All Encompassing Mortgage and Real Estate Thread

[HRSchenker 2271]

I see so many of my friends getting their real estate license. What does that do? What exactly can someone do with a real estate license in Texas? Genuinely curious, especially as someone who has thought about investing in real estate.

[Gil Bang 25980]

11 minutes ago, HRSchenker said:

I see so many of my friends getting their real estate license. What does that do? What exactly can someone do with a real estate license in Texas? Genuinely curious, especially as someone who has thought about investing in real estate.

don't know about Texas, but in CA it's too fucking expensive to do as a hobby.

[Gil Bang 25980]

@UTPhil2006 help a brother out:  my loan guy is terrific, but he's a church-going man, and doesn't answer his phone on Sunday, and I need a quick answer.

I've got a client that pre-qualified with USAA for a VA loan.  Purchase price is around 450,000.  Problem is, the condo he wants isn't in a VA approved complex.  He's sitting on 40,000 that he intends to put down anyway.  Can you give me a quick comparison on rates and fees on VA vs. 5% CONV, all other things being equal?  Your standard loan programs for TX are fine for the purposes of this discussion, I'm just trying to talk this guy off the ledge, and I've got all night to do it. 

[PhillyD 1257]

28 minutes ago, HRSchenker said:

I see so many of my friends getting their real estate license. What does that do? What exactly can someone do with a real estate license in Texas? Genuinely curious, especially as someone who has thought about investing in real estate.

If you're interested in investing, the thing you can do is use your share of the commission toward each investment that you purchase.  My former employer required me to get a real estate license.  I've collected on a couple of referrals but it paid off the most when I bought the current house I live in and used my share of the  commission towards the purchase.   I've kept it active just in case I ever needed it again.  It's a pain, but not that hard to keep active.  I am not in Texas so I can't speak for what it would do or cost in Texas.

[LCHorn 2623]

1 hour ago, Gil Bang said:

@UTPhil2006 help a brother out:  my loan guy is terrific, but he's a church-going man, and doesn't answer his phone on Sunday, and I need a quick answer.

I've got a client that pre-qualified with USAA for a VA loan.  Purchase price is around 450,000.  Problem is, the condo he wants isn't in a VA approved complex.  He's sitting on 40,000 that he intends to put down anyway.  Can you give me a quick comparison on rates and fees on VA vs. 5% CONV, all other things being equal?  Your standard loan programs for TX are fine for the purposes of this discussion, I'm just trying to talk this guy off the ledge, and I've got all night to do it. 

The VA rate is going to be about .50% better if he has good credit, maybe a great deal more than that if he has some dings. 
 

The advantage of that lower rate is going to be offset some by the VA funding fee, presuming it’s applicable (10% disability rating and it’s waived).  
 

If your buyer is at 740 or above and this is first time use of the his VA loan benefit, then the actual finance cost of the loan is likely about the same (in other words, not cheaper to go VA).  
 

You might try selling the conventional loan, too, as better for something he will shift into rental property down the line, I.e., save the VA loan for something else, perhaps a more expensive property.  

Edited November 11, 2019 by LCHorn
Spelling

[Dbeasy 15073]

I see so many of my friends getting their real estate license. What does that do? What exactly can someone do with a real estate license in Texas? Genuinely curious, especially as someone who has thought about investing in real estate.

I have a license in Texas for real estate investment purposes and it’s barely worth it. You don’t really save much money unless you buy a lot of properties, because you’ll have several thousand per year in fees for mls access, etc. Also there are continuous education costs and hassle.

In addition, when you buy properties it can be disadvantageous because you
may have to meet certain state laws in how you interact with a seller that you wouldn’t have to do if you didn’t have a license.

If you buy two properties per year it might be worth it. There are a gazillion agents now plus competition from home buying companies like OpenDoor, limiting opportunities to do additional deals to pay for the license. I will do a few cheap deals for friends every year to offset my costs, but because there are so many agents the deals are rare for part-timers.

[UTPhil2006 3807]

11 hours ago, LCHorn said:

The VA rate is going to be about .50% better if he has good credit, maybe a great deal more than that if he has some dings. 
 

The advantage of that lower rate is going to be offset some by the VA funding fee, presuming it’s applicable (10% disability rating and it’s waived).  
 

If your buyer is at 740 or above and this is first time use of the his VA loan benefit, then the actual finance cost of the loan is likely about the same (in other words, not cheaper to go VA).  
 

You might try selling the conventional loan, too, as better for something he will shift into rental property down the line, I.e., save the VA loan for something else, perhaps a more expensive property.  

This is pretty accurate. I’ll be back in front of a computer tonight and can check it out for you if need be still 

[UTPhil2006 3807]

On 10/31/2019 at 3:29 PM, UTPhil2006 said:

The 10 year actually came down about .05 yesterday and .10 today.  Was around 1.85 earlier this week, now at 1.69 at close today.  Might  be around a .125 bump down, but they prob wont pass that along til tomorrow.

Ended up ramping up to around 1.95 around Monday but has since tailed off the last couple days to 1.81.

[Gil Bang 25980]

Best day I've had in a long time.  I put 3 in escrow today.  I'm sure that at least 2 will stick. The third is 50-50.   Nice payday coming in mid-December, and we all need a good payday in December.  Typical North County deals. 600,000 range each.  I'll take it, happily. I'm feeling major momentum, and I expect to get another deal or two together.   

Life is good. One client that fell into my lap wants to buy another, and his bank statements say he can do it easily. 

I'm fixin' to drink a half bottle of Prosecco, fuck my girlfriend, and get up tomorrow and go meet my termite guy. 

Edited November 15, 2019 by Gil Bang

[UTPhil2006 3807]

11 hours ago, Gil Bang said:

Best day I've had in a long time.  I put 3 in escrow today.  I'm sure that at least 2 will stick. The third is 50-50.   Nice payday coming in mid-December, and we all need a good payday in December.  Typical North County deals. 600,000 range each.  I'll take it, happily. I'm feeling major momentum, and I expect to get another deal or two together.   

Life is good. One client that fell into my lap wants to buy another, and his bank statements say he can do it easily. 

I'm fixin' to drink a half bottle of Prosecco, fuck my girlfriend, and get up tomorrow and go meet my termite guy. 

This has definitely been a different "slow season" than years past.  Dont know if it's the economy, rates, or hot Texas markets but it's definitely been a good time to buy right now.

[Texas Jeff 1945]

6 hours ago, UTPhil2006 said:

This has definitely been a different "slow season" than years past.  Dont know if it's the economy, rates, or hot Texas markets but it's definitely been a good time to buy right now.

Loss or limit of the property tax deduction may be having an effect...

[Dbeasy 15073]

Loss or limit of the property tax deduction may be having an effect...

Wouldn’t that slow down the market not supercharge it?

[UT_OB1 2224]

@UTPhil2006

The house in Galveston should be finished 2nd or 3rd week in December. Is it time to go ahead and start the ReFi paperwork?  I’ve got a pretty high balance on my credit accounts as we’ve paid for some of the renovation, and my credit score has dropped in to the upper 600s. Is that going to kill my rate?  
 

We were trying to close when Imalda hit. Had flood insurance ready to go, but the whole thing got shut down the day before closing due to the storm. The private market ins we had quoted at 1800 was still not open a week later, so we went with Wright’s for $4k a year!  I thought that seemed ridiculous, so I got a survey done, and the price jumped to $6k.  I was having some minor heart burn at that point, as $4k  more in yearly expenses would eat the majority of my rental profit. 
 

Found out I could install flood vents, but they refused to tell me how much it would reduce my bill. Since I didn’t know, I didn’t want to pay for “engineered” flood vent installation. I’m an engineer hold my beer situation occurred, and a a few hours with a recip saw and some wire mesh, and boom, engineered flood vents. Paid for the new flood cert and anxiously waited for my new quote.

$500 a year!  Huge relief. Lesson 1) get flood cert first. Lesson 2) cut holes in all elevated houses in “crawl space” which in this case is a 2100 foot garage and shop 

[UTPhil2006 3807]

Good lord on the Flood ins.  Thank god it worked out.  Yeah might as well go ahead and get started on the refi paperwork now and get the front end of things done on it, especially with Thanksgiving week being one of those weeks leading up to closing.  That way once it's finished all we are waiting on is appraisal and once appraisal is complete and come backs good we can go to close.  

[Texas Jeff 1945]

16 hours ago, Dbeasy said:

Wouldn’t that slow down the market not supercharge it?

 

Yes, it would .... I misread the previous post to say that the market was cooling.

[Dbeasy 15073]

Phil or others, there is a house in my neighborhood that was hit by lightening five months ago. Initially workers were out there repairing it but suddenly all work stopped and there is no sign of the owners. I’m thinking they walked away from the house. How would I find out if it is going through a foreclosure process? I’m thinking that is what’s going on.

[Gil Bang 25980]

I’d start by googling the address.

[UTPhil2006 3807]

20 hours ago, Dbeasy said:

Phil or others, there is a house in my neighborhood that was hit by lightening five months ago. Initially workers were out there repairing it but suddenly all work stopped and there is no sign of the owners. I’m thinking they walked away from the house. How would I find out if it is going through a foreclosure process? I’m thinking that is what’s going on.

Email me the address I'll take a look.

[UTPhil2006 3807]

Email from one of our reps that may be of pertinence to some of you on the fence about a refi/may need the flexibility/whatever.. You could also replace November with December and such for fundings the next month..

Prodigy,  This time of year a lot of borrowers could use refi’s and get to skip 2 months payments. As long as the refinance funds within the first 7 days of the month then you can skip 2 payments. For example, the borrower can sign at the end of November and fund within the 1^st thru the 7^th of December and first payment will not be until Feb. 1^st

 

 

Edited November 17, 2019 by UTPhil2006

[Gil Bang 25980]

Bullshitting with an agent that called about one of my listings. 

She said the day before she was meeting new clients for the first time at a million-dollar listing.  She got them as a referral, and was warned that they were stodgy, older, uptight people.  She told me she took extra time choosing her outfit, doing her hair and makeup, etc. 
 

She says she's waiting for the clients on the walkway in front of the house.  Suddenly, the sprinklers kick on; one is broken and she gets fucking blasted with water.  She said she's soaked from head to toe, and right at that moment the clients pull up.  She said that the thin white blouse and thin white bra got nice and transparent when wet and the people she'd never met got a nice look at her tits.    She was laughing about it, but she said it was horrifying when it happened.

I looked her up...I would have liked to have seen it myself. 

[UTPhil2006 3807]

Well did she get the sell? 

Also pics. 

[ChiTownDoc 21154]

12 hours ago, UTPhil2006 said:

Email from one of our reps that may be of pertinence to some of you on the fence about a refi/may need the flexibility/whatever.. You could also replace November with December and such for fundings the next month..

Prodigy,  This time of year a lot of borrowers could use refi’s and get to skip 2 months payments. As long as the refinance funds within the first 7 days of the month then you can skip 2 payments. For example, the borrower can sign at the end of November and fund within the 1^st thru the 7^th of December and first payment will not be until Feb. 1^st

 

 

This is interesting.  Does it work for any time of refi?  Meaning 5/1 or whatever interest only arms?  Sorry if that's a stupid question.  To me it seems crazy you could skip 2 months payments on interest only loans.  

Edited November 18, 2019 by ChiTownDoc

[Texaus 377]

Yes, but you still have to prepay the interest portion of you payment for the entire month at closing when you close early.

[UTPhil2006 3807]

1 hour ago, Texaus said:

Yes, but you still have to prepay the interest portion of you payment for the entire month at closing when you close early.

Correct 

[UTPhil2006 3807]

12 hours ago, ChiTownDoc said:

This is interesting.  Does it work for any time of refi?  Meaning 5/1 or whatever interest only arms?  Sorry if that's a stupid question.  To me it seems crazy you could skip 2 months payments on interest only loans.  

It's on anything.  Purchase, refi, etc.  

[ChiTownDoc 21154]

1 hour ago, UTPhil2006 said:

It's on anything.  Purchase, refi, etc.  

Wow.  We allow hotel to lease our place at 1hotel in Miami.  It already pays for itself.  This would be huge.  Already planned to refi but thinking of this makes it no brainer.  

[UTPhil2006 3807]

1 hour ago, ChiTownDoc said:

Wow.  We allow hotel to lease our place at 1hotel in Miami.  It already pays for itself.  This would be huge.  Already planned to refi but thinking of this makes it no brainer.  

We can do FL loans if you want to talk.  We have a guy on our team for out of state deals.  You can PM/email me if you want.

[ChiTownDoc 21154]

2 minutes ago, UTPhil2006 said:

We can do FL loans if you want to talk.  We have a guy on our team for out of state deals.  You can PM/email me if you want.

I get zero down for all mine through GS.  They basically just loan against what I have invested with them.  They do second/third home all nothing down.  If you all can get creative like that lmk and I’ll shoot you a PM.  Thanks 

[UTPhil2006 3807]

2 minutes ago, ChiTownDoc said:

I get zero down for all mine through GS.  They basically just loan against what I have invested with them.  They do second/third home all nothing down.  If you all can get creative like that lmk and I’ll shoot you a PM.  Thanks 

I'll take a look and get back with you.

[UT_OB1 2224]

2 hours ago, ChiTownDoc said:

Wow.  We allow hotel to lease our place at 1hotel in Miami.  It already pays for itself.  This would be huge.  Already planned to refi but thinking of this makes it no brainer.  

and @UTPhil2006

I'm missing something.  If you were planning to Refi for another reason anyway, great.  But why would this be useful otherwise?  You're kicking the payment can down the road a couple months and paying X% to Refi.  

[ChiTownDoc 21154]

1 hour ago, UT_OB1 said:

and @UTPhil2006

I'm missing something.  If you were planning to Refi for another reason anyway, great.  But why would this be useful otherwise?  You're kicking the payment can down the road a couple months and paying X% to Refi.  

I’m paying interest only.  And the bank pays all fees bc we have X amount of money w them.  My money makes way more than 2.75% so I do 10/1 interest only arms.  

[Gil Bang 25980]

7 hours ago, ChiTownDoc said:

I’m paying interest only.  And the bank pays all fees bc we have X amount of money w them.  My money makes way more than 2.75% so I do 10/1 interest only arms.  

Time to buy a place at the Thermal Club, Doc. You'll be able to really step on the gas pedal on some of those beautiful cars of yours. 

[ChiTownDoc 21154]

11 hours ago, Gil Bang said:

Time to buy a place at the Thermal Club, Doc. You'll be able to really step on the gas pedal on some of those beautiful cars of yours. 

I still love the grind at work.  But I can’t keep this pace.  After the next bite in 3-4 years I’m in!

[zork 629]

https://www.housingwire.com/articles/nar-bans-pocket-listings/

[Gil Bang 25980]

8 minutes ago, zork said:

https://www.housingwire.com/articles/nar-bans-pocket-listings/

Yeah, that's a big deal.  Big-time agents have been doing the pocket listing thing forever.  Remember "The Jills" in Miami?  The deals that they had that weren't pocket listings were hidden in the MLS by "accidently" transposing parcel numbers, that sort of shit.

In my MLS, we have to have the seller sign an authorization if we are going to withhold the listing from the MLS for more that 24 hours, and that form has to be sent to the MLS immediately.  

 

For those outside the business, this is the National Association of Realtors.  You don't have to be a member of NAR to sell real estate, and this will not be a law, just a rule that applies to NAR members. 

Edited November 19, 2019 by Gil Bang

[UTPhil2006 3807]

On 11/14/2019 at 5:15 PM, UTPhil2006 said:

Ended up ramping up to around 1.95 around Monday but has since tailed off the last couple days to 1.81.

Trickling down more to 1.74

[Gil Bang 25980]

meh.  

one of my escrows went to shit today.  We got the first rain we've had in a long time.  A heavy rain, and sure enough, the roofed leaked like a mofo.  

Sellers called one of those emergency flood companies.   No doubt there will be mold, etc.

I called the buyers and we all agreed that tomorrow we start looking for another house. 

[UTPhil2006 3807]

On 11/20/2019 at 8:58 PM, Gil Bang said:

meh.  

one of my escrows went to shit today.  We got the first rain we've had in a long time.  A heavy rain, and sure enough, the roofed leaked like a mofo.  

Sellers called one of those emergency flood companies.   No doubt there will be mold, etc.

I called the buyers and we all agreed that tomorrow we start looking for another house. 

Good to have it happen now and not in 2-3 weeks

[Gil Bang 25980]

true.  

[UTPhil2006 3807]

On 11/20/2019 at 9:42 AM, UTPhil2006 said:

Trickling down more to 1.74

Pretty much staying here which is to be expected this week.  People get pretty lazy with things this week.

[UTPhil2006 3807]

New Conventional Loan Limits for 2020:  (most of our lenders are live with these limits now) - $510,400 (up from $484,350).. high balance $765.000

[Gil Bang 25980]

You know what would be great? If my fucking email box was filled with "Happy Thanksgiving" emails from every jerkoff title rep, escrow officer, loan officer,  and home warranty guy in CA.

 

Just imagine how terrible my holiday would be without Michelle from Chicago Title sending good wishes. 

[UT_OB1 2224]

1 hour ago, Gil Bang said:

You know what would be great? If my fucking email box was filled with "Happy Thanksgiving" emails from every jerkoff title rep, escrow officer, loan officer,  and home warranty guy in CA.

 

Just imagine how terrible my holiday would be without Michelle from Chicago Title sending good wishes. 

One more reason the internet sucks.  At least with snail mail they would have had to pay a few bucks to send out cards, or if it is friends/family someone has to take the time to send all the letters.

 

For those of you doing this a lot, what is the craziest thing you've seen in a deed?  We got the deed from 1943 on the house we just purchased.  Among other things, it mentions that the property can't be resold to African Americans.  It does not use the term African Americans.  That kind of shocked me.  

[Gil Bang 25980]

1 hour ago, UT_OB1 said:

One more reason the internet sucks.  At least with snail mail they would have had to pay a few bucks to send out cards, or if it is friends/family someone has to take the time to send all the letters.

 

For those of you doing this a lot, what is the craziest thing you've seen in a deed?  We got the deed from 1943 on the house we just purchased.  Among other things, it mentions that the property can't be resold to African Americans.  It does not use the term African Americans.  That kind of shocked me.  

Not uncommon at all, although out here it usually says that the property cannot be sold to anyone that isn't white.

[South Austin 52521]

1 hour ago, UT_OB1 said:

For those of you doing this a lot, what is the craziest thing you've seen in a deed?  We got the deed from 1943 on the house we just purchased.  Among other things, it mentions that the property can't be resold to African Americans.  It does not use the term African Americans.  That kind of shocked me.  

Yeah, not uncommon. The original deed to the first house I purchased off South Lamar and Treadwell in Austin, built in 1945, had a racially restrictive covenant.

[Larry T. Spider 1746]

Friend bought a house in Bryan that said something along the lines of “nobody in the house can be anything other than white but if there is a separate guest/servant house in the back, one non-white person is allowed.” Considering Bryan it was probably a new build.

[UTPhil2006 3807]

Yeah there are some pretty "dated" docs like that out there

[Paper_jam 831]

Dumb question about residential mortgages: lets say someone with a strong credit history (800+), a solid employment history (25 years+), and no debt is planning retirement fairly soon. However, they're also interested in upgrading to a nicer home, just about at the time when their annual income will be dropping substantially (due to said retirement). This person has investment assets which could be collateral against a mortgage, but they are not really interested in liquidating a lot of those assets in the short term (i.e.. for a down payment).

TL: DR If your income is on the low side, can you still qualify for a good-size mortgage on the basis of your prior credit history and the value of other assets? Or would banks run away screaming because there's not enough traditional income to support the mortgage?

 

[Gil Bang 25980]

debt coverage ratio is a big deal. 

Do those assets throw off income?  

Meanwhile, there is probably a niche program out there somewhere that fits for you. 

[Chewbacca 7780]

1 hour ago, Paper_jam said:

Dumb question about residential mortgages: lets say someone with a strong credit history (800+), a solid employment history (25 years+), and no debt is planning retirement fairly soon. However, they're also interested in upgrading to a nicer home, just about at the time when their annual income will be dropping substantially (due to said retirement). This person has investment assets which could be collateral against a mortgage, but they are not really interested in liquidating a lot of those assets in the short term (i.e.. for a down payment).

TL: DR If your income is on the low side, can you still qualify for a good-size mortgage on the basis of your prior credit history and the value of other assets? Or would banks run away screaming because there's not enough traditional income to support the mortgage?

 

Buy the house before you retire.  Banks don't care about your assets, only your income.  Without the income to support repayment of the loan, you're most likely not getting the loan.  It seems crazy, but that's how they look at it.