Stress of buying a house

[onewhippedpuppy]

The biggest key is finding people you trust, at least one. Our first house we purchased from an individual, luckily we had a trusted bank VP that held our hand through the process. Get EVERYTHING in writing, and keep on it. We had our title insurance right after the offer was accepted, as well as the closing date set. If you get everything taken care of and documented, there's no room for any further argument, unless an inspection discovers previously unknown issues. From earnest money to closing was almost two months for us, but it was stress-free, because there was no room for argument. Either of us backing out would have constituted breach of contract, the other could have sued for damages and expenses incurred.

Realtors are like used car salesmen, but in my opinion they're sleazier. They represent themselves as being "on your side", when in reality their #1 priority is to get you to jump at the most expensive house they can. Asking friends and meeting as many as you can is the only way to find a good one, and even then I don't think I could fully trust them.

[notfarnow]

I dunno, I hate to schit too much on RE agents or even car salemen. Like anything, there are bottom feeders and obnoxious big shots... it's a matter of finding a decent guy. It's really your responsibility to find someoen you trust. If you do business with a sleazball, you're helping him stay in the industry.

[GDSOB]

Originally posted by onewhippedpuppy
The biggest key is finding people you trust, at least one. Our first house we purchased from an individual, luckily we had a trusted bank VP that held our hand through the process. Get EVERYTHING in writing, and keep on it. We had our title insurance right after the offer was accepted, as well as the closing date set. If you get everything taken care of and documented, there's no room for any further argument, unless an inspection discovers previously unknown issues. From earnest money to closing was almost two months for us, but it was stress-free, because there was no room for argument. Either of us backing out would have constituted breach of contract, the other could have sued for damages and expenses incurred.

Realtors are like used car salesmen, but in my opinion they're sleazier. They represent themselves as being "on your side", when in reality their #1 priority is to get you to jump at the most expensive house they can. Asking friends and meeting as many as you can is the only way to find a good one, and even then I don't think I could fully trust them.

You may be right. I think a lot of sales jobs bring out the BS'ers and lazy types.

I've found many buyers and sellers are their own worst enemies because they talk to much or get to emotional or paranoid. Most of the full-time RE agents pretty good and professional at representing their clients. They are just trying to put a deal together. Most buyers have no idea what they want, or won't communicate to their agent what they will settle for. I've had sellers refuse to come clean on their financial situation where we could have sold the house before the bank foreclosed. What a waste.

You wouldn't believe the amount of work on some deals to get to the closing. There are sleazebags out there and many agents are a pain in a$$. I recently have had problems with women part time agents. Maybe it's the soft market causing them to crack. ..Maybe I have issues?

[artplumber]

Originally posted by motion
The process is kept complicated and convulated by the realtors and title companies intentionally. It really shouldn't be such a big deal. A quick title search, an inspection and financing. Shouldn't take more than a week. But instead, they play on your emotions to get money from you.

How do you know this?

Frankly, should be one of the least stressful times (at least in terms of worry.) You should never have that much emotion invested in a house, you make bad financial decisions if you do. Just like buying a car, you should be willing to walk away unless you get what you want.

[motion]

Easy! I'll tell you how.... I purchased a home from a FSBO a couple months ago. Couldn't have been easier! I spoke with the seller maybe twice during the 2 and a half week escrow. Our initial meeting where we sat down and hashed out the price took 10 minutes. Spoke to our title company once. Used an existing relationship with my lender. Unbelievable easy. All done via email or fax! Bottom line, is that when you remove unnecessary complexity from the process, the transaction is really very simple. Of course, you have to pretty much know what you're doing and what pitfalls to look out for. Makes me want to buy from FSBO more in the future!

I should add that I calculated that I paid more than $200k last year in buy/sell fees with realtors, title companies, etc. Blech.

[UconnTim97]

The house we are purchasing is previously owned, about 30 yeers old.

Our inspection is Monday and we are both going with the house inspector.

We are using our credit union as a lender, they had a great rate that no one else could get close to.

[bryanthompson]

Originally posted by on-ramp
pay close attention to the inspection because it's a bargaining chip.

Good advice. I missed this when I bought mine a year ago and have a feeling it is going to come back to haunt me a little bit. Nothing major, just annoying little things that could/should have been taken care of.

[nostatic]

Housing inspectors. The biggest scam in the whole process. Bring in your own contractor that you know and get his/her opinion. The "official" process and the "warranty" are jokes.

I guess we were lucky. We had a really good agent for both of our house purchases, he (in one case), she (in the other) kicked serious ass, and the transactions were smooth as glass. But we had a really good agent. Did I mention we had a really good agent?

[targa911S]

Did you just buy my house in Florida?

[gr8fl4porsche]

I also bought my house by owner. No agents, lawyers or inspectors.

Agreed on a price over the phone and I went over and had some beers with him on the deck. There were some code issues to repair for occupancy permit which I took care of myself. Never have the seller fix anything - a reduction in price is fine - but do not let them do the repairs, they usually take the cheap way out. Get a few estimates for the repairs, take the money and make sure the job is done properly.

[artplumber]

Originally posted by motion
.....

I should add that I calculated that I paid more than $200k last year in buy/sell fees with realtors, title companies, etc. Blech.

Well I kinda figred...

That's why realtors really aren't worth what you pay them. Should get paid by the hour IMO.

[deanp]

When we bought our house I called the mortgage company, the realtor everyone I could at least every second day in the month preceeeding the closing date. Is everything going accordingly, is there anything you need from me, is the title back, did you get the inspection report, etc, etc, etc. Proverbial greasy wheel. Closing day came, we signed away and were done with no drama at all.

A coworker was buying a house at about the same time, trusted everyone to do their job and got into some of the problems described in the thread.

Never trust anyone to do the job they are supposed to....

[onewhippedpuppy]

Garth, are you an agent? I swear, if I manage to find a good one they will have my business for life. We have dealt with three different agents now, both buying and selling, and you could tell they were lying if their mouths were moving. They were easily on a par with car salesmen. Our last one was so bad when we were house shopping in Wichita, we ended up just deciding to rent for another year. We probably looked at 20 houses with her, and out of that 20 she had alerted us to one. One!!! Yet she would be entitled to payment?! Never listened to what we wanted, sent us a large number of houses that were specifically what we told her we didn't want, the list goes on.

nostatic makes a good point as well, many "Home Inspectors" are a joke. The ones I have known are all washed up construction guys, probably not whom you want to trust when it comes to attention to detail. An experienced and trusted remodeling contractor is probably your best bet, I did it for years and my father in law for 30 or so thus far, so I'm never worried about inspections.

[notfarnow]

Originally posted by onewhippedpuppy
nostatic makes a good point as well, many "Home Inspectors" are a joke. The ones I have known are all washed up construction guys, probably not whom you want to trust when it comes to attention to detail. An experienced and trusted remodeling contractor is probably your best bet...

I think you are bang-on.

We used a home inspector, and I really felt that if I hadn't been there with him, he would have missed/skipped a lot of stuff. I had a renovation contractor who specializes in older homes, and a plumber, come back with me the next day... THAT was money well spent. I could have skipped the "home inspector".

[RANDY P]

Originally posted by motion
Easy! I'll tell you how.... I purchased a home from a FSBO a couple months ago. Couldn't have been easier! I spoke with the seller maybe twice during the 2 and a half week escrow. Our initial meeting where we sat down and hashed out the price took 10 minutes. Spoke to our title company once. Used an existing relationship with my lender. Unbelievable easy. All done via email or fax! Bottom line, is that when you remove unnecessary complexity from the process, the transaction is really very simple. Of course, you have to pretty much know what you're doing and what pitfalls to look out for. Makes me want to buy from FSBO more in the future!

I should add that I calculated that I paid more than $200k last year in buy/sell fees with realtors, title companies, etc. Blech.

It's usually dragged out when the buyers / sellers have to coordinate with the their buyers and sellers, and so on and so on.
If the house is vacant, or going to be vacant, that's a whole different ball game.

Frankly, a realtor doesn't have much of a say on how quickly anything closes - for the most part, once the PSA is signed, they're done. It's up to the lender, title and escrow to piece it all together. You can have title and escrow set up in several days, and if your credit is clean and EVERYONE cooperates, you can have it done in less than a week.

I've done an out of state purchase from start to finish in 4 days. Apps to signing.

Everyone just has to cooperate.

rjp

[MBAtarga]

Stressful BUYING your first house? Wait until you are trying to SELL THE THING!!!!

[targa911S]

Originally posted by MM83targa
Stressful BUYING your first house? Wait until you are trying to SELL THE THING!!!!

Amen to THAT brother.

[GDSOB]

Originally posted by onewhippedpuppy
Garth, are you an agent? I swear, if I manage to find a good one they will have my business for life. We have dealt with three different agents now, both buying and selling, and you could tell they were lying if their mouths were moving. They were easily on a par with car salesmen. Our last one was so bad when we were house shopping in Wichita, we ended up just deciding to rent for another year. We probably looked at 20 houses with her, and out of that 20 she had alerted us to one. One!!! Yet she would be entitled to payment?! Never listened to what we wanted, sent us a large number of houses that were specifically what we told her we didn't want, the list goes on.

nostatic makes a good point as well, many "Home Inspectors" are a joke. The ones I have known are all washed up construction guys, probably not whom you want to trust when it comes to attention to detail. An experienced and trusted remodeling contractor is probably your best bet, I did it for years and my father in law for 30 or so thus far, so I'm never worried about inspections.

Yes, we have our own brokerage and operate with a set fee model. The problem with the real estate industry in general (RE agents, inspectors, & loan officers) is low barrier to entry- many can talk a good game, but have no idea what they are doing.

Motion- you can take advantage of those poor FSBO's since you know exactly what you are doing. In most transactions neither party has a clue so at least one agent helps push things along. If I were your buyers agent, you'd get a big chunk of the co-broke back at closing because you did alot of the work. We do this on new construction alot if all we do is bring the buyer to the builder. Most buyers never think of this.

Things usually get screwed up as soon as some "expert" family member steps in and lends bad advice. I can't tell you how many deals this has happened.

Randy's right on about getting it closed. Title company waits on lender, title search at last minute ( there's a reason for this- think about it) and schedule closing. 3 weeks with a lender is good. A cash sale can be 2 or 3 days.

Buyers are few and far between right now. Really quiet.

[azasadny]

I imagine it would be much more stressful to be homeless! Good luck with the new house and enjoy the process!

[UconnTim97]

Well, the house inspector was worth every penny. He turned up some disturbing things, termite damage, poor constuction, etc. (quite a long list)

We walked away from the deal, and we are hunting for a new house.....