lot to be said for that kind of living - and having 1/8 an acre to mow was nice too - it takes me longer to do half my back yard here than it did to do the whole thing at the last place

[Edited on May 1, 2008 at 11:43 PM. Reason : fdgsf]

5/1/2008 11:38:39 PM

Renew termite inspection / warranty another year for $95 yes or no ?

5/2/2008 10:19:12 AM

I would probably say yes

5/2/2008 10:21:47 AM

so i'm considering two areas right now...off six forks rd area (probably either between millbrook and spring forest or off north hills drive), and trailwood hills area. also thinking about some of the nicer homes on/off kaplan.

can anyone think of any big negatives or big positives for either of those areas? i'm thinking six forks might see more appreciation...but i'm really just speculating at this point.

5/2/2008 10:37:26 AM

Trailwood you will have HOA dues of some sort, probably smaller lots, and covenants.
Kaplan or North Hills area most likely not. The homes in Trailwood area are generally newer so you will find larger master baths and larger closets in them. I think many of the neighborhoods along Lineberry in the Trailwood area have community pools, those are nice if you will use them a lot (otherwise just another thing to pay for). I personally would not rule any of the three out until spending more time seeing houses at all three areas. I am not a big fan of HOA's so I would be more predisposed to the Kaplan or North Hills area.

I think North Hills is still probably the best investment because of the location and nearby shopping and entertainment. That area seems like the best when looking at quality of life and location, that also means it will continue to be in high demand.

5/2/2008 10:45:46 AM

Speaking of North Hills,

when the hell did people start calling it "midtown?"

gay

5/2/2008 12:12:36 PM

is there a site that lets us view MLS listings...without having to pay anything?

i really wanna see how long a certain house has been on the market, and it looks like only the actual MLS listing has that type of info

5/5/2008 10:10:51 AM

I'm about to hook up a loan for a house in rocky mount

state employees said:

88k loan
no pmi
4.75% ARM

goes up in two years (no more than a full point every two yrs)



pimptastic.

[Edited on May 5, 2008 at 10:16 AM. Reason : 735 beason]

5/5/2008 10:14:13 AM

is this your first home loan? if so you can get that load with no origination fee

5/5/2008 10:19:12 AM

yeah


FHA

no origination


State Employees Credit Union

5/5/2008 10:20:08 AM

can you get a home loan from them without banking with them?

5/5/2008 10:22:24 AM

dont think so.


I'll ask today when I go in there at 1:30 to finish up some paperwork.



My old man's a cop, so i've been banking with them since ~'02


Everyone I've talked to says they fucking hate PMI.

5/5/2008 10:24:18 AM

Why would anyone like PMI?

5/5/2008 10:26:29 AM

lol


I assumed it was 100% financing with PMI
or money down with no PMI


state employees is hooking up 100% without it.

5/5/2008 10:29:35 AM

stay focused here people

where (if anywhere) can I look at actual MLS listings? Google is no help here

5/5/2008 10:33:12 AM

I don't know what you mean by full mls listing, but I use this.

http://www.hpw.com/SearchPages/QuickSearch.aspx?Category=MLS

5/5/2008 10:36:14 AM

my local realtor let us browse MLS with her and print stuff off.


that was before we signed any sort of agreement. we could've easily walked in and printed some stuff off with her, then walked out.

5/5/2008 10:37:17 AM

when i look at MLS printouts it shows the number of days a house has been on the market...but unless im missing something (which i probably am) i dont see that info on that site and others like it

5/5/2008 11:07:09 AM

Quote :

"when the hell did people start calling it "midtown?""

i wondered if that would happen when we started brainstorming names for the restaurant - we were trying to come up with something to call where it was located

[Edited on May 5, 2008 at 5:24 PM. Reason : i didnt know people actually called it anything other than north hills]

5/5/2008 5:21:27 PM

all... i'll say it again (i must have posted this in the mortgage loan thread)

you can't get rid of PMI until you are over the 20% mark in capital

there's two options if you are putting less that 20% down:
a) Pay PMI insurance until the 20% mark
b) Finance the PMI insurance with your lender (over the term of your loan)

financing it with your lender typically lowers your monthly payment, but increases your long-term payment for PMI.

if they say no PMI, it means they are financing it for you and throwing that on top of your regular payment

[Edited on May 5, 2008 at 9:03 PM. Reason : .]

5/5/2008 9:02:34 PM

Quote :

"when i look at MLS printouts it shows the number of days a house has been on the market...but unless im missing something (which i probably am) i dont see that info on that site and others like it"

That information is not available unless you get it from your agent. It is in a field of the database not shared via IDX.

If you are poking around and want further investigation done I will pull it up for you, just shoot me a pm with the MLS# or property address.

5/6/2008 12:28:32 AM

is there a reason why you wouldn't do biweekly mortgage payments?

5/7/2008 5:45:34 PM

A. I don't want to prepay my mortgage
B. Some companies charge extra for this service

5/7/2008 6:20:40 PM

If anyone is shopping for homes, here's an excellent map based property search utility

http://www.fmrealty.com/site/property/search_mm.asp

Best one I've found yet, by a lot.

5/8/2008 11:27:56 AM

Quote :

"I don't want to prepay my mortgage"

why not?

5/8/2008 11:28:49 AM

b/c it's a low interest debt that's tax deductible

the money can grow faster elsewhere i think is the arguement

me, not so much.. i forsee moving in a few years and want to gain equity.

and it's penalty/fee free

5/8/2008 11:32:28 AM

Because over the long term I can make more off investing that money, especially when you factor in the tax deduction.

5/8/2008 11:32:57 AM

Quote :

"can you get a home loan from them without banking with them?"

no, but any state employee can refer you and you can get an account (well, each employee has a certain number of non-state-employee referrals)...i referred my girlfriend so she could get a small private loan significantly cheaper than everyone else was offering

really, though NC SECU is the way to go...first-time home buyers get 4.75% 2-year ARM with no origination, no PMI, and a 1% cap (up or down)...if you do 10% down, there's an origination fee, but you can get 4.25% 2-year ARM

if you want a fixed rate, it's 6%

5/8/2008 11:56:38 AM

Yeah, I think my parents just did the 4.25 deal.

5/8/2008 12:06:05 PM

so you're saying that when the rate is adjusted in 2 years, it can only go to 5.75 or 3.75?

5/8/2008 1:04:50 PM

yes

[Edited on May 8, 2008 at 1:32 PM. Reason : min and max]

5/8/2008 1:32:08 PM

i didn't believe it at first, but there it is

i don't know why they're offering an interest rate collar on a mortgage loan like that, but then again i don't understand retail loans or how credit unions do most of what they do and why most of it isn't a better deal considering how little they pay to operate

the jump in terms to the 5 yr arm is more in line with reality

5/8/2008 8:29:59 PM

for those of you who have bought a house/townhome in the last 1-2 years.

what percentage of the listing price did you end up paying? any other info would be appreciated...like days on market, if that selling price included allowances or closing closts etc. the neighborhoods i'm looking in look are averaging around 95%...which seems high given the state of the real estate market

5/15/2008 9:25:37 AM

Last I checked the state of the real estate market around here was pretty good.

5/15/2008 9:31:55 AM

it is becoming less and less common for people to put down 20% of the cost (because people are generally buying earlier than they used to).

maybe someone else can comment to this but it seems to me that if you dont have 20%, but maybe only have ~5%, you would be better off just keeping that money in your pocket (cash is king) and financing for 100% doing the lender-paid PMI and slightly higher interest rate. you just have to be sure that they property you are buying is in a stable area.

5/15/2008 9:34:10 AM