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Location: central, between Pepe's Tacos and Roberto's
2,086 posts, read 6,851,471 times
Reputation: 958
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Quote:
Originally Posted by revelated
1: I'm preapproved with Chase. 100% financing. All complete. Waiting for me to pick a home, essentially. I'm negotiating a better DTI ratio with a different lender which will increase my buying power.
2: the downpayment gift option is an FHA standard, allowed by the government and not a "off the record loan". Do your homework before you judge.
3: I have plenty of money to buy a home. As I said, I'm 100% pre-approved already.
4: He'll get a commission regardless of where I buy the house. Even if he didn't get it from the seller, he'd get it from my financing vehicle. 3% is set aside for whatever purpose I choose - for homes where there's a commission split, he gets that. If there's no commission for whatever reason, he gets my 3%, otherwise I put it against the loan.
Sounds like you jumped off the cuff without knowing who I am. Shame on you, if you really are an agent.
Just to clarify a few things for you:
1. FHA is not a 100% financing program. In CA I believe the max LTV is 97.15%, which is where the gift funds come in. Also not sure how you can negotiate your DTI ratio. It is what it is, unless your monthly debt obligations shrink or your income was miscalculated on the low side.
2. Agreed about down payment assistance. Many lenders allow it and has been utilized extensively for years.
3. Being pre-approved does not mean that you have the money to buy a house. Deals can and do die on the day of closing for a variety of reasons. Also, there is a difference between a conditional loan approval and a pre-qualification. If you have not been credit approved with an appropriate automated underwritng system then in reality your pre-approval means nothing.
4. There is no way on this earth that a lender will lend you an additional 3% to pay your Realtor. I don't know where you got this from but it is incredibly inacurate and downright false. If the Realtor does not get his commision from the seller then you will give it to him out of pocket. Also, if a seller won't contribute to the commision do you think they will contribute to your closing costs? It sounds to me like you will need those covered as well.
Not trying to belittle you or anything, just want you to be an informed consumer.
Not true, in a large Metro area like DFW 20 minutes from someones work can mean quite a few cities and a lot of streets.
It used to be that buyers could count on their agent for first hand local information because their agent lived in the neighborhood. As the number of agents grew, competition became fierce and many became " anywhere" agents. While this may have made financial sense to the agent, I am not sure the client is best served by someone who does not know the dirt. This is one of the many things too many agents have done to diminish the value of the profession.
Staying on top of local issues and how such issues might impact a neighborhood is of value to a buyer. Knowing who has the best meat, the deal on parking permits at the train, how schools differ beyond the scores, which areas have a consentration of renter versus owner occupied housing, the facilities at the park district and options/costs for private schools and local zoning. ordinances and traffic patterns.
Out of area agents can only rely on paper comps. They have no way of knowing that the property at 12345 N. Main sold for what it did, when it did because the yard was so sloped, it's worthless. Knowing why has value and helps counsel both buyers and sellers and there is far more to a comp than is ever shown in the MLS. The wider the net, the less the agent knows.
Distance is relative to density. Some agents in Alaska fly their own planes to show property. Some agents in big cities work a relatively small densely populated area and know, really know, what's going on in the neighborhood.
And yeah, I know I am at odds with many, on this topic.
When a client moves to the DFW area there are 26 cities and at least 7 that are within 10 miles from the Las Colinas business district / airport.
They want to know their options on each area / schools/ commutes which requires me to be pretty intimate with each area.
By having this knowledge, I service my clients better. I can imagine having to pass off these buyers to several agents in other areas who don't know their needs as I've gotten to know them.
Now listings are a little different story but the buyers I help purchase usually call me a few years later to sale their home.
1. FHA is not a 100% financing program. In CA I believe the max LTV is 97.15%, which is where the gift funds come in. Also not sure how you can negotiate your DTI ratio. It is what it is, unless your monthly debt obligations shrink or your income was miscalculated on the low side.
I didn't say the FHA provided 100% financing, I said I was 100% financed...the gift funds are part of that, yes.
When I say negotiate the DTI, I'm working with a lender right now that allows a max 43% DTI ratio for FHA lending. My agent referred me to a broker who works with another lender that offers a max 55% DTI. I'm fine with 55%, because with the amount of money I make, half my income would net me a fairly good sized house, while still living well within my means each month.
Quote:
3. Being pre-approved does not mean that you have the money to buy a house. Deals can and do die on the day of closing for a variety of reasons. Also, there is a difference between a conditional loan approval and a pre-qualification. If you have not been credit approved with an appropriate automated underwritng system then in reality your pre-approval means nothing.
I'm credit approved with a manual underwrite (couldn't do automated due to some issues on my credit report that required docs). Trust me, it's done...there's no "conditional" about it. I made sure to get financing in order before I ever started searching. I must have sent the guy at least 100 pages of stuff.
Quote:
4. There is no way on this earth that a lender will lend you an additional 3% to pay your Realtor. I don't know where you got this from but it is incredibly inacurate and downright false. If the Realtor does not get his commision from the seller then you will give it to him out of pocket. Also, if a seller won't contribute to the commision do you think they will contribute to your closing costs? It sounds to me like you will need those covered as well.
The lender isn't lending anything extra; I just said there was an extra 3% available for whatever I choose to use it for. I think he said it was a "lender incentive" for using them, or something. Every house I'm looking at has a commission split though, so it's just calculated as part of my offer.
Quote:
Not trying to belittle you or anything, just want you to be an informed consumer.
I appreciate that, and while I don't know much about home "lending", I know quite a bit about home "buying" - as I used to work for a minor subsidiary of NAR.
A lot of the properties that sell without going on an MLS or such are sold by word of mouth, no agent involved. Someone knows someone who would be willing to sell when they hear of a person they know looking for something...
Location: central, between Pepe's Tacos and Roberto's
2,086 posts, read 6,851,471 times
Reputation: 958
Quote:
Originally Posted by revelated
I didn't say the FHA provided 100% financing, I said I was 100% financed...the gift funds are part of that, yes.
When I say negotiate the DTI, I'm working with a lender right now that allows a max 43% DTI ratio for FHA lending. My agent referred me to a broker who works with another lender that offers a max 55% DTI. I'm fine with 55%, because with the amount of money I make, half my income would net me a fairly good sized house, while still living well within my means each month.
I'm credit approved with a manual underwrite (couldn't do automated due to some issues on my credit report that required docs). Trust me, it's done...there's no "conditional" about it. I made sure to get financing in order before I ever started searching. I must have sent the guy at least 100 pages of stuff.
The lender isn't lending anything extra; I just said there was an extra 3% available for whatever I choose to use it for. I think he said it was a "lender incentive" for using them, or something. Every house I'm looking at has a commission split though, so it's just calculated as part of my offer.
I appreciate that, and while I don't know much about home "lending", I know quite a bit about home "buying" - as I used to work for a minor subsidiary of NAR.
Gotcha. I must have misunderstood the way you wrote it. I will say that a 55% back end DTI is rather high with a manual underwrite. I would assume you have some pretty strong compensating factors. Also, I'm still a bit confused on the 3% for the Realtor's commission coming from the lender, and how it would get rolled into the loan. Like I said, not trying to bash you or anything, just wanted you to be informed. It sounds like the professionals you are working with are doing a pretty good job with that. Best of luck to you.
If that agent has been doing it for 35 years he's been through at least 3 ugly cycles like this one. I'd stick with him unless he proves in some way that he isn't providing you with the service you need.
I have 2 older folks in my shop neither of whom is technically able. I value their experience and I often end up doing the technical stuff for them.
Good luck to you in any case
I agree and I'm an agent who works with first time homebuyers. I'd stick with him. I think you're going to be surprised. Don't forget, agents spend a great deal of time working with other agents and discussing inventory. If you tell your agent you want to know about listings that are pre-mls or non-mls, if he's a "stand up guy" he will network to find them for you.
It's the principle of the thing. Coming from years of customer service experience I have certain expectations. One of those: I don't think I should have to tell someone that I want "above and beyond" level of service; it should be a standard. They should want to do it to 'wow' me, not do it because I asked them to.
And again, I want someone who is aggressive enough to want to get me into a home that works for me, without trying to override me and my limitations, whatever they may be.
Lastly, and this is a personal thing with me, I want someone who's learned enough about all of the tools (technology-related or otherwise) to achieve that goal. Now maybe it's my fault for working with a veteran rather than someone young and hungry, but I figure someone young and hungry is more apt to making mistakes - which I'm not quite tolerant of.
I would say that you are a pretty demanding customer. That's not meant as a slight in any way, but you might be onto something by suggesting that a "hungrier" agent may be a better fit, and the trade-off of less experience may be part of the price you'll have to pay for that attitude.
In hindsight, it probably would have been a good idea to very very specific about your expectations. I know that you don't want to have to ask someone to go above and beyond, but let's face it, every agent has their preferences and expectations too. If you would have been up front about yours, this agent may have subtley suggested that you work with someone else.
You have every right to have high expectations. But I suppose it isn't particularly surprising to hear that your agent was disappointing in light of your expectations.
My only suggestion would be that you search your conscience to see if you really feel ok with continuing to let the agent spend time on you when you have already decided that his method isn't working and that you plan to fire him.
Good luck, and let us know if you find someone that is more of a go-getter.
It's the principle of the thing. Coming from years of customer service experience I have certain expectations. One of those: I don't think I should have to tell someone that I want "above and beyond" level of service; it should be a standard. They should want to do it to 'wow' me, not do it because I asked them to.
And again, I want someone who is aggressive enough to want to get me into a home that works for me, without trying to override me and my limitations, whatever they may be.
Lastly, and this is a personal thing with me, I want someone who's learned enough about all of the tools (technology-related or otherwise) to achieve that goal. Now maybe it's my fault for working with a veteran rather than someone young and hungry, but I figure someone young and hungry is more apt to making mistakes - which I'm not quite tolerant of.
The best agents shine from contract to close. That's where the real customer service comes in.
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