what is the homebuying process.

[Bread Regal]

there's a house that looks like it's exactly what we want and even though we kind of want to window shop at the moment we are sort of looking in a half-serious way. i really really want to see the inside and if it's half as good as the pictures imply it's like a dream house.

i've never spoken to a realtor with regards to a home that's for sale. is there a protocol? perhaps the better question is, is there anything i can say that won't immediately sound stupid?

[Trotskilicious]

I'm guessing you definitely need a Realtor to get a house otherwise they'll just try to take you to the cleaners because you're not experienced.

[Bread Regal]

The person whose name is on the sign out front is a "realtor". I wouldn't expect them to be on my side during the process though.

[Order 66]

walk into the realtors office and say bitch give me a house

[Eulogy]

rent 4 life

[reprise85]

Originally Posted by Order 66

walk into the realtors office and say bitch give me a house

this

[Starla]

When I started the process, I began with realtors. I didn't really know what to say either, which isn't the thing you want to worry about. You want to make sure you're not getting screwed over by any existing or potential problems with the house and property itself. They deal with newbies every day and will walk you through. I ended up going through a private owner. The loan process looks tedious.. but I didn't have to deal with that since I bought mine outright. I do miss my house sometimes... but renting has it's advantages as well.

[sppunk]

Contact a Realtor that works with your Florida Housing Agency for first-time homebuyer loans, assistance, etc. They can determine if you have sufficient income and find products to help you.

The Realtor will do all the legal work; buying/selling on your own is - especially for a novice - extremely risky.

[Tuscaloosa]

1: cut a hole in a box

[Bread Regal]

realtor whose name is on the sign in front called me back and left a message. a few highlights of her message and i don't know what all these things mean.

it's a short sale
been under contract for ~1 year
2 lenders, still waiting for approval althought it could fall out
don't know, buyers could be sticking it out.
if you don't have a realtor, i will be happy to help you etc.

i have a tenuous grasp on that all that means. sppunk. what's all that shit mean?

[duovamp]

1. A short sale means they owe more money on the house than they're asking.
2. ???
3. Some other buyer is interested, but they need to be approved (usually people don't go house shopping nor will they even be acknowledged by a realtor until they get pre-approved)
4. Bad communication with the buyers not keeping the seller in the loop. It's a long-ass process, so a lot of times this shit falls through or deals go south
5. That realtor wants to suck your cock. Do it.

[Trotskilicious]

number 2 is probably something like she's had it in her portfolio for a year?

jb you're being way too suspicious of real estate agents, you can always reject any price they give you but the idea is that they negotiate on your behalf and also give you the skinny on financial stuff like that.

now technical aspects of it, no real estate agents do not fucking care about that they're the people who get the xeriscaped yard islands put in, and the ergonomic lighting. the pipes and foundation are up to you

not that i have any experience beyond second hand

[Trotskilicious]

honestly aren't independent agents people who negotiate with realtors and do get up in the guts of the house and stuff?

[sppunk]

Originally Posted by Bread Regal

realtor whose name is on the sign in front called me back and left a message. a few highlights of her message and i don't know what all these things mean.

it's a short sale
been under contract for ~1 year
2 lenders, still waiting for approval althought it could fall out
don't know, buyers could be sticking it out.
if you don't have a realtor, i will be happy to help you etc.

i have a tenuous grasp on that all that means. sppunk. what's all that shit mean?

Short sales are tricky, they require the bank to agree to eat the difference and they're increasingly less willing to do so. It being under contract a year means the bank and it's lawyers haven't found enough evidence the potential buyer can't afford more. It's essentially a legal holdout.

At the same time, the buyer has to agree to certain terms that'll impact their credit.

The last line is just a goodwill gesture saying if you don't have a Realtor she is available. I'd never buy a home from the selling Realtor if I didn't have a strong prior relationship.

For first time homebuyer assistance, often short sales won't qualify due to the drawn out time it tajes to close.

[duovamp]

The bank doesn't eat the difference, the seller does.

[Trotskilicious]

banks never lose, even when they lose

[sppunk]

Originally Posted by duovamp

The bank doesn't eat the difference, the seller does.

Short sale:
$ left on loan: $100,000
Selling price: $60,000

Bank agrees they will accept the $60,000 offer and "forgiving" the extra $40,000. The lien holder (bank) must agree to eat the difference and release their hold despite not being made whole.

[Bread Regal]

i find it weird that people can't just buy their own home through the short sale. my friend had to do a short sale on his house due to financial difficulties, and he had to jump through all sorts of hoops to prove that the people buying it weren't doing so on his behalf.

the listing i found on the web gave a price of $75k. does this figure reflect the banks stated price or the offer? if someone comes along with the better offer, do they go to the front of the line?

[Bread Regal]

it was last sold in october 2005 as the bubble was just approaching its maximum. seems fucked that banks "as a favor" will forgive the shortfall on your debt with them, if you agree to sell the house to someone else at its actual, non-inflated value.

[The Omega Concern]

You may want to look at 5 and 10 year charts on market volatility in that area. Moreover, you don't want to be on the wrong side of a housing bubble, so if you get outbidded in a hot area or some scheister comes over the top with cash, consider yourself lucky perhaps. For anybody under water on a 30yr, they're basically glorified renters and worse, behind on equity.


that said, if its your dream house, it makes it easier to rationalize obstacles and just go for it.

[sppunk]

Originally Posted by Bread Regal

i find it weird that people can't just buy their own home through the short sale. my friend had to do a short sale on his house due to financial difficulties, and he had to jump through all sorts of hoops to prove that the people buying it weren't doing so on his behalf.

the listing i found on the web gave a price of $75k. does this figure reflect the banks stated price or the offer? if someone comes along with the better offer, do they go to the front of the line?

Banks don't want to walk away from tens of thousands of dollars on a loan. The bank will accept - if it does - almost always the highest offer. That price is the price the seller/Realtor want to submit for a sale, usually the bank only accepts offers and not make pricing suggestions. Like I said, they're tricky as hell.

[duovamp]

Originally Posted by sppunk

Short sale:
$ left on loan: $100,000
Selling price: $60,000

Bank agrees they will accept the $60,000 offer and "forgiving" the extra $40,000. The lien holder (bank) must agree to eat the difference and release their hold despite not being made whole.

Well, as a loan officer at a bank, no. The seller coughs up the difference. We're not going to release the collateral without the seller fulfilling the promissory note.

[Bread Regal]

so does that mean this devolves into an auction type situation?

[duovamp]

No. The bank gets paid in the end. So either the seller will have your ass pay the bank off the difference, or they will pay the bank off.

If the bank has a lien against a property for 100k, and it sells for 60k, then someone has to PAY THE BANK 40K for the bank to allow the property to change hands. It's the bank's house until every single cent is paid off.

[sppunk]

Originally Posted by duovamp

Well, as a loan officer at a bank, no. The seller coughs up the difference. We're not going to release the collateral without the seller fulfilling the promissory note.

The seller can't afford the difference, the bank can still accept. They are trying to leverage as much as they can sans bankruptcy.

I was recently involved in a deal where the seller/bank got $340,000 for a house they owed $520,000 on still. No way can or does that seller pay the $180,000 difference.

[duovamp]

(Usually the most someone owes is 2 to 8 grand on a house. The only way someone gets seriously upside-down on a collateralized debt is the bank allowed them to borrow over 100% loan-to-value, or the property value turned to crap.

Most of the time it's a bad sign. The kind of person who either borrows against a house for over what it's worth didn't take care of the house. And if the property value shit itself that hard that fast, then you should be careful to not step into it.

[duovamp]

Originally Posted by sppunk

The seller can't afford the difference, the bank can still accept. They are trying to leverage as much as they can sans bankruptcy.

I was recently involved in a deal where the seller/bank got $340,000 for a house they owed $520,000 on still. No way can or does that seller pay the $180,000 difference.

No way can or does the bank write off 180k in bad loans.

THIS IS WHY PEOPLE GO TO POOR JAIL.

[sppunk]

Originally Posted by duovamp

No. The bank gets paid in the end. So either the seller will have your ass pay the bank off the difference, or they will pay the bank off.

If the bank has a lien against a property for 100k, and it sells for 60k, then someone has to PAY THE BANK 40K for the bank to allow the property to change hands. It's the bank's house until every single cent is paid off.

From wiki

Any unpaid balance owed to the creditors is known as a deficiency.[2][3] Short sale agreements do not necessarily release borrowers from their obligations to repay any shortfalls on the loans, unless specifically agreed to between the parties. However, in California, legislation was passed to preclude deficiencies after a short sale is approved. The same is true of lenders on first loans and lenders on second loans — once the short sale is approved, no deficiencies are permitted after the short sale. (SB 931, SB 458 - Calif. Code of Civil Procedure §580e).

Many many many banks are using this now. Since they are gunshy on foreclosure filings it's their best alternative in legal cases sometimes.

[sppunk]

Originally Posted by duovamp

No way can or does the bank write off 180k in bad loans.

THIS IS WHY PEOPLE GO TO POOR JAIL.

The law is increasingly disagreeing.

[duovamp]

Yeah what do I know it's just my job. Thanks for the wiki copy/pasta. I guess my NMLS ID doesn't mean anything.

Also you proved yourself wrong - the "agreement doesn't release borrowers from their obligation." It doesn't matter what the circumstance is, the bank will get paid. That's why you sign fifty pages of documents at loan closings on mortgages - to protect the bank from ever losing a dime. They probably transferred the note to a new piece of property.

What happened is the bank didn't walk away from 180k. They never would. It's not unsecured debt. That seller would've had to declare bankruptcy. And even then, when you go bankrupt, the banks still follow you to your grave.

There's even insurance to make sure that stuff doesn't happen.