The whole process is insanely inefficient. We've already signed one form on at least four separate occasions, each time with a minor "correction." It's all about covering everyone's ass. Of course each time we do this, for all of the numerous forms that have already happened, it's a several step operation.
1) They e-mail me the form.
2) I open it, look at it, print it out (ah crap, out of ink...sigh....)
3) Sign it
4) Get it in front of Liane so she can sign it.
5) Scan it back in (and this is never as easy as we'd like)
6) E-mail it back
As irritating as it is to do all of this, especially multiple times as in the case above, it is miles better than the way things had to be done years ago. These would have all been trips over to some office to sign. Unimaginable these days. On the other hand, as out of date as the fax machine has become, for stuff like this it is actually a little more efficient. Not about to go back to fax machines though...
Monday, February 28, 2011
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Don't be Late
If you're a mortgage broker and you tell me you are going to get back with me at a certain time, with my business riding on it, don't be late. One person who is otherwise competitive eliminated herself by being hours late than promised with a quote. Oh, and then the quote wasn't detailed at all. Okay, I get it. You're busy. No problem. We don't need to waste each other's time anymore.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Funniest Quote so Far
A friend of mine commented when I told him we would not be building after all, "So, you guys are going to stay married then." Ha, ha.
And then I thought about it. Given all the demolition and reconstruction we are going to do it's probably going to be a little like building anyway.
Starting to dig into what I really want to do from an A/V point of view. I want to have more integration and flexibility than we've had in our house. It's a challenge conceptually, just figuring out what I really want (on any practical level that is). Implementing it is going to be expensive, whatever it is.
And then I thought about it. Given all the demolition and reconstruction we are going to do it's probably going to be a little like building anyway.
Starting to dig into what I really want to do from an A/V point of view. I want to have more integration and flexibility than we've had in our house. It's a challenge conceptually, just figuring out what I really want (on any practical level that is). Implementing it is going to be expensive, whatever it is.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Inspection
We had the home inspection Friday afternoon. The house was given a clean bill of health, with a few very minor caveats.
The only weird moment was when I was about to pay the guy for the inspection. It seemed that he and the realtor were unsure about how much it was supposed to cost. I figured this would have all been worked out ahead of time, and I certainly didn't know (to me it was just something we had to do), but I think Chris and Liane had done most of the communicating on that. Chris finally threw out a figure of $275. The guy just stood there and looked at him for what seemed to be one of those eternally long negotiating moments, and then acquiesced that, "$300 would be better, but I'll do $275." Weird. It never occurred to me that this was negotiable, and certainly not negotiable after the work had been done.
Toward the end of the inspection Chris asked about Radon testing. They guy said they don't do that, but can subcontract it. Thought it would be around $150. Liane pointed out that she thinks it had been done because there was a paper in a stack on the bar about it. It had no helpful info though. It was really just a clue that it had been done. Chris called the listing agent and was able to find out that it had passed, but we'd probably have to pay the company for a copy of the official results. Nope. That's good enough for me. Chris really came through here.
Last night I received, as promised, a detailed 35 page report from the inspector.
One more thing checked off the list.
The only weird moment was when I was about to pay the guy for the inspection. It seemed that he and the realtor were unsure about how much it was supposed to cost. I figured this would have all been worked out ahead of time, and I certainly didn't know (to me it was just something we had to do), but I think Chris and Liane had done most of the communicating on that. Chris finally threw out a figure of $275. The guy just stood there and looked at him for what seemed to be one of those eternally long negotiating moments, and then acquiesced that, "$300 would be better, but I'll do $275." Weird. It never occurred to me that this was negotiable, and certainly not negotiable after the work had been done.
Toward the end of the inspection Chris asked about Radon testing. They guy said they don't do that, but can subcontract it. Thought it would be around $150. Liane pointed out that she thinks it had been done because there was a paper in a stack on the bar about it. It had no helpful info though. It was really just a clue that it had been done. Chris called the listing agent and was able to find out that it had passed, but we'd probably have to pay the company for a copy of the official results. Nope. That's good enough for me. Chris really came through here.
Last night I received, as promised, a detailed 35 page report from the inspector.
One more thing checked off the list.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Motives
At times I find myself wondering who my realtor is advocating for.
He has been pushing me to do the financing locally. Okay, clearly there are some benefits to this -- I get it. But the background concern I feel like this addresses more than anything is that it will just make his life easier. Yes, it could potentially make our lives easier too, but it feels like more than that. Just a gut feeling based on a variety of other small and potentially inconsequential things that have happened throughout this process.
Locally there are a few options. The realtor gave me several people to contact, and we had already been in contact with Chase Bank back in the beginning when we wanted to get a feel for how much we could spend to build. For a big monolithic banking company they were reasonably helpful then so I've kept them in mind, but hadn't expected than when the rubber hit the road they'd be able to be competitive. Meanwhile I've heard some terrible, terrible stories about Chase dropping the ball and causing all kinds of turmoil on deals a few friends were trying to use them for. One of my friends -- a realtor himself -- told me it has gotten so bad with Chase that some of his realtor buddies refrain from accepting pre-approval letters from them. When pushed on the issue Chris (my realtor) admitted he'd heard some things. Yikes!
And why did I have to push to get this? Presumably he doesn't think it's that bad of a problem, or he feels confident he can overcome it. But when we talk about any remotely located mortgager he gets very skittish.
By far the most helpful and informative person I've talked to has been my guy at Bank of America, which is where my current mortgage is held. Chris is not keen on that. If I deal with BOA he'd much rather me talk to the local office. When pushed he finally came back with the right and helpful answer that he'll make it work, and if there are problems he'll deal with them. Yay.
I had been intrigued by one of the leads he gave me to a person who is a sort of broker, with a local processing office. Brokers are where I've had the best results (in terms of rates) before. She had promised to get back with me by 10:30 AM the next day. I finally got an e-mail from her in the late afternoon. And it pretty much just said she could do the 5%, which I had previously told her I could get through BOA. So, hours late, and not really a better deal. I don't see the value.
After talking to a bunch of them it appears that the differences are still pretty subtle -- maybe a few hundred dollars in closing costs is all. This may be due to increased regulations and increasingly conservative practices after the banking meltdown of recent years.
So my current mortgage is through BOA, but the vast majority of my day to day banking is through Chase. Chase will give me the same rate as the lowest offers I've had. I feel like they should give me a better one due to all of the business I do with them, but even at the same level it still seems like it could be more convenient to have it all in one place like that.
Meanwhile Liane, who has been talking to Chase while I've been running with and researching all the others, got swindled into locking the rate with them. Oh, Liane. She just didn't know better. All sings point to us leaning that way anyway, so maybe no big deal.
And why did I have to push to get this? Presumably he doesn't think it's that bad of a problem, or he feels confident he can overcome it. But when we talk about any remotely located mortgager he gets very skittish.
By far the most helpful and informative person I've talked to has been my guy at Bank of America, which is where my current mortgage is held. Chris is not keen on that. If I deal with BOA he'd much rather me talk to the local office. When pushed he finally came back with the right and helpful answer that he'll make it work, and if there are problems he'll deal with them. Yay.
I had been intrigued by one of the leads he gave me to a person who is a sort of broker, with a local processing office. Brokers are where I've had the best results (in terms of rates) before. She had promised to get back with me by 10:30 AM the next day. I finally got an e-mail from her in the late afternoon. And it pretty much just said she could do the 5%, which I had previously told her I could get through BOA. So, hours late, and not really a better deal. I don't see the value.
After talking to a bunch of them it appears that the differences are still pretty subtle -- maybe a few hundred dollars in closing costs is all. This may be due to increased regulations and increasingly conservative practices after the banking meltdown of recent years.
So my current mortgage is through BOA, but the vast majority of my day to day banking is through Chase. Chase will give me the same rate as the lowest offers I've had. I feel like they should give me a better one due to all of the business I do with them, but even at the same level it still seems like it could be more convenient to have it all in one place like that.
Meanwhile Liane, who has been talking to Chase while I've been running with and researching all the others, got swindled into locking the rate with them. Oh, Liane. She just didn't know better. All sings point to us leaning that way anyway, so maybe no big deal.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Money, Money, Money, Money
Numerous conversations with banks and other mortgage institutions answering the same questions over and over again sure does get old. They all seem so circumspect. I've been determined to shop for the best deal on this so in hindsight it probably would have been prudent to get my ducks in a row and be better prepared for these conversations.
With regard to the money aspect of it specifically, I seemed to be able to get more efficient with the conversations when I'd rattle off some of the facts. "I have $X in the bank, cash, in these accounts. I have $X in this fund I am going to close (and the total of all the $X's is about half the total cost of the house). I own a SFR (Single Family Residence), which I paid $X for in 1995, that I still owe $Y on ($Y being about 1/6 of the original purchase price). I do not wish to tie the purchase and sale of either together. I am buying the new house, and will sell the old one as a separate transaction. My three credit scores are A from Transunion, B from Equifax, and C from Experian." That quick paragraph alone seems to move things along. Of course there are still tons of other questions to be dealt with, but at least by the end of that paragraph they know they have someone on the line who can get the money without any major complications.
In the past I have been able to seek out and find good deals on financing. That hasn't proven to be the case so far this time. They really do all seem about the same, so far...
With regard to the money aspect of it specifically, I seemed to be able to get more efficient with the conversations when I'd rattle off some of the facts. "I have $X in the bank, cash, in these accounts. I have $X in this fund I am going to close (and the total of all the $X's is about half the total cost of the house). I own a SFR (Single Family Residence), which I paid $X for in 1995, that I still owe $Y on ($Y being about 1/6 of the original purchase price). I do not wish to tie the purchase and sale of either together. I am buying the new house, and will sell the old one as a separate transaction. My three credit scores are A from Transunion, B from Equifax, and C from Experian." That quick paragraph alone seems to move things along. Of course there are still tons of other questions to be dealt with, but at least by the end of that paragraph they know they have someone on the line who can get the money without any major complications.
In the past I have been able to seek out and find good deals on financing. That hasn't proven to be the case so far this time. They really do all seem about the same, so far...
Monday, February 14, 2011
It's ON
The offer has been accepted. And in true short sale form we are now being told we have two days to make a commitment on financing. Hilarious. You guys will get your money -- chill out. More details to come. I have a feeling some of the more humorous posts are still in front of us. Unfortunately, after all the build up (ha, ha) this means we won't be building this time.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Tic....tic....tic
We're hearing trickles of information about the status of the offer, most of it not helpful. Just noise really. But what we are hearing sounds promising.
Meanwhile we saw another house up for a short sale that looked really good. It's right next door to the property we had been looking at and it's up for a really good deal. We went and checked it out. It's a way better house overall, but of course is priced accordingly. Actually it would be a really phenomenal deal if we could get it for the asking price, but our realtor speculated they'd get offers above that, and given the fact that we'd still have to make a lot of expensive changes to get what we really want we eventually decided to let it go. We only had a couple of days before the deadline to make a decision, and it would have been complicated because we really are expecting the offer we've submitted on the first house to come back soon. So we'd then have to withdraw the new one, which would have complicated things at their end a lot, blah, blah, blah.
I may regret letting it go one day, but it just seemed like too big of a hassle to proceed, and ultimately we figured they'd get more for it than we really wanted to pay. We'll see about that.
What's odd is that our realtor, who has a great reputation around town, knew nothing about it. This would have been a no-brainer house to bring to our attention. Maybe he stopped looking on our behalf waiting for the offer to come back (we didn't, why should he?). Maybe he just didn't want the hassle of having to retract one of two offers -- he seemed pretty skittish about it when we asked him. All in all I'm kinda' underwhelmed by a number of little things that like that have transpired throughout this process.
Anyway, the clock is still ticking and nothing concrete is happening.
Meanwhile we saw another house up for a short sale that looked really good. It's right next door to the property we had been looking at and it's up for a really good deal. We went and checked it out. It's a way better house overall, but of course is priced accordingly. Actually it would be a really phenomenal deal if we could get it for the asking price, but our realtor speculated they'd get offers above that, and given the fact that we'd still have to make a lot of expensive changes to get what we really want we eventually decided to let it go. We only had a couple of days before the deadline to make a decision, and it would have been complicated because we really are expecting the offer we've submitted on the first house to come back soon. So we'd then have to withdraw the new one, which would have complicated things at their end a lot, blah, blah, blah.
I may regret letting it go one day, but it just seemed like too big of a hassle to proceed, and ultimately we figured they'd get more for it than we really wanted to pay. We'll see about that.
What's odd is that our realtor, who has a great reputation around town, knew nothing about it. This would have been a no-brainer house to bring to our attention. Maybe he stopped looking on our behalf waiting for the offer to come back (we didn't, why should he?). Maybe he just didn't want the hassle of having to retract one of two offers -- he seemed pretty skittish about it when we asked him. All in all I'm kinda' underwhelmed by a number of little things that like that have transpired throughout this process.
Anyway, the clock is still ticking and nothing concrete is happening.
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