Home buying thread

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Vinen

Vinen

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SAIDIN_sl said:
So is it normal for the seller to foot most of the bill for closing costs ? I have 30k in savings, but I was hoping most of that could be emergency money and the cost of furnishing my first home. The realtor just told me the closing cost for the home is 19k, but someone that would realistically look like 10k somehow. I'd be happy with getting the home for 320-325k and footing 5k of closing.
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Might be a regional thing. In the northeast it is not usual that the seller foots the bill for closing.
Chances are you will be footing the entire closing costs. Our closing cost in the Northeast should come out to around 12K.
You don't sound like you should be buying a house given you savings.
 
Deathwing

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Seller did not pay for our closing costs either(NY). Your realtor and/or bank should be helping you out with this. We had ~45k saved up when we bought our house, closing at 242k. We put 10% down(PMI only reduces at 5% intervals) and then rolled 7.2k of the closing costs into the loan, which is the max allowed(3%). This allowed us to move in with ~28k savings and spend a few thousand on furnishings.
 
Khane

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If the house has been on the market a while (more than 6 months) you can pretty much guarantee the seller will be willing to cover some or all of the closing costs. If the house hasn't been on the market long and there is a lot of interest in it? Good luck getting them to give you a concession on anything. It all depends on the market, just like anything else in real estate.
 
OneofOne

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Khane_sl said:
It all depends on the market, just like anything else in real estate.
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This. We footed the entirety of our closing costs as the buyer. Homes were being snatched up like crazy in our area, so the sellers had all of the negotiating power.
 
K

koljec_sl

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Protip: find a senior citizen seller who is moving on to a retirement home. Often times they are house-proud and not as concerned about sale price because they own the home outright. I'm not saying exploit them, but they make for a much easier transaction.
 
Vinen

Vinen

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koljec_sl said:
Protip: find a senior citizen seller who is moving on to a retirement home. Often times they are house-proud and not as concerned about sale price because they own the home outright. I'm not saying exploit them, but they make for a much easier transaction.
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Chances are their house hasn't been updated in 30 years and is in great need of work to be modern as well.

Seeing non-open floorplans made me cringe.
 
Brando

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What the fuck are you people talking about in regards to closing costs over $10K? We're talking non-recurring closing costs right which are just one time charges for services rendered right? Not redoing flooring, wiring or any other shit. Lender fees are usually ~$1500 including appraisal and title and escrow should be about 1% of your purchase price. I just had a closing on a $1.1mm loan for a $2.0mm purchase and the closing costs were $8000.

Rolling closing costs into the loan only works on refinances where you increase your principal, on a purchase you're just adjusting where your money goes whether it's costs or down payment. There is no rolling anything into the loan sans PMI on FHA or Funding Fee on VA with the DU 9.1 update on the 16th.
 
Deathwing

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I could go through the line item detail of my closing costs if you want. Keep in mind that most people consider escrow related costs as part of closing costs because they have to be paid the day you close.

I feel like we're arguing semantics. Of course you're just "adjusting where the money goes". The point is to borrow up 3% more of the cost of the home so you don't have to pay as much in closing costs today.
 
OneofOne

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When we (my wife, etc) were discussing it, we were including all money due at time of signing - down payment PLUS actual fees (after all we wrote a single check to the escrow company for all of it) - and I'm assuming that's being discussed here as well. WRT sellers assuming any closing costs I should assume that's only the actual fees being discussed /shrug
 
Vinen

Vinen

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OneofOne_sl said:
When we (my wife, etc) were discussing it, we were including all money due at time of signing - down payment PLUS actual fees (after all we wrote a single check to the escrow company for all of it) - and I'm assuming that's being discussed here as well. WRT sellers assuming any closing costs I should assume that's only the actual fees being discussed /shrug
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Yep, I'm including escrow as well.
 
K

koljec_sl

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Vinen_sl said:
Chances are their house hasn't been updated in 30 years and is in great need of work to be modern as well.

Seeing non-open floorplans made me cringe.
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There's definitely a lot of that, but, it's not hard or expensive to remove/modify walls, and the other updates are going to happen anyway if the place is for the long-term.
 
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Gadrel_sl

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SAIDIN_sl said:
So is it normal for the seller to foot most of the bill for closing costs ? I have 30k in savings, but I was hoping most of that could be emergency money and the cost of furnishing my first home. The realtor just told me the closing cost for the home is 19k, but someone that would realistically look like 10k somehow. I'd be happy with getting the home for 320-325k and footing 5k of closing.
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Costs are typically split between the buyer and seller. Generally:

Property taxes, condo fees, and HOA dues are prorated and split between buyer and seller.
The seller pays for all curative title work.
The buyer pays for all closing fees and real estate transfer taxes.
Commissions are paid based upon the listing agreement and/or buyer's agency contract. Typically the seller obligates himself to pay the commissions.
The buyer pays for title insurance.

$19k sounds like a large amount. Does that include commissions? Real estate transfer tax?
 
Brando

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Impounds aren't true closing costs per se as they are taxes and insurance payments that need to be paid regardless, only question is when do you pay them. Even then that shouldn't double or triple your closing costs as you have to pay 14 months of insurance and anywhere from 2-8 months of taxes.
 
Vinen

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Fuck packing. That is all I to say... makes me wish I just stayed with my apartment.
 
Joeboo

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And just when you get everything done and packed up, you get to turn right around and unpack it all! Moving blows.
 
Falstaff

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we still have some boxes we haven't unpacked and we moved in 9 months ago now... most of that stuff is seasonal and will finally come out in the next week or so I hope.
 
wormie

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Gadrel_sl said:
Costs are typically split between the buyer and seller. Generally:

Property taxes, condo fees, and HOA dues are prorated and split between buyer and seller.
The seller pays for all curative title work.
The buyer pays for all closing fees and real estate transfer taxes.
Commissions are paid based upon the listing agreement and/or buyer's agency contract. Typically the seller obligates himself to pay the commissions.
The buyer pays for title insurance.

$19k sounds like a large amount. Does that include commissions? Real estate transfer tax?
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The transfer tax payment varies by state. Here in new york, the seller pays transfer taxes. The only time that changes is if the contract specifies that the buyer is paying them and the only time a lawyer for the purchaser would allow his client to pay transfer taxes is when the property being purchased is a new construction. The rest of what you said is same here as it is wherever you are.
 
Korrupt

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Deathwing_sl said:
Seller did not pay for our closing costs either(NY). Your realtor and/or bank should be helping you out with this. We had ~45k saved up when we bought our house, closing at 242k. We put 10% down(PMI only reduces at 5% intervals) and then rolled 7.2k of the closing costs into the loan, which is the max allowed(3%). This allowed us to move in with ~28k savings and spend a few thousand on furnishings.
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That was what I did and it worked out well. The title agent even gave some kind of refund check from overpaying but I dont remember specifically what it was for.
 
Vinen

Vinen

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Khane_sl said:
Unpacking is way worse than packing.
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Doesn't seem as bad to me. Wife and I just moved into our new house today
smile.png
Most important stuff is unpacked already... now we just have a lot of empty area
smile.png
 
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