good to hear.

(carpets and refinishing before paint, but I'm sure you know this)

Congrats!

Yes, definitely. I have a refinisher coming in tomorrow to give us a quote. I can at least start picking out paint colors to see what we like. Seems like I just did that as we were repainting our house this past spring (before knowing we were going to sell). Not sure my paint color choices have changed, but new house, different floors, different lighting, maybe they have.

I also have a bathroom remodeler coming tomorrow and have phone calls out for others. The owner of the house wouldn't let us go in before settlement to get estimates from contractors. A BIG painl

You probably already know this, but you are super lucky on the dirt cheap rent back.  As a buyer, I would never allow a rent back - too much aggravation and potential liability.

Congrats on moving forward!

Grats!

Yes, the double closing is a toughie which is why we always avoided it.  When we bought (twice now), we were renting and went to renting when we sold.   It worked out for us and it's just plain easier.  I realize some folks can't do this. 

One more thing you may want to do (like you don't have enough already), if you didn't get your seller to do this, get your carpets (if you aren't replacing them), deep cleaned before moving in.  It's nice and the carpets will be all "fresh" and puffed up.  Grats again!

mams99,

We just agreed on the price to purchase a house too.  Do you mind sharing your experience on the home inspector, title company and the loan rate/loan officer info?  It'll be helpful to me if you can share, otherwise, I understand.  Thanks.

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Venturion wrote:

You probably already know this, but you are super lucky on the dirt cheap rent back.  As a buyer, I would never allow a rent back - too much aggravation and potential liability.

 

Congrats on moving forward!

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There are risks both side. We have a $1000 deposit we could lose. When we bought this house 5 years ago, the homeowner rented back from us for 6 weeks while her house being built was finished. Her need for a rent back was why we got this house cheaper 5 years ago, and part of the reason we were able to sell now without losing a penny and even after everything, still getting a positive return on the house.

 Interestingly, all three offers on this house offered us a rent back of 2-3 weeks if we needed it and that's WITHOUT us asking for it, but it makes sense. They want a house in 40 days, but they realize most likely we also need a house on the other end and most people who bought in 2004 won't be able to do a noncontingent sale.

 It's also interesting to finally meet the buyers at settlement. All along I thought for sure it was going to be a family with kids who would want our home, but the buyer is divorcee in her 60s. What sold the house for her? Being move in ready and my gourmet kitchen. She's a cookie baker and she fell in love with the mix of granite on the counters and butcher block on the island and really loved it had a pull out pantry. She also really loved our patio with perennial garden. Having a new, nicely done master bathroom didn't hurt either. For an older townhouse in this area, it really is a little gem. She'll fit in nicely with our neighbors too who are all in the late fifties and sixties too.

 Venturion - you've settled on yours by now, right? Anything to mention about the process?

Not sure where you bought, but we sold in Fairfax County VA and bought in Howard County MD.

We loved the service of our home inspector (not sure if he does just MD). But that's David Goldberg of Reliable Home Services http://www.rhsinspection.com/ was a redfin recommended home inspector and we were very happy with him. He was thorough and we had a pdf write up that night with a list of problems, description and ranked with how high of a priority it is to get fixed. We had about 25 photos for our house. He was professional and friendly.

Our lender was Michael Katalinas with Suntrust Mortgage, another redfin recommended lender on the website, but he wasn't on the list Taylor of Redfin gave us after we got the house. He was very good and was able to get us a good loan. His communication sometimes was a little slow in coming. He would say he would call that day and wouldn't. We would have to call the next day. Phone worked faster than emails with him, but... he was thorough and they did things cleanly, early and correctly.

Not sure where the rates are now, but we locked in for 45 days (was able to get a 3 day extension with no penalty) at 4.5 percent for 30 years with paying a half point. We were putting down a 20% deposit, so it was a conventional loan. We were planning on doing a 5 or 7 year arm initially (and we did ask for that write up from him as well), but in the end, decided that these all time low interest rates were not likely to stay anywhere near this low and in the end decided it was in our best interest to stay at a 30 year loan - only because we do plan on staying in this home for no less than 15 years. If we thought it would only be 5-10 years. We would have done a 5 or 7 year arm as that is a better deal right now and would still probably end up saving a home owner over the life of the loans if they don't plan on living in the house for a really long time. But, we still do plan on paying down that loan faster than 30 years. Once we move and I get back into the workforce, we'll work on paying it down as fast as possible to be debt free as quickly as possible.

As far as settlement companies go - both we worked with seemed fine. We didn't pick either. Our buyer picked one and Taylor picked the other.  Selling side we used MBH out of Annandale, VA and buying side we used Sage Title out of Timonium, MD.

Hope this is helpful.

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ilikeallofu wrote:

mams99,

 

We just agreed on the price to purchase a house too.  Do you mind sharing your experience on the home inspector, title company and the loan rate/loan officer info?  It'll be helpful to me if you can share, otherwise, I understand.  Thanks.

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mams99 wrote:

Venturion - you've settled on yours by now, right? Anything to mention about the process?

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I'm working on a refi, not a new home (unfortunately).  Yes, it seems as though rates rose recently.  Like you I'm more apt to take a 5-year ARM.  However, I think I'm punting the whole process as my existing variable rate HELOC is just too attractive, and I have 100% LTV.  I'm at Prime - 1% for $200K and Prime for $155K.  If I refi, the best I might be able to do is 4.5% (+- .25% with points) on a 5/5 ARM with a big reduction in available credit since I will go to 80% LTV AND my appraisal was $20K lower.  Your 4.5% 30-year rate seems ideal.

For the benefit of the other poster, I also had good experience with MBH when I bought my home a few years ago.  The trick as a buyer is to find a rock bottom cost out-of-state or Internet-based settlement company and use its estimate to negotiate with your local settlement company.  I don't have the name handy, but you can find this comparison settlement company on other Internet forums.