I signed the final offer paperwork today after work. C, our agent, was taking it to J, the mortgage person tonight.
In talking with J, I mentioned that I do NOT want to have my insurance/taxes held and paid by another company, but want to do it on my own. He told me that it was doable, but it would cost around $300 one time fee.
Um ... $300 one time fee to be in charge of my money over the life of the loan? What exactly is the problem here? (Well, one thing would be that they are charging me to NOT let them be in control of my money ...)
Does anyone else do their own escrow?
Am I foolish being willing to pay a one-time fee of ~$300 so that I can make sure I not only have my money sitting in the best interest bearing account, but also can know for sure that stuff will be paid on time!?
Our inspections are scheduled for April 8 - don't know what time just yet. Yikes! I'm going to be on pins and needles til then! I guess I should let my boss know I may need to take some time off during that day. Hopefully it will be in the afternoon so Mr FT can come and still get a good bit of sleep before work.
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I'm thinking about how I can make the broom closet (which they call a pantry ...) into an actual pantry.
Will have to look into shelving and stuff from various places. I'm thinking some kind of wire shelving and pull out wire drawers, etc. Leaving room for the broom too.
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I found out that there ARE some pictures online on different sites other than zillow. But I can't save any of them from the websites.
So ... here are a few pictures we took of the outside Sunday afternoon.
There's this one humongous old tree which may be dead - one huge branch towers *just* over the roof, and a few other branches touch the electricity lines. We're talking about whether it would be better to just get those branches trimmed (and if the electric company would do the ones on the lines) or how'd we go about getting the entire HUGE tree removed.
Would love any ideas regarding trees!
Huge tree in back of house
Part of side back yard
Mr FT adjusting his camera behind the compost bin fence
Dedicated garden area
View from behind garden tool shed
More pictures to come
Escrow, Pantry, and a few pictures :)
March 29th, 2016 at 01:52 am
March 29th, 2016 at 02:54 am 1459216491
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March 29th, 2016 at 03:11 am 1459217488
Last time we signed refinancing paperwork the notary kind of made a comment about accountants not doing the escrow thing. I am not surprised. We probably see a few too many escrow messes. Especially if we are dealing more with individuals/taxes.
March 29th, 2016 at 03:57 am 1459220272
March 29th, 2016 at 04:07 am 1459220878
March 29th, 2016 at 05:12 am 1459224756
IKEA is a terrific resource for fitting out a closet or cabinet if the dimensions work out. Lowe's and HD cut shelving to measure and there is a ton of detailed info on You Tube. Can you buy discounted gift cards as often mentioned on SA Forum? What flooring for majority of sf? A stick type Steamer is really helpful in a situation when previous owners may be unable to throughly clean every nook and cranny.
March 29th, 2016 at 05:21 am 1459225292
berspace
...so sorry, old story computer pitches sentences to cyberspace
March 29th, 2016 at 05:28 am 1459225717
March 29th, 2016 at 11:53 am 1459248782
March 29th, 2016 at 12:19 pm 1459250373
Yes, I would pay it if it came down to it. But I'd have them show you in the loan documents where that fee is required.
March 29th, 2016 at 12:49 pm 1459252149
March 29th, 2016 at 12:56 pm 1459252568
LR - I agree that it seems like a nonsensical fee!
Jokabee - Exactly!
CCF - I plan on questioning it! If it gets right down to it though, I'd rather pay a paltry sum to manage my own money!
CB - You would think that 20% down and a score in the high 700s would be enough to convince them that I can handle my own insurance, etc. payments ..
March 30th, 2016 at 12:41 am 1459294876
I'm a long time reader but have never commented before, I really enjoy your blog. Congratulations on your upcoming wedding & finding such a great house! I just wanted to weigh in on the $300 fee to handle your own taxes & insurance. We bought our house 14 years ago & ran into the same thing, our bank told us the reason for the fee was because it costs them a lot of time & resources to make sure that the taxes were actually paid if the homeowner handles it. I refused to pay it & told them that I would get the mortgage loan elsewhere if they charged it, they did wave it with a concession, I agreed to send them a copy of the paid tax receipts upon payment. That worked fine & we made sure to do that until we paid the mortgage off. Of course, that was 14 years ago & a small community bank. Try & see if they will work with you.
March 30th, 2016 at 02:16 am 1459300587
In the good news department - today I talked to J again, and he told me he would waive the fee! So, no escrow and no fee! I'm getting 3.875% interest rate for 30 years. It's more than the FHA loan would have been (3.25%) BUT no Mortgage Insurance and no escrow! I'm A-Ok with it.
March 30th, 2016 at 02:25 am 1459301122
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April 1st, 2016 at 01:08 pm 1459512514
Petunia - I have one account that pays 2.5%, and the netspend account that pays 5%.