I started the refinance process in JULY . I was told I got approved end of August and hope for closing Sept 4 since then this lender will not get back to me but to say he is pushing as hard as he can for this to go through to close . Is this normal to take this long? He won't tell me what the hold up is. Why say hoping to close Sept 4 and now it's the 30th and he won't give me an answer.
More real estate tips at Program Realty Wix site
I love and work on the USA, but I’d like to purchase a condo for an investment in Eastern Europe. I need to speak to a bank about a loan and find out the best way to do this….Any advice?
More real estate tips at Program Realty Wix site
Why
We are under contract for a vacation home. We do NOT want to close remotely, we want to do a walkthrough. It is a days drive from our house, and we are fine to do that, but the title company is pushing us to do a remote close. Why, other than COVID would we want that? We are willing to do a contactless close after we walk through. Our title company says don’t drive down here, you could be spinning your wheels. Well, I don’t want to close without visualization that the property is the way it was on inspection back in June. (The sellers needed a LONG close due to health issues)
More real estate tips at Program Realty Wix site
So a seller comes to you to list their house… You go see the house and notice it’s not in the best shape – maintenance wise. The garden/lawn is neglected, the paint is faded and the gutters have plants growing out of them. On the inside the carpets are filthy and haven’t been cleaned in years.
A few questions in this scenario:
Would you contact companies to get estimates for the maintenance/cleaning?
If so, how time consuming is that process?
Aside from what I’ve listed, what are the top maintenance related things that need to be done for a house before it’s put on the market?
More real estate tips at Program Realty Wix site
Not sure how to sum this up in a TL;DR, so apologies in advance if it's a bit of a ramble.
My parents own a large home which sits in the middle of a parcel with 3 lots, where they have lived for 33 years.
Recently, they decided to break off one of the lots, use their equity to build a new home on it, and sell the home to my sister. The budget for the project is based on the amount of financing my sister qualified for. My parents will provide a 20% gift of equity downpayment, and are selling the home and property for what otherwise could have been sold for $100,000 – $120,000 more in the current market. My sister is a single mom with two children, and might never have been able to be a homeowner without this assistance.
My husband and I recently purchased our first home in the same town by the skin of our teeth. We could only afford 5% down, but felt strongly that it was time to own as rent prices in our area increase beyond mortgage payments.
We are happy in our new home, but my parents are apparently riddled with guilt over not helping us in a similar way and have presented us with two options. To me, it seems like either of the options would be a smart move. My husband is very principled and is vehemently against accepting any help from anyone.. I guess I am hoping for some perspective/advice/maybe validation from an investment standpoint.
Option 1: They use modest profits from the sale of my sister's home to build another new house on their third lot and sell that to us for the same price with the same gift of equity.
Option 2: They build the new house, move into that, and sell us the large one they currently live in for a below-market price with a gift of equity downpayment.
Either way, we wouldn't be neighbors forever, as they have another piece of property in a neighboring town where they will build a new home to retire in.
Additionally, we have made significant improvements/upgrades to our current home (updated electrical, new deck, master bathroom, etc.) so we stand to potentially sell for much more than we bought for, which would go towards either of the above two options. Meaning we would end up with a much nicer, more valuable home, in a more desirable location, for less financing than we currently have.
I feel like selling our current home and taking advantage of one or the other of these options is a no-brainer.
Am I off base, here? What would you do, and why?
More real estate tips at Program Realty Wix site
Here's the fast version of what happened to me:
After three rounds of negotiation we had a cash offer accepted to purchase a home that had been on and off the market for a year in New York state (not in NYC). All parties signed the contract, which was fairly basic—only contingencies being inspection and attorney review. Just before the end of attorney review the seller signed another contract that had mysteriously appeared after they signed with us, unsolicited, without cancelling our contract. Seller's agent subsequently accepted and deposited a 9% earnest money deposit from us, knowing he would not honor our contract (we know this because seller's agent told us he did this). Later that day our contract was cancelled.
I read the judgment in Erk and I get that the law regarding attorney review in NY, as understood now, allows attorneys to cancel contracts for any reason, stated or not, so I'm not wondering if I have recourse. I know I don't. I'm pissed, but I get it.
What I am wondering, after speaking with our lawyer and learning this is common, is more philosophical: Why would the most sensible reading of attorney approval contingencies allow for such clear abuse and constant bad faith negotiation.
I'm not a lawyer (probably obvious), but I read the contract pretty carefully before signing and it seemed clear, to me, and to anyone who considers an attorney approval clause I think, that the reason for it is to allow both parties to solicit legal advice to make sure that the contract they signed didn't contain provisions detrimental to them that they couldn't understand because they are not lawyers. I suppose reason 1A would be that realtors are not lawyers either and may not write clear contracts. The most common-sense implication of that seems to be, if an attorney is to disapprove a contract she should take issue with an actual provision of that contract that, at the time her client entered into it, was not in his best interest. A higher offer coming in post-signature wouldn't fit that because, at the time the seller signed the contract, the offer didn't exist.
To me, taking the Erk decision, which allows both parties to completely obscure their actions and motivations, to pretty natural conclusions, it would allow things like, a buyer to sign contracts on 25 houses simultaneously with no intention to purchase any of them (annoying and dishonest!) or a seller to refuse to sell a house to someone because of their race or religion, unknown at the time of signing, but discovered during the review period (very illegal?). Considering one of the major reasons cited in the decision was the need for clarity in contracts, doesn't this allow and even encourage the opposite? It gives both buyers and sellers the chance to be completely opaque for 3, 5, or 7 days after signing a contract. Why have signed contracts at all if, for all intents and purposes, they don't actually exist until attorney approval.
More real estate tips at Program Realty Wix site
A member of my family wants to do a local move from their condo to a house for personal/preference reasons. They have wanted to do it for a long time and decided this was the time. Then the pandemic started. This family member still wants to go through with it. They will have to sell their house to buy the new one.
Are there any concerns/considerations they should take into account about the market during this crisis? Is it wise to move during the pandemic if you dont really have to? Will their selection of houses be as good as usual? Will they likely get the price selling their condo that they deserve? Is it financially wise for the long term to do such a move in these times? Are there any advantages to moving (and selling/buying) now?
More real estate tips at Program Realty Wix site
How much is typical? I know around 1% is standard but I was charged %2.622 on a $160k loan with 2.875% interest rate. I went through a broker and our initial conversation they seemed to know all about first time home buyer programs but when it came down to it we didn't use any.
More real estate tips at Program Realty Wix site
Hello,
My fiancée and I are engaged and currently in the process of refinancing a house to have both of our names on the title & loan.
In the absolute worst case scenario that for some reason we were to split up, what are the key differences between joint tenancy with right of survivorship and community property with right of survivorship, and what are some things to keep in mind?
Also, how would the title/implications change once we get married?
Thanks!
More real estate tips at Program Realty Wix site
We just closed on the sale of our place and are still 3 weeks out from closing on our purchase. Everything was moving along fine until my mortgage broker asked me to prove that I didn’t own a property that the bank was saying I did own. The address was (what I thought at the time) in a huge corner complex of cottages, homes, and apartments that we used to rent one of almost 10 years ago. In an attempt to prove that I didn’t own it, I visited the property and spoke with my old manager. The property in question does not exist. The complex covers all of the even numbers from the 4280s up to 4298. There is no 4296. Now I have to prove that I don’t own a property that doesn’t exist. Any advice?
More real estate tips at Program Realty Wix site
Program Realty 