Housing Market Woes

[ToUtahNow]

Being in Construction related Trades many have seen a slow down of work. The housing market is hurting and many say this is a great time for buyers. The truth is this is a lousy time for both sellers and buyers unless you have cash money.

My wife and I have been looking for a "second" home in an area out-of-State where we do a lot of work. We are currently spending as much as $4,000 per month on hotels just to move in on Sunday and move out on Friday. We started out looking at "Short Sales" and have had 4-offers in on "Short Sales" since March and all we get from the banks is they are still working on them. The one Brenda really likes has a listing date of May 24, 2007 which is just shy of 500-days. We offered within $10,000 of the asking price and still no counter-offer 7-months later.

We finally gave up on “Short Sales” and found a bank owned property where we offered 40% ($207,500/$511,400) of the selling price from two years ago. We were please the bank accepted our offer but they were firm on a 30-day escrow. Our credit is excellent, we were putting 20% down, we have lived in our primary residence for 34-years, our phone numbers have not changed in 34-years, I have been self employed for 28-years and we earn a good living.

Because the seller required a 30-day escrow I told the lender it needed to close within 30-days. They assured me there would be no problem and then they threw up every road block imaginable. After the 30-days were already spent and we had gone into the penalty phase ($100 per day) I asked the loan officer if I should shop a parallel loan just in case.

Again I was assured not to worry as there was nothing left the underwriter could ask for. Of course that was not true and it continued on. They asked Brenda to write a letter saying I had access to the money in our joint accounts (still haven’t figured that one out). Then because Brenda pays everything through online banking they wanted a years worth of every statement she made payments to on the online statement to verify the money really went to the bills the online statement said they went to. This took Brenda two days to complete but she did it as it was suppose to be the last thing. When she gave it to the loan officer she told him this was the last hoop she would jump through and he told her not to worry the loan would fund the following day. The following day he called back to say the underwriter now wanted two years of the statements which matched the online statements. At that point Brenda totally lost it and advised him to load everything up in a box and overnight it back to us.

I went to a mortgage broker the following Thursday and obtained a better rate and closed within 5-business days of when we started. There is no question in my mind the first lender was under capitalized and was waiting for an influx of cash to fund pending loans. Until the banks start to process their default homes and loan money on new purchases the housing market will be slow.

Mark

[drtyhands]

So the bailout gives them money then they can resell the same house they gave a bogus loan on?

[drtyhands]

OOPS,SORRY..Congrats on your new home.
When's the housewarming party

[Rafael]

You should have written in to the sales contract that if due to forces beyond your control(like the bank dicking around) that escrow can be extended. If you had a realtor and he did not have this in the contract then in my opinion he should pay your penalties, only an incompetent realtor would not protect you from such eventualities. I have never had a real estate contract that allowed penalties if financing could not be obtained within a certain time, it is a normal clause. I have also never had a real estate transaction close on time, the banks always dawdle near the end.

[stokefire7]

Originally Posted by drtyhands

So the bailout gives them money then they can resell the same house they gave a bogus loan on?

Don't forget 6 mil. for kids toys
200 mil for rum producers in Puerto Rico and Virgin isle.
130 mil. for car racing tracks
33 mil. for corps in American Samoa
10 for film and t. v. productions
renewed tax breaks for renewable energy R and D
tax breaks for catastrophy victims

[JCsPlumbing]

Congrats on your new place. Some dream of one, you've achieved two! Great success.

Sorry about your trouble. I've found that in today's times that you absolutely have to put your thumb on people about things like this or they'll behave exactly as they did in your case.

J.C.

[ToUtahNow]

Adam you know you are always welcome at my home but I am a little light on furniture right now. Give me a couple of weeks to get some moved in. I am no fan of the bail out but consider these banks are sitting on homes where they will ultimately be responsible for back taxes, HOA dues and special district assessments. They need to cut their losses now and get out from under these homes.

Under most circumstances I would have done as you suggested Rafael but the banks only counter was it had to be a 30-day escrow then they could accept other offers. I factored what the costs might be involved for the extra time and was willing to pay it. I had three pre approval letters and the one who promised to do the deal in time was the one who got the loan. Sadly I believe they lied to me so we went else where.

A little about the house is it was listed with an REO who has more work than he can handle for an out of State bank. He has the home listed as a 2-bedroom 1.5 bath. I made the offer on the home site unseen hours after the listing as I was familiar with the neighborhood and the floor plan. The home in fact is a home in a golf course community. It is a 2-bedroom 2-bath with a den/office. In addition, the home has a stand alone casitas which has 1-bedroom, 1-bath and a walk in closet.

Mark

[plumberscrack]

Mark you never mentioned you played golf

So the casita is for Rick and Adam when they come for the weekend?

[DUNBAR]

I bet that bank felt extremely foolish not to buy a loan with 40% down.


Good move when you told them to overnight the contents back, they deserved that next motion.

[ToUtahNow]

Originally Posted by plumberscrack

Mark you never mentioned you played golf

So the casita is for Rick and Adam when they come for the weekend?

I don't play anymore but it does make the neighborhood look cool. The best part is the golf course is a municipal course so our association dues don't have to fund it. Other communities I know of have to heavily subsidize the golf courses.

As for the casita and house I am putting electronic deadbolts on to make it easier to let visitors use them. Let me know if you are ever in town and need a place to stay.

Mark