HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
Newsgroups: misc.invest.real-estate

>I read somewhere that biweekly mortgages save money compared to 
>monthly mortgages.  I did some quick calculations with a simple example
>(shown below,) and found the saving is so marginal, I am not sure if
>biweekly plan has any advantage over monthly plan.

I looked at a semi-montly payment schedule, divide your payment in half and
pay twice per month.  Lots of people get paid twice per month, so this makes
some sense.

Anyway, I also found the gain to be very marginal.  After factoring in
my time and extra postage, it was an easy decision not to do it.

On the other hand, making small overpayments each month can make a dramatic
difference.  As an example, paying an extra $32/month on a $100,000 mortgage
at 10% will reduce the term of the load from 30 years to 25 years.
From: johnp@hpgrla.gr.hp.com (John Parsons)
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1992 18:37:35 GMT
Subject: Followup: Deadbeat 2nd mortgage
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Greeley, CO
Newsgroups: misc.invest.real-estate


A few months ago I posed the following situation to misc.invest
in search of opinions & suggestions:

  In July '89 I had sold a duplex in Calif.  The buyer paid
  10% down, got a 1st mortgage for 80%, and I carried a 2nd
  for the remaining 10%.

  Terms of the 2nd were: interest = 12%, monthly payments of
  interest only, balance due in 3 years (July '92).

  He rented both units, apparently planning to eat the monthly
  losses for 2 or 3 years while riding the real estate rocket,
  and eventually sell at a big profit.  I moved to Colorado.

  Meanwhile, the rocket fizzled, and in late April this year
  the owner called, said the property was now appraised at 85%
  of original sale price, he wants to pay off the 2nd at a discount
  so he can get a new 1st at a substantially lower rate to cut his
  monthly losses.  He was offering 65% of loan value.

At first I was flabbergasted.  This guy promised to pay me $X, and
now he wants to back out.  Of all the nerve!  Didn't his mother ever
teach him to never make a promise that he couldn't keep?  :-0

Certain people then taught me that this was not only a matter of
personal integrity, that it was an "investment" on my part, with
associated risks.  The risk here is that when the market goes
down, the mortgage holder shares the loss with the owner.  Sure,
but if the market had gone way up, I don't think the owner would
call and say, "Hey, John, I made a fortune on this place and I
want to share some of the profit with you!"

Essentially, I learned that the amount in dispute would not cover
my costs of foreclosing, managing, and re-selling, especially from
1,000 miles away.  I should take what I could, and run.

So I called the owner back, he agreed to pay off at 75% of loan
value, and he did, one month early.  Adding the interest payments
I've received over the last 3 years, I've recovered my 10% of the
sale price, plus a little, so I'm considering myself lucky.

Anyone else had a similar experience?

Older and somewhat wiser,

John Parsons   johnp@gr.hp.com
From: jms@vision.sarnoff.com (Jerry Shapiro x2420)
Newsgroups: misc.invest.real-estate
Subject: Re: Help needed with Rental property
Date: 22 Jul 92 19:51:34 GMT
Reply-To: jms@vision.sarnoff.com
Organization: David Sarnoff Research Center

I sympathize with your situation.

Do you now live in the condo?  Are you sure that you can rent a
property that only costs $29,000 for $600 a month?  That sounds to me
like a money machine. Around here (Princeton), the rents have been
dropping along with the prices and renters are often negotiating a
lower rent. In a healthy market it costs more to buy than to rent.  I
gather that you are now paying about $900 per month and you can't
refinance because there is no equity? You may have trouble qualifying
for a loan on another condo because you have $34,000 in debt that's
effectively unsecured. You may want to talk to an attorney to help you
negotiate with your lender to help you refinance. The current note
holder has some incentive to negotiate because there is some leverage
in your potential threat to walk away (don't actually do this, it will
destroy your credit). At least if you refinance, you show the lender
your intentions to make good on the principal and the desire on your
part to maintain your credit standing.  If you have the money, maybe
you want to payoff enough of the principal so that you can reduce your
negative cash flow.  You may also want to consider renting a house
yourself to live in.  There are probably plently of people in your
situation higher up on the food chain. If the prices go up, your condo
goes up, and you can buy a house. If the prices go down further, you
can negotiate a lower rent on the house you're living in.

Good Luck,
Jerry Shapiro
Newsgroups: misc.invest.real-estate
From: 18971@rhodes.aero.org
Subject: Re: Need Info on Appraisal
Keywords: appraisal report
Organization: The Aerospace Corporation, El Segundo, CA. USA
Distribution: usa
Date: 22 Jul 92 08:07:45 PDT

In article <1992Jul22.021844.17869@adobe.com>, kendall@adobe.com (Janice Kendall) writes:
> 
> I am interested in knowing about the appraisal process.  If I am buying
> a house, the lender will send an appraiser out to make sure the loan is
> secured by the value of the house.  I will be billed for the cost of the
> appraisal.  
> 
> Does the potential buy generally get a copy of the appraisal report (that
> they paid for)?  
> 
> Do they generally get the report during escrow or at the closing?
> 
> Thanks,
>    
>  Janice Kendall    kendall@adobe.com    ...!{decwrl|sun}!adobe!kendall
> 
> 	"Creativity overcomes violence"
> 			John Bradshaw in "Homecoming"
>
 A little known law was passed and became effective as of December 1991.
This law requires the financial institution to comply with the customer's
written request for a copy of the appraisal that he/she pays for. This
information came from a recent article in the Los Angeles Times. Banks and
S&L do not like this law and will in general not tell customers about it
voluntarily because of potential law suits and liability.

My recommendation is ask first for the good faith estimate of the closing
cost. You should receive it within 3 days after turning in you loan
application as required by law (Regulation Z). If this statement shows a
charge for appraisal, send in a written request for appraisal report
when it is available to the bank. If appraisal fee is not shown, ask
about it to be sure who would pay.
Good luck. Let us know the result.
Quan
From: ben@bailey.UUCP (Ben Bailey)
Subject: Re: Listing price of a home and a good offer
Newsgroups: misc.invest.real-estate
Date: 21 Jul 92 02:41:05 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: Ben Bailey's Home..Tampa Fl.

> < Gary H > writes
> > Does anyone know in terms of percentage what a house sells for relative to
> > it's listing price (at current market conditions)? I've been doing some
> > reasearch into this and (of the little info I've received) I've calculated 
> > the actual selling price at about 91-93% of the listing price.

Who cares?  None of those mean anything!  You need to go down to the tax
appraisel's office and the county records department and find out what
houses really are selling for!  That's what you are actually after...
not to pay too much for the house in the neighborhood!

All that information is available at the courthouse.  What the house you
are looking at was purchased for by the (now) seller.  Then looking at
what other houses are selling for in the neighborhood, you've got
enough information to make an informed offer.

Also, if the house is vacant, see if you can find out what his other 
mortgage payments are.  If he's still in the same county, you can look
that up in the same place.  If he's makeing two payments of $1400/month,
he'll be pretty open to a low ball offer.  Your research will tell you
what a low ball offer is.  

Be cautious of comps!  They are given by someone that stands to make money
if you buy.  Develope your own comps at the courthouse for your own
comparison.

--
Ben Bailey                 ben@bailey.uucp -- bailey!ben@uunet.uu.net
12210 Shady Forest Dr.     ben@bailey.tscs.com
Riverview, Fl. 33569       -- A programmer without his computer is like a 
813-677-5021                  boy without his dog.
Newsgroups: misc.invest.real-estate
From: asylvain@felix.filenet.com (The Chipmunk)
Newsgroups: misc.invest.real-estate
Subject: Re: test - ignore
Date: 21 Jul 92 19:05:10 GMT
            <AJG.92Jul8133855@sp1.ccd.harris.com>
            <1992Jul13.215751.10021@rtsg.mot.com>
            <1920@tivoli.UUCP>
            <14502@umd5.umd.edu>
            <2002@tivoli.UUCP>
Reply-To: asylvain@fritz.filenet.com (The Chipmunk)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Foundation for the Increased Wealth of Chipmunks

Written in article <2002@tivoli.UUCP>
 by dfavor@logan.tivoli.com (David Favor):

: test

No!

-- 
The Chipmunk.
Opinions are mine, batteries not included, void where prohibited.
If we do not change our direction we are likely to end up where we are
headed.
Newsgroups: misc.invest.real-estate
From: bd670@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Russell I. Dyreng)
Subject: Re: Mortgage rate locking info
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, (USA)
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 92 15:32:59 GMT


Regarding locking in at a given interest rate and then the rate 
dropping prior to closing.  If the rate drop occurs  at a point
in time when you are  near the end of your lock period you could 
just delay the closing and let the lock expire.  Once the lock is 
up you are free now to lock in at the new, lower rate.  As long 
as you stay with the same company you won't lose  the money
that you have spent in fees.

This strategy works better when you are refinancing than if you  
are buying, because  when you are refinancing you have time  on
your side, which is not always the case when buying.

Russ
##
1
From: asylvain@felix.filenet.com (The Chipmunk)
Newsgroups: misc.invest.real-estate
Subject: Re: Questions on rental properties???
Date: 24 Jul 92 01:45:58 GMT
Reply-To: asylvain@fritz.filenet.com (The Chipmunk)
Organization: Foundation for the Increased Wealth of Chipmunks

Written in article <1992Jul21.215238.40723@introl.introl.com>
 by ed@introl.introl.com (Ed Zhong):

: I have two alternatives, either close to a 
: university or a resident area (but not in downtown area). I think that it is
: easier to rent around universities, but the tenents are not stable... 
: usually students move every year... and sometimes they demage
: the house;

Student renting is a bit different than family renting.  Some of the
differences are:

Multiple contracts.  Instead of one family/unit, you rent to 2 students/
bedroom.

Somewhat higher-than-market rent.  This is mitigated from the renters
point of view by having, eg, 4 renters for a 2-bdrm house.  When it's
divided 4 ways, it doesn't seem so steep.  Plus, many of these students
are getting financial aid anyway.

From the landlord's point of view, the higher-than-market rent mitigates
the fact that the unit could be empty for 3 months out of the year.  Plus
students are famous for being, oh, shall we say, less than immaculate?

I think you can get referals from the University Housing Department, if
such exists.  I'm sure they'd let you advertise in their newsletters
and/or student paper, for example.

-- 
The Chipmunk.
Opinions are mine, batteries not included, void where prohibited.
A real patriot is the fellow who gets a parking ticket and rejoices
that the system works.
Newsgroups: misc.invest.real-estate
From: bobk@sequent.com (Bob Krull)
Subject: Re: investment properties in State College, PA, or New Bruns., NJ
Organization: Sequent Computer Systems Inc.
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 92 20:30:22 GMT

In article <1992Jul21.175709.18342@porthos.cc.bellcore.com> user@machine.domain writes:
>I'm looking for a small house or townhouse or condo or duplex to buy and
>then rent out, such that the rent pays the mortgage.  I'm looking in
>New Brunswick, NJ or in State College, PA.  Does anyone have any insite
>or ideas as to what may be available and for how much?
>
>What past experiences have you had with doing this or what advice would you
>recommend for going about buying propoerty and then renting it?
>I already own a townhouse in New Brunswick as a primary residence.
>
>
>Ron Rissel


Would you consider renting your current townhouse and buying something else
(like a plex) as your primary residence?  The advantage is the low-down,
owner-occupied financing.

Bob Krull
Newsgroups: misc.invest.real-estate
From: kendall@adobe.com (Janice Kendall)
Subject: Re: Need Info on Appraisal
Keywords: appraisal report
Organization: Adobe Systems Incorporated
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 18:11:10 GMT

In article <1992Jul22.080745.1@rhodes.aero.org> 18971@rhodes.aero.org writes:
>In article <1992Jul22.021844.17869@adobe.com>, kendall@adobe.com (Janice Kendall) writes:
>> 
>> I am interested in knowing about the appraisal process.  If I am buying
>> a house, the lender will send an appraiser out to make sure the loan is
>> secured by the value of the house.  I will be billed for the cost of the
>> appraisal.  
>> 
>> Does the potential buy generally get a copy of the appraisal report (that
>> they paid for)?  
>> 
>> Do they generally get the report during escrow or at the closing?
>> 
>> Thanks,
>>    
>>  Janice Kendall    kendall@adobe.com    ...!{decwrl|sun}!adobe!kendall
>> 
>> 	"Creativity overcomes violence"
>> 			John Bradshaw in "Homecoming"
>>
> A little known law was passed and became effective as of December 1991.
>This law requires the financial institution to comply with the customer's
>written request for a copy of the appraisal that he/she pays for. This
>information came from a recent article in the Los Angeles Times. Banks and
>S&L do not like this law and will in general not tell customers about it
>voluntarily because of potential law suits and liability.
>
>My recommendation is ask first for the good faith estimate of the closing
>cost. You should receive it within 3 days after turning in you loan
>application as required by law (Regulation Z). If this statement shows a
>charge for appraisal, send in a written request for appraisal report
>when it is available to the bank. If appraisal fee is not shown, ask
>about it to be sure who would pay.
>Good luck. Let us know the result.
>Quan 


Can you give more specific information on this law?  I did send a written
request for the appraisal report, and they told me it was their policy to
not provide the report until closing.  That irks me.
   
 Janice Kendall    kendall@adobe.com    ...!{decwrl|sun}!adobe!kendall

	"Creativity overcomes violence."
Newsgroups: misc.invest.real-estate
From: rissel@iscp.bellcore.com (Ron Rissel)
Subject: investment properties in State College, PA, or New Bruns., NJ
Reply-To: user@machine.domain
Organization: UC Berkeley XRN Design Team
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 92 17:57:09 GMT

I'm looking for a small house or townhouse or condo or duplex to buy and
then rent out, such that the rent pays the mortgage.  I'm looking in
New Brunswick, NJ or in State College, PA.  Does anyone have any insite
or ideas as to what may be available and for how much?

What past experiences have you had with doing this or what advice would you
recommend for going about buying propoerty and then renting it?
I already own a townhouse in New Brunswick as a primary residence.


Ron Rissel
From: dfavor@logan.tivoli.com (David Favor)
Newsgroups: misc.invest.real-estate
Subject: Re: is buyer - agent agreement necessary?
Date: 21 Jul 92 13:04:23 GMT
Distribution: usa

In article <l6ma5tINNa8@calvin.usc.edu>, sutter@calvin.usc.edu (Carl Sutter) writes:
|> In article <1992Jul20.200600.2967@rice.edu> rep@is.rice.edu (Robert Pietsch) writes:
|> >A Real-estate agent works for the seller not the buyer. 
|> >In fact.... if you tell the agent you will go as high as $xxx,xxx.00
|> >he/she is obligated to tell the owner.
|> 
|> I've received a couple of replies to this effect.  I guess it's not clear
|> to me who my agent represents, since he is mostly showing me houses that
|> are not being sold by his company.  If I decide to buy a place being listed
|> by another agent, I was assuming my agent would bargain on my behalf.
|> Is that right, or do both agents work for the seller at that point?
|> 
|> Thanks,
|> 
|> - Carl Sutter   sutter@usc.edu
|>  

state law states Real Estate agents/brokers work for the seller. unless you
have a signed agreement stating otherwise you are in a poor position, because
any information you give during negotiations is required by law to be disclosed
to the seller. best rule of thumb is to hire a Realtor via a buyer's agreement.
From: ben@bailey.UUCP (Ben Bailey)
Subject: Re: Disadvantages with For Sale by Owner?
Newsgroups: misc.invest.real-estate
Date: 21 Jul 92 02:10:03 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: Ben Bailey's Home..Tampa Fl.

Seems as though $7,000 (7% of 100,000) ought to buy a lot of advertising.
I've met few people who seemed to be good sales people.  Most just seemed
to be pushing potted plants.  

I've sold my homes (unless I've moved away) myself; no gimmicks via 
'helpusell', or otherwise.  If the price is right (do your homework!)
and you know the answers to the steps required for closing (do your
homework!), then figure on advertising for your market.  If it isn't cheaper
then the realtor is offering, then go refigure....cause their making money
on it without doing much advertising at all!

Looking from the buyers point of view, they could care less whether or not
you are selling above/below the mortgage value.  They are interested in a 
house selling below market value.  If selling it yourself means it isn't 
going to be below market value, then why do they want to fool with you?

If you are truely selling below market value, then it will sell.  Now you've
got to get their attention; $7,000 buys quite a bit of advertising.

Ben
--
Ben Bailey                 ben@bailey.uucp -- bailey!ben@uunet.uu.net
12210 Shady Forest Dr.     ben@bailey.tscs.com
Riverview, Fl. 33569       -- A programmer without his computer is like a 
813-677-5021                  boy without his dog.
From: roh@CS.ColoState.EDU (Lucas Roh)
Newsgroups: misc.invest.real-estate
Subject: ARM Indexes: Advantages & Disadvantages
Date: 28 Jul 92 04:11:20 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Colorado State University

I have been shopping around to get a mortgage.  I have decided to go for
the adjustable mortagage.  

Several places compute the rate based on different indices.
One being the T-bill and another being the cost-of-funds (COFI).
Right now the COFI is about 2 points higher than the T-bill.  
One of the touted advantage of COFI is supposed to be less volatility
but it seems over the last 10 years (except 81-82), the T-bill rate is
lower on the average even though they are more volatile.  

Does it make sense to go for COFI indexed ARM at all now that the interest
rate is not likely to go skyrocketing as in the early 80's?

Thanks for any insight.
Newsgroups: misc.invest.real-estate
From: ajg@controls.ccd.harris.com (Arnold Goldberg)
Subject: Re: Followup: Deadbeat 2nd mortgage
Organization: Harris Controls and Compositions
Date: Sat, 25 Jul 1992 19:28:08 GMT

>>>>> On Fri, 24 Jul 1992 18:37:35 GMT, johnp@hpgrla.gr.hp.com (John Parsons) said:
<stuff about deadbeat deleted>

	John> So I called the owner back, he agreed to pay off at 75% of loan
	John> value, and he did, one month early.  Adding the interest payments
	John> I've received over the last 3 years, I've recovered my 10% of the
	John> sale price, plus a little, so I'm considering myself lucky.

	John> Anyone else had a similar experience?

Not me, but from some of the other horror stories I've heard from over-
levered situations in the CA market, you're right in considering yourself
lucky !!


arnold

--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arnold Goldberg                            Email:  ajg@ccd.harris.com
Phone: (407)242-5051                       Snail:  Harris Corporation
Fax  : (407)242-4262                               407 John Rodes Blvd.
                                                   Melbourne, FL 32905

The opinions expressed are my own and do not in any way represent Harris 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: asylvain@felix.filenet.com (The Chipmunk)
Newsgroups: misc.invest.real-estate
Subject: Re: is buyer - agent agreement necessary?
Date: 22 Jul 92 19:17:50 GMT
Reply-To: asylvain@fritz.filenet.com (The Chipmunk)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Foundation for the Increased Wealth of Chipmunks

Written in article <l6lvu2INNqns@calvin.usc.edu>
 by sutter@calvin.usc.edu (Carl Sutter):

: I am shopping for a house in LA, and am working with an agent at Prudential.
: After a couple of weeks of looking, he asked me to fill out a form which
: is essentially an agreement between us that he will be my exclusive agent,
: will work in my interest, and guarantees his 3% commission.  I think this
: is similar to a usual seller-agent agreement.  I'm wondering if this is
: normal, or even necessary.

It is becoming more and more normal, and you'd damned better believe 
it's necessary.

Other posters have pointed out the legal pitfall, in that, BY LAW, a
real estate agent MUST represent the SELLER.  However, a "buyer's
agent," one who intends to make his or her living buying properties for
customers, will not last long if s/he suddenly switches loyalties in the
middle of a transaction.

Therefore, the law aside, you can usually rest assured that if you have
a buyer's contract with an agent, that agent will represent YOU as the
BUYER.

: Is the 3% commission standard?  I'd hate to be in a situation where I had 
:    to pay part of that.

Count on paying all of that.  The standard commission is 6%, and when
one agent brings a buyer to another agent's listing, they split it
50/50, meaning the seller pays 3% and the buyer pays 3%.  Therefore,
unless your agent finds you a house for sale by owner, there will be
another 3% to be paid by the seller to his/her selling agent.

: If I just tell him to trust me without signing anything, will he work as 
:    hard in finding a good home, and getting the lowest price possible?

HAH!  Old saying: Trust People, but get it in Writing!

Actually, you are protected as much as he is, if the contract is written
well.  You may wish to consult an attorny to make sure your end of the
deal is properly covered.

-- 
The Chipmunk.
Opinions are mine, batteries not included, void where prohibited.
If you're a real good kid, I'll give you a piggy-back ride on a
buzz-saw.  -- W. C. Fields
From: ohumukin@spectra.com (Kawika Ohumukini)
Newsgroups: misc.invest.real-estate
Subject: Holding on to a Mortgage or Trust Deed to Term
Date: 23 Jul 92 15:58:53 GMT
Organization: Spectragraphics Corporation

Hi,

Is anyone here holding on to a mortgage or TD until it's term?

How do you feel about keeping?  Security?  Income?

Thanks for any information and have a great day!

Kawika
From: ben@bailey.UUCP (Ben Bailey)
Subject: Re: Monthly Mortgage vs. Biweekly Mortgage
Newsgroups: misc.invest.real-estate
Date: 21 Jul 92 23:15:39 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: Ben Bailey's Home..Tampa Fl.

sherm@phx.mcd.mot.com (cassie) writes:
> I hadn't run across any lenders who would permit you to 
> not send in the extra 2 payments.  In my experience
> paying off a 30 year loan early is the only CAN option.
> With the bi-weekly scheme you MUST make all 26 payments.

I'm not sure if I've followed your meaning here, so my followup may sound
out of context.  Anyway, I have a 30 year loan which calls for monthly payments,
which I am actually paying off in bi-weekly payments.  So I'm obligated to
monthly payments, but am choosing the bi-weekly.  

> 
> -- 
> 	Sherm Epperson			Motorola Technical Systems Division
> 	sherm@phx.mcd.mot.com		2900 S.  Diablo Way
> 	uunet!asuvax!mcdphx!sherm	Tempe Az.  85282
> 	(602) 438-3015			Mail Drop DW278

--
Ben Bailey                 ben@bailey.uucp -- bailey!ben@uunet.uu.net
12210 Shady Forest Dr.     ben@bailey.tscs.com
Riverview, Fl. 33569       -- A programmer without his computer is like a 
813-677-5021                  boy without his dog.