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Gear Grinding 9: I Need a Wine!

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FadeToBlack&Gold said:
Get pre-qualified by a credit union before you start hunting. They take a little longer to process their applications, but you'll generally get a better rate than you would from one of the big boys or a borderline predatory lender like Quicken, and they're less likely to approve you for more house than you can reasonably afford.
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This is interesting because Wells Fargo gave me a rate no one could touch back when I got my mortgage and refinanced.
 
Handyman said:
I used to be a big advocate of renting, but until the rental crash hits (and that will be a few years) it is smarter for about a million reasons to get a mortgage.
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Housing prices, at least around here, seem pretty inflated due to the pandemic inventory squeeze. If I were buying right now, and I was only planning on owning the property a few years, I'd be pretty worried about a correction.
 
BassAle said:
Housing prices, at least around here, seem pretty inflated due to the pandemic inventory squeeze. If I were buying right now, and I was only planning on owning the property a few years, I'd be pretty worried about a correction.
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Ditto. Housing in the Cities is crazy right now.


Edit: JEEBUS FUCK. Zillow says my house is worth $353,000. Up from $313,000 in farking October. That's 13% in six months. A very small part of me wishes I could dump this thing, bank the cash, and wait for the correction.
 
RaceBoarder, reach out on FB to myself or my wife if you have questions about going about the mortgage route. We were first time home buyers five years ago and the process is a little easier if someone can point you in the right direction. We kept getting the run around from our bank and different realtors until we finally found a realtor who practically held our hand through the process (she focused on first time home buyers). So we'd be more than happy to pass along our experience because it is difficult to find someone to get the ball rolling.

Knowing where you're at/working at, housing should be cheaper in the far southwest/west suburbs you may have a little bit more of a drive, but it would be worth it. Personally, the apartment complex we were at in Naperville is now about $300 more a month than our mortgage (friends still live there) so that's extra in our pocket that we would have been throwing away.

Housing prices are a little bonkers in Chicagoland, especially some of the "nicer" suburbs, but there are pockets where it's okay still.
 
BassAle said:
Housing prices, at least around here, seem pretty inflated due to the pandemic inventory squeeze. If I were buying right now, and I was only planning on owning the property a few years, I'd be pretty worried about a correction.
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It's the same here and almost everywhere else. Dipsh*ts are running around like chickens with their heads cut off offering to pay seller closing costs, waiving the inspection (on 70-100 year old houses!), offering appraisal guarantees. Dee da da dee da dumb.

I had to compromise a bit to get a deal done. We'll be in our second choice town and the house isn't the vintage tudor or craftsman style my girlfriend and I wanted, but it's hard to argue with the price per square foot I ended up at after I negotiated them down a bit. We can still walk to a downtown and a big park, there's pre-plotted space in the backyard for a nice veg/herb garden, a majority of the big ticket parts of the house are newer, etc. And it's not like our second choice town is a pit, home values there are high and will continue to rise because they have excellent schools.

I'd be a lot more worried about going underwater if I had cleaned myself out overpaying for a house in our first choice town, where I feel there is definitely a bubble that is going to burst during the next recession.
 
FadeToBlack&Gold said:
Get pre-qualified by a credit union before you start hunting. They take a little longer to process their applications, but you'll generally get a better rate than you would from one of the big boys or a borderline predatory lender like Quicken, and they're less likely to approve you for more house than you can reasonably afford.
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A mix is good. We actually ended up getting the best deal from Chase, they were willing to more or less match whatever anyone else could do. First Republic actually offered a really good rate if we switched all of our primary banking to them, so we went back to Chase and told them "hey we'd like to keep our primary banking with you but switching would save us $10K, can you try to match that" and they basically did. So we got to keep our banking with Chase and get a good rate out of it. But having a number of institutions, of different types, to play off of each other helped.
 
French Rage said:
A mix is good. We actually ended up getting the best deal from Chase, they were willing to more or less match whatever anyone else could do. First Republic actually offered a really good rate if we switched all of our primary banking to them, so we went back to Chase and told them "hey we'd like to keep our primary banking with you but switching would save us $10K, can you try to match that" and they basically did. So we got to keep our banking with Chase and get a good rate out of it. But having a number of institutions, of different types, to play off of each other helped.
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Yeah, this is true. You did well, and it certainly helps negotiations if you have decent-sized accounts with your current bank that they don't want to lose.
 
dxmnkd316 said:
Ditto. Housing in the Cities is crazy right now.


Edit: JEEBUS FUCK. Zillow says my house is worth $353,000. Up from $313,000 in farking October. That's 13% in six months. A very small part of me wishes I could dump this thing, bank the cash, and wait for the correction.
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Kind of in that position. Last year, I put my condo on the market. I did this because:

- Company offered an pretty robust early retirement package to employees that met a certain criteria; I was one of them. My concern was all the money I would get would have to roll into a retirement plan.
- Given my age and that we were (are) in the middle of a pandemic, I was unsure how long it would take to find a new job, what would I live on? I figured I could sell this place to have a nest egg of sorts to cover me till I could start taking money from my 401K
- Our department had a massive re-org and several co-workers' positions were eliminated. Thankfully my job was saved, but who knows how long that will last?
- Met with my financial guy who recommended I did not take the early retirement but thought selling my condo was a good idea; and to bank any profit as I continue to work

Used a friend as a realtor, she and her partner did a lousy job. Hardly any interest. I took it off the market in early November due to rising COVID rates. I didn't want random people traipsing through my place. I found a really nice apartment that would cost me about $40 more than my current mortgage and condo fee, but further away from the city. I wound up giving up the deposit when I took my condo off the market.

In the last two weeks, two condos in my building sold after being on the market for, like, seven days, at amazing prices, much more than what I initially put this place on the market for. I've been thinking about putting this place back on the market but apartments are ridiculously expensive here. However, if I could get my initial asking price for this place, I'd be in good shape. I've been paying down the principal on my mortgage so I have a little less than four years to go instead of eight or nine. Not sure what I should do. Any thoughts?
 
FadeToBlack&Gold said:
waiving the inspection (on 70-100 year old houses!), offering appraisal guarantees.
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This is literally the stupidest thing a prospective homebuyer can do. I didn't even know appraisal guarantees were a thing. That's equally insane. Even overbuying, not looking at property taxes, etc aren't as monumentally stupid as no inspections or guaranteeing appraisals. Those are five-figure decisions at best.
 
dxmnkd316 said:
This is literally the stupidest thing a prospective homebuyer can do. I didn't even know appraisal guarantees were a thing. That's equally insane. Even overbuying, not looking at property taxes, etc aren't as monumentally stupid as no inspections or guaranteeing appraisals. Those are five-figure decisions at best.
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Yeah until you get a clear view of what's going on in the attic and crawl space you really don't know what you're buying.
 
French Rage said:
Yeah until you get a clear view of what's going on in the attic and crawl space you really don't know what you're buying.
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Whaddayamean the basement has radon, the attic is lined with blown asbestos insulation, and the house's beautiful white trim is actually lead paint?
 
dxmnkd316 said:
This is literally the stupidest thing a prospective homebuyer can do. I didn't even know appraisal guarantees were a thing. That's equally insane. Even overbuying, not looking at property taxes, etc aren't as monumentally stupid as no inspections or guaranteeing appraisals. Those are five-figure decisions at best.
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Most home inspectors know diddly squat.
 
BassAle said:
Housing prices, at least around here, seem pretty inflated due to the pandemic inventory squeeze. If I were buying right now, and I was only planning on owning the property a few years, I'd be pretty worried about a correction.
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I guess it depends on what your goal is. I dont plan to move for at least 10 years (or until she wises up and kicks me out for being an asshole) so the correction will re-correct long before it will matter. Plus our neighborhood will rebound super fast (or crash lighter) because it is always in demand. We really lucked out because we are technically in Crystal not New Hope (literally every street around us) which saves us a lot on property taxes and utilities while also giving us the better standard of living that New Hope on this side tends to have. Another block and we are Golden Valley (where the girlfriend's parents live) where the taxes are insane as are all the utilities. We got Gerrymandered into a perfect situation, all the positives of Golden Valley and none of the costs :^)
 
Most of the time at work, I just deal with ADHD. I've been told I "look bored" on more than one occasion. But yesterday, all my mental health issues showed up and kicked my ass. All I could do is go home and take a 2.5 hour nap.
 
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