Requesting Advice on Mortgages/Making an Offer

In respect to getting your own realtor, I would say absolutely.

If you went to another realtor initially the listing realtor would be splitting the sales commission with the sales agent/realtor. However, if you now go to another realtor the listing realtor will definitely claim you as her client.

I've bought a couple of properties and refied about four times and every time i have gotten a much better rate with a mortgage broker.

General updates:

1) I asked for board meeting notes/minutes and was told they are not available for public review and are for owners only.

2) I also asked for the delinquency rate on the HOA fee and was told this could be provided to the bank granting the mortgage if they contacted the property management company.



Box Home Loans are not available in our area since we're located in NJ.

Is there a comprehensive list of costs associated with getting a mortgage so that I can shop around intelligently? Also any ideas on how to determine if the place has been on the market "too long"? The condo we're eyeing has been available for a little more than two months.



How would I go about getting a Good Faith Estimate? Is this something I should call mortgage providers and ask for? The mortgage person from Chase I've been dealing with so far seems fairly professional but has been asking for a purchase agreement before providing any hard data. Should I ask him for an overview of all possible costs?

Since this is our first time buying a property, we contacted the Realtor who listed the condo on the market and have been working with her. Would it be a good idea to get a Realtor who works for us rather than for the seller? I wasn't sure how the pay structure works for Realtors and didn't want to get another party involved which might create additional expenses.

The property has been on the market for about 70 days. I'm not sure how to research the current owner's mortgage situation, so any guidance would be appreciated. I looked up property sale records for the building and saw that this particular unit had a sale price of $1 when it was purchased by the current owners 5years ago. At the time of the purchase, the value of the condo was assessed at $89,100; a more recent tax record shows a value of $152,500. I wasn't sure what to make of this or if that was helpful so I didn't really follow up.

My understanding is that the current owners are looking to move into a house for their growing family.


I'm not sure if the area the property is in is a buyer's or seller's market. I'm assuming b/c it has been available for more than 2 months and the Realtor listing it hasn't informed us of any outstanding offers, we have some advantage...



Sound like someone has a real hatred of condos! We're looking to get a condo for the benefits it provides and are not interested in owning a single family home at this point. I don't thinks it's fair to make assumptions about the value of condos everywhere based on your local market. The up I see to buying is that the money I put in goes toward owning something vs. renting where I'm not paying for anything tangible. Personally, I'd be fine if we end up selling the place for a little less than we bought it for. No matter what, we'd still be getting more back than we would if we went down the rental route...

-The Buying Coot66

Technically, we haven't signed anything with this Realtor

We signed something with another Realtor at her agency but that was only for specific properties we saw with her that day... That Realtor had shown us a range of MLS listings. We continued working with this Realtor b/c she showed us the condo we like first but I'm not sure if we have a legal obligation to keep doing so.

Is this a new condo? Where I live, the original sale data of $1 normally means it was built that year and just a starting point. Also, I have seen $1 shown for when people make deed changes, say when you get divorced and take the ex off of it.

Your idea of renting is throwing money away is naive and not financial accurate in many instances. Selling for a loss is never good. Once you add the loss, taxes, commission, hoa fees, pmi and loan fees you will pay more then renting if you sell within a few years. That's just so much more harmful to the family then just renting a place.

My advice is if your fico is crap, use a broker. If it is above, say 700 do it yourself if you understand the process. But it sounds like you really have no clue to the process so use a broker who can guide you and a buying agent. Remember, they are all your pal because they will make money off of you. That is the only reason they are nice.

In NY, previous sales of $1 are where someone, usually a spouse, is added or removed from the deed. NJ may be the same. Keep looking further back for the seller's original purchase price. If the county tax records only go so far back, you may be able to find it on Zillow.

Unfortunately this doesn't matter. The listing agent could claim "procuring cause" and would be entitled to the full commission. You could have this same problem if you go to an open house and don't tell the agent at the open house that you have a realtor.

Check your paperwork. These are usually for a certain time period (ie 90 days)

Thanks for your advice! I did some more digging and found the sale price It appears the wife purchased the condo by herself before getting married (and had a different last name). The title update with the $1 price tag happened 5 years ago but the actual purchase happened 8 years ago. The sale price was 115k.

mysticprincess, there have not been any price reductions yet.

saladdin, you're right, but in the long run, won't buying always be preferred if you're planning on staying for a certain number of year? If I want to sell the place in 10ish years, it'd be better to get some money back rather than spend $168,000 on rent (a conservative estimate) with nothing to show for it. Granted, the amount spent on HOA fees, interest, and taxes will inflate how much I spend during those 10ish years, but after selling, I'll have some money back in my pocket...



Paperwork is 90 days but only for the places she showed us. Procuring cause makes sense, so I guess working with the agent who originally showed the place (via an open house) is the way to go...

-The Procured Coot66

This how I think about it. The only way you will "make" money is through appreciation. The amount you pay in rent vs home ownership will probably wash. But the appreciation will not be massive, especially today's market, unless you luck into a hell of a deal or get lucky in location. I've read before (pre market drop) that average home appreciated 3%. That's really not that much.

What if you pay 168k in ownership costs during the same period? There is no guarantee you will make anything when you sell. Just wait until the market turns, it will one day, and new condos are built in your area which are newer then yours.

I am 55/45 for ownership but it is not a guaranteed money maker. I rented for years. I found a very good deal which rent was less then ownership costs. I saved/invested the difference between rent vs ownership and came way, way ahead.

I'm looking to get a condo too. Just curious what rate were you able to get? I've just tried one place & got a quote of 4.375%. The lowest advertised rates are around 3.750-3.875% for a 30 year conventional, but because my loan amount would be relatively small (<80k) & because it's a condo it seems like 4.375% will be the best I can get. I know there are other costs that will make the actual % higher (APR?), but is this pretty good?

There are rate adjustments for Condo, Loan Size <100k, Loan To Value, Credit Score, etc.
Would need additional details to determine if a rate is good or not.
-Adam