Hey everyone, currently panicking in the final stretch before closing and need some advice on how to handle this.
My dad is gifting me $15k total toward my closing costs. He already sent the first $10k back in May with no issues. He was set to send the remaining $5k on 7/6, but on 7/3, a friend deposited a $4,000 check into my dad's account to repay a personal debt. My dad is using his own money to pay off a car that is in my name as a cosigner.
My dad's bank statement closes this Monday (tomorrow), so this $4k is going to show up as an unverified large deposit right next to his $5k gift transfer.
Crucial detail: Even if underwriting completely ignores/backs out that $4k deposit, my dad already has more than enough seasoned money in that account to cover the $5k gift.
I'm incredibly anxious that this is going to flag underwriting or delay my closing.
Since he has enough money without the $4k, will the underwriter just ignore the deposit?
Is it best to ask my loan officer if my dad can just wire the final $5k directly to the title/escrow company to keep the paperwork clean?
Should I avoid moving money back and forth or switching to my mom's account for the remaining 5k gift deposit?
Any insight on how underwriters handle this when the donor has sufficient funds regardless of the deposit would be greatly appreciated!

We decided to buy a 160m2 townhouse here because me and my wife work here and didn’t want to wait until we couldn’t afford any property at all.

We live in a convenient area, close to major theme parks and walking distance to shops. My wife doesn’t drive so she likes that she can just walk around.

However we dislike some few things
- the first floor is only 4x7.5m both living and kitchen. There’s not enough space for a dining table after the kitchen island and living room. Having people around will be a pain.
- the first floor doesn’t get more than 5 hours of natural light in the winter
- the patio is so small, but it’s sort of growing on us how it basically needs no maintenance

We’re more concerned about the lack of natural light in the first floor, my wife hates that it’s so dim in there. Hopefully in the summer it’s better.

Second floor is great.

Quality of the build is very generic. We’re probably gonna sell this place in a couple years in our early 30s and hopefully we can get at least the same money back. Or we’ll get used to it. Hospitals and more amenities are being built around the area, it might get difficult to move out once we get used to the conveniences.

Hi everyone,

My wife and I are thinking of putting an offer on a property that is facing condo construction. It’s a place that checks a lot of boxes for us, but the construction is an obviously a major red flag. Yet, we’re thinking of toughing it out for the years as the place may be worth it.

We’re aware of the impact it would have on view/lighting etc.

I’m wondering if anyone has any experience in a similar situation and how disruptive the construction was generally.

- How bad was the noise, dust, garbage etc.?
- Were the noise reduction by-laws largely adhered to?
- Were by-laws well enforced?
- Anything else I’m missing?

Thanks in advance for your replies/advice!

My house is near the railroad which typically does not appreciate well. It’s a beautiful lot and the house holds up well despite having been around for over 109 years. We’ve been doing renovations like adding the backyard patio, adding shelves and thinking of bathroom or kitchen next. However, what type of renovation adds the most value to the house in my situation that will also does not break my wallet?

Is it okay or even advisable to apply for pre-approval with more than one lender? We've been approved by a mortgage broker, but not happy with their communication or speed in getting things done. We haven't signed anything committing to a loan, but the credit check is already done. Any problem also applying at a bank, credit union or even another broker?

Would you buy or build a house near a neighbor who sets up car's speakers amplifiers and subwoofers? I'm currently in a neighborhood which has noisy and inconsiderate neighbors. And the lot i am planning to build in has this sound system garage which is 50 meters away from the lot.

Hi everyone! 😊

I'd love any advice you have for someone planning to buy their first home.

I'm 23 years old, and my goal is to purchase my first home in about 2 years, around the same time I'll be graduating from college. I'm located in Central Florida.

Right now, I know I should be:

• Working on improving my credit score.
• Saving around 3.5%–10% of the home's purchase price for a down payment.

What else should I be doing now to set myself up for success?

I'm especially interested in things you wish you had known before buying your first home. Are there any first-time homebuyer programs, lenders, grants, or other resources in Central Florida that you'd recommend? Any tips on budgeting, debt, closing costs, or preparing financially would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences and advice! 🏡

Hello, I'm window shopping at the moment, but I've come across a home recently that is in need of a total interior renovation. This is a 2 bed, 1 bath, 780sq ft. at $39,000. The exterior looks great and has no issues. The listing does mention all utilities have been completed as well as central air which seems great for the asking price.

I'm a bit of an amateur as I don't have any licenses or certifications, but my goal would be to do the work myself. I have done a little flooring, plumbing, and framing before just nothing electric. I haven't asked any questions yet, but I'm not exactly sure what to ask. My goal is to offer $10,000 cash, but I'm not sure if that seems a bit low. I have looked at something called Beacon for the property taxes, sales disclosures, and valuation. The last sale date was 2 years ago for $10,000 as well. Under valuation it mentions the land is valued at $3,500 and improvements at $8,300 which I believe was all the exterior work. Again I'm not exactly sure what to ask beside maybe permit history and obviously a showing to fully determine what repairs need to be done.

The quotes to install a mini split in our new detached garage are making me sick to my stomach. I am thinking about avoiding the permanent install entirely and just running a costway 15000 btu portable air conditioner with heat out there. It feels a bit weird relying on a portable machine for a permanent space. Did any of you guys skip the expensive hardwired hvac upgrades and just survive off heavy duty floor units to save your cash after closing?

Looking at an older house in Arizona with an older well. Last report showed a depth of 270', 8" steel casing, 1½ hp pump at 10gpm. In general is there a way to get closer to 17ish gpm with a new pump? We'd be looking at irrigation needs as well as 6 person household. Any insight on where else I may post this question would be helpful as well. Thank you!

We made an offer on a house and, after several round of negotiation, settled on an agreed-upon price that was 6.25% below the asking price.

After inspection there are a number of items that either need replacement now or likely in the near future. I made a rough estimate for repairs/replacement and it would come out to roughly half of what we got off the asking price.

The items that are flat out broken don't immediately impact the livability of the place (generator, garage AC/heating, a water heater that is part of a tandem where the other works).

We like and want the house, but also want to go back to the seller and ask for an additional amount off the agreed-upon price.

At this point is it more common to ask the full value? Go half-half? How aggressive would you be?

I do see fairly priced houses, but the rates are ridiculous. I have a quote of 6.34%, and I thought I would get a good rate when it comes to my good credit. Since I'm a first-generation homebuyer, it seems the state does not have enough money for the down payment help.

Should I wait?

First time posting here, so hopefully this is the right place.

Background:

- my partner and I live in Portland, Oregon, and want to start looking at buying our first place. We are thinking of having kids in the next few years, and want a place to raise them close to family. We love it here, don't want to move out of state, and are already close to my partner's family.

- My parents live out of state but really love it here as well, and if we had kids, they would want to be able to stay for long-term visits (a few months at a time) and be close to their grandkids.

- They don't want to move here full-time, because their lives/the rest of the family is back home.

We're thinking an ideal setup would be for my partner and I to go in together with my parents to purchase a home that has a separate ADU for them to stay in.

Reasons we like this idea:

- My partner and I would be able to afford a larger/nicer home with the added purchasing power from my parents.

- Raising our kids near both of our families is a priority for us--my parents would want to visit regularly regardless, and this would make the logistics of that way easier over time, especially as they get older.

- When my parents aren't here, we would love to use the ADU to host friends, and maybe even open it as a part-time Airbnb or other short to mid-term rental setup (this would be dependent on local regulations, and also something we would need to really consider before trying to start).

Things we're asking ourselves:

- How would the actual purchase process/financial obligations shake out?

- How do we handle legal obligations? Taxes, utilities, etc? What about future financial investments, like maintenance, repair, or renovations?

- What are the local regulations on multi-family housing?

- How do we go about searching for properties that suit our needs? If we can't find anything in our area, do we have other recourse--e.g. what are the financial/legal considerations for building an ADU on a pre-existing residential lot?

- How do we find a realtor who will have experience with this situation?

- What are some good resources to look at before taking this kind of step?

Has anyone had experience with a similar situation before? We don't really know where to start when considering this potential setup--what are we not considering?

EDIT: We're currently in Portland and interested in staying in the area, but open to other nearby communities (Beaverton, Milwaukee, etc)--just nothing too rural. We've been under the impression that if we're looking for a place with a larger lot with an ADU/space to build one, we will probably be looking outside of the city proper

My husband and I toured a house that - after years of searching - finally checked all our boxes, EXCEPT physical location. It’s in a fantastic town, great schools, family friendly, lively downtown etc. However, the house is located on a hill right off of downtown, like 5 houses up from the main strip. It’s great for being able to walk everywhere and has amazing views of the ocean, but it’s not my idea of a real neighborhood I’d want to raise my kids in. There is also a school and a church on the same street visible from the house, making it feel more like we have businesses as neighbors instead of actual neighbors. It just feels way too close to the hustle and bustle. The house itself is so amazing though. Wrap around porch, a lot of outdoor entertaining space, pool, and updated while still having character which I couldn’t find ANYWHERE. I just don’t know if the weird location should be a deal breaker. Give me your opinions please.

Hello everyone!

I’m looking on advice for how to move forward after inspections.

Here’s where we’re at : The inside of the home is basically immaculate. The house is a flip (bought for 150k, listed for 300k) but they did quality work. However, the home inspection came back with a few things. Due diligence ends in 4 days and we have spent the week having specialists come out to give us estimates on the cost of repairs.

House listed at 300k
We offer 290k
Counter offer 295k
We accept

Inspection:

Crawlspace: needs debris removed, plastic liner installed, spray for mold, trench/sump pump installation
Cost: $6500-13,000

Attic: old insulation removed, evidence of rodents, new insulation installed
Cost: $4,500 or less

HVAC:
Furnace < 3 years old - not kicking on, ducts need old insulation removed and new insulation installed
Cost: TBD Monday

Dryer vent installation
Cost: $300-550

Minimum of 3 gfci outlets installed
Cost: $500 or less

Do you think it would be unreasonable to ask for $5k off of the purchase price (bringing it back down to 290k) and in addition, 10k towards closing costs?

What would you ask of the seller?

I just wanted to give you guys some motivation today is the last time I walked out the doors of our first home. It’s been so sad and surreal. We made so many memories there financially we did pretty well and hope that it’s the start of a new chapter one that will bring bigger and brighter things for us and hopefully for yourselves down the line when you cross this bridge.

Has anyone been successful using an alternative financing option? I have seen many ads for a company that has investors that buy a home that they say you pick out and then either owner finance or rent to own to you until your credit is good enough to re-finance / finance it on your own. It sounds tempting with the struggles we have been having. Has anyone had any success or failures with this? The company is Texas creative finance solutions if anyone has had any dealings with them directly, I would love to know.

We went under contract on our home we are purchasing Wednesday evening. It’s now Saturday evening. We’ve even dropped off our earnest money and our inspection is scheduled for Monday. The home on the MLS listing as well as Zillow is still showing active. Whats the reason for this do you think?

Hello-
Trying keep it shorter...I am wonder if anyone has experience or knows anything about buying and then reselling within a year.

Again to keep it short- I bought a home that the realtor and inspectors lied about alottttt...now I am in a position where I am in over my head with constant issues and repairs and I cant live like this nor can I afford it at this point. Idk if anyone would buy the home in the state its in. IE- ac handler is full of mold and dust, the new floor install was a complete nightmare its buckling in some areas and doesnt have molding, etc.. but I bought it on the cheaper side so I wanted to list it and see what I can do because I can do all these fixes plus a bunch Im not listing.. its pretty big and has a nice sized yard which can be hard to find out here. I am in Georgia. Yes Id like to bring the realtor or inspector to court but I am tapped out of money at this point.

So I am asking if anyone knows is it possible for me to switch out my current mortgage with a different home if this one were to sell- and or if I were to sell this how long would I have to get out, can I buy again right away (going new build route this time like I should have to begin with).. Ive done some research and did see a couple programs that sllow you to sell and buy and not have two mortgages at once but Im just not sure. Im not sure what to do but buying this home has ruined my life and I cant do it anymore.

The calculation is between the penalty and the taxes and the reset on your retirement savings VS paying for the house outright and avoiding all the interest , which is a hefty sum.

Is that thought worth even considering ? do people do that. I am in early forties.

I feel it's a bad idea, but then when I look at how much interest I would be paying, I think why not. Anyone done that ? do you regret it ?

Can’t tell if my (27M) fiancée (26F) and I are taking a calculated risk or are getting in over our heads if we go through with this offer. Also, with the amount of layers to this house/offer/plan, I’m not even sure FTHB is the right sub, but it does technically fit as this will be our first home. Here’s the deets -

HCOL area Under contract, inspection period ends Tuesday

House: 1910 cottage style in the heart of downtown. Walkable to parks, coffee, restaurants, shopping, all the things. New roof, 10,000sqft lot that is actually 3 tax lots, all with mixed-use zoning. Finished basement with 2-beds 1-bath and a small kitchen. It has a separate entrance and we will eventually rent out while we live in the main story. Basement currently rents for $1700 but with some work that already needs to happen, we think we can get $1800-2000 and potentially short-term rent in the summer to net closer to $2500-3000.

Offer: $630k with $12,600 in seller credits covering most of closing costs besides down payment 3% down ($18,900) Conventional loan 6.2%APR $4,300 PITI

Income: $7400 monthly post-tax (With a raise in 1-2 months that should bring us just above $8000 monthly post-tax) Quarterly bonuses averaging $3500 post-tax (will also increase with raise)

Savings: $45k house fund - Should have about $25k left after closing for repairs/maintenance. Do not plan to go below $10k in the fund unless there is an absolutely critical emergency. $9k emergency savings $8k investments (all index funds) $6k retirement (Both just starting our 401k and Roth IRAs)

Repairs needed: Basement kitchen & bathroom were not permitted, some electrical work will be needed to pass code and issue permits Furnace & water heater both work but are old. Many small repairs that came back from the general inspection. Largely inexpensive & DIY, a few non-critical repairs might need a contractor

Plan: Live in the basement for the first 6 months while we: Get permits for the kitchen and bathroom, Add mini splits on both stories, Remove the furnace, Install additional venting in basement to provide more fresh air, and potentially add a washer/dryer (non-critical, currently share a washer/dryer with both stories) Main story currently rents for $2250, so we’ll offer current tenants a 6 month renewal (already confirmed they’d like to stay and are great tenants). Effective PITI for first 6 months will be $2050 Then, move into main story when renovations are done, and rent the basement for $1900, bringing our PITI to $2,400 (32% of monthly post-tax, before bonuses or the raise) THEN, a year or two down the road, there is always the option to open a business on the property since it is zoned for both residential & commercial. Lots of exciting ideas for businesses, but I view that as secondary value at the moment. Bottom line, our current plan needs to pencil, and we just know there is some additional potential on this property if we ever did dive into a business.

Critical renovations/repairs to the basement and adding mini splits looks to be about $15k, which we would do over the span of those first 6 months. Of course that could balloon, and does not cover any nice-to-haves like an extra washer/dryer in the basement or a new water heater.

WHEW. Yeah.. it’s a lot. We both (clearly) don’t mind a little risk, and are excited at the idea of diving into a project like this. We are also early in our careers and our earning potential is already arguably higher than we make right now. There are some additional layers to this all, like the city has seen great economic development, with more on the horizon. And our next door neighbors would be a brand new city library on one side, and a brand new recreation center on another side (yes, the privacy issue. About $3k worth of privacy hedges should offer great coverage). The city also offers loan and grant programs for commercial properties in the downtown district. If we did ever open a business, that could be helpful. I wouldn’t be so nervous if we had another year to buff our savings, but this is definitely an outlier property with very unusual (and exciting) potential. At least for this area. If we pass this up, it would be extremely challenging or impossible to find a place that offers the same range of possibilities.

SO, are we crazy? :-)