not approved for mortgage but found dream house?

Honestly it depends on the lender. Some are extremely fast; having the paperwork ready for them can get you preapproved within hours. Sorry I don't know how fast BB&T works. I don't find any reason why you wouldn't get preapproved for this house at this price especially since you will be putting down at least 20%. One thing you will encounter is that the lender will want 2 years of work history. You didn't mention your past work history but just thought I would throw that out there. Some lenders calculate the loan amount based on the average of the 2 years and some will just calculate by your current salary. Anyway I think your best bet is to call up a BB&T mortgage branch and ask them what you will need (fairly standard paperwork but better to be sure) and get an appointment set up with all your paperwork ready to go. Yes, depending where you live, properties are flying off the shelves at ridiculous speed so good luck!

It doesnt matter about 15 months working at that job. I got my place with a 30% downpayment (by choice) after working my job only a few months.

Edit: and if u think its ur dream house and a steal go full asking otherwise u risk losing over. What would be like $10 a month.

They would only be able to use your full time income unless you have a two year history of working two jobs. Regardless, it sounds like you'd be able to qualify with just the BB&T income. Just call your local mortgage officer with the bank. They probably have a special deal for employees with reduced costs.

I'd contact a realtor tomorrow and try and get an offer in just to tie up the property if you can. They might require a prequal letter but you can probably get one fairly easily after talking to a loan officer. Good luck

great advice guys, thanks! I'm about to go ride by it before work. Since I don't have a realtor or buyer's agent you think the realtor of the house may be willing to take a little less since they get a bigger commission? or maybe that thinking is totally wrong?

how much would it cost to change a kitchen floor to tile? also the living room is connected to the dining room and the dining room is wood flooring while the living room is carpet.....wonder how much it would cost to change the living room to matching wood flooring down the road? thanks!

Quote from matthewmon : Since I don't have a realtor or buyer's agent you think the realtor of the house may be willing to take a little less since they get a bigger commission? or maybe that thinking is totally wrong?

This is usually a bad idea. The seller's agent is working on behalf of the seller, and has no obligation to you. Since you are already emotionally attached to this house, you may not think straight when it comes to the actual shape of the house. Your own buyer's agent will help you determine if the price is comparable to others, as well as make sure you are getting a fair deal. Which ever way you go, do not skip on the home inspection.

Why are they selling it below tax value? I think in most areas, tax value is less than actual value, but maybe not the case in this area. Is there something wrong with it, that maybe warrants the cheap price? Or are the sellers in a position where they need/want to sell fast (moving, divorce, etc)?

Quote from matthewmon : great advice guys, thanks! I'm about to go ride by it before work. Since I don't have a realtor or buyer's agent you think the realtor of the house may be willing to take a little less since they get a bigger commission? or maybe that thinking is totally wrong? how much would it cost to change a kitchen floor to tile? also the living room is connected to the dining room and the dining room is wood flooring while the living room is carpet.....wonder how much it would cost to change the living room to matching wood flooring down the road? thanks!

Possibly but you also get into a tricky situation since the REO is also trying to get as much money for the house since he is paid on sale commission. If your willing you could go full asking without a REO and save yourself thousands on commission fees. No need to pay him commission for finding you the house when you did all the work.

here is the description: MOVE IN READY!!!! NEW CARPET, NEW PAINT AND NEW KITCHEN FLOORING. GREAT ROOM HAS GAS LOG FIREPLACE AND FRENCH DOOR TO REAR DECK. KITCHEN HAS ALL APPLIANCES AND CENTER ISLAND. LARGE MASTER AND BATH W/ DBL VANITIES, WHIRLPOOL, SEP SHOWER & WALK IN CLOSET. FORMAL DINING W/HARDWOOD FLOORS. OTHER FEATURES INCLUDE, TILE FLOORING IN MASTER AND SECOND BATHROOM, FINISHED BONUS, FENCED REAR YARD & DOUBLE GARAGE. PRICED TO SELL!!

Its located in Winterville, NC. I don't think houses are flying off the shelf here some stay listed for hundreds of days but from my research i don't think a house like this will last long at all. there are other houses in the same neighborhood with much less square ft that are priced higher and for example one that is only 1500 square ft. listed for only $500 less.

tax records show the guy that owns it lives in a city several hours from here now. the house was given new paint and kitchen flooring to help sell. there is no furniture in it so nobody living in it.

its not even listed for sale yet on zillow or trulia.

on Zillow I can see that its listed well below what all the other houses around it have sold for.

homes.c o m $175,400 estimated value


it sold for $194,500 new in 2002. 2036 square ft. w/ a bonus room upstairs i could use an an office. pictures look like its in great shape. i wish they had given a paint allowance instead so i could have picked my own paint colors and also i would have rather used tile flooring in the kitchen and picked out the carpet myself. they did stuff to it to help it sale that i would have rather done myself after getting a lower price. down the road new paint (can paint myself to save money although would be a pain in the butt), tiled kitchen flooring, stainless steel appliances, and new countertops may be expensive....I have no idea how to estimate the total cost of all that. So maybe its not my dream house but i rank the location, outside of the house, square footage and price as pretty much perfect. i've been watching the websites for over 6 months at least and this is the best fit I've found for myself. its in the neighborhood right beside my parents neighborhood. thanks for your help and opinions! also should I go with a loan officer I know and went to highschool with or one I don't know? also I have no idea how to find a buyer's agent fast? If I am sure I am getting it for a great price I'm not sure I need one? thanks!

^ I would prefer not to pay full asking price since there are a few upgrades I would like to make in order for it to be perfect to my tastes. if they listed it at 164,900 I would think they would probably take $160k at least right? I'm thinking about offering something like $152k if I like it and say thats 92% of asking price which is good in this economy and what my budget is. Then if they don't take it or contact me for maybe 2-3 days after that offer more? thanks!

Quote from gammann : This is usually a bad idea. The seller's agent is working on behalf of the seller, and has no obligation to you. Since you are already emotionally attached to this house, you may not think straight when it comes to the actual shape of the house. Your own buyer's agent will help you determine if the price is comparable to others, as well as make sure you are getting a fair deal. Which ever way you go, do not skip on the home inspection. Why are they selling it below tax value? I think in most areas, tax value is less than actual value, but maybe not the case in this area. Is there something wrong with it, that maybe warrants the cheap price? Or are the sellers in a position where they need/want to sell fast (moving, divorce, etc)?

Tax value in my area is much higher than what the houses are actually worth since the property values dropped fast and the county never accounted for the actual drops. Hence the need to fight my taxes in a few months. I'm valued at about 40% higher than its currently worth...and being taxed as such.

^yeah I agree. I would probably try to get the tax value lowered after I moved in too. Zillow does show what the houses around it have sold for and the cheapest one on the entire street sold for 168k with well over 50% of the houses on the street sold last for $200k or more.

Don't worry about going in to talk to your bank, those guys do not really know the specifics about home loans, call your bank's mortgage department. The guy at the bank is going to gather all of your info then call them then get back to you. Go straight to the source and save yourself some time. Also, it wouldn't hurt looking at one or two other mortgage lenders as your company may not be the best. Now when I saw the best, I am not solely basing that on how much it will cost you or their rate, but everything from how long it takes to close the loan to the customer service aspect as well.

Also, make sure you keep roughly $5-8k in available cash for when you move. You will need EVERYTHING and all those little things add up quickly. You don't even realize what you need until you move, or how much a stupid garbage can costs. Or, oh I need a shower curtain, I need blinds, I need this that, all of a sudden you dropped $400 on a quick shopping trip. The next weekend you go back out and do the same thing all over again because you found all these other things you needed. Also, give yourself a buffer incase you need to replace things, or something breaks. First weekend I moved into my house, a nice lake formed in my basement, $9k later fixed that problem.

Nizzy gave great advice, when you amortize an extra $2k over the life of the loan its not much more per month. Just imagine if you go in too low and lose the house because as you stated you are cheap and want a good deal. You will be kicking yourself because that small amount would equate to maybe $20 more a month.

Tiedyed1 is a broker and has helped many a people on these boards, do not be afraid to contact him.

the property taxes were just redone recently and the tax value is now only $175,866.

what is the quickest way to find a buyers agent? i just got preappoved over the phone and they are emailing me the prequalification letter. want to check it out tomorrow if i do it will be w/o a buyers agent because not enough time to find one right now. thanks!

I'm about as cheap as they come (I'm on slickdeals for crying out loud) and I put my bid on my dream home OVER asking. And STILL got rejected(they eventually came back to us THANK GOD). Don't dick around for a couple bucks for your dream home, honestly. Would you rather be happy every day of your life? Or happy you got a good deal for a couple weeks?

Put forth your strongest offer and good luck. If you can't afford the full asking, then just do what you think you can do to get it...just make sure you don't regret not going higher if you lose it.

Quote from matthewmon : the property taxes were just redone recently and the tax value is now only $175,866. what is the quickest way to find a buyers agent? i just got preappoved over the phone and they are emailing me the prequalification letter. want to check it out tomorrow if i do it will be w/o a buyers agent because not enough time to find one right now. thanks!

Call up an agent from places like coldwell, shorewest, whatever is close to you! Good luck!

Quote from zarfus : I'm about as cheap as they come (I'm on slickdeals for crying out loud) and I put my bid on my dream home OVER asking. And STILL got rejected

I did too. It was a blind auction and I went full cash 20% over asking and still lost. Damn place had the ac unit and all appliances stolen too...was such a great deal tho and I thought my offer was strong.