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Good problems to have, I don't get those on the $50K mobile homes in my area!!

That's funny. We whine when we have a deal on a small condo for $250k. LOL

I knew some agents who lived in Michigan UP. This was a few years ago but the houses were in the $40 and $50k range. They had to crank them out to make a living.
 
That's funny. We whine when we have a deal on a small condo for $250k. LOL

I knew some agents who lived in Michigan UP. This was a few years ago but the houses were in the $40 and $50k range. They had to crank them out to make a living.

I've had too more arguments about hurricane straps and skirting than a damn .9mm vs .45acp argument!! Wanna talk about financing a 1995 mobile home on it's own land? Let me tell you it's a riveting discussion.

The crazy thing is that the most frustrating thing I'm dealing with in our area right now is flood insurance. F*****g FEMA!
 
I concur! I have had a few deals where the buyers had to put more money down in order to satisfy the bank as a result of a low appraisal. Had a multiple offer situation today and I was asking all of the buyer agents to include language in their offers that required the buyers to make up any difference in down payment if there was an appraisal issue. Offers were 50 and 60 grand over on a 525 house so there is a good chance it won't appraise.

What town is this if you dont mind? I just want to know if I will ever be able to own a home [emoji24]
 
I had a light go off in my head last night as I was paying the note on my wifes car and noticing that I only owe about 6K on it. Checked with the bank this morning before cutting a check to pay it off. Found myself another 50K in home buying funds [smile]
 
What town is this if you dont mind? I just want to know if I will ever be able to own a home [emoji24]
Arlington in this case. You can find something. Let me know where you are and I'll show you some options.

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Arlington in this case. You can find something. Let me know where you are and I'll show you some options.

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What towns do you specialize in? Wife and I may be starting to look once I secure a job this summer.


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What towns do you specialize in? Wife and I may be starting to look once I secure a job this summer.


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My office is in Arlington. I handle most of the abutting towns. I also get into watertown, Waltham woburn, burlington a fair amount.
Where will yiu be looking looking?

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My office is in Arlington. I handle most of the abutting towns. I also get into watertown, Waltham woburn, burlington a fair amount.
Where will yiu be looking looking?

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Not sure yet. But definitely not Watertown or Woburn.


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Bump

How much of a difference to a seller would it make if the down payment is either 20% or 40%? Especially if my offer is less than asking price
 
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Bump

How much of a difference to a seller would it make if the down payment is either 20% or 40%? Especially if my offer is less than asking price

Assuming you aren't bidding against anyone else it really won't make much difference. If you were competing then it could be a tie breaker of sorts. However, in a single bidder situation, if you are putting 40% down you can tout the strength of your finances as a good reason the seller should consider your less than asking price offer. Another way it might make a difference; if there is any chance the house won't appraise for the purchase price then 40% is better because the loan is more likely to be approved.
 
Assuming you aren't bidding against anyone else it really won't make much difference. If you were competing then it could be a tie breaker of sorts. However, in a single bidder situation, if you are putting 40% down you can tout the strength of your finances as a good reason the seller should consider your less than asking price offer. Another way it might make a difference; if there is any chance the house won't appraise for the purchase price then 40% is better because the loan is more likely to be approved.

Considering there is almost nothing on the market where I'm looking and this house is very nice on a quiet street, there will probably be multiple bidders. I'm looking at Waltham.

If the house wont appraise for the purchase price, does that mean I've over-bid?
 
Considering there is almost nothing on the market where I'm looking and this house is very nice on a quiet street, there will probably be multiple bidders. I'm looking at Waltham.

If the house wont appraise for the purchase price, does that mean I've over-bid?

It doesn't necessarily mean you've overbid. The appraisers are working with recent sales from up to 6 months ago so if the market is surging sometimes they have trouble 'proving' the values. Here's my question for you; If you're making an offer on a hot property and you'll likely in a bidding war why would you go in under asking?
 
It doesn't necessarily mean you've overbid. The appraisers are working with recent sales from up to 6 months ago so if the market is surging sometimes they have trouble 'proving' the values. Here's my question for you; If you're making an offer on a hot property and you'll likely in a bidding war why would you go in under asking?


That's all I can afford lol. BUT, I have alot saved so I can put down a bigger downpayment, hence my question about the 20% - 40%
 
so it just keeps getting better for home buyers. I went to an open house on Sunday, again in Georgetown. The house was perfect, best Ive seen in a while. I offered asking price with 30% down, and I didnt even come close to being considered. I was told that the winning bid was significantly above asking price. There were also 8 other offers besides mine! [frown]

I gotta say though, its nice to be able to hear Georgetown Fish and Game from all over town!
Two doors down [in Savin Hill] was a two bedroom condo on the second floor, no parking space (just street). Lady bought it two years ago for $338,00.

She put it on the market for $475,000. It sold, three days later, for $515,000! WTH?
 
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Two doors down was a two bedroom condo on the second floor, no parking space (just street). Lady bought it two years ago for $338,00.

She put it on the market for $475,000. It sold, three days later, for $515,000! WTH?

Wow what town is this?

- - - Updated - - -

Take a look at this... Millennium Tower in Downtown Boston

960580penthouse021016..jpg


http://www.boston.com/real-estate/l...n-has-buyer/82OUS0VUHaxAcDijILuWEP/story.html

... Okay now back to reality.
 
That's all I can afford lol. BUT, I have alot saved so I can put down a bigger downpayment, hence my question about the 20% - 40%

If you can afford 40% down and you are extremely confident about your prospects of getting the mortgage you should consider waiving your finance contingency. There are risks but if you talk it over with your mortgage broker and attorney you might find the upside out weighs the downside. No finance contingency is worth a bit to sellers. The other part of the equation would be the inspection. If you can see your way clear to waiving inspections it will also help your cause. No mortgage or inspection contingencies would make a so so offer look a lot better. But even then you're going to have to be within 10 or 20 grand.
Honestly, in this market in a town like Waltham i doubt you will even be considered if you are below asking. But if you're close and the others have weaker terms then maybe the seller will give you a look.
 
You are wrong.

Lets say the appraiser says the house is worth 100,000.

Then the bank won't write a mortgage for more than an 80% loan to value (LTV) ratio. Or $80,000.

They could not care less if you pay $200,000 for the house. As long as the loan is not for more than 80% of the APPRAISED value.

More realistically, what is happening now is someone signs a P&S agreement for a house for $500k. The appraisal comes in at less, lets say $400k. At that number, the bank won't write a note for more than a bit over $300k.

So if you have 200K to put down, then the note won't exceed $300k and the fact that the selling price is more than the appraised price is irrelevant.

I hope this makes sense. Bottom line is its all about the LTV.

Don

None of this makes sense. It is all loan program dependent, unless in your area all banks require a 20% down payment which is absolutely absurd to me. Again FHA and RD require as little as 3.5% to 0% down if the property will pass appraisal guidelines.

The bank has no authority or ability to change the buyers down payment after the contract terms are written. The contract price can and must re-negotiated based on a "fair market appraisal" in this hypothetical situation or there is no deal, but no one can mandate that a buyer must come up with a 25% down payment based on an appraisal. Any bank or loan officer in this situation would adjust the loan program to fit the buyer, which would change the down payment based on what the consumer (buyer) actually has available for funds. Much of what you are talking about is why TRID has been put into place.

Are you a loan officer or do you work at a bank or am I missing something here?

You are missing something. What each of us wrote does not conflict.

Of course a bank doesn't have the authority to change the down payment. But they do have a specific loan to value ratio that they must stay within to approve the loan. The value is based on the appraisal. Not what the property is listed at.

I gave an example of an 80% LTV ratio. You said it was a ridiculous number. It doesn't matter. I was just using it to illustrate that the LTV is based on the appraised value. Not the listing or even the contract price. The bank doesn't care about how much you pay for a house.

All they care about is if the loan to value (based on their appraisal) is within their required range.

Don

p.s. I was a finance major in college and worked as a Finance manager at a Saab/Subaru dealer for 2 years. So yes, loan to value and debt to income ratios were something I worked with every day.

p.p.s. Wanting to have 20% down (An 80% LTV) is not absurd at all. If you stay below that number you do not have to pay PMI. You also aren't dependent on some special program like FHA or CHFA(in CT), both of which come with some additional and often stupid requirements. (ex - FHA requires heat in every room. My first house, a fixer upper dump in a great neighborhood, didn't have heat in one bathroom. I told the seller to buy an electric baseboard radiator at home depot and screw it to the wall before the FHA appraiser took a walk through the house.)
 
You are wrong.

Lets say the appraiser says the house is worth 100,000.

Then the bank won't write a mortgage for more than an 80% loan to value (LTV) ratio. Or $80,000.

They could not care less if you pay $200,000 for the house. As long as the loan is not for more than 80% of the APPRAISED value.

More realistically, what is happening now is someone signs a P&S agreement for a house for $500k. The appraisal comes in at less, lets say $400k. At that number, the bank won't write a note for more than a bit over $300k.

So if you have 200K to put down, then the note won't exceed $300k and the fact that the selling price is more than the appraised price is irrelevant.

I hope this makes sense. Bottom line is its all about the LTV.

Don

Two doors down [in Savin Hill] was a two bedroom condo on the second floor, no parking space (just street). Lady bought it two years ago for $338,00.

She put it on the market for $475,000. It sold, three days later, for $515,000! WTH?

The whole area is going nuts. Two doors down from me a woman just listed a very nice condo built in 2012 for $750K. She paid $590 for it 3 1/2 years ago. I spoke to the seller and she said she got 10 offers after the weekend's open houses. It was on deposit after the first open house.

Contrast this with where I moved from in CT.

My DREAM HOME is for sale for the same amount of money as a crappy condo in Cambidge. 3200 sq ft, deep water dock on the CT river. 1000 sq ft boat house. Its insane. But there aren't any jobs there.

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/17-Dickinson-Ln-Essex-CT-06426/57857111_zpid/

Look at this effing house. $995K. Not cheap, but it would be $4mil in the greater boston area.

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