09-16-2018, 11:32 AM
(This post was last modified: 09-16-2018, 11:39 AM by TrainChaser.)
TWIH: 'This is when home ownership is not the “American Dream”...'
The home I'm trying to escape from was my first and only purchased home. I've learned a lot in the last 25 years:
* Investigate the bank you're planning on getting the loan with. Mine turned out to be a disaster from top to bottom, and was the largest bank failure in U.S. history (WA Mutual). Their loan officers were either crooked or incompetent. There is a big difference between 20% down and $20,000 down on a $75,000 property. I was putting down $20,000, so I wonder where that extra $5,000 was going that wasn't going on the loan?
* Read the loan agreement all the way through. Mine had FIVE huge errors (including the down payment, above).
* If you're smart, you'll never buy a mobile/manufactured home -- they're junk clear through, designed to last only until the original loan is paid off (maybe). You'll be better off in something half the size that is stick-built.
* Never, EVER, trust what comes out of a realtor's mouth. They might be half a notch more trustworthy than a politician, but I wouldn't bet on it. Ask for proof if something sounds funny. I have a brother who lies like a rug, so I've I quite a bit of practice, in that regard.
* Check with an insurance agent/company as to what the flood zone for the area is. Flood zones: DO NOT take the word of a realtor as to what the flood zone is; even if they sort of tell you the truth, they will try to make is sound like a non-problem, like what mine said: "Well, it never got into the house, and even that was a one-in-a-hundred-years flood". Yeah, well we've had THREE 100-year floods in the last 20 years. When TWELVE FEET of water is sitting on the main highway of the western states (Interstate 5), directly in front of Walmart, THAT'S A GD FLOOD ZONE! When a mother and two teen girls walk across your field to look down at their mobile home that has flood waters just below the bedroom windows (MH about 3ft off the ground, too), THAT'S A FLOOD ZONE.
It doesn't matter how good the price deal is for low-lying property -- if it can flood, it WILL flood. And yes, it floods in deserts, too.
My heart bleeds for all the people who lose their homes to floods. Due to financial circumstances, many people who had to have flood insurance mandated by their mortgage company will drop it after they pay off the mortgage. If flooded afterwards, they're on their own.
The home I'm trying to escape from was my first and only purchased home. I've learned a lot in the last 25 years:
* Investigate the bank you're planning on getting the loan with. Mine turned out to be a disaster from top to bottom, and was the largest bank failure in U.S. history (WA Mutual). Their loan officers were either crooked or incompetent. There is a big difference between 20% down and $20,000 down on a $75,000 property. I was putting down $20,000, so I wonder where that extra $5,000 was going that wasn't going on the loan?
* Read the loan agreement all the way through. Mine had FIVE huge errors (including the down payment, above).
* If you're smart, you'll never buy a mobile/manufactured home -- they're junk clear through, designed to last only until the original loan is paid off (maybe). You'll be better off in something half the size that is stick-built.
* Never, EVER, trust what comes out of a realtor's mouth. They might be half a notch more trustworthy than a politician, but I wouldn't bet on it. Ask for proof if something sounds funny. I have a brother who lies like a rug, so I've I quite a bit of practice, in that regard.
* Check with an insurance agent/company as to what the flood zone for the area is. Flood zones: DO NOT take the word of a realtor as to what the flood zone is; even if they sort of tell you the truth, they will try to make is sound like a non-problem, like what mine said: "Well, it never got into the house, and even that was a one-in-a-hundred-years flood". Yeah, well we've had THREE 100-year floods in the last 20 years. When TWELVE FEET of water is sitting on the main highway of the western states (Interstate 5), directly in front of Walmart, THAT'S A GD FLOOD ZONE! When a mother and two teen girls walk across your field to look down at their mobile home that has flood waters just below the bedroom windows (MH about 3ft off the ground, too), THAT'S A FLOOD ZONE.
It doesn't matter how good the price deal is for low-lying property -- if it can flood, it WILL flood. And yes, it floods in deserts, too.
My heart bleeds for all the people who lose their homes to floods. Due to financial circumstances, many people who had to have flood insurance mandated by their mortgage company will drop it after they pay off the mortgage. If flooded afterwards, they're on their own.
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