All Forum Posts by: Alex Brandt

Concrete For Foundation Poured Without Inspection The subcontractor my general contractor hired to do the foundation had 20 yards of concrete poured today (35 degrees all day and part of the concrete is surrounded by a 3inch pool of water). This is for a crawlspace foundation with a step down. The issue is that they failed their inspection on Friday, they came out today, fixed part of it, and poured the concrete. I found out today city hall was closed today and the recording said no inspections scheduled today due to the holiday. My build permit checklist has no sign off on from the inspector for the footings and stem walls. There is a section of the foundation that does not meet code and was poured with the forms being incorrect. What options are available to me? I am not going to pay for their mistake. I'm now stuck between the foundation subcontractor and general contractor. I don't want this to get to a legal issue, but given the money involved - it might. What kind of lawyer do I contact if I need to get legal representation? I have already gone ahead and taken photo's of everything.

Check out primelending.com They loan almost anywhere and do 203k loans.

I am building my primary home (Oregon) and in my entire search for finding a lender for my loan - I have never heard/came across an FHA construction to perm loan. I do know that USDA has a construction to perm loan though but good luck finding a lender for that. You can do what I did, pay cash for the lot - let it season (at least 6 months for most lenders, some may require a year). After the seasoning requirement has been meet, you can use the appraised value instead of the purchase price of the land to meet your downpayment requirement.

@Jared Rine So all the other lenders I talked with say that after the seasoning period, they go off the total appraised value and not the aquistion cost since the $170k includes the $30k from the lot I already own. After the seasoning period there is no point to structure it based on acquistion cost. I get that the lot has to be part of the transaction - i just dont agree with having to buy it again and based on my convo with other construction lenders - the loan is not structured right.

@Jared Rine The lender is using the $30k as the down payment but its a wash since they are also factoring it in as an acquistion costs when I already own it. The lot is seasoned and owned free and clear. My cost to build is 121k (contract with builder) but the lender says the costs are152k and I'm just confused why they are making me buy my land again at the higher value.

Hello, i am applying for a construction loan and it doesnt add up for me. Background: On August 15, 2016 I bought two lots for $5k each. Each lots are 1/4 an acre with stubbed out city water/sewer, gas, and high speed cable internet with sidewalks and paved street. The lender is making me wait one year before I can use the appraised value of $30k for one of the lots instead of my purchase price of $5k which is fine. The lender ordered an apprasial and the total appraised value came in at 170k (30k for land, 140k for home) I am under contract with the builder and have a build cost of 121k for a 1100 sq ft 3bed and 2bath home. The lender says that they have to use my $30k lot value plus the $121k build cost for a total aquistion cost of $151k as the purchase price which doesnt make sense since I already own the lot. They say they cant use the 170k appraisal since the acquisition costs are lower and they go off the lesser of the two. To me the acquisition costs should be $121k with my $30k lot value as a downpayment on the $121k. Can someone explain to me why my lot with a $30k value is being used in the acquisition cost when I already own it? I got quotes from other lenders using the apprasial my lender ordered and supporting documents and they didnt use the lot as part of the acquistion cost so that raised a red flag for me that my lender may not have structured my loan right. My loan officer with the lender is going to contact underwriting tomorrow to make sure they have to include the lot as an acquistion cost but I just need other people's experience as I think something is not right.

Hello, i am applying for a construction loan and it doesnt add up for me. Background: On August 15, 2016 I bought two lots for $5k each. Each lots are 1/4 an acre with stubbed out city water/sewer, gas, and high speed cable internet with sidewalks and paved street. The lender is making me wait one year before I can use the appraised value of $30k for one of the lots instead of my purchase price of $5k which is fine. The lender ordered an apprasial and the total appraised value came in at 170k (30k for land, 140k for home) I am under contract with the builder and have a build cost of 121k for a 1100 sq ft 3bed and 2bath home. The lender says that they have to use my $30k lot value plus the $121k build cost for a total aquistion cost of $151k as the purchase price which doesnt make sense since I already own the lot. They say they cant use the 170k appraisal since the acquisition costs are lower and they go off the lesser of the two. To me the acquisition costs should be $121k with my $30k lot value as a downpayment on the $121k. Can someone explain to me why my lot with a $30k value is being used in the acquisition cost when I already own it? I got quotes from other lenders using the apprasial my lender ordered and supporting documents and they didnt use the lot as part of the acquistion cost so that raised a red flag for me that my lender may not have structured my loan right. My loan officer with the lender is going to contact underwriting tomorrow to make sure they have to include the lot as an acquistion cost but I just need other people's experience as I think something is not right.

Yes, this is why I decided to build for my first time being a homeowner - to buy a new home in my area is about $200k - but my costs to build a home are $122k (after my 20% downpayment using the equity in my improved lot). 

I will say that based on my experience, it looks easier to buy a pre-existing home than building one. 

Hello All,

I am needing some feedback from people who have gone through the process of building their own home to get some perspective if this timeline for financing is normal. I am a first time home buyer and I decided that building would be the best way to go....joke's on me.

Background: In August of 2016 I paid cash for two improved lots (ie: has sidewalks, paved street, utilities stubbed out), each one a 1/4 of an acre for a total of $9,995. In December 2017 I transferred one of the lots to a business I started up for $30,000 (the lot I am building on).

On March 8, 2017 I applied for a construction loan with US Bank and received my pre-approval on March 12,2017. I signed the contract with the builder on March 25,2017. I had the engineered (stamped) floorplans by April 12. The bank received the builder's packet on April 17th. I submitted the engineered floor plans to the City for approval on April 21st. The bank sent me the loan estimate and disclosures on May 2nd. My build permit was approved by the City on May 12. The appraisal was ordered sometime in early May and I didn't receive it until June 14th (about 45ish days - so that was normal). The appraisal came in at $30k for the lot and $140k for the structure.

It's now July 6th and the lender is saying that closing and signing will be the week of July 17th. I've already provided the lender with proof of funds to cover the cost of closing. The title/escrow company hasn't even received my loan information from the lender at this time (it took two days to negotiate with the title/escrow company to lower their fees as they wanted $1k just do the construction hold back/fund dispersing). My 90 day rate lock with the lender expired in June and they've re-locked my loan at a 3.8% rate (said they don't need to re-pull my credit as my credit score was high when I initially applied - I thought they had to re-pull after 90 days regardless). Also, my 90 day price lock with the builder expired on June 25th but they've told the lender it is a fixed price contract and I have no intentions of requesting anything from the builder to change the price.

I've asked the loan processor if its normal for construction loans to take 120+ days, but no response yet. I'm doing 20% downpayment based on acquisition costs ($152,500) and my appraisal came in higher ($170,000) so my loan to value ratio is 72% (loan amount is $122,500).

I feel that this process should not take this long since everything was on a 90 day rate/price lock and this is a conventional/traditional loan. My biggest concern is that the builder comes back and increases the price of the contract since the price lock was only 90 days (despite the builder telling the lender it's a fixed price contract and not a cost plus contract).

If the builder does increase the price of the contract would I have any recourse with the lender since they are taking forever and I have no room in the loan for price increases/contingencies?

Thank you for your time and any help would be great appreciated.