Home Shopping....swallow pistol now

[A-R]

Under the law even if you are not dealing directly with the listing agent, the agent you are dealing with is legally an advocate for the seller. An ethical one will inform you of that.

This is incorrect. This was correct years ago. But these days a buyer can hire a "buyers' agent" who represents their interests only. In fact, most listing agents (myself included) specifically prohibit the type of "subagency" you're referring to above. As a listing agent, I will not allow a "subagent" to represent my clients in a transaction (I have an "exclusive right to sell" agreement with my clients) and I will not share a commission with a "subagent" - only with a buyer's agent - because the subagent - as a defacto representative of my clients - could do or say something that gets me and my clients into legal hot water, yet we can't control what the subagent does or says. Subagency is an antiquated real estate representation model that is thankfully dying a much-needed death, at least in the residential realm (I know very little about commercial, farm-n-ranch, and other realms of real estate).

BTW, in Texas most mortgage companies and banks, etc. require a survey and the buyer is supposed to be supplied with a valid copy of the survey, I.E., NOT a xerox copy. Those are violations of copyright law. Nor one with a "Seller's Certificate" stating that nothing has changed. That is a violation of the professional surveyors act. Title companies have a habit of breaking laws and realtors and their agents have a habit of abetting them.

First I've ever heard of this. Not saying you're wrong, I've just never heard of this before nor have I ever heard a surveyor complain about it nor seen a deal held up because of it. And since the bank and the title company are the entities requiring the survey, if the bank and title company accept a photocopy or omputer scan/print of the survey and proceeds to lend the money and issue the title insurance, then that bank and that title company are OK with the manner in which the survey is supplied.

My personal opinion is that when a home owner is furnished an original copy of a survey of their home for which they (or someone else involved in transaction) paid good money, then that survey is theirs to do with as they please in the future. If that future use includes passing along a copy of it to the next buyer of that property and IF the buyer, the buyer's lender, and the title company all accept the copy of the survey as valid proof of the property boundaries, then I fail to see the problem.

[A-R]

Also - we put in an offer today

Wow, y'all are moving quickly. Congrats.

[mescobar_rpls]

OK, now I have to chime in.

First off, I am a Registered Professional Land Surveyor (hence my user name).

Secondly, by Xeroxing a survey, one would be violating copyright laws if the survey was copyrighted. A lot of surveyors are now copyrighting their products because of the re-using issues.

I do believe that anyone who buys a piece of property (whether for a house or otherwise) should get a current title survey. By the nature of a current title survey, it will show the buyer what they are buying, where the improvements are on the property and any title issues involved with the property. Basically it is a snap shot of the property. Because of this, if anything happens after the date of the survey, the survey will not reflect the changes.

Nowadays, some lending institutions are accepting an old survey with an affidavit by the seller stating that nothing has changed. I have seen instances where sellers will blindly sign the affidavit, just like they don’t mention anything on the disclosure statements.

You may be asking yourself ‘how much do things really change?’ Of course, the answer is ‘it depends’. Sometimes, it is little, other times, it is a lot. There may be unwritten rights that mature within the time between surveys. The only way you can know is if there is a survey.

If anyone has any questions on surveys, you are more than welcome to contact me.

[OldCurlyWolf]

OK, now I have to chime in.

First off, I am a Registered Professional Land Surveyor (hence my user name).

Secondly, by Xeroxing a survey, one would be violating copyright laws if the survey was copyrighted. A lot of surveyors are now copyrighting their products because of the re-using issues.

I do believe that anyone who buys a piece of property (whether for a house or otherwise) should get a current title survey. By the nature of a current title survey, it will show the buyer what they are buying, where the improvements are on the property and any title issues involved with the property. Basically it is a snap shot of the property. Because of this, if anything happens after the date of the survey, the survey will not reflect the changes.

Nowadays, some lending institutions are accepting an old survey with an affidavit by the seller stating that nothing has changed. I have seen instances where sellers will blindly sign the affidavit, just like they don’t mention anything on the disclosure statements.

You may be asking yourself ‘how much do things really change?’ Of course, the answer is ‘it depends’. Sometimes, it is little, other times, it is a lot. There may be unwritten rights that mature within the time between surveys. The only way you can know is if there is a survey.

If anyone has any questions on surveys, you are more than welcome to contact me.

I am also a TX RPLS and have been for over 24 years. All of my surveys have been copyrighted for quite a few years.

Mescobar, send me a pm. I will let you know which one. We have "met" on POB/RPLS.

OCW

[gigag04]

Back on topic:

Under contract, inspections done, we're in the 10 day option period. I think we have until Friday for the option period. We close 7/25, and my morgage guy got us locked in at

4.375%

So...We're stoked about that.

[The Annoyed Man]

I have purchased two homes now....not enough to make me an expert, but certainly enough for me to have an informed opinion about the process.

For starters, most people simply don't have the time or patience to purchase a home without the assistance of a realtor. Color me one of them. So for most buyers, trying to purchase a home without a realtor representing your best interests is kind of like a defendant trying to defend himself in court without the benefit of a lawyer to represent his best interests. Good luck with that, and don't complain about the outcome. Anybody who acts as their own lawyer has a fool for a client. That would describe most people who buy homes. The number of stories of people who have successfully navigated the process without the representation of a realtor are outnumbered by the number of stories of people who ended up with a financial disaster on their hands after having bought a home without the representation of a realtor. So, if you choose to represent yourself, you do so at your own risk. If you can pull it off, more power to you. But if you are a first time buyer lacking experience or knowledge of the process, you double the risks if you do. Good luck with that.

Second, if you think that buying is a hassle, wait until you try to sell. Commissions are taken out of the seller's pocket, not the buyer's. That just "sweetens" the deal for the seller. Yes, the realtors have to get paid, and yes they earn their money, but when you're the guy paying them, you start wondering why the buyer doesn't have to pay them too.

My first purchase was in Pasadena California, and there are some subtle differences in the process in California.....or at least there were when we bought our homes—the handling of occupancy permits being one of those differences. One of the tricks we did (which is common) so that we could actually afford the mortgage payment is change both of our payroll withholding exemptions to the most allowable to increase our take-home pay. This works because your mortgage payments go mostly toward interest for the first 10 years or so of your mortgage, and so you count on being able to claim that interest deduction (which is considerable for a few years) on your tax returns against the additional taxes you owe for the reduced payroll deductions. You still wind up with an income tax return, but just not as big as you would likely have otherwise.

We paid cash for our second home, here in Grapevine. THAT was a weird experience...... We had netted a huge profit on the sale of our California home (purchased in 1999 for $170K and sold just 7 years later in 2006 for $530K), so we were in a good position when we came here. We are not rich people, truly we aren't. We've just been fortunate, and God has made a way before us, because I've never had that kind of money available to me before, and I likely never will again. At first, there was a temptation to buy an enormous house and take on a small mortgage. But the more we looked, the more comfortable we were with a medium sized home (there was only three of us to live in it), and we bought a nice home in a very nice part of Grapevine for $220K. I went to the bank and had a cashier's check drawn up for $220K and drove it over to the title company and picked up my keys. Being able to pay cash vastly simplified the process, but it sure felt strange, and it still does today. It will be 5 years next month since we bought our house, and I haven't had a mortgage payment since then. God knew was was coming, and he made the way for us; because what followed financially with loss of jobs and trying to start a business would have surely caused the loss of our home to foreclosure if we had a mortgage payment to make.

Anyway, good luck with all of it. My advice is don't let your pride make your decisions for you. Be humble and take the advice of people who get paid to be knowledgeable about the whole thing. You'll likely be better off in the long run.

[Jasonw560]

We built. Got our house bult for just a little above cost.

[Gunner21]

Someone tell me that buying a home gets easier as you go along. My fiance and I decided we are going to buy a mortgage, I mean house, and this process is crazy. I'm wrapping up my life story for the mortgage underwriters now....

Hopefully we can lock in one of the amazing 4.x % interest rates.

This processes seems needlessly complicated...the whole title company, mortgage company, realtor, builder, tax man inside network is shady at best. There is a whole different language associated with this process to make sure all of these people get their cut. Makes me wonder how many unnecessary business models are kept afloat merely because of the confusion of home buying. Why is the MLS info so secretly guarded under lock and key? I'm looking at one of the pre-qaul deals for the mortgage and there is like a billion dollars in fees for different people along the way. The underwriter's fee is as big as the mortgage payment portion of the payment!!!! I need to switch careers.

(No offense AR - I actually appreciate our realtor who is a long time family friend. She, and our mortgage guy, seem like the only necessary pieces of this deal - they seem to provide a great value added service).

Don't forget shopping for Homeowner's insurance, the dickering back and forth while the sellers nickle and dime you on every little thing you want fixed, inspections, VA inspections, Insurance inspections. My Wife and I are 2 weeks into this thing and it seems like no end in sight. After getting Homeowners insurance done I now have to find a reputable mover.

Can't wait for this to be over.