All Encompassing Mortgage and Real Estate Thread

[Murfdogg21 4413]

Ha ha. A topic along these lines came up in conversation with friends looking to sell the other day, and I mentioned they should avoid bitter asshole agents like this guy named Gil Bang in California. Gil has previously boasted about intentionally inserting poison pill language and other contractual land mines into contracts with sellers using Redfin and other discount listing services, allegedly in his buyers’ interest but seemingly it is mostly out of spite. 

In markets like Austin, homes seem to sell pretty fast at or above listing regardless of the listing agent. For a $500k home (probably below median these days) the 3% to the seller’s agent is $15k. Obviously there may be some money getting clawed back by Keller Williams et al. if the agent isn’t independent, but the “extra” services you listed above total less than $2k.

Paying your agent 1% ($5k) on the sell when they stand to make 3% on the subsequent buy is far from highway robbery. 

[Gil Bang 25975]

1 hour ago, Dbeasy said:

 

The debate that is occurring these days is whether those marketing activities deliver much value. Most buyers find what they want online.

 

I assure you, the declutter and staging part delivers value.  Whether somebody finds it online or not, it has to photograph and show well or they will move on to the next one.

[Gil Bang 25975]

1 hour ago, Murfdogg21 said:

Ha ha. A topic along these lines came up in conversation with friends looking to sell the other day, and I mentioned they should avoid bitter asshole agents like this guy named Gil Bang in California. Gil has previously boasted about intentionally inserting poison pill language and other contractual land mines into contracts with sellers using Redfin and other discount listing services, allegedly in his buyers’ interest but seemingly it is mostly out of spite. 

In markets like Austin, homes seem to sell pretty fast at or above listing regardless of the listing agent. For a $500k home (probably below median these days) the 3% to the seller’s agent is $15k. Obviously there may be some money getting clawed back by Keller Williams et al. if the agent isn’t independent, but the “extra” services you listed above total less than $2k.

Paying your agent 1% ($5k) on the sell when they stand to make 3% on the subsequent buy is far from highway robbery. 

I don't know what this "poison pill" horseshit your talking about.  I've never done that. 

[Dbeasy 15068]

I assure you, the declutter and staging part delivers value.  Whether somebody finds it online or not, it has to photograph and show well or they will move on to the next one.

Agree but a lot of agents charging 1% do that.

[UTPhil2006 3807]

There are several you can ask on here that we’ve done that deal for that can attest to our services. 

[UTPhil2006 3807]

10 year down to 1.49.  Was down around 10 points but relatively bounced back.  Still just kind of hovering around 1.50 the last week or so.

[Mez2 4024]

Just wanted to thank @UTPhil2006 for helping us refinance our home a couple of weeks ago. 

Made it easy AF from start to finish,  no homo, and then also bought me margaritas from Alma Latina, or maybe I bought his, but regardless,  phil fucks. Recommend. 

[52-80 19171]

asked re/max about property management services for renting out our house. 

instead of perpetual % of rent (e.g. 10%), the guy offered me this:  3x mo. rent up-front (only upon succesful lease!), for complete hands-off services. 

he said it was standard remax rates.  and then, he continued, he does it slightly different, and then offered it for 50% off.  i was astonished.  if rented out for 3 months, that works out to 4.2% fee.

 

this is for all listing (they get 2x month agent fee from renter ,as standard); tenant screening; and all tenant contacts afterwards.  i'd never have to meet or talk to them. 

[Dbeasy 15068]

asked re/max about property management services for renting out our house. 
instead of perpetual % of rent (e.g. 10%), the guy offered me this:  3x mo. rent up-front (only upon succesful lease!), for complete hands-off services. 
he said it was standard remax rates.  and then, he continued, he does it slightly different, and then offered it for 50% off.  i was astonished.  if rented out for 3 months, that works out to 4.2% fee.
 
this is for all listing (they get 2x month agent fee from renter ,as standard); tenant screening; and all tenant contacts afterwards.  i'd never have to meet or talk to them. 

I don’t understand this post. If he charges 3 months rent, or 50% off of that, 1.5 months rent, that is 12.5% of the total rent that would have been received, or 14.2% of the rent actually received. Am I reading it wrong? Or are you assuming longer than a 12 month lease?

[UT_OB1 2224]

My PM does a flat fee of $75 a month no matter the rent price (3/4 month rent to place tenant). On MF, its $50 for each past the first.  Obviously not great if you're only renting for 700 a month.  Very good if you're getting 1500 a month.  

[52-80 19171]

2 minutes ago, Dbeasy said:

 

I don’t understand this post. If he charges 3 months rent, or 50% off of that, 1.5 months rent, that is 12.5% of the total rent that would have been received, or 14.2% of the rent actually received. Am I reading it wrong? Or are you assuming longer than a 12 month lease?

if rent is $1000/mo, he says the standard corporate remax rate is $3000.  

then he went on to say he incurs lots of cost to do the listing, viewing, etc etc hence his rate is slightly different --- i was fully expecting him to add a premium to it, but turns out offered the 50%.  in other words he would take $1500 from $1000 rent.   over 36 months assumption, works out to 4.2%

 

[Dbeasy 15068]

if rent is $1000/mo, he says the standard corporate remax rate is $3000.  
then he went on to say he incurs lots of cost to do the listing, viewing, etc etc hence his rate is slightly different --- i was fully expecting him to add a premium to it, but turns out offered the 50%.  in other words he would take $1500 from $1000 rent.   over 36 months assumption, works out to 4.2%
 

Ah, so you are going to pay him upfront for a lease that you assume will run 36 months. What if he sucks? He has your money. You can’t fire him or if you do you pay twice for property management.

[52-80 19171]

20 minutes ago, Dbeasy said:

 

Ah, so you are going to pay him upfront for a lease that you assume will run 36 months. What if he sucks? He has your money. You can’t fire him or if you do you pay twice for property management.

all good points.  well, none of the other fucking companies responded to my email.  and this guy atleast gave very professional impressions -- didnt ooze sleazeballness

[Gil Bang 25975]

You've got no laws about trust accounting?

Out here, the PM could hold the up-front money in a trust account, and only pay himself the pro-rated amount each month.  So, if you fired him, the tenant moved, whatever, the unearned fees would still be in his trust account. 

[UTPhil2006 3807]

First I’ve heard of all that. 

[UTPhil2006 3807]

3 hours ago, Mez2 said:

Just wanted to thank @UTPhil2006 for helping us refinance our home a couple of weeks ago. 

Made it easy AF from start to finish,  no homo, and then also bought me margaritas from Alma Latina, or maybe I bought his, but regardless,  phil fucks. Recommend. 

Thank you sir. 

[Murfdogg21 4413]

Why would the current owner of my mortgage (BOA) need me to pay for title insurance, appraisal, etc other fees for me to refinance with them? They already own the asset regardless of its value or title status, I am just lowering the rate. They want over $5k (in total costs) to refinance a 30 down to 3.67%.

[NeverMarryAStripper 21907]

Because the entire industry of title insurance is like paying protection money to the mafia.  It doesn't protect you from anything.  It's just a method of skimming a percentage of every real estate transaction off the top and transferring it to an organized gang of criminals

[UTPhil2006 3807]

2 hours ago, Murfdogg21 said:

Why would the current owner of my mortgage (BOA) need me to pay for title insurance, appraisal, etc other fees for me to refinance with them? They already own the asset regardless of its value or title status, I am just lowering the rate. They want over $5k (in total costs) to refinance a 30 down to 3.67%.

Should be that easy, it however is not.

[Gil Bang 25975]

12 hours ago, Murfdogg21 said:

Why would the current owner of my mortgage (BOA) need me to pay for title insurance, appraisal, etc other fees for me to refinance with them? They already own the asset regardless of its value or title status, I am just lowering the rate. They want over $5k (in total costs) to refinance a 30 down to 3.67%.

When you say "owner", are you sure that you mean owner?  Maybe you mean servicer.  It's likely that your loan has been sold off to another party, or made part of a larger pool with several participants.  

[Gil Bang 25975]

note to self:  make sure not to upload pics of getting BJ to MLS

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7407219/Realtor-publishes-photo-engaged-sex-act.html?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark

[UTPhil2006 3807]

On 8/29/2019 at 7:07 PM, Gil Bang said:

note to self:  make sure not to upload pics of getting BJ to MLS

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7407219/Realtor-publishes-photo-engaged-sex-act.html?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark

Was that wrong?  Should I not have done that?  Wonder how many views that listing has now.

[UTPhil2006 3807]

On 8/27/2019 at 3:17 PM, UTPhil2006 said:

10 year down to 1.49.  Was down around 10 points but relatively bounced back.  Still just kind of hovering around 1.50 the last week or so.

Was down to 1.45 yesterday, but has jumped to 1.58 so far today.  Hopefully a knee jerk reaction, but no one really knows.

[UTPhil2006 3807]

On 9/5/2019 at 10:10 AM, UTPhil2006 said:

Was down to 1.45 yesterday, but has jumped to 1.58 so far today.  Hopefully a knee jerk reaction, but no one really knows.

1.70 now

[UT_OB1 2224]

@UTPhil2006 Thad was a big help quickly getting a  preapproval letter for my HML.  Didn’t realize I was going to need it so quickly and the HML texted at 1 and said he needed it today!  Since you’ve already got all my personal info (that sounds bad out of context) all I had to do was email Thad a few details on the loan amount.  Very easy

Thanks for y’all s help again. Crossing my fingers everything works out and we are ReFi-ing with you in 4-6 months. 

[UTPhil2006 3807]

15 hours ago, UT_OB1 said:

@UTPhil2006 Thad was a big help quickly getting a  preapproval letter for my HML.  Didn’t realize I was going to need it so quickly and the HML texted at 1 and said he needed it today!  Since you’ve already got all my personal info (that sounds bad out of context) all I had to do was email Thad a few details on the loan amount.  Very easy

Thanks for y’all s help again. Crossing my fingers everything works out and we are ReFi-ing with you in 4-6 months. 

No prob!

[skittlebrau 474]

Do we talk land development code stuff here or in the City Council thread? Either way, this is my new favorite Twitter account.

 

https://twitter.com/ATXNIMBYHOMES

[UTPhil2006 3807]

On 9/11/2019 at 4:05 PM, skittlebrau said:

Do we talk land development code stuff here or in the City Council thread? Either way, this is my new favorite Twitter account.

 

https://twitter.com/ATXNIMBYHOMES

https://www.surlyhorns.com/board/index.php?/topic/61-austin-city-government-circus-of-the-insane/

[UTPhil2006 3807]

On 9/10/2019 at 2:29 PM, UTPhil2006 said:

1.70 now

1.88

[Hefeweizen 5328]

I just closed a  refi with  Phil and Thad.  I can't recommend them highly enough, they are professional, responsive, and always trying to help.  If you use anyone else you are either aggy or retarded.  

[Brew 3049]

On 8/29/2019 at 7:07 PM, Gil Bang said:

note to self:  make sure not to upload pics of getting BJ to MLS

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7407219/Realtor-publishes-photo-engaged-sex-act.html?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark

One of the local agents here got in trouble because she posted a bathroom picture and you could see her naked reflection in the side of the mirror. It was an older lady and she was apparently photographing the inside of the house clothing optional.

[Dbeasy 15068]

note to self:  make sure not to upload pics of getting BJ to MLS
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7407219/Realtor-publishes-photo-engaged-sex-act.html?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark

Gil you just aren’t willing to do what it takes to get web site traffic to your listings.

[UTPhil2006 3807]

4 hours ago, Hefeweizen said:

I just closed a  refi with  Phil and Thad.  I can't recommend them highly enough, they are professional, responsive, and always trying to help.  If you use anyone else you are either aggy or retarded.  

[Modessit 5603]

Fed cut the interest rate another quarter point.

[UTPhil2006 3807]

19 minutes ago, Modessit said:

Fed cut the interest rate another quarter point.

Yep just came here to post that

 

 

 The Associated Press @AP 15m

 

BREAKING: The Federal Reserve cuts rates for a second time this year with promise to "act as appropriate" to sustain economic expansion. The Fed's move will reduce its benchmark rate by an additional quarter-point to a range of 1.75% to 2%.

[UT_OB1 2224]

Am I going to start getting paid for my mortgages yet?

[UTPhil2006 3807]

3 hours ago, UT_OB1 said:

Am I going to start getting paid for my mortgages yet?

Yes on your Denmark property. 

[BabaYaga 15301]

California at it again - great job guys.  

AB5 seemingly has passed after being singed off on by the governor.  Kills independent contractors by now not allowing the 1099 worker. This targeted Uber, Lyft, and Door Dash saying they were under paying people.  This bill kills the ability of millions of people to work second jobs to supplement their income. It will also negatively impact trucking and transportation costs, which will increase the costs of nearly all consumer goods in California. 

Relevant to this thread:  What about those in RE?  Realtors?  Appraisers?  Contractors?  Are they going to then exempt everyone BUT Uber/Lyft drivers, etc?  Good god, this seems heavy-handed.  

[Murfdogg21 4413]

What about commission based sales people and distributors that are strictly 1099???

[Gil Bang 25975]

California at it again - great job guys.  
AB5 seemingly has passed after being singed off on by the governor.  Kills independent contractors by now not allowing the 1099 worker. This targeted Uber, Lyft, and Door Dash saying they were under paying people.  This bill kills the ability of millions of people to work second jobs to supplement their income. It will also negatively impact trucking and transportation costs, which will increase the costs of nearly all consumer goods in California. 
Relevant to this thread:  What about those in RE?  Realtors?  Appraisers?  Contractors?  Are they going to then exempt everyone BUT Uber/Lyft drivers, etc?  Good god, this seems heavy-handed.  

It’s not relevant to this thread, because real estate agents, brokers, and appraisers are all exempt.

This law was intended to clean up a mess made by the California Supreme Court regarding the classification of employees as independent contractors.

Employers have been abusing this for years to avoid paying unemployment insurance, workers comp, etc.

Salesman who’s commission is based on actual sales are also exempt.

Right now, as far as I can tell, it affects Uber and lift more so than anyone else, but they’re both suing so who knows how this will end up?

[UTPhil2006 3807]

On 9/13/2019 at 1:45 PM, UTPhil2006 said:

1.88

1.76.  Been hovering here since about Tuesday being that the Fed rate cut, since it was relatively expected, was already priced in.  So we've got a little reprieve from the 45 basis point jump back.

[GottaB 594]

1.76.  Been hovering here since about Tuesday being that the Fed rate cut, since it was relatively expected, was already priced in.  So we've got a little reprieve from the 45 basis point jump back.

So what does that look like on a 15 yr refi?

[Chewbacca 7780]

So what does that look like on a 15 yr refi?

I'm in process of doing a15 year refi. Rate is 3.25. Not sure where they are today.

[UTPhil2006 3807]

11 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

13 hours ago, GottaB said:

So what does that look like on a 15 yr refi?

I'm in process of doing a15 year refi. Rate is 3.25. Not sure where they are today.

When did you lock?  I'm about to take a look at our lenders but anything from 2 weeks ago vs today is gonna be a bit lower before we had that big jump.

[Chewbacca 7780]

When did you lock?  I'm about to take a look at our lenders but anything from 2 weeks ago vs today is gonna be a bit lower before we had that big jump.

A couple weeks ago. Don't remember exactly when.

[Gil Bang 25975]

guy attacks female realtor at open house

https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/encino-real-estate-agent-attacked-on-camera-561174281.html?akmobile=o

[UT_OB1 2224]

So is this like random kidnappings - they are statistically relatively rare but thanks to 24 hour news and the internet we are now terrified to let our kids play outside like we did (I admit I’m in that camp with a 7 yo)?  Or is this something that happens a lot?  Because just seeing that, I’d make it a rule open houses were staffed by at least 2 people. But that might be an expensive knee jerk reaction. 

[UTPhil2006 3807]

13 hours ago, Gil Bang said:

guy attacks female realtor at open house

https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/encino-real-estate-agent-attacked-on-camera-561174281.html?akmobile=o

My sister is also a realtor (and teacher) and I've told her a million times she needs to go get her CHL, or at bare minimum some potent pepper spray.  She doesn't show a lot of homes, and rarely does open houses, but all it takes is one wacko.  

[HOOKEM4 5038]

On 9/14/2019 at 6:30 AM, Hefeweizen said:

I just closed a  refi with  Phil and Thad.  I can't recommend them highly enough, they are professional, responsive, and always trying to help.  If you use anyone else you are either aggy or retarded.  

CSBALERT I referred an aggy co-worker to Phil for a refi and he ended up using someone else. The second time he bitched about his person not responding I told him to fuck off, I told him the correct answer already. You can lead a horse to water...

[UTPhil2006 3807]

1 hour ago, HOOKEM4 said:

CSBALERT I referred an aggy co-worker to Phil for a refi and he ended up using someone else. The second time he bitched about his person not responding I told him to fuck off, I told him the correct answer already. You can lead a horse to water...

 

Like you said you can only do so much.  If he wants us to help we still can..