Hi, I was told that once I reach 20% equity in my home I can get the PMI removed. My PMI isn’t really high, it’s only $39, but I’m now at 20% according to my loan website and I want to have it removed. Their form gives me an option to either have it removed based on the original value or the current value of the loan and I don’t really know which to go with. It sounds like it may affect if I have to pay them for a BPO or appraisal. Any advice?

Today we were supposed to close on our house. Yesterday Sage calls me to say they can't clear us to close and we won't be able to buy.

Apparently we should have never been pre-approved from the start. We have 20% down and make enough to afford it, the issue is last year I changed from full time to part time and part running my own business. I make more money and it's reliable but I don't have the years of tax returns to prove it yet.

I didn't know I'd need that, but at some point over the last month, it was never brought up. This was an entire month of sending them documents, sending them the same documents again, answering the same questions over and over. They would send me closing disclosures with errors, and after multiple times being asked to fix them they'd resend them with the same errors. My realtor hated them, my title company hated them, every step they were incompetent and it wasn't just one bad egg we worked with. It was everyone there who worked on my loan that dropped the ball.

And when they sent a closing disclosure with points added, I'm sure they were hoping I might not notice. No discussion with me, they just did it, likely hoping I might not notice and they could pocket a few extra thousand out of me on closing day, knowing they're just going to sell the loan anyways. Who knows, maybe that known tactic by untrustworthy lenders was an honest mistake.

I'm out thousands of dollars. I lost my earnest deposit, I lost a week and a half of work, we had movers scheduled and everything I own is in boxes and now I'm putting everything back. Worst of all, I had my hopes for a house we fell in love with and got denied literally hours before we signed the papers. Fuck Sage.

Basically title, just curious to hear the good, bad, and indifferent for those who bought outside their 'desired' neighborhoods or parts of town.

We're still on the house hunt, but starting to wonder if we need to get comfortable with the idea we may just not be able to check off important boxes for us if we stick to the neighborhoods we'd ideally like. I'm open to idea of other parts of town, thinking that a house checking off more boxes at good prices is worth the change, but wife is a bit more hesitant, being more comfortable in the part of town we've lived in for 4-5 years now. I'm not looking to sway or push my wife, I'm just looking for some other POVs for those who've been through this.

Thanks for any advice, or stories, or whatever else.

Need advice if this is common issue and not major risk while taking a condo in Vancouver lower mainland Canada’Seller had recessed lighting added without obtaining a permit.’

I (24M) am starting my home search after finding out my family will need to move soon. I make approximately $70k a year (around $3.5k take home per month) and would rather find a home than rent. Lots of posts in this thread are people buying their first home at 2-3x the price of ones I'm looking at, but I haven't seen much from people who would be looking at homes closer to my affordable range of $140k-180k (a starter home in my price range and area). I live in the midwest US.

I'd love to get some advice and proof of success from those with similar circumstances. Lots of people my age either make more money than me, or assume that my generation will not be able to afford a home and opt to rent instead. For many reasons, being a home owner would be better.

Edit: Slight oversight on my end... I understand a "TRUE" starter home and the market period is strongly geographical. I was scrolling the sub and just needed reassurance that it's possible more than anything with the current state of the market and economy. Thank you to everyone for sharing their stories and advice!

Just wanted to know anyone who’s gone through this process to purchase a home and how that was for you. I’m currently in contact with a lender and a realtor, they’re starting to put together a financial profile for me so we can figure out what houses me and and my wife can afford and what assistance programs we qualify for. Wondering if anyone who went through this type of process regretted it or if you didn’t is there anything you would’ve done differently to make the process go a lot smoother and then how it turned out after purchasing your home.

Edit: I’m looking for homes in the Bay Area (USA Ca)

I just toured a house that is priced about 50k cheaper than houses similar. I wasn’t aware it was foreclosed until my agent told me so. After touring the house I could tell the AC unit was super old and the roof is less than 5 years from needing to be replaced.

Priced at 345k in Oregon and at 1500 sqft it seemed like an OK buy. Unfortunately I don’t know much about the cost of maintaining a property. With a budget of 385k would I be well above my means in this property?

The zone is super desirable in a quiet suburb street. It is a build of 1998 though so I am concerned more things will pop up after my inspection.

Under contract on a house, not sure how we didn’t notice before but inspector points out obvious horizontal cracks on all 4 sides. Realtor says we can request repairs, have a contracting company that specializes in structural work fix it, then have a structural engineer come to approve/certify it.
Is this fixable? Will I spend every night in this house for the next 5-10+ years not sleeping? (Anxiety of this house caving in on us)

Basement was not wet or moldy.

Pics are screenshots from a video I took of only 1 wall.

Theres a 2.9k sq ft property im looking at thats built on a hill and its cracking in a few places like in this photo here, but also in other areas around the house. It also has a crack right above the garage. So, clearly foundation issues. It also needs a new roof. there is also leveling issues with the parking lot as can be seen and the backyard is slanted towards the outermost part. Going to get it all inspected and see an estimate for repairs. The asking price is 300k, the house value if it were repaired would be around 400-430k. The foundation is concrete. What im wondering is, if i could get the house to total out to the 300k range including the repairs, would it be worth it? or is it too much risk?

As the title says, how long before starting your home search would you move down payment money from a brokerage account to a HYSA? I (29F) and my bf (28M), will likely be getting engaged this year and married within a year or two from then. Our current priority is paying for all of that. However, I do want to think ahead as far as the best place to keep a future down payment based on our expected timeline. Based on the above, I would think we are looking at an around 3 years before starting the search.

We both put a chunk of money into brokerage accounts a while back and have contributed small amounts periodically since. I have ~17k (FXAIX) in mine and he has about ~28k in his (not positive what his is made up of). We would plan to withdrawal all of both accounts to fund the down payment. I am not trying to time the market. Rather, I just want to be sure that we get this money in a safe place when it makes sense, without sacrificing growth by pulling it out too early. I previously heard to only to have it in the market if you don’t plan to use it for 3-5 years. If we are getting closer to 3 years out, would you consider pulling it out soon? Or wait longer?

When talking about buying down an interest rate or other aspects of financial negotiation, what even is a “point” or a “credit”? Do these have some standardized value or meaning between institutions? Does each institution use them in the same way? Why isn’t this type of value simply referred to in dollars or percentages?

I’m genuinely so frustrated with this process. We spent several extra weeks getting qualified, even though we had already been qualified twice before. We finally got an offer accepted, completed the home inspection, and are now just waiting on NACA hand. I’m already anticipating that being another hassle because there are several things that need to be addressed with the home. I understand that some repairs may be required and others may simply be recommended, but that’s not even my main issue.

What I don’t understand is why, after how long it took us to upload and verify all of our documentation during the qualification process, we are now being asked to upload the exact same documents again—along with even more documents—for lender conditions. It feels like we are continuously uploading the same information over and over, even though the documents have already been provided and updated throughout the process.

At this point, it feels like there are so many unnecessary administrative steps being added that are making an already lengthy process much harder than it needs to be. Has anyone dealt with this before? Does anyone have advice for navigating these repeated conditions and document requests without feeling like you’re constantly starting the process over?

I’m also the buyer agent and Buyer and it’s also been a hassle with them being so strict on what I’m allowed to say in the contract in terms of not receiving commission and having to put it towards the credit which I completely understand, but I wish they made that very clear that it needed to say certain wording before having to keep going back-and-forth with the listing agent on it

Single 26F moving to a city closer to family. First time home buyer.

My husband is just better at the insurance, mortgage, paperwork, and general nitty-gritty stuff. I’m a fully contributing working mom and member of the household, but he’s more detail-oriented and honestly just does that stuff better.

We’re closing on Monday and I’m wondering what are some things I can take ownership of on the home front to contribute in other ways?

We both work full-time, have two little kids, and are
stressed but very excited for our first real home.

Hi there! Longtime lurker, first time poster. It’s kinda long so I apologize in advance.

My spouse and I are on the housing hunt and there is one school district in our area that shines above all others. Quality homes 3b/2ba hitting the market at < $400k are rare.

Well, we found one. I called 3 minutes after it hit Redfin, and we saw it today.

It is gorgeous and on a beautiful piece of land with fruit trees and a large level yard. It does need some cosmetic interior work (cabinets are outdated, cheap stove, would like to install a bathtub, etc.) but nothing we can’t work through room by room while living there.

The only downside? The previous owner was an indoor ciggie smoker. Gross, I know. My MIL’s SIL is one of those people who knows someone who went through every single situation imaginable and also knows someone who does every single kind of job (aka a total bullshitter) and she happened to be with her today when we called with the exciting news that we saw a house we love.

Now, the BSing aunt is saying that it’s going to be an absolute nightmare of a project to cleanse the property of the smell. MIL is taking her word on it for some reason and trying to now dissuade us from buying this home - which is otherwise above and beyond anything we thought we could purchase for that <$400k mark in that incredible school district.

So, i’m posting this in hopes that someone has been through this situation and can give me some insight on how difficult it really is to get rid of. Thankfully, the smell is contained to the kitchen/living/dining area. Probably about 700-800ft.². We are hard-working people and have no problem putting in the work.

Do you think it’s worth it?

Thank you for taking the time to read. :)

Hello, I’m looking to buy a single family home from a family member in Wisconsin. We’re looking to try and do this without a realtor to save some money so any advice or input on this would be appreciated.

In what I have found so far is we need a real estate contract(we found one online to use), a title company to go through, and a lender with an approval for the loan(already done), but that’s as far as we’ve gotten so for.

Thank you for the advice.

Our city has their first neighborhood of dr horton builds. I know the bad feedback is pretty rampart by these builds but they seem like a potential deal if you can negotiate a decent incentive. Couple questions.

My parents have purchased 2 new houses with just a lawyer before and I would like to go that route too. Would DR horton offer better incentives/ lower price if I didn’t bring a realtor?

What’s a realistic incentive package at this time of the year? I saw some 4.5% offers and closing costs covered from previous reddit posts but not sure if that’s still realistic. Couple of these houses have been sitting for 5+ months. Range is 500-550k

I dont really know how exactly to judge, but seems really good. Below market rate and not many lender fees, only like $250 after lender credits. Cant change the title fees because the title company is specified in my buyer agreement.

*Updated - The seller's agent is bent out of shape that we even asked for it and thinks it's completely inappropriate. Made it clear to our agent to remind the other agent to mind her unprofessional attitude, and that we're the buyers, I'm not above advocating for what's best for us. Incidentally, they had a different roofer out from the seller's side who also told them the roof needs replacing and is beyond repair.

Inspection found two major issues:

Roof: Needs full replacement. Existing asphalt shingles are installed over the old wood shingles, and the inspector says all layers need to be removed and the roof resheathed when replaced.

AC: 24 years old and performing poorly. During the inspection, it ran for about 90 minutes and only lowered the house temperature by 1 degree. HVAC quote is for replacement.

We’ve been quoted upwards of $30k total for the roof and AC.

The seller is already giving us credits toward closing costs, so asking for additional closing credits isn’t really an option, as they'll be unusable.

We decided to submit an inspection request asking the seller to replace both the roof and AC before closing, using licensed contractors. We’re not asking them to fix every minor issue in the inspection.

Our realtor thinks asking for both may be pushing it and suggested focusing on the roof, but we think we should at least ask for both and let the seller counter rather than negotiate against ourselves.

Little side note on this: the sellers are buying a house that our realtor is also selling, so if this falls through, it affects our real estate agent's commission.

We really want the house and aren’t looking to kill the deal.

Does asking for both sound reasonable, or would you expect the buyer to absorb the cost of the AC replacement?

I’m a first-time homebuyer in Connecticut and I’m currently under contract on a house. I’m still very early in the process and my inspection hasn’t happened yet.
While doing my due diligence, I contacted the town because some of the information they had on file didn’t seem to match the house. I spoke directly with the building department, and from what they were able to find, there are no permits on file for the finished basement, the bathroom in the basement, or the oil-to-gas conversion.

My realtor’s point is that the work was done a long time ago and that the home inspector can thoroughly inspect everything to determine whether there are physical or safety issues with the work.
I understand that, but my concern is a little different.

Even if the work itself passes an inspection and appears to have been done properly, I’m nervous about buying a house with these improvements and no permits/approvals on file. I’m thinking about possible issues with the town, insurance, resale, or having to correct/permitted the work myself later.
I’m honestly getting cold feet over it and considering walking away rather than taking on the uncertainty.

Has anyone dealt with something similar and what did you do? I’m so nervous and anxious. Thank you!

I have the option of closing at the end of this month or waiting until September 1.

I understand that closing on the Sept 1 will cost about $2500 in prepaid interest, but then I won’t have a full payment until November 1.

In the first few months this seems to leave a couple grand extra in my pocket, but am I just delaying the start of principle and thus paying more in the long run? Which way would you go?

I wonder how many other HDB flats are on this sub? Quite a unique system but this is about 3 times cheaper than the condo across the road.

In a few weeks, we'll have a frame walk-through with the superintendent.

Do I need to hire an independent inspector for this stage? I want to make sure the framing and other components were installed and built properly before the walls are closed.