[Edwood]

The day just keeps getting better. The appraisal came in $30,000 BELOW their listing price.
What? So the only hope we have is to call the seller's bluff and talk him down to the actual appraised value.
It seems our bank is too conservative and completely ignores any internal upgrades whatsoever. Hardwood floors, tile, beautifully painted is the same as cheap carpet from Home Depot and vinyl flooring.

So I just wasted $600 on the inspection and appraisal.

Oh, and did I mention that the apartment I'm living at is spraying for rats, termites, and ants they found underneath the building today?

-Ed

 

[JMT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edwood The day just keeps getting better. The appraisal came in $30,000 BELOW their listing price. What? So the only hope we have is to call the seller's bluff and talk him down to the actual appraised value.

Or you can simply have your agent let their agent know that the appraisal came in low (they will know anyway) and see if they are still willing to negotiate. Your purchasing contract should give you an out if the property does not appraise. Quote:

It seems our bank is too conservative and completely ignores any internal upgrades whatsoever. Hardwood floors, tile, beautifully painted is the same as cheap carpet from Home Depot and vinyl flooring.

The singlemost important thing in an appraisal is comparable sales. Have your agent run some comps and see what similar properties sold for in the last few months. And you are correct, "cosmetic" improvements to a property have little affect on appraisals.
Quote:

So I just wasted $600 on the inspection and appraisal.

Not if the seller decides to renegotiate. Remember that if they re-list the property and find another buyer, the new buyer will have the same appraisal issues that you are having. It would be in their (the seller's) best interest to negotiate with someone who is partway through the loan process already. Know what I mean?
Quote:

Oh, and did I mention that the apartment I'm living at is spraying for rats, termites, and ants they found underneath the building today? -Ed

ewww.

 

[Edwood]

LOL, the drama continues.

Looks like we called the seller's bluff.

He is willing to negotiate. We will be talking about it on Monday since he is going to be out of town till then.

My real estate agent is all for looking for other properties, perhaps even finding a cheaper one than this one, so that we aren't SOL if the seller still doesn't negotiate in the end.

Surprisingly enough, our real estate agent was the most honest and straightfoward throughout the whole process. He even voiced conerns about the loan and appraisal before I realized that everything was not working out. I got caught up in the whole wanting to buy the place badly that I didn't listen.

All the time I thought he was just trying to persuade us to go with his services to make a quick extra buck. But turns out he is probably cheaper to go through. Of course he still gets a kickback, but he was up front about it. We're really small potatoes for this agent, he sells $500K - $1Million+ properties quite a bit. Man, houses here are expensive.

Sigh. Go figure.
I feel really comfortable with this agent now. I can see why one of my bossed at work recommended him so highly.

It seems that perhaps a "one stop shop" real estate agent/mortgage broker thing is not such a bad idea. We seem to be failing miserably with the whole keeping everything separate thing.

-Ed

 

[JMT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edwood He is willing to negotiate. We will be talking about it on Monday since he is going to be out of town till then.

Good news. Bottom line is the seller wants to sell, and you want to buy. Now it's just a matter of coming to a mutually agreed upon dollar amount.
Quote:

My real estate agent is all for looking for other properties, perhaps even finding a cheaper one than this one, so that we aren't SOL if the seller still doesn't negotiate in the end.

Sounds like you got yourself good representation.
Quote:

Surprisingly enough, our real estate agent was the most honest and straightfoward throughout the whole process. He even voiced conerns about the loan and appraisal before I realized that everything was not working out. I got caught up in the whole wanting to buy the place badly that I didn't listen.

Never let them see you sweat.

It's kind of like buying a car. You want the car, but you don't let the dealer know that you want the car.

Quote:

All the time I thought he was just trying to persuade us to go with his services to make a quick extra buck. But turns out he is probably cheaper to go through. Of course he still gets a kickback, but he was up front about it. We're really small potatoes for this agent, he sells $500K - $1Million+ properties quite a bit. Man, houses here are expensive.[/i]

But, at the end of the day, it is soooooooo worth it.





.....as long as you don't pay too much for the house.

Quote:

It seems that perhaps a "one stop shop" real estate agent/mortgage broker thing is not such a bad idea. We seem to be failing miserably with the whole keeping everything separate thing. -Ed

Nah, it's your first time. It is new, it is scary, it is confusing, it is scary, it is nerve wrenching, it is frustrating, it is fun, it......you get the idea.

 

[Edwood]

OK.

Now I am totally confused with the buyer's offering process.

Why in the hell do people offer a lot more than the property is worth, when they don't have money to cover the difference when the proprty does not appraise for that price?

Should I always bid AT or BELOW the listing price?

I know people move quick to buy properties here in Los Angeles, but What?

I've seen quite a few properties relisted, obviously the appraisal did not come through, yet the seller still lists the overinflated price.

With interest rates going up, these greedy sellers are really hoping for a fool with extra cash to just pay the difference.

This is getting really frustrating. It's almost like buying a hot item on eBay, except, lenders can say NO to the final price.

-Ed

 

[dariusf]

buying a place can sure be frostrating in some cases. Our purchase was very smooth but maybe because it was being sold by a corporation that purchased it from one of their relocating employees.

The actual appraisals can be a load of crap as well. I just got the copy of the appraisal done for the refinance we just did and according to them our townhouse is worth $228,612 which is ridicules. Looks like they just pulled a bunch of sale prices from the area for the past year and averaged it out. Looking at the actual sale prices of properties just like ours (using the local sales records) in the past 6 months averages out around $280,000 Basically what they are doing is comparing sale prices of townhouses almost half the size like ours! How is this supposed to be a fair and realistic appraisal is beyond me. At least from whats stated on the Settlement Statement they charged me $15 for the appraisal (?) Why others charge $300-400? maybe the others are more realistic

At least the total cost of the closing was $964

 

[JMT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edwood Why in the hell do people offer a lot more than the property is worth, when they don't have money to cover the difference when the proprty does not appraise for that price?

People offer more than the asking price simply because of the law of supply and demand. In California it is currently a seller's market. Properties that are priced right typically do not stay on the market long so people will hedge their bets and offer more than the asking price. That is where you can get yourself in a bind when it comes to the appraisal. If you ARE going to offer more that the listed price, you need to make sure that you have the cash to make up the difference.
Quote:

Should I always bid AT or BELOW the listing price?

It depends on how long the property has been on the market. If it has been on for a while, then it might work to make a below asking offer. But if it is a new listing, then your below asking offer would probably be countered with a full price counter offer. Quote:

I know people move quick to buy properties here in Los Angeles, but What?

Here in Northern California too. When we were looking at homes in the Roseville/Rocklin area, we made an offer on one that had been on the market since 12:00 noon that day. We made the offer at around 7:00PM....they already had three other offers. One of which was above listed price. Quote:

I've seen quite a few properties relisted, obviously the appraisal did not come through, yet the seller still lists the overinflated price.

Not necessarily. Maybe the buyer could not qualify for the loan after the lender ran the income/expense ratios. There are many reasons why a property might get re-listed.
Quote:

With interest rates going up, these greedy sellers are really hoping for a fool with extra cash to just pay the difference.

Perhaps, but one day you too will be a seller.

Quote:

This is getting really frustrating. It's almost like buying a hot item on eBay, except, lenders can say NO to the final price. -Ed

Welcome to real estate.

 

[Edwood]

Deal fell through officially. We're looking into other places now.

This is a 2Bed 1.5Bath Townhouse in the same condo complex. In fact it is only a few doors down from the previous one.

Asking price is $279,000 1141 sq ft vs 770 sq ft of the other one.

A little work, and it will be better than that previous one. With nearly twice the space.

-Ed

 

[Edwood]

This place will need a little work (mostly paint, and redoing kitchen tops and cabinet faces, gonna wait on that one.) but this way we are less emotionally attached, so it's easier to bargain.

We're going to low ball this one a little bit to counter offer it at or below the asking price. And hopefully not over.

This time we have comps of the other similar units that have sold, so I guess the first place was a practice run.

The seller of the previous place is all about demanding the cancellation signed and faxed by 5pm today. I told my agent to tell him to go f#ck himself, it'll be there tomorrow.

That @$$hole seller called us at 6am to bug us. I'll be glad to be rid of this slimeball.

-Ed

 

[Audio Redneck]

....picking up from the circuit breaker thread......
Quote:

Seller = Seller's Real Estate Agent Property = Seller's Daughter's Place. Seller = Greedy Greed = Cancelled Deal So it's off to searching for another place. -Ed

Ahhh.....I have a clear picture now. Daddy's gonna take care of his little girl and get top dollor for her place. Even if she has to wait 2 years to move.

(watching with interest.....threads like this explain why so many folks retire to Arkansas from California.)

 

[Edwood]

Yes, you can make a killing selling your home here when the market is hot as it is right now. But if you want to buy another home in California, the prices are so high, that you are very unlikely to break even to buy a new home, as all homes have super inflated costs. For the average home buyer it means a deal onto death with mortgages. Funny, that's actually where the word "mortgage" is derived from.

Now if you have an @ssload of cash and already have a home to live in. Then as an investor, it's an entirely different story altogether.......

-Ed

 

[Edwood]

Well crap. Looks like people are over bidding again. We lost this one too. We're going to look at another similar one that people have already bid on sight unseen. No showings until July 5, but we can sneak around the grounds and see how the building locaton and area is. We are quite familiar with the town house layouts. The guards are starting to recognize us now.

This is beyond frustrating. I'm looking into apartments again for backup. I don't want to wind up homeless. At this rate by the time we find one that we can actually buy, the interest rates will be too high to buy anyways, and this would've all been an expensive waste of time, with an education on how real estate sux @ss when you're not rich or stupid.

Blah blah, b1tch and moan.......

Sorry for the bad mood, but I found out that they were only spraying for ants in our place, when we didn't have a single F#$&*%ing one for MONTHS!!! So due to the stress of having to bring my pets to work with me, the dog and hamsters, One of the older hamsters died.

This was completely unnecessary, so it just further reinforces why I want to buy a home, but it is looking less and less feasible at this point without living in the ghetto or moving out of California.

I hope I don't see the Apartment Manager this week, or I will deck him. He is a complete moron.

I am beyond pissed off.

-Ed

 

[Edwood]

Once again into the breach.

This one was listed as a "fixer" and boy were they not kidding. What? This place was an absolute crap hole.
Oh, and the real bonus, was that when we were checking the place out, our agent got a call saying that the seller already accepted an offer. All for the better, because this place would've probably needed about $20K in work.
Oh, yes. Did I mention the place was crawling with fleas? We did not spend much time in there at all. *shudder*

Looked innocent enough.....

Bare cracked concrete! Yeehaw.

Please step over and cool off by my fireplace...... What?

Bonus: Extra ventilation in the bathroom!

And it just wouldn't be complete without the remodelled kitchen.

Bleah, moving on. I'm still freaked out from the fleas. I'm going to spray myself when I get home. Bombing the apartment too. Argh!

-Ed

 

[Edwood]

So the next place was quite a stark contrast to that crap hole.

We're not wasting our time on this one, giving seller until tomorrow noon to accept/reject our offer. I am silently hoping this one falls through, because it is on the too expensive side.

This one is a 2 Bed 1.5 Bath Loft. It's really only one bedroom, but I'd use the loft as the office/studio.

Loft

View from Loft

Central HVAC Controls

HVAC

Kitchen

Not much of a view from the balcony.

-Ed

 

[Edwood]

[MAJOR RANT FEST]
OK THAT's IT I'VE HAD IT!!!!!!!!

Yet another deal has fallen through. After asking the seller many many many many many many time if the HOA allows dogs, he decides to fax over the HOA CCNR Rules and Regs which clearly lists that NO DOGS ARE ALLOWED!

What, $#@$@^% God d$&@!#$%^#&@$!!!!

Oh, and here's the best part.

The seller said that they would be willing to adopt our dog so we can move in. Yeah, sure, we've had this dog for 14 years, pet's are disposable like his cat.

So I'm going to tell the seller to go f#ck himself.

One of the reasons we wanted to buy a home was to not have to deal with the endless apartment pain in the @ss search with all the "No Dogs" notice on 99% of apartment listings.

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

I've had it.

I have to take a break from this real estate bullsh*t. By the time we finally find a place, the rates will be too high to buy anyways.

If I don't end up buying a home, and end up renting for the rest of my crap f#*king exsistence, I'm going to buy myself an expensive toy.

More expensive than my R10's, d*amnit. I need something to cheer me up after this utter f#cking waste of time.

[/MAJOR RANT FEST]


-Ed