All Forum Posts by: Gilbert Dominguez

I am sure you have heard the saying, " No deal is better than a bad deal". Just keep looking until you find a good deal or do no deal. You will be glad you did. 

@Christopher Telles

I think what these statistics show is the appreciation percentage of the highest appreciated areas per median priced houses in those areas in LA county. That is from last year's median sales prices in those areas the median sales prices appreciated as shown. Those are gains in one year. Insane !!!! If I understand the article correctly the average house appreciated only 5%. 

If your house is that new you can research it through your city building and planning departments. They will have a record of the building plans and perhaps even a copy of the plans. The structural engineer, the architect and the building will all have their information there. You can then contact them and address your issues with them. 

It is very hard to make head or tails of what you are thinking or what the situation really is from the information you are providing. 

First I can calculate that a $135,000 mortgage with a payment of $1,300.00/mo for 15 years has an interest rate of 8.13%

The sales price to you would be $300,000.00 - $125,000.00 balance leaves you with an owner financed amount of $175,000.00. Is this right?

If the seller is willing to finance $175,000.00 for you what will be the interest rate he will ask from you for the $175,000.00?

Are you offering, thinking of , or is the seller asking you for a down payment?

If so what will be your down payment?

How many months are left on the first mortgage at this time?

How long will the owner finance the $175,000.00 for ?

Again, If you will pay a down payment what will that amount be?

You are in Illinois. Do you know how many houses there are in Illinois you could buy for $41,000.00 or less?

My God!! What ever allowed you to sign that contract and agree to pay so much?

Anyway you did sign the contract and any judge will not see you as his niece who got cheated, tricked or did anything other than what she fully understood. 

Your best bet now is to take whatever you can as a refund now and then pursue whatever kind of complaint and protest you can over the internet or in any other media or occasion. 

You can call your credit card company(ies) and claim you never got the services and try to get the charges reversed. Honestly without paying a whole lot of money more I do not see you getting anywhere with this by hiring an attorney. You may just end up out of pocket even more and more money. 

Generally if a home is in an area with a high number of foreclosures the house will most likely appraise for less based on the foreclosure rate. In some areas they have stopped using foreclosures as comps if your house is not a foreclosure but there is no guarantee of that . I would consult with a local real estate agent and ask local appraisers as well to get a feeling how the house would be valued. 

Well from what you say I assume you mean you have asked banks and the banks come back with the fact that your credit is good but your DTI is too high. I would try as asset based lender , there are many. You should be able to look them up on the internet. Frankly I am surprised you have not been solicited by any up to now since they advertise heavily on the internet but if you do a search word," Asset based lenders" or simply lenders you should be able to find one in your area. They will lend based on the value of your home and your good credit without too much of a problem. You can try becoming a PRO member here on BP and access the private lenders listed or you can try a Hard Money Lender as well. You should have good success in finding a lender.

The inspector obviously is giving you his opinion about the safety hazards and code violations present and is telling you what needs to be done to accomplish the safely and clear the code violations in the system. The house does not absolutely need to be rewired. All that needs to be accomplished is to bring in a grounding wire where not present and clear the code violations. However, in order to do that now it must be done per code which in the end my mean having to pull in new wiring. The panel either needs complete cleaning or replacing and upgrading. No electrical main panel can be used as a main panel without a main disconnect where 6 or more devices need to be turn off in order to safely work on the electrical system or turn the electricity off. GFI( ground fault circuit interrupters) Are required anywhere within 6 feet of water, they are a safety issue. Receptacles having an open ground probably means there is no ground wire present, again a safety issue but not necessarily a code requirement depending on the age of the house. However it is in your best interest as the owner to have a properly grounded electrical system installed and rewiring is probably your best bet on accomplishing that. 

It is highly recommended you get a brand new and complete electrical system but not necessarily a legal requirement. However there is so much wrong you might as well have a new system installed. Its not worth it to try and keep the existing system and its components. 

I assume you want to have a completely new electrical system installed and paid for by the seller and you do not want the seller to come back with doing or offering only to do the bare minimum to make it legal and not necessary completely safe. Unfortunately you cannot force the issue of replacing the electrical system in its entirety legally but  you can simply refuse to  buy the house but the seller may decide to find another buyer. The law only requires that the house meet certain minimum safety requirements. However it does not make sense to do so much work on the electrical system and not simply install a whole brand new electrical system. I do not see any electrician not recommending an entire electrical system overhaul or replacing everything as a new code conforming installation which by the way will need both permitting and inspections. 

If you choose to split hairs with the seller you can always consult your local electrical building inspector or you can simply not accept anything other than a fully new electrical system installation. Any work on the electrical system will require a permit and an inspection no matter what. I would not bother to pay another electrician to give you his opinion as the local building inspector will decide in any case what needs to be done upon inspection. What is legally required does not necessary coincide with what is most recommended and desired. 

I have worked as a licensed electrician for many many years and I would not accept anything other than a full new electrical system installed with new wire and all new components, everything new. Buying a house is a negotiation, you can always accept or refuse, its your decision. 

Consult with an attorney and have him draw up documents for you to use relating to non-disclosure and including something to the effect that seller and buyers agree to not transact the purchase of the house without you getting compensation. Anyway tell the attorney your concerns and that you want an agreement drawn up to protect your rights to compensation if one can be drawn up legally. 

I think the case may be unique as I do not ever remember any other city offering the same 8 to 12 year tax exemptions for creating mulifamily units. I would guess this is a case by case situation. I would not create the units if I did not already plan to. However if it's already within your plans why not apply and try to get the exemption for your units as I see it as a big advantage personally and for anyone who buys your units during the exemption period. 

The motivation of Tacoma is obviously to address a housing shortage and they are working toward getting as many new rental units on the market as they can get. 

They have gone through great length to create and offer this new tax incentive so I see no reason why not to trust it and the procedure for applying does not seem to be overly complicated or burdensome.

My understanding is that the tax is for the creation of new rental units on the market not for existing rental units so the tax holiday is not for existing units but for newly created units such as would be the case for additions and new construction. Might be a good time to do remodels and conversions where one of more units would be created and also a good time to bring new construction projects of multifamily units onto the market as well.