Just signed on our first house (PICS INSIDE)

[ThePresence]

Looks like a nice spot, congrats.
We bought our first house this year as well.
2.35% is great! We got 3.75 which was considered fantastic at the time.
It's not FHA, so we had to put down 20%.
Our purchase price was $400k, down from the asking price of $435. Nerve-wracking process, but so worth it at the end.

 

[GT1999]

Nice looking home, congrats. One question; are those windows in the basement the only means of egress? They look very small.

There's a door leading outside that is right above the stairs that goes down to the basement. I guess you'd call it "the back door". No pun intended.

Edit: Once my dad and I remodel the basement bathroom (which we've both done at our old house) and we get the kitchen complete downstairs, we could technically rent it out for supplemental income if the need arises, which came to my mind when I was looking at the place. So if one of us loses our jobs, or she wants to be a stay at home mom, we could have ~$900 or more go towards our mortgage.

People underestimate basements...

 

[Tweak155]

There's a door leading outside that is right above the stairs that goes down to the basement. I guess you'd call it "the back door". No pun intended.

Edit: Once my dad and I remodel the basement bathroom (which we've both done at our old house) and we get the kitchen complete downstairs, we could technically rent it out for supplemental income if the need arises, which came to my mind when I was looking at the place. So if one of us loses our jobs, or she wants to be a stay at home mom, we could have ~$900 or more go towards our mortgage.

People underestimate basements...

You can't legally have someone living in the basement without egress windows. If the stairs are on fire / destroyed, your plan of action has no value. There has to be a way out immediately from the basement (more specifically - the room they sleep in).

 

[ThePresence]

You can't legally have someone living in the basement without egress windows. If the stairs are on fire / destroyed, your plan of action has no value. There has to be a way out immediately from the basement.

Nobody mentioned legally. Shush.

 

[GT1999]

You can't legally have someone living in the basement without egress windows. If the stairs are on fire / destroyed, your plan of action has no value. There has to be a way out immediately from the basement (more specifically - the room they sleep in).

Then we would live in the basement and rent out the upper level. More $$$ that way anyway.

 

[Tweak155]

Then we would live in the basement and rent out the upper level. More $$$ that way anyway.

Lol. Wouldn't be legal for you, either. Unless you're not human. Then I think you're in the clear!

 

[GT1999]

Lol. Wouldn't be legal for you, either. Unless you're not human. Then I think you're in the clear!

I could dig a hole with a pick like the Shawshank Redemption. "There's your damn escape route, NOW SHEW"

 

[Sheep]

It's a very expensive area. Good schools, close to the city (arguably THE best burb to live in close to the Chicago city limits, and it is in Cook County).

So Evanston or Oak Park?

Whatever you do, find a good home inspector who's NOT associated with your realtor. I know it goes against the ATOT way of "I don't need no stinkin' inspector--I can do it myself!!" but a few hundred dollars spent now can save you thousands. I live in Chicago proper and used Speaker of the House (which is actually one guy) and he inspected and documented EVERYTHING and explained it all so even a dummy like me could understand it, including stuff I never would have given a second glance.

Looks like a nice place. IMO, the hardest part is over assuming the inspection goes well. Congrats!

 

[GT1999]

So Evanston or Oak Park?

Whatever you do, find a good home inspector who's NOT associated with your realtor. I know it goes against the ATOT way of "I don't need no stinkin' inspector--I can do it myself!!" but a few hundred dollars spent now can save you thousands. I live in Chicago proper and used Speaker of the House (which is actually one guy) and he inspected and documented EVERYTHING and explained it all so even a dummy like me could understand it, including stuff I never would have given a second glance.

Looks like a nice place. IMO, the hardest part is over assuming the inspection goes well. Congrats!

Both are great but no. I would agree Evanston is the best (so my previous statement just became void), but Oak Park has really bad areas except around Lake Street. The burb we'll be in is much better than Oak Park. Almost no bad areas.

 

[GT1999]

Earnest money dropped. Home inspection Sunday. Radon testing drop next Monday and results next Wed. I'll reply back here, hopefully everything goes smooth.

 

[Vdubchaos]

So Evanston or Oak Park?

Whatever you do, find a good home inspector who's NOT associated with your realtor. I know it goes against the ATOT way of "I don't need no stinkin' inspector--I can do it myself!!" but a few hundred dollars spent now can save you thousands. I live in Chicago proper and used Speaker of the House (which is actually one guy) and he inspected and documented EVERYTHING and explained it all so even a dummy like me could understand it, including stuff I never would have given a second glance.

Looks like a nice place. IMO, the hardest part is over assuming the inspection goes well. Congrats!

People here assume inspection is worthless?

People here must be out of their minds.

:biggrin:

Not getting inspection is like buying a used car with no service records and not having your mechanic check it >>>>>blind

 

[Todd33]

$228k? That is almost as much as my down payment on my new house. Bay Area sucks.

 

[Blackjack200]

You can't legally have someone living in the basement without egress windows. If the stairs are on fire / destroyed, your plan of action has no value. There has to be a way out immediately from the basement (more specifically - the room they sleep in).

From the infallible internet:

An egress window must satisfy all four Internatioinal Residential Code (IRC) criteria:

Minimum width of opening: 20 in.
Minimum height of opening: 24 in.
Minimum net clear opening: 5.7 sq. ft. (5.0 sq. ft. for ground floor).
Maximum sill height above floor: 44 in

Doesn't look like it's 24 inches high, but it could be deceptive, I gotta imagine a lot of those basement windows are sized for egress.

Either way, he wouldn't be the first out-of-compliance landlord. Hope there's not a fire.

 

[FallenHero]

Thanks for the recommendation. I called him and he seems like a good guy and also it's a good price, unfortunately I'm going to have to call our lender to see if we require an FHA inspection. If we do we may have to go that route.

We used him and our house is on an FHA loan as well for what that is worth. The details of buying are a blur to me now because once the process started it moved very quickly.

 

[Sheep]

People here assume inspection is worthless?

People here must be out of their minds.

:biggrin:

Not getting inspection is like buying a used car with no service records and not having your mechanic check it >>>>>blind

It might not be the majority view (thankfully), but I'm 100% certain I've read a handful of ATOT posts suggesting that home inspections are costly and pointless since the inspector is essentially doing something you can do yourself.

 

[iRONic]

There's a door leading outside that is right above the stairs that goes down to the basement. I guess you'd call it "the back door". No pun intended.

Edit: Once my dad and I remodel the basement bathroom (which we've both done at our old house) and we get the kitchen complete downstairs, we could technically rent it out for supplemental income if the need arises, which came to my mind when I was looking at the place. So if one of us loses our jobs, or she wants to be a stay at home mom, we could have ~$900 or more go towards our mortgage.

People underestimate basements...

Perhaps ask the inspector if those basement windows are up to snuff regarding local codes...?

 

[GT1999]

Perhaps ask the inspector if those basement windows are up to snuff regarding local codes...?

Even if they aren't I'll still buy it. I have a lot invested in it already.

- Time and effort looking. My fiancee has a very specific area we had to look in
- $500 attorney fee for contract work and clauses, advice, and time
- ~$300 home inspection
- ~$200 Radon testing


It would have to be very costly for me to want to back out of it. Like:

Inspector: "Hey, you have termites"
Me: "FFFFffhhhhh"
Me (To Lawyer): "Get us out of this mess"

 

[Vdubchaos]

It might not be the majority view (thankfully), but I'm 100% certain I've read a handful of ATOT posts suggesting that home inspections are costly and pointless since the inspector is essentially doing something you can do yourself.

For most people, no way in hell.

For SOME, sure.

I have done MANY projects around the house (just about anything) and I would trust someone that has experience and knowledge OVER myself.

It's the biggest purchase of your LIFE. You BETTER make sure someone else with experience and knowledge make sure it's worth it.

PS. I do understand many inspectors are worthless though.

 

[RearAdmiral]

Yeah, good credit on both our parts and FHA giving out credits = low rate

This is why we bought now and locked our rate in yesterday which will be good until after closing.

House looks great! Tell me about these "credits." Did you buy down your rate?

 

[RearAdmiral]

$228k? That is almost as much as my down payment on my new house. Bay Area sucks.

I will do you for money.

 

[iRONic]

Even if they aren't I'll still buy it. I have a lot invested in it already.

- Time and effort looking. My fiancee has a very specific area we had to look in
- $500 attorney fee for contract work and clauses, advice, and time
- ~$300 home inspection
- ~$200 Radon testing


It would have to be very costly for me to want to back out of it. Like:

Inspector: "Hey, you have termites"
Me: "FFFFffhhhhh"
Me (To Lawyer): "Get us out of this mess"

Or;


Inspector: "Those basement windows don't meet building code due to windows are too small for emergency egress. Current contractors are upgrading nearby properties for ~$7.500.00 per window."
Me: "FFFFffhhhhh"
Me: "We'll never have a fire down there."

 

[GT1999]

House looks great! Tell me about these "credits." Did you buy down your rate?

I'm not an expert on this so I will just go by what our lender told us.

Basically, FHA has rates and deals that come and go on an almost daily basis. As of right now, there is a charge of 2 points JUST to use an FHA load. They however are offering credit points. We have extra, over the 2 to be counted against us which are being used to buy down our rate.

2 weeks ago they had an offer where if we locked in our rate and closed under 45 days, they would give us over $1000 towards whatever we wanted (I believe closing, but I'm not 100% on that).

So, once you find a house it's in your best interest to lock in your rate when there's a good deal and you're going to close within 45 days.

FWIW, this is FHA only. I believe conventional is very different as you aren't really going through the government. With conventional, it's all about how much money you put down. The more you put down, the lower your rate (can) be. This also goes with FHA but instead it works with your PMI being lowered.

 

[SAWYER]

Nice kitchen and no need to be a city snob. Not everyone wants to live in a big city, I will take my 70k city and almost paid for house(10k or so left)!

 

[momeNt]

I was going to say this looked like a chicago galewood or suburb house, which would mean I would probably guess Oak Park, but I don't spend much time around Evanston to know what the houses look like.

 

[Vdubchaos]

I'm not an expert on this so I will just go by what our lender told us.

Basically, FHA has rates and deals that come and go on an almost daily basis. As of right now, there is a charge of 2 points JUST to use an FHA load. They however are offering credit points. We have extra, over the 2 to be counted against us which are being used to buy down our rate.

2 weeks ago they had an offer where if we locked in our rate and closed under 45 days, they would give us over $1000 towards whatever we wanted (I believe closing, but I'm not 100% on that).

So, once you find a house it's in your best interest to lock in your rate when there's a good deal and you're going to close within 45 days.

FWIW, this is FHA only. I believe conventional is very different as you aren't really going through the government. With conventional, it's all about how much money you put down. The more you put down, the lower your rate (can) be. This also goes with FHA but instead it works with your PMI being lowered.

The more you talk the more scary it all sounds. You paid 2 points on your loan? That's a fail. Rule of thumb is not to pay ANY points.......EVER. Points = money right into lenders pockets. Think of it as putting down payment on a car lease...it's best to pay NOTHING.

And no, it doesn't change on daily basis.

You are putting WAY too much trust/faith into your lender.

What is your APR on your loan? You don't have to answer but I will tell you that APR is a clear sign of upfront costs FOR YOU to YOUR lender. If your loan is 3.25% and you APR is anything more than .1-.2% more than that......they are taking you to the bank.

To give you an example, my first loan was 6.125/6.25APR
Refinance 5.25/5.3APR
2nd refinance 4.25/4.35APR

Since you are going with Chase and don't have a decent down payment I can already tell you will pay too much. YOU WANT TO STAY AWAY FROM THESE BIG BANKS for MANY reasons. One of them is them being really REALLY good at hiding fees.

Reason #1(you will find out VERY soon) is because their contracts are like books and there isn't many people in the industry that can even understand it (don't count on your lawyer on doing it either).

Reason #2 they are known to take their sweet time to process everything (BOA is notorious for this)....Chase little better. DO NOT count on that 45 day closing/credit. NOTHING is guaranteed unless they put it on paper/sign.

Let me take a wild guess, you are using a broker too right?