Real estate General topic

[Sigarms]

You say you never want to assume, yet you just did. That's ********. And racist.
Eric

I think you're being unfair to the OP by calling BS and a racist to boot, as he's only drawing a possible conclusion by and observation.

Perhaps you need to move from Washington State to California?

When I talked with Shatwanda over the phone, I'd be willing to bet deed to deed she was black after talking with her.

Yes, I am a racist...

Reality is racism and bigotry is rooted in ignorance.

 

[paulsharvey]

You say you never want to assume, yet you just did. That's ********. And racist.
Eric

I'm saying you don't want to assume the agent is steering based on race, but it is a possibility, intentional or not. It could also be just an incompetent agent, or one who thinks 0.25 acres is a yard and space...
Yes, 100% certain names, anyone can tell likely ethnic background, and if you want to deny that, you're putting your head in the sand. Now, if you are saying the agent is BS and racist, that may or may not be the case. All I'm saying is, it's kinda odd that this lady, who has a good job (not sure of her money situation, but she makes good income) tells an agent that she wants a decent yard, and some space, and the agent keeps sending her these little 0.25 acre and under properties.

Regardless of the cause, the solution is the same; different agent. I'm not saying file a lawsuit or call the NAACP, just get an agent that listens to what you want.

Edit: I really dont think it is intentional, as they only get paid if you buy; I'm assuming in her case, it's either incompetence, or kinda subconscious assumptions on what she really wants. I don't assume malicious. For the record, I have no idea of the ethnic background of the agent, and it could just as easily be same-same, and still be unintentionally steering

 

[ericm979]

, or one who thinks 0.25 acres is a yard and space...

It is to the vast majority of people. I wouldn't assume anything based on that except maybe that they don't deal primarily with large rural properties.

 

[etpm]

The way I see it; but others are 100% free to feel different; you will never really be good at buying/selling homes, as you might only so it 2 or 3 times in your life. Sure, you can do a lot of research, but I do feel an agent has Much better general understanding that a common person. Do you get to keep your curtains, or rugs, or whatever. If you buy and sell your own stuff regularly, sure, you can get as good.

Also, I think the way to go, is a mix. Do your own research, and based on that, you can ask informed questions to the professionals.

I owe you an apology paulsharvey. I should have contacted you privately with how I felt. It should not have been public. I also owe this community as a whole an apology. My comment could be seen as incendiary and that was not my intent. I have no excuse for my public comment.
Eric

 

[paulsharvey]

All good. I didn't mean to get anything side tracked; but if your agent isn't pulling their weight, ditch them.

My feeling with the agent, I'm find the properties, and only touring things we are legit interested in. The agent is mostly for the behind the scene stuff that I don't understand; what needs to be included in the offer, options in offer X, but have them cover Y in closing cost; ect. Yes, they are getting a significant chunk of money, but I also know I don't know how some of this stuff works.

Yes, I did take a real estate class 23 years ago; but I don't remember much, and didn't pay that much attention when taking it.

 

[paulsharvey]

Our agent does send pretty much everything with atleast 3 bed rooms, in the geographic area we asked for, with more than 5 acres, within the price range. 99% of the time, we have already seen them, and generally already pulled flood maps, wetland maps, and looked at zoning. We also do a drive by to check the neighborhood, the road condition, ect before scheduling a tour.

Wife and I both Hate the buying/salesman side of stuff; and although some enjoy going on tours, we view it as a means to an end, not a fun process. This goes for cars, tractors, ect. Try to have the facts first, then visit to confirm

 

[Oaktree]

Conversely, much of the payment in the early years go toward interest. Saving more, and ensuring you are in the house you want will go a long ways in the future

Before I bought my first house I never realized just how much you paid in interest over the life of the loan. It was in the mid 70s, interest rates were a % or so higher than they are today. Reading the fine print at the closing was quite a revelation...if I went the full term of the mortgage I would have paid roughly 2½ x the principal amount in interest!! You can bet I paid that one off early!

 

[Sigarms]

Before I bought my first house I never realized just how much you paid in interest over the life of the loan. It was in the mid 70s, interest rates were a % or so higher than they are today. Reading the fine print at the closing was quite a revelation...if I went the full term of the mortgage I would have paid roughly 2½ x the principal amount in interest!! You can bet I paid that one off early!

What's interesting is I'll look at the rate of inflation as to what was paid and what that money is worth today, but one thing I don't take into account is interest that had to be paid on the loan over that time to actually buy the home.

We took out a 30 year mortgage due to the cost of our home and land, but were able to pay it off in 15 years. I don't even want to think how much interest we paid.

Point being, someone bought a house in 2002 for $250,000, they actually paid well over 300K for the house when it was finally paid off.
It is nice though when EVERYTHING is paid off and you don't owe ANYONE any money

 

[paulsharvey]

We got a response from our 'bring all offers' owner. Only willing to budge a grand total of 2.5% of intial asking price (which is over our price we are willing to go to).

 

[WinterDeere]

We took out a 30 year mortgage due to the cost of our home and land, but were able to pay it off in 15 years. I don't even want to think how much interest we paid.

Definitely. Paying off early is the best way to save, even if you're suffering the higher rates of a 30-year fixed mortgage.

Round numbers, borrow $500k at 3.5% for 30 years, you're looking at paying back $808k, so $308k in interest alone. Pay that off in just 15 years, and total cost drops to $643k... you just saved yourself $165k.

But if you believe you can swing 15 years, you can save even more by signing for a fixed 15-year mortgage, as their rates are lower. In that case, your total cost might be only $600k, or $208k saved over a regular 30-year fixed term.

The bigger part of the savings is what sigarms did, just paying early. But the additional $43k saved by dropping to a 15-year's rates isn't exactly throw-away money, either.

The numbers I'm using above are admittedly dated, but do well to demonstrate the point. I think I got my 15 year mortgage at 2.125% in 2012, and 30-year was running at least 1% higher, at the time. If the rates are higher today, then even more important.