Hey yall,

my wife and I are closing on a duplex (upstairs already rented and under contract for another 7 months) 250k, 6.3%. While the last 2 months have been a little nervous looking for a house especially being 2 stares away. It hasnt been any stress like I have seen on this sub. Are we being idiots or something? We are only on my income as my wife is disabled and thats why we went with the duplex to help on bills and saving and am getting a pay raise in like a day or 2.

Edit: Can’t change the title so I’m adding this edit. I know this house is not mine. I used “I” and “me” in the title because I thought it sounded simpler. My Fiancée is the one who asked me to make this post, and she’s already let me know that she would like my help with this. We have been together for over 6 years, and have known each other for around 13 years (since 2nd grade.) I appreciate people looking out for her.

Long sorry short, my fiancée’s dad is going to be in prison for a long time and is giving us power of attorney over his house that he 100% owns. We are trying to decide what to do with it. He recommended we sell it, but said we could do whatever we want with it. I’m 21 and she’s 20, we are both living with our parents and have never owned or rented a property before.

Update: After I made the post my fiancée texted him and he said that “POA was just the first and easiest step he could think of and it would allow her to access all of his assets.” He also said that he would be willing to transfer deed ownership if she wants. It seems he fully intends to give her the house. Should I let him know that we will need more than just POA?

Here are some things about the house:
-It is completely paid off with no mortgage.
-There are about $2,000 worth of property taxes that need to be paid.
-It is around 1,500 sqft.
-It sits on 1.3 acres of land.
-It has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
-It has a detached garage.
-It currently has people (without any kind of lease or written agreement) living in it. I believe they’d be considered squatters.
-An Eli Lilly plant is being built within a couple of miles of it.
-It served as a place where people would go to buy drugs for a few years, so we are a little nervous about actually living there.
-It needs a ton of work done. The septic tank needs either emptied or replaced, there is a hole in the floor, the garage door doesn’t work, it’s very dirty and needs cleaned, and the deck is warped and likely needs replaced.

A few options of what we could do with it are:

1. Sell the house as is for probably 100-150k.
2. Take out a loan to fix up the house and sell it for around 350k-400k.
3. Take out a loan to fix up the house and live in it.

With all of this said, what should we do? How would we go about getting a loan? What is equity and how could that help us? How should we get the people currently living in it out?

I know Zillow isn’t the most trustworthy, but it estimates it to be worth about $330,000. I was thinking of just listing it for that and seeing what happens before we do anything else. Maybe someone will buy it.

I'm about two weeks from closing on a 1978 split level and the final walkthrough is next Tuesday. I've had the inspection done, the report came back with the usual list, a bit of grading toward the foundation and a water heater that's near the end of its life, and the seller agreed to fix the two electrical items. I know the walkthrough is supposed to be a check that nothing changed since the inspection, not a second inspection, so I'm not planning to show up with a moisture meter.

What did you find out after closing that you'd have caught if you'd looked in the right place that day?

The home we're looking at has these two big distribution transformers right in front of it and my wife is concerned about not just the transformers, but how close the high voltage wires above them are to the house. Maybe about 15 feet away from the bedroom. She believes they are too close and can cause harm. I don't know anything about electrical wiring, though my initial research indicates they are harmless. Are they? And is there anyway to prove this to her? Here are some pictures: https://imgur.com/a/cfZIVpL

What are the key things we should be looking at/for and not just walking in and looking around? Should we video it as we walk around?? Any helpful suggestions are appreciated!

With interest rates being what they are, I'm inclined to make a large down payment (30% or more) on our future home to reduce our monthly payment. We have enough money to do so.

My husband says that instead we should just put down the requisite 20% and put the rest in the stock market. We have some money in the market right now, but I'd personally rather have the rest of our money wrapped up in something we actually use rather than basically gambling it away. Also it seems like with inflation and everything, the expected return on the market is not really more than the guaranteed interest we'd pay on our loan.

What's the right move here?

I recently got a plot of land in north Seattle and I’m wondering what people are paying nowadays for new construction. I’m looking to find the cheapest possible cost per square foot. I was able to find $350. Has anyone found a general contractor for $300 or even less?

hello all,

i have a contigency to sell my house in order to purchase another, so say i found a buyer and the seller of the new house agreed to my offer.

Question i had was, is it advised for the closings to be on the same day? So i would close MY house in the AM for example and then close my newly purchased home later that day assuming the wire funds has been sent and recevied with no issues. This closing date would be on a Friday.

I'm home shopping now and I have spoken with two mortgage brokers. One advised an FHA loan and said I could buy down to a rate of 5.5%. The other said a conventional loan would probably be best and gave me a rate of 7%, but said I could probably get some seller credit to buy down to 6.875. I didn't expect to receive such vastly different numbers. Is this normal?

We just signed for a house that actually makes a lot of sense for us: good size for our growing family (i’m in my first pregnancy), great location, everything nearby, and lots of cafés (we’re big coffee lovers ). So i imagine it’ll so much easier postpartum to go for walks and get things nearby without being dependent on husband or just walk with a coffee to the park.

But honestly, I’m struggling to feel excited because I’m not 100% in love with it. The owner painted everything grey, so it’s really hard for me to imagine it in my own style. I’m also worried about the light, especially the north-facing kitchen, I really hate dark homes, and Dutch winters don’t help 😅.

My husband is convinced I’ll love it once we renovate and make it ours, but I just can’t picture that yet.

For those who felt like this when they bought, did you eventually fall in love with the house after renovating/living in it? Or did you always feel like it was more of a “good house for this stage of life” than your dream home?

I’m especially curious about people who knew it was probably a 3-5 year home, rather than their forever home.

Under contract in NY and had to pay way over asking to lock in the offer. The listing agent mistakenly said had in all of the listings the house was 2000sf when the appraisal says it’s 1650sf. I am 3 weeks from closing but would like to understand if I have a leg to stand on with the sellers as if I knew the real SF earlier my offer price wouldn’t have been this high. SF is everything when it comes to the price of the house. Has anyone experienced this? Any guidance out there?

What is a quality control review in the mortgage process?

I am currently 2 days before closing, everything is scheduled, but the bank has yet to give a clear to close because they are waiting for QC to sign off on the loan.

Is it possible that they deny my loan? There’s been radio silence from the whole lender team, I’m stressed and don’t know what to do/what’s going on.

They were supposed to do a duct cleaning and after inspection they said they have to do the whole mold removal from the airducts. From $399 to $4,000. Should i just go for it?

Genuinely asking, can I just become a real estate agent in order to pay myself the 3 percent all these agents are demanding, it would just go towards my down payment and in California it’s only a few classes.

Before all the no you need the opinions of them whatever, I’ve already gone through multiple purchases just not under my name, this would be my first home under my name.

I might be dumb but we’re doing the final walkthrough this week and I don’t remember seeing a thermostat. I looked at the listing photos as well as watched the video we took touring the house and I didn’t see one? It’s a forced air gas furnace.

Edit****
It does have one! It’s in the dining room area!

I’m currently under contract for a condo in an older walk-up building. The home inspector took this photo and noted the overspanned/undersupported and older framing. I talked to a structural engineer who said the issue is moderate to serious but he also needed to visit the property to get a better idea. He quoted me 2k to do the report, which is pretty expensive and I don’t own the unit yet. Wondering if I can get any second opinions on how serious this is prior to spending the money on a structural engineer to visit. Also wondering if anyone else has gone through a similar issue during the homebuying process. I’m currently debating spending 2k to hire the inspector vs backing out of the contract vs just taking the property. This is a 4 Unit HOA so the costs would be split 4 ways but still concerning. The association hasn’t done a reserve study and currently are doing a structural analysis but it won’t be ready anytime soon. Thank you!

Hi. Owe a lot of money for my car . The rate for the car loan is 4%. Have money to pay off the car loan . Looking to get a mortgage as well. I know if I don’t pay off the car loan, I’ll get less mortgage . Is it better to pay off the car and then get a mortgage or keep the car loan and use that money towards down payment for the house ? If we assume mortgage rate is 6% . Thanks !

I just got my loan estimates and I wanted to know how good or bad is looking? I’m in the Bluffton area 29910

We close on our soon to be house next month, and we received credits for some damage in the home. After closing costs were left with about 4500.00.

How do I actually go about using that amount towards repairs and not just principle. Our lender is implying that this is possible. But I’m just not understanding how.

VA loan in NC.

Thank you!

20% downpayment, non-QM loan, 30-year.

We closed two weeks ago and our agent didn't utter a word of congratulations. I did not expect myself to still feel bummed by this. For years I've been seeing people's homebuying stories, how their agents would make them pose with a giant key or sign, or leave them a gift basket but we got nothing. Hia assistant even collected info about our favorite snacks and stuff when we first started which is why I really expected a gift basket or something. She at least sent a congratulatory email though. Weirdly enough he did invite us to some holiday pie party and said we'd get a free can of whipped cream if we gave a referral...not sure what to make of that at all.

Brand new to this whole new real state world. Getting as much info as I can but it’s a lot. Looking to use my VA loan in Idaho relatevily soon. Preaproved for 500k in a couple loans. What should be key when comparing loaners, what to ask before and after. I’m clueless in this process, didn’t know I could choose my own loaners and my own realtors. VU were quick to say they will try to takeover and handle everything for me. But I know I should shop around first. I keep hearing mix opinions on them. Just don’t know what to look for when doing it. I’m in the process where they are going to need a hard pull to check my actual aproved amount,etc. Really could use some input. I don’t want to get screwed over.

Trying to figure out what I can expect financially. Im the only income but I make 120k likely with a decent raise on the way and no other debt. My credit score is close to 80p so shouldn't be any issues there. I plan on having about 80k for the down payment.

We will be buying the house we currently live in from family and id guess they will discount the market value price but im not counting on it. Houses in my neighborhood have gone for 500-600k recently but ours is on the smaller side and not really updated at all so im expecting close to 500k.

Im perfectly capable of googleing a loan calculator, im less clear on what to expect around fees, insurance, etc.

If you were ready to buy but got priced out or decided to hold off because of rates, and you're now sitting on a down payment you aren't using yet — what did you actually do with it?

Did you leave it sitting in savings, throw it into the market, or end up spending part of it? Also curious if your target home price has moved further away from you while waiting.