Home buying thread

Gravel · Jun 1, 2015

Fucking Nostradamus here.

I don't quite understand what my agent is saying here (did escrow go down, or the assessor?), but yeah...

"Your deed has been sent to XXX(county assessor) for recording. Escrow got it sent before their system went down. However, it has not recorded yet."

TomServo · Jun 1, 2015

Christ our closing is gonna suck if this is the norm.

Gravel · Jun 2, 2015

Well, we finally closed. A full week after we were supposed to. I guess that's a relief?

My wife is really annoyed that we didn't get the whole first time home buyer effect. You know, where they hand you your keys and congratulate you on your new home. Rather, it was just a clusterfuck of paperwork, bureaucracy, and screwups. Oh well, I'm glad it's over with. Now onto the Home Improvement thread!

Palum · Jun 2, 2015

Elurin_sl said:
Well, we finally closed. A full week after we were supposed to. I guess that's a relief?

My wife is really annoyed that we didn't get the whole first time home buyer effect. You know, where they hand you your keys and congratulate you on your new home. Rather, it was just a clusterfuck of paperwork, bureaucracy, and screwups. Oh well, I'm glad it's over with. Now onto the Home Improvement thread!

Yea, no one gives a fuck and it is nothing like that guy's story you read on Facebook (because it was a total lie). Sorry man.

Corndog · Jun 2, 2015

Elurin_sl said:
Well, we finally closed. A full week after we were supposed to. I guess that's a relief?

My wife is really annoyed that we didn't get the whole first time home buyer effect. You know, where they hand you your keys and congratulate you on your new home. Rather, it was just a clusterfuck of paperwork, bureaucracy, and screwups. Oh well, I'm glad it's over with. Now onto the Home Improvement thread!

Yep. Join us in the home improvement thread. Congrats though, most of the bullshit is over with. Now you can deal with people in person who are doing any renovations.

Harfle · Jun 2, 2015

waiting on a new home to be built is like the worst, is it true I cant really change my financial standings much other than paying off my last debt until I close?

Palum · Jun 3, 2015

Harfle_sl said:
waiting on a new home to be built is like the worst, is it true I cant really change my financial standings much other than paying off my last debt until I close?

I mean, it really depends on your financial standings. If you mean 'open new credit' then hell no. Your mortgage company probably won't care if you're like 'oh shit I charged a steak house dinner on my CC right before closing!'. The issue is going to be if your DTI changes. You cantalkto your mortgage company about it before hand, as with all things financial it really depends on your position economically. If you are well-enough to do, they will give no fucks about most things and still close the loan.

Brando · Jun 3, 2015

Harfle_sl said:
waiting on a new home to be built is like the worst, is it true I cant really change my financial standings much other than paying off my last debt until I close?

How long? You're credit file is good for 90 days, just make sure you don't materially change anything when you need to update your file for a new approval. You're loan officer should also explain how much room you have if you need to spend something in the meantime.

Edit: Also if it's longer than 90 days I'd ask about long term locks as rates are pretty volatile right now.

Borzak · Jun 23, 2015

I have a contestant for worst real estate agent of the year award. I have a house up for sale that I own that is now 5 hours away from where I live. I had a relative let in an agent with her client for a showing. They made an offer. It had a whole list of strings attached including I had to respond in 4 days or no deal. It was half my asking price so I didn't even respond. I got a call over the weekend from the couple who had looked at it, not the agent. I told them to talk to their agent. They boo hoo'd about how the agent said I had lots of money and to make a low offer and see if I would eat the difference. Now they're all pissy because I didn't take half. Take it up with your agent and btw tell them any other offers from her/you won't even be entertained. It's a rural area, wonder how any others she gives this kind of advice too.

wormie · Jun 23, 2015

Real estate agents are pieces of shit. However, do the agents get paid a % of sales price where you are or is it something else? Because if they get a % there is no way he told those people to offer you half.

Gravel · Jun 23, 2015

Sounds like stupid buyers, as well. Why would you call a seller (another wtf with the agent giving them your number) and say "Hey, we thought you were rich so we tried to screw you" and think that it'd change your mind? Seems like a complete lack of common sense there to me.

Khane · Jun 23, 2015

That entire story is just /facepalm

Eomer · Jun 23, 2015

wormie_sl said:
Real estate agents are pieces of shit. However, do the agents get paid a % of sales price where you are or is it something else? Because if they get a % there is no way he told those people to offer you half.

Real estate agents do not give one fuck how much or little a place sells for. The marginal difference in their commission in most cases is tiny. The only thing that matters to a real estate agent trying to min/max their commissions is having as much turnover as possible.

Freakonomics More Bad News for Real Estate Agents

Freakonomics Real Estate Agents, Revisited

In the actual book they go over statistics for how long agents list their own properties for, and in no surprise to anyone, they found that agents take something like twice as long to sell their own property as they do someone else's. Because in that case, they actually do want to maximize the sale price.

wormie · Jun 23, 2015

Eomer_sl said:
Real estate agents do not give one fuck how much or little a place sells for. The marginal difference in their commission in most cases is tiny. The only thing that matters to a real estate agent trying to min/max their commissions is having as much turnover as possible.

Freakonomics More Bad News for Real Estate Agents

Freakonomics Real Estate Agents, Revisited

In the actual book they go over statistics for how long agents list their own properties for, and in no surprise to anyone, they found that agents take something like twice as long to sell their own property as they do someone else's. Because in that case, they actually do want to maximize the sale price.

Your sources talk about how much value a realtor adds to the price of the house, not whether or not the realtor wants the sales price to be as high as possible if their commission is % based. But nice try.

Noodleface · Jun 23, 2015

I can see a realtor submitting an offer for half value if the clients really pushed for it, but I cannot believe for one second that a realtor would actively push for or even suggest doing that.

wormie · Jun 23, 2015

Well the realtor has a legal responsibility to submit the offer. However, I am sure he/she advised the clients as to how fucking dumb of an idea it is. But people are dumb, what can you do.

Eomer · Jun 23, 2015

wormie_sl said:
Your sources talk about how much value a realtor adds to the price of the house, not whether or not the realtor wants the sales price to be as high as possible if their commission is % based. But nice try.

Meh. There's an entire chapter in the book on the subject. Below is a small clip from an article that came before the book that looked at it. From a real estate agent's perspective, they are far better off getting a quick sale and moving on to the next one than trying to squeeze another few percent out of a buyer to increase their commission by half that percentage. It might take a bunch more showings and time to find a buyer willing to pay a bit more, so why bother?

Eomer · Jun 23, 2015

Here's an old NYT article about Levitt's work:Log In - The New York Times

Real estate agents have a better sense than others of the best price a home can command. But when they work for others, they don't have the financial incentive to pursue it. Most home sales generate a 6 percent commission, split between the brokerage firms representing the buyer and seller. The agent generally receives half of the firm's draw, or 1.5 percent of the sale. So if a home sells for $500,000, the agent personally receives $7,500. Not bad for what may be just a few days of work. If the agent works for an additional week and urges the seller to hold out for $515,000, that's an extra $15,000 for the seller, but only an extra $225 for the agent. Because every additional dollar throws only a penny and a half into the pocket of the agent, the economists reason, the agent may push clients to accept lowball offers.

Borzak · Jun 23, 2015

Elurin_sl said:
Sounds like stupid buyers, as well. Why would you call a seller (another wtf with the agent giving them your number) and say "Hey, we thought you were rich so we tried to screw you" and think that it'd change your mind? Seems like a complete lack of common sense there to me.

It's not that hard to find out who the owner is and what my number is in that location. I don't think they got it from the real estate agent, they were just pissed so they called.

wormie · Jun 23, 2015

Eomer_sl said:
Here's an old NYT article about Levitt's work:Log In - The New York Times

We are talking 50% price difference. Not a few %. You want to do the math how much commission the agent would lose if he told the purchaser to ask for 50% off?

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