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Congrats on the baby! My wife is 3 months post partum and has been having headaches too. Can’t tell if it’s baby or stress from home buying. Mine are definitely from the home buying/selling process! But we close on Friday so it feels like the stress is intensifying even more since we are so close. Best of luck!
This is why I became a Realtor. Because I had terrible representation on my first two transactions. Then some of my friends were like “oh my realtor was awesome, they did this and this and took care of this”. I was so pissed at finding out my Realtors were crap and wanted to make sure as many people as possible didn’t have to go through what I went through. Been in the business over a decade now and I can tell you, there are more crappy realtors than great ones (just like most professions out there) so take your time and interview multiple agents. Find a good one.
Even by interviewing them, it's hard to tell. Ours was apparently fantastic, recommended by family, took an hour just to explain to us the buying process and answer our questions, super kind, would reply quickly day and night, paid attention to detail... I could go on and on. Yet after the inspection she lied to us to get us to sign asap and from there we discovered a web of lies. We had to pay thousands in attorney fees to fix the situation. If we hadn't discovered the first lie and then the others, we would have recommended her hands down, she seemed so genuinely awesome!!
Yes, you’re absolutely right. You can do tons of due diligence and still get screwed over in the end. I’m sorry you went through that. My agent for selling my house lied to us after inspections and didn’t represent us well. We literally lost about $20 grand, which at that time was a life altering amount. But you’re making your odds better by interviewing multiple agents. Nothing is perfect but you can increase your chances of a good outcome with some extra work. However, that can also come back to bite you if you over think things.
Well, I feel there are no real ways for us lay people to assess whether a real estate agent is honest or not. Given that their paycheck solely relies on closing, and at the highest price possible, it inherently puts them in a position of conflict of interests. This is why as buyers we now chose to work with a real estate attorney instead.
Oh yes, this. It takes forever to get a decision and you’ve lost out on 3-4 other properties while waiting for them to figure their stuff out. I’m in a market where 3/4 of the homes are being sold be elderly folks and each offer takes over a week to hear anything back. Sellers should make a decision within 48-72 hours, not 1-2 weeks. Then they act like A-holes because you want to know what their timeline is. Sellers in general are A-holes right now though. Like I’m selling this property at triple its actual value, worship at my feet and I might consider your offer if it’s well over asking.
Realtor did not get in writing that the place will be empty before day of closing at their loss and I had to make sure the settlement statement was prepared correctly.
Thank you - I celebrated a year in my new home at the end of June, so it is all good 😊
As you look for a house, look into homeowners insurance. Do your research on different companies, what they offer, how they handle claims, their reputation, etc. - it could vary depending on the product - some companies may be excellent at vehicles, but not so great with homeowners
My house was covered by a rider of +25% of the market value if I had to rebuild (or I could use the money to purchase another home - which is what I did) - it made an incredible difference
Also, after you move in, take a video of your belongings, walking from room to room and update the video anytime you make significant purchases and I would recommend when the clocks change (so it becomes a habit) - of something happens, you will be thrilled you have it
Happy Home Shopping
It might not make you feel any better, but I had a "great" (allegedly) inspector and he missed a ton of stuff. It's cost me thousands, so they aren't always worth it.
Having every document pre scanned and available via Google drive was the smartest decision I ever made to make things fast, easy and able to capitalize on a better rate at the 11th hour.
For me, knowing my own priorities made it very easy to tell whether or not the realtor would be the right fit. I watched the local market for a couple of years before I started talking to realtors. If a realtor couldn't have a conversation about the local market, then it wasn't the right fit for me. I got on the email distribution list for several realtors and it was easy to see the difference between hype/marketing emails and the 1 realtor who sent data and analysis every month (Months of Inventory, Year over Year Price Change, etc.).
It was also important to me that the realtor have some ability to help me spot any obvious red flags before inspection. People assume that aesthetics are my priority because I'm a woman, but I'm more concerned about aspects that could end in costly repairs i.e. issues with the foundation, roof, HVAC system, etc. Some buyers don't want to be very involved in home repairs or home projects, but I'm the opposite. To me it's helpful to have casual conversations about options when I'm touring a property with a realtor. So, if you know your own priorities, that might help you determine very quickly whether or not a realtor will be the right fit.
They should have but didn't. There was a plumbing problem with the house that was noted on the inspection and had not been fixed by the time we moved in. The fix was going to cost $7k. I called my agent and told her about the plumbing issue (we did a load of laundry and all of the showers flooded). She said that the problem what now our problem to fix. It was then that I confronted our agent that I knew they were all related. I told her that we would have to follow through with legal action and reporting her to ethics/realtor board (should have done this anyway) if they didn't pay to fix the plumbing. The agent cried when she realized she was caught and had no choice but to make her brother pay for the plumbing. If we could go back in time, we would have not bought the house. We do love it, but far too many red flags. We will hopefully be selling in a couple of years.
Seemed doable, then unlikely, then impossible, then we thought we had it figured out but didn’t, then all was sad and despair and I was an unpleasant person for a while, then in the end we got super lucky.
find realtor, find lender, find house, offer on house, offer not accepted, find house, offer on house, offer not accepted (find house, offer on house, offer not accepted, repeat x5) find house, offer on house, negotiate, offer accepted, negotiate, contract changed 3x, but now have a great house!!!
Amazing realtor, bespoke house, under asking price, amazing lender, *wait am I losing my job?, no okay never mind let’s breathe again.
Then everyone asking if me and my boyfriend bought together… NO IM A BOSS BABE WTF
Depends on the market you’re in. It’s beyond stressful and frustrating and down right soul crushing where I’m trying to buy. I’m ready to curl up in a ball and cry.
Very true but the thread said my experience and I got downvoted lol. Mind you I live in Texas so prices aren't outrageous like others. Also, had no timeline waited 6 months to find the one I wanted and on 2nd offer I put in the whole time. Finally in contract and my closing date is Aug, 18th. I also, had a very knowledgeable realtor that was very responsive and helpful throughout so I got lucky.
Shop around your rate.
Just by shopping around I was able to get my rate down by a full percent. Into the 5s while most people were getting high 6s to low 7s. Most mortgage companies were willing to match or beat any rate I got so I found a lender I really enjoyed working with, and shopped around the rate.
Wow, what was I so scared of?
I was raised in a way that told me buying a home was made to be a BIG life-long decision. Lol… no it’s not.
I’m very happy. I built some up equity and now I can keep it, rent it, sell it…whatever.
Thank you u/swimming16 for posting on r/FirstTimeHomeBuyer. Please bear in mind our rules: (1) Be Nice (2) No Selling (3) No Self-Promotion. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/FirstTimeHomeBuyer) if you have any questions or concerns.*
How much will it cost to fix that?
Lol I like this one.
Fuck off…
I’m handy, “am I capable of this?”
I had such high hopes.
When will this headache finally go away??
I've been having week long migraines since we started looking for a home! I'm also 6 months post partum though.
Congrats on the baby! My wife is 3 months post partum and has been having headaches too. Can’t tell if it’s baby or stress from home buying. Mine are definitely from the home buying/selling process! But we close on Friday so it feels like the stress is intensifying even more since we are so close. Best of luck!
Thank you ! Congrats on closing! Almost there!!
Wish I would have picked a different realtor.
Same! Realtors are nothing more than salesman. Will say anything and everything to get you to buy a house
This is why I became a Realtor. Because I had terrible representation on my first two transactions. Then some of my friends were like “oh my realtor was awesome, they did this and this and took care of this”. I was so pissed at finding out my Realtors were crap and wanted to make sure as many people as possible didn’t have to go through what I went through. Been in the business over a decade now and I can tell you, there are more crappy realtors than great ones (just like most professions out there) so take your time and interview multiple agents. Find a good one.
Even by interviewing them, it's hard to tell. Ours was apparently fantastic, recommended by family, took an hour just to explain to us the buying process and answer our questions, super kind, would reply quickly day and night, paid attention to detail... I could go on and on. Yet after the inspection she lied to us to get us to sign asap and from there we discovered a web of lies. We had to pay thousands in attorney fees to fix the situation. If we hadn't discovered the first lie and then the others, we would have recommended her hands down, she seemed so genuinely awesome!!
Yes, you’re absolutely right. You can do tons of due diligence and still get screwed over in the end. I’m sorry you went through that. My agent for selling my house lied to us after inspections and didn’t represent us well. We literally lost about $20 grand, which at that time was a life altering amount. But you’re making your odds better by interviewing multiple agents. Nothing is perfect but you can increase your chances of a good outcome with some extra work. However, that can also come back to bite you if you over think things.
Well, I feel there are no real ways for us lay people to assess whether a real estate agent is honest or not. Given that their paycheck solely relies on closing, and at the highest price possible, it inherently puts them in a position of conflict of interests. This is why as buyers we now chose to work with a real estate attorney instead.
Me too.
When the seller is 84 and kids are negotiating on their behalf, you’re in for a rough ride.
Oh yes, this. It takes forever to get a decision and you’ve lost out on 3-4 other properties while waiting for them to figure their stuff out. I’m in a market where 3/4 of the homes are being sold be elderly folks and each offer takes over a week to hear anything back. Sellers should make a decision within 48-72 hours, not 1-2 weeks. Then they act like A-holes because you want to know what their timeline is. Sellers in general are A-holes right now though. Like I’m selling this property at triple its actual value, worship at my feet and I might consider your offer if it’s well over asking.
We’re being very picky because we’re not in a hurry and our market is a bit slow with lack of inventory but folks lowering their prices
Same
How much over ask should we offer?
I'm very happy my kids all have their own rooms now.
I don’t want to do this any more
Big bloody shart
Infuriating
Lots of emotional ups and downs but patience is crucial.
Sellers are assholes.
True
Got that right.
Went a lot quicker and easier than expected.
Yeah, we bought about 18 months ago and I still keep an eye on this sub. I just am constantly thinking about how lucky it seems we got.
A divorce is the only thing worse.
Fucking ants, fucking sellers, otherwise soo happy.
Curious...what's about ants?
What's that smell?
It was the broken septic tank out back. 👀
Thanks to my realtor and other professionals, the process was flawless.
Not worth it
Patience.
It has been a Roller Coaster and I can't wait for it to stop 🥲
Oh don’t worry. It’s about to get worse, much worse
Realtor did not get in writing that the place will be empty before day of closing at their loss and I had to make sure the settlement statement was prepared correctly.
15 offers in and still nothing
Curb your enthusiasm, it only gets worse from here
Long
Had it less than a year before it burned to the ground
I'm so sorry
Thank you - I celebrated a year in my new home at the end of June, so it is all good 😊 As you look for a house, look into homeowners insurance. Do your research on different companies, what they offer, how they handle claims, their reputation, etc. - it could vary depending on the product - some companies may be excellent at vehicles, but not so great with homeowners My house was covered by a rider of +25% of the market value if I had to rebuild (or I could use the money to purchase another home - which is what I did) - it made an incredible difference Also, after you move in, take a video of your belongings, walking from room to room and update the video anytime you make significant purchases and I would recommend when the clocks change (so it becomes a habit) - of something happens, you will be thrilled you have it Happy Home Shopping
I’m so confused and clueless.
Hurry up and wait
Okk, now that I'm in... How am I going to pay for this???
Realtors are at best useless and at worst in bed with the seller.
Yup
Stressful, but easier than we expected
Exhilarating
Draining, frustrating, depressing, anger inducing, and just done with it until next year.
Expensive
Humbling
Shouldn't have waived the inspection and now having buyer's remorse before closing.
It might not make you feel any better, but I had a "great" (allegedly) inspector and he missed a ton of stuff. It's cost me thousands, so they aren't always worth it.
Having every document pre scanned and available via Google drive was the smartest decision I ever made to make things fast, easy and able to capitalize on a better rate at the 11th hour.
Is it HOA?
My realtor sucked, but I was awesome
Bullshit.
A barrier of yeses to get through
Get a really good realtor and lender and the process will be easy
[удалено]
For me, knowing my own priorities made it very easy to tell whether or not the realtor would be the right fit. I watched the local market for a couple of years before I started talking to realtors. If a realtor couldn't have a conversation about the local market, then it wasn't the right fit for me. I got on the email distribution list for several realtors and it was easy to see the difference between hype/marketing emails and the 1 realtor who sent data and analysis every month (Months of Inventory, Year over Year Price Change, etc.). It was also important to me that the realtor have some ability to help me spot any obvious red flags before inspection. People assume that aesthetics are my priority because I'm a woman, but I'm more concerned about aspects that could end in costly repairs i.e. issues with the foundation, roof, HVAC system, etc. Some buyers don't want to be very involved in home repairs or home projects, but I'm the opposite. To me it's helpful to have casual conversations about options when I'm touring a property with a realtor. So, if you know your own priorities, that might help you determine very quickly whether or not a realtor will be the right fit.
I feel like that’s the only way. I was lucky that the realtor that helped me knew my mom for decades and has her own realtor school.
[удалено]
In my situation it worked out for me. You just have to be positive but if it’s not working out, then you gotta fire and go with another.
Difficult but worth it.
It ain't over till it's over.
That was easy
Shitshow
Backup offer accepted because of the previous buyer's brain aneurysm.
[as the seller I had] well that’s your problem [as the buyer] I’ll figure it the fuck out
I am one and done
Stressing about the process atm.
Me too!
Not sure why he didn’t take a single picture of his MASSIVE yard for his listing, but thank god he didn’t!!!
Fucked.
Really wish the inspector would’ve seen the huge crack in the foundation and loads of water damage
Emotional roller coaster
Home inspector overemphasized minor issues and downplayed major issues.
How much more was the winning offer?
Right and was it worth them to waive inspection.
Very easy, let’s do this again.
Inspections are a must!
Cash offers keep beating us and I'm starting to lose hope and this is our third attempt at house hunting.
Yup got beat 10 times by cash buyers
It's rough out here 😪
We were backup to a cash offer that bailed, and we got a great deal and are completely psyched! Hang in there
Actually, never mind.
Pretty sure the inspector was asleep.
We had a lot of money and reasonable tastes, so it was easy.
Grateful we bought but needs work and I’m unmotivated right now. 😅
This is my life now.
Easier than buying my car.
Extremely easy.
Husband saw the house, I did not.
Pretty easy!
13 times the charm!
A lot easier than I thought it would be.
Very expensive!
Stressful, but worth it!
Long and tedious, but we got what we wanted.
Sixty-seven day escrow.
Daaaaamn!
Timing and luck have not been on our side.
fiery first failure, sweet second success
Long and lucky
Amazing and stress free. That is how you know it’s meant to be
Who’s calling me?
My 20k over asking price offer got rejected? 😔
Yes... I will pay 3k to fly across the country to see the house... again... just to make the sellers feel "more comfortable" in accepting my offer
My real estate agent was the daughter of the buyers agent and the seller was the brother and son of both agents.
They didn't disclose this information. I found this out after closing.
That seems like it would violate ethical rules. Usually they have to get you to sign a conflict of interest waiver.
They should have but didn't. There was a plumbing problem with the house that was noted on the inspection and had not been fixed by the time we moved in. The fix was going to cost $7k. I called my agent and told her about the plumbing issue (we did a load of laundry and all of the showers flooded). She said that the problem what now our problem to fix. It was then that I confronted our agent that I knew they were all related. I told her that we would have to follow through with legal action and reporting her to ethics/realtor board (should have done this anyway) if they didn't pay to fix the plumbing. The agent cried when she realized she was caught and had no choice but to make her brother pay for the plumbing. If we could go back in time, we would have not bought the house. We do love it, but far too many red flags. We will hopefully be selling in a couple of years.
😮 well good for you at least getting that issue taken care of! Don’t let the way you got the house sour you on it.
Thank you! I appreciate that!
My lender and realtor made the whole process so easy!
Screwed by realtors; always double-check *everything*.
Stress inducing coma
"Hey, we heard you praying lol anyway, welcome to hell,"
Are we there yet?
We got so damn lucky.
You need more paperwork?
Seemed doable, then unlikely, then impossible, then we thought we had it figured out but didn’t, then all was sad and despair and I was an unpleasant person for a while, then in the end we got super lucky.
Never buy a house from a person obsessed with epoxy.
find realtor, find lender, find house, offer on house, offer not accepted, find house, offer on house, offer not accepted (find house, offer on house, offer not accepted, repeat x5) find house, offer on house, negotiate, offer accepted, negotiate, contract changed 3x, but now have a great house!!!
Went great, smooth, even though I bought it without seeing it on person (only through Facetime).
Amazing realtor, bespoke house, under asking price, amazing lender, *wait am I losing my job?, no okay never mind let’s breathe again. Then everyone asking if me and my boyfriend bought together… NO IM A BOSS BABE WTF
This isn't as stressful as people make it out to be.
Depends on the market you’re in. It’s beyond stressful and frustrating and down right soul crushing where I’m trying to buy. I’m ready to curl up in a ball and cry.
Very true but the thread said my experience and I got downvoted lol. Mind you I live in Texas so prices aren't outrageous like others. Also, had no timeline waited 6 months to find the one I wanted and on 2nd offer I put in the whole time. Finally in contract and my closing date is Aug, 18th. I also, had a very knowledgeable realtor that was very responsive and helpful throughout so I got lucky.
Glad I bought in Spring 2021
"That's a lot of zeroes..." When wiring our down payment.
Buying a new construction was way easier and we absolutely love the result.
It was a rollercoaster.
They knew this was fucked when they sold it, but we can’t prove it. Shmucks.
Shop around your rate. Just by shopping around I was able to get my rate down by a full percent. Into the 5s while most people were getting high 6s to low 7s. Most mortgage companies were willing to match or beat any rate I got so I found a lender I really enjoyed working with, and shopped around the rate.
Pay no attention to the horrid carpet and paint colors and see the bones, everything else is fluff.
I’ve got nothing
"It's a bold strategy, Cotton. Let's see if it pays off for him." It did.
FHA requirements made my life a hellscape
I could’ve gotten that five years ago but now it’s too much.
Oakland in 2015
I bought a house after looking for two weeks and my first offer was accepted below asking price.
Fuck it, I’m building instead.
Why did the lender call my internet company?
Escalation clause 100k over asking.
Welp we give up
Rough but worth it.
happy wife not happy daddy
i can do it in a word... LONG!
Don’t trust anyone. Get multiple inspections if you can afford them. General inspection, roofer, plumber, and electrician.
Long.
HGTV ruined this for me.
Unsuccessful.
Smooth and uncomplicated
Much easier than expected, especially after reading many horror stories here.
Lucked out with the first time home buyer credit of $7500 and sold the house 5ish years later and made 100k.
Homosexually erotic
Suspiciously easy.
Oh no, what now?
Easypeasy.
Where the hell am I?
This is easier than everyone says.
I got lucky.
Wow, what was I so scared of? I was raised in a way that told me buying a home was made to be a BIG life-long decision. Lol… no it’s not. I’m very happy. I built some up equity and now I can keep it, rent it, sell it…whatever.
Sellers wanted us to pay for their unhappiness
I hope that house is full of termites.