All Forum Posts by: Salley Smith

Good to know, but I could get married. Would that be beneficial? 

I think you have the right idea. I had heard that the kitchen is one of the main things people look at.  And I think the first thing someone is going to notice is that your kitchen is seriously dated. I agree that you absolutely have to do something with the cabinets, preferably replace them, since even the shape is very dated. I think the floor could stay. Lighting is very important as well, but even a few IKEA LED lights can help with that, and using light colors. I would say the backsplash and the island is less important, and you might even be able to get away with the old countertops, although I would replace that as well. Before adding the island, I would weigh the benefits of what I could do with the money from the island invested in other areas. Your kitchen is very dated, and the small amount you would have to invest to make it less dated/ more modern may pay off. I would hate living in that kitchen, and with such a nice big house, that may be a big turn off. 

I also used Lumbar Liquidators, which had great and modern selections. I also think click together vinyl plank is a good, cheap option, that is durable and easy to install.

I have a house which I bought with my co- borrower in 2016, and we pay about 600 dollars of interest monthly. I paid a downpayment of 10,000 this year (no points) when we bought the house, and have spent 10,000 dollars on renovation costs. We both make 32,000 dollars yearly, and are not currently married.  I have a mortgage credit certificate, which I believe was issued jointly.  I am trying to figure out if I can file taxes as single or if it makes more sense/ is necessary to file them jointly.  If we file jointly, the penalty for not having Obamacare will be around 700 dollars more. Please advise. Thank you for your time.

Ok, I stayed with the company, and today I am supposed to be signing the final documents.  My question is, I never signed a new closing disclosure (I haven't signed one since end of Sept, and some of the numbers are different now, although the rate and payment and loan amount are still the same).  Should I be worried about this? They are actually still figuring out the final numbers, because they didn't realize I had already paid my taxes. 

You were very good, thank you! 

Just a rate refinance, refinancing a 200,000 30 yr fixed conventional at 4.25 to a 200,000 30 yr fixed conventional at 3.5 percent with no mortgage insurance (since we have done renovations and have a higher appraised value).  No cash in/ out. 

You are right! I see here now that it says 1040 in tiny print on the form we signed, which is not good.  He hadn't answered as to why the 4506T form hadn't worked, but did say they are going to try to do an income verification instead. I can try your advice. Would you be worried about my credit score dropping? It was 719 in Dec, we closed the new home loan in Feb, no late payments or new debt, but down to 697 in July. I am worried I might not qualify for a better/ same rate with a new company, if the score has dropped from the hard pull in July.  Thanks again.

Hi there. I was wondering if I could get some advice. I initially applied for a regular conventional 30 year fixed mortgage from a conventional 30 year fixed mortgage of 200,000 3 months ago today. This was a simple refinance, no complicating factors. I faxed all my documents over within the first week or so, and was told that they had everything they needed. The processes has always been slow, with their electronic disclosures not working well, and they frequently tell me they need another document, or that I need to resend more newer paystubs. I disclosed that I was missing my boyfriends W2 from 2015 from the beginning, and 2 months ago they stated they needed a 4506T form filled out at that time, even though I already thought they had it figured out. They have re-requested the payoff summary multiple times from my current mortgage company, and told me not to pay my Sept or my Oct payments (which I paid anyway, thank goodness). Most recently, after sending me the final closing disclosures, they said they found an error, and the underwriter was requesting separate applications since we are not married. We have since filled these out, and now they apparently need the W2s from 2015, which I thought that they obtained 3 months ago. They say they are paying the fees associated with my rate lock, but I am worried. Is this loan ever going to close? Do I have any options to move it along faster? I am worried that I can't get a good rate with anyone else since our credit scores will be much lower because of the hard credit pull from 3 months ago. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you. 

I painted my cabinets, they look fine. However, the time I had to invest was probably over 30-40 hours, and my kitchen is smaller than most. The prep work itself is substaincial, you have to tape off the inside and outside of the cabinets. Started out with oak which unfortunately has a lot of grain. So in addition to sanding them I decided to also fill them with wood putty, which took extra time (be very careful if you do this step) But keep in mind, if you want them white, ivory or black, it is not going to look as good with the grain showing. I then spray gun painted them with two coats of primer and two color coats. I also used the spray gun indoors, which required extra prep work. I would not recommend brush painting them, my mother did that and you can see the brushstroaks, which again, doesnt look extremlely modeen. You could try to roller brush them with a small roller (ultra smooth), but you would have to be careful of maintaining perfection along the grooved edges. My cabinets were not completely flat which meant that I had to use a brush in the inner corners, which was so much extra work, but very necessary. I found sanding between paint applications was fourtunatly unnecessary. If you have a lot of extra time, and not very much money, then you could try to do them yourself, but you need to be very careful. Mine look good, but they aren't perfect, and I spent hours. 

I upgraded my small kitchen completely for under 2,000. Oak cabinets vinyl flooring, white appliances. Sanded and painted cabinets white with a spray gun (expect to spend 30+ hours if you do it yourself and your cabinets are anything other than completly flat) and white baseboard. Just getting rid of all that oak was so refreshing. Put new cabinet hardware in a more modern color (amazon). Ripped out the cabinet mount range hood, replaced with new stainless steel hood (300 on amazon), tiled floor (spent 400 -500 on about 70 sq, we did the install), painted kitchen walls, and replaced appliances for stainless steel. New blinds and light fixtures (Ikea has more modern fixtures for cheaper than home depot) are easy to do as well.  By that time, the kitchen looked very clean, so I left the formica countertops, since countertops are so expensive. Skipped the backsplash also; my kitchen looked modern enough w/o it.  Waited for Fridges to go on sale at Home Depot, got mine for 700. You can do a lot for cheap if you make the right choices and pick the right colors.