First time homebuyer question

[hoosierdoc]

Do a 15-year fixed rate loan. Salin.com has them at 3% now

Best thing you can do is buy below what you can afford and do it at 15-year note. You'll be amazed how fast you build equity. Our loan my first payment over 50% went to principal. You'll also save a ton on interest

 

[GLOCKMAN23C]

No, no. All the unlicensed experts in here are doing just fine explaining what they don't know.



Actually, most of the advice has been spot on, with a few caveats. This particular licensee is apparently not in need of someone's business. It's also prudent not to chase unqualified/unapproved buyers around house-hunting. If he is doing well enough that he doesn't need to work with everybody that comes his way, can't fault the guy for having standards that maximize his profit. (If I had the luxury of doing so, I'd make everybody pay a $500 retainer for showing homes, refundable at closing. You can waste a lot of time, money, and resources on tire-kickers in this biz. Out-of-pocket money makes them look elsewhere for their jollies. I do believe one Realtor on the south side of Indy does this. He's my professional hero.)

However, he was rude, unprofessional, and just plain inconsiderate. It's not right, but it's not abnormal either. The whole profession is a joke on some level and there is a laundry list of things I wish I could change about it. But it's no different than any other profession: there are very, very good Realtors and very, very bad Realtors. He sounds just about average.

OP, if you intend to seek new representation, this is how you need to do it. First, let your first Realtor know you intend to find someone else to work with. There's an ugly side to agency relationships, procuring causes, and who represents who when in this business. Make it definite by letting him know. I'm not a fan of email for breaking up, but in this case, written communication is probably better than verbal via phone or voicemail.

Second, when you speak to additional Realtors, let them know you haven't committed to anyone else yet, but you are looking for someone you can trust, blah, blah, blah. (No need to go into details about the first agent, but if asked, just say your last Realtor failed to meet your expectations and you don't want him representing you any more.) But please for the love of all that's holy, at some point in the near future, pick just one. You do NOT benefit from having a bunch of Realtors arguing over who you "belong" to. Trust me. I've seen those fights.

Then stay with him/her. And let him/her do the job.

And yeah, we make money on every house we sell.

If this realtor would've said up front that he doesn't deal with people, that don't have a letter of pre-approval, no big deal, but I definately feel, he was using that as an excuse because he dropped the ball, or just didn't want to show us homes.

I understand that as a realtor you get a lot of people that want to kick the tires. You guys and gals really put up with a bunch of BS. I remember getting calls for my mom, back in the day from a drunk client (nice as could be sober), but a real witch after a couple drinks.

My plan was to stick with this realtor, until today. My wife and I went and found a new realtor, thanks fullmetaljesus +1!

 

[GLOCKMAN23C]

A lot of good info here. Drive through any area you may be interested in. Check out the conveniences and the not so convenient. Look at the area in total and see if you fit it or it fits you. There is a difference. Kids, schools, traffic at rush hour, check it all out.

TALK TO THE NEIGHBORS!!!!!

Best source of info on a house you'll ever get.

Thats great advice, buying or renting!

 

[ocsdor]

My slight off-topic suggestion:

When getting the loan, I STRONGLY suggest you get it set up where YOU pay the property tax directly to the gov't; NOT in escrow to the mortgage company.

I've had a problem in the past where the banksters were demanding more and more funds be put into escrow; and they also were stalling to pay the gov't the property tax.

 

[FordMan79]

That wasn't normal when I bought my house back in 2007. Though I wonder if things have changed since the house fiasco. Either way I would find another one.

 

[PistolBob]

We've bought and sold a half dozen homes and never used a realtor once. I'm sure they can be helpful, but a lot of times they're a pain in the neck.

Your lender is going to make sure you are not over paying. Do not skip the home inspection, even if it costs $300. You want the home inspector to be relentless. Never trust the seller to know what is wrong with the home. Odds are they have an in inkling but they don't really know. Hire the inspector.

Try to have enough down payment so you don't have to pay PMI. PMI is a total ripoff and protects the lender...yet you have to pay for it. If you can't get a loan without PMI then you aren't ready to buy yet anyway. You need to have 20% equity in the property to get out of PMI.

Cash is king, and never be afraid to say what you think.

RUn away from housing additions that have home made from mostly vinyl siding. Those places lose value as each day goes by....avoid vinyl villages at all cost, you'd be better off living in a carboard box at Brookside Park.

 

[Hosted]

When we bought our house we didn't have good luck with realtors. They never listened to what we wanted and just showed us houses they wanted to move. We were only 24 though and I think they thought we were stupid. I ended up finding our house myself and my worthless realtor got the commission from it.

 

[fullmetaljesus]

If this realtor would've said up front that he doesn't deal with people, that don't have a letter of pre-approval, no big deal, but I definately feel, he was using that as an excuse because he dropped the ball, or just didn't want to show us homes.

I understand that as a realtor you get a lot of people that want to kick the tires. You guys and gals really put up with a bunch of BS. I remember getting calls for my mom, back in the day from a drunk client (nice as could be sober), but a real witch after a couple drinks.

My plan was to stick with this realtor, until today. My wife and I went and found a new realtor, thanks fullmetaljesus +1!

Glad to help. I cant say enough nice things about him. Good luck,heads up: there's a few houses in my hood for sale, mostly quiet and close to lots of stuff my hood is called "Devon woods"

 

[88GT]

If this realtor would've said up front that he doesn't deal with people, that don't have a letter of pre-approval, no big deal, but I definately feel, he was using that as an excuse because he dropped the ball, or just didn't want to show us homes.

Well, when I said he was average, I didn't just mean his level of service. I meant also that he was exactly what the average Realtor in Indy is like.

You should see the Realtor-to-Realtor disrespect.

 

[JettaKnight]

My slight off-topic suggestion:

When getting the loan, I STRONGLY suggest you get it set up where YOU pay the property tax directly to the gov't; NOT in escrow to the mortgage company.

I've had a problem in the past where the banksters were demanding more and more funds be put into escrow; and they also were stalling to pay the gov't the property tax.

Your experience seems out of the norm. There are rules and regulations concerning the amount of escrow and the amount they take. If you have to much in escrow - they return it. Sounds like you found a bad bank.

Plus, my guess is that a lender won't easily let you pay taxes - one skipped payment and they lose their investment.


To the OP - change realtors, it's common to change and he shouldn't be offended. This is a big deal for you - demand a realtor who will work with you.

 

[hornadylnl]

My experiences with buyers and sellers agents have been good. I've been on the buying end once and selling twice. The way it's worked in my case is the buyer's agent and the seller's agent split the commission 50/50 and never seemed to be bothered when there was a buyer's agent. The same agency was the seller for all 3 houses. I asked him about having to split the commission and he just said it was part of it and that it all works out in the end. His agents will get buyer's cuts from other realtors as well.

If I were to be a real estate agent, I'd think I'd rather be on the buyer's side. You get half the commission and don't have to pay any of the advertising, etc.

 

[ocsdor]

Your experience seems out of the norm. There are rules and regulations concerning the amount of escrow and the amount they take. If you have to much in escrow - they return it. Sounds like you found a bad bank.

Plus, my guess is that a lender won't easily let you pay taxes - one skipped payment and they lose their investment....

The escrow thing happened 10 years ago when Indiana was doing that whole reassessment of property/taxes thing.

My last mortgage, we were able to pay the property taxes ourselves. Our credit was in the high 700's, and I think we had to pay a one-time fee in order to not have to escrow the tax.

We managed to pay off our current house in three years by pooling everything we had into it. Life gets easier not having to give the bank all of that interest money.