The Home Ownership Thread

[Gus]

As a data point for how crazy the NYC suburb market is right now, we overbid by a substantial sum and still missed out.

Wow! Crazy. I suppose the ultra low interest rates are a factor as well.

Good luck on your new home search.

 

[Omega Male]

Yup.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/06/manhattan-apartment-deals-plunge-57percent-suburban-real-estate-surges.html

 

[Gus]

Someone mentioned earlier about the enjoyment of a fire pit. Here in Santa Fe, many homes have kiva fireplaces built on to their covered patios. The smell of burning Pinon wood is especially nice. Our home doesn't have one, but when we first arrived and rented a home it had this set up which was very enjoyable. For our next construction project, we want to add something similar to this but with simple, contemporary angles to match the rest of the house.

 

[NorCal]

The local housing market is absolutely bonkers. About 40% of the typical inventory, selling over asking, selling within a week. Lots of folks fleeing SF and LA as well as people finally taking the plunge and buying their second home.

 

[cross22]

A buddy of mine just locked in 30 years @2.75%. Mind boggling.

 

[norcaltransplant]

A buddy of mine just locked in 30 years @2.75%. Mind boggling.

BofA actually offers 2.625% for a 30 year via relationship mortgage (500k in Merril Edge and/of BofA accounts, 250 bps discount). Or knock of 375 basis pt if you move over a cool 3 million

 

[Omega Male]

These roses are becoming victims of their own success.

 

[sugarbutch]

Off with their heads!

 

[Joytropics]

Title companies have a nice little scam going, don’t they?

They shuffle some paperwork and charge me $2k, knowing I won’t be able to deal with it when making a huge purchase.

 

[brokencycle]

Title companies have a nice little scam going, don’t they?

They shuffle some paperwork and charge me $2k, knowing I won’t be able to deal with it when making a huge purchase.

My wife is a real estate attorney and has done residential. It isn't quite that simple. Title companies actually have pretty low margins. Title insurance, however, has one of the lowest payouts of any insurance type.

 

[erictheobscure]

These roses are becoming victims of their own success.

View attachment 1437696

til i’m a rose

 

[jcman311]

My wife is a real estate attorney and has done residential. It isn't quite that simple. Title companies actually have pretty low margins. Title insurance, however, has one of the lowest payouts of any insurance type.

And yet when it works its amazing. Our old place we had city sidewalk replacement and we sort of forgot about the assessment payment. Sold the house and boom, title insurance paid for that sidewalk work because no one knew (even us) that there was an outstanding payment.

 

[jbarwick]

So we are a week on the market and have had quite a bit of interest. We priced maybe a little high but that was my wife’s choice. If we cut 3-4% we would get to the price I wanted to price at and what I think will sell at.

Also we went with a fixed price agent and there were 3 price tiers. We went with the mid-range which will save like $17K when all is said and done. While that pricing is nice, using them on the buy side is weird as they demand a 3% commission. Weird you want to be fixed fee for selling them demand 3% on the buy side.

 

[RedLantern]

I thinks it’s been oft cited around here that you typically end up with a higher price when starting high and then reducing, something like that’s typically what RE agents do when selling their own homes

 

[brokencycle]

So we are a week on the market and have had quite a bit of interest. We priced maybe a little high but that was my wife’s choice. If we cut 3-4% we would get to the price I wanted to price at and what I think will sell at.

Also we went with a fixed price agent and there were 3 price tiers. We went with the mid-range which will save like $17K when all is said and done. While that pricing is nice, using them on the buy side is weird as they demand a 3% commission. Weird you want to be fixed fee for selling them demand 3% on the buy side.

That is quite odd. What was different on the fixed pricing tiers? Did you go with a local group, through an internet company like Redfin, or a national agency?

I thinks it’s been oft cited around here that you typically end up with a higher price when starting high and then reducing, something like that’s typically what RE agents do when selling their own homes

Yes, per Zillow, female agents on average overprice and negotiate down resulting in a slightly higher overall price. Agents tend to make about 1-2% more on their own houses, but they take longer to sell. Makes sense because they get to pocket that 1-2% on their own house, but a 1% increase on their commission isn't meaningful compared to being able to do more deals.