251 replies to this topic

[fatguyaz]

Tony, i think it was Rosalinda (for what her opinion is worth.) Clearly we didn't give TOO big a shit cuz we have better windows now...

the same rosalinda that built those new mcmansions over by the church and tried to sell them for $800k apiece? she can eat a dick.

the one and the same... the same one who just defaulted on one of them and is living in one of her rentals, now.

[Quezo]

Tony, i think it was Rosalinda (for what her opinion is worth.) Clearly we didn't give TOO big a shit cuz we have better windows now...

the same rosalinda that built those new mcmansions over by the church and tried to sell them for $800k apiece? she can eat a dick.

the one and the same... the same one who just defaulted on one of them and is living in one of her rentals, now.

Since when did this become an H.O.A. style gossip session thread?

[Tony]

Tony, i think it was Rosalinda (for what her opinion is worth.) Clearly we didn't give TOO big a shit cuz we have better windows now...

the same rosalinda that built those new mcmansions over by the church and tried to sell them for $800k apiece? she can eat a dick.

the one and the same... the same one who just defaulted on one of them and is living in one of her rentals, now.

Since when did this become an H.O.A. style gossip session thread?

sorry. if you lived in our hood you would relish this conversation. rosalinda is this neighborhood realtor who (for whatever reason) focuses solely on our tiny area of phoenix, and she somehow keeps inserting herself in people's lives here. total busybody. the kind of person that would give chad shit for trying to update his windows even though we have no HOA or even a remote shot at being a historical neighborhood. i don't flat out dislike many people, but she's one of them.

chad, let's go egg her house!

she's probably reading this.

[TV's Frink]

chad, let's go egg her house!

There's another thread where you can get good eggs.

[Tony]

chad, let's go egg her house!

There's another thread where you can get good eggs.

what, no .gif?

[TV's Frink]

chad, let's go egg her house!

There's another thread where you can get good eggs.

what, no .gif?

I'm working on it.

[jeremx]

joined the valley permaculture alliance.. time to get my backyard orchard on! got a backyard chickens class tomorrow. cluck yeah!

[Rize]

so how have city/state valuations of property (which affect the amount of property tax collected) gone down relative to the actual market price? I'm guessing not as much

just something I've recently mused on since I'm thinking about buying a house in the next two years (was thinking sooner until I learned about PMI).

[Tony]

just something I've recently mused on since I'm thinking about buying a house in the next two years (was thinking sooner until I learned about PMI).

consider that the value of whatever home you're likely to purchase today will increase over the next two years. the amount you pay in PMI today may be less than what you'd pay without PMI in 2013. that's speculation, obviously, but the housing market is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay cheap right now.

i'd have to review our property tax amounts over the last few years to find out how it changed, and i'm far too lazy to do that. i'm pretty sure it lowered, but not as much as the devaluation of the house. the assessment happens yearly and there's a pretty significant lag in changes to the market value vs. changes to the taxable value.

[Rize]

just something I've recently mused on since I'm thinking about buying a house in the next two years (was thinking sooner until I learned about PMI).

consider that the value of whatever home you're likely to purchase today will increase over the next two years. the amount you pay in PMI today may be less than what you'd pay without PMI in 2013. that's speculation, obviously, but the housing market is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay cheap right now.

Good point. Also, I just realized the PMI is no longer required once you've got 20% of the principle paid off. I could make extra large payments for the first year and get the principle up to 20% quickly. So I guess that isn't an issue anymore.

On the cons side, seems like things could still go lower, especially in the area I'm looking at. The university is laying off a lot of people due to budget cuts and there's going to be at least one more round of cuts (which will be announced shortly and result in job losses a year from now). Also, a long disputed chunk of land in this zip code was finally approved for development a few years ago and the first new houses out of an eventual 400 will be completed by the end of this year (or early next year).

I'm convinced that the prices I'm already seeing on listings are significantly higher than they should be (particularly if you project for these local effects). A bunch of houses have "reduced" signs, but that really doesn't tell you anything except that it was originally listed too high (doesn't mean it's low enough after the reduction). Even the real-estate agent wants to list it high since they get big cut, though not as high as home owners since they are more realistic. A buyer has to look out for himself. I'm going to try to find several acceptable houses and make very low offers and see if any of them bite. If not, then I'll be more comfortable buying closer to the list prices I'm seeing.

I wonder if it would be beneficial to work with multiple real-estate agents. After my first/previous car buying experience, I'm incredibly wary of commissioned sales people.

[Tony]

Good point. Also, I just realized the PMI is no longer required once you've got 20% of the principle paid off. I could make extra large payments for the first year and get the principle up to 20% quickly. So I guess that isn't an issue anymore.

i think you can also get rid of it by refinancing if your home value increases - they'll count the increased value as equity. i think (?)

I wonder if it would be beneficial to work with multiple real-estate agents. After my first/previous car buying experience, I'm incredibly wary of commissioned sales people.

you're too cynical. i don't think any self-respecting realtor would go for that. while i'm sure there are bad apples, i know that there are lots of good ones, too - and it's an industry that runs on referrals. if somebody feels like they got screwed it's not good for business. i don't even know you, and i'm sure you know enough people to find a reliable and trustworthy reference.

[Rize]

Good point. Also, I just realized the PMI is no longer required once you've got 20% of the principle paid off. I could make extra large payments for the first year and get the principle up to 20% quickly. So I guess that isn't an issue anymore.

i think you can also get rid of it by refinancing if your home value increases - they'll count the increased value as equity. i think (?)

I wonder if it would be beneficial to work with multiple real-estate agents. After my first/previous car buying experience, I'm incredibly wary of commissioned sales people.

you're too cynical. i don't think any self-respecting realtor would go for that. while i'm sure there are bad apples, i know that there are lots of good ones, too - and it's an industry that runs on referrals. if somebody feels like they got screwed it's not good for business. i don't even know you, and i'm sure you know enough people to find a reliable and trustworthy reference.

Don't be so sure. I'd probably end up with the realtor whose name is on the sign of the first property I want to look at

Oh well I am too far from that point to worry about it right now.

[Jacki O.]

Good point. Also, I just realized the PMI is no longer required once you've got 20% of the principle paid off. I could make extra large payments for the first year and get the principle up to 20% quickly. So I guess that isn't an issue anymore.

i think you can also get rid of it by refinancing if your home value increases - they'll count the increased value as equity. i think (?)

I wonder if it would be beneficial to work with multiple real-estate agents. After my first/previous car buying experience, I'm incredibly wary of commissioned sales people.

you're too cynical. i don't think any self-respecting realtor would go for that. while i'm sure there are bad apples, i know that there are lots of good ones, too - and it's an industry that runs on referrals. if somebody feels like they got screwed it's not good for business. i don't even know you, and i'm sure you know enough people to find a reliable and trustworthy reference.

Don't be so sure. I'd probably end up with the realtor whose name is on the sign of the first property I want to look at

Oh well I am too far from that point to worry about it right now.

even if you dont intentionally go through multiple real estate agents you probably will anyways. if you have an agent that is not showing you what you want to see then you get a better one, and sometimes you have to do that more than once. i think that's the nature of the game.

[jeremx]

i posted their info before but christie and jenny from http://www.twinsandcorealty.com rule. christie was our agent and is the main reason we got our house. i don't get anything by referring people to them.. i'd just like to see people use an agent who knows their shit and will make sure you get an awesome place.

[Tony]

Good point. Also, I just realized the PMI is no longer required once you've got 20% of the principle paid off. I could make extra large payments for the first year and get the principle up to 20% quickly. So I guess that isn't an issue anymore.

i think you can also get rid of it by refinancing if your home value increases - they'll count the increased value as equity. i think (?)

I wonder if it would be beneficial to work with multiple real-estate agents. After my first/previous car buying experience, I'm incredibly wary of commissioned sales people.

you're too cynical. i don't think any self-respecting realtor would go for that. while i'm sure there are bad apples, i know that there are lots of good ones, too - and it's an industry that runs on referrals. if somebody feels like they got screwed it's not good for business. i don't even know you, and i'm sure you know enough people to find a reliable and trustworthy reference.

Don't be so sure. I'd probably end up with the realtor whose name is on the sign of the first property I want to look at

Oh well I am too far from that point to worry about it right now.

even if you dont intentionally go through multiple real estate agents you probably will anyways. if you have an agent that is not showing you what you want to see then you get a better one, and sometimes you have to do that more than once. i think that's the nature of the game.

word to what jacki said. i was specifically saying don't try to work with two at the exact same time.