Appraisal problems!
holcombe3
10 years ago
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jdez
10 years agoholcombe3
10 years agoRelated Discussions
Should I build a balcony above a porch
Comments (16)Creekside may be right that if you CAN'T come up with the cash, you're already in trouble... except that it sounds like you CAN come up with the cash. The question is whether you want to spend 2/3rds of your available slush fund for this particular add-on. Since your builder is financing, I can certainly understand him not wanting to add something (on a builder finance basis) that might raiss the cost to build above the amount you would be able to get a mortgage for later on. After all, if you can't get a mortgage for the full amount (and can't come up with the difference), the builder will be forced to either lower his price to you or find another buyer. No wonder the builder wants you to come up with the difference in cash now. As for adding the balcony, I would think that a private "owner's balcony" above the porch would add significant value to the home. Whether it would add $12,000 in value tho, I can't begin to say. Have you considered getting a private appraisal of what the house would be worth if the balcony were added? I assume the builder must have already gotten an appraisal of the house as originally designed or he wouldn't be willing to finance the build for you. The same appraiser could probably give you a new appraisal fairly easily. Understand that a private appraisal won't be binding on your bank but it just might give you an idea of whether the bank's appraisal is likely to be enough to cover the added cost. Perhaps if the private appraiser appraises the house with balcony at $12K or more over the appraisal of the house without balcony, your builder might be willing to add it if you agree to pay half the cost in cash now. He would be taking a much smaller risk of the house not appraising for enough for you to pay off his financing. If you do decide to go with the balcony, be sure your builder slopes the porch roof under the balcony so that it sheds water and then add the decking above that. If the porch roof is flat and has the deck built above that. Also, a roof over the balcony will help with water shed issues since less water will land on the deck and seep between the decking boards. Also, if it is roofed, then if you ever decide you want too, you could screen the deck in or even close it in with removable windows for year-round use....See MoreJust Walk Away, Rene
Comments (45)Oh for god's sake let's not start dragging the aclu into this. I can't find it now, but just a couple hours ago I read where prime forclosures are starting to creep upward. One of the people profiled in the story was in Vegas--true, a declining mkt, but she had a good job as technology head of a casino and a fairly reasonably priced house. Nevertheless, in '06 or '07 she was bait-and-switched into an interest-only loan w/ a $40,000 prepay penalty that doesn't go away until 2009. (Countrywide) That $40k is more than 10% the amount of the mortgage. I thought to myself 'how the heck did she get into such a loan??' Then I noticed the picture. She's black. And yes, that does make a difference. Conservative pundits may protest till they're blue in the face that it's not color, it's poverty, or lack of education, or whathaveyou. But that's bull. It's color. Minorities are many times more likely than whites to get overcharged or offered only inappropriate products. It happens over and over again. Just a year or two ago, most of the big life insurers settled a class action case where they essentially were forced to admit that they'd charged blacks more for life insurance products over decades. They'd also churned these accounts and done all sorts of other fraudulent things. I used to date a guy who worked in a mortgage office located in a black neighborhood in Bklyn. This place was scam-central. I read years later that the company had been shut down by the atty general. It's a disgrace that it took so long. Even as a college kid I could tell they were in the business of ripping people off. So, bottom line, the fact that the aclu and others have fought to force lenders and other financial companies to a) do business with minorities at all, and b) do so fairly without adding a 'color surcharge,' has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that we're now in a mortgage meltdown caused by lax lending and fraud. What does have to do with it? Well, whoever invented the idea that people should convert unsecured loans to secured loans by taking out home-equity loans to pay off the CCs, for one. They're still running those ads in my area. What gets me is not only that shady 'credit counseling' companies would push it (why not, there's a buck to be made) but that it actually makes it into 'financial advice' given by so-called experts on tv and in magazines. Also, the Fed, by keeping the money supply so cheap and plentiful for so many years. Check out Jim Jubak on msnmoney.com for multiple well-thought-out discussions of why and how the Fed caused the last several asset bubbles, and why the current rate-lowering is setting us up for the next one. And of course the loan machines--I mean banks--that keep inventing ways of lending money to people under terms that are meant to look like they're good for consumers, but are actually just a way of dragging out the repayment and therefore increasing their profit (I/O, 40-year, exploding ARMs, etc). Finally: I was watching 'My First Place' on HGTV last night. A young couple was looking for a house somewhere in the mountains out west. They were completely unreaslistic about what they were going to get for ~$200k, I thought, but then lo and behold they found a place. Paid $225k. At the end, when they're showing the closing, I almost jumped out of bed--they took out a 100% interest-only ARM mortgage! They were shown signing the 'adjustable rate disclosure' without even reading it! I almost shouted--they still do those?!? I don't know when this was filmed, but it's a pretty new show. I wonder if they're foreclosed yet....See MoreHome inspection & appraisal
Comments (4)I'm glad you asked this question because I am also in contract and at this point it looks like everything is hinging on the appraisal so I am waiting anxiously for it. We've been in contract now for a few days and I'm itching for them to call me and tell me they scheduled the appraisal. We are also supposed to close mid-October. I couldn't imagine three weeks passing and it was still not scheduled!...See Moretrying to buy worried about appraisals
Comments (10)Have you looked up county property tax records for those that have sold recently? Tax valuations are not accurate reflections of older sales, but they can be a good indicator of recent sales since they generally reset with the sale price that year. I would expect the comps in an HOA to be higher. Some folks don't like them, but the rules are intended to protect property conditions and values -- perhaps even put limits on rentals. In general, I'd rather buy in the HOA neighborhood than one with lots of rentals -- more of a neighborhood, more stability in terms of neighbors and property maintenance, and most likely better resale values. I'd do some homework and make sure you use the right comps -- the valuations both being lower - especially the one by more than 8% of your proposed purchase price, would give me pause. A couple of thousand dollars is just over 1% - not a big deal, but $15K is significant. Make sure you understand why and decide whether the house is correctly priced. Mortgage vs cash -- Kirkhall has half of the equation. What does the money cost you today? But that only takes you through the payment for the house. If you leave the money in the fund, it will continue to grow. Property values are perhaps even less certain and often cyclical. Is this a neighborhood where values will grow at a pace that will be at least nearly equal to the funds continued growth? If not, having your money fully invested there is actually costing you more. But truth is, you never truly know -- none of us have the crystal ball and so many things can happen in the intervening years. You haven't said anything about your age or long range plans for the house. Is it a 5-10 year purchase? Starter? Retirement? Could make a difference in which values matter most and which risks are more comfortably taken....See Morejdez
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